Was Edgar Allen Poe involved in the occult?

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Was Edgar Allen Poe involved in an occult? if so, did it have a great influence on his writings? Please explain. Thank you...Andrew

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2002

Answers

Highly unlikely. More of a rationalist, deist than an occultist. Really not that many supernatural references in his stories when you look at the whole. Even the Raven can be explained in purely psychological terms. The Romantics' trappings from German roots in philosophical arcanery included a lott of mubo jumbo as wuggestive window dressings to create a mood of the twilight world bordering on dream symbols and fantasy. Poe often treated such matter ironically or just for effect.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2002

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