Introduction: Toward a Design History of the Occult

Abstract For millennia people have sought to control the seemingly uncontrollable forces that surround them and find significance, structure, and comfort through the rich seams of occultism and magic that permeate the landscapes, places, lives, art, and objects of the cultures they inhabit. From folk magic and witchcraft to alchemy and ceremonial magic, these ideas, beliefs, and practices have influenced and inspired designers, designed objects, and design movements, as well as theoretical and pedagogical approaches to design and design education. In recent decades, adjacent disciplines to design history, such as history, art history, archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and film studies, have embraced occult subjects. However, in the field of design history, these subjects have been largely overlooked with no sustained explorations of the relationships between occultism and design. This special issue offers suggestions as to why the field has overlooked the influence of occultism on the designed world and presents some first steps in addressing this absence.