The New Age reception of Sufism through Idries Shah's network

Record summary

Octagon Press and Idries Shah's affiliated organizations disseminated Sufi, occult, and comparative-esoteric material across Britain and North America during the 1970s and 1980s. This is a specific lead for investigating how Middle Eastern and Central Asian traditions were translated into modern self-development, altered-state, and hidden-knowledge discourse. It may help distinguish local ritual practice from transnational publishing and seminar culture. The network's self-descriptions, lineage claims, and relationship to established Naqshbandi or other Sufi authorities remain matters for verification rather than accepted fact.