In the 20th century, the so-called “marginal religiosity,” usually called “esotericism” or “occultism,” began to actively manifest itself in culture and attracted the attention of religious scholars, cultural scientists and historians. Having overcome the skepticism of the academic community, the study of esoteric teachings has become in recent decades an independent and actively developing area of humanitarian knowledge. P. Nosachev’s book is devoted to a description of the four main scientific approaches to “renounced knowledge” that have formed during this time: new European, American, mystocentric, traditional rationalistic. The author identifies the characteristic features of each direction, explores their genesis and analyzes in detail the work of key figures. Among the heroes of the book are Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade, Francis Yates, Umberto Eco, Gershom Scholem, Wouter Hanegraaff, Koku von Stuckrad, Arthur Versluis, Jeffrey Kripl and other researchers. A special place in the monograph is given to the cultural and historical context of research on marginal religiosity. Pavel Nosachev - Doctor of Philosophy, Professor at the School of Philosophy and Cultural Studies of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.