"Because of the desire for synthesis..." Literary works within the circle of the hermetic society Universalia

The topic of this thesis is the literary work of personalities associated with the contemporary interest in occultism and esoteric teachings in interwar Czechoslovakia who were members of the Hermetic Society Universalia. The introduction provides a brief historical overview explaining how the concept of this secret teaching took shape, crystallizing in the second half of the 19th century into occult sciences and subsequently into Hermeticism. The focus of the work is an analysis of the literary works of these authors, taking into account how their knowledge of occult teachings is reflected on the motivic or compositional level. The aim will be to characterize the selected beletristic work of these authors and describe possible affinities. The books of writers who were also members of Universalia will be classified according to the corresponding genre specifications. Since elements of occultism were often used in the stories of popular literature of the time, which also included so-called lowbrow or pulp literature, the classification of some authors into this subgenre will also be considered.