James Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence (1874-1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet, folklorist and writer on the occult. He is best known for An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920), popular books on the mythology of Mexico, Peru and the Celts, and a series of works arguing for the reality of Atlantis. He was also an early leader of Scottish nationalism.
Lewis Spence at a glance
| Born | 25 November 1874, Monifieth, Angus, Scotland |
|---|---|
| Died | 3 March 1955, Edinburgh |
| Occupations | Journalist, poet, folklorist, occult writer |
| Best-known work | An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920) |
| Atlantis books | The Problem of Atlantis (1924), The History of Atlantis (1927) |
| Politics | Founder of the Scottish National Movement |
Life and career
Lewis Spence was born in Monifieth, near Dundee, in 1874. After studying dentistry for a time at the University of Edinburgh, he turned to journalism and worked for The Scotsman, where he was a sub-editor around the turn of the century, and later for other periodicals. Journalism gave him the fluent, accessible style that would make his many books popular with general readers.
Spence spent most of his life in Edinburgh, where he died in 1955. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and wrote dozens of books across mythology, folklore, the occult and history, as well as poetry. His output was enormous, and its quality uneven: some works remain useful introductions, while others advance theories that scholars rejected even in his lifetime.
Myths of the Americas
Spence's early reputation rested on books about the religions and legends of the ancient Americas. He published an English study of the Maya K'iche' text the Popol Vuh in 1908 and wrote The Myths of Mexico and Peru (1913), a widely read survey that retold stories of Aztec and Inca gods, including the Andean creator Viracocha.
These books were written before much of modern Mesoamerican and Andean scholarship, including the decipherment of Maya writing, and they rely heavily on colonial Spanish chronicles. They helped introduce many English-speaking readers to these traditions, but today they are read mainly as historical documents of early twentieth-century popular mythography.
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Spence's most enduring reference work is An Encyclopaedia of Occultism, published in 1920. Arranged alphabetically, it covers magic, witchcraft, alchemy, astrology, divination, secret societies, Spiritualism and psychical research, with entries on figures such as Cagliostro and Paracelsus.
The encyclopedia gathered material from older compilations and from contemporary psychical literature. It was often reprinted and became a standard starting point for later occult dictionaries. Its main value today lies in showing how the occult was understood and categorized in the early twentieth century; readers should check its historical claims against modern scholarship.
Atlantis and speculative history
From the 1920s Spence became one of the best-known British writers on Atlantis. In The Problem of Atlantis (1924), Atlantis in America (1925) and The History of Atlantis (1927), among other titles, he argued that a real Atlantic continent had existed and that its culture had influenced both the Old World and the Americas. He built on the ideas of the American writer Ignatius Donnelly.
Geologists, archaeologists and historians have almost universally rejected these conclusions. There is no geological evidence for a sunken continent in the Atlantic, and the cultural parallels Spence cited are better explained by independent development. His Atlantis books nevertheless influenced later popular and esoteric writing, including Theosophical ideas associated with Helena Blavatsky's followers.
Celtic folklore and fairy tradition
Spence wrote extensively on the folklore and supposed secret traditions of Britain and Brittany, including Legends and Romances of Brittany (1917) and The Mysteries of Britain (1928). In the 1940s he returned to the subject of fairies, discussing theories that fairy beliefs grew out of ancestor worship, nature spirits and memories of older peoples.
His Celtic writings sometimes proposed ancient, unbroken mystery traditions that historians cannot confirm. Yet he collected a great deal of folklore material and wrote with genuine affection for Scottish and Celtic culture, which helps explain his continuing readership among those interested in British folk belief.
Poet and Scottish nationalist
Spence was also a poet in both English and Scots and took part in the Scottish literary revival of the 1920s. In politics he founded the Scottish National Movement, one of the groups that merged to form the National Party of Scotland in 1928, a forerunner of today's Scottish National Party. In 1929 he stood for Parliament as a nationalist candidate in a by-election but was not elected.
His combination of journalism, poetry, politics and esoteric research makes him a characteristic figure of his era, when romantic nationalism, folklore collecting and the occult revival often overlapped. Other writers on folklore and magic of the period, such as the American Charles Godfrey Leland, shared this blend of scholarship, enthusiasm and speculation. Modern readers tend to value Spence less for his theories than for his wide reading, his lively retellings and the window his books offer onto the popular esotericism of the interwar years.
Related entries
Frequently asked questions
Who was Lewis Spence?
Lewis Spence (1874-1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet and folklorist who wrote many popular books on mythology and the occult. He is best known for An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920), studies of Mexican and Peruvian myths, and books arguing for the existence of Atlantis. He also helped found the Scottish nationalist movement.
Is Lewis Spence's Encyclopaedia of Occultism reliable?
It is a useful historical reference showing how early twentieth-century writers understood magic, divination, Spiritualism and secret societies, and it remains widely reprinted. However, it relies on older compilations and sometimes repeats legends as fact. Readers should confirm historical details with modern scholarly sources rather than treating it as authoritative.
What did Lewis Spence believe about Atlantis?
Spence argued that Atlantis was a real Atlantic continent whose culture spread to Europe, Africa and the Americas before it sank. He developed these views in several 1920s books, following Ignatius Donnelly. Mainstream geology, archaeology and history reject the theory, finding no evidence for a sunken continent or for the cultural links he proposed.
Sources and further reading
- Lewis Spence · Wikipedia
- Lewis Spence, An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920) · George Routledge and Sons
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.