In 1942, the mysterious and charismatic holy man, Dr Dahesh, started a new religion that aimed to unite Christian, Judaism and Islam the banner of Daheshism. The talk looks at the cultural and intellectual roots of this unusual movement – the spread of new ideas like Spiritualism, Hypnotism and Fakirism across the Middle East. Dr Dahesh and his spiritual acolytes are the logical conclusion of one strand of Arabic Nahda.