Jarosław Tomasiewicz University of Silesia in Katowice Przemysław Sieradzan University of Gdańsk Włodzimierz Tarło-Maziński: occultist individualist 1. Introductory remarks Włodzimierz (or, to be more precise, Zygmunt 1 Włodzimierz) Tarło-Maziński (1889-1967) is an almost completely forgotten figure today and rarely rouses the interest of even the most tenacious researchers of occult doctrines. However, the panorama of Polish esoteric culture would not be complete without an overview of this extraordinary individual. Tarło-Maziński not only instilled and disseminated many previously unknown concepts and ideas on Polish soil, but also conducted a wealth of correspondence with esoterics abroad, formed his own group of students and collected one of the largest esoteric libraries in Poland. The scope of Tarło-Maziński's work is truly amazing. His intellectual interests, on the one hand, included engineering, radio engineering and military sciences while, on the other, he held a fascination for philosophy, spirituality, occultism, political and social sciences. In all these areas, this thinker made a significant contribution, which was not always fully appreciated by posterity later on. This article will deal with the evolution of Tarło-Maziński’s esoteric and socio-political convictions (in his case, these spheres can not be treated separately) with particular reference to the Polish doctrine of synarchism that he created. Tarło-Maziński's activity and thought are characterized by syncretism (Ludwik Hass rightly characterizes him as a ‘synthetic occultist’) 2 . In his work and activity, this unconventional occult thinker drew from many sources and it seems impossible to assign him unequivocally to any particular current or doctrine. The most significant of Tarło - 1 Tarło-Maziński never used his first name. 2 L. Hass, Masoneria polska XX wieku. Losy, loże, ludzie, Warszawa 1993, p. 251.