Esotericism
Encyclopedia
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinion
s or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek (esôterikos), a compound
of (esô): "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym is "exoteric
".
The term can also refer to the academic study of esoteric religious movements and philosophies, or more generally of alternative or marginalized religious movements or philosophies whose proponents distinguish their beliefs, practices, and experiences from mainstream institutionalized traditions.
Examples of esoteric religious movements and philosophies include Alchemy
, Astrology
, Anthroposophy
, early Christian mysticism
, Magic
, Mesmerism, Rosicrucianism, Swedenborgianism
, Spiritualism
, the Christian Theosophy
of Jacob Böhme and his followers, and the Theosophical
currents associated with Helena Blavatsky and her followers. There are competing views regarding the common traits uniting these currents, not all of which involve "inwardness", mystery, occultism or secrecy as a crucial trait.
, in his dialogue Alcibíades (circa 390 BC), uses the expression ta esô meaning "the inner things", and in his dialogue Theaetetus (circa 360 BC) he uses ta exô meaning "the outside things". Aristotle applied this distinction to his own writings. The probable first appearance of the Greek adjective
esôterikos is in Lucian of Samosata's "The Auction of Lives", § 26, written around AD 166.
The term esoteric first appeared in English in the 1701 History of Philosophy by Thomas Stanley
, in his description of the mystery-school of Pythagoras
; the Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric" (under training), and "esoteric" (admitted into the "inner" circle). The corresponding noun "esotericism" was coined in French by Jacques Matter in 1828 and popularized by Eliphas Levi
in the 1850s. http://books.google.fr/books?id=H4axIwRLRkwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Laurant+l%27%C3%A9sot%C3%A9risme+1993&source=bl&ots=UBSzl6yO9I&sig=V41iwMgKXHdqpzjcJgv7AFYLMiM&hl=fr&ei=OThBTb6iLuKR4gaHqvXnDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. It entered the English language in the 1880s via the works of theosophist Alfred Sinnett
.
. His definition is based on the presence in the esoteric currents of four essential characteristics: a theory of correspondences
between all parts of the invisible and the visible cosmos, the conviction that nature is a living entity owing to a divine presence or life-force, the need for mediating elements (such as symbols, rituals, angels, visions) in order to access spiritual knowledge, and, fourthly, an experience of personal and spiritual transmutation when arriving at this knowledge. To this are added two non-intrinsic characteristics. Esotericists frequently suggest that there is a concordance between different religious traditions: best example is the belief in prisca theologia (ancient theology) or in philosophia perennis (perennial philosophy
). Finally, esotericism sometimes suggests the idea of a secret transmission of spiritual teachings, through initiation
from master to disciple. It should, however, be emphasized that Faivre's definition is one of several divergent understandings of the most appropriate use of the term.
The “perennialist” or “traditionalist
” school is represented by authors like the French René Guénon
(1886–1951), the Indian Ananda Coomaraswamy
(1877–1947), the Swiss Frithjof Schuon
(1907–1998), the Italian Julius Evola
(1898–1974), the Iranian Seyyed Hossein Nasr (born in 1933), both scholars and esotericists. They postulate that there exists a Primordial Tradition
of non-human origin.
In perennialist usage, esotericism is a metaphysical concept referring to a supposed “transcendent unity” of all great religious traditions. Esotericism is the metaphysical point of unity where exoteric religions are believed to converge. http://books.google.fr/books?id=HScR1XS6q7MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=schuon+%22transcendent+unity%22&source=bl&ots=waHDMGjHc_&sig=nQKx504zMGKuxVLqqvXTy0tQRE0&hl=fr&ei=9NBBTZDhAcmY8QP-_L0q&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
After all, the esoteric tradition may be recovered if the seeker undergoes initiation
.
The developments that one might wish to emphasize in drawing up a history of esotericism furthermore depends on whether esotericism in the dictionary (non-scholarly) or the scholarly sense is intended.
Several historically attested religions emphasize secret or hidden knowledge, and are thus esoteric in the dictionary sense, without necessarily being esoteric movements in the scholarly sense of the word. Thus, the Roman Empire had several mystery religions
which emphasized initiation. Some saw Christianity, with its ritual of baptism, as a mystery religion. None of these are "esoteric" in the scholarly sense. The terms "Gnosticism
" and "Gnosis
" refer to a family of religious movements which claimed to possess secret knowledge (gnosis). Another important movement from the ancient world was Hermeticism
or Hermetism. Both of these are often seen as precursors to esoteric movements in the scholarly sense of the word.
Non-Western traditions can also display the characteristics of esoteric movements. The Ismaili
Muslims also stress a distinction between the inner and the outer. It is believed that spiritual salvation is attained by receiving the 'Nur' (light) through the "esoteric", that is, spiritual search for enlightenment. Ismaili Islam also has some of the characteristics associated with esotericism as defined by Faivre, e.g. the belief in an intermediate spiritual sphere mediating between humans and the divine. Esoteric movements in Buddhism, which fall under the general category of Vajrayana
Buddhism, employ esoteric training into Buddha's teachings, through use of symbols, mantra
and hand-gestures, or mudra
. Initiation rituals are typically given to students as they progress along these paths, and care is taken not to discuss specific rituals to those lacking the right empowerment.
In order to distinguish esoteric currents based primarily on sources from late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages, from e.g. Islamic or Jewish currents with similar features, the more precise term "Western esotericism" is often employed.
Western esoteric movements in the scholarly sense thus have roots in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. A major phase in the development of Western esotericism begins in the Renaissance
, partly as the result of various attempts to revive such earlier movements. During the Italian Renaissance
, for example, translators such as Ficino
and Pico della Mirandola
turned their attention to the classical literature of Neoplatonism
, and what was thought to be the pre-Mosaic tradition of Hermeticism
. Other pursuits of Antiquity that entered into the mix of esoteric speculation were astrology
and alchemy
. Beside such revived currents from late Antiquity, a second major source of esoteric speculation is the Kabbalah
, which was lifted out of its Jewish context and adapted to a Christian framework by people such as Johannes Reuchlin. Outside the Italian Renaissance, yet another major current of esotericism was initiated by Paracelsus
, who combined alchemical and astrological themes (among others) into a complex body of doctrines.
In the early 17th century, esotericism is represented by currents such as Christian theosophy
and Rosicrucianism. A century later, esoteric ideas entered various strands of Freemasonry. Later in the 18th century, as well as in the early 19th century, the diffuse movement known as Mesmerism became a major expression of esotericism. In the 19th century, esotericism is also represented by certain aspects of the philosophy, literature and science associated with Romanticism
, by spiritualism
, and by a notable French wave of occultism.
The major exponent of esotericism in the latter part of the 19th century is the Theosophy
of H. P. Blavatsky, not to be confused with the Christian Theosophy mentioned above. In the 20th century, Theosophy was reformulated by Annie Besant
, Charles Webster Leadbeater
, Alice Bailey
, Rudolf Steiner
and many others, and became the source for a whole range of post-theosophical movements such as The Summit Lighthouse
. A particularly successful post-theosophical movement is Anthroposophy
, a synthesis of occultist, Christian and Neoplatonic ideas with Western esoteric concepts as formulated in the wake of Theosophy. Anthroposophy, which was founded by Rudolf Steiner
in the early part of the 20th century, includes esoteric versions of education, agriculture
, and medicine.
Yet another notable esoteric strain stems from the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff
and P. D. Ouspensky
.
Theosophy is also considered a major influence on the many less institutionally organized varieties of esotericism in metaphysical
milieus, "Ascended Master Activities", and within the New Age
.
Finally, it can be noted that Carl Gustav Jung can be seen as an exponent of esotericism: his writings concern esoteric subject matter such as alchemy
, and rephrased the concept of correspondences in a modern, psychologizing terminology in his theory of synchronicity
.
. Essential to Hanegraaff’s methodology is what he calls an “empirical” approach, with an informed, open, and, so much as possible, neutral mind. He makes a sharp division between a “religionist” perspective and an “empiricist” one.
Secondly, Hanegraaff follows a distinction between an “emic” and an “etic” approach to religious studies. http://books.google.fr/books?id=GodzjIfO7e8C&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=Hanegraaff+emic+etic&source=bl&ots=BVmZwci1ay&sig=byewSWZ04K3NDLnXOv27qGsl_sQ&hl=fr&ei=FF5ATenPFsek8QPW0Jm6BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Hanegraaff%20emic%20etic&f=false The emic approach is that of the alchemist or theosopher as an alchemist or theosopher. The etic approach is that of the scholar as an historian, a researcher, with a critical look. An empirical study of esotericism needs “emic material and etic interpretation”.
Pierre A. Riffard
(Ph.D., University of the French West Indies) studies the method used by esotericists themselves (alchemists, magicians, Rosicrucians, Anthroposophists...). He examines some of their procedures. 1) Mythological origins. The esotericists trace the origins of their doctrine or practice to an extremely distant past. They situate the life of Hermes in times immemorial. 2) Cosmic cycles. For Gaston Georgel, “history is governed by cycles of 540, 1080 and 2160 years”. 3) The chains of initiation. Some Rosicrucians include Francis Bacon among their masters and trace their origins back to the time of Thutmosis III. 4) The secret books. Esotericists prefer to base their beliefs on secret writings, unknown to the majority of people and inaccessible to the uninitiated: for instance, among the Theosophists, The Book of Dzyan. 5) Spiritual interpretations. The esotericists are able to endow the most profane texts with an occult meaning. The alchemists discover within the Greek and Roman myths the Great Work of alchemy. 6) Magical uses. A book can be used as a talisman, a divinatory machine... The Sortes Sanctorum (Lots of the saints) were, in early Christianity, a divination which consists in taking passages of the Bible at chance, and drawing conclusions from them concerning future. http://books.google.fr/books?id=GodzjIfO7e8C&pg=PR7&lpg=PR7&dq=%22western+esotericism+and+the+science+of+religions%22&source=bl&ots=BVmZx7m8gF&sig=V_o5odZa7cx0K9fS521aZo5k8R0&hl=fr&ei=AzRBTZvgIJW64gb5tPUU&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false
Arthur Versluis (Professor, Ph.D., Michigan State University) proposes the term “sympathetic empiricism” as the approach that he finds most amenable in the study of Western Esotericism.
Opinion
In general, an opinion is a subjective belief, and is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts. An opinion may be supported by an argument, although people may draw opposing opinions from the same set of facts. Opinions rarely change without new arguments being presented...
s or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek (esôterikos), a compound
Compound (linguistics)
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme that consists of more than one stem. Compounding or composition is the word formation that creates compound lexemes...
of (esô): "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym is "exoteric
Exoteric
Exoteric refers to knowledge that is outside of and independent from anyone's experience and can be ascertained by anyone. Compare Common sense. It is distinguished from internal esoteric knowledge. Exoteric relates to "external reality" as opposed to one's own thoughts or feelings. It is knowledge...
".
The term can also refer to the academic study of esoteric religious movements and philosophies, or more generally of alternative or marginalized religious movements or philosophies whose proponents distinguish their beliefs, practices, and experiences from mainstream institutionalized traditions.
Examples of esoteric religious movements and philosophies include Alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, Astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
, early Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions...
, Magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, Mesmerism, Rosicrucianism, Swedenborgianism
The New Church
The New Church is the name for a New religious movement developed from the writings of the Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg . Swedenborg claimed to have received a new revelation from Jesus Christ through continuous heavenly visions which he experienced over a period of at least...
, Spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
, the Christian Theosophy
Theosophy (history of philosophy)
Theosophy , designates several bodies of ideas since Late Antiquity. The Greek term is attested on magical papyri .-Neoplatonism:...
of Jacob Böhme and his followers, and the Theosophical
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
currents associated with Helena Blavatsky and her followers. There are competing views regarding the common traits uniting these currents, not all of which involve "inwardness", mystery, occultism or secrecy as a crucial trait.
Etymology
PlatoPlato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, in his dialogue Alcibíades (circa 390 BC), uses the expression ta esô meaning "the inner things", and in his dialogue Theaetetus (circa 360 BC) he uses ta exô meaning "the outside things". Aristotle applied this distinction to his own writings. The probable first appearance of the Greek adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
esôterikos is in Lucian of Samosata's "The Auction of Lives", § 26, written around AD 166.
The term esoteric first appeared in English in the 1701 History of Philosophy by Thomas Stanley
Thomas Stanley (author)
Sir Thomas Stanley was an English author and translator.-Life:He was born in Cumberlow, Hertfordshire, the son of Sir Thomas Stanley of Cumberlow, Hertfordshire and his wife, Mary Hammond. Mary was the cousin of Richard Lovelace, and Stanley was educated in company with the son of Edward Fairfax,...
, in his description of the mystery-school of Pythagoras
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
; the Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric" (under training), and "esoteric" (admitted into the "inner" circle). The corresponding noun "esotericism" was coined in French by Jacques Matter in 1828 and popularized by Eliphas Levi
Eliphas Levi
Eliphas Lévi, born Alphonse Louis Constant , was a French occult author and purported magician."Eliphas Lévi," the name under which he published his books, was his attempt to translate or transliterate his given names "Alphonse Louis" into Hebrew although he was not Jewish.His second wife was...
in the 1850s. http://books.google.fr/books?id=H4axIwRLRkwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Laurant+l%27%C3%A9sot%C3%A9risme+1993&source=bl&ots=UBSzl6yO9I&sig=V41iwMgKXHdqpzjcJgv7AFYLMiM&hl=fr&ei=OThBTb6iLuKR4gaHqvXnDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. It entered the English language in the 1880s via the works of theosophist Alfred Sinnett
Alfred Percy Sinnett
Alfred Percy Sinnett was an English author and Theosophist.- Biography :Sinnett's father died while he was young, by 1851 Sinnett is listed as a "Scholar - London University", living with his widowed mother Jane whose occupation is listed as "Periodical Literature", and his older sister Sophia age...
.
Definition
Among the competing understandings of what unites the various currents designated by "Esotericism" in the scholarly sense, perhaps the most influential has been proposed by Antoine FaivreAntoine Faivre
Antoine Faivre is a prominent French scholar of esoterism. Until his retirement, he held a chair in the École Pratique des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne, University Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Haute-Normandie, director of the Cahiers del Hermétisme and of Bibliothèque de...
. His definition is based on the presence in the esoteric currents of four essential characteristics: a theory of correspondences
Correspondence (theology)
In theology, correspondence is the relationship between spiritual and natural realities, or between mental and physical realities.- Correspondence and esotericism :Pierre A...
between all parts of the invisible and the visible cosmos, the conviction that nature is a living entity owing to a divine presence or life-force, the need for mediating elements (such as symbols, rituals, angels, visions) in order to access spiritual knowledge, and, fourthly, an experience of personal and spiritual transmutation when arriving at this knowledge. To this are added two non-intrinsic characteristics. Esotericists frequently suggest that there is a concordance between different religious traditions: best example is the belief in prisca theologia (ancient theology) or in philosophia perennis (perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy is the notion of the universal recurrence of philosophical insight independent of epoch or culture, including universal truths on the nature of reality, humanity or consciousness .-History:The idea of a perennial philosophy has great...
). Finally, esotericism sometimes suggests the idea of a secret transmission of spiritual teachings, through initiation
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
from master to disciple. It should, however, be emphasized that Faivre's definition is one of several divergent understandings of the most appropriate use of the term.
The “perennialist” or “traditionalist
Traditionalist School
The term Traditionalist School is used by Mark Sedgwick and other authors to denote a school of thought, also known as Integral Traditionalism or Perennialism to denote an esoteric movement developed by authors such as French metaphysician René Guénon, German-Swiss...
” school is represented by authors like the French René Guénon
René Guénon
René Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
(1886–1951), the Indian Ananda Coomaraswamy
Ananda Coomaraswamy
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West...
(1877–1947), the Swiss Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
(1907–1998), the Italian Julius Evola
Julius Evola
Barone Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola also known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esotericist...
(1898–1974), the Iranian Seyyed Hossein Nasr (born in 1933), both scholars and esotericists. They postulate that there exists a Primordial Tradition
The Primordial Tradition
The Primordial Tradition is a school of religious philosophy that holds its origins in the philosophia perennis, or perennial philosophy, which is in turn a development of the prisca theologia of the Middle Ages....
of non-human origin.
- “We say that it [the origin of the traditions] is polar, and the pole is nomore Western than it is Eastern. It is only in a later epoch that the seat of the primordial tradition, transferred to other regions, was able to become either Western or Eastern. We consider the origin of the traditions to be Nordic, and even more to be polar, since this is expressly affirmed in the Veda as well as in other sacred books.” http://books.google.fr/books?id=XGwEg0KDrYUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Traditional+forms+and+cosmic+cycles%22+%22primordial+tradition%22&source=bl&ots=QlUr668xn4&sig=WHcceS5PFyBsLwen7uaYP0revGo&hl=fr&ei=P9dBTYP0NIik8QPXi80F&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
In perennialist usage, esotericism is a metaphysical concept referring to a supposed “transcendent unity” of all great religious traditions. Esotericism is the metaphysical point of unity where exoteric religions are believed to converge. http://books.google.fr/books?id=HScR1XS6q7MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=schuon+%22transcendent+unity%22&source=bl&ots=waHDMGjHc_&sig=nQKx504zMGKuxVLqqvXTy0tQRE0&hl=fr&ei=9NBBTZDhAcmY8QP-_L0q&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
- “Our starting point is the acknowledgment of the fact that there are diverse religions which exclude each other. This could mean that one religion is right and that all the others are false; it could mean also that all are false. In reality, it means that all are right, not in their dogmatic exclusivism, but in their unanimous inner signification, which coincides with pure metaphysics, or in other terms, with the philosophia perennis.” (F. Schuon, 1995).
After all, the esoteric tradition may be recovered if the seeker undergoes initiation
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
.
- “Initiation is essentially the transmission of a spiritual influence, a transmission that can only take place through a regular, traditional organization, so that one cannot speak of initiation outside of an affiliation with an organization of this kind. We have explained that 'regularity' must be understood to exclude all pseudo-initiatic organizations, which, regardless of pretention and outward appearance, in no way possess any spiritual influence and thus are incapable of transmitting anything.”
History
Since esotericism is not a single tradition but a vast array of often unrelated figures and movements, there is no single historical thread underlying them all.The developments that one might wish to emphasize in drawing up a history of esotericism furthermore depends on whether esotericism in the dictionary (non-scholarly) or the scholarly sense is intended.
Several historically attested religions emphasize secret or hidden knowledge, and are thus esoteric in the dictionary sense, without necessarily being esoteric movements in the scholarly sense of the word. Thus, the Roman Empire had several mystery religions
Greco-Roman mysteries
Mystery religions, sacred Mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious cults of the Greco-Roman world, participation in which was reserved to initiates....
which emphasized initiation. Some saw Christianity, with its ritual of baptism, as a mystery religion. None of these are "esoteric" in the scholarly sense. The terms "Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
" and "Gnosis
Gnosis
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge . In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies 'spiritual knowledge' in the sense of mystical enlightenment.-Related...
" refer to a family of religious movements which claimed to possess secret knowledge (gnosis). Another important movement from the ancient world was Hermeticism
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
or Hermetism. Both of these are often seen as precursors to esoteric movements in the scholarly sense of the word.
Non-Western traditions can also display the characteristics of esoteric movements. The Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
Muslims also stress a distinction between the inner and the outer. It is believed that spiritual salvation is attained by receiving the 'Nur' (light) through the "esoteric", that is, spiritual search for enlightenment. Ismaili Islam also has some of the characteristics associated with esotericism as defined by Faivre, e.g. the belief in an intermediate spiritual sphere mediating between humans and the divine. Esoteric movements in Buddhism, which fall under the general category of Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
Buddhism, employ esoteric training into Buddha's teachings, through use of symbols, mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
and hand-gestures, or mudra
Mudra
A mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
. Initiation rituals are typically given to students as they progress along these paths, and care is taken not to discuss specific rituals to those lacking the right empowerment.
In order to distinguish esoteric currents based primarily on sources from late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages, from e.g. Islamic or Jewish currents with similar features, the more precise term "Western esotericism" is often employed.
Western esoteric movements in the scholarly sense thus have roots in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. A major phase in the development of Western esotericism begins in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, partly as the result of various attempts to revive such earlier movements. During the Italian Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, for example, translators such as Ficino
Marsilio Ficino
Marsilio Ficino was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance, an astrologer, a reviver of Neoplatonism who was in touch with every major academic thinker and writer of his day, and the first translator of Plato's complete extant works into Latin...
and Pico della Mirandola
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian Renaissance philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when at the age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy and magic against all comers, for which he wrote the famous Oration on the Dignity of...
turned their attention to the classical literature of Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
, and what was thought to be the pre-Mosaic tradition of Hermeticism
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
. Other pursuits of Antiquity that entered into the mix of esoteric speculation were astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
and alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
. Beside such revived currents from late Antiquity, a second major source of esoteric speculation is the Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, which was lifted out of its Jewish context and adapted to a Christian framework by people such as Johannes Reuchlin. Outside the Italian Renaissance, yet another major current of esotericism was initiated by Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
, who combined alchemical and astrological themes (among others) into a complex body of doctrines.
In the early 17th century, esotericism is represented by currents such as Christian theosophy
Theosophy (history of philosophy)
Theosophy , designates several bodies of ideas since Late Antiquity. The Greek term is attested on magical papyri .-Neoplatonism:...
and Rosicrucianism. A century later, esoteric ideas entered various strands of Freemasonry. Later in the 18th century, as well as in the early 19th century, the diffuse movement known as Mesmerism became a major expression of esotericism. In the 19th century, esotericism is also represented by certain aspects of the philosophy, literature and science associated with Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, by spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
, and by a notable French wave of occultism.
The major exponent of esotericism in the latter part of the 19th century is the Theosophy
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
of H. P. Blavatsky, not to be confused with the Christian Theosophy mentioned above. In the 20th century, Theosophy was reformulated by Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
, Charles Webster Leadbeater
Charles Webster Leadbeater
Charles Webster Leadbeater was an influential member of the Theosophical Society, author on occult subjects and co-initiator with J. I. Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church...
, Alice Bailey
Alice Bailey
Alice Ann Bailey , known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB to her followers, was an influential writer and theosophist in what she termed "Ageless Wisdom". This included occult teachings, "esoteric" psychology and healing, astrological and other philosophic and religious themes...
, Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
and many others, and became the source for a whole range of post-theosophical movements such as The Summit Lighthouse
The Summit Lighthouse
The Summit Lighthouse is an international New Age spiritual organization founded in 1958 by Mark L. Prophet. Today it is the outreach arm of Church Universal and Triumphant, founded in 1975 by Prophet's wife, Elizabeth Clare Prophet...
. A particularly successful post-theosophical movement is Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
, a synthesis of occultist, Christian and Neoplatonic ideas with Western esoteric concepts as formulated in the wake of Theosophy. Anthroposophy, which was founded by Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
in the early part of the 20th century, includes esoteric versions of education, agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
, and medicine.
Yet another notable esoteric strain stems from the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff
G. I. Gurdjieff
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff according to Gurdjieff's principles and instructions, or the "Fourth Way."At one point he described his teaching as "esoteric Christianity."...
and P. D. Ouspensky
P. D. Ouspensky
Peter D. Ouspensky , , a Russian esotericist known for his expositions of the early work of the Greek-Armenian teacher of esoteric doctrine George Gurdjieff, whom he met in Moscow in 1915.He was associated with the ideas and practices originating with...
.
Theosophy is also considered a major influence on the many less institutionally organized varieties of esotericism in metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
milieus, "Ascended Master Activities", and within the New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
.
Finally, it can be noted that Carl Gustav Jung can be seen as an exponent of esotericism: his writings concern esoteric subject matter such as alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, and rephrased the concept of correspondences in a modern, psychologizing terminology in his theory of synchronicity
Synchronicity
Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner...
.
Methodology
Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of “History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents” at the University of Amsterdam (1999). The Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) is the world's first academic institution to have created a complete program for research and teaching in the field of Western Esotericism.http://www.amsterdamhermetica.nl/index.php He is also president of the European Society for the Study of Western EsotericismEuropean Society for the Study of Western Esotericism
The European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism is Europe's only scholarly society for the study of Western esotericism. Founded in 2005, the society promotes academic study of the various manifestations of Western esotericism from late antiquity to the present, and works to secure the...
. Essential to Hanegraaff’s methodology is what he calls an “empirical” approach, with an informed, open, and, so much as possible, neutral mind. He makes a sharp division between a “religionist” perspective and an “empiricist” one.
- “Empirical research must be based on methodological agnosticism with regard to religious and philosophical ‘first principles’, and must fully recognize the historicity of religious phenomena. This empirical perspective is applied to the newly emerging academic field of esotericism.”
Secondly, Hanegraaff follows a distinction between an “emic” and an “etic” approach to religious studies. http://books.google.fr/books?id=GodzjIfO7e8C&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=Hanegraaff+emic+etic&source=bl&ots=BVmZwci1ay&sig=byewSWZ04K3NDLnXOv27qGsl_sQ&hl=fr&ei=FF5ATenPFsek8QPW0Jm6BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Hanegraaff%20emic%20etic&f=false The emic approach is that of the alchemist or theosopher as an alchemist or theosopher. The etic approach is that of the scholar as an historian, a researcher, with a critical look. An empirical study of esotericism needs “emic material and etic interpretation”.
- “The principal theoretical tool to safeguard scientific legitimity in this situation is the distinction between emic and etic. Emic denotes the believer’s point of view. On the part of the researcher, the reconstruction of this emic perspective requires an attitude of empathy which excludes personel biases as far as possible. Scholarly discourse about religion, on the other hand, is not emic but etic. Scholars may introduce their own terminology and make theoretical distinctions which are different from those of the believers themselves.”
Pierre A. Riffard
Pierre A. Riffard
Pierre A. Riffard is a French philosopher and specialist in esotericism. Born in Toulouse , he is a professor of pedagogy and philosophy at the University of the French West Indies and Guiana ....
(Ph.D., University of the French West Indies) studies the method used by esotericists themselves (alchemists, magicians, Rosicrucians, Anthroposophists...). He examines some of their procedures. 1) Mythological origins. The esotericists trace the origins of their doctrine or practice to an extremely distant past. They situate the life of Hermes in times immemorial. 2) Cosmic cycles. For Gaston Georgel, “history is governed by cycles of 540, 1080 and 2160 years”. 3) The chains of initiation. Some Rosicrucians include Francis Bacon among their masters and trace their origins back to the time of Thutmosis III. 4) The secret books. Esotericists prefer to base their beliefs on secret writings, unknown to the majority of people and inaccessible to the uninitiated: for instance, among the Theosophists, The Book of Dzyan. 5) Spiritual interpretations. The esotericists are able to endow the most profane texts with an occult meaning. The alchemists discover within the Greek and Roman myths the Great Work of alchemy. 6) Magical uses. A book can be used as a talisman, a divinatory machine... The Sortes Sanctorum (Lots of the saints) were, in early Christianity, a divination which consists in taking passages of the Bible at chance, and drawing conclusions from them concerning future. http://books.google.fr/books?id=GodzjIfO7e8C&pg=PR7&lpg=PR7&dq=%22western+esotericism+and+the+science+of+religions%22&source=bl&ots=BVmZx7m8gF&sig=V_o5odZa7cx0K9fS521aZo5k8R0&hl=fr&ei=AzRBTZvgIJW64gb5tPUU&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false
Arthur Versluis (Professor, Ph.D., Michigan State University) proposes the term “sympathetic empiricism” as the approach that he finds most amenable in the study of Western Esotericism.
- “While I am convinced of the critical importance of historiography in the study of esotericism (and for this reason all of my academic books are firmly grounded in historical method) I do not believe that historiography is adequate in itself to convey the complex, multivalent nature of esoteric thought, traditions, or most of all, experience. Esotericism, given all its varied forms and its inherently multidimensional nature, cannot be conveyed without going beyond purely historical information: at minimum, the study of esotericism, and in particular mysticism, requires some degree of imaginative participation in what one is studying.” http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeV/Mysticism.html
See also
- ArcheosophyArcheosophyArcheosophy is an original form of Esoteric Christianity developed by Tommaso Palamidessi in the late 1960s.-Definition:...
- BehmenismBehmenismBehmenism, also Behemenism and similar, is the English-language designation for a 17th Century European Christian movement based on the teachings of German mystic and theosopher Jakob Böhme . The term was not usually applied by followers of Böhme's theosophy to themselves, but rather was used by...
- ClairvoyanceClairvoyanceThe term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
- Esoteric Buddhism
- Esoteric ChristianityEsoteric ChristianityEsoteric Christianity is a term which refers to an ensemble of spiritual currents which regard Christianity as a mystery religion, and profess the existence and possession of certain esoteric doctrines or practices, hidden from the public but accessible only to a narrow circle of "enlightened",...
- Esoteric cosmologyEsoteric cosmologyEsoteric cosmology is cosmology that is an intrinsic part of an esoteric or occult system of thought. It almost always deals with at least some of the following themes: emanation, involution, spiritual evolution, epigenesis, planes of existence or higher worlds , hierarchies of spiritual beings,...
- Esoteric healing
- Esotericism in Germany and AustriaEsotericism in Germany and AustriaThis article gives an overview of esoteric movements in Germany and Austria between 1880 and 1945, presenting Theosophy, Anthroposophy and Ariosophy, among others, against the influences of earlier European esotericism.-Knights Templar and occultism:...
- FreemasonryFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
- HunaHunaFor other uses, see HunaHuna is a Hawaiian word adopted by Max Freedom Long in 1936 to describe his theory of metaphysics which he linked to ancient Hawaiian kahuna...
- IlluminatiIlluminatiThe Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
- KarmaKarmaKarma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
- List of Buddhist topics
- List of spirituality-related topics
- List of religious, esoteric, metaphysical and mystical symbols
- Magic and religionMagic and religionMagical thinking in various forms is a cultural universal and an important aspect of religion.In many cases it becomes difficult or impossible to draw any meaningful line between beliefs and practices that are magical versus those that are religious, but in general the term religion is reserved for...
- MartinismMartinismMartinism is a form of mystical and esoteric Christianity concerned with the fall of the first man, his state of material privation from his divine source, and the process of his return, called 'Reintegration' or illumination....
- MerkabahMerkabahMerkabah is the throne-chariot of God, the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four "chayot" , each of which has four wings and the four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle...
- MysticismMysticismMysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
- New World OrderNew World OrderNew World Order, New world order or The New World Order may refer to:*New world order , any period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power...
- NumerologyNumerologyNumerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
- ObscurantismObscurantismObscurantism is the practice of deliberately preventing the facts or the full details of some matter from becoming known. There are two, common, historical and intellectual, denotations: 1) restricting knowledge—opposition to the spread of knowledge, a policy of withholding knowledge from the...
- OccultOccultThe word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
- Odic forceOdic forceThe Odic force is the name given in the mid-19th century to a hypothetical vital energy or life force by Baron Carl von Reichenbach...
- Plane (esotericism)Plane (esotericism)In esoteric cosmology, a plane, other than the physical plane is conceived as a subtle state of consciousness that transcends the known physical universe....
(Planes of existence) - QigongQigongQigong or chi kung is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation...
- ReincarnationReincarnationReincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
- ScientologyScientologyScientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
- Spiritual evolutionSpiritual evolutionSpiritual evolution is the philosophical, theological, esoteric or spiritual idea that nature and human beings and/or human culture evolve, extending from the established cosmological pattern or ascent, or in accordance with certain pre-established potentials...
- SpiritualitySpiritualitySpirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
- TelepathyTelepathyTelepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
- Western Esotericism (academia)Western Esotericism (academia)Western Esotericism is an academic field of research, scholarship, and education that focuses on the history of European and Middle Eastern Esotericism....
- Western mystery traditionWestern mystery traditionWestern esotericism or Hermeticism is a broad spectrum of spiritual traditions found in Western society, or refers to the collection of the mystical, esoteric knowledge of the Western world...
Further reading
- Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism, Leiden: Brill, since 2001. http://brill.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/arie
- Aries Book Series: Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism, Leiden: Brill, since 2006. http://www.brill.nl/arbs
- Esoterica, East Lansing, Michigan State University (MSU). An online resource since 1999 http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Contents.html. I (1999) http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Contents.html#Volume1; VIII (2006) http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeVIII/EsotericaVIII.pdf; IX (2007) http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeIX/EsotericaIX.pdf
- Antoine FaivreAntoine FaivreAntoine Faivre is a prominent French scholar of esoterism. Until his retirement, he held a chair in the École Pratique des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne, University Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Haute-Normandie, director of the Cahiers del Hermétisme and of Bibliothèque de...
, Access to Western Esotericism (1986), Albany: State University of New York Press (“SUNY Séries in Western Esoteric Traditions”), 1994, X-369 p. http://books.google.fr/books?id=HXk9lnPx0_MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%27%27Access+to+Western+Esotericism%27%27&source=bl&ots=3cfP-3YbX8&sig=jU6Md2IXXTOQclHiBdKF0EdM9Uk&hl=fr&ei=z38-TdmgMpyG4gaj_tCvCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false - Antoine FaivreAntoine FaivreAntoine Faivre is a prominent French scholar of esoterism. Until his retirement, he held a chair in the École Pratique des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne, University Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Haute-Normandie, director of the Cahiers del Hermétisme and of Bibliothèque de...
, Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism (1996), Albany: SUNY Press (“SUNY Séries in Western Esoteric Traditions”), 2000, XXXV-269 p. http://books.google.fr/books?id=ZW4FtJLNe-kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%27%27Theosophy,+Imagination,+Tradition:+Studies+in+Western+Esotericism%27%27&source=bl&ots=oupghU9qi_&sig=ijsFXJZv20C2UrAkn_uXFgQpLJU&hl=fr&ei=ZIA-TdW4K4mG5AaulvzWCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false - René GuénonRené GuénonRené Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
, Perspectives on initiation (1946), New York: Sophia perennis, 2004, 320 p. http://books.google.fr/books?id=lfrXdz01X8kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gu%C3%A9non+%22Perspectives+on+initiation%22&source=bl&ots=S3wt73EbPm&sig=jIgf5snAChRaKEq0L0fylFf5mao&hl=fr&ei=jvY7TeCWNMeq8QPF4rW_CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false - Wouter J. Hanegraaff, “The Study of Western Esotericism: New Approaches to Christian and Secular Culture”, in Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz and Randi R. Warne, New Approaches to the Study of Religion, vol. I: Regional, Critical, and Historical Approaches, Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2004, 497 p. http://books.google.fr/books?id=OYsk8ZtJaMIC&pg=PA489&lpg=PA489&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+Study+of+Western+Esotericism:+New+Approaches+to+Christian+and+Secular+Culture&source=bl&ots=IcmnMDcPww&sig=XX7jRaTy4JL49DRWXJnlYaaUvGs&hl=fr&ei=4YA-Tb-yNYmj4Qa0qK22Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CThe%20Study%20of%20Western%20Esotericism%3A%20New%20Approaches%20to%20Christian%20and%20Secular%20Culture&f=false]
- WouterJ. Hanegraaff (ed.), in collaboration with Antoine Faivre, Roelof van den Broek, Jean-Pierre Brach, Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, Leiden / Bristol: Brill, 2005, 2 vols., 1228 p. ISBN 90-04-14187-1.
- Édouard SchuréÉdouard SchuréEduard Schuré was a French philosopher, poet, playwright, novelist, music critic, and publicist of esoteric literature.- Biography :...
, The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions (1889), Blauvelt (N.Y.): Garber Books, 1992, 480 p. http://books.google.fr/books?id=92K99tgkbesC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22The+Great+Initiates%22&source=bl&ots=zhF7btr2kX&sig=_JsKRENmyQJl9kfNXzP0JORPjSo&hl=fr&ei=hgo_Ter0HImA5AbZo5WiCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false “Rama, Krishna, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Jesus.” - Kocku von Stuckrad, Western Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret Knowledge (2004), London / Oakville: Equinox Publishing, 2005, XVII-167 p. http://www.scribd.com/doc/34348366/Western-Esoteric-Ism-A-Brief-History-of-Secret-Knowledge-by-Kocku-Von-Stuckrad-KnowledgeBorn-Library
- Arthur Versluis, Magic and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esotericism, Plymouth: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007, 208 pages. http://books.google.fr/books?id=1X2bEHOk8L4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Arthur+Versluis,+%27%27Magic+and+Mysticism&source=bl&ots=hLfThnyxyI&sig=xzWzdb6Ntb_wpl_g6UaGO_5wZsQ&hl=fr&ei=4_45TcGfFILA8QPXhZTTCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Benjamin WalkerBenjamin WalkerBenjamin Walker is the truncated pen name of George Benjamin Walker, who also writes under the pseudonym Jivan Bhakar...
, Encyclopedia of Esoteric Man: The Hidden Side of the Human Entity, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1977, 353 p. ISBN 0-7100-8479-X. New title: Body Magic, London: Granada Publishing, “Paladin Books”, 1979, 478 p. ISBN 0-586-08323-5. Arranged alphabetically. - Benjamin Walker, Man and the Beasts Within: The Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric, and the Supernatural, New York: Stein and Day, 1978, 343 p. ISBN 0-8128-1900-4
External links
- The Esoteric Buddhist School in Europe
- The Irish Hanmi Buddhist School
- University of Amsterdam Center for Study of Western Esotericism Research & BA/MA programs in Western esotericism.
- University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO)
- ESSWE European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, with many links to associated organizations, libraries, scholars etc.
- Association for the Study of Esotericism
- Esoterism and Exoterism (René Guénon)
- What is understood by “Western Esotericism”? (Prof. Wouter Hanegraaff)
- What is Esotericism ? (Prof. Kocku von Stuckrad)
- What is Esoteric? (Prof. Arthur Versluis)