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"Arcane"
and "Esoteric" redirect here. For other uses, see Arcane (disambiguation) and Esoteric (disambiguation).
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the
holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs,[1] that is, ideas
preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of
rare or unusual interest.[2] The term derives
from the Greek ἐσωτερικός (esôterikos),
a compound ofἔσω (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.[3]
Examples of
esoteric religious movements and philosophies include Alchemy, Astrology, Anthroposophy, early Christian
mysticism,[4]Magic, Mesmerism, Rosicrucianism, Swedenborgianism, Spiritualism, the Alawites,[5] 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.
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Plato, 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.[6]
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.[7][1]. It entered the
English language in the 1880s via the works of theosophist Alfred
Sinnett.
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 Faivre. 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.[8] 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.
“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.” [9] [2]
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.[10] [3]
“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).
“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.” [11]
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.[12] 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 byParacelsus, 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 ofoccultism.
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 further developed by Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater, while people like Alice Bailey, Rudolf Steiner and many others,
became the source for a whole range of post-theosophical movements such as The Summit Lighthouse. The post-theosophical Anthroposophical movement is a synthesis
of occultist, Christian and Neoplatonic ideas with Western
esoteric concepts
as formulated in the wake of Theosophy. Anthroposophy, which was founded byRudolf Steiner in the early part
of the 20th century, includes esoteric versions of education, agriculture, and medicine.[13]
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 metaphysicalmilieus,
"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 ofsynchronicity.
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.[4] He
is also president of the European Society for the Study
of Western Esotericism. 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.” [14]
Secondly,
Hanegraaff follows a distinction between an “emic” and an “etic” approach to
religious studies. [5] 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 personal 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.” [15]
Pierre A. Riffard (Ph.D., University
of the French West Indies) studies the method used by esotericists themselves
(alchemists, magicians, Rosicrucians, Anthroposophists...).[16] 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. [6]
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.”[17] [7]
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§ Huna
§ Karma
§ Merkabah
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§ Occult
§ Qigong
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4.
^ Stroumsa,
G. (2005). Hidden wisdom: esoteric traditions and the roots of
Christian mysticism. Leiden: Brill.
6.
^ Lucian
of Samosata, The Auction of Lives (also called The
Auction of the Philosophical Schools), § 26. Pierre A. Riffard, L’ésotérisme.
Qu’est-ce que l’ésotérisme?, Paris: Robert Laffont, coll. “Bouquins”, 1990,
65. "O que é o Esoterismo".
Paginasesotericas.tripod.com. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
7.
^ Jacques
Matter, Histoire critique du gnosticisme, Paris: Levrault, 1928, 83
(Jean-Pierre Laurant, L’ésotérisme chrétien en France au XIX° siècle,
Lausanne: L’Âge d’homme, 1992, 13-48 ; L’ésotérisme, Paris:
Cerf, 1993, 40-41.)
8.
^ Antoine Faivre, Access to Western
Esotericism, Albany: State University of New York Press (“SUNY Series in
Western Esoteric Traditions”), 1994, 10-15. Wouter J. Hanegraaff (ed.), Dictionary
of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2005, I, 340.
9.
^ René
Guénon, Traditional forms and cosmic cycles (1925-1949, first
published in 1970), New York: Sophia perennis, 2003, 16.
12.
^ Jean-Paul
Corsetti, Histoire de l’ésotérisme et des sciences occultes, Paris:
Larousse, coll. “Références”, 1992, 17-319. Kocku von Struckrad, Western
Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret Knowledge (2004), London /
Oakville: Equinox Publishing, 2005, 12-145. Arthur Versluis, Magic and
Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esotericism, Plymouth: Rowman and
Littlefield, 2007, 11-264.
14.
^ Wouter
J. Hanegraaff, “Empirical Method in the Study of Esotericism”, in Method
and Theory in the Study of Religion, Florida State University, 7:2 (1995),
99-129.
15.
^ Wouter
J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture. Esotericism in the
Mirror of Secular Thought, Albany: State University of New York Press,
1998, 6.
16.
^ Pierre
A. Riffard, “The Esoteric Method”, in Western Esotericism and the
Science of Religion, Leuven: Peeters, coll. “Gnostica”, 1998, 63-74.
17.
^ Arthur
Versluis, “Methods in the Study of Esotericism, Part II: Mysticism and the
Study of Esotericism”, in Esoterica, Michigan State University, V,
2003, 27-40.
§ Esoterica,
East Lansing, Michigan State University (MSU). An online resource since 1999 [10]. I (1999) [11]; VIII (2006) [12]; IX (2007) [13]
§ Antoine Faivre, Access to Western
Esotericism (1986),
Albany: State University of New York Press (“SUNY Séries in Western Esoteric
Traditions”), 1994, X-369 p. [14]
§ Antoine Faivre, Theosophy,
Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism (1996), Albany:
SUNY Press (“SUNY Séries in Western Esoteric Traditions”), 2000, XXXV-269 p. [15]
§ 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. [17]
§ Wouter
J. 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
Schuré, The
Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions (1889), Blauvelt
(N.Y.): Garber Books, 1992, 480 p.[18] “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. [19]
§ Arthur
Versluis, Magic
and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esotericism,
Plymouth: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007, 208 pages.[20]
§ Benjamin Walker, 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
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§ University of Amsterdam Center for Study of Western Esotericism Research & BA/MA
programs in Western esotericism.
§ ESSWE European Society
for the Study of Western Esotericism, with many links to associated
organizations, libraries, scholars etc.
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