Esotericism
Esotericism derives from the Greek term eiso and éso which mean "inside" or "within." Traditionally, "it has been used for the insights given by teachers to elitist 'inner circles' through oral transmission." [1]
Related LP Terms
Esotericism > Elite Religion, Elite Spirituality, European Grand Narrative
Non-LP Related Terms
Esotericism > Common Core, Philosophia Perennis, Pia Philosophia, Prisca Theologia
Notes
"These original meanings are reflected in several European languages in which derivations of esoterikós are used for everything that is known by only a small group of insiders with purportedly superior knowledge (see Hanegraaff 2006, 336)."[2]
The term is related to the term occultisme' which "was first used in 1842 in a French dictionary entry to denote the dubious hidden agendas of priests and aristocrats."[3]
The term was later co-opted by "Alphonse‐Louis Constant, a.k.a. Eliphas Lévi, whose writings are seminal for modern magic and occultism, adopted the term from Ragon and popularized it. Occultism became synonymous with ancient wisdom about the mysteries of nature – with magic, alchemy, Kabbalah, and astrology as major occult disciplines..." Ironicially, Lévi and other occultists were involved in creating secret systems of knowledge intended for elite audiences and designed for social control, as the example of the Freemasons Tarot demonstrates.[4] Their "revision" of the term was likly an intentional effort to downplay and obscure the elitist nature of esotericism by providing a diversionary gloss over the term.
"Scholars of religion often use esotericism to categorize activities based on the practice “of reserving certain kinds of salvific knowledge for a selected elite of initiated disciples” (Hanegraaff 2006, 337). Secrecy as social and religious capital (see also von Stuckrad 2010, 54–59) involves concealed membership, secret doctrines and rituals, secret signs and codes, vows of silence, hidden meeting places, probation and preparatory periods, followed by initiations through skilled teachers or priests. Insofar as esoteric forms of group building intend to survive for more than one generation, their secret cannot be kept totally hidden within the core group. An often complex intertwining of conceal- ment and disclosure takes place."[5]
Esoteric Schools
Mahayana Buddhism, " the Bauls of Bengal and of certain schools of Hindu tantra can also be categorized as “esoteric” in this sense, as can European initiatory societies like the Masonic lodges, the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross, the Illuminati, the Theosophical Society, and the Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn with its different offshoots."[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ Baier, Karl. “Esotericism.” In Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by Robert A Segal and Nickolas P. Roubekas. Blackwell, 2021. p. 229
- ↑ Baier, Karl. “Esotericism.” In Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by Robert A Segal and Nickolas P. Roubekas. Blackwell, 2021. p. 229
- ↑ Baier, Karl. “Esotericism.” In Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by Robert A Segal and Nickolas P. Roubekas. Blackwell, 2021. p. 330
- ↑ Sosteric, Mike. “A Sociology of Tarot.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 39, no. 3 (2014). https://www.academia.edu/25055505/.
- ↑ Baier, Karl. “Esotericism.” In Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by Robert A Segal and Nickolas P. Roubekas. Blackwell, 2021. p. 232
- ↑ Baier, Karl. “Esotericism.” In Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by Robert A Segal and Nickolas P. Roubekas. Blackwell, 2021. p. 232
