manu/mldr-zoomed-100char-total-queries-documents

chunk_id stringlengths 3 9	chunk stringlengths 1 100
9858_73	previously, had not been in the same analytical grouping. According to the scholar of esotericism
9858_74	Wouter J. Hanegraaff, the term provided a "useful generic label" for "a large and complicated group
9858_75	of historical phenomena that had long been perceived as sharing an air de famille."
9858_76	Various academics have emphasised that esotericism is a phenomenon unique to the Western world. As
9858_77	Faivre stated, an "empirical perspective" would hold that "esotericism is a Western notion." As
9858_78	scholars such as Faivre and Hanegraaff have pointed out, there is no comparable category of
9858_79	"Eastern" or "Oriental" esotericism. The emphasis on Western esotericism was nevertheless primarily
9858_80	devised to distinguish the field from a universal esotericism. Hanegraaff has characterised these
9858_81	as "recognisable world views and approaches to knowledge that have played an important though
9858_82	always controversial role in the history of Western culture". Historian of religion Henrik Bogdan
9858_83	asserted that Western esotericism constituted "a third pillar of Western culture" alongside
9858_84	"doctrinal faith and rationality", being deemed heretical by the former and irrational by the
9858_85	latter. Scholars nevertheless recognise that various non-Western traditions have exerted "a
9858_86	profound influence" over Western esotericism, citing the prominent example of the Theosophical
9858_87	Society's incorporation of Hindu and Buddhist concepts like reincarnation into its doctrines. Given
9858_88	these influences and the imprecise nature of the term "Western", the scholar of esotericism Kennet
9858_89	Granholm has argued that academics should cease referring to "Western esotericism" altogether,
9858_90	instead simply favouring "esotericism" as a descriptor of this phenomenon. Egil Asprem has endorsed
9858_91	this approach.
9858_92	Definition
9858_93	The historian of esotericism Antoine Faivre noted that "never a precise term, [esotericism] has
9858_94	begun to overflow its boundaries on all sides", with both Faivre and Karen-Claire Voss stating that
9858_95	Western esotericism consists of "a vast spectrum of authors, trends, works of philosophy, religion,
9858_96	art, literature, and music".
9858_97	Scholars broadly agree on which currents of thought fall within a category of esotericism—ranging
9858_98	from ancient Gnosticism and Hermetism through to Rosicrucianism and the Kabbalah and on to more
9858_99	recent phenomenon such as the New Age movement. Nevertheless, esotericism itself remains a
9858_100	controversial term, with scholars specialising in the subject disagreeing as to best define it.
9858_101	Esotericism as a universal, secret, inner tradition
9858_102	Some scholars have used Western esotericism to refer to "inner traditions" concerned with a
9858_103	"universal spiritual dimension of reality, as opposed to the merely external ('exoteric') religious
9858_104	institutions and dogmatic systems of established religions." This approach views Western
9858_105	esotericism as just one variant of a worldwide esotericism at the heart of all world religions and
9858_106	cultures, reflecting a hidden esoteric reality. This use is closest to the original meaning of the
9858_107	word in late antiquity, where it applied to secret spiritual teachings that were reserved for a
9858_108	specific elite and hidden from the masses. This definition was popularised in the published work of
9858_109	nineteenth-century esotericists like A.E. Waite, who sought to combine their own mystical beliefs
9858_110	with a historical interpretation of esotericism. It subsequently became a popular approach within
9858_111	several esoteric movements, most notably Martinism and Traditionalism.
9858_112	This definition, originally developed by esotericists themselves, became popular among French
9858_113	academics during the 1980s, exerting a strong influence over the scholars Mircea Eliade, Henry
9858_114	Corbin, and the early work of Faivre. Within the academic field of religious studies, those who
9858_115	study different religions in search of an inner universal dimension to them all are termed
9858_116	"religionists". Such religionist ideas also exerted an influence on more recent scholars like
9858_117	Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and Arthur Versluis.
9858_118	Versluis for instance defined "Western esotericism" as "inner or hidden spiritual knowledge
9858_119	transmitted through Western European historical currents that in turn feed into North American and
9858_120	other non-European settings". He added that these Western esoteric currents all shared a core
9858_121	characteristic, "a claim to gnosis, or direct spiritual insight into cosmology or spiritual
9858_122	insight", and accordingly he suggested that these currents could be referred to as "Western
9858_123	gnostic" just as much as "Western esoteric".
9858_124	There are various problems with this model for understanding Western esotericism. The most
9858_125	significant is that it rests upon the conviction that there really is a "universal, hidden,
9858_126	esoteric dimension of reality" that objectively exists. The existence of this universal inner
9858_127	tradition has not been discovered through scientific or scholarly enquiry; this had led some to
9858_128	claim that it does not exist, though Hanegraaff thought it better to adopt a view based in
9858_129	methodological agnosticism by stating that "we simply do not know - and cannot know" if it exists
9858_130	or not. He noted that, even if such a true and absolute nature of reality really existed, it would
9858_131	only be accessible through "esoteric" spiritual practices, and could not be discovered or measured
9858_132	by the "exoteric" tools of scientific and scholarly enquiry. Hanegraaff pointed out that an
9858_133	approach that seeks a common inner hidden core of all esoteric currents masks that such groups
9858_134	often differ greatly, being rooted in their own historical and social contexts and expressing
9858_135	mutually exclusive ideas and agendas. A third issue was that many of those currents widely
9858_136	recognised as esoteric never concealed their teachings, and in the twentieth century came to
9858_137	permeate popular culture, thus problematizing the claim that esotericism could be defined by its
9858_138	hidden and secretive nature. Moreover, Hanegraaff noted that when scholars adopt this definition,
9858_139	it shows that they subscribe to the religious doctrines espoused by the very groups they are
9858_140	studying.
9858_141	Esotericism as an enchanted world view
9858_142	Another approach to Western esotericism treats it as a world view that embraces "enchantment" in
9858_143	contrast to world views influenced by post-Cartesian, post-Newtonian, and positivist science that
9858_144	sought to "dis-enchant" the world. That approach understands esotericism as comprising those world
9858_145	views that eschew a belief in instrumental causality and instead adopt a belief that all parts of
9858_146	the universe are interrelated without a need for causal chains. It stands as a radical alternative
9858_147	to the disenchanted world views that have dominated Western culture since the scientific
9858_148	revolution, and must therefore always be at odds with secular culture.
9858_149	An early exponent of this definition was the historian of Renaissance thought Frances Yates in her
9858_150	discussions of a Hermetic Tradition, which she saw as an "enchanted" alternative to established
9858_151	religion and rationalistic science. However, the primary exponent of this view was Faivre, who
9858_152	published a series of criteria for how to define "Western esotericism" in 1992. Faivre claimed that
9858_153	esotericism was "identifiable by the presence of six fundamental characteristics or components",
9858_154	four of which were "intrinsic" and thus vital to defining something as being esoteric, while the
9858_155	other two were "secondary" and thus not necessarily present in every form of esotericism. He listed
9858_156	these characteristics as follows:
9858_157	"Correspondences": This is the idea that there are both real and symbolic correspondences existing
9858_158	between all things within the universe. As examples for this, Faivre pointed to the esoteric
9858_159	concept of the macrocosm and microcosm, often presented as the dictum of "as above, so below", as
9858_160	well as the astrological idea that the actions of the planets have a direct corresponding influence
9858_161	on the behaviour of human beings.
9858_162	"Living Nature": Faivre argued that all esotericists envision the natural universe as being imbued
9858_163	with its own life force, and that as such they understand it as being "complex, plural,
9858_164	hierarchical".
9858_165	"Imagination and Mediations": Faivre believed that all esotericists place great emphasis on both
9858_166	the human imagination, and mediations—"such as rituals, symbolic images, mandalas, intermediary
9858_167	spirits"—and mantras as tools that provide access to worlds and levels of reality existing between
9858_168	the material world and the divine.
9858_169	"Experience of Transmutation": Faivre's fourth intrinsic characteristic of esotericism was the
9858_170	emphasis that esotericists place on fundamentally transforming themselves through their practice,
9858_171	for instance through the spiritual transformation that is alleged to accompany the attainment of
9858_172	gnosis.

9858_73

previously, had not been in the same analytical grouping. According to the scholar of esotericism

9858_74

Wouter J. Hanegraaff, the term provided a "useful generic label" for "a large and complicated group

9858_75

of historical phenomena that had long been perceived as sharing an air de famille."

9858_76

Various academics have emphasised that esotericism is a phenomenon unique to the Western world. As

9858_77

Faivre stated, an "empirical perspective" would hold that "esotericism is a Western notion." As

9858_78

scholars such as Faivre and Hanegraaff have pointed out, there is no comparable category of

9858_79

"Eastern" or "Oriental" esotericism. The emphasis on Western esotericism was nevertheless primarily

9858_80

devised to distinguish the field from a universal esotericism. Hanegraaff has characterised these

9858_81

as "recognisable world views and approaches to knowledge that have played an important though

9858_82

always controversial role in the history of Western culture". Historian of religion Henrik Bogdan

9858_83

asserted that Western esotericism constituted "a third pillar of Western culture" alongside

9858_84

"doctrinal faith and rationality", being deemed heretical by the former and irrational by the

9858_85

latter. Scholars nevertheless recognise that various non-Western traditions have exerted "a

9858_86

profound influence" over Western esotericism, citing the prominent example of the Theosophical

9858_87

Society's incorporation of Hindu and Buddhist concepts like reincarnation into its doctrines. Given

9858_88

these influences and the imprecise nature of the term "Western", the scholar of esotericism Kennet

9858_89

Granholm has argued that academics should cease referring to "Western esotericism" altogether,

9858_90

instead simply favouring "esotericism" as a descriptor of this phenomenon. Egil Asprem has endorsed

9858_91

this approach.

9858_92

Definition

9858_93

The historian of esotericism Antoine Faivre noted that "never a precise term, [esotericism] has

9858_94

begun to overflow its boundaries on all sides", with both Faivre and Karen-Claire Voss stating that

9858_95

Western esotericism consists of "a vast spectrum of authors, trends, works of philosophy, religion,

9858_96

art, literature, and music".

9858_97

Scholars broadly agree on which currents of thought fall within a category of esotericism—ranging

9858_98

from ancient Gnosticism and Hermetism through to Rosicrucianism and the Kabbalah and on to more

9858_99

recent phenomenon such as the New Age movement. Nevertheless, esotericism itself remains a

9858_100

controversial term, with scholars specialising in the subject disagreeing as to best define it.

9858_101

Esotericism as a universal, secret, inner tradition

9858_102

Some scholars have used Western esotericism to refer to "inner traditions" concerned with a

9858_103

"universal spiritual dimension of reality, as opposed to the merely external ('exoteric') religious

9858_104

institutions and dogmatic systems of established religions." This approach views Western

9858_105

esotericism as just one variant of a worldwide esotericism at the heart of all world religions and

9858_106

cultures, reflecting a hidden esoteric reality. This use is closest to the original meaning of the

9858_107

word in late antiquity, where it applied to secret spiritual teachings that were reserved for a

9858_108

specific elite and hidden from the masses. This definition was popularised in the published work of

9858_109

nineteenth-century esotericists like A.E. Waite, who sought to combine their own mystical beliefs

9858_110

with a historical interpretation of esotericism. It subsequently became a popular approach within

9858_111

several esoteric movements, most notably Martinism and Traditionalism.

9858_112

This definition, originally developed by esotericists themselves, became popular among French

9858_113

academics during the 1980s, exerting a strong influence over the scholars Mircea Eliade, Henry

9858_114

Corbin, and the early work of Faivre. Within the academic field of religious studies, those who

9858_115

study different religions in search of an inner universal dimension to them all are termed

9858_116

"religionists". Such religionist ideas also exerted an influence on more recent scholars like

9858_117

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and Arthur Versluis.

9858_118

Versluis for instance defined "Western esotericism" as "inner or hidden spiritual knowledge

9858_119

transmitted through Western European historical currents that in turn feed into North American and

9858_120

other non-European settings". He added that these Western esoteric currents all shared a core

9858_121

characteristic, "a claim to gnosis, or direct spiritual insight into cosmology or spiritual

9858_122

insight", and accordingly he suggested that these currents could be referred to as "Western

9858_123

gnostic" just as much as "Western esoteric".

9858_124

There are various problems with this model for understanding Western esotericism. The most

9858_125

significant is that it rests upon the conviction that there really is a "universal, hidden,

9858_126

esoteric dimension of reality" that objectively exists. The existence of this universal inner

9858_127

tradition has not been discovered through scientific or scholarly enquiry; this had led some to

9858_128

claim that it does not exist, though Hanegraaff thought it better to adopt a view based in

9858_129

methodological agnosticism by stating that "we simply do not know - and cannot know" if it exists

9858_130

or not. He noted that, even if such a true and absolute nature of reality really existed, it would

9858_131

only be accessible through "esoteric" spiritual practices, and could not be discovered or measured

9858_132

by the "exoteric" tools of scientific and scholarly enquiry. Hanegraaff pointed out that an

9858_133

approach that seeks a common inner hidden core of all esoteric currents masks that such groups

9858_134

often differ greatly, being rooted in their own historical and social contexts and expressing

9858_135

mutually exclusive ideas and agendas. A third issue was that many of those currents widely

9858_136

recognised as esoteric never concealed their teachings, and in the twentieth century came to

9858_137

permeate popular culture, thus problematizing the claim that esotericism could be defined by its

9858_138

hidden and secretive nature. Moreover, Hanegraaff noted that when scholars adopt this definition,

9858_139

it shows that they subscribe to the religious doctrines espoused by the very groups they are

9858_140

studying.

9858_141

Esotericism as an enchanted world view

9858_142

Another approach to Western esotericism treats it as a world view that embraces "enchantment" in

9858_143

contrast to world views influenced by post-Cartesian, post-Newtonian, and positivist science that

9858_144

sought to "dis-enchant" the world. That approach understands esotericism as comprising those world

9858_145

views that eschew a belief in instrumental causality and instead adopt a belief that all parts of

9858_146

the universe are interrelated without a need for causal chains. It stands as a radical alternative

9858_147

to the disenchanted world views that have dominated Western culture since the scientific

9858_148

revolution, and must therefore always be at odds with secular culture.

9858_149

An early exponent of this definition was the historian of Renaissance thought Frances Yates in her

9858_150

discussions of a Hermetic Tradition, which she saw as an "enchanted" alternative to established

9858_151

religion and rationalistic science. However, the primary exponent of this view was Faivre, who

9858_152

published a series of criteria for how to define "Western esotericism" in 1992. Faivre claimed that

9858_153

esotericism was "identifiable by the presence of six fundamental characteristics or components",

9858_154

four of which were "intrinsic" and thus vital to defining something as being esoteric, while the

9858_155

other two were "secondary" and thus not necessarily present in every form of esotericism. He listed

9858_156

these characteristics as follows:

9858_157

"Correspondences": This is the idea that there are both real and symbolic correspondences existing

9858_158

between all things within the universe. As examples for this, Faivre pointed to the esoteric

9858_159

concept of the macrocosm and microcosm, often presented as the dictum of "as above, so below", as

9858_160

well as the astrological idea that the actions of the planets have a direct corresponding influence

9858_161

on the behaviour of human beings.

9858_162

"Living Nature": Faivre argued that all esotericists envision the natural universe as being imbued

9858_163

with its own life force, and that as such they understand it as being "complex, plural,

9858_164

hierarchical".

9858_165

"Imagination and Mediations": Faivre believed that all esotericists place great emphasis on both

9858_166

the human imagination, and mediations—"such as rituals, symbolic images, mandalas, intermediary

9858_167

spirits"—and mantras as tools that provide access to worlds and levels of reality existing between

9858_168

the material world and the divine.

9858_169

"Experience of Transmutation": Faivre's fourth intrinsic characteristic of esotericism was the

9858_170

emphasis that esotericists place on fundamentally transforming themselves through their practice,

9858_171

for instance through the spiritual transformation that is alleged to accompany the attainment of

9858_172

gnosis.