Esoteric Tradition

Daoism, as the primary indigenous religion of China, is a highly esoteric tradition. Constructed of many different strands, over several thousand years, Daoism has a complex history of integrating various techniques of meditation, spirit communication, consciousness projection, bodily movements, medicine, and "internal alchemy" with a profound transpersonal philosophy of nature and a metaphysics of human relationships based on an ideal of spiritual transformation leading to immortality... 

Deveney, John Patrick. Paschal Beverly Randolph a nineteenth-century Black American spiritualist, rosicrucian, and sex magician / John Patrick Deveney with a foreword by Franklin Rosemont. SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions. Albany State Univ of New York P, 1997. 

A peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the transdisciplinary study of Western esotericism Western esoteric traditions including alchemy, astrology, Gnosticism, gnosis, magic, mysticism, Rosicrucianism, and secret societies, and their ramifications in art history, history, literature, and politics... 

McLean, Adam. The alchemical mandala a survey of the mandala in the Western esoteric traditions. Grand Rapids (MI) Phanes Press, 1989. 142 p. ISBN 0-933999-79-8... 

McIntosh, Christopher. The Rosicrucians. Wellingborough Crucible, 1987. Almost 120 years after his death, the body of Father Christian Rosenkreutz was discovered perfectly preserved in a seven-sided vault. So runs part of the legend concerning the birth of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, with its mysterious founder Christian Rosenkreutz, forerunner of the many "Secret Masters" who have had such a profound influence on the course of the Western Esoteric Tradition. Alchemy, Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and important literary works have all been enriched by the legend and symbolism of Rosicrucianism. 

Merkur, Daniel. Gnosis an esoteric tradition of mystical visions and unions. Albany (NY) State Univ of New York P, 1993. x, 387p. ISBN 0791416194... 

Theosophia traces the long-hidden esoteric stream of Christian gnostic theosophy, revealing a "chivalric" religion of the Holy Spirit at the heart of Christianity. It shows that all three major branches of Christianity bear within them interrelated esoteric traditions. 

Hanegraaff, Wouter J. New Age religion and western culture esotericism in the mirror of secular thought. SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions. Leiden Brill,... 

Joiner, Dorothy Marie. "Hieronymus Bosch and the esoteric tradition." UMI, 1982. 

The working esoteric tradition of the West is often referred to as the Mysteries. The term mystery is used in the theological sense, where a mystery is a spiritual reality that transcends normal reasoning. The ultimate goal of the Mysteries is divinization our complete and utter identification with the All-That-ls, the One Reality. In many Eastern traditions, this is called enlightenment. In the Western tradition, it is called illumination. 

When we speak of paths here, we are not referring to religious paths, to that framework by which an individual chooses to worship the Absolute. By path, we mean the way, or the method, by which we approach. In the esoteric traditions of both East and West, there are two principal approaches the direct path ( or the formless path) and the indirect path (or path of form). 

Eastern and Western esoteric traditions, the second class of images are used for the work of transformation. 

The following quote is from the final page of Moon Magic. My reason for drawing upon it is to make quite clear that these techniques are, and have always been, as much a part of the Western Mystery tradition as they are of the Eastern Esoteric tradition ... 

The historical situation of the Esoteric Tradition visibly infected all levels of Occidental modernism. The late James Webb (1946-1980) was the most accomplished historian of the Esoteric Tradition and the author of a monumental study collectively called The Age of the Irrational. As he repeatedly emphasized. Occultism has always been of particular interest to the modern artist. Arising from his sense of bohemian and/or avant-garde alienation, the eventual result, stated Webb, was for the artist to take on the more positive stance of the elect race. As Webb further recognized, this haughty pose is a functional parallel to the perennial need among Occultists to appear especially alert. Webb concluded. 

---