An approach to Esoteric Traditions

Chthonios Books focuses on scholarly research in western esoteric traditions. You might want to go directly to our Homepage, where you can find out about the best books in this and other fields, as well as read some online research and translations. Or browse awhile below.…

This page gives some background material and explains Chthonios’ approach to post-Renaissance Esoteric traditions. Other pages look at Ancient Philosophy and Neoplatonism I Ancient Religion and Paganism I Theurgy I Early Christianity and Gnosticism I Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism I Hermetica and Alchemy I Mediaeval & Renaissance Esotericism I Magic .

Esotericism

Esotericism is often thought of as a ‘third force’ in western thought, in contrast to biblical faith and Greek philosophy (particularly that of Aristotle). Traditions in thought and religion can be defined as ‘esoteric’ in three ways :
I) In a general way they can be defined as special teachings or experiences reserved for an inner circle of initiates.
II) Another important perspective sees esoteric traditions as undercurrents in western thought and religion. Historically, the most important early streams here are the teachings of Pythagoras and Plato and their followers. Once dominant in Greco-Roman thought, they were pushed to the margins by the rise of Christian orthodoxy.
III) A third way of seeing western esotericism looks at the heterodox, unorthodox and heretical streams which flourished beneath the domination of Christian orthodoxy and normative Judaism.

Esotericism and Esoteric traditions

This page is under construction....come back in a couple of weeks for an informative essay on Esoteric traditions, focusing on the post-Renaissance period.

For more on ancient Neoplatonism, which underlies most Western esoteric traditions, see now our online translations and commentaries on ancient texts.

Key concepts and people

Below is a (very sparing) list of some important terms and people (with variant forms) from mostly post-Renaissance Esoteric traditions which Chthonios specialises in. See also in particular Mediaeval & Renaissance Esotericism I Early Christianity and Gnosticism I Ancient Religion and Paganism I Hermetica and Alchemy I Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism , as well as our other pages, for a fuller picture.

Esoteric Traditions — Esotericism, macrocosm, microcosm, metempsychosis, reincarnation, transmigration, theory of correspondences, negative theology, via negativa, philosophia perennis, perennial philosophy, mysteriosophy, gnosis, mysticism, mystical experience, mystical union, initiation, initiates, neophytes, doctrine of sympathy, sympathetic magic, occult, occultism, occult philosophy, astral body, vehicle of the soul, ochema, Druids, Templars, Freemasonry, Rosicrucians, Rosicrucianism, Holy Grail, Cabala, Kabbalah, Astrology, Hermetic traditions, Alchemy, Alchemical traditions, Platonic and Neoplatonic traditions, Gnostic traditions, Cagliostro, Edgar Case, Clymer, Fabre d’Olivet, H.P. Blavatsky, Theosophy, Golden Dawn, MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley, A.E. Waite, O.T.O., Thomas Taylor, G.R.S. Mead, Rudolf Steiner, Guénon, Gurdjieff, Goethe, Papus, Eliphas Lévi, C.G. Jung, William Blake, Godfrey Higgins, Swedenborg, Saint-Martin, Anthroposophy, Naturphilosophie, Parapsychology, Spiritualism.