Esotericism or Esoterism is a term with two basic meanings. In the dictionary sense of the term, "esoterism" signifies the holding of esoteric opinions An opinion is a subjective statement or thought about an issue or topic, and may be the result of emotion or interpretation of facts. An opinion may be supported by an argument, although people may draw opposing opinions from the same set of facts. Opinions rarely change without new arguments being presented. However, it can be reasoned that one or beliefs,[1] and derives from the Greek ἐσωτερικός (esôterikos), a compound of ἔσω (esô): "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male : female, long : short, up : down, and precede : follow. The notion of incompatibility here refers to fact that one word in an opposite pair entails that it is not the other pair member. For example, something that is is "exoteric Exoteric refers to knowledge that is outside of and independent from anyone's experience and can be ascertained by anyone. It is distinguished from esoteric knowledge. Exoteric relates to "external reality" as opposed to one's own thoughts or feelings. It is knowledge that is public as opposed to secretive or cabalistic. It is not". In scholarly literature, the term designates a series of historically related religious currents including Gnosticism Gnosticism refers to diverse, syncretistic religious movements in antiquity consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that the cosmos was created by an imperfect god, the demiurge with some of the supreme God's pneuma; this being is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God, (as opposed to the Gospel according to the, Hermetism Hermetism was a religion of Late Antiquity attested in a loose corpus of Hermetica . It forms a basis for later Western Esotericism, notably via Renaissance Hermeticism, which encompasses other works centered upon Hermes Trismegistus. Hermetism has been described as part of the third pillar of Western culture which provides a balance between Greek, magic Magic, sometimes known as sorcery or wizardry, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems. The practice is often influenced by ideas of religion, mysticism, occultism, science, and psychology, astrology Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details can provide information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer, alchemy Alchemy originally derived from the Old Persian word "Kimia" meaning gold, later arabized as (Hebrew:אלכימיה al-khimia), is both a philosophy and an ancient practice focused on the attempt to change base metals into gold, investigating the preparation of the "elixir of longevity", and achieving ultimate wisdom, involving, Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism is the theology of a secret society of mystics, allegedly formed in late medieval Germany, holding a doctrine "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm." It is symbolized by the rosy cross, Vajrayana Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle. The period of Vajrayana Buddhism has been classified as the fifth or final period of Indian Buddhism. Vajrayana is a complex and multifaceted system which evolved over several centuries and reveals much Buddhism, the Christian Theosophy Theosophy , designates several bodies of ideas since Late Antiquity. The Greek term is attested on magical papyri (PMag. Leid. W.6.17: ἡ ἄγαν θεοσοφία) of Jacob Böhme Jakob Böhme was a German Christian mystic and theologian. He is considered an original thinker within the Lutheran tradition. In contemporary English his name may be spelled Jacob Boehme; in seventeenth-century England it was also spelled Behmen, approximating the contemporary English pronunciation of the German Böhme and his followers, Illuminism It is an archaic term deriving from the French illuminer. The term has been used in modern times primarily with respect to and by secret societies, for the most part, orders that have modeled their practices after the mystery cults of the Hellenic world, which flourished around the Mediterranean coast and Near East at the period when the Roman, Mesmerism Animal magnetism , in its most common usage today, refers to a person's sexual attractiveness or raw charisma. But the term originally signified a magnetic fluid or ethereal medium residing in the bodies of animate beings, as postulated by Franz Mesmer. The term translates Mesmer's magnétisme animal. Mesmer chose the word "animal" to, Swedenborgianism The New Church is the name for a religious movement developed from the writings of the Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Swedenborg claimed to have received a new revelation from continuous heavenly visions which he experienced over a period of at least twenty-five years. In his writings he predicted that the Lord, Spiritualism Spiritualism is a monotheistic belief system or religion, postulating a belief in God, but with a distinguishing feature of belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world can be contacted by "mediums", who can then provide information about the afterlife, and the theosophical Theosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics. Theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the "Spiritual Hierarchy" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth. The founding members, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky , Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907), currents associated with Helena Blavatsky Elena Petrovna Gan (Russian: Елена Петровна Ган, also Hélène, Ukrainian: Олена Петрівна Ган; 12 August [O.S. 31 July] 1831, Yekaterinoslav, Yekaterinoslav, Russian Empire – May 8, 1891, London), better known as Helena Blavatsky (Russian: Елена Блаватская, Ukrainian: Олена Петрівна Бл and her followers. There are competing views regarding the common traits uniting these currents, not all of which involve "inwardness", mystery or secrecy as a crucial trait.
Esoteric knowledge, in the dictionary (non-scholarly) sense, is thus that which is available only to a narrow circle of "enlightened", "initiated", or specially educated people.[2] Esoteric items may be known as esoterica.[3] In contrast, exoteric knowledge Exotericism is the opposite of esotericism in any application. The word is derived from the comparative form of Greek ἔξω eksô . It signifies anything which is public, without limits, or universal is knowledge that is well-known or public; or perceived as informally canonic Canonical is an adjective derived from canon. Canon comes from the Greek word kanon, "rule" , and is used in various meanings in society at large.
Finally, it can be noted that esotericism, beside its scholarly and dictionary definitions, can be used in a loose, popular sense: not in order to denote e.g. mystical knowledge or practice, but rather informally to mean any perception or knowledge that is for the advanced individual such as theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics in an attempt to explain natural phenomena. Its central core is mathematical physics,[note 1] though other conceptual techniques are also used. The goal is to rationalize, explain and predict physical phenomena. The advancement of science, or that pertains to the minutiae In biometrics and forensic science, minutiae are major features of a fingerprint, using which comparisons of one print with another can be made. Minutiae include: of a particular discipline, such as "esoteric" baseball statistics.
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