have you ever been intrigued by mysterious magical symbols in an old book legends of alchemists transforming nature using occult science are mystical hidden visions of a supernatural world then you may be interested in one of the newest and most dynamic films and scholarship Western esotericism in this video we're gonna introduce the field explore how scholars disagree about just what it is and talk a little bit about where you can study it more in-depth i'm dr. justin sledge and welcome to esoterica where we explore the arcane side of history philosophy and religion [Music] you so before
we dive into the concepts figures and history of Western esotericism we should say a little bit about what the field itself is broadly speaking as a terrace ism is the hidden inner dimension of religion spirituality and philosophy and it covers a wide range of topics including alchemy magick theosophy mysticism secret societies and more it's a very exciting field for a few reasons number one it's a completely new academic field and it really only came into existence in the 1990s so there is a ton of exciting research to be done number two it's an inherently interdisciplinary
field which involves scholars of history religion science language literature and more number three it covers topics that are honestly just fascinating and mysterious so what is Western as a terrace ism well it's complicated and there's a lot of scholarly disagreement about it I want to cover what I take to be three of the major approaches to the field itself before we get to those I want to talk about what is sometimes called the insider approach or the emic approach this approach claims that there is in fact a hidden inner truth lying within philosophy spirituality and
religion dating back millennia and transmitted to the present sometimes this approach claims to have access to what is called a perennial philosophy or a Prisca theologia that is a fundamental often mystical truth which unites philosophy spirituality and even science this approach is taken by people who see themselves as part of a Western esoteric tradition overall this position is considered non academic and there's serious scholarly doubts about just how much we can talk about there being an actual coherent esoteric tradition for instance many figures in the field are much more different than they are alike in
their religious or philosophical understanding of course this doesn't mean that one can be part of a mystical tradition and also do scholarly research of course many people who are religious also are scholars of religion it just means switching hats so to speak from the inner commitments of one's faith to the neutral academic constraints of scholarship as needed that said let's turn to our first academic method for the study of Westerners or terrorism this position argues that all esoteric philosophies or spiritualities actually share a set of similar unifying concepts or motifs for instance the pioneering French
scholar Antoine Fuqua argues there are six of these concepts these include number one correspondences that there is a metaphysical link between all things in the cosmos for instance there's often a link made between the metals silver and the moon two living nature that is that the cosmos is in fact alive rather than just being inert matter as in many typical theories of physics number three imagination and mediations but the imagination is actually an organ which perceives hidden reality and that hidden reality contains hidden levels beyond this physical realm number four the experience of transmutation that
rather than being merely intellectual Westerners or Terrace ISM aims for an inner transformation of the inherent through mystical or supernatural means number five the practice of concordance that the various strands of esoteric philosophy and religion are actually unified by a deeper more fundamental truth for instance the linking of Kabbalah Tarot astrology into one mystical system and lastly number six transmission that these truths can only pass from generation to generation by specific modes for instance master-disciple relationships are being initiated into a secret society in which various grades of initiation reveal various secrets the structural approach is
great because it gives scholars clear parameters by which to delineate the field of Western esotericism but this can also be perceived as a limitation by drawing such a clear boundary certain aspects of the field may be left out or under emphasized a second approach is sometimes referred to as the religionist approach this approach argues that in order to truly understand the figures philosophies and spiritualities of Western esotericism we must study them on their own terms rather than contemporary purely academic methods and categories this position argues for a Scholastic approach but allows the texts figures and
philosophies under study to lead the way rather than give full priority to contemporary academic tools and methods for instance the American scholar Arthur vassilis has argued that gnosis a kind of super rational understanding of fundamental reality cannot be analyzed by a purely historical or empirical research program this approach has the advantage of providing sympathetic readings of texts and ideas that have been much maligned a superstition or evil in past centuries a third approach may be called the historical critical approach and understands Wesson as a terrace ism as the result of historical religious and intellectual currents
which are unified more by contemporary scholarship than by the figures being studied this position argues that many of the figures and philosophies which comprise Western esotericism are the result of historical and cultural forces unknown to the very people creating them therefore it's only possible to understand Western esotericism from the outside using the full scope of academic investigation a more radical position holds that Westerners or Terrace ISM is entirely a construct of contemporary scholars and doesn't represent a historical or intellectual reality on its own terms the division I've introduced is what makes the best sense to
me and I hope it's useful of course scholars are still arguing about just what approach is best and that's part of what makes the field so exciting you're at esoterica I'm gonna be a bit agnostic about these approaches because I want to present figures concept and ideas as sympathetically as I can but at the same time I want to remain within the best scholarship available in a future video I also want to take the time to explore each one of these approaches in detail stay tuned for that as you can see even the concept of
Westerners or Terrace ISM is pretty contentious and that debate is far from over and that's part of what makes the field so exciting well what if you want to get into the field of studying Western esotericism academically can you just go to your University and take an intro to Westerners of terrorism class well there's good news and there's bad news the bad news is that there are still very few places to study Westerners or terrorism at the university level and advanced degrees are only being offered in a handful of universities including the University of Amsterdam
the University of Exeter and Rice University to my knowledge only the University of Amsterdam is offering a PhD in Western esotericism in a future video I'll offer some tips and advice based on my experience studying in the program at Amsterdam but there is good news there actually a ton of great scholarship being produced for the first time in history in people with even a casual interest can dive deep into topics like magic and alchemy on their own manuscripts are being digitized alchemical experiments of being recreated and scholars are hanging out with and learning from witches
it's a great time to have an interest in western esotericism if you're interested in the field of esotericism generally stay tuned I'm going to talk about a couple of books which I think are really good if you found this video interesting I hope you'll click below to subscribe esoterica aims to specialize in topics like alchemy magic the occult mysticism and related subjects using the best scholarly resources if you're interested in the future of the channel also please check out my patreon pitch one of the difficult things about studying topics in Western esotericism is finding reliable
scholarly information and I want to recommend a few books that I think are excellent overviews to the entire topic itself the first is Westerners at Arras ISM a concise history by the French scholar Anton clava this is an excellent very brief introduction to the field and covers what I called earlier the structural approach to Western esotericism it's a very concise text and I think that sometimes that's a weakness for it it sometimes reads like a running bibliography and I think it could stand to be a couple hundred pages longer the next text I think is
really great is magic and mysticism and introduction to Westerners of terrorism by author verse loose this is an excellent example of what I would call the religionist approach versus Lucis Texas excellent because it balances on the one hand a sympathetic reading of the text and figures with on the other hand a very scholarly understanding of the material highly recommended the next text I'd recommend it's Western esotericism a brief history of secret knowledge beikoku von strucker odd function took rod is an excellent scholar and I really appreciate his approach to religion in general I studied with
him when I was in Amsterdam and this is an excellent introduction especially if you're interested in Western esotericism through the lens of post-modernism or a kind of sociological or Foucauldian analysis so it's very good in that regard however I will say that this book is too bit difficult to find these days but if you can find it it's an excellent text next is the western desert area traditions a historical introduction by Nicholas good rick clark again an excellent text from the historical critical perspective although I will say that what's conspicuously missing from this text is
an analysis of esotericism and politics which is actually good Rick Clarke's expertise it's missing I think this book can be a bit better if it were there but an excellent overview of Western esotericism from a historical perspective and lastly I mentioned what I take to be the best introduction to Western esotericism out in early 2020 is Western esotericism a guide to the perplexed by vaulter hunnic Roth this is an excellent overview of the field both from a methodological point of view from an historical point of view and I will say that the bibliography and recommended
reading list is worth the price of the book alone it is an excellent resource for anyone starting out from the field of Western esotericism and I highly recommend to picking it up I hope these resources are useful and if you're interested in topics in Western esotericism I hope you'll subscribe we'll be covering a lot of material on this channel I just want to say a couple special thanks to my brother Jonathan for encouraging me to start this channel for helping me get some of the equipment that I needed to get it going and also Tony
Eggert from three lines who really did a lot to help me get started with the camera and the lighting and other things that I had no idea about I really hope to learn more and I hope to produce higher quality videos as I learned I want to thank everyone who subscribed and especially my early patreon supporters this channel wouldn't exist without you thank you until next time i'm dr. justin sledge and this is esoterica
