Fact, attribution and legend

Many figures in the esoteric traditions attract legend, and a good deal of influential writing is pseudonymous or misattributed, ascribed to a famous ancient name to lend it authority. The atlas notes where authorship or biography is uncertain or disputed, distinguishing the person from the persona that later tradition built.

Some individuals are dual-modelled: remembered here as historical figures and also, in their own traditions, as founders or saints; the entries are kept complementary so each viewpoint is represented.