This page groups religions by whether they are open to anyone who wishes to join or reserved for a closely defined community. Wikipedia notes that while some religions claim to be universal, "others are intended to be practiced only by a closely defined or localized group." Browsing this way separates missionary faiths that actively seek converts from traditions that restrict who may take part.
Facts
Origins
Whose Classification This IsThe working academic definition is Antoine Faivre's - four intrinsic and two secondary characteristics, set out in Access to Western Esotericism - and it is the reason the field has the shape, and the European boundary, that it does. 3 Overview
What Defines This GroupingCurrents holding that a hidden knowledge lies behind the visible world, reachable through study, initiation and disciplined practice rather than through public revelation. They are organised as schools and initiatory orders rather than as congregations. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryContested: esotericism and the occult are categories built by scholarship and by polemic, not self-descriptions. What they collect is held together by a shared history of rejection as much as by any shared content. 4 Learn More
Esoteric and Occult Traditions
This group holds esoteric and occult traditions: currents of Western spirituality concerned with hidden knowledge, correspondence and the inner transformation of the practitioner, often organised into orders and drawing on Hermeticism, Kabbalah, astrology and alchemy.
The browser will find the traditions the atlas classes here, from Hermeticism and Theosophy to the modern magical currents. The entries describe each as a body of teaching and practice, tracing its sources and history without adjudicating its claims.
Partly restricted: some elements are closed to outsiders
Filter Results1 entry
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction
3. Access to Western Esotericism
Antoine Faivre, State University of New York Press, 1994
4. Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture
Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Cambridge University Press, 2012
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.