Home›Esoteric Practices›All Esoteric PracticesBrowse ByAll Esoteric PracticesPractices restricted to initiates or specialists within a tradition rather than open to any adherent, drawn from occult, mystical and initiatory strands across several religions. What unifies the subcategory is restriction of access, not shared content, so entries here range widely in what they actually involve.FactsLearn MoreAll Esoteric PracticesSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsDirectoryCategoryWell-attestedPractices 1OriginsWhose Classification This IsWell-attestedWestern esotericism as a single field is a twentieth-century scholarly construction: Antoine Faivre's typology of four intrinsic characteristics gave it a working definition, and Wouter Hanegraaff's later history reads the category as a container assembled by centuries of polemical exclusion. It is historians' frame, not a name the traditions gave themselves. 4OverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedPractices belonging to traditions of concealed or graded knowledge - Hermetic and Kabbalistic ceremonial magic, initiatic orders, internal and external alchemy, tantric sexual yoga. The atlas describes the category and the existence of its practices from published scholarship; material a living order or lineage transmits only under initiation is recorded as existing and is not reproduced. 2Contested UseContested or Appropriated Modern UseWell-attestedTantric sexual practice entered Western esoteric orders in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through Randolph, Reuss and Crowley, in forms their Indian and Tibetan sources do not recognise. The atlas records the Western practice and the Indic practice as distinct and presents neither as the other. 3StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 2Learn MoreThe esoteric practices This group holds esoteric practices, the inner or hidden disciplines of the mystical and occult traditions, transmitted to initiates and aimed at spiritual transformation, subtle physiology or contact with hidden powers. These practices are typically taught within a lineage and guarded from the uninitiated. The browser will find esoteric practices from various traditions. The entries describe each practice's technique and aim, noting the tradition and lineage in which it is transmitted.All Esoteric PracticesFilter Results24 entriesOrigin Period Start YearAll-2000 (1)-150 (1)-100 (3)700 (1)1000 (1)1848 (1)1850 (1)1888 (2)1910 (1)1970 (1)Attested In RegionAllChina (1)Attested InAllThe Greek Magical Papyri (1)Solitary or CommunalAllPerformed alone (8)Performed alone or together (4)Performed by a gathered group (3)Performed by an officiant for a recipient (5)TraditionAllAlexandrian Wicca (2)Dianic Wicca (2)Eclectic Solitary Wicca (2)Feri Tradition (2)Gardnerian Wicca (2)Reclaiming (2)Seax-Wica (2)Category of PracticeAllDivinatory (1)Esoteric (8)Instructional (1)Who Performs ItAllHouseholders, those living in the world (1)Initiates only (4)Trained or authorised specialists (15)Practice StatusAllHistorical; not practised continuously (4)Living tradition, practised today (16)Revived or reconstructed in the modern era (1)Scholarly StandingAllA modern system making claims scholarship never entertained; it never held scholarly standing (2)A standard analytic category in the study of religion (18)Used, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed (1)CadenceAllAs the occasion requires (3)ObligationAllOptional and voluntary (1)Undertaken only with authorisation or transmission (2)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 24Assumption of the godformEsoteric PracticesChannelingEsoteric PracticesDivinationEsoteric PracticesDream interpretationEsoteric PracticesExtispicy, Liver DivinationEsoteric PracticesFangzhongshuEsoteric PracticesHeka (Egyptian Ritual Magic)Esoteric PracticesHome CircleEsoteric PracticesKarmamudraEsoteric PracticesMaithunaEsoteric PracticesOral Transmission of Druidic TeachingEsoteric PracticesPanchamakaraEsoteric PracticesPillar of BalanceEsoteric PracticesPillar of MercyEsoteric PracticesPillar of SeverityEsoteric PracticesRising on the planesEsoteric PracticesSex MagicEsoteric PracticesSigilizationEsoteric PracticesSpellcraftEsoteric PracticesSpirit writingEsoteric PracticesThe Bornless RitualEsoteric PracticesWaidan (external alchemy)Esoteric PracticesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culturetier 1Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Cambridge University Press, 20123. Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericismtier 1Hugh B. Urban, University of California Press, 20064. Access to Western Esotericismtier 1Antoine Faivre, State University of New York Press, 1994Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.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.