Western Esotericism
HEGE Series
Western esotericism | Wikipedia —
• “distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian religion and Enlightenment rationalism
• has pervaded various forms of Western philosophy, mysticism and religion, pseudoscience, art, literature, as well as music—and continues to influence intellectual ideas and popular culture
• perennial hidden inner tradition
• category of movements that embrace an "enchanted" worldview in the face of increasing disenchantment
• encompassing all of Western culture's "rejected knowledge" that is accepted neither by the scientific establishment nor orthodox religious authorities
• earliest traditions...emerged in the Eastern Mediterranean during Late Antiquity, where Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Neopythagoreanism and Neoplatonism developed as schools of thought distinct from what became mainstream Christianity
• Renaissance Europe...combining "pagan" philosophies with the Kabbalah and Christian philosophy,...Christian Kabbalah and Christian theosophy
• seventeenth century...Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry
• Age of Enlightenment...eighteenth century...new forms of esoteric thought
• nineteenth-century...new trends of esoteric thought...occultism...Theosophical Society...Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn...Martinus Thomsen's "spiritual science" Modern Paganism developed within occultism and includes religious movements such as Wicca. Esoteric ideas permeated the counterculture of the 1960s and later cultural tendencies, which led to the New Age phenomenon in the 1970s.”
See —
Christian Heresy, Gnosticism
Christian Philosophy
Modernity, Heterodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism
Babylon, The Beast, Mystery of Lawlessness, The Phenomenon
The System, Organized Crime
Perennial Philosophy
Perennial philosophy | Wikipedia
— “a perspective in philosophy and spirituality that views religious traditions as sharing a single, metaphysical truth or origin from which all esoteric and exoteric knowledge and doctrine has grown [in contradiction to Hebrew monotheism]. ...
The idea of a perennial philosophy originated with a number of Renaissance theologians who took inspiration from Neo-Platonism and from the Theory of Forms.”
Tradition (perennialism) | Wikipedia
— “In perennial philosophy, tradition means divinely ordained truths or principles that have been communicated to humanity as well as an entire cosmic sector through various figures such as messengers, prophets, avataras, the Logos, or other transmitting agencies. The purpose of these sacred truths or principles is to continuously remind human beings of the existence of a "Divine Center" and an "Ultimate Origin." According to this perspective, tradition does not refer to custom, habit, or inherited ways of thinking and living. Contrarily, it has a divine foundation and involves the transmission of the sacred message down through the ages. Used in this sense, tradition is synonymous with revelation, and it encompasses all forms of philosophy, art, and culture that are influenced by it.
Traditionalists assert that there is also a Primordial Tradition, which serves as the archetype of all traditions.”
Traditionalist School (perennialism) | Wikipedia
— “a group of 20th- and 21st-century thinkers who believe in the existence of a perennial wisdom or perennial philosophy, primordial and universal truths which form the source for, and are shared by, all the major world religions.... The early proponents of this school of thought are René Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Frithjof Schuon. Other notable members include Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, William Stoddart, Jean-Louis Michon, Marco Pallis, and Huston Smith.”
The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy
Lord Northbourne | Wikipedia (author of essays 1 & 2)
— “applied the theories of Rudolf Steiner to the family estate at Kent. ...Northbourne eventually integrated this thinking [ Traditionalist, or Perrenialist ] into his own writings and life.”
From the Philosophia Perennis to American Perennialism
Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion
Perennialism As Justification For The Appropriation Of Buddhist Meditation
Appropriate is what Perennialism does. While not syncretistic (like New Age), perennialism is universalistic, claiming integrity of all religions as pathways to human union in (not with) an "Absolute" that it believes to be at the root of all religion. Ultimately, Perennialism is Hinduistic in its Neoplatonist belief in Monism. See — Gnosticism
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley | Wikipedia
The Perennial Philosophy | Wikipedia
The Perennial Philosophy — Aldous Huxley
Mark J. Sedgwick
Mark Sedgwick | Wikipedia
Mark Sedgwick | Aarhus University
About Mark Sedgwick
Mark J. Sedgwick | Amazon Author Page
Traditionalists.org
Reviews of Against the Modern World
Western Sufism and Traditionalism
René Guénon
René Guénon | Wikipedia
Rene Guenon and the Future of the West
Charles Upton
CharlesUpton.com
Charles Upton | YouTube
Legends of the End
Path to the Maypole of Wisdom —
Books of Wisdom
Bruegel: the Tower of Babel
Life out Balance: the QATSI trilogy
Left-brain thinking will destroy civilisation
New Age
New Age | Wikipedia
The Christ of India: The Story of Original Christianity — LOL "Original Christianity" is Eastern Orthodoxy, not Hinduism!
""Original Christianity" is the teaching of both Jesus of Nazareth and his Apostle Saint Thomas of India. But although it was new to the Mediterranean world, it was really the classical, traditional teachings of the ancient rishis of India that even today comprise Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Dharma, that goes far beyond religion into actual realization throught the practice of yoga."
(I first heard of this from a classmate at university 1975-76 who was deep into New Age.)
Perennial philosophy (perennialism, perennial wisdom) is the root of western counter-culture (Beat Generation or Beatniks, and Hippies) and subsequent New Age “spirituality”.
The tragedy of modern western history is that the younger generations of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s who had grown weary of western apostasy into secular consumer materialism did not turn back to the true spiritual root of western civilization, to Eastern Orthodoxy (Orthodoxy), but instead to the Renaissance delusion of Perennial philosophy, which they didn't even take seriously, but instead distorted.
Alan Watts
Among western counter-culture influencers, Alan Watts stands out above the rest.
Alan Watts | Wikipedia
— "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese, and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience
The Story of Alan Watts, Meditation’s Most Influential Advocate
The Second Wave of American Interest in Japanese Culture: Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder
The lazy mysticism of Alan Watts
Unpreachable Religion
Alan Watts–Here and Now: Contributions to Psychology, Philosophy, and Religion | Amazon
— explores the intellectual legacy and continuing relevance of a prolific writer and speaker who was a major influence on American culture during the latter half of the twentieth century. A thinker attuned to the spiritual malaise affecting the Western mind, Watts (1915–1973) provided intellectual and spiritual alternatives that helped shape the Beat culture of the 1950s and the counterculture of the 1960s. Well known for introducing Buddhist and Daoist spirituality to a wide Western audience, he also wrote on psychology, mysticism, and psychedelic experience.
Thomas Dahlheimer
Towahkon.org
Correlations Between Hinduism, Christian Gnosticism And The New Age Spiritual Philosophy
Christianity And Hinduism Merge Into One Religion In The New Age
— “Spirit (the Supreme God [Atman]) emanated a part of Its Infinite Self to create Brahma. This Emanation expanded to become the Universe, which is, according to Yogananda, an “essentially undifferentiated mass of light.” Because the physical universe is an illusion (confirmed by modern-day scientific discoveries) Brahma’s manifestation as the physical universe is therefore not real. It’s an illusion.”
Opposing Archbishop Vigano's Religious & Political End Times Worldview
Establishing The New World Order Headquarters In Wahkon, Minnesota U.S.A.