This book traces the thread of esoteric wisdom in the Western world, from classical antiquity to contemporary Europe and America. The arrangement is historical, but since this wisdom is timeless, each stage is perpetually present and a source of inspiration and action for today. Every chapter, therefore, makes reference to some aspect of contemporary life and immediate concern. This reflects the origin of the book in a series of fourteen articles written for Lapis: The Inner Meaning of Contemporary Life, a magazine associated with the Open Center in New York City. (Lapis is no longer published in print form, but is available in an on-line version:
<www.lapismagazine.org>.)
The word esoteric refers to the inner aspect of a religion or philosophy, of which the outer aspect is exoteric. Thus Christianity once had its esoteric side in theosophy, the science of the knowledge of God; Judaism in Kabbalah; Islam in Sufism; Hinduism in the various yogas; Paganism in its Mysteries. These esoterisms were not for the majority of the faithful, but for those with sufficient interest, motivation, and capacity to benefit from them. Entry was through initiation, whereupon, under expert guidance, a few might embark on the lifelong and demanding quest for reality.
It is different today. There is a widespread thirst for a deeper dimension to life than the consumer society can provide, and for a better explanation of its mysteries than exoteric religion or materialistic science has to offer. This thirst accounts for the popular success of books and films that feature Gnostic and occult themes, and of conspiracy theories that claim that things are ordered quite differently—for good or ill—than the public is led to believe. If anyone wants to learn more, the secrets once imparted only to initiates are there on the bookshelves. The doors of the sanctuary are agape, but where are the hierophants, adepts, and sages whom one hoped to find there? Most of us seem to be thrown back on our own resources, lonely travelers among the ruined monuments of ancient mysteries. This book is offered by one such traveler, for the guidance and entertainment of others.
I would like to thank Ralph White, the editor of Lapis, who first invited me to treat the Western esoteric traditions in such a way that they would seem alive and relevant to his readers; Michael Moynihan of Dominion Press, who encouraged me to revise, annotate, and expand the original articles into book form; and Richard Smoley, my editor at Quest Books, for his wise advice and for kindly contributing a foreword.
—JOSCELYN GODWIN
Hamilton, New York