The concept of esotericism arose in the 19th century; the word itself was first used in 1828 by Jacques Matter. Eliphas Levi later popularised the words “esotericism” and “occultism”. Esotericism in itself refers to things that are secret, unfathomable and hidden.
The 20th century was very rich in books, theories, schools, events and movements. During this time, secondary, tertiary and even narrower occult disciplines developed. There appeared, for example, astrologers dealing only with compatibility horoscopes, or fortune tellers working only with runes or cards.
Such a specialist knows their narrow discipline very well and others to a greater or lesser extent. But to work and move in esoteric circles, you need to believe in yourself, and that requires an ideological framework.
Esoteric specialists search for such a framework and find it, but often fall into a trap. Many esotericists adopt an idea contained in some book they have read, because it is hard for them to find one that suits them completely.
Many books are available on Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism, Theosophy and other ideological systems.
The greatest mistake someone involved in esotericism can make is to believe in a single ideology while dismissing all others as harmful and useless.
For a true esotericist, nothing in the heritage of earlier eras can be harmful or useless.
If you allow a single ideology to take complete hold of you, you let your mind close itself to the truth. Religion, philosophy and esotericism should, however, be kept distinct from one another.
Some people start building their own theory, running ahead of the various existing ones. Over time, knowledge accumulates in the minds of esotericists: the meaning of certain concepts shifts and the range of available details grows richer, even though the picture of the world remains the same.
We must understand that “truth is what we believe, what we hold to be the Truth”, as Jesus Christ himself said of it.
In the 20th century three main directions in the development of esotericism emerged.
The first was esoteric philosophy – an attempt to work out in theory the mutual connections between humanity and the world, between microcosm and macrocosm.
The second was applied esotericism, as a way of studying unusual phenomena and human abilities.
The third was esoteric practice – the use of esoteric rites and methods in working with esotericists.
Esoteric philosophy is a fairly broad concept, since it includes not only a general theory of everything but also all the other elements, such as philosophy and religion, and the connections between them.
Among the finest esoteric writers of the 20th century were Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Stanislaw Lem and Carlos Castaneda.
The 20th century began with the fascinating ideology of Cosmism, whose creator was the Russian Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov. It is not a purely esoteric movement, but the result of natural scientists’ efforts to restore a holistic picture of the world, which had been shattered by the rationalist ideas of the previous century.
According to the Cosmists, human beings not only feel the influence of the cosmos and natural processes, but are themselves capable of influencing the cosmos.
A little-known esotericist today is George Ivanovich Gurdjieff from Armenia, who was gifted with paranormal abilities and was also a philosopher. He believed that the soul (the monad) is born in order to win itself an honourable place in the universal hierarchy. Whoever succeeds in this over several successive incarnations is worthy of eternity.
Until then, three paths of self-perfection and knowledge of the world had been known. The first was the way of the dervish (the fakir) – lower asceticism and mastery of the body. The monk was the second path – higher asceticism and mastery of the spirit – and the yogi the last, combining both. But there is also a fourth way: harmonious development. In the 20th century people tried to understand the teachings of Christianity anew. An interesting example of new theories about Christianity was Ouspensky. In his book “A New Model of the Universe” he examines the symbolism of the Tarot and considers the problems of yoga and the symbolism of dreams. According to him, Jesus Christ was not a prophet but a teacher, who spoke in parables so that only his own followers would understand him, and whose teaching was highly esoteric.
The author analyses the text of the New Testament closely, uncovering its esoteric meaning. Unfortunately, the New Testament contains only four gospels out of more than forty sources.
In the 1930s the Theosophists’ hopes of creating a world religion collapsed. Even so, various esoteric movements continued to emerge and develop around the world.
At the end of the 19th century the idea of a worldwide “White Lodge” or Great White Brotherhood appeared. It rests on the simple fact that the number of people inclined towards esoteric generalisation, in all brotherhoods and all ages, has never been more than 5–10 per cent – not because the rest were incapable of it, but because it simply did not interest them.
Great esoteric researchers such as Helena Blavatsky and Crowley believed that such people should form a community aware of humanity’s role in the cosmos and called to make others aware of it.
A great many esoteric groups arose in the 20th century, and their views were often contradictory.
There were the Gnostics, who taught that this world is not our true home, and that once we see through the illusion and understand our true nature, we will be able to escape the Earth and return to the spiritual world.
Hermeticism, including astrology, is based on the assumption that the soul and the cosmos are connected and influence each other.
Freemasonry and some forms of alchemy even use symbolic means to help adepts in their efforts to become better, with the aim of drawing closer to the divine.
Theosophy and its offshoots teach that there are hidden masters – teachers who guide the spiritual development of humanity.
Spiritualism, meanwhile, emphasises direct experience of the afterlife through contact with spirits.
There were also Christian-inspired orders which, in their day, sought to learn the secrets of the world. One such was the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1887 by a few British intellectuals as an alternative to the Freemasons, who in their view were too strongly fascinated by Christian esotericism.
Famous members of the order included Aleister Crowley and the writer Arthur Conan Doyle. In the 1930s, however, the order fell apart because its members could not agree with one another.
Crowley, the well-known esotericist and creator of a remarkable Tarot deck, joined the Ordo Templi Orientis (Order of the Temple of the East) and later became its leader. He travelled widely and came to know many cultures and ideologies. In 1904 in Cairo, it is said, the voice of an extraterrestrial intelligence told him that a new era was dawning for humanity, and this inspired him to write The Book of the Law.
It was he who observed that any conscious human action is already magic, because it takes place not only on the visible plane but also on the invisible one.
He had great paranormal abilities, and thanks to them he created cards that transmit his energy in a strikingly expressive way.
The 20th century also saw the rise of sects, including hidden ones, and the theory of the destructive cult took shape. This refers to an order in its false, evil aspect, when its declared lofty ideals are deliberately used as a cover for its leader’s real aim – not even power, but money alone.
The characteristic features of a destructive cult include a personality cult around the leader, the separation of ordinary members from all their previous groups, and considerable financial demands, which sooner or later expose its criminal background.
A classic example of such a cult is the sect of Sun Myung Moon.
In 1952 Lafayette Ron Hubbard founded the Scientology association, and a year later renamed it the Church of Scientology, which not only protected it from paying taxes but also helped it attract new members all over the world.
This teaching, based on sound principles, went through a stage of institutionalisation and evolution, and then turned into a bureaucratic machine.
In the 1970s ever newer currents appeared, especially those analysing the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and cybernetics.
The Age of Aquarius is inexorably approaching – an era not of division but of unity and spiritual pluralism, in which humanity will ascend to a new level of knowledge and become aware of its place on Earth.
First published (Polish original): 29 May 2012. Written by astrologers and esoteric specialists working with our editorial team; edited and translated for HOROSCOP.SPACE. © All rights reserved.
