Esoteric

Esoteric means "hidden", "for the few", or "for the elite" or inner circle, having to do with the extraordinary or special, reserved. Esoteric is distinct from exoteric meaning "open, exposed", "for the many", or "for the common people", the masses or the mob, the crowds, the ordinary.

The word is sometimes used as a synonym for "complicated", "complex", "highly technical", "advanced knowledge", "unnecessarily confusing", "difficult or impossible to understand", "generally obscure", "incomprehensible" and "mystical".

Esotericism, the belief in and study of esoteric spiritual matters, is often mistakenly confused with Occultism.

Esoteric Christianity is a generic term for a multitude of heresies rejected by exoteric orthodox catholic Christianity from the 1st through the 20th centuries which generally embody Gnostic and New Age teachings, such as Marcionism, Catharism and Theosophy (proposed by H. P. Blavatsky, originally a baptized member of the Russian Orthodox Church).

## See also[edit]

Mystery religion

Orphic mysteries

Eleusinian mysteries

Christian mysteries

Gnosticism

Neo-Gnosticism

Bogomil: Bogomilism

Kabbalah

Yoga

Sufism

New age movement

Liberalism

Marxism

Woke

Pseudoscience

The Da Vinci Code

Esoteric subjects most people find incomprehensible

Philosophy

Theology

Mathematics

Boolean algebra

Calculus

Research

Theory

Analyst

Physics

Quantum mechanics

General theory of relativity

Thermodynamics

Engineering

Computer engineering

Chemistry

Architect

Architecture

Jurisprudence

Law degrees

Government

Social science

Political Science

Economics

Marketing

Academic

Education

Liberal arts

Linguistics

Hermeneutics

Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)

Existence

God

## External links[edit]

* The Free Dictionary. esoteric (thefreedictionary.com)
* New World Encyclopedia. Esotericism (newworldencyclopedia.org)
* The Great Heresies a list of heresies committed by Catholics
* Catholics United for the Faith. The New Age Movement (cuf.org) evaluation of incompatibility of Theosophical Society teachings
* Helena Petrovna Blavatsky: Early years (theosophy.wiki)
Helena Blavatsky: Childhood 1831-49 (wikipedia.org)