Smith justifies the book's length and tediousness by claiming that the mere weight of citations is necessary to overturn the entire history of scholarship on the subject up to this point, which has consistently contended that Vedic thought is disorderly, unsystematic, "comprised of poetic flights of fancy, mystical
esotericism, and/or priestly conceits (take your pick), and it is distinguished by its proclivity toward drawing equivalences or identities ...
McIntosh teaches at the Centre of the Study of
Esotericism at the University of Exeter, England
Bagley concludes that Spinoza's
esotericism indicates his preference for an Enlightenment "more akin to that described by Plato than to that advocated by Kant" (p.
The works were installed in such a way that they created a network of views echoing from one room to another, as well as a complex series of references to philosophy, science, alchemy, and Eastern
esotericism. Metrica e mantrica (Metric and mantric, 1984) - 64 elements made of wood and sandstone, each contoured to create a tension between solid and void - was like a forest which spectators could enter and create their own pathways.
Choosing among various meanings given to the word in modern languages, Faivre (emeritus religious studies, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne) examines
esotericism as a group of specific historical currents that present strong similarities and are found to have historical interconnections.
This suggestion of a socio-political reason behind the esoteric element of the Guide (as distinguished from an
esotericism grounded in the essence of the topic) has an advantage over the approach that identifies it with Aristotelian philosophical conclusions.
Their topics include al-Ghazali and the rationalization of Sufism, al-Ghazali at his most rationalist in The Universal Rule for Allegorically Interpreting Revelation, al-Isfahani's Dhari'a as a source of inspiration of al-Ghazali's Mizan al-'Amal, the changing image of al-Ghazali in medieval Jewish thought, and al-Ghazali's
esotericism according to Ibn Taymiyya's Bughyat al-Martad.
Wuidar (musicology, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, Belgium) brings together 16 essays by scholars who attended a conference in Rome in April 2008, "Music and
Esotericism: Art and Science of Sounds Facing Occult Knowledge," examining the relationships between magic, astrology, alchemy, divination, magnetism, and medicine with music from antiquity to the twentieth century.
Strauss's rediscovery and extensive presentation of
esotericism falls into both categories.
Esotericism in African American Religious Experience: "There Is a Mystery"...
The "mysteries" of Qumran; mystery, secrecy, and
esotericism in the Dead Sea scrolls.
Part two looks at freemasonry and religion (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Eastern Religions, Western
esotericism, and new religious movements).
