Esoteric and occult: magic in this belief world
Hermeticism, alchemy, ceremonial magic, theosophy and the Western occult tradition.
Esoteric and occult traditions are the Western learned currents of Hermeticism, Kabbalah, alchemy, astrology, ceremonial magic, Rosicrucianism, theosophy, anthroposophy, Thelema and the tarot. Their authors claimed hidden knowledge open to the initiated. Scholars call the field Western esotericism. This page covers its sources, its personalities and its problems. The field is large and often misunderstood, since popular culture blends occult, horror and fantasy. Tarot, astrology, Hermeticism and other currents belong here, and they have shaped the arts, psychology and popular culture.
Roots
The field draws on Greek and Egyptian texts of late antiquity, the Hermetic writings, Jewish and Christian Kabbalah, Arabic texts on astrology and talismans, and Renaissance revival. Marsilio Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum in 1463, and Isaac Casaubon showed in 1614 that it was later than once thought. Modern groups arose in the nineteenth century, including the Theosophical Society in 1875. Hermeticism takes its name from Hermes Trismegistus, and it taught that the universe is linked through correspondences between heaven and earth, a view that echoes through astrology, alchemy and magic.
Orders and leaders
Lodges, orders and charismatic leaders dominate its modern history: Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Aleister Crowley, and the Golden Dawn. Some were open to women as equals, which was rare at the time. Others fostered personality cults or abuse. Occult ideas have also been absorbed by political movements, including some with far-right aims, a legacy scholars have documented. Kabbalah, in both its Jewish form and its Christian variants, offered a map of the divine and a language of letters and names that Western occultists adopted.
Relation to church and science
Esotericism has stood outside the Church and science alike. The Church condemned ceremonial magic, while early scientists such as Newton and Boyle studied alchemy. Writers such as Frances Yates and Wouter Hanegraaff have traced the influence of occult thought on the Renaissance, on psychology and on art. Jung's interest in alchemy shaped depth psychology. Many modern occultists say their path is not a faith but a method, and use the language of psychology and symbol, so that the line between spiritual practice and self-development is thin.
Today
Tarot, astrology and the language of energy are widespread, and online communities teach ceremonial work. Commerce is heavy, and fraud occurs when courses or readings promise results for large sums. Scholars treat esotericism as an object of study, sceptics ask for evidence, and practitioners describe a path of self-knowledge. Academics increasingly study the tradition as a significant part of European intellectual life, and its archives are being opened to scholars.
Esoteric and occult on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAstrology
A divinatory practice that reads human fate through the positions of celestial bodies.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAleister Crowley
English occultist and founder of the religion of ThelemaText · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον
A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreChaos magic
A modern magical system that treats belief as a flexible tool rather than a fixed truth.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSatanism
A modern set of beliefs using the figure of Satan as a symbol or deity.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие
A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 JapanShugendō修験道
A Japanese mountain ascetic path blending Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and folk ritualsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomEnochian magic
A Renaissance system of ceremonial magic based on angelic revelations recorded by John Dee and Edward Kelley.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇻🇳 Vietnam and 1 moreVietnamese folk religiontín ngưỡng dân gian Việt Nam
A collection of local spirit worship and ancestral veneration in VietnamTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇲🇬 Madagascar and 4 moreGeomancy
A cross-cultural system of divination using earth, sand, and landforms to read the future or align spaces.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 IndiaLeft-Hand and Right-Hand Paths
Two distinct orientations in occult magic, dividing taboo-breaking from orthodoxy.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreBiodynamic agriculture
An organic farming system with esoteric roots and spiritual practicesTradition · Healing · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNeotantraनवतन्त्र (navatantra)
A Western movement blending Tantra with modern views on sacred sexualityTradition · Love and attraction · Change and initiation Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreThelema
A Western esoteric philosophy centered on discovering and following one's True WillTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United StatesFeri Tradition
An American ecstatic witchcraft tradition founded on the West Coast in the mid-twentieth century.Tradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreLocational astrology
A branch of astrology that maps planetary influences to specific places on Earth.Tradition · Power and authority Living
🇮🇹 ItalyArcheosofica
A school of esoteric Christianity founded in Rome that teaches ascetic disciplines and magical theory.Tradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇧🇷 BrazilPro-VidaPró-Vida, Integração Cósmica
An occultist group founded in Brazil that promises cosmic consciousness and earthly paradise.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNew Thought
A spiritual philosophy linking mental states to physical health and prosperityTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreAMORCAntiquus Mysticusque Ordo Rosae Crucis
A US-based Rosicrucian order with global lodges and a focus on correspondence study.Tradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United StatesAshtar
A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreRinging Cedars' Anastasianismдвижение «Анастасия»
A Russian new religious movement based on books about a Siberian mystic and nature worshipTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAetherius Society
A new religious movement blending theosophy, UFO claims, and spiritual healing to aid humanity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreWestern Sufism
Adaptations of Islamic mysticism in Europe and North AmericaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇬🇧 United KingdomTyphonian Order
A British Thelemic esoteric body working with dark occultism, kalas, and cosmic mythTradition · Change and initiation · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United StatesKrotona
A historic Theosophical center and intentional community in CaliforniaTradition · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreChurch of Satan
An atheistic religious body founded in 1966 that practices ritual magicTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇧🇧 Barbados and 2 moreObeah and Wanga
A Caribbean folk magic tradition and a Haitian charm packet, referenced in Western occult texts.Tradition · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Living
🇺🇸 United StatesJoy of Satan Ministries
An occult movement combining theistic Satanism with esoteric and extraterrestrial loreTradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreFraternitas Saturni
A German esoteric order focused on Saturn magic and astrological teachingsTradition · Power and authority Living
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBuilders of the Adytum
A Western mystery school teaching tarot and Qabalah through correspondenceTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreIlluminates of Thanateros
An international group dedicated to practical chaos magic and experimental ritual workTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreAstral projection
An intentional out-of-body experience where consciousness travels through the astral planeTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreOrder of Nine Angles
A British Satanic network linked to neo-Nazism and violent extremismTradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇩🇿 AlgeriaMawsimموسم
Annual Maghrebi festival blending Sufi veneration with social and economic gatheringTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 GreeceSacred mysteriesμυστήριον
Secret ceremonies and divine doctrines held to exceed human reasonBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇺🇸 United StatesChurch of Light
An esoteric organization teaching astrology, alchemy, and magic as a way of life.Tradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Biodynamic agriculture: Martist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Astral projection: Hereward Carrington, Sylvan Muldoon., Public domain, source
- Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Occult: The .:X, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, source
- Church of Satan: Palnu ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pentagram: Tomruen, Attribution, source
- Satanism: Alexandre Cabanel, Public domain, source
- Slavic Native Faith: Union of Slavic Rodnover Communities (Союз Славянских Общин Славянской, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shugendō: 唐山健志郎 (Kenshiro Karayama), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vietnamese folk religion: Unknown (traditional painting dated back to the 17th century), Public domain, source
- Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
- Aetherius Society: Hjamesberglen, CC0, source
- Order of Nine Angles: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Mawsim: Beghdadi Walid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sacred mysteries: Johannes Hopffe, Public domain, source
- Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aleister Crowley: Aleister Crowley, Public domain, source
- Geomancy: Jacopo188, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Joy of Satan Ministries: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- New Thought: Nyttend, Public domain, source