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.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living 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

🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreAmulet A portable object worn or carried to ward off harm and invite fortuneCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇷 Iran and 7 moreNowruzنوروز A spring equinox festival marking the new year across Persianate culturesTradition · Luck and prosperity · Cleansing and purification Living

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living 🇮🇱 IsraelBanishing Ceremonial magic rites used to clear a space of spiritual influences before other workings.Rite · Cleansing and purification Living

🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths 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

🇺🇸 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

🇮🇹 ItalyThe MagicianLe Bateleur A tarot trump symbolizing power and the link between spirit and matterText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living 🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling 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 🇬🇧 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 Kingdom and 5 moreAleister Crowley English occultist and founder of the religion of ThelemaText · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreFortune-telling A practice of predicting future events or personal details through various methods and tools.Rite · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOnomancy Divination based on the letters, numbers, or written strokes of a person's nameOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreDhikrذِكْر Islamic remembrance of God through repeated recitation and prayerRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority 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 🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreHaoma A divine plant and spirit in Zoroastrianism, linked to healing and ancient rituals.Substance · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreMediumship The practice of mediating communication between the living and spirits of the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreKau chim求籤 A divination practice using numbered bamboo sticks to seek answers from deitiesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living

🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreFolk Orthodoxyнародное православие A blend of Eastern Orthodox doctrine and pre-Christian pagan beliefs in Slavic communitiesTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAncestor worship Rites of respect for the dead that maintain family bonds and seek spiritual guidanceTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreEmanuel Swedenborg An 18th-century Swedish scientist who became a mystic and claimed to visit the afterlife.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreAnthroposophy A spiritual movement founded by Rudolf Steiner to explore the intellectual side of the unseen worldTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomTarot (sample) A deck of cards read for guidance.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreBiodynamic agriculture An organic farming system with esoteric roots and spiritual practicesTradition · Healing · Power and authority Living

🇨🇭 Switzerland and 4 moreEurythmy An expressive movement art that translates music and speech into gestureTradition · Wonder and entertainment · Change and initiation Living 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNeotantraनवतन्त्र (navatantra) A Western movement blending Tantra with modern views on sacred sexualityTradition · Love and attraction · Change and initiation Living 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandPsychological astrology A system that maps horoscopes to psychological theories and archetypesTradition · Change and initiation Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism A modern spiritual movement adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekers outside their traditional cultures.Tradition · Healing · 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

🇮🇹 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 🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreLocational astrology A branch of astrology that maps planetary influences to specific places on Earth.Tradition · 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

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNeopagan witchcraft Modern pagan traditions that practice magic and draw on historical witch beliefs.Tradition · Protection · Healing 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

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFalun Gong法轮功 A Chinese cultivation practice blending meditative exercises with moral principlesTradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNew Thought A spiritual philosophy linking mental states to physical health and prosperityTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreBrahma Kumarisप्रजापिता ब्रह्माकुमारी ईश्वरीय विश्वविद्यालय A meditation-based spiritual movement that teaches soul identity and global peaceTradition · Cleansing and purification · Change and initiation 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 🇮🇪 IrelandFellowship of Isis𓊨𓏏𓁐𓌞𓋴𓅱𓂻𓐰𓏥 An international spiritual fellowship honouring the Divine Feminine and the goddess IsisTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · 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.

Eurythmy: Awslibrary, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Anthroposophy: Wladyslaw, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Biodynamic agriculture: Martist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Sex magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Amulet: Anonymous ( Egypt ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
Occult: The .:X, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ancestor worship: Lyn Gateley, CC BY 2.0, source
Archeosofica: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Emanuel Swedenborg: Carl Frederik von Breda, Public domain, source
Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Baphomet: Eliphas Levi, Public domain, 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
The Magician: Pamela Colman Smith, Public domain, source
Vietnamese folk religion: Unknown (traditional painting dated back to the 17th century), Public domain, source
Falun Gong: longtrekhome, CC BY 3.0, source
Brahma Kumaris: Tamasin Ramsey, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
Aetherius Society: Hjamesberglen, CC0, source
Nowruz: Katzenfee50, CC0, source
Fortune-telling: Taras Shevchenko, Public domain, source
Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Aleister Crowley: Aleister Crowley, Public domain, source
Folk Orthodoxy: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Geomancy: Jacopo188, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dhikr: Eugène Baugnies, Public domain, source
Onomancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
New Thought: Nyttend, Public domain, source