Talk:Esotericism

message: Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs,[1] that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest
:Is this supposed to be "ideas preserved or understood by a small group OF those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest" or "ideas preserved or understood by a small group OR those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest" ? To be honest, having "of" makes more sense, unless it's supposed to be: "ideas preserved or understood by a small group, those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest" Treeees (talk) 17:43, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Of or Or?  

message: There is a growing movement among both private filtering services and governments to censor access to "esoteric material" on the internet, particularly in the UK. Not only do I find this highly concerning but I believe it to be notable and therefore should have a section in this article. Thoughts? 12:46, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Censorship 

message: I have added a little on the origins of the two noun endings "-terism/-tericism", but this matter still requires clarification. Rather than being developed from "esoteric", "esoterism" is a neologism, probably of French origin, based directly on Greek roots, exactly along the lines of modern Greek "εσωτερισμός". "Esotericism" in turn does clearly come from the adjective. Let us hope for some research that can eventually make its way into the article. Servus!
Desde la Torre (talk) 11:20, 28 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Etymology

message: I've undone a series of recent edits for the following reasons:
* revision 677635720: subsection on "secret doctrines"; it was removed with the edit-summary "rm. text describing "what it is not restricted to" as unnecessary -- not claimed to be restricted to this here". I put it back because this is one of the definitions/usages that Hanegraaff mentions. Hanegraaff himself says that this definition/usage is too restricted. Given the fact that Hanegraaff is one of the scholarly authorities on this topic, if he says so, it's relevant. Besides, it's also clear on a 'commom ground' basis that this is an often-used interpretation.
* revision 677635460: this edit changed ""Esotericism" is a "generic label for a large and complicated group of historical phenomena" which share an air de famille." into "It can often seem to be a generic label for very diverse phenomena that share little more than an air de famille." That's something quite different! Hanegraaff's definition has been reinterpreted here. It was also moved from the top of this subsection to a place under the list of definitions, suggesting it's a mere aside, instead of Hanegraaff's main definition. 
* Re-inserting Hanegraaf-definition and adding Faive-characteristics: The Hanegraaff-definition was removed with the edit-summary "attempt to be a little more specific than "air de familie"!" This being "more specific" replaced 
::"Esotericism (or esoterism) is a "generic label for a large and complicated group of historical phenomena" which share an air de famille." 
:with
::"Esotericism (or esoterism) refers to a range of spiritual forms sharing common elements which have proved remarkably elusive to define." 
:* "A range of spiritual forms" is less specific and informative than "a large and complicated group of historical phenomena", and "spiritual" is a qualification/interpretation;
:* "common elements which have proved remarkably elusive to define" is in line with Faivre, but different from Hanegraaff; 
:* And are the "common elements" hard to define? Faivre gives four defining characteristics;
:* These charatceristics are condensed to "a transformative experience of knowing, knowledge obtained through such experiences". This is an 'esoteric interpretation'; Faivre speaks of 'an experience of personal and spiritual transmutation when arriving at this knowledge.' The emphasis is on transmutation; knowledge leads to transmutation, or a "transmutational experience." Saying that experience leads to knowledge reverses what Hanegraaff says here. 
Best regards, Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 04:36, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Recent edits