Philosophy
Today, Western Esotericism is a syncretism of ancient philosophy, Paganism and Abrahamic thought and imports from Asia and modern science. The tradition focuses on individual spiritual progress through initiation, either personal or into a brotherhood, on personal or group rituals, study of philosophy and "cosmic" laws and their practical application, and encompasses alchemy, meditation, divination, and ritual magic.
Read more about this topic: Western Esotericism
Famous quotes containing the word philosophy:
“Wonder is the feeling of the philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)
“The philosopher believes that the value of his philosophy lies in its totality, in its structure: posterity discovers it in the stones with which he built and with which other structures are subsequently built that are frequently better—and so, in the fact that that structure can be demolished and yet still possess value as material.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“When Philosophy with its abstractions paints grey in grey, the freshness and life of youth has gone, the reconciliation is not a reconciliation in the actual, but in the ideal world.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)