Esoteric Libraries
by Albert R. Vogeler
“Esoterica.” As a category of literature in libraries, or on dusty shelves of used-
book shops, the word implies books that are rare, obscure, secret, faintly sinister, perverse,
delusional, unintelligible, and connected to rites, magic, and cults. “Esoterica”--which
can be more or less equated with “hermetica” and “arcana”-- does indeed claim to embody
hidden knowledge of great significance--life-transforming secrets--which are accessible only
through guided insight and spiritual training. The implied distaste, suspicion, and dismissal
of esoteric literature today is of course a modern rational response to a vast body of texts in
many languages, some with a long history of influence, veneration, and deep study in both
Western and Eastern cultures.
In concentrated collections, esoterica has historically comprised whole independent
libraries, as distinct from recent specialized collections of esoterica within general libraries.
An esoteric library has always been tangible: a collection of books. But today it may also
be virtual: a collection of titles on a computer screen. The jarring fact about esoteric
libraries is that many have websites. Some are apparently nothing but websites. We cannot
easily know how many esoteric groups are not on line. But those that are on line apparently
have no qualms about self-advertisement. For any library, the transformation of books from
a physical to a virtual existence is--at least for the older generation—miraculous and even
discomfiting. But for an esoteric library it creates what the critics call “cognitive dissonance.”
Secrecy, privacy, and spirituality seem blatantly inconsistent with a public presentation
promoting promiscuous access.
On-line esoteric libraries are usually more than lists of titles. Books may be
excerpted, and in some cases full texts can be summoned up; background and commentary
(as on a DVD) may be provided; and links establish new connections. The esoteric teachings
of Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and Rosicrucianism are notable for their displays of
important documents. But each presents itself initially as an educational, therapeutic, or self-
help program promoting ethics and the good life; and each veils or defers mention of its
metaphysical substructure, cross-cult connections, and internal power struggles. Continuity
with ancient traditions and relevance to modern life are both stressed; co-fraternity with
and differences from other esoteric groups have to be shown; the difficulty and the
promise of grasping hidden truths have to be balanced.
Esoteric libraries consisting of real books are not necessarily in remote places: some
may be found in the heart of modern civilization. People who have, or want to have, direct
conversation with the dead, or who puzzle over ghosts, poltergeists, or precognition should
know the immense treasure-trove of published testimony on these subjects in a building on a
quiet London street. There, the Society for Psychical Research, a survival of the Victorian
fascination with spiritualism, soldiers on in a skeptical age. So does the Swedenborg
Society in Bloomsbury, dedicated to perpetuating the grandiose cosmological vision of the
eighteenth-century Swedish mystic. And the Rosicrucians (Ancient and Mystical Order
Rosae Crucis) maintain a religious compound in San Jose with a library, planetarium, and
Egyptian museum all testifying to the heterogeneous esoteric sources of the Order.
Esoteric libraries of alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and magic may have disturbing
associations: remember, in Harry Potter, how the Hogwarts Library’s thick volume of
powerful incantations burst suddenly into flames when it was opened by an unqualified
reader? By distilling elixirs, casting spells, and reading horoscopes, Masters and adepts gain
secret knowledge that supposedly permits powerful interventions in the natural order. At
the extreme limits of Tantrism, Yoga, Kabbala, and Sufism (all well represented in websites)
paranormal events purportedly accompany enlightenment. For believers, libraries of
esoteric books represent reservoirs of concentrated spiritual energy waiting to be tapped.
Some people assume that Theosophy is a venerable esoteric tradition—but it was
invented in New York only in 1875 by Madame Helena Blavatsky. Its authoritative works,
many of which are on its internet library, hark back to ancient traditions, primarily Hindu,
but are also elaborate inventions of its prolific founder (the website lists her seven books and
provides the texts of 238 of her articles). There are in fact several Theosophical websites
competing for authenticity and members. (The doctrines, schisms, and politics of the
movement are recounted in a top-notch scholarly journal published at Cal State Fullerton
and edited by James Santucci of the Comparative Religion Department: Theosophical History.)
One of Theosophy’s esoteric teachings, the coming of a new messiah or World
Teacher, led to Jiddu Krishnamurti’s acceptance of this exalted role, which he then
renounced in 1928. During the next six decades, he practiced as an independent guru,
rejecting the name but fulfilling the role, in the process creating a new persona and a new
body of esoteric literature to be found on the Krishnamurti Foundation website.
The books of secret teaching of Eckancar, the esoteric science of soul flight, are on
its website. If, after years of devoted study, you become an adept, you can hope to travel
fast and free—no fare, no luggage—and no body. Fortunately, or unfortunately, your
destination must be on a higher plane of existence, not Hawaii, and illumination, not
relaxation, will be your reward.
Scientology, whose origins in 1950s pop culture are obvious, provides a website in
which the “ library of Scientology” begins with a dozen science fiction pulp novels by L.
Ron Hubbard. In its aggressive growth from Dianetics into a “Church”--always reliant on
secret teachings needing increasingly advanced interpretation, and expanding costs and
commitments—it purveys its primal myths at a price, and gains a cultural presence through
influential converts like Tom Cruise.
Thelema, a contemporary outgrowth of the obsessive confabulations of Aleister
Crowley a century ago, offers a vast website library of Crowley’s orphic utterances. His
notorious “Abbey of Theleme” in Sicily, shut down by Mussolini, provides the inspiration of
modern Thelemites in its motto, “Do what thou wilt shall be the sum of the law.” Not
license, they insist on their website, but freedom and fulfillment, are their aims. A
surprisingly large number of local branches, including one in Laguna Hills, invite you to
participate.
The highly-evolved Masonic Orders do not present themselves to the public
primarily as esoteric institutions, but their roots run deep in the occult world, their symbols
and nomenclature reflect it, and their libraries expound it. Mormons, accommodating to
much of modern life, nevertheless have their origins in Freemasonry and occultism, and
share secret books and hidden ceremonies with esoteric cults, along with sacerdotal
hierarchies, changing revelations, suppressed practices, sacralized mythologies, and costly
membership. The websites of most New Age religions also testify to their esoteric heritage.
. If esoterica puts you off, or makes you impatient and bewildered, the antidote may
easily be found. A refreshingly different kind of institution, dedicated to sweeping away
mental cobwebs, has recently appeared on Hollywood Boulevard. The Center for Inquiry
West (sponsored by the Council on Secular Humanism and the Committee for the Scientific
Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) is devoted to promoting critical thinking,
scientific method, and liberal social values. There are other Centers of Inquiry around the
country. These people are tenacious skeptics, rationalists, debunkers, and practitioners of
open debate. Their library serves their cause of mental liberation. How much more anti-
esoteric can you be?