Western esoterism : Ultimate Sacred Postulates and Ritual Fields

Abstract: The greater part of Western Esoterism holds beliefs in five important matrices. This branch of esoterism, rooted in a Hermetic milieu, is labelled dialectical esoterism because of the dialectical relationship between the ‘lower’ (man, earth) and the ‘higher’ (heaven, the divine, God). These five matrices are: I: Purpose (pronoia), rather than karma or sin. II: The dialectical relationship between Man and God (or the divine), including the healing of other people, society and/or the Earth. III: The inter-dependency of Dualism and Monism, including the mind and/or the world as a stairway to heaven. IV: Scientific laws are synonymous with spiritual principles. V: The holistic cosmos, including the concept of ‘sympathy’ between its parts. The aim of this thesis is to make clear that Western Esoterism is unique because of the presence of the five matrices and deals with both ‘beliefs’ (recognition) and ‘doing’ (religious practices, e.g. astrology, alchemy, magic and clairvoyance). As a consequence it is also demonstrated that foreign religious ideas and practices can be assimilated because they are transformed and hence adopt new meanings in order to fit the important USP of Western Esoterism.