Current Esoteric Societies

[TheStudent]

I have spent a bit of time trying to discover what esoteric groups are still operating today. I am not meaning wacko the world is going to end and you must join us to save the day groups. I'm talking about age old groups that may have hundreds of years of esoteric study under their belts and be able to teach and/or share some of it.

I try to check my sources very well. I don't go to Barnes & Noble, buy a book then trust what it says just becaues the author assures me its true (remind me to comment on the wicca situation sometime).

I can identify with Freemasons as being a very old esoteric group as well as the Rose Cross Order. Both however seem to have gone in many directions since the old time, and I'm not even sure any current branches are true to their initial doctrine or practices.

I have traced both those back to the Essene (potentially) and the Essene back even further. The oldest references I can find are to King Solomon which seems to be a point in history where many things branched.

Whatever occult practices were done then seem to in some way have passed down thru time with different groups. And I am curious which groups might have this knowledge or any knowledge pertaining to those.

Has anyone done any research into modern esoteric groups and which may contain some good information (and not just invented wisdom)?

[Haruth]

Has anyone done any research into modern esoteric groups and which may contain some good information (and not just invented wisdom)?

I love the distinction....

Personally, the two you have mentioned are pretty much the only ones that have an open, well documented history. And yes, I would agree that most within these fraternities have no idea what 'secrets' are being retained within the ritual and traditions that are practiced. I do, however, believe that the 'secrets', 'truths' and 'clues' are there, completely in the open and are actually encoded in the rituals that the members practice 'by wrote' without any deep 'understanding' of what knowledge is being imparted.

I would also include the church in that list. Though you have to go back to the latin documents and liturgies of the Catholic faith to have any certainty in what you are reading is what was 'meant'. The mass in latin is an incredibly rich source of deep spiritual truth: a fact all too easily forgotten... The aramiac texts (though I have only been able to read in translation) also appear to codify very detailed esoteric truths at a level not necessarily understood by the leity.

Unfortunately, for most esoteric societies, the church was the one that gained early political favour. So the list of important societies with a meaningful esoteric tradition became very short indeed in the middle ages.

I suppose if there are any other secret societies out there (which are not based on 'invented wisdom'...) then if they have been successful at the 'secret' part, we may never know the depth of knowledge that they retain...

[TheStudent]

Yes the church has a lot of good information, and has been carried foward from a very long time ago and is about the easiest place to find it. I suppose I should learn aramic and go over the dead sea scrolls to see what the Essene had on their plate back then.

But since that is so easy to attain, I usually just dont ask about it. Its the other stuff you have to pry for

[stratovariant]

Try out Gnosis, they have reconstructed the really old Gnostic traditions and they call themselves an Esoteric School. Try googling it, there are plenty of sites, most in spanish though, but the most official ones are in different languages. They offer courses, the first few ones are only conferences, but afterwards, after the 16th I think, they are more advanced and then after the 20th then you can enter the 2nd chamber, where they share practices. The 2nd chamber is semi secret, meaning they don't talk much about what they share, but if you stumble inside one of their sesions you wond find anything amiss. Unless a bunch of "sleeping" people is.

[ShadowFox]

Yes. You have Masonry, Rosicrucianism, and you have the mysteries hidden within Christianity. In fact, the core concepts within Christianity, such as the God who dies and is resurrected, almost always have their equivalent concept within many forms of Paganism and the ancient Mysteries..

Some say that Christianity and all its concepts were actually derived from the Old religions - that as Christian nations grew wider and wider by conquering pagan lands, pagan religions were accidentally assimilated into Christianity while their own religions were being stamped out. Look at Dionysus, Osiris, and Jesus. All born of virgins, all male, all part-human, all are given unto death, then resurrected. Raise an eyebrow? Christian apologists claim that "the devil copied Jesus's life into the past" to explain away these appalling similarities between the newer Christianity and the older forms of Paganism. However, that is extremely absurd, and like many people too rigid in dogma, they have to resort to absurd arguments in order to uphold their "truth".

But I digress..

In truth you would be well-pressed to find the origin of all these things. You suppose that Masonry and Rosicrucianism come from Essenism. You suppose that that, too, comes from the period of King Solomon. Some sources I have read claim that Solomon's magical knowledge, such as the Kabbalah originate from trade with a nation in India of the time, which would explain why there are trees and vegetation not native to their respective areas, growing in between those places to this day. Others claim that the Angels themselves revealed these things as Divine knowledge to each of the Patriarchs and Kings of old..

In short, quite a difficult task.

[tehuti]

Secret societies created all religions from the day one. Initiated priesthood from early days of civilization, have dumbed down mystical teachings for common folk, so external worship was official line of thought which majority followed. On the other hand, the elite priesthood secretly practiced their esoteric rites and hid occult tenets and doctrines in symbolism of official line of thought or exoteric religions, so that common man could not possibly understand the real message of religious rituals. In remote times, priesthood devised the lesser Mysteries and greater Mysteries. Those capable of greater philosophical understanding were duly raised to inner Order. A simple example for this dual system were mysteries of Bacchus and Dionysos, in which ordinary man indulged their egos and engaged in sexual perversions, drinking and orgiastic, cultic behavior. Their interpretation of these rites was limited, and they worshiped wine as a god. Occultic, greater mysteries understood that wine and all its connections to personages of Bacchus and Dionysos were entirely symbolical of life-giving energy or pneuma (prana, manna) and Bacchus/Dionysos figure as a symbol for pure individual soul and not any physical existent being.

Real democracy isn't it? Believe what thou wilt? We always have a choice when it comes to practical use of knowledge: we can view things in literal, superficial way, or, we can catch a glimpse beyond literal interpretation of mysteries of life. It's that simple. The only real obstacle is your level of consciousness or karmic (dharmic) maturity. If you're an old soul, you obviously have greater capacity for symbolical literacy.

Masonry have digressed from its mystical path long time ago, today it's mere social club for careerist who don't have a faintest clue of the real origins of masonry and relation with ancient Mysteries. Only but few regular Co-masonic, Memphis-Misraim, Primitive Rite and Martinist lodges and jurisdictions have some basis in esoteric knowledge and their members are very knowledgeable in various mystical traditions. I have compared masonic rituals with that of earlier druidic, Essene and Mithraic orders. It's pretty evident now the scale at which masonry so closely resembles these traditions. In masonry we have elements of the symbolism of stellar and lunar cults of Egypt and Babilon and even Judeo-Christian solar and saturnian elements.

I know few cyber masons who are ashamed of Craft's oligarchical way of functioning and lack of spiritual understanding of their very teachings. There is no doubt that masonry is remnant of ancient Mysteries, but many more orthodox masons will dismiss any historical connection to these cults dating farther then medieval stone guilds and Knights Templar. I have looked beyond official lectures of the Craft, and to my astonishment, I found numerous connection of masonry to alchemy, Kabbalah, sacred geometry, archeo-astronomy, astro-theology and both eastern and western mystery lineages. My research continues. In my mind masonry have great values and teachings and stretches way back than it's widely known and provable. One truly fascinating example is triple tau symbol of Royal Arch degree, which is astronomical and alchemical device of Pythagoreans and Egyptians.

The Rosicrucians are more opened to the pursuit of esoteric knowledge, in comparison with today's masonry. There is FUDOSI federation of esoteric orders of true lineage which was founded to distinguish unbroken lineages from bogus orders and frauds.

[stratovariant]

What I know is that there IS a tendency to call said or other society the original or more pure than others. I personally believe that there is any one of those really ancient Root Schools for lack of better term, that has stood the test of time. I think that every 500 years they get re-structured and either they survive in a lesser form or perish. Those that survive stand a chance to regain their previous level, but this is most often by being assimilated into a newer one. If there are any Schools that hold the truth for real, they are not in the Mortal Plane Of Existence, possibly they are in a higher plane or different phase shift(to use an elegant scientific term)
I might add that there is another school or secret society(They are called Hermetic Schools as far as I know) that has an esoteric bend. The Rune Gild, an Asatruar or Nordic inspired group based in the ancient concept of the Old Northern Europe Gilds or Guilds. That is all I know, I've tried to get more info on them, but have hit a wall. They are SECRETIVE!

[Zadok]

Enochian magick is utilized by some esoteric groups for higher knowledge. But hence the word magick.

It was originally delivered to John Dee and Edward Kelley. It was transmitted via a group of spiritual beings who presented themselves as Holy Angels, this took place in the 1500's.

The use of this type of Enochian Magick is both a system of theugy and goety. The use of summoning angelic and demonic beings. Aleister Crowley used this form of magick. It is interesting that it is a twist, to a correct use of Enoch's teachings to communicate with divine light beings...Seems John Dee wanted to use this system as it should have been used, but it was infiltrated by Kelley who sought self-gain.

Parts of this practice remain unreachable...due to the magick involved.

[SunVenus]

Has anyone done any research into modern esoteric groups and which may contain some good information (and not just invented wisdom)?

Yes, I have done such research-first hand in a few cases.

The ones with which I affiliated/initiated have an excellent body of knowledge, good curriculums, and don’t tend to have the issues with egotism and in-fighting you see in lesser orders/traditions/systems. Their knowledge is not only based in teachings that have been handed down via “mother” orders (to coin a phrase; but I can’t give specifics or names without violating my oaths, which I refuse to do) and they encourage the students to research and add to the body of knowledge.

I’m not speaking of whimsical and random eclecticism and half-assed dabbling, but I refer instead to practical, scholarly syncretism and/or cross-study and the production of additional substantiative material in the form of liturgical material, published works, exegesis, articles and essays for private “Order only” consumption, community programmes, etc.

In fact, I am currently Bishop in one such order, and a founder and the senior Priestess in another. Two others I have left after varying levels of degree attainement- one due to moving to another country and a change in my esoteric path towards a different Aeonic formula; the other due to personal reasons (i.e. a choice in direction and not any issues with core body of knowledge or direction or whatnot.)

There is another specific mystery tradition in which I hope to initiate someday, but that will have to wait a while as I am about to embark upon another project that requires a four year commitment. I wouldn’t be able to give the proper time and attention to this particular mystery tradition, not too mention I will need to travel to the US or the UK frequently to train, initiate and elevate- my current schedule of work, study, Order matters, volunteer work and family obligations limit my time severely.

So short answer?

Yes, there are good groups/Orders/systems/traditions out there. Most of the very best are oathbound, exclusive, have little to no public “face” and require actual hard work on the part of the students/initiates. If the student is meant to find them, they will.

[SameBreath]

They were secret then and they remain to be so. What we the public, the profane, the uninitiated are privelege to understand were chosen to be revieled. The study of the self is the hardest to convey. A look into the theosophical works of Madam H.P. Blavatsky may help you with a lot of questions you have.