Have anyone here been part of an esoteric society

[NaturaNaturans]

(Seems to be some changes on the phone version, so was not able to put it in general discussion)

 

if so, would you like to talk a little about your experience?

[Neirong]

9 hours ago, NaturaNaturans said:

if so, would you like to talk a little about your experience?

First rule of any esoteric society would be: "Don't talk about esoteric society".

 

Quote

esoteric /ĕs″ə-tĕr′ĭk/
adjective

    Intended for or understood by only a small group, especially one with specialized knowledge or interests: synonym: mysterious.
    "an esoteric philosophical doctrine."
    Similar: mysterious Relating to or being a small group with specialized knowledge or interests.
    "an esoteric circle."
    Not known by or suitable for the public; private.

Esoteric means concealed/hidden, the whole idea of those organizations and groups to not be open to the general public.
If you find a lot of people talking about some "esoteric circle" in public then it is not an esoteric circle.

[NaturaNaturans]

Ich weiss, I am not asking about spesific, but general experience. There is a reason I am asking.

[Nungali]

[SirPalomides]

On 3/20/2024 at 5:08 AM, Neirong said:

First rule of any esoteric society would be: "Don't talk about esoteric society".

 

Esoteric means concealed/hidden, the whole idea of those organizations and groups to not be open to the general public.
If you find a lot of people talking about some "esoteric circle" in public then it is not an esoteric circle.

 

That's not usually how it works though. Plenty of "public esotericism" to go around through history. Some secrets are by their nature self-concealing- no matter how publicly and openly you explain them, only a few people will get it. Likewise an organization can make its existence publicly known but only expect to attract limited interest. Conversely there have been esoteric societies that pretty much everyone joined but no one was allowed to talk about, e.g. the Eleusinian mysteries, or even the Christian Church (the details of the eucharist were closely guarded for a while- a eucharistic prayer still used today says "...I will not speak of this mystery to Thine enemies"). 

 

For the OP, you can peruse reddit and other places to find plenty of people sharing their experiences in Rosicrucian, Masonic, and similar organizations.  

[idiot_stimpy]

At least where I live an esoteric Freemason is extremely rare.

[SirPalomides]

6 minutes ago, idiot_stimpy said:

At least where I live an esoteric Freemason is extremely rare.

 

Freemasons who are specifically interested in the esoteric aspects of masonry are rare, yes, but they are not hard to find either. And the Masonic organization itself is esoteric even if the majority of members want to treat it as an old boys club. 

[Neirong]

Anyone can spend half an hour and buy a ticket to become a member of Masonry Lounge, the Rosicrucian order, or a few other "secret esoteric" organizations.
It has long stopped being esoteric and is just name selling business or tourist attraction museum.

https://www.rosicrucian.org/rosicrucianism

Life is not so easy, and joining any genuine esoteric organizations/circles would be a considerable challenge.
It has always been so throughout the centuries.

[SirPalomides]

2 hours ago, Neirong said:

Anyone can spend half an hour and buy a ticket to become a member of Masonry Lounge, the Rosicrucian order, or a few other "secret esoteric" organizations.
It has long stopped being esoteric and is just name selling business or tourist attraction museum.

https://www.rosicrucian.org/rosicrucianism

 

AMORC is just one of a constellation of organizations claiming the title of Rosicrucian. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Neirong said:

Life is not so easy, and joining any genuine esoteric organizations/circles would be a considerable challenge.
It has always been so throughout the centuries.

 

Again, considerable historical experience to contradict this. Esotericism is much too broad to pass definitive judgments about who is genuine or not. 

[snowymountains]

On 21/03/2024 at 1:58 PM, SirPalomides said:

 Christian Church (the details of the eucharist were closely guarded for a while- a eucharistic prayer still used today says "...I will not speak of this mystery to Thine enemies"). 

 

I thought all the Christian mysteries were known in their totality to the public, this quote is from Chrisostome who has written himself on divine liturgy. St. Germanius had also written about it.

To the best of my knowledge none of their texts was ever held in secret or to be read only by ordained priests.

[snowymountains]

On 20/03/2024 at 12:38 AM, NaturaNaturans said:

(Seems to be some changes on the phone version, so was not able to put it in general discussion)

 

if so, would you like to talk a little about your experience?

No, there's no reason to do so, plus theres a fairly good chance of finding cults inside these societies.

[idiot_stimpy]

Be careful and test whatever group you join, or else you might join a group who enjoy wearing elaborate costumes further increasing their delusion of ego self importance over others.

[Nungali]

Our group had fun wearing 'elaborate costumes '  !  

 

We worked on many levels , some private some 'communal'  , that is rites and celebrations that are put on for the 'general populace ' .

 

One, for example, was a great maypole we did one year .  Everyoone enjoyed making and wearing their elaborate costumes . And the art , installations and sculpture we did .  We had  vine wreathed lithe dancers , a crazy stained green man ,  a harp player , stayrs nymphs  and made a great multi colored woven maypole .

 

For other rites -  astrological / mythical , similar (but more a closed group .)

 

A group of 'thesbians' we where .... and it was fun .  Also learnt a LOT too . 

 

- but, you might have noticed (if you look into such things )  many .... many many , initiation rites , the 'serious' or real ones , cross culturally , start of  ....  ' Get yer gear off ' .

 

- you 'start off'  how you came into the world .

 

So , flamboyant dresser-uppers  going to be disappointed .

 

 

[SirPalomides]

On 4/8/2024 at 4:45 PM, snowymountains said:

 

I thought all the Christian mysteries were known in their totality to the public, this quote is from Chrisostome who has written himself on divine liturgy. St. Germanius had also written about it.

To the best of my knowledge none of their texts was ever held in secret or to be read only by ordained priests.

 

For a long time, there were only two kinds of people admitted to the liturgy: catechumens (those formally enrolled into Christian instruction) and baptized. At a certain point in the liturgy, the deacon comes out and exclaims "Catechumens depart!" meaning that only the baptized can remain at the service. This exclamation can still be heard today in Eastern Orthodox liturgies, even though it is no longer enforced (at this point I once saw the priest's wife lean over to an actual catechumen and jokingly say "get out!"). This, together with "I will not speak of this mystery..." is related to the era of persecution but also the inherited understanding that it is unseemly to talk publicly about the mysteries. In ancient Greece where almost everyone had been initiated into the mysteries, people could still be prosecuted for discussing them publicly. 

 

Chrysostom is credited with writing the liturgy that bears his name but no one really knows the exact history of it. In any case Chrysostom was the bishop in Constantinople at a time when Christianity was pretty secure as the dominant faith; Germanus was writing even later when it was thoroughly entrenched and pagans had been thoroughly purged from public life. 

 

My overall point is that esotericism takes many forms. Some of it really involves a secret and closed circle of initiates but that is only one piece of the picture and various kinds of public esotericism are widespread and important features of religious life around the world. 

[snowymountains]

3 hours ago, SirPalomides said:

 

For a long time, there were only two kinds of people admitted to the liturgy: catechumens (those formally enrolled into Christian instruction) and baptized. At a certain point in the liturgy, the deacon comes out and exclaims "Catechumens depart!" meaning that only the baptized can remain at the service. This exclamation can still be heard today in Eastern Orthodox liturgies, even though it is no longer enforced (at this point I once saw the priest's wife lean over to an actual catechumen and jokingly say "get out!"). This, together with "I will not speak of this mystery..." is related to the era of persecution but also the inherited understanding that it is unseemly to talk publicly about the mysteries. In ancient Greece where almost everyone had been initiated into the mysteries, people could still be prosecuted for discussing them publicly. 

 

Chrysostom is credited with writing the liturgy that bears his name but no one really knows the exact history of it. In any case Chrysostom was the bishop in Constantinople at a time when Christianity was pretty secure as the dominant faith; Germanus was writing even later when it was thoroughly entrenched and pagans had been thoroughly purged from public life. 

 

My overall point is that esotericism takes many forms. Some of it really involves a secret and closed circle of initiates but that is only one piece of the picture and various kinds of public esotericism are widespread and important features of religious life around the world. 

 

If you mean it that way then yes, there are symbolic rites which are widespread.

Imo this is another point as to why there's little point in joining esoteric societies, there already is symbolic stuff out there that's widely accessible.

[Nungali]

 But is the aim of joining such a society  to   get  'symbolic stuff''   ?     .   Of course not .

 

If it was then there would be no point in joining as what you want would be widely accessible .

 

I have heard, many times and many different answers , but when 'the seeker' is asked , 'What do you seek ?'

 

I have never heard anyone answer  .....  'Symbolic stuff'  or 'symbolism' or any such answer . If they did i might suggest  'Its out there and widely acceptable ' .

 

These answers seem off topic in that they are  supposed to be about people that HAVE been in such a society and not poeople who have never been in one giving the usual outside perspective .

 

 

 

/

Edited April 10 by Nungali

[NaturaNaturans]

28 minutes ago, Nungali said:

 

I have heard, many times and many different answers , but when 'the seeker' is asked , 'What do you seek ?'

What do you seek my Friend 

[Nungali]

22 hours ago, NaturaNaturans said:

What do you seek my Friend 

 

At the moment .... my false teeth - I cant find them anywhere ! 

[Neirong]

On 21.03.2024 at 6:00 PM, Neirong said:

Life is not so easy, and joining any genuine esoteric organizations/circles would be a considerable challenge.

It has always been so throughout the centuries.

 

In this age, people tend to develop consumer bias and mentality, and they seek things for their own benefit.

The problem with genuine esoteric circles is that they are not shops/outlets to sell stuff or attract customers. The first question would be, how can you contribute to the circle?

We could go around and ask people what useful things they can do with their attainments and cultivation abilities, but it is unlikely we will get any meaningful answers. Most people never develop useful abilities, and they are incapable of making any contribution.

Internal circles are not kindergartens/schools to care for you or teach you.

Edited April 18 by Neirong