So, this edition of the @TribeSteemUp Bi-Weekly Question is being run in conjunction with the @Steem-1up Esoteric Community Spotlight & Contests. If you're not familiar, the 1Up project is the next evolution of the STEEM blockchain, being created by @Flauwy & @StoodKev, the first project to really put the focus on empowering & connecting communities here on STEEM.
One of the communities that is being supported (and in some sense created) by the #1up project is #esoteric. If you'd like to get involved, check out the post above, and/or read all the 1up announcements from @flauwy, @stoodkev, and @eftnow.
What does esoteric mean to you and how has it influenced your life?
This was a very interesting one, because as always when discussing a term, my first step was to go look at the definition and etymology of the term. What was in my mind going in was basically that esoteric is a synonym for occult (hidden)... but that's not really the case so much.
From EtymOnline:
1650s, from Greek esoterikos "belonging to an inner circle" (Lucian), from esotero "more within," comparative adverb of eso "within," from PIE ens-o-, suffixed form of ens, extended form of root en "in." Classically applied to certain popular and non-technical writings of Aristotle, later to doctrines of Pythagoras. In English, first of Pythagorean doctrines.
Now, that doesn't sound very much like the hidden, suppressed, occult word I was expecting. Along the way, I also happened to skim through a few other folks entries for this week, and in @penvibes post, they included a bit of conversation from a theology class they took, that went something like this:
Teacher: What is Esoteric?
Student: Difficult to understand by an outsider, an enigmatic concept hidden within the grips of a select inner members.
Teacher: There you go, very enigmatically incorrect, go home and search the deeper things with a deeper heart, esoteric knowledge would be open to you all, you would be the inner circles. Go home and look deep within your heart.
This is a special #esoteric bounty post for 1UP, the Curation System for Communities. Check out the fundraiser to learn more about its function and the latest airdrops:
https://fundition.io/#!/@steem-1up/0xxjea70g.
If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy some of these highlights of my blog:
Great to hear your thoughts on this Kenny, I wrote a very similar answer, how the actual meaning is the natural inner knowledge we hold within, not knowledge held within certain secret or hidden societies. It is our intuitive inner wisdom, something we all hold and something more and more of us are tapping into. It is so exciting to get to see how all of this will unfurl now that more and more people are aware and trusting of their natural self xxx
Yes, we are still in the very early stages of such a magical, profound, and important shift in human consciousness, and it's already been such a huge change! Let's see what the next decade brings :-O
Esoteric... hidden or secret Wisdom or Knowledge of the Oneness of the Universe
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As the Great Yogi Master Jesus the Nazarene (Yeshu ha Notzri) once said “The Kingdom of God is WITHIN You”
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This is the trickiest business going from the perch I sit on...
Here is one of many examples I could give: The Georgia Guidestones. These seem to be steeped in esoterica. They just happen to call for the removal of about 6-billion people off the earth as a remedy for environmentalism.
I reject this type of esoterics completely. It's a type of esoteric fascism.
The population isn't in itself the problem; the problem is an unsustainable economic model premised on greed and a poor interpretation of evolution.
Esoterica can be ethical and helpful but can also be incredibly destructive.
It's a real problem when an individual or a group espouses dubious action based on phenomenology. This is how witch burnings happened and many other atrocities.
Esoteric has to align with logic and reason and can't blatantly contradict these faculties. Non-rational is fine but irrational is not.
What does “esoteric” mean to me? It’s a word that reminds me how tenuous the connections are between major incidents in my life.
In my early teens I just happened to catch something on local radio about the “Arcane School” and the “Lucis Trust” who ran a small private library not far from my school. It was the greatest collection of esoterica I’d ever seen and some of those books were key to the spiritual path I would choose.
I was a weird kid.
This is one esoteric thing that I know, Bless everyone and blessings will come back to you.
Very true! Thank you for the comment :-)
Once more a really thoughtful dive into a question one would otherwise rarely think about. I have learned something again just by pondering about this question. We are all growing together by asking ourselves these bigger than life questions. :)