Opportunities for Esoteric Learning?

Posted on January 24, 2008
Filed Under Society |

Fake culture, and pseudo-reality rarely offer the opportunity for esoteric learning. I stumbled into the esoterica after years of feeling subjugated under systems of repressive rigid-thinking. I wouldn’t say the discovery came too late, far from it in fact; however the opportunities tended to arrive by necessity or synchronicity.

I think in some regards those opportunities arrived whenever my ego got bruised. Even still. society tends to focus only on the materialistic reasoned side of life and knowledge. A path which sometimes looks to be very sure footed - after all, esoterica can certainly appear to be full of potholes; living such knowledge may not be for the faint hearted.

So should fringe-knowledge, esoterica and occult science be included in traditional education? Posed publicaly that question would be sure to provide a knee-jerk reaction, and in truth it is fairly loaded. Consider for a moment Rudolf Steiner - a brilliant mind - whom developed much of his knowledge in what he himself classed as ‘occult science’ (i.e. the science of the unknown).

But regardless of where his knowledge came from, he founded the Waldorf Education system, which has been accepted by countries and governments all over the world; including the US and the UK. So it would seem there certainly is a place for developments that originate from within esoteric knowledge, whilst conversely the subject matter itself is somewhat taboo.

The Waldorf Schools are actually very interesting as they take a drastically different approach to education. The aim is to develop the child’s self-awareness while simultaneously teaching them how to learn - as opposed to simply filling them with knowledge.

So is fringe-knowledge, and study of the unknown something that should have a place in everyday life? Or is it only suitable for those that seek it? Through-out the ages, it seems to have always been kept to ‘initiates’ or ‘illuminated’ people. Perhaps widespread availability of such knowledge would dilute its essence? Perhaps it has to be sought before it can be valued.

But then that doesn’t mean the alternative is automatically a regimented system. There’s always room for openness and awareness.