172. Power of Ancient and Esoteric Wisdom

I recently sat down with Brendan Heard of the Aureus Press to talk about traditionalism and power of ancient and esoteric wisdom. After his book about the decline of Western Art, Brendan continued to writing. This led him to start the Aureus Press website where he publishes articles. This conversation will teach you a lot about a range of problems facing us today. For more of this discussion, listen to the interview. Or, if you’re a subscriber you can watch below.

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Importance of Beauty

As you know, I’ve talked with several accounts about art, architecture, and beauty. And, I’ve talked a lot about restoring the arts, despite being in an ugly culture. Furthermore, I think there is a connection between truth and beauty – that they’re both objective. Brendan and I discuss that quite a bit as well. That said, I think much of what we tried to get at is perfectly summed up below by Francis Bacon.

“Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the Infinite.”
Francis Bacon

What Is Esoteric Wisdom?

Basically, esoteric wisdom is knowledge meant to be somewhat hidden – or at least not widespread. According to the dictionary, esoteric means:

“intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.”

This is, in other words, a type of knowledge that requires a lot of studying and work to acquire. However, that doesn’t mean it’s out of reach. It is something that each of us can attain, in fact. The quote below explains why that’s the case:

“Esoteric or inner knowledge is no different from other kinds of human knowledge and ability. It is a mystery for the average person only to the extent that writing is a mystery for those who have not yet learned to write.”
Rudolf Steiner