A thing is not esoteric because it is secret or kept hidden. It is esoteric because its existence is in some sense unmanifest, private, and by its very nature not available for examination from the outside: it is only available to participation, not, ultimately, merely to examination. In other words, the realm of the esoteric is, before anything else, the realm of consciousness, of experience.

Earl King, Jr., Having and Keeping Secrets: Some Words About Silence and The Hermetic Art of Secrecy

Hermetic quote King Having and Keeping Secrets Caduceus not esoteric secret kept hidden because existence unmanifest private nature not examination only participation realm consciousness experience

Consider also:

  1. “under the veil of secrecy, dangerous plans and harmful teachings can be accepted just as well as noble intentions and profound knowledge; because not all members themselves are informed of such depraved intentions, which sometimes tend to lie hidden beneath the beautiful façade”
  2. “since he had read the Word, the Word was now lodged inside him, even if he had not met the Author; that he had become the Book, the Word made flesh, through that little bit of the divine that the craft of reading allows to all those who seek to learn the secrets held by a page.”
  3. “The silence that enfolds something kept unsaid points to the unsayable. By being wrapped in silence, what is arcane (kept hidden) comes to participate in what is esoteric (by its nature inexpressible). The secret becomes a symbol of the mystery, participating in what it points to, by the way in which it points to it.”
  4. “All of the theological teachings regarding the Life after Death – heavens and hells – contain some truth, but none contain all the truth.”
  5. “It would be improper to comment further upon an official ritual of the A∴A∴”