Steiner and Jung on Esoteric Knowledge

For centuries, humanity has been accumulating complex knowledge, systematically building increasingly intricate mathematical and scientific models by accruing predictable circumstances or facts, often designated as theories or laws. This essay proposes that there is a hidden well-spring of ideas or knowledge beyond the methodical accumulation of such mathematical and scientific knowledge, from whence the source that inspired the basis of this knowledge might have originated. Carl Gustav Jung and Rudolf Steiner believe there is an abundance of such knowledge that lies hidden in plain sight and available for a vast expansion of human awareness. In this essay, I take a hermeneutic approach, synthesizing as well as identifying differences in the views on the source of esoteric knowledge. A primary focus of the essay is to articulate Steiner’s, Jung’s, and a few other like-minded scholars’ joint and individual methods of discovering esoteric knowledge. Specifically, I present the imagination, inspiration, and intuition, along with Steiner’s initiation and Jung’s individuation, as these concepts relate to the acquisition of esoteric knowledge. Along with Steiner and Jung, several other voices are brought in to explore the concepts of beauty, truth, and contemplative participation, as these concepts relate to knowledge. A brief synthesis is offered which suggests the approaches discussed may apply to both mainstream methods of procuring scientific knowledge and esoteric knowledge. Finally, a fusion of opposites is offered as a key to discovering esoteric knowledge. Keywords: Carl Jung, Rudolf Steiner, knowledge, participation, imagination, inspiration, intuition, individuation, initiation