Up: [[Mystery]] Created: 2022-01-27 Updated: 2025-12-18 Antoine Faivre was a historian of esotericism. When he examined esoteric practices in the Western world, he said they had three defining characteristics, all of which were to achieve the goal of personal transformation. They are: 1. The natural universe has its own life force. This is the [[Anima Mundi]] idea and is the piece I still have some trouble really embracing. 2. Personal insight to the level of spiritual revelation, not religious dogma. See [[Gnosis Defined and Contrasted]] 3. Making use of practices to access reality beyond our material world. [[Active Imagination]] certainly does this.