Esotericism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group of those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest.: The term derives from the Greek, either from the comparative ἐσώτερος "inner", or from its derived adjective ἐσωτερικός, "pertaining to the innermost". The term can also refer to the academic study of esoteric religious movements and philosophies, or to the study of those religious movements and philosophies whose proponents distinguish their beliefs, practices, and experiences from mainstream exoteric and more dogmatic institutionalized traditions.
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