ABSTRACT
The “esoteric community” is a loose confederation of individuals and associations, geographically dispersed throughout the metropolitan Valley, which is organized by way of overlapping networks of social relationship. Its members include assorted leaders, seekers, students, and practitioners, as well as business enterprises, cultic groups, and cultic associations. The members of the esoteric community believe in and practice a full range of esoteric teachings. In spite of tremendous diversity in what they believe and practice, members more or less share in common an ethos of esotericism, channels of communication, definitions and images of themselves as well as their relationships with the exoteric society. They construct and enforce codes of ethical practice defining relations with clientele, and they define and enforce community boundaries.
