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. The esoteric community is part of the larger cultic milieu and esoteric scene in the Valley. This esoteric scene interfaces with exoteric culture by way of literature, other mass communications, and commercial products which express and convey popular cultural images of esoteric culture. The Valley is a culturally pluralistic, urban social environment containing a perplexing variety of nonconventional, unorthodox, esoteric, and occult beliefs, practices, believers, and groups. The esoteric community is a very loose collection and network of seekers, clients, practitioners, groups, businesses, confederations of practitioners and groups, and a few central activities, such as psychic fairs, all of which are dispersed geographically throughout the Valley. Application of a model of professionalism to esoteric practice is especially evident in the several codes of ethics published in the community.
