Lithuanian Esotericism Study Group (LESG) is a working group of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions. Established in 2023, LESG brings together researchers of esotericism who represent various disciplines and Lithuanian academic institutions. Esotericism is a specific worldview, way of thinking, and practices that can be found throughout the world. It is defined and conceptualized in various ways, and, due to its manifold nature, its research requires interdisciplinary approaches. Marginalized and disregarded in the Western academic community for a long time, in recent decades, esotericism has been recognized as an important heritage of many cultures and a phenomenon that can be found in many spheres of contemporary culture, and, as such, as deserving scholars’ attention. The aim of LESG is to encourage research of esoteric traditions of various regions of the world in the Lithuanian academic community, to contribute to the integration of Lithuanian researchers of esotericism in the international academic community, and to share the insights of esotericism research with society.
