Faivre: mysticism vs. esotericism

The esoteric, in the sense of 'gnostic' approach, is therefore a mystical experience in which intelligence and memory participate, both expressed in a symbolic form reflecting different levels of reality. Gnosis [and therefore esotericism], according to the theosopher Velentin Tomberg, was the expression of a form of intelligence and memory which had passed through a mystical experience. A gnostic was a mystic able to communicate his own experiences to others in a way that retained the image of the received revelations while passing through different levels of the 'mirror'.