Q. What is ESOTERIC LITERATURE?
           A. Literature Containing a hidden message

What Voltaire Tries to Tell Us

(The Esoteric Substance of Voltairian Thought)

^{By Denise Bonhomme}

The Forbidden Fruit of Esoteric Literature in Voltairian Writings

Voltaire: Superstar in a Constellation of Literary "Smugglers"

The focus of this daring study is the veiled message concealed in the trilogy consisting of Zadig, Candide and L'Ingénu. Micromégas, Le Mondain and the Poem on the Disaster of Lisbon are also examined esoterically. The Voltairian "contraband" which is the core of those writings was too explosive for overt publication during the lifetime of the author. More dangerous to reveal than his well-known subversive socio-political views was the spiritual source of his militancy. Accordingly, his veiled message was meant for the general reading public of the future; more precisely, for our times.