You might be wondering: what is an urbex article doing in our esoteric shop? An increasingly popular practice, it gathers both enthusiasts of hidden places and experiences and feelings that are hard to explain. Esotericism, as a quest for hidden knowledge or knowledge reserved for a select circle, explores the invisible dimensions of the world: the energy of places, spirituality, unexplained phenomena. Far from just seeking thrills, has urbex today become a new form of esotericism in the sense that it encourages discovering places deeply charged with respect for their history? Some reflections.
1. What is urbex?
Urbex, or urban exploration, involves visiting abandoned or off-limits places, often forgotten by time and society. This practice, halfway between adventure and historical research, pushes its followers to cross physical and mental barriers to discover spaces that have been forgotten over the years, even centuries.
Although exploring ruins and abandoned sites has always interested adventurers, urbex as a structured practice truly emerged in the 1980s and 1990s.
The term "urbex" is a contraction of the English expression urban exploration, popularized by Jeff Chapman, aka Ninjalicious, in the early 1990s.
At first glance, one might think urbex is limited to ruined buildings, but that is not always the case: it can also include rooftops, streets, mines, or grounds.
The motivations of urbex enthusiasts vary, but some are attracted by aesthetics and art, seeking to capture images where time and nature seem frozen in a strange poetry. Others explore these places to understand their history, their past role, and the lives they sheltered. For some, the forbidden and the adrenaline that come with trespassing into these inaccessible spaces add an exciting dimension to the practice. Finally, there is also a more introspective and spiritual dimension, where explorers find in these deserted places a setting conducive to personal reflection or an esoteric quest.
Urbex is guided by a clear philosophy: to respect an ethical code consisting of taking nothing and damaging nothing, but simply capturing the essence of the place through photos or visual memories. This strict respect for the integrity of sites aims to preserve these places so others can explore them in their original state. Moreover, locations are never revealed.
However, this practice is not without risks. Physical dangers are common in ruined buildings, where collapses and the presence of hazardous materials like asbestos or broken glass are frequent. Legally, urbex can lead to complications, as these places often belong to private owners and exploring them constitutes illegal trespassing. Finally, the solitude and oppressive atmosphere of some places can cause psychological effects, provoking discomfort or intense emotions in explorers.
2. The stronger the kenopsia...
It would be completely wrong to say that all urbex enthusiasts seek occult experiences. But it must be admitted that many existing testimonies mention it more or less directly, more or less voluntarily.
Urban explorers report unusual sensations during their visits. The term "kenopsia" describes this strange feeling experienced in a place once lively but now empty, evoking a certain melancholy and fascination with the past.
Furthermore, some testimonies report intense energetic sensations in abandoned places, perceived as "energetic hotspots" in France, with their history, myths and legends surrounding them, and their particular energies.
Far from an active practice like a ritual, this spontaneous sensation can be considered a connection with an energy that cannot be defined. A haunting? A subtle plane? It is impossible to say.
3. ...The more intense the visit will be
Urbex offers an opportunity to explore places that, due to their history and abandonment, seem inhabited by particular energies. These places, especially those marked by strong events, collective emotions, or tragedies, act as "receptacles" of memory and energy. The walls of an old factory, the corridors of an abandoned sanatorium, or the stones of a dilapidated manor retain a kind of vibrational imprint left by the lives and events they sheltered.
Places particularly charged, whether by human tragedies or simply their longevity, are perceived as catalysts of intense energies. These energies, though invisible, can be felt almost tangibly by those receptive to them. Some explorers report feelings of oppression, cold, or even slight chills when standing in spaces marked by a heavy past.
Explorers sensitive to these energies explain that these places offer a powerful immersive experience. They become fertile ground for contact with subtler dimensions, whether emotional, historical, or esoteric. In some cases, these energies are perceived as benevolent, bringing a sense of connection to the past or to nature reclaiming its rights. In others, they may seem oppressive or mysterious, reinforcing the idea that these spaces have a life of their own, imbued with the history they embody.
4. Discovering the invisible
The essence of esotericism is indeed to see what cannot be seen at first glance. And this, I think, is the main common point with urbex. Whether it is a historical discovery, to recall the life of a place, a physical discovery to find a construction hidden by nature or underground, or a spiritual one for those visiting manors, living places, and sometimes even occult installations like a house in the Hautes Pyrénées that housed a Masonic initiation temple.
Unfortunately, like any popular practice and one well suited to video format, several YouTubers have visited these places with very little respect, exaggerating staging and sensations, which has thus created a kind of egregore that is nascent but unfortunately unfounded (or poorly founded) on the true nature of the place.
Because urbex is not the Blair Witch Project. It is actually a warm intention, a message to these places that once sheltered life, reminding them that they are not forgotten by everyone.
5. Urbex and reputedly haunted places
The "haunting" in urbex raises an interesting reflection, not only on the perception of abandoned places but also on the ethical questions it can raise. While the notion of haunting undeniably attracts some practitioners, it often acts as a mirror of our collective fears and fascination with the invisible. However, it can also pose ethical challenges, especially in how these places are explored, narrated, and publicized.
The idea of haunting, whether authentic or constructed, obviously fuels the narrative around abandoned places. Sites like abandoned hospitals, dilapidated manors, or deserted churches are particularly associated with this imagery, reinforced by stories of unexplained phenomena, urban legends, or sometimes exaggerated testimonies. This fascination with the paranormal can serve as an entry point for some explorers, but it can also simplify or even distort the historical and symbolic complexity of the places explored. An urbex ethic involves recognizing these stories as facets of a larger whole, without reducing these spaces to mere thrill spots.
The media coverage of haunting, especially in videos or stories shared on social networks, introduces another ethical dimension. Explorers who play on the idea of haunted places to attract attention or monetize their content risk turning places into mere spectacles. This treatment can harm the perception of urbex, reducing it to a sensationalist quest, far from its original values of respect, curiosity, and documentation. It can also influence how the public interacts with these places, attracting unprepared or disrespectful visitors who damage the space or disturb its peace.
The ethical question also extends to how stories about haunting affect local communities. Some abandoned places carry painful memories for the region’s inhabitants. Reducing these spaces to thrill settings obscures their true history and (above all) disrespects the people affected by their past.
6. Urbex and esotericism: a parallel quest for the hidden
Urbex and esotericism, although seemingly distinct at first glance, converge in a shared quest for the invisible and the forbidden. These two practices question what escapes immediate perception, whether it is an abandoned place bearing the marks of the past or spiritual dimensions inaccessible to the profane eye. By exploring neglected spaces, urbex enthusiasts highlight forgotten fragments of human history, just as esotericism seeks to reveal hidden truths within the visible structures of the world.
This common search is based on the same stance: that of an explorer facing a mystery. In urbex, the mystery lies in abandonment, ruin, silence; each element is a piece of a puzzle to be reassembled. In esotericism, the mystery takes the form of invisible forces, symbols, or occult knowledge to decipher. These two worlds intersect in their ability to transform space into an inner experience: a dilapidated building can become an introspective sanctuary, just as an esoteric ritual opens a sacred space where the visible dialogues with the invisible.
The link between urbex and esotericism is also found in their way of questioning time. Abandoned places, frozen in their decay, become time capsules where the explorer perceives not only what was but also what could have been. Esotericism, for its part, questions the linearity of time through practices aimed at connecting past, present, and future, whether through divination, contact with spiritual memories, or other transcendental approaches. In both cases, it is about accessing realities that everyday life does not allow.
Another point of connection lies in the notion of passage. Urban exploration involves crossing physical thresholds – a rusty gate, a boarded-up door – but also symbolic ones, like a garden, a dining room, a bedroom. Esotericism relies on passages of another order: opening to altered states of consciousness, crossing spiritual or energetic planes, and discovering hidden knowledge. These passages, whether physical or spiritual, require a form of courage and curiosity that connect the two practices.
Finally, what deeply brings urbex and esotericism together, and this will be the closing word, is the way these two approaches transform the explorer’s perception. In an abandoned place, what seemed inert and dead suddenly reveals stories, traces, and sometimes felt energies. Likewise, esotericism invites looking beyond the obvious, sensing what lies beneath appearances. In these shared spaces of wonder and revelation, urbex and esotericism become parallel practices, where each step – physical or spiritual – allows redefining our relationship to the world and to ourselves.
