why are historical occult figures so often ex-monks or ex-clergy?

[Beero]

Hi
I've been reading up a bit on the history of esoteric stuff and it strikes me that a lot of historical occult figures have been monks or studied to be priests or similar
Why do you think this could be?
Would it be that you would learn esoteric stuff secretly if you joined a monastery?
Or is it a bit like going to 'the dark side of the force'?
what d'you reckon?
from
007

[Stookie]

Which occult figures are you talking about? The main ones I'm familiar with weren't clergy (that I'm aware of).

Rudolph Steiner's "The Karma of Untruthfulness" explains a lot about 19th & early 20th century occult & secret society history and influences. A must-read if your interested in the history of this kind of stuff.

[Beero]

I can't think of names of the top of my head
I'm reading 'The Secret History of the World' by Jonathon Black just now (v good)
I recently read 'The Occult Tradition' by David S Katz
& from these I got the impression of the prominent occultists being ex-priests or ex-clergy
maybe I'm mistaken
but if you think of the Knights Templar as an obvious example, you'll see where I'm coming from
I'll have to get that book by Rudolf Steiner, I keep coming across his name but I've never really read any of his stuff.  It looks pricey on Amazon though, do you know if it's available as an ebook anywhere.  I've been wanting to get his book on Rosicrucians for a while as well, is it a good read.