What is Occultism

So, in the interest of starting at the beginning let's discuss the scope of the subject and what it means. As such let's begin with this word "Occult" which is vastly misunderstood and often misrepresented.

Occult is derived from the Latin "Occulta" which means "Hidden" or "Difficult to find". An example in medicine is the Spina Bifida Occulta, or a Spina Bifida which has no symptoms and is only seen as an artifact on radiographs. It does not make its presence known. Occult and Occluta are also related to the word "Occlude" and all have their root in Occulere which means "to hide, to cover over, to block from view".

As you can see, etymologically, Occult is related to the ideas of that which is hidden, unseen, covered up or just unobservable. In our context of Occultism we are referring to the study of that which is hidden or cannot be seen through normal means.

Occult, as a word, is totally unrelated to the word Cult, which comes from the Latin Cultus, meaning a religious organisation dedicated to a single person or deity as well as the rites and observances thereof. Christianity, with its focus on the teachings of a single individual (regardless of whether they are mortal or divine) can, therefore, be classified as a "Cult". Another example is the Isiac Cult which extended throughout the Roman world. As their focus was exclusively to Isis they qualify as a Cult.

The word Cult was badly maligned during the 1970's and 1980's as the media used it exclusively to refer to coercive organisations engaged in Mind Control and other questionable practices. Though, sociologically, many of those organisations were, in fact, Cults, the definition applies because of their theological focus, not because of their immoral and dangerous activities. The word has become so badly loaded with negative connotation that it has become common practice to refer to cults as "New Religious Movements" in sociology and anthropology. Sadly, this term is often an inaccurate description of the subject, and yet it is somehow better than using the word "Cult".

It should be clear, at this point, that the word which defines our work has no connection to concepts of evil or coercion nor is it anti-religious. At best one might make the connection to the idea of darkness in so much as to block from view or to cover over leaves the hidden thing unlit. It is, of course, fallacious to connect darkness with evil but then, most people who speak out the loudest against Occultism and claim that it is evil do so from an uneducated viewpoint. At best their opinion is based on trashy novels and cheap horror movies.

Light and Darkness are not so much opposites as different extremes of the same thing. Like heat, there is a point where we say "it is cold" and a point where we say "it is hot" but it is all temperature. What is dark to a person is perfectly well lit to an housecat. Those who label darkness as evil are those who are afraid of what they cannot see. They don't understand the cyclical nature of life. After all, we have light and darkness every day and each is perfectly well suited to its purpose. In the Bible, one of many valuable textbooks in Occultism, we are told that G-d created both the light and the darkness, so how can anyone claim that either of them is less than holy?

Occultism peers into the dark places, pulls the covers off of that which is hidden and seeks knowledge and understanding. We banish our fear and see the universe from a pantheistic perspective; nothing that is, is not of G-d. Everything in the universe is Divine from the cockroach to the archangel. Evil can therefore be interpreted as our perception of the wrong thing in the wrong place. Grass is perfectly good on the lawn but must be pulled out when it's in with the flowers.

We seek to know ourselves, to know humanity and to understand G-d as much as we can. In order to do that we must push beyond appearances and seek that which is hidden behind the facade. It is for this reason that Occultism is such a vast field. It is part magic, part psychology, part anthropology, part religion, part theology and part science. One organisation put it simply as "The method of science, the aim of religion".

In order to peek under the carpet, so to speak, we use a great many tools. Magic, ritual, alchemy, astrology, tarot, qabalah, and so on are all methods we use to peek through the facade of the manifested universe. These tools all help us to access our higher Self, our subconscious mind and our inner Divinity, all of which are the real tools of self discovery and spiritual evolution.

Which brings us to "why". Why spend years and years in study, meditation and ritual? Why seek the hidden things in the universe to peer upon the Divine? Different people have different reasons. Some seek power, others seek enlightenment while still others seek an escape. Some feel a steady pull at the core of their being which drives them to continue this work even when all else seems lost. As St. John said "The light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not." We climb the sacred mountain because we must, we see the light upon the summit and hear a voice calling us home.

What is most important to get across here is that there is nothing evil or anti-religious about Occultism. In fact, it is the exact opposite. It is a journey, practical and intellectual, by which we seek understanding and enlightenment. Though many people undertake the work for the wrong reasons, they either reach a point and stick there, quit, spend most of their time complaining that nobody takes them seriously and that all of the schools and orders are worthless or, rarely, find a true spiritual path and undertake the Work in ernest.

In the end, that narrows our definition of Western Occultism: A spiritual path of enlightenment and spiritual evolution based on a study of the ancient and often hidden wisdom of the West.

in LVX
Brother Greg