| The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus
(hidden, secret), referring to "hidden knowledge" .
In popular English usage, the word has many meanings. Many
understand it to refer to "knowledge of the paranormal".
The term is sometimes popularly taken to mean "knowledge meant only
for certain people" or "knowledge that must be kept
hidden", but for most practicing occultists it is simply the study of
a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason and the
physical sciences. The terms esoteric and arcane can have a
very similar meaning, and the three terms are often used interchangeably. |
| Occultism is the study of occult or hidden wisdom. To the
occultist it is the study of "Truth", the deeper truth that
exists beneath the surface: 'The truth is always hidden in plain sight'.
It can involve such subjects as magick (alternatively spelled and defined
as Magyk), extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, and
numerology--all subjects forbidden to study at one time or another. There
is often a strong religious element to these studies and beliefs, and many
occultists profess adherence to religions such as Gnosticism, Hermeticism,
Thelema and Neo-Paganism. Christianity is not generally considered occult
today, though at one time, it referred to its teachings as
"hidden" or "occult. Most major religions have an
occult interpretation which the orthodox adherents consider as false --
i.e. the Kabballa of the Jews, and Sufism in Islam. Christianity has
dozens of "occult" sects.
The word "occult" is somewhat generic, in that almost
everything that isn't claimed by any of the major religions is considered
to be occult. Even theologists have difficulties in defining occultism. |
