Occult
Occult refers to an area of knowledge or thought that is hidden.[1] The word occult has many uses in the English language. Often it means knowledge that lies outside the range of normal experience or scientific explanation. The term sometimes means knowledge meant only for certain people or knowledge that must be kept hidden. For most occultists it is the study of a deeper spiritual reality.[2]
The term occult is also used as a label given to a number of magical organizations or orders, and the teachings and practices as taught by them. The name also extends to a large body of literature and spiritual philosophy.
Occultism
Occultism is the study of occult. It can involve such subjects as magic (alternatively spelled and defined as magick), extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, numerology and lucid dreaming. There is often a strong religious element to these studies and beliefs, and many occultists profess adherence to religions such as Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Satanism, Thelema, and Neopaganism. While Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam are generally not considered as occult, some of their modern interpretations can be, such as the interpretation of Hinduism within Theosophy or the various occult interpretations of the Jewish Kabbalah.
Science and the occultism
Alchemy, is considered an occult practice. Alchemy used to be common among scientists, such as Isaac Newton.[3] During the Age of Enlightenment alchemy and science went their separate ways. Newton was accused of introducing occult agencies into natural science when he proposed that gravity was a force capable of acting over vast distances.[4]
Occult Media
The French esotericist Éliphas Lévi popularised the term "occultism" in the 1850s. His reinterpretation of traditional esoteric ideas has led to him being called the origin of "the occultist current properly so-called".[5]
In the 1990s, the Dutch scholar Wouter Hanegraaff put forward a new definition of occultism for scholarly uses.
Related pages
Notes
- ↑ Crabb, G. (1927). English synonyms explained, in alphabetical order, with copious illustrations and examples drawn from the best writers. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
- ↑ Blavatsky, H. P. (1897). Occultism of the secret doctrine. [Whitefish, Mont.]: Kessinger Pub., LLC.
- ↑ Newton's Dark Secrets.
- ↑ Edelglass et al., Matter and Mind, ISBN 0-940262-45-2. p. 54
- ↑ Faivre 1994, p. 88.
Other websites
- Journal of Thelemic Studies Archived 2020-01-16 at the Wayback Machine - the first non-partisan, academic journal investigating the occult tradition of Thelema, founded by the infamous Aleister Crowley
- The Occult Lodge Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine For all things Occult
- University of Amsterdam Center for Study of Western Esotericism
- University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO)
- ESSWE European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, with many links to associated organizations, libraries, scholars etc.
- Joseph H. Peterson, Twilit Grotto: Archives of Western Esoterica (Esoteric Archives: Occult Literature)
- Athenaeum Archived 2007-02-10 at the Wayback Machine (Collection of occult works in PDF Format)
- Inner Quest Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine All things occult