I can only speak for myself, but the Occult is the “Intellectual and practical activity dealing with the study of the structure and behavior of the physical and metaphysical world through observations and experiments.” In other words, the tools might be different, but it is still a Science.
The difficulty with this definition is that many of us believe Occult means “Faith” and faith is the antithesis of science. I do not find that way of looking at the universe very helpful because, as an occultist, I can certainly let my imagination run riot and come up with some really cool ideas of what I’d like to be able to manifest but that’s different from actually manifesting them. “Make me immortal,” someone will say, as if all I have to do is wave my hand, utter a couple of Latin phrases and presto, I’ve stopped their cells from aging. They tend to get disappointed when I explain that the only thing that I know of that is immortal is cancer, which somehow can reverse the telomerase decay in our chromosomes. That, to me, is a Mystery since it’s beyond my ability to replicate and yet it happens anyway. What was it that Arthur C. Clarke said? “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The flip side of that is that Magick is a Technology, a tool, like Philosophy, that we use to help us understand what appears unknowable. Just because the path that I follow is unconventional doesn’t mean it won’t lead me to the same root at the end. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that the idea of viruses was also theoretical and beyond the ability of the Sciences to answer. The same people who dismiss Magick as gobbledygook today would, by their very own logic, have to dismiss viruses as well, but that didn’t stop them from existing.
I like looking at the Occult this way since, like negative numbers, it allows me to discover new worlds that I otherwise would have no access to. If one day we develop lenses and tools to view the Spirit world like we can view microbes and cells now, then that will be interesting. If we can’t, then that will be interesting as well. I love that the quest for Knowledge is endless and requires thinking outside the box. It’s why I get out of bed in the morning.
There are several levels of comprehending occultism.
1. The first level is some sort of connection to a spiritual or psychic reality. This may be as simple as believing in unicorns, or as complex as knowledge of psychological archetypes, or perhaps sometimes a numerological interpretation of mathematical knowledge, or a belief in theological systems based on miracles and hierarchies of angels. The first core idea is belief and a connection to spiritual practice, such as physical activities (dancing), candle-lighting or altar-making, rune-carving, and related mental activities.
2. The second level is to believe in or perceive the actions of other entities in this magical interpretation of the world, such that other entities can influence one through their supernatural character. Entities like dead ancestors, superhuman people called gods, angels, magical practitioners (wizards, witches, and shamans), and perhaps magical animals or beings from other planes of reality are then interpreted as bestowing magical effects, through their influence from another similar but luckier or (in some, any kind of way, however obscurely) more enchanted reality.
3. The prospective magic-user now goes into a process of begging to receive powers from the higher beings, or to protect him or herself from one spirit by allying with another. This process could be casual and instituted 'just in case' all that was thought about happens to be true based on assumptions arising from ritual practice or enjoyable experiences that seem to have a license to indulge truths as well. In this process, the new magical practitioner acquires an idea of 'magick powers' for use in defense, wishing, giving good wishes or thanking the ghosts for not being hostile, etc. This often originates with prayer and other superstitious religious activities, which imply a relation to a higher power. Perceived relations with spirits explain the psychology of powerful magic, because we see that the spirit has less power than the god, just as the person has thought of the spirit after thinking of the god.
4. Now the magical practitioner attempts to justify the magical life by thinking of other, not-conventionally-magical things as being magical. For example, a government's laws, or a technological device could be interpreted as good or evil, fitting in with the scheme of angels, or the spirits influencing the development of psychic powers, many of which remain invisible, subtle, and mysterious, potentially words for not having real effects at all. At this point the person has ideas of magical laws, magical complexity, magical sex, magical herbs, etc. etc. He or she ascribes magical effects to everything in order to explain how the spells are 'really working'. At this point, the person probably has already hinted to someone that he or she thinks him or herself to be a 'witch / wizard / shaman'. If not, then sometimes some other name is used which replaces the superstition with something that still seems magical. For example, someone may call himself a 'philosopher / scientist' (believing in the magic of mind / nature / or mathematics). Or a 'theologian / priest' (based on fear of God and the sanctity of magical laws).
5. What follows is a test of intelligence, adventure, and the like. Whatever experience justifies magick becomes the focus of existence. Some people may become drug-users, whereas others may become librarians who believe in aliens. Some may find that living close to nature is enough (although a little disillusioning), whereas others may seek romantic love under the protection of the church. In general, at this point the person believes that he or she can cast real magick spells. Effects like charm and aphrodisiacs are common, because they are easily suggested by ordinary experiences or additional effort. The practitioner focuses on things like nature worship, divination, and prayer because these are things that tend to be simple and interactive.
6. Usually something happens. Life goes on. The person gets into a human relationship, finds a job, or decides to devote their life to writing, or some other thing. The process of justifying magick continues, but now under the restraint that 'they have been distracted'. 'They could not concentrate'. 'Channeling was difficult'. This ironically becomes the intermediate stage of magick. The stage of justifying that magick got results. That the powers became more technical. In effect, that channeling occurred. But now the person feels some pressure to act like a normal person. For some people this means abandoning the vocabulary, calling it 'childish'. For others it involves writing books about magick, or meeting interesting people. Whatever the case, this is the intermediate stage of magick, semi-officially, at least if we ignore long paths of magical progression, which would require immortality and / or reincarnation.
7. Now, the way someone becomes a magical master or real witch or wizard, as far as they can tell, is that their life progresses, and they are meanwhile on some level thinking about magical powers. They see results in their life, like having a new baby or selling books and they attribute it to magick powers. They don't have to take themselves seriously to know that the powers had some effect, because SOMETHING had an effect, and only powers have an effect. If everything once seemed difficult and impossible (as often happens in childhood or teenage years), then magick is the only thing that appears to explain the new-found power. After all, during one of the significant events in their lives, they were afraid of spirits, which meant at one time that their magick was being suppressed. At this point the person may collect what seems like their most magical stuff, which is sometimes just common-sense wisdom about life. If they fail to do this, then they continue to believe in monsters and boogeymen.
8. Sometimes someone has an epiphany that the magick they are practicing is getting real results that are undeniable. This is often accompanied by a realization that not everyone is capable of observing the magick that is happening. Some people for example, would deny it, like they have not seen what happens in front of their face. It is literally as if they have not observed it. And there is no way to get rid of these people, honestly. At this point the person may begin real magical study. It is full of disappointment, but it holds the peculiarly named honor: 'faith in the supernatural'. People who know this also know that it is more than faith. It is a self-sufficient dharma of power.
If you have not heard this type of advice before, perhaps you will consider it relevant to the study of the occult.
Em Hotep - Patrick Gaffiero
Comments