Why is there no catagory or sub-catagory specifically for "The Occult"?......There should be one!!!!

Answer 1

I agree completely, most people end up using the Mythology and Folklore category, which Can imply that some of these things do not exsist at all, which of course is complete bollocks!

Answer 2

Because most people view it as either Religious or Mythical... so it falls under both of those categories. It is rather annoying sifting thru a lot of this stuff just to find a question & answers about the Occult. But I guess we're stuck with it.

Answer 3

because it is so widely different Occultism is the study of occult or hidden wisdom. To the occultist it is the study of "Truth", a deeper truth that exists beneath the surface: 'The truth is always hidden in plain sight'. 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 normally considered mainstream, such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or Buddhism.

The word "occult" is somewhat generic, in that most everything that isn't claimed by any of the major religions is considered to be occult (and many things that are). Even Kabbalah has been considered an occult study, perhaps because of its popularity among magi and Thelemites. The biblical three wise men who visited the Infant Jesus are said to have been magi of Zoroastrianism. It was later adopted by the Golden Dawn and brought out into the open by Aleister Crowley and his protégé Israel Regardie. Since that time many authors have added insight to the study of the Occult by drawing parallels between different disciplines.

Direct insight into or perception of the occult does not consist of access to physically measurable facts, but is arrived at through the mind or the spirit. The term can refer to mental, psychological or spiritual training. It is important to note, however, that many occultists will also study science (perceiving science as a branch of Alchemy) to add validity to occult knowledge in a day and age where the mystical can easily be undermined as flights-of-fancy. An oft-cited means of gaining insight into the occult is the use of a focus. A focus may be a physical object, a ritualistic action (for example, meditation or chanting), or a medium in which one becomes wholly immersed. The previous examples are just a few examples of the vast and numerous avenues that can be explored.

Occultism is the study of the inner nature of things, as opposed to the outer characteristics that are studied by science. The inability of science and mathematics to penetrate beyond the relationship between one thing and another in order to explain the 'inner nature' of the thing itself, independent of any external causal relationships with other 'things' is dealt with in some detail by the German Kantian philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in his treatise entitled The World as Will and Representation, in which he designates this 'inner nature' with the term 'Will'.

In his essay entitled 'What is a "number"? or a "symbol"', published as part of 777 and other qabalistic writings, the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley describes the appraoch of conventional science as the process of measuring ten yards with a stick about which we really know nothing but that it is one tenth of the ten yards in question. The impossibility of gaining a full description of the universe through this conventional scientific approach is demonstrated geometrically as follows. If A is defined as BC, where B is DE, C is FG and so onwards we must ultimately arrive at a point where the definition of Z involves the term A; there can therefore be no ultimate definition of any of the terms, but only a self-referential circle.

Schopenhauer also points towards this inherently relativistic nature of mathematics and conventional science in his formulation of the 'World as Will'. By defining a thing solely in terms of its external relationships or effects we only find its external, or explicit nature. Occultism, on the other hand, is concerned with the nature of the 'thing-in-itself'. This is often accomplished through direct perceptual awareness, known as mysticism.

Many occultists, particular those who follow the system of 'chaos magic' believe that modern quantum physics is confirming the occult position. In relation to the definition of occultism two things are noted: firstly the dependence of experimental results on the set up of the experiment itself (re: the dependence of the answer on the original terms of the question demonstrating the self-referential cycle). Secondly the fact that at a fundamental, sub-atomic level there are no 'things' but only relationships - a paradox given that relationships are dependent on things to be related - is said to demonstrate the inherent limitations of the scientific method. In the language of quantum physics, taken from the work of David Bohm, occultism concerns itself not with the explicate order, but with the implicate order.

Answer 4

I think because "the occult" is SO 1999.

Yes, I am trying to sound like a teeny bopper.

Answer 5

I don't know, but yes there should be a category for this. Anyone listening???

Answer 6

maybe the question should be

if it does exist...by naming it does it now become a named cult?

Answer 7

this is the place, you know, it is included

Answer 8

Why not? ..sounds pretty interesting.