The Occult Secrets
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (secret, hidden, secret), referring to the "hidden knowledge". In the medical sense it is used to describe the structure or process that is hidden, for example, "hidden bleeding" can be detected indirectly by the presence of an otherwise unexplained anemia.
The word has many uses in the English language, popularly meaning "knowledge of the paranormal", as opposed to "knowledge dimension", commonly referred to as science. The term is sometimes popularly understood to mean "knowledge meant only for certain people" or "knowledge, which should be hidden", but for most practicing occultists it is simply the study of deep spiritual reality beyond pure reason and the physical sciences. Terms and secret esoteric can be very close in meaning, and the three terms are often used interchangeably.
The term occult is also used as a label given to a number of magical organizations or orders, doctrine and practice taught them, and a large amount of current and historical literature and spiritual philosophy on this topic.
Occultism
Occultism is the study of occult or hidden knowledge. For the occultist this study, "True," the deeper truth that exists beneath the surface: "truth is always hidden in the mind. It may include such subjects as magic (or writing, and is defined as magic), alchemy, ESP, astrology, spiritism, lithomancy and numerology. There is often a strong religious element to these investigations and convictions, and many occultists profess adherence to religions such as Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Luciferianism, Thelema, and Neopaganism. Although Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, as a rule not be considered occult, some of them modern interpretations may be, as the interpretation of Hinduism in theosophy and the occult different interpretations of the Jewish Kabbalah. Orthodox members of such religions are likely to consider such false interpretations, such as the Kabbalah Centre has been criticized by Jewish scholars.
The word "hidden" somewhat common, is that almost everything that does not claim any of the major religions can be considered the occult. Even religious scholars difficulties in defining occultism. The broad definition suggested Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke:
"Occultism has its basis in religious thinking, rooted in ancient times, and which can be described as the Western esoteric tradition. Its main ingredients have been identified as Gnosticism, Hermetic treatises on alchemy and magic, Neo-Platonism and the Kabbalah, all originating in the eastern Mediterranean in the first centuries of our era. "
From 15 to 17 century, such ideas, which alternately known as Western esotericism was a short revival. Alchemy used to be common among the most important 17th century scientists such as Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. Isaac Newton was accused of introducing occult agencies into natural science when he suggested gravity as a force capable of operating at high distances.This revival of alchemy and other occult studies was stopped triumph of empirical science and the Age of Enlightenment. "In the eighteenth century these unorthodox religious and philosophical issues have been clearly defined as" the occult, as they lay on the outer edge of the received forms of knowledge and speech, and only survived a few antiquarians and mystics. But around 1770, once again the desire for secrecy interest in the Middle Ages and a romantic nature to encourage the revival of occultism in Europe, the reaction to the rationalist Enlightenment. "
Based on his research on the modern German occult revival 1890-1910, Goodrick-Clarke puts forward the thesis of the driving force behind occultism. Behind its many varied forms apparently lies a single function, a strong desire to reconcile the results of modern science with the religious view that could restore man to the position of the central and dignity in the universe.
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