Occult
Related: hidden - knowledge - obscure - Robert Fludd
"Ideas enter our above-ground culture through the underground. I suppose that is the kind of function that the underground plays, such as it is. That it is where the dreams of our culture can ferment and strange notions can play themselves out unrestricted. And sooner or later those ideas will percolate through into the broad mass awareness of the broad mass of the populace. Occulture, you know, that seems to be perhaps the last revolutionary bastion." -- Alan Moore
The Invisible college of the Rosicrucians,
Theophilus Schweighardt Speculum sophicum rhodo-stauroticum, 1618
[...] Daniel Moegling, the author of the Rosicrucian classic, Speculum sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum, for which he used the pseudonym of Theophilus Schweighardt [...] --Ron Heisler - Robert Fludd: A Picture in Need of Expansion, 1989
Definition
The word occult comes from Latin occultus (hidden), referring to supposed secret or hidden knowledge usually of the supernatural. Sometimes the knowledge does not consist of access to particular facts, but is arrived through the mind being taken through a process triggered by a text, image or performance. See occultism.
Many (especially conservative Christians) use it to refer many practices which they disapprove of but which those who participate in it do not consider occult (Dungeons & Dragons, heavy metal music, even sometimes Catholicism!).
Even for those who do consider what they are doing occult (e.g. ceremonial magicians, Satanists, etc.), their beliefs and practices are normally far from being secret or hidden, being found very easily (in books or on the Internet).
See also:
Esoteric and Hermetic --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occult
Occulture
WHAT IS OCCULTURE? -- Simon Dwyer http://www.uncarved.org/23texts/occulture.html
"I definitely come from that school of thought, that you can be organic and pagan and have ProTools." - Bjork
"Occulture is not a secret culture as the word might suggest, but culture that is in some way hidden and ignored, or wilfuly marginalised to the extremities of our society. A culture of individuality and sub-cults, a culture of questions that have not been properly identified- let alone answered- and therefore, do not get fair representation in the mainstream media. It is a culture that has been misinterpreted. Not because it is 'evil' or wrong, but because it is generally apolitical and amoral, unashamedly artistic, experimental, undogmatic, intellectual and oddly evolutionary. It is a sub-culture that is forming a question that 'reality' alone cannot answer." - Simon Dwyer
"My record company advised me to emphasise the 'magick' side of my music, in order to sell more records. I know this is a strategy adopted by many of the other groups they distribute and it seems to work for them. Personally, I don't know that I have an aspect to my life that isn't magick or even magic. As a practising occultist, I'd describe my belief system as sceptical." - Nigel Ayers
"Traditional marxists have always underestimated - and still underestimate - the effect of ideas on the material structure of society. Like parrots, they repeat that economic infrastructure and ideological superstructures mutually interact. But then they proceed to look upon what is essentially a dialectical, two-way relationship as an almost exclusively one-sided process (economic "base" determining what goes on in the realm of ideas)." - Maurice Brinton
"It is said that every magickian should develop their own definition of magick. Mine is this: 'Magick is the shortest route, in any conversation, towards making yourself sound like an utter dickhead.'" - Danny
"If you look at the way the monarchy is structured, it's showbiz. And it's not just recently it's been showbiz, it's always been about showbiz. Behind all of that was a system of psychological control, which is what the occult basically is about. It's a way of projecting one's will and one's ideas across to other people, often without them being aware of what's happening." - Leutha Blissett
Fortean Times
Fortean Times is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times [Sept 2005]
Anomalous phenomena
An anomalous phenomenon is an observed phenomenon for which there is no suitable explanation in the context of a specific body of scientific knowledge. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalous phenomenon [Sept 2005]
Manuel Bibliographique Des Sciences Psychiques Ou Occultes (1912) - Albert Caillet
Manuel Bibliographique Des Sciences Psychiques Ou Occultes (1912) - Albert Caillet [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
See also: 1912 - bibliography
Robert Fludd
Ars Memoriae (1619) - Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (1574, Bearsted, Kent - September 8, 1637, London) was a prominent English Rosicrucian and Paracelsian physicist, astrologer, and mystic. He was the son of Sir Thomas Fludd, a high-ranking governmental official.
Between 1598 and 1604, Fludd studied medicine, chemistry and the occult on the European mainland, but he is best known for his research in occult philosophy. He had a celebrated exchange of views with Johannes Kepler concerning the scientific and hermetic approaches to knowledge.
In 1630, Fludd proposed many perpetual motion machines. People were trying to patent variations of Fludd's machine in the 1870s. Fludd's machine worked by recirculation by means of a water wheel and Archimedean screw. The device pumps the water back into its own supply tank.
He is a descendant of Cunedda Wledig ap Edern, King of Gwynedd, which in now part of Wales. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fludd [Apr 2005]
OCCULTISM IN THE 19TH CENTURY -- A CHRONOLOGY
--http://www.boards.greaterthelema.org/viewtopic.php?pid=132 [Sept 2004] 1774F.A. Mesmer discovers "animal magnetism," or Mesmerism
1781
H. Fuseli, The Nightmare
1790
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
1795
F. Goya, Witches Sabbath
1808
J.W. von Goethe, Faust, part I; French translation 1827
1820
Wm. Blake's visionary portraits for John Varley (Ghost of a Flea)
1829
Samuel Palmer paints in his Valley of Vision in Shoreham
1832
J.W. von Goethe, Faust, part II finished. Goethe dies.
1835
Honore de Balzac, Seraphita
1842
E. Bulwer-Lytton, Zanoni, a Rosicrucian Tale
1848
The Fox Sisters contact spirits through rapping; Spiritism Craze begins in Hydesville, N.Y.
1850
Allan Kardec (pseudonym for Hyppolyte Leon Denizard Rivail) commences career as Medium in Paris;
1855-57
Victor Hugo creates spiritist drawings, conducts seances
1858
Victorien Sardou publishes automatic drawings of scenes on Jupiter (Mozart's house) in La Revue Spirite
1860
Eliphas Levi (pseudonym for A.L. Constant), History of Magic
1861
Allan Kardec, The Book on Mediums
William H. Mumler publishes first spirit photographs (in Boston)
1862
Eliphas Levi, Fables et Symboles et leur explication
1874
William Crookes, Research in the Phenomena of Spiritualism
1875
Theosophical Society founded by H.P. Blavatsky & Col. Olcott in New York
1877
H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled
1882
Society for Psychical Research founded in London
1884
J. Peladan, Le Vice Supreme
French branch of Theosophical Society founded; again in 1887 as Societe d'Isis
1885
Carl du Prel, Philosophy of Mysticism
1886
Stanislaus de Guaita, Au Seuil du Mystere
J.J. Tissot attends seances by William Eglinton to contact the late Mrs. Newton
1888
H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine
W.B. Yeats joins the theosophists
S. de Guaita founds Kabbalistic Order of Rose+Croix in Paris
Papus (pseudonym for Gerard Encausse) founds journal L'Initiation (Paris)
Papus, Traite elementaire des sciences occultes
1889
Edouard Schure, The Great Initiates
P. Gauguin, Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake
1890
W.B. Yeats joins the Order of the Golden Dawn
James Frazer, The Golden Bough
Sar Josephin Peladan founds the Order ot the Catholic Rose+Croix, of the Temple and of the Grail (schism with Guaita)
Paul Serusier, Portrait of Paul Ranson in Nabi Costume
1891
J.-K. Huysmans, La Bas (Down There)
1892
War of the Roses; occult battles in Paris involving Jules Bois, S. de Guaita, J. Peladan, Abbe Boullan
Sar J. Peladan establishes Salons de la Rose+Croix in Paris; these continue until 1897
1890s
Colonel de Rochas experiments with hypnotic regression to past lives
1895
August Strindberg, "Introduction a une chimie unitaire," Mercure de France; alchemical experiments; see his Inferno
1897
Bram Stoker, Dracula
S. de Guaita, La Clef de la Magie Noir
1900
Fernand Khnopff erects an altar to Hypnos (date approximate)
1901
Annie Besant & C.W. Leadbeater, Thought Forms
1902
C.W. Leadbeater, Man Visible and Invisible
1908
Piet Mondrian joins the Theosophical Society in Amsterdam
(Wassily Kandinsky also a Theosophist) --http://www.boards.greaterthelema.org/viewtopic.php?pid=132 [Sept 2004]
The Occult (1971) - Colin Wilson
The Occult (1971) - Colin Wilson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Book Description
Featuring a new introduction by the author, Occult is a powerful synthesis of available material. Colin Wilson utilizes a wide-ranging survey of paranormal experience to explain his own theory of the sixth sense, showing how it is at the center of all occult phenomenon and offering an insightful exploration of humanity's latent powers. Written with a refreshingly optimistic and stimulating interpretation, Occult is a journey of enlightenment.
But there was, equally, a positive side to Crowley. This emerges in Seabrook's account of Elizabeth Fox's experience at Thelema. She was the "film star" who somehow avoided becoming Crowley's mistress. Seabrook says that before she came to Cefalu she was in a depressed condition due to too much night life and bath-tub gin. Crowley dismayed her by telling her that she must begin with a month's solitary meditation in a lean-to shelter on the cliff-top. When she objected, he pointed out that there was a boat leaving the next day. To comply, she had to meditate naked, except for a wooly burnoose that could be utilized on chilly days. The shelter was completely empty; the latrine was a lime pit outside the "tent." "She would have, said Master Therion, the sun, moon, stars, sky, sea, the universe to read and play with." At night, a child would quietly deposit a loaf of bread, bunch of grapes and a pitcher of water beside her.
She decided to give it a try. The first days confirmed her fears. Sun, moon and sea are all very well, but if you feel bored, they are boring. For the first days she felt nervous and resentful. By the nineteenth day, her chief sensation was boredom. And then, quite suddenly, she began to feel "perfect calm, deep joy, renewal of strength and courage."
There is nothing strange in all this, although few people know it. The mind must be made to stop running like a wristwatch. It must be persuaded to relax and sit still. Its hidden fountain of strength must be persuaded to flow. This is the secret of the Hindu ascetics who sit still for years. It is not penance, but a continuous trickle of deep delight. What is more, this is an automatic process. Our subconscious robot will adjust to any conditions if it is given long enough. It adjusts to stillness, so that the stillness ceases to cause boredom. For you have boredom when nothing is happening inside you. And nothing is happening inside you when the outside world keeps the mind distracted. If the outside world is distracted for long enough, the inner power-house begins to work.
(This brief excerpt is from Colin Wilson's excellent volume The Occult 1971. New York: Vintage Books. pp 374-375)
See also: Colin Wilson - 1971
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