It is imperative to define the occult now, for it is a solid understanding of the occult that will allow us to make the baby steps in our next great evolutionary step. The occult, in the simplest understanding, is the hidden. It is that which we do not know. It is what we fear and seek simultaneously. There are two types of people within the occult, pursuers and followers, and though these people may call the occult by various names, it is essentially all the same; it is still the unknown.
The pursuers of the occult are those who seek to uncover that which is hidden or unseen. These people use many different methods, but it usually comes down to either a pursuit of the mind or a pursuit of the soul, and sometimes both. Those who use their mind to pursue the occult tend to use logic and reasoning as their main tools, and thus many of these people are philosophers. Gnostics, those who seek gnosis or true knowledge, also pursue with their mind. Other people like, alchemists, used a combination of science and spirituality to unlock the occult. Likewise, those who pursue with the soul utilize different methods as well, many of which revolve around some sort of meditation. Meditation almost seems to be the opposite of pursuit with the mind because the goal of meditation is to quiet the mind and feel the soul. Among those who pursue with the soul are Buddhists, Taoists, Shamans, Mystics, and the Jedi of Star Wars. The emphasis is on feeling to know, rather than thinking in order to know (Jedi, interestingly enough, emphasize the Wiccan concept of, “I do not think, I know”, which is directly referenced in many places in Star Wars, but is also echoed by Yoda’s, “Do or do not, there is no try”). The last group, those who utilize both, can best be represented by the Wiccans or the Magic arts. In Magick, one attempts to use the mind to gain control of the spirit, and possibly the spirits of others, in order to search the unknown. Usually one does this through spoken word, which emphasizes the power of the Logos (sometimes referred to as Jesus), as the connection between the natural and the metaphysical, the mind and the soul. Jesus is also referred to as the body of God, and thus, by utilizing the Logos, the body becomes connected to the mind and soul, forming the necessary triangle of humanity.
The other category of occultists are the followers. These people do not seek to actively pursue the occult, to unlock the unknown. Instead, they follow the small pieces that they do know, in hope of some salvation. The Hindus seek salvation from this illusionary world of Maya, and want to become one with the godhead, Brahmin. Confucius of ancient China taught a doctrine of respect and morality that was to be followed, which many Chinese did (and many people still do). All religions with a prophecy for an apocalypse or cleansing preach a life of practice, belief, and acceptance (pursuit is sometimes frowned upon) in order to save oneself from the impending doom. While many religions and belief structures teach this basic philosophy, this is best seen in Christianity and the related religions of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Islam.
In Christianity, we are all born sinners and are doomed to Hell at birth. Thus, we become dependent upon salvation, a savior, a hero. Instead of striving to become a hero ourselves, we are left to be saved by Christ. The best we can become are “mini-Christs”, or as the popular bracelet says, in such a polarizing manner, “What Would Jesus Do?” Thus Christianity spells the end of the hero’s quest, as we, according to Christianity, aren’t capable of journeying between “the two worlds”, and must instead rely on Christ as our hero to take us from the physical to the spiritual. Oddly, though, while we must rely on Christ to save us, we all contain the Holy Spirit which could be considered the spirit or soul of God. So we all have a spark of divinity, a piece of God, within us, and yet we are somehow still doomed to failure without Christ. This curious part of Christianity is never fully explained.
Keeping on the topic of Christianity, it is good to note the relationship between the occult and Christianity. It is quite safe to say that it hasn’t been a friendly one to say the least. In the eyes of Christianity, or at least those in power of the religion, the occult is almost every other belief system, sparing perhaps Judaism and Islam, and the occult is evil. The occult is the personification of Satan’s control over the world. Christianity makes no distinction between the peaceful and serene Taoist and the sometimes barbaric and heartless Celt. Not that the Celts were evil or primitive people, nor that Taoists are personifications of peace, but in the eyes of Christianity, they are one in the same. They are the disillusioned souls under the command of Satan.
To understand the fight between Christianity and the occult, perhaps we should look at the creation myths. At this point, it is imperative to divide the world into 3 belief centers, as according to Joseph Campbell in his 1961 essay, “The Separation of the East and West”. The first is the Oriental center. The Oriental center is comprised of India and the Far East, China and Japan. The second center is the Occidental, which is primarily Europe and Northern Africa. The final center is the Levantine, located in the Middle East. These three centers have varying accounts of the creation myth, a central belief in any belief system. In the Orient, creation occurs through sacrifice. A singular, indefinite being or existence (Self, Brahma, Tao, etc) creates the universe from itself, by first splitting into two, male and female, and thus everything within the universe is not only a part of the whole, but connected to this oneness or SELF. (online) Thus the idea of procreation can almost be seen as an internal need to recreate the original creation, to come back together, to become one again, for the purpose of creating once again. This is the best source for the Star Wars concept of the Force, which was derived from the concepts of Tao and Chi. It is the eternal and ever-present SELF.
In the Occidental areas, according to Campbell, Greece especially, there is a different concept of creation. For the Greeks, they do not worry too much about how the universe came to be (explained by a Mother or goddess Earth myth), instead, they focus on how humanity came to be. Thus, in the mythological age, or the age before time, there are three races of humans, plus the gods. A race of just men resides on the Sun, a race of just women reside on Earth, and a race of men and women reside on the Moon. Each race is essentially two humans in one body. The gods of Mt. Olympus, fearing the power of humanity, decide to split the races of humanity into two parts, male and female. Thus the nature of love is a desire to be whole, and the Greeks believed in the three kinds of love, man and woman, man and man, and woman and woman. For the Greeks, as well as the rest of the Occidental world, the gods were not supernatural. They were, in relationship to man, an older race, a big brother type, and in some instances, a group of beings determined to keep humanity from reaching its potential. (online) One could almost relate the gods of the Occidental world to the Jedi and Sith of Star Wars, as they are the bigger brothers to the rest of the universe, and depending on their commitment and personality, they either take the role of the protector (Jedi) or the power monger (Sith), like many older brothers do in brother-brother or brother-sister relationships.
The final region, the Levantine, has a different viewpoint on creation. Here, creation came not from the metaphysical, but from the Supernatural. There was no splitting of God or all-pervasive being and there was no equality between God (or gods) and man, man became God’s servant, and the split of humanity, the split of the sexes occurs not within the Oneness (like Tao or Brahma), but in man. As Campbell immediately points out, this defines the differences between the East and the West. In the West, the Occidental is eventually deemed pagan and evil, and is thus swallowed up by the Levantine religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Thus, the idea of man being somewhat equal to the metaphysical gods is replaced by the idea that man is a servant to an all-powerful supernatural God. Thus humanity’s only spiritual focus should be on worshipping and following God. In the East, the focus is on the innermost Self because creation arose from an indefinite Self or Oneness, and thus a part of this Self or Oneness is found in everyone and everything. (online)
The idea of self is the basis of meditation, to center one’s self and explore the inner depths of one’s being, as well as the connections between the self and the rest of the Self, the rest of the universe. Prayer, while similar to meditation, is not to find or consult the inner, but to find and consult the outer, the supernatural. Going back to my geometric theories, the loss of the Occidental due to the Levantine has created a state of duality within the soul. Before, there were three points in belief structures: a supernatural God, a group of metaphysical gods, and an indefinite Self or Oneness. These three points created a triangle of stability, where each point is connected to all of the other points. The idea of the Self is similar to an all-powerful God, yet also similar in terms of the metaphysical to the gods of the Occidental. Likewise, a belief that the gods were like older brothers who controlled the functions of the world and humanity, but were in themselves, still capable of human imperfection, belies the sense of connection or Self, yet at the same time, the belief and worship of gods in any stature is similar to the worship of a supernatural God. Thus, these three belief centers formed the triangular relationship of humanity. By the Levantine taking over the Occidental, the balance that is the triangle was destroyed. The relationship then shifted from a triangular balance to a linear struggle, a struggle of Duality. On one side is the West, with the concepts of reason, science, and supernatural monotheism, and on the other side is the East, with the concepts of reincarnation, “alternative medicine”, and indefinite Oneness, Self, and interconnection.
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