Occult
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The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of
The term occult sciences was used in
Throughout the 20th century, the term was used idiosyncratically by a range of different authors, but by the 21st century was commonly employed – including by academic scholars of esotericism – to refer to a range of esoteric currents that developed in the mid-19th century and their descendants. Occultism is thus often used to categorise such esoteric traditions as Qabalah, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Wicca, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, New Age,[3] and the Left-hand path and right-hand path.
Use of the term as a nominalized adjective has developed especially since the late twentieth century. In that same period, occult and culture were combined to form the neologism occulture.
Etymology
The occult (from the
The earliest known usage of the term occultism is in the French language, as l'occultisme. In this form it appears in A. de Lestrange's article that was published in Jean-Baptiste Richard de Randonvilliers' Dictionnaire des mots nouveaux ("Dictionary of new words") in 1842. However, it was not related, at this point, to the notion of Ésotérisme chrétien, as has been claimed by Hanegraaff,[7] but to describe a political "system of occulticity" that was directed against priests and aristocrats.[8]
In 1853, the
The earliest use of the term occultism in the English language appears to be in "A Few Questions to 'Hiraf'", an 1875 article by Helena Blavatsky, a Russian émigré living in the United States who founded the religion of Theosophy. The article was published in the American Spiritualist magazine, Spiritual Scientist.[14]
Various twentieth-century writers on the subject used the term occultism in different ways. Some writers, such as the German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno in his "Theses Against Occultism", employed the term as a broad synonym for irrationality.[15] In his 1950 book L'occultisme, Robert Amadou used the term as a synonym for esotericism,[16] an approach that the later scholar of esotericism Marco Pasi suggested left the term superfluous.[15] Unlike Amadou, other writers saw occultism and esotericism as different, albeit related, phenomena. In the 1970s, the sociologist Edward Tiryakian distinguished between occultism, which he used in reference to practices, techniques, and procedures, and esotericism, which he defined as the religious or philosophical belief systems on which such practices are based.[16] This division was initially adopted by the early academic scholar of esotericism, Antoine Faivre, although he later abandoned it;[10] it has been rejected by most scholars who study esotericism.[15]
By the 21st century the term was commonly employed – including by academic scholars of esotericism – to refer to a range of esoteric currents that developed in the mid-19th century and their descendants. Occultism is thus often used to categorise such esoteric traditions as Spiritualism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and New Age.
A different division was used by the
The term occultism derives from the older term occult, much as the term esotericism derives from the older term esoteric.[11] However, the historian of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff stated that it was important to distinguish between the meanings of the term occult and occultism.[19] Occultism is not a homogenous movement and is widely diverse.[13]
Over the course of its history, the term occultism has been used in various different ways.
Occult sciences
The idea of occult sciences developed in the sixteenth century.[10] The term usually encompassed three practices – astrology, alchemy, and natural magic – although sometimes various forms of divination were also included rather than being subsumed under natural magic.[10] These were grouped together because, according to the Dutch scholar of hermeticism Wouter Hanegraaff, "each one of them engaged in a systematic investigation of nature and natural processes, in the context of theoretical frameworks that relied heavily on a belief in occult qualities, virtues or forces."[10] Although there are areas of overlap between these different occult sciences, they are separate and in some cases practitioners of one would reject the others as being illegitimate.[10]
During the Age of Enlightenment, occultism increasingly came to be seen as intrinsically incompatible with the concept of science.[10] From that point on, use of "occult science(s)" implied a conscious polemic against mainstream science.[10] Nevertheless, the philosopher and card game historian Michael Dummett, whose analysis of the historical evidence suggested that fortune-telling and occult interpretations using cards were unknown before the 18th century, said that the term occult science was not misplaced because "people who believe in the possibility of unveiling the future or of exercising supernormal powers do so because the efficacy of the methods they employ coheres with some systematic conception which they hold of the way the universe functions...however flimsy its empirical basis."[21]
In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, the anthropologist
Occult qualities
Occult qualities are properties that have no known rational explanation; in the Middle Ages, for example, magnetism was considered an occult quality.[23][24] Aether is another such element.[25] Newton's contemporaries severely criticized his theory that gravity was effected through "action at a distance", as occult.[26]
Occultism
In the English-speaking world, notable figures in the development of occultism included Helena Blavatsky and other figures associated with her Theosophical Society, senior figures in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn like
Unlike older forms of esotericism, occultism does not necessarily reject "scientific progress or modernity".[28] Lévi had stressed the need to solve the conflict between science and religion, something that he believed could be achieved by turning to what he thought was the ancient wisdom found in magic.[29] The French scholar of Western esotericism Antoine Faivre noted that rather than outright accepting "the triumph of scientism", occultists sought "an alternative solution", trying to integrate "scientific progress or modernity" with "a global vision that will serve to make the vacuousness of materialism more apparent".[13] The Dutch scholar of hermeticism Wouter Hanegraaff remarked that occultism was "essentially an attempt to adapt esotericism" to the "disenchanted world", a post-Enlightenment society in which growing scientific discovery had eradicated the "dimension of irreducible mystery" previously present. In doing so, he noted, occultism distanced itself from the "traditional esotericism" which accepted the premise of an "enchanted" world.[30] According to the British historian of Western esotericism Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, occultist groups typically seek "proofs and demonstrations by recourse to scientific tests or terminology".[31]
In his work about Lévi, the German historian of religion Julian Strube has argued that the occultist wish for a "synthesis" of religion, science, and philosophy directly resulted from the context of contemporary socialism and progressive Catholicism.[32] Similar to spiritualism, but in declared opposition to it, the emergence of occultism should thus be seen within the context of radical social reform, which was often concerned with establishing new forms of "scientific religion" while at the same time propagating the revival of an ancient tradition of "true religion".[33] Indeed, the emergence of both modern esotericism and socialism in July Monarchy France have been inherently intertwined.[34]
Another feature of occultists is that – unlike earlier esotericists – they often openly distanced themselves from Christianity, in some cases (like that of Crowley) even adopting explicitly
Although occultism is distinguished from earlier forms of esotericism, many occultists have also been involved in older esoteric currents. For instance, occultists like
Etic uses of the term
In the mid-1990s, a new definition of "occultism" was put forth by Wouter Hanegraaff.[37] According to Hanegraaff, the term occultism can be used not only for the nineteenth-century groups which openly self-described using that term but can also be used in reference to "the type of esotericism that they represent".[18]
Seeking to define occultism so that the term would be suitable "as an
In this definition, occultism covers many esoteric currents that have developed from the mid-nineteenth century onward, including Spiritualism, Theosophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the New Age.
Marco Pasi suggested that the use of Hanegraaff's definition might cause confusion by presenting a group of nineteenth-century esotericists who called themselves "occultists" as just one part of a broader category of esotericists whom scholars would call "occultists".[39]
Following these discussions, Julian Strube argued that Lévi and other contemporary authors who would now be regarded as esotericists developed their ideas not against the background of an esoteric tradition in the first place. Rather, Lévi's notion of occultism emerged in the context of highly influential radical socialist movements and widespread progressive, so-called neo-Catholic ideas.[40] This further complicates Hanegraaff's characteristics of occultism, since, throughout the nineteenth century, they apply to these reformist movements rather than to a supposed group of esotericists.[41]
Modern usage
The term occult has also been used as a substantivized adjective as "the occult", a term that has been particularly widely used among journalists and sociologists.[18] This term was popularised by the publication of Colin Wilson's 1971 book The Occult.[18] This term has been used as an "intellectual waste-basket" into which a wide array of beliefs and practices have been placed because they do not fit readily into the categories of religion or science.[18] According to Hanegraaff, "the occult" is a category into which gets placed a range of beliefs from "spirits or fairies to parapsychological experiments, from UFO-abductions to Oriental mysticism, from vampire legends to channelling, and so on".[18]
Occulture
The neologism occulture used within the industrial music scene of the late twentieth century was probably coined by one of its central figures, the musician and occultist Genesis P-Orridge.[42] The scholar of religion Christopher Partridge used the term in an academic sense, stating that occulture was "the new spiritual environment in the West; the reservoir feeding new spiritual springs; the soil in which new spiritualities are growing".[43]
Occultism and technology
Recently scholars have offered perspectives on the occult as intertwined with media and technology. Examples include the work of film and media theorist Jeffrey Sconce and religious studies scholar John Durham Peters, both of whom suggest that occult movements historically utilize media and apparatuses as tools to reveal hidden aspects of reality or laws of nature.[44][45] Erik Davis in his book Techgnosis gives an overview of occultism both ancient and modern from the perspective of cybernetics and information technologies.[46] Philosopher Eugene Thacker discusses Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy in his book In The Dust Of This Planet, where he shows how the horror genre utilizes occult themes to reveal hidden realities.[47]
See also
References
Notes
- ^ This theosophy, which is a Christian esoteric tradition adhered to by theosophers, is a distinct movement from Theosophy, the occultist religion adhered to by Theosophists, despite the shared name.
Citations
- ^ Pasi 2006.
- ^ Welburn & Heinzen 1986, p. 107.
- ISBN 978-1-317-95688-4. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ Crabb 1927.
- ^ Underhill 2017, p. [page needed].
- ^ Wright 1895, p. [page needed].
- ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, p. 1364.
- ^ Strube 2016b, p. 445-450.
- ^ Strube 2016b, p. 13-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887.
- ^ a b c d Pasi 2006, p. 1365.
- ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, pp. 1364–1365.
- ^ a b c d e Faivre 1994, p. 88.
- ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, p. 1365.
- ^ a b c Pasi 2006, p. 1367.
- ^ a b Hanegraaff 2006, p. 887; Pasi 2006, p. 1367.
- ^ Hanegraaff 2006, pp. 887–888.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hanegraaff 2006, p. 888.
- ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 884.
- ^ Pasi 2006, p. 1364.
- ^ Dummett 1980, p. 93.
- ^ Hanegraaff 2006, p. 716.
- ^ Osler & Farber 2002, p. 185.
- ^ Henry 1986.
- ^ Gibbons 2018, p. 8.
- ^ Buchdahl 1989, p. 232.
- ^ Pasi 2006, pp. 1365–1366.
- ^ Faivre 1994, p. 88; Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 196.
- ^ a b c d e f Pasi 2006, p. 1366.
- ^ a b Hanegraaff 1996, p. 423.
- ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 196.
- ^ Strube 2016a.
- ^ Strube 2016b.
- ^ Strube2017b.
- ^ Faivre 1994, p. 89.
- ^ Strube 2017a.
- ^ Pasi 2006, pp. 1367–1368.
- ^ a b Hanegraaff 1996, p. 422.
- ^ Pasi 2006, p. 1368.
- ^ Strube 2016a, pp. 373–379.
- ^ Strube 2017b, pp. 218–221.
- ^ Partridge 2014, p. 124.
- ^ Partridge 2004, p. 4.
- ^ Sconce 2000, pp. 21ff.
- ^ Peters 2012, pp. 188ff.
- ^ Davis 2015.
- ^ Thacker 2011, pp. 49–97.
Works cited
- Buchdahl, Gerd (1989). "History of Science and Criteria of Choice". In Stuewer, Roger H. (ed.). Historical and Philosophical Perspectives of Science. Vol. 5. Gordon and Breach. pp. 232ff. ISBN 978-2881243509.
- Classen, Albrecht (2017). "Magic in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age: Literature, Science, Religion, Philosophy, Music, and Art. An Introduction". In Classen, Albrecht (ed.). Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time: The Occult in Pre-Modern Sciences, Medicine, Literature, Religion, and Astrology. Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture. Vol. 20. ISSN 1864-3396.
- Crabb, G. (1927). English synonyms explained, in alphabetical order, copious illustrations and examples drawn from the best writers. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
- Davis, Erik (2015). TechGnosis: Myth, Magic & Mysticism in the Age of Information. North Atlantic Press. ISBN 978-1583949306.
- Dummett, Michael (1980). The Game of Tarot. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-1014-7.
- ISBN 0-7914-2178-3.
- Gibbons, B. J. (2018). Spirituality and the Occult: From the Renaissance to the Modern Age. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0415244480.
- ISBN 978-0-19-532099-2.
- ISBN 90-04-10695-2.
- Hanegraaff, Wouter (2006). "Occult/Occultism". In Wouter Hanegraaff (ed.). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. ISBN 978-90-04-15231-1.
- Henry, John (1 December 1986). "Occult Qualities and the Experimental Philosophy: Active Principles in Pre-Newtonian Matter Theory". History of Science. 24 (4): 335–381. S2CID 142925825.
- Osler, Margaret J.; Farber, Paul Lawrence, eds. (2002). Religion, Science, and Worldview: Essays in Honor of Richard S. Westfall. ISBN 0-521-52493-8.
- ISBN 0-567-08269-5.
- Partridge, Christopher (2014) [2013]. "Occulture is Ordinary". In Asprem, Egil; Granholm, Kennet (eds.). Contemporary Esotericism. ISBN 978-1-908049-32-2.
- Pasi, Marco (2006). "Occultism". In ISBN 9789004124332.
- Peters, John Durham (2012). Speaking Into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226922638.
- Sconce, Jeffrey (2000). Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television. ISBN 978-0822325727.
- Strube, Julian (2016a). "Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism: A Genealogical Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France". S2CID 147626697.
- Strube, Julian (2016b). Sozialismus, Katholizisimus und Okkultismus im Frankreich des 19. Jahrhunderts - Die Genealogie der Schriften von Eliphas Lévi. Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten. Vol. 69. ISBN 978-3-11-047810-5.
- Strube, Julian (2017a). "Occultist Identity Formations Between Theosophy and Socialism in fin-de-siècle France". .
- Strube, Julian (2017b). "Socialism and Esotericism in July Monarchy France". S2CID 166078608.
- Thacker, Eugene (2011). In the Dust of This Planet: Horror of Philosophy. Vol. 1. Zero Books. ISBN 978-1846946769.
- ISBN 978-1773560045.
- Welburn, Andrew J.; Heinzen, Thomas (1986). Power and Self-Consciousness in the Poetry of Shelley. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 978-1349182787.
- Wright, C. F. (1895). An Outline of the Principles of Modern Theosophy. Boston: New England Theosophical Corp.
Further reading
- Forshaw, Peter (2014). "The Occult Middle Ages". In Partridge, Christopher (ed.). The Occult World. London: Routledge. Retrieved 2022-12-13 – via Academia.edu.
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- Kontou, Tatiana; Wilburn, Sarah, eds. (2012). The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-6912-8.
- Partridge, Christopher, ed. (2014). The Occult World. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415695961.
External links
- University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO)
- ESSWE European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, with many links to associated organizations, libraries, scholars etc.
- Joseph H. Peterson, Twilit Grotto: Archives of Western Esoterica (Esoteric Archives: Occult Literature)
- Occult Science and Philosophy of the Renaissance. Online exhibition from the Louisiana State University Libraries Special Collections.