PracticeInvertedDefined by Blavatsky

Occultism

Also: Occult Science · Gupta-vidya · The Secret Doctrine (as a study)

Latin occultus, ‘hidden’; nineteenth-century esoteric English, defined against spiritualism by Blavatsky

Blavatsky

Original sense

Occultism is the disciplined study of hidden laws of nature, requiring a purified life. It is, in her contrast, the opposite of spiritualism (passive mediumship) and of ceremonial magic pursued for power. ‘True occultism’ is altruism plus knowledge; without the first, the second is black magic.

Occultism is not magic, though magic is one of its tools. Occultism is the science of the secrets of nature… and it is a science that only the ethically fit may handle.
‘Occultism versus the Occult Arts,’ Lucifer, 1888

She tried to rescue ‘occult’ from both churchly denunciation and salon entertainment. The essay above is her clearest warning that psychic tricks without ethics are a fall.

New Age

Later sense

Split in two: either a spooky aesthetic (occult jewelry, horror-adjacent witchcraft) or something the lightworker must avoid as ‘dark.’ Serious occult study exists, but the popular New Age prefers ‘spirituality,’ a warmer word with the teeth pulled.

Typical use. ‘That’s too occult for me.’ Or, conversely, occult-themed merch with no study attached.

The drift

Popular use runs against her stated intent.

She wanted occultism to mean a severe science of the unseen. Popular culture made it mean either villainy or vibe. The New Age often keeps her contents (karma, planes, masters) while disowning her name for the package.

Related terms

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