Occultism

crowley always looked vaguely angry and scared

So do most occultists.

>Occultism

Because actual religion is in that comfortable almost zone of able to be researched. Paganism for example.

The occult, fits psychological profiles unusually well, as well as people who practicing it tending to act out violently, or in other ways.

Criminology will study it, and so will psychology and psychiatry.

Anyone else think occultism is just a means of controlling people, like under the Pagan Rome model? New Age, hallucinogens, and Eastern mysticism for the plebs. Freemasonry and so on for the patricians.

yes, that is why i stopped doing hallucinogenic drugs. when i was homeless "they" would give it to us street kids for free, hang out with us, and suggest "new age" ideas to use while we were tripping. those who were sheepish enough to listen and obey got to tell people they had "opened their third eye" and became super prideful and pretentious hippies

Lol, and religion isn't?

the rest of us became schizophrenic. basically, you become an initiate or you become schizo. LSD is a powerful drug. when exposed to the occult under the influence, it is sort of dangerous..

The occult was probably mankind's first religion. Paradoxically it's the 'newest' kids on the block now and mocked as such.

Tell me how there is any form of esoteric knowledge in christianity.

Occultism is a perversion of religion, ergo your fedora fantasies of an evil church are all occult (i.e., ministers of satan)

>ministers of satan

Hell yeah

>Occultism is a perversion of religion

Religion is a perversion of the occult.
To my knowledge, we started out with shamans and then ended up with priesthoods, not the other way around.

>it started with the action rather than the actual
Moron.

What the fuck are you even saying you piece of fuck?
In this particular debate we need historical evidence.

Shamans came first, not Abraham, fuckface.

>Abraham is a god
Go whine about how Mommy makes you go to church somewhere else, Thomas.

he said no such thing.

bumping because this is a pretty good question on the off chance someone who actually knows about shit (i.e. not these dunning-kruger little fedora shitstains) sees and contributes.

Academia doesn't like the Occult because the Occult is 'spooky.' It claims to mystically penetrate the secrets of reality, and in many cases also offers its practitioners the chance to control those secrets, to use them for material gain. It's fucking magic, and so academics are allergic to it.

Now, religion is also spooky, if you get right down to it. But there's enough philosophy and theology wrapped up in religion that academics can generally ignore the parts that make them uncomfortable.

A lot of occult experience can't be empirically studied. If one person starts meditating and ten years later has self-satisfactory proof, really all he can do to convince somebody, is tell them to sit and wait.

There is not time for this at a university, and there is no reason to pay for it.

Neoplatonism is theology mate.

Occultism is elitist bullshit, it's "special knowledge" for the initiated autists who need to feel superior. Every time I hear about a belief system that claims to be secret or "repressed" I immediately discard it.
Theology is studied because it's inseparable from the western tradition of philosophy (and literature), and has played a large role in historical movements. Furthermore, monotheism is a permanent fixture of our world and studying its framework should be obvious.

It's also wrong to claim that the occult isn't studied. It's not prominent as the study of major religions, but there are experts on, say, hermeticism etc,

What Part of religion is spooky

Because occultism is the creator of religion. And the intellectual will find its way to higher wisdom. Also the occult will set you Free and religion keeps the student under controle. Which is prevert in that stage.

Occultism, or more specificity esotericism is studied in Academia pretty extensively.

I know at least in Judiasm, there are a lot of aspects to it that are supposed to be secret knowledge. And same with at lest ancient Egyptian religions. So secret they ended up being forgotten

The OTO and another Crowley related outfit are both still a thing

> Freemasonry
> Patrician

>LaughingMagician.jpg

Scholars study occultism, it's a big deal in neoplatonism, the Renaissance, history of science, and some other disciplines. They're not likely to practice it though and if they do they wouldn't talk about it because a big part of western esotericism is keeping things hidden. It's supposed to be hard to understand. In fact if you can't read fluent Hebrew, Greek and Latin you can't even really study it.

Because Occultism is rife with charlatans and frauds, unlike Theol- oh, wait a minute! Never mind

...

Look up theurgy, mate.

>he said no such thing
But it's blatant by his aggression and ignorance of Christianity.

Religion is a perversion, occultism is much more in line with primordial spirituality. Anyway you're fucking retarded, this thread is pointless

More comments in this way? Any other LSD user wants to say something?

>ur dumb cuz u sed thing i dont understand im fukkin ENLIGHTENED i no teh HIDDEN now ledge

>In fact if you can't read fluent Hebrew, Greek and Latin you can't even really study it.
can you elaborate please? there are plenty of "occult" english pdfs on /x/

I can't remember the book but an academic released a history that pinpointed exactly when magic and the occult ceased to be an outlet for legitimate academic study.

I remember him making a reference during an interview that the generation immediately after Newton mocked him only years after his death because of his treatises on alchemy. The Enlightenment's focus on empiricism and secularism eliminated academic esotericism quite quickly and in way that it has never recovered.

You would be too...

Theology the sociological study of hyper-material, and abstract beings.

Occultism
The study of demonstrating worth to certain hypothesized manifestations.

One is passively studying
The other is actively propagating demoralization

Very clever, I'm impressed

not many people have gone down this route. they do this to homeless people. that is why so many of them are crazy. it's the acid. the occult has left them that way because when you are given such knowledge and you reject it, you are left in the middle of an intense juxtaposition/paradox which can only be fought out of. it is the choice between God and satan, those stuck in between are paranoid schizos.

jesus saves, by the way, he saved my soul and my mind from the fire.

>itt people defending "real" religion and shitting on occultism

This just proves how many retards there are browsing Veeky Forums.

i still dont get how you guys can justify theology and not occultism in study

It really is only a matter of cultural hegemony. You can study theology as the country you live in has Christianism (or actually any other religion) in the cultural background.
There is, in fact, the study of Occultism in universities (someone already cited Amsterdam, I will point out Paris too) but given our society it had to start out as a part of sociology/history of religions studies.
One of the major point of those studies is (roughly) that there is no difference between religion and magic (which is the component of esoterism and ultimately occultism). Someone said "rejected knowledge". It's almost it: it's technically a form of knowledge (or a philosophy, or a theology, it depends) who "lost" the battle for hegemony. EVERY winner of this battle will try to define the others with the negative term of "magic" to discreditate it and such. It really is an interesting matter

You should have taken the free drugs and beaten them up.

>Any other LSD user wants to say something?
Sound like he's talking shit. Acid isn't that special, certainly not enough to turn someone occultist. Probably those kids were schizophrenes.

I've used LSD many times and have known many people who take it often. There is no intrinsic connection between LSD and/or its enthusiasts and the occult/new age.

The reason it's associated with new-age and occult-like notions is that when people take it they often have an experience where they become more open-minded and see that much of the attitudes and assumptions they had taken for granted may not be accurate in actuality. Sometimes this leads to them developing an interest in eastern philosophy but many people also end up getting more into monotheism, stridently-atheist or right-wing wings. In the west an interest in eastern philosophy stands out more then people who just become more right-wing or more into Christianity which is why those people get more attention and become the stereotype.

Also, when groups of people take LSD they are very suggestible and often find it amusing to just spend time thinking up convoluted or elaborate metaphors to explain what they are experiencing and naturally some of that ends up delving into the more outlandish, plus when they are experiencing the exact same thing from the drug the idea of telepathy or connected consciousnesses seems more plausible.

This

*right-wing views

because one is truth one is a blatant lie of the truth. duh.

I don't know man I've spent a lot of time around new age hippies in the midwest and this stereotype is continually reinforced/propagated almost everyday in my experience.

I'd say the reason it's associated with the new-age/occult crowd is its history in the counter-culture movements of the 60s-70s. These movements haven't really faded away where I'm from and I have to shake my head at batshit people who buy into the magical healing power of crystals ad infinitum on the daily.

All of it.

He was always schizo. Did you notice he was homeless from the start of this story? But its the dirty hippies fault obviously (not that its his fault either, schizophrenia is a disease). Like that one other guy said people go all different ways in terms of belief because ots what they felt deep down and psychedelics break down the barrier between the subconcious and the concious. I actually got into weird new age beliefs for a while and then i realized that taking drugs made me feel that way which suggests its in your head. You can take ketamine for example and experience floating above your body looking down at yourself, its quite common. What that tells me is its all in your head, others walk away thinking "oh so there IS something to ghosts afterall". They have helmets that can stimulate certain areas of your brain to make you feel out of body or sense the prescense of others in the room. DMT release is responsible for the spiritual feelings of near death experiences (read a lot about it, try it if you can). It all comes back to the idea that peoples thoughts and opinions are just past experiences (psychology) and brain chemistry (psychiatry/neuroscience). If drugs can so heavily impact our thoughts and actions it doesnt leave much room for free will. Some people get mean when they get drunk, some people cry uncontrollably when they take lsd because they see some disturbing path they were taking. Basically thats getting off an a tangent of determinism but back to my real point. It shows people how they feel deep down. Like when i take it im overcome with feelings of wanting to help people and even hug my greatest enemies. However ive seen people take it and be really mean trying to tear others down. Its just who they are. So a christian or a hindu or whatever, drops acid and feels their belief in god intensely which to them confirms its truth. I felt a powerful connectedness with all people (still do) but fell victim to some magical thinking which eventually strengthened my belief in the natural world (ie. Seeing my opinions shaped by being on drugs)

>why is Theology accepted in Academia

In our present time only by bad researchers or people who just do not want to get into trouble with all the mass who need something to believe in order to live well.

The most you will get from significant scientists, historians and sociologists is agnosticism.

The more I learn about the Enlightenment the more it seems like one of the worst things to happen in all of Western history.

>The most you will get from significant scientists, historians and sociologists is agnosticism.

HAAAHAHAHAH
Nice one man.

In Judaism its Kabala, which is straight witchcraft tbqh, a lot of pagan shit has managed to penetrate into Judaism without fitting in the it actual framework of belief.

occultism is a threat to academia

Real talk though, is there a reason why a modern man should explore occultism (Given it doesn't have the historical and cultural value theology has in our culture)? I like to think of myself as pretty open minded, but is there anything vital occultism talks about, or is it just random "understandings" of the beyond you're just supposed to believe in?

Is curious that he speaks of first sips that will make you an atheist, since he was born and raised in an extremely religious family and was never himself an atheist.

It's a different belief system, and wisdom can be gleamed from it like any other kind of system. From what I've read of it, it isn't random at all, and different sects or schools of thought follow disciplined and rigorous ideas.

occultism has an underground influence, countless authors, artists, poets, philosophers, and scientists have dabbled in the occult over the past several millenia -- you just don't realize it because it is hidden (the literal meaning of the word occult)

You need an intimate knowledge of Jewish cabala, Greek philosophy, and the work of the renaissance alchemists. Hebrew, Greek, Latin. Lots of this stuff isn't translated, or is untranslatable, or is poorly translated.

Sanskrit would probably help too if you wanted to get into eastern occultism.

What makes the occult in the current sense of what it is, more believable than

The modern occult is full of UFO bullshit and comets. Reptilians and lion headed people from outer space. Random blonde people from space too. It is nothing like what it was a hundred years ago. That's just board teenagers

Why should it be studied

I'm having trouble with the word 'belief' here. Does it demand the presupposition that a certain metaphysical/transcendent/whatever exists, or does it talk about a part of existence science and philosophy are blind to, but is definitely there and can be explored?

the latter

That's an entirely different system, and you would need at LEAST sanskrit, pali, tibetan, chinese and japanese.

Most people who are into the occult are potheads who can barely manage their native language.

They're*

How do I into

those compounds do not make people schizophrenic, they will speed up the process for those already predisposed to the condition ie those who would get it anyway just get it faster. This is documented in studies, there are websites that list all known studies per drug, find them and then ctrl f for schizo.

It's secret stuff passed down through family, generally not available to intelligentsia and university. Bringing it into the common eye is bad mojo.

All the big dead ghosts.

They're the same thing but occultism is less popular and thus has less political power so it's treated with less respect

It's the great tragedy of mankind that we lend credence to the Truth because we just "feel" the results.

Anything that is worth saying can be said plainly and without spooky subtext so it can be subjected properly to human reason.

When your message relies on the subtext then your message is shit.

Monopoly of one religion creates social cohesion exactly because people ACT on it. Say it. Take away the fucking introspective feels part already and say it. See if your people come to the same conclusion under the same rational framework; enact statewide moral code and so on.

Like a man.

As a neet with lots of free time i actually read about the occult a lot.
Have you heard of the concept of the hyper sigil?
It was create by the comic book writer grant Morrison, a very keen occultist himself.

>A "hypersigil" is an extended work of art with magical meaning and willpower, created using adapted processes of sigilization. The term was popularized (if not coined) by Grant Morrison. His comic book series The Invisibles was intended as a hypersigi

One could probably apply this to a novel if they wanted too as well

Personaly i use the occult in all my works of art, if i make a painting or write a story.
At the very least it can be used for artistic or symbolic purposes.
You will have people looking through your work for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, looking for hidden knowledge.

And i also believe that art should try to escape the disposable nature of the capitalist society we live in, be based off something that will last forever like spirituality or emotions.

But i also believe that art itself is magic, the point of magic is to change reality, and you can use images and symbols to do this, or meme's.
Marketers and psychologists know this well.

Think of the beatles singing love songs to thousands of screaming women, they all want to fuck them, while they sing the magic incantations.

A lot of the problem with art now I find, is that it's nihilistic in its nature, scupltures with nothing more to them than being a shape, even art buyers seem to be realising this bullcrap

>DMT release is responsible for the spiritual feelings of near death experiences (read a lot about it, try it if you can)
Hasn't been scientifically demonstrated

poststructuralism happened, unfortunately

google the word "process art", somewhere around the 60's a new philosophy arouse, rather than art being about the end product, it became about the process, or journey and its creation,
So fast forward to today and you have an art world where people make garbage based on the journey mannnnnnnnnnnnnn, and jews who buy it at auction in order to launder dirty money.

If you want optimism in art look into romanticism

You into Didi-Huberman, fampai? If not, I recommend him and Viveiro de Castro

That's actually a good thing, you fucking plebby shit

you are right, we are only allowed to study things as they are right now

there is disagreement!

My dude, you're the kind of people we need producing art right now.

Very glad to see more people taking this approach to things. I know this post is nothing more than a upvote or shit but seriously dude, this is great.

Modernist organization is making a huge comeback, and that kind of vanguardism is anything but nihilistic. I suggest you this essay, then branch out in whichever areas you like

spikeartmagazine.com/en/articles/essay-new-forms-agency

Yes, let's study Lion Gods in UFOs seriously

I swear to god there's a certain type of person who inhabits these boards now who just needs to stop posting

Didn't mean otherwise. It's just that it seems to have justified artists to not do shit because "it is all just a symbol".

>It's just that it seems to have justified artists to not do shit

Like drawing landscapes "isn't doing shit". If you don't understand an art piece and want to think about it, and at first reject it, it's probably doing its job.

Crowley looks like that creepy ass LARPer who hangs out at the ren fair despite being dressed up in a shitty gandalf costume while he eats drumsticks and glares glassy eyed at everyone in the distance rip

art should be based off the artists emotions, not to please an elite or wealth extraction.

art should be based off of esoteric things that will last through time, like emotions, spirituality, the occult, knowledge.

1000 years from now there will still be sadness.

No one will care about maralin Monroe, or batman.

One could very easily create a work of art based on what is popular in that particular market, tailor make it to be sold to plebes for disposable cash.
We live in a capitalist society whatever sells the most is what is promoted, the most popular.

why do you think popular music is all garbage, books, tv, etc, its all about wealth extraction, not art.

Everything under the sun and even the sun probably, have been commoddified and lost its original purpose.

So as an artist you have two choices, create art and be poor, or sell out and make lots of money.

Finding a middle ground is nice, since capitalism is taking so long to die and you enjoy eating food and living in a house.

Well said. A big step forward would be to actually create self contained pieces of art and not just references. The symbols modern "art" refers to will be lost in a century or so, and it will all become nonsensical, like a book written in a lost language. Real art should be born from the times it is created but be able to live on on its own.

Never read anything from them, but I looked up and I surely will