Disclaimer: I ask that you keep discussions moderately civil and apolitical despite references
For a while now, discourse centred around the issue of whether or not the occult should remain true to its name has circulated. The popular opinion has been that there should be an equality of education distributed throughout the world in regards to gnosis and praxis. This opinion is based in the ethics that knowledge should be accessible to all, and that the individual’s capacity for learning should be the only obstacle.
While I agree with this for the academic sector of higher education in the affairs of general life, I personally disagree when it is applied to the umbrella term of “occult”.
A practitioner, witch, sorcerer; whichever term you chose to call someone who practices the deconstruction and reconstruction of materia, and the communing with the inexplicable, used to inherit such a responsibility, which can be seen as both burden and gift, from a bloodline, coven/temple, individual adept or master/mistress who “saw something in you”. You would then be exposed to a subterranean culture and tradition with a vast history and legacy.
As well all as being given training and education after passing initial “invisible” trials and tribulations, a codex (book of tenants and “laws”) was to be studied and incorporated into the being of the individual.
The preservation, perpetuation and obfuscation of the tradition, from those who were non-conducive, was nearly always one of the duties the codex imparted. It was an elitist practice, and that could be seen as a product of pre-war Zeitgeist or antediluvian sentiment depending on your perception of life. The detriments of adopting an equality of education in the occult, however, are difficult to deny.
Phenomenon of the Egregore
An egregore is an illusory being/concept which is born from a mass group archetype caused by the collective concentration of an incredibly strong desire for something to exist/manifest, think of it as a magickal self-fulfilling prophecy. Its origin is solely in the group thought process but can be linked to acausal beings and primordial energies as a result of it being comprised of elements and simulacrum(s) of the aforementioned, such as names, images, sigils and/or planetary spherical connections.
The problem with egregores is that they produce a volumetric white noise for all, not just those who created them. Because of this, it is significantly difficult for those who are naturally and “sanguinely” eligible for inheritance to come into it, find their way and connect to the acausal, let alone solidify an empathetic connexion. This can potentially put the lineage of covens and bloodlines at great risk, causing them to become desperate for perpetuation, and in so doing, allowing the violation of a codex and/or aural tradition.
This affects everyone who eventually uncovers their knowledge, as the value and authenticity of its prior inceptual form has been somewhat diminished by that point as a result of compromise in the face of extinction.
Commercialisation
Beginning with the self-exposing of what is now termed, “Laveyian Satanism” in late 20th century America, the occult began to anchor its aesthetics in society through musicians, celebrity personalities and film directors, most notably from the Laurel Canyon crowd. Soon after, knowledge of temples and currents become public knowledge you could overhear in the local coffee shop.
Many temples began publishing magazines, pamphlets and manuscripts expounding their philosophy and world view, but still managing to obfuscate through overt satanic imagery. I am no fan of Cos or ToS due to their capitalist model of membership which exists in contradiction to the antinomianism they promote, but I do appreciate that they made the occult morally inaccessible for the masses by inverting conventions, thereby preserving hidden knowledge.
Fast forward to the 21st century and we have the mass emergence of “love and light” currents and mentalities, borrowing heavily from misinterpretations of Vedic, Buddhist and Taoist gnosis and praxis, completely refusing to acknowledge the inherent nihilism in the latter two, and instead replacing it with a confucius-esque moral framework in order to form the “new-age” philosophy of life.
I believe this culturally occurred to counteract the overt black magick and left hand path currents that emerged from the late 20th century. It created a void in the equilibrium of opposites which had to be filled eventually, but this is just conjecture.
Below you will find an image pertaining to an article from a well known English publication that shows the culmination of releasing the occult into the consciousness of Western society, and allowing it to become influenced by the current egalitarian and capitalist Zeitgeist in a way that does not perspire the antinomian. What you choose to deduce from this is entirely your prerogative…
. Great reading btw.