02-03-2016, 09:37 AM
Well, that is the question isn't it - making sense of it all.
My ten cents worth:
Historically, the occult has usually been the preserve of the well-to-do and the elite because usually they had the time, money and education available to pursue the subject (the liberal arts versus the servile arts). Also because if we go back further in time occult knowledge was often reserved for kings and pharaohs etc.
This was demonstrated in the Youtube interview with Peter Levenda when he spoke about those who participated in "The Nine" with Andrija Puharich that was the subject of Lynn Picknett's and Clive Prince's book The Stargate Conspiracy. In that book the nine were described as The Council of Nine that were said by Levenda (in above interview) to be situated in a massive UFO orbiting the Earth communicating to us poor, backward folk. And those involved in the channelling of The Nine were leading members of the US elite/establishment families of the time.
But if we go back further in time, the number nine is significant because this was the number of the Ennead, the nine deities of ancient Egypt; Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephtys. And I very much doubt that were orbiting the Earth in a UFO.
And any serious study of the occult always involves the gods of ancient Egypt. Always.
Another way - a more modern way - of understanding these forces/intelligences was presented by Carl Jung in his Archetypes (from Wiki).
So for me, the bottom line, is that we cannot escape these massively powerful forces. They flow through us daily, shaping us and our lives. Most of us cannot perceive an Archetype moving though ourselves; we imagine it is just an aspect of us - which they are and conversely they aren't... they are autonomous - and so we take ownership accordingly.
The art is to make conscious that which is unconscious; to make scrutable the inscrutable.
And that which is hidden is, of course, by definition always occult.
In the last analysis we are the occult and there is no escape from that fact. And therefore, a study of the occult is the study of ourselves.
Lastly, what Jung did was take an awful lot of the hocus-pocus out of the subject. Prior to that the occult was the preserve of the few and it was protected by a bodyguard of impenetrable misdirection - often for sound reasons, but just as often for personal power, control and self esteem. In the Levenda interview he rightly says that anyone wishing to study the occult seriously should spend a few years in psychological analysis prior to embarking on that journey because it is vital to work out any kinks in yourself, as otherwise the forces released in occult studies can be devastating (like Levenda I've seen it happen). The shadow confrontation should, I think, be the minimum requirement for serious study. On the other hand a good occult school caters to this in the curricula - albeit in a slower more indirect way.
As I say, my ten cents worth....
My ten cents worth:
Historically, the occult has usually been the preserve of the well-to-do and the elite because usually they had the time, money and education available to pursue the subject (the liberal arts versus the servile arts). Also because if we go back further in time occult knowledge was often reserved for kings and pharaohs etc.
This was demonstrated in the Youtube interview with Peter Levenda when he spoke about those who participated in "The Nine" with Andrija Puharich that was the subject of Lynn Picknett's and Clive Prince's book The Stargate Conspiracy. In that book the nine were described as The Council of Nine that were said by Levenda (in above interview) to be situated in a massive UFO orbiting the Earth communicating to us poor, backward folk. And those involved in the channelling of The Nine were leading members of the US elite/establishment families of the time.
But if we go back further in time, the number nine is significant because this was the number of the Ennead, the nine deities of ancient Egypt; Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephtys. And I very much doubt that were orbiting the Earth in a UFO.
And any serious study of the occult always involves the gods of ancient Egypt. Always.
Another way - a more modern way - of understanding these forces/intelligences was presented by Carl Jung in his Archetypes (from Wiki).
Quote:In Jungian psychology, archetypes are highly developed elements of the collective unconscious. Being unconscious, the existence of archetypes can only be deduced indirectly by examining behavior, images, art, myths, religions, or dreams. Carl Jung understood archetypes as universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct.[SUP][1][/SUP] They are inherited potentials which are actualized when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behavior on interaction with the outside world.[SUP][2][/SUP] They are autonomous and hidden forms which are transformed once they enter consciousness and are given particular expression by individuals and their cultures.
So for me, the bottom line, is that we cannot escape these massively powerful forces. They flow through us daily, shaping us and our lives. Most of us cannot perceive an Archetype moving though ourselves; we imagine it is just an aspect of us - which they are and conversely they aren't... they are autonomous - and so we take ownership accordingly.
The art is to make conscious that which is unconscious; to make scrutable the inscrutable.
And that which is hidden is, of course, by definition always occult.
In the last analysis we are the occult and there is no escape from that fact. And therefore, a study of the occult is the study of ourselves.
Lastly, what Jung did was take an awful lot of the hocus-pocus out of the subject. Prior to that the occult was the preserve of the few and it was protected by a bodyguard of impenetrable misdirection - often for sound reasons, but just as often for personal power, control and self esteem. In the Levenda interview he rightly says that anyone wishing to study the occult seriously should spend a few years in psychological analysis prior to embarking on that journey because it is vital to work out any kinks in yourself, as otherwise the forces released in occult studies can be devastating (like Levenda I've seen it happen). The shadow confrontation should, I think, be the minimum requirement for serious study. On the other hand a good occult school caters to this in the curricula - albeit in a slower more indirect way.
As I say, my ten cents worth....
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14