Note: This article is full of sarcasm and irony. Don’t take everything literally.
Occultism nowadays is.. interesting. I see it more like a phenomenon of characters. It is the way I view it, and please contradict me if you wish. I observed in the last 10 years since I’ve been in the occult community on the internet that the so-called adepts of the Occult are so much stereotypical, at least in my country, and below I’ll try to explain what I mean in a small classification.
As a spiritual direction (if we can call it as such), Occultism nowadays usually and mostly offer us extreme information, either if we are talking of the Left-Hand Path or Right Hand Path. Everything jumps from an extreme to another. It is rigid, with no personality, without experience, without contradiction. You do what you are told, you buy what you are sold. If not, you’re not a real occultist ! Not to mention the many cases when it has become a quite profitable business. Everything is “authentic” and “unique”, the initiations and diplomas printed being the proof that you are a truly evolved spiritual being. Astrograms, tarot readings and magical services are real as long as you pay to a bank account or PayPal.
I remember a discussion with a sweet lady who wanted to know the reason why I am the owner of an occult website. She asked if I am clairvoyant, if I have spiritual powers/capacities, what diplomas I have, what initiations, grades and ranks I have and… how many pairs of wings I have (wtf?!). She honestly left me with a profound disgust. In other words, if I’m not a guru initiated by X or Y master, I have no right to promote occultism. Since when does a piece of paper received for money from a smartass represents and evaluates your spiritual condition ?! Even more, I observed that these so-called spiritual leaders and INITIATES are mostly some scared fat-asses. Well, excuse me, but if you present yourself in such a condition, how can I trust you? What example are you giving me? Let us not forget that obesity represents a lack of balance, an important problem that not only shows the degrading way of life you’re living and the person you are, but it also affects your spiritual evolution. Let us not forget that we are mind, body and spirit, and they all must be taken care of, initiation doesn’t mean only mystical rituals but also a way of life.
Perhaps some do not know the tradition of the Order of Nine Angles, but it is a very good example that I can give in this case. To them the initiation and the entire spiritual path consists in many exercises, mental, spiritual but also physical. There is physical training like there is spiritual and mental training. Their idea, though probably taken to the extreme, is similar to Nietzsche’s Ubermensch/Overman, the idea that man is something that must be surpassed and a new race of men must be born, superior from all points of view. Unfortunately, this is only theory.
In most of the part, I am a skeptic and a realist. Everything I have learned and what I believe in spirituality comes from the little and few experiences that I’ve had in these 10+ years of study and practice. I don’t believe that the grades matter, especially if they are given by a different person who does not know what exactly is in your soul and what is the true level of your spirit. Everyone has something to learn, from the less experienced to the Master, one from another.
In all these years I’ve spoken to hundreds of individuals passionately found of occultism, even so-called initiates. And though, I haven’t really learned much from them, rather that they are fantastical, utopian, naive and credulous who are thirsting for something extraordinary. The majority not being integrated normally in society . What would you think if I told you that it was reproached to me that I don’t speak of occultism 24/7 ? well,.. yeah.
I’ve come to know and recognize each and every type of individual, and got to know what he believes and what he does from the first 5 minutes of discussion. They are all the same ! I’ve seen teenagers from 14 to 18 years of age who read two websites and come to give me sermons and lectures, who don’t put an accent on the acceptance of consensus nor on the search of truth but on their personal image. I imagine them standing in front of their monitors chewing chips and talking about their non-existent experiences (which are truly fantastical and exaggerated) and criticizing me when I said that “yes, in these 10 years of implication in occultism, I’ve had only few experiences compared to others”.
Perhaps that if I did what most website owners, leaders and mages do, saying that I’m about to become the new Messiah, that I’ve had Merlin-like experiences and wisdom of Buddha (and in reality to be nothing more than a nerd whose parents don’t allow him to have an altar in his room), MAYBE this way I would’ve received more respect… instead, I had to be the one that admits and says “I don’t know shit, but I’m willing to learn”… and later to receive insults, reproaches and such. Because I don’t want to talk when I don’t know something. Because I don’t hide behind the excuse of not being in the mood to talk, while in reality I’m only not informed enough and need time to take notes and get prepared to have a conversation on occultism so that it may appear that I know. Because I’ve never stated that I’ve summoned the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and that I’m bringing the End of the World with my Demon-friends.
While writing here I’ve changed my mind. I’ll make more classifications of the “occultists” of today. The first will be a classification done by my friend Asterion with reference to the “syndromes” that the modern day occultist suffers of:
1.Initiation. You need to have as many initiations and diplomas as possible
2.Channeling. If Saint Peter, Jesus or Zamolxes don’t talk through you, you’re nobody.
3.Famous reincarnations. If you are not the reincarnation of Saint Peter, Jesus or Zamolxes, you’re nobody.
4.Spiritual vainglory and pride
Further, another classification of my own on the beliefs and spiritual directions:
1.Satanists: The majority of them are minors, metalheads or rockers who want to appear interesting and/or believe they are vampires
2.Christians. The majority of them are elders and psychologists. For them everything is “peace, love and light”.
3.Merlin-type magicians: They have legendary, unique, hidden, secret books that nobody has heard of. They don’t use information from usual books, thus the reason they don’t know the occultism that everyone else knows.
4.The self-thought mages: They are the ones that don’t read books because books don’t tell the truth. They learn by themselves, and get their information from Akashic Records. They don’t know rituals like everyone knows, they create their own rituals and meditation techniques that are more powerful than the ones in books or the ones that other magicians practice.
And yet, another classification:
1.Extremist Satanists: Usually black metal fans. The badder and the more extreme they are, the better and more authentic they appear. With the minds of teenagers or the thinking of the 16th century, they wish only to impress, to shock. They are mostly frustrated, always angry, not being able to enjoy life (that they say Satan has given them). They hate this and that. Only Satan can do this and that.
2.Real old school Mages: They have all the grimoires in leather-bound edition, they have robes, they have everything that a real mage needs. They are the only ones who are authentic, the only ones that Demons respond to and visibly appear to. Everyone else is a fake except them. Oh, and they enjoy using big words, rare words, complicated words, wise words (God bless the dictionary).
3.The easy-working occultists: They don’t need to do much in order to invoke a Demon, they just need to pray to them and the demons immediately come and listen to their commands… because demons are nice, and good and they are their friends. Anyone can invoke a Demon. It’s so simple ! Just light a candle, chant the demon’s name 3 times, and he will be there.
And one last classification written by Nadine Buchholz in the article “Magusitis: A hydra in sheep’s clothing” (click link for the source):
1.The demiurge: This guy is a big fish in a small pond. He’s got magickal powers that make him feel more powerful and god like than usual. In fact his magick works so well that he must be god or the essence of god – at the very least. Megalomania City here we come.
2.The narcissist: This one got insecurities by the bucket load. No matter what those insecurities might be, they get covered up through the invokation of something prettier, cooler or meaner. Whatever this guy lacks, he tends to compensate by invoking something that acts more like a patch over the issue instead of fixing the problem.
The Narcissist, ‘Feels grandiose and self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents to the point of lying, demands to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievement)
[He] is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequaled brilliance (the cerebral narcissist), bodily beauty or sexual performance (the somatic narcissist), or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering love or passion.
[He] is firmly convinced that he or she is unique and, being special, can only be understood by, should only be treated by, or associate with, other special or unique, or high-status people (or institutions).
Requires excessive admiration, adulation, attention and affirmation –or, failing that, wishes to be feared and to be notorious.
3.Archetypal Intoxication: This type is often a result of not banishing often enough (or invoking too often). I met someone recently who thinks he is channeling Eshu – just generally all the time. Certainly he’s a mercurial person, but Eshu gives him a sense of self power that he does not otherwise have. I call this invokational psychosis and it is very common amongst magicians, witches, thelemites etc. But the technical name is archetypal intoxication. This personality disorder is very common especially amongst magicians who practice deeply entrenched within a paradigm, banishing rarely or ineffectively. It is actually fairly uncommon amongst chaos magicians however, because they tend to banish often and paradigm shift into atheism or the scientific paradigms
4.The Rebel or The Infidel: This one is as common as muck, unfortunately. Those magickal individuals who feel they need to rebel in order to aggrandise their own ego and / or give themselves a reason for existence. I’ve seen quite a few come and go from the magickal organizations, over the years, (they always go because it’s part of their rebelling, and eventually they end up with nothing to rebel against except themselves maybe). Grouped along with anti social personality disorders.
Asterion mentioned ‘spiritual vainglory and pride’ and we had the chance to discuss this in greater detail on a forum board.
In his opinion, ‘spiritual vainglory and pride’ is the pretension of being above others, from a spiritual point of view. He is the embodiment of having unimaginable powers that can’t be proved.
The first super-power of the person with spiritual vainglory and pride is the sophisticated, mysterious, euphonic, philosophical answer to a normal question. Example:
Q: What is the meaning of life?
A: First we must know what life is, before we get to know its meaning, because understanding does not exist outside understanding, which is a transcendence in it’s transiency… etc etc etc
Q: How old are you?
A: To have an age is like having something that is reported to something extremely mutable, as a temporal reference, which is a transcendence in it’s transiency… etc etc etc..
The man with spiritual vainglory will never say: “I was wrong, I’m sorry”. Rather he will say something like: “You can’t understand right now why I have said that, it is beyond your understanding. But perhaps you will know one day, when you will be as wise and illuminated as me.”
It is a phenomenon that takes evidence especially in situations when two people of different approaches meet. Most of the times, each one will believe that he is right and the other one is wrong and is going to “the dark side” if he continues to think differently – thus, he needs to save the other, convincing him that he is wrong. In other words, “if you’re not like me, you’re wrong”. As exemplified: “I do not have spiritual vainglory, this is a bad thing and it is found only at people less evolved than me (or inferior to me)”.
Another common trait of this individual is the imposed calm in his behavior, in order to make him appear wise and evolved. If you are rude, aggressive in speech, sharp at tongue, even vulgar then you are not a real spiritual being and wise enough for them. I observed how they choose this attitude in order to impress, though I’ve known janitors wiser and more spiritual than them.
I call this the “Zarathustra Complex”. These are the ones that are acting wise and greatly spiritual, who stay in their rooms at night masturbating, and who from time to time come to forum boards to preach to the uninitiated (exactly like Zarathustra). They usually forget their simulated good-wise-calm mage attitude if they are caught lying about their experiences. They simply can’t resist, and become even more vulgar and ruder than the person whom he earlier criticized. Oh, don’t hurt their egos in a public forum board ! They will take their toys and leave… aaaand.. come back under a different name ! (exactly like Zarathustra).
And last but not least.. there are those who don’t respect their own mentors and teachers (or former mentors and teachers). Who talk them from behind, and slander them.. after they have learned from them, after they wasted their time.
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