The Occult
Much of the Western Esoteric tradition is based on a blend of Hermeticism and the Kabbalah Ma'asit, so called magical or practical Kabbalah. Occultism uses the Hermetic and Kabbalistic theory of creation and angelic/demonic forces, as a basis for ritual magic, and theurgy. Most magic theory involves the manipulation of Yetzirah, the world of Formation, and letting the effect trickle down to the physical universe (in accordance to the Hermetic concept of "as above, so below"). This includes the communication and manipulation of inhabitants of Yetzirah, angelic or demonic forces. The spelling of "Qabalah", is generally referred to as the Hermetic Qabalah, often having a magical or occult slant. While "Kabbalah" refers to the traditional Jewish branch.
These beliefs were influential in European occult lore, especially from the Renaissance forward. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, magicians wrote grimoires which show a major influence from both Hermeticism and Kabbalah and have since become a basis for most practical occultism. In more recent times, magical orders such as The Golden Dawn have revived and revised these traditions.
Read more about this topic: Hermetism And Other Religions
Famous quotes containing the word occult:
“The thing with Catholicism, the same as all religions, is that it teaches what should be, which seems rather incorrect. This is “what should be.” Now, if you’re taught to live up to a “what should be” that never existed—only an occult superstition, no proof of this “should be”Mthen you can sit on a jury and indict easily, you can cast the first stone, you can burn Adolf Eichmann, like that!”
—Lenny Bruce (1925–1966)
“The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)