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The Occult & the Experience of God
A while ago, I wrote a short piece on one of the rallying points Christians often use to attack people who are interested in “the occult” - namely, that occultists have an urge for power. Last night though, watching the Last Temptation of Christ, I realized something very different about why most people probably get involved in the occult.
There’s a conversation that happens in that movie between Jesus and I think one of the monks in the desert. The monk says basically that he’s jealous of Jesus because he himself can’t hear God’s voice. He doesn’t know what God wants him to do; he just has to feel his way blindly through it. And Jesus laughs, saying something about how knowing God’s will isn’t a blessing, that it’s torture.
It strikes me that many people who turn from organized or mainstream religions towards occult paths feel the same conflict as the monk in the desert. They want to hear God’s voice, feel God’s hand on their shoulder. They want proof, they want evidence and direct experience. Faith to them isn’t enough; it’s a failure, an excuse not to strive.
I watched a couple episodes of the X-Files on television yesterday as well. And I realize in that show too this same question is played out. Mulder has that poster of the UFO which says “I Want to Believe”. Mulder has that hunch, a hunger that he follows wherever it leads, even if it’s totally crazy. Whereas Scully is always wearing a cross, always struggling with her faith, and always countering Mulder’s optimistic gullibility with demands for proof.
So too does this question get played out in paranormal studies, the people who try to photograph ghostly orbs in old cemeteries, or who try to prove psychic phenomena in a laboratory setting. They all want to hear God’s voice. They all want to capture God on film so they can be sure.
But even when some of us do capture God on film, we’re still not sure. Scully again is a great example. She’s always talking about needing proof, but when she gets it, she interprets it according to what she already believes. She’s always trying to convince Mulder that there are no aliens. But Mulder’s convictions are unflappable.
The occult seems to be about calling God out of his hiding place. But there are those who once they make the call aren’t really ready for what they find when he shows himself. Where do you fit into all this?
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September 4th, 2005 at 9:04 pm
“The occult seems to be about calling God out of his hiding place.” An interesting turn of phrase! It reminds of the saying that the best way to hide something is to place it right out in the open.
September 4th, 2005 at 9:39 pm
I find a flat materialistic, positivist(?), rationalist view of life to be unfullfilling. But I feel tormented because the left part of my conditioned brain knows it should accept no supernatural explanations for anything.
It is depressing to think we live in an absurd universe which has no instrinsic meaning because there is no spirit, nothing transcendental. I don’t want existential dread! I use to be able to sidestep the issue of God with the word Tao and it worked for a while. But now I am back to feeling at times existence is just a cruel material fluke. Are we just evolved soulless animals with consciousness? Or are we spiritual beings who are eternal?
But i’m sure I’ll go back to realizing the obvious fact life is so vast, wide and deep, that beliefs (even rationalist beliefs) are nothing compared to pure silent wonder. And to let the quiet mind can feel a certain ‘magic’ of possibility(when the right part of my brain feels liberated for a while and it has no need or worry about God or explanations.)
“Man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern” Blake
September 5th, 2005 at 12:20 am
[…] or direct experience of the divine, a reader calling themselves “Hello” left a great comment which I think really speaks to the hear […]
September 6th, 2005 at 12:47 pm
How many so-called occultists are convinced they talk to God, and are actually just conversing with their little egos? Or Christians for that matter…
The road isn’t particularly clear and one of the reasons the “occult” get slandered is its easy to fall into error without rules and supports propping you up.
September 6th, 2005 at 10:09 pm
In re: Hello’s comments– It isn’t depressing to think of life as absurd, devoid of intrinsic meaning. In fact, it is liberating. What this view of existence says (to me) is that I am the one who fills in the meaning in my life. To allow others to impose their definiton of existence upon me is the true absurdity.
I like to think of Life as a joke… a very serious joke. And that makes God the gag writer, Jesus the stand-up comic, and the Holy Spirit is his audience. Satan is a heckler in that audience, and we humans are the set-ups and the punchlines to each joke.
Or, if you prefer to believe something else, I can accomodate you on that, thanks to the elasticity of absurdism.
We touch God and experience proof of his existence every day, but everyone has a unique way of filtering it. Some people worship God by saying they hate him and that he doesn’t exist. It’s a perfectly valid form of worship, one that I indulge in every so often. Others tend to overdo it and take everything the Bible says literally, to which I say: “Hey, whatever works for you, pally!”
The occult is another avenue for people searching to escape themselves. But what about the likes of me, who can’t get through a ritual without cracking up and ruining the required solemn energy needed to cast a spell that will make us all rich? What alternative do I have? You can’t cheat at magic, can you?
I am happiest when the road isn’t clear, when a deep fog has set upon the road. Why? Because then you have to say “Fuck my eyes” and go off of your other
senses, all eight of them. You have to navigate all 17 trillion dimensions this way, and I have to admit it gets me all hot and bothered to do so.
I spoke to God last week, and he told me that the bus fare is $1.25, but that for $3 I could get an all-day pass. I took this as a sign that he likes me.
September 6th, 2005 at 10:22 pm
Awesome.
Yeah I have the same problem, more or less. Well, I’m not convinced it’s a problem.
November 25th, 2005 at 7:20 pm
[…] #8217;s lots we could say here in response. First, I want to bring up something I’ve talked about briefly before, but which Christian anti-occultists a […]