What “occult” means
The word comes from the Latin occultus, meaning “hidden” or “concealed.” In its oldest sense, the occult is knowledge or forces thought to lie behind ordinary appearances and to be accessible only through study, initiation or practice. Medieval writers spoke of “occult qualities” for effects they could observe but not explain, such as the pull of a magnet. The noun “occultism” as the name for a field of study and practice is more recent. It came into use in nineteenth-century France, and the writer Éliphas Lévi is often associated with its popularisation.
Today “the occult” is a broad label. It covers ritual magic, divination, astrology, alchemy, and the philosophies behind them. It is also used loosely in popular culture for anything spooky, which is not how practitioners or historians generally use it.
Occult, esoteric and mystical: how they differ
These words overlap, and people use them inconsistently, so treat the following as a working guide rather than a strict rule. A fuller treatment is in esotericism vs occultism vs mysticism.
- Occult usually points to practices aimed at working with hidden forces: magic, divination, spirit work, talismans.
- Esoteric means “inner” or intended for a small circle. It describes teachings passed to initiates and is the broader term. Scholars often speak of “Western esotericism” for the whole family of traditions, including Hermeticism, Kabbalah and Rosicrucianism.
- Mystical refers to direct experience of the divine or ultimate reality, such as union, illumination or ecstasy. Mysticism exists inside many mainstream religions and does not require any magic. If you are looking for synonyms, see another word for mysticism.
So an esoteric tradition may contain both mystical and occult elements, but the three are not interchangeable. “Occult arts” and “mystical arts” are not fixed technical terms; they are loose phrases. “Occult arts” tends to mean the practical disciplines, while “mystical arts” is used more vaguely, sometimes for contemplative practice and sometimes for the same disciplines under a gentler name.
The main occult arts
Different authors draw the list differently, but these come up repeatedly.
- Ritual or ceremonial magic, built on structured ceremonies, symbols and invocations. See the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram for a well-known example.
- Natural magic, which works with the hidden properties of plants, stones and the heavens. See natural magic.
- Divination, including tarot, astrology, geomancy and similar systems of reading symbols.
- Alchemy, covered in the alchemical tradition, historically both a laboratory art and a spiritual philosophy of transformation.
- Sigil and talisman work, covered in how sigil magic works.
- Sacred geometry and symbolism, discussed in sacred geometry and spirituality.
Behind all of these sits a set of ideas about why they might work. Magic theory lays out the main explanations offered by occultists, anthropologists and psychologists.
A short history
Many Western occult ideas draw on late antiquity, when Greek, Egyptian, Jewish and other traditions mixed in the Mediterranean world. The Hermetic writings, Neoplatonism, astrology and early Jewish mysticism all fed what later became known as the Western esoteric tradition. In the Middle Ages, Arabic texts on astrology and magic were translated into Latin, and written collections of procedures circulated as grimoires.
During the Renaissance, scholars such as Marsilio Ficino and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa revived Hermetic and Neoplatonic thought, and “natural magic” was discussed alongside early natural philosophy.
The nineteenth century brought organised occult societies. The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875, and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888. The Golden Dawn became enormously influential, and its rituals shaped later movements, including Thelema, founded by Aleister Crowley in the early twentieth century. Crowley also popularised the spelling discussed in magic versus magick.
Modern occult practices
Modern occult practice is varied and often individual. Some people join lodges or orders; many work alone from books. Common elements include:
- Ritual work, often beginning with some form of banishing or centring.
- Meditation and visualisation.
- Divination, especially tarot and astrology.
- Journaling and dream work.
- Study of historical texts and symbol systems.
- Newer approaches such as chaos magic, which treats belief and technique as tools to experiment with.
Many practitioners describe the results in psychological or symbolic terms, while others take a literal view of spirits and forces. The field has no central authority, so claims vary widely. Readers who want a wider view of spiritual life beyond the occult can read about common spiritual practices.
Occultism and Satanism
Occultism is not the same as Satanism. Occultism is a large and loose collection of practices and philosophies, most of which have no connection to worshipping or opposing Satan. Many occultists draw on Jewish, Christian, pagan or non-theistic sources.
Satanism is a narrower set of movements. Some are theistic, and some, such as the Church of Satan founded in 1966, are non-theistic and treat Satan as a symbol of individualism. Some occult practitioners may overlap with Satanist groups, and popular media often merges the two, but treating them as the same thing is inaccurate.
What “occult profession” means
The phrase has no formal definition. People generally use it for work connected to occult subjects, such as a tarot reader, astrologer, author or teacher of esoteric subjects. Whether such work is legal, regulated or taxed depends on the country, and in some places fortune-telling is restricted, so anyone considering it professionally should check local rules.
Is Gothic art occult?
Not in the usual sense. Gothic art and architecture refer to a medieval European style that developed from the twelfth century, with pointed arches and ribbed vaults. It is a different use of the word “Gothic” from the dark, supernatural mood of Gothic fiction and subculture. Some Gothic buildings are studied for their geometry, which links to sacred geometry, but the style itself is not an occult art.
Where to go next
If you are new to the subject, start with magic theory for the ideas, then pick the area that interests you most: Thelema for a modern religion, grimoires for historical texts, or natural magic for the link to early science. Approach all of it as a subject of study first. Many claims within the field cannot be verified, and readers are best served by looking at sources and by treating any practice with sensible care, especially anything involving health or mental wellbeing.