"Occult" simply refers to the multidimensional reality that we share with the "forces" all around us everyday
that the average person cannot detect with the 5 physical senses.....thus this reality that we can't physically see is "hidden" from us.
Only those with "psychic abilities" can investigate the unseen reality all around us. They have additional "senses" the average person has not developed as yet , that enables them to experience this reality first hand through various means.
They are the psychics, mediums, mystics, shamans, witch doctors, etc. of humanity.
Throughout human history this "hidden knowledge" is what the elite of the world have always coveted because it gives one a considerable
advantage over others in any area of human endeavor.
Such "knowledge" can be used for the good or bad of course, and this is the essence of the "Left" (dark) and "Right" (Light) hand paths
that initiates into these mysteries aspire to.