question about the occult

[Frank Goad]

Is the occult on the rise in north america? Sorry.This should be in the paranormal activities forum.Can you please move it there?Thank you.

 

[Stevicus]

Is the occult on the rise in north america? Sorry.This should be in the paranormal activities forum.Can you please move it there?Thank you.

I guess it would depend on how one would define the occult. For whatever it's worth, I think there's been a decline in interest/belief in astrology. When I was younger, there was greater interest in psychics, Tarot, astrology - people going around asking each other "what's your sign?" There's still some interest today, but not as big as it used to be when I was a kid.

 

[Quintessence]

Practices that are generally conceptualized as falling within the spectrum of "occult" (though Stevicus is right to point out the term is pretty ambiguous) are pervasive in the United States. These data do not speak to the entirety of North America, but to give you an idea:

From - ‘New Age’ beliefs common among both religious and nonreligious Americans

These data do not look at trends over time, but when something is this pervasive... I'm not sure it really matters that much.

 

[sun rise]

That's an interesting finding from Pew which is a respected source.

It's a helpful counterbalance to the fanatical fundamentalists who are in the news all the time.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I know little about the USA, but I'm amused by the Pew survey. "Reincarnation" as a New Age belief? That would surprise the Hindus. Astrology as New Age? When I started, the Irish Astrological Association was headed by a Jesuit priest.

Basically, "occult" tends to mean whatever you want it to. Scholars like Wouter Hanegraaff take it as a reaction to the "enlightenment" of the 18th century, which would separate their concept from the use of the term in the 16th century.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Guess it depends on if a belief in the supernatural exists coupled with a persons desire to opt out of 'mainstream' for something different and unique.

 

[Stevicus]

I know little about the USA, but I'm amused by the Pew survey. "Reincarnation" as a New Age belief? That would surprise the Hindus. Astrology as New Age?

I never really could quite get a handle on what "New Age" was ever supposed to mean. I remember when they used to sing "this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius." I never could figure that one out either, but it was kind of a cool song just the same.

When I started, the Irish Astrological Association was headed by a Jesuit priest.

Isn't it considered a sin to believe in astrology?

 

[Quintessence]

That's an interesting finding from Pew which is a respected source.

It's a helpful counterbalance to the fanatical fundamentalists who are in the news all the time.

Yeah, I like them as a resource in spite of the many limitations of how they look at and define religion in particular. With these data, apparently the fundamentalists (mostly Evangelical Christian, though not all) are pretty into the occult with half of them accepting at least one of these occult ideas. Oh, irony.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Isn't it considered a sin to believe in astrology?

Well the current catechism condems it along with all attempts to foresee the future — I hope the priest who wrote that doesn't listen to the weather forecast! In practice, the Catholic Church has always been happy with it — St Thomas Aquinas defended it.

 

[Quintessence]

I never really could quite get a handle on what "New Age" was ever supposed to mean. I remember when they used to sing "this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius." I never could figure that one out either, but it was kind of a cool song just the same.

If you spend a bit of time in that community, you start to figure out what it is. I didn't float around in those circles for long, but long enough to recognize how different their orientation is from contemporary Paganism in spite of having some common practices. I'll still go to "New Age" fairs from time to time because they're significantly more common than the Pagan equivalent. All the things PEW measured are typical of New Age fairs if you attend, along with many other sorts of alternative/holistic health practices. You also sometimes see paranormalists set up booths there - I still remember the state group of ghost hunters being present at one, as well as someone doing aura photography. The photography thing was pretty cool, but they were charging too much for it so I didn't do it... haha.

 

[author leon xiv]

Unfortunately the word "occult" has become a bucket term and all manner of crap has been caught up in it.