The term occultism comes from the Latin “occultus” and means “hidden, concealed, secret, not public, closed”. Occultism is often mistakenly associated in social media and online dictionaries only or mainly with negative, criminal and dark forces and practices.
Occult (occultism), as the etymological derivation from Latin shows, is only a synonym for something hidden, closed, not made public.
In this sense, many things can be described as occult. Both positive and negative. In the spiritual sense, the activities of spiritual schools that have been operating in the non-public sphere for thousands of years are described as occult. A look at the past shows why this is the case.
Spiritual communities have been persecuted by state churches, and their followers have been imprisoned, tortured, ostracised, vilified, slandered and burned at the stake, simply for holding a different doctrine. Seen in this light, occult societies preserve certain tools that remain hidden from the eyes of the “profane”. These can be, for example, rituals, symbols, etc.
In this sense, occult wisdom (occultism) has been transmitted for thousands of years only from teacher to pupil and only from mouth to ear. The “Kybalion” already reports on this and warns and warns against occultism.
“The lips of wisdom are closed except to the ears of understanding”.
There are those who have criticised this attitude of the Hermeticists, who have argued that the Hermeticists did not reveal the pure spirit by their seclusion and secrecy.
But a brief review of the pages of history will show the truth of the Masters, who knew well the futility of trying to teach the world what it could not yet understand. The Hermeticists never sought to become martyrs; they sat quietly on the sidelines, a pitiful smile on their closed lips.
The pagans “raged noisily around them” in their usual delight to kill and martyr the honourable but misguided enthusiasts who thought they could impose the truth on a barbaric people; the truth that can only be understood by the elect who have advanced in the Way.
The spirit of persecution has not yet died on earth. There are Hermetic doctrines which, if publicly proclaimed, would bring contempt and revilement upon the teachers; the crowd would again break out in cries of “Crucify, crucify”.
It is in this spirit that Jesus Christ said not to “cast pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6).
This is also the reason why all published occult writings of genuine wisdom traditions appear to the layman as meaningless confusion and spiritual jumble. They are deliberately written in such an incomprehensible, occult way that only a small “initiated” circle can understand the true content.
The Hermetic Academy is the guardian of this timeless wisdom, which has been passed on in secret (occult) for thousands of years. The Hermetic symbols and rites are intended to assist the Hermetic student in achieving desirable goals, virtues and spiritual refinement.
