What do you know about the occult?

Tweet

One of the reasons the occult fascinates me is because the is no "the occult", unless you're referring to a broad range of teachings and practices that span thousands of years. A stereotype of the occult is that it's governed by some union of evildoers intent on ruling the world or turning people away from Christianity. Literally, however, the word occult only indicates that something is esoteric, or kept secret from the majority of the population. This was a popular practice in Europe throughout the Middle Ages when people were killed for questioning what the Church taught. Other reasons for keeping teachings and practices secret were because the teachers of different beliefs wanted to keep their imparted wisdom as sacred as possible, or did not want it to be used for evil (selfish purposes) instead of good. Even though hundreds of years have past since "witches" have been burned at the stake, anything associated with the word "occult" still carries bad connotations with many people today (with the exception of goths and metal heads). Why do you think this is?