Spirituality/ The Occult.

The Occult.
The word itself means "Hidden." In the present day understanding as of 2013, it means a blanket label for all those practices that will delve into the realms of darkness, or seem to go that direction, pending what it is you are looking at as an occult practice.  Some areas that fall under the Occult label are Satanism, Wicca, Paganism, Voodoo. Those are the popular things folks like to think of and allow their selves to get the heebie jeebies over when thinking about them. Sometimes things get thrown into the Occult label, mostly because it is not understood, and since it is not understood, and my neighbor form around the corner, who knows my cousin said it was bad, therefore it Must be..right?
Some of those things are Yoga, Meditation, new ageism's, and so on.

Now, for the items that truly belong under this label, they are there for good reason. While many will seek, and try to practice these things, they do so at great cost. The greatest cost is this, they will lead to a severance of your relationship with God. Loose that and you loose everything. Other costs are in the personal spiritual level, health, family, social, and life. Just as many have died for the causes within the Occult as have died for the causes of religion.

In the Occult, the spiritual aspect, in practices and application is identical to non occult spiritual practices and principles. There is the Light, and There will always be the dark. This is the first basic lesson in the study of Spirituality, it is almost a law, much like the law of gravity. What goes up, must come down. What is light, will also be dark.

It is important to recognize, and respect that there is indeed an Occult Practice side of Spirituality;. It is really not healthy to have a blind, unfounded fear of the Occult, and the practices therein. Blind fear will only cause you to run into walls and trip in the dark, and blind fear also brings ignorance, and wrongful actions. None of this you want if you are to seek a healthy spiritual journey.

Just be aware that the Occult, Evil, is real. In this place spirituality operates exactly as it does in the light. There are these specific truths in regards to that fact. In the darkness ( Evil ) there are lies, and half truths. In the Light ( Godliness) there is truth, for us in our physical five sense bodies, there will be many occasions where it becomes a bit of a challenge to discern which is the truth, and which is the lie. There is a physical dynamic that happens when we operate in the spiritual, so in the light of the fact that dark and light are always there, take solace in the knowledge that if you truly seek truth and light, you will find truth and light. On the other hand if you want the darkness, and all it has, then seek and you will find.

While we are on the subject of Good and Evil, occult and non occult. Light and dark, there is an ever growing trend in the youth circles. Youth being rather broad, 4th grade on through college kind of youth, where the writings of one H.P. Lovecraft are all the rave. In the Homage to Cthulu ( I may have misspelled that) One of Lovecraft flagship creations.  Lovecraft was a minor minor author in about the time of Edgar Allan Poe. And in the same literary fashion. Where Poe had managed to gain success, Lovecraft managed to get his stuff published in a handful of articles in a local magazine, and having only a modest following.  But somehow, this author all but forgotten in his time, and in todays world almost unknown, has managed to find a way to tickle the funny bone of those who want to be a rebel without a cause. Lovecraft talks about Demons, and other things in his work, the only merit is that it is all very much fiction, and a lot of is well, junk. Anyone who wants to try to apply Lovecraft to their spiritual walk will end up much like a dog chasing its tail, round and round you go, but nowhere you go. There is one danger in that, eventually the inertia will carry some into other areas of the Occult.

Then there is the wonderful Scientology....Hmm. Not even worth going there..Kabbalah, now that's interesting, it is Jewish Mysticism, but this goes deep, and has a boatload of dark fringes to its practice. It does hold merit for spirituality, but it has some great dangers too. There are areas of Christian Mysticism that are equally as interesting, such as the Gnostics. The followers of Mary Magdalene. And some of the wonderful theories presented in a modern work of literature known as "Angels and Demons."

Then we have the surface irritants, such as the God hates Faggots church. Krishna, and a handful of other in the like.

ALL of this stuff has one common thread, it all has a pathway in Spirituality.  For some of these things, it is very clear what should be avoided. But there are others that are not so clear, for this we should apply the universal salve of study, research, proof and reproof, and study again, and learn how to be discerning, when you do that, it becomes clearer and easier to figure out what is trash, what has value, what is worthy to pursue, and what should be left alone fully.

As for myself personally I am simplistic, I measure it against God. If it is something that has a stamp of approval in His handbook for our souls, The Bible, I will consider it, if it is something that is clearly labeled toxic, dangerous, and God separating, well I leave it alone. And in my personal belief, I admonish anyone else who considers spirituality to do the same measure. It will end up saving one a lot of trouble in life, this I can state from experience.

 But do not be foolishly blind when seeking to be discerning. Here is a simple example.

When Harry potter hit it's crux of popularity, there was a lot of popular outcry that it is Evil incarnate, and it is leading our children straight to hell. And the author most certainly had to have sold her soul to the devil. Well, I have no knowledge as to the merits of the authors spirituality. But I could, before jumping blindly on the devil bandwagon, stop and see just what Harry Potter, and these stories are all about. At this time there were three of the stories out, starting with the first story on through the third.
truth, there is magic in regards to the fact that Harry Potter is to be a Sorcerer, warlock, etc. There is indeed reference to ancient lore, and magic spells etc. In truth in comparable works of fiction, including that from Disney, there was no more than any of the others in that.
In respect to those items, there is a danger of Occult ideas setting root. What I did discover most of all is that the stories are every twelve year old ultimate escape fantasy.  The stories speak of fighting between good and evil, with good overcoming, oppression, and overcoming, and so on. However there was nothing that could be found that would directly tell a child, be a worshipper of evil, rebel against your parents, and do evil. Rather on the contrary. Having researched I was satisfied, and decided to not join the bandwagon and not be found foolish in the long run.

 This is what I mean by not being foolishly blind. If you are going to stand for a cause, know what it is you are going to be standing for. Abraham Lincoln said this simply and truthfully " It is better people think you are a fool, than it is to open your mouth, and remove all doubt."