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[[Image:Crowley.jpg|thumbnail|250px|The occultist [[Aleister Crowley]] was dubbed in his lifetime "the most wicked man on earth". Aleister Crowley stated: "I was not content to believe in a personal [[devil]] and serve him, in the ordinary sense of the word. I wanted to get hold of him personally and become his chief of staff."<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=k_uVVznqdssC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=I+was+not+content+to+believe+in+a+personal+devil+and+serve+him,+in+the+ordinary+sense+of+the+word.+I+wanted+to+get+hold+of+him+personally+and+become+his+chief+of+staff.&source=web&ots=w0mmSaLOcC&sig=rSH3vqIlpfp3U5-mSLKD5vsVG5w&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result</ref>]]
An '''occult''' thing is something that is clandestine, hidden, or secret. The word comes from the Latin ''occultus'', meaning "knowledge of the hidden". ''Webster's'' defines the verb ''occult'' thus: "To shut off from view or exposure."<ref>http://m-w.com/dictionary/occult</ref>
In modern usage, "occult" refers to any one of a number of forbidden [[supernatural]] practices. These may include [[tarot card]]s, [[ouija board]]s, [[psychic]] powers, [[astrology]], [[witchcraft]], charm] and spells of various forms, [[voodoo]], [[pagan]] and cultic rituals, engaging in the study of [[demonology]] and [[mysticism]], Satan worship, spirit communication, and [[divining]] for resources. (This list is not exhaustive.)
Concerning occult practices, the [[Israelites]] were told:
:“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire [an ancient occult practice], or one who practices [[witchcraft]], or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a [[sorcerer]], or one who conjures spells, or a [[medium]], or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an [[abomination]] [detestable] to the LORD…”<ref>Deuteronomy 18:9-12a (KJV).</ref>
Many of these practices are widely regarded as [[superstition]] with no functional basis, and thus ineffective - the [[divination]] rituals will provide no insight into the future, the spells have no influence and the demons will not appear. However, the occult does have fervent believers. In 2006 the Anglican Bishop of Bolton implored retailers not to stock traditional Halloween merchandise, saying that 'occult practices should not be condoned, even if they are only being presented in a caricatured, light-hearted form.'<ref>[http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr9106.html Church of England]</ref>
== Atheism and the occult ==
''"And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people."''<ref>''Leviticus 20:6'', KJV, although this verse refers more properly to "those who would seek special knowledge through the spirits of the dead, whether the dead in general or dead relatives in particular" (NET, Leviticus 19, note 52).</ref>
''See also:'' [[Atheism and the occult]]
=== Atheists with a sociopathic personality structure and the occult ===
''See also:'' [[Atheism and sociopathy]] and [[Irreligion and superstition]] and [[Atheism and satanic deception]] and [[Atheism and the supernatural]] and [[Atheism and life after death]]
The journal article ''Atheism and the [[occult]]'' published in the ''Journal of Social Sciences'' indicated:
{{Cquote|Atheists with a sociopathic personality structure have a greater degree of predisposition to express different forms of occult practice. The results of canonical discriminant analysis have shown that occultist syndrome in atheists is a component of a kind of sociopathic aggression whose latent structure is defined by materialistic-hedonistic orientation, impulsive aggression and asocial aggression in the positive direction, and altruism in the negative direction. Atheists with a sociopathic personality structure have a greater degree of predisposition to express different forms of occult practice.
(Google translated version of the journal article).<ref>[https://www.bib.irb.hr/410284?rad=410284 Atheism and the occult], Journal of Social Sciences, 32 (2008), 2; 357-366]</ref>}}
A very prevalent view of the occult is that it is [[Satan]]ic (see also: [[Atheism and satanic deception]]).
==Notes==
==Notes==
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[[Category:religion]]
[[Category:Satanism]]
[[Category:Abominations]]
[[Category:Occult]]