Question by Madman: Is Mysticism, Occultism related to Witchcraft?
Are there really such secret things that we ordinary people shouldn’t know?
Best answer:
Answer by Urak Baddaf
I do not know about you. But as for me, I will run away from them as fast and as far as I can.
Gang way!
Give your answer to this question below!
Witchcraft is considered part of the occult. Mysticism could cover a wide variety of things. There is Christian mysticism, Jewish mysticism, etc… Mystics normally go beyond the writings, to find deeper wisdom in the world.
There’s nothing secret about witchcraft. A lot of people try to make it out to be Harry Potter style craft, but that has nothing to do with it. A basic definition would simply be a way to focus ones will towards a certain goal. Usually accompanied with ritual.
It’s just another form of belief- no better or worse than others. “Occultism” is a non specific catch-all anyway!
neither is related to witchcraft, so much as shamanism is (shamen are related to medicine men, who are related to witchdoctors… and there’s your witchcraft).
Sort of.
It’s not that ordinary people “shouldn’t” know about these things, it’s that many traditions wished it to remain secret, simply because that’s the way it’s been forever. They couldn’t go out and proclaim their practices for fear of persecution and death. Their practices were driven into hiding for protection, and thus today, their practices remain secret (mainly due to tradition).
Anyone willing to do the research and learn can learn occult practices. It’s not reserved soley for specific people.
Witchcraft, Black Magic, Kaballah, and more more are all parts of Mysticism. They are the branches of mysticism.
Occultism (the study of the occult or “hidden knowledge”) isn’t about information being kept from people on purpose to deceive them or leave them ignorant. It’s hidden because that is it’s nature… like the moth’s wings are hidden in the pattern of the bark of the tree it is perched on until you start to look for it. It’s not that someone somewhere along the line declaired that you shouldn’t ever see the moth, it’s because the moth, by it’s nature, is difficult to see… Same with occult knowledge, it’s not being secreted away and hidden from you by a person or organization, it’s “hidden” because it hides itself, it is difficult to find unless you learn where to look. And anyone can learn these things, not just a few people… or I should say anyone with the intelligence and depth to learn and contemplate these things can learn them.
Mysticism isn’t particularily secret either, it’s merely personal. Mysticism is a personal gnosis, a personal path to the divine that only the person traveling that path can know and it will be a different path for all who travel it. It cannot be shared because its nature is to be highly individual and impossible to translate, not because it is meant to be kept private or secret.
There are some things, some concepts, that simply can’t be explained in language, some things that must be experienced to be understood. You can explain that a fire is hot and that being burned is painful, but unless you experience it, you will not understand what that means.
Yes, witchcraft often uses mysticism and often uses occult knowledge, but neither mysticism nor occultism is limited to witchcraft practices.
-Scarlet