There are several meanings for the word “occult”. It could mean “secret” or “hidden” and sometimes “magickal”. Humans come into this world and sometimes become prodigies at three or four years of age. Yet others may not even be able to sing a note even when they are 30 years old. As most of us are aware, there are very gifted people who, without any persuasion, can become masters or art, dance, music and other forms of creative works. Every intelligent person has, at one time or another, noticed that some people are more gifted than others.
We also know that there are many people who can just heal others by a touch or a look. Yet others can see or communicate with spirits. As the world turns, more and more people are being born while others are leaving this realm. Instead of depending on books someone else wrote, why not learn about spirituality from the world that surrounds us?
People who are very spiritual have found that they can easily get things to happen for them. Just by wishing or visualizing, humans can change the course of history. What is this power that enables some humans to become masters or their destiny? How can we enable every human to understand the invisible world that is so near and yet so far from average human beings?
One way is to teach people about spirituality. However, it is not easy to teach them something that some cannot even fathom. We can discuss spirituality to the end of the Earth, but there will always be people who cannot grasp this idea. They would rather believe in a powerful God who controls everything from some place called heaven.
How did pagan religions evolve? Although it was many millenniums ago, we can understand the perplexing world that the new human beings landed upon. There were no travelogues or maps to teach the new inhabitants of this beautiful planet how to live, where to live, what to eat, what not to eat, if the water was okay, etc. The word “pagan” actually meant country-dweller or person who lived in the rustic/rural areas of the country. At a time when the Abrahamic religions were trying to establish superiority, they used the word “pagan” in a negative, derogatory term for polytheists in order to pretend that this religious form of worship is not as important as the newer, money mongering and warring Abrahamic religions of the time.
Regardless of the attempts of the Abrahamic religions to denigrate the simple and nature based lifestyle of the “pagan” people who respected the environment and valued Nature for giving us sustenance, pagan religions thrived through the millenniums. It even withstood and survived the horrific attempts of the Catholic religion during the dark ages, which attempted to kill all who followed pagan religions.
Now, pagan religions are finally being accepted by the popular mainstream as they realize the greed and arrogance of the Judeo-Christian religions which assume that there is the only way to live. Fortunately, the masses who were once part of the flock of older powerful and rich religions (they collect money in the name of God!) now realize their ignorance and move on to pagan religions like Wicca which teaches them what true spirituality is really about.
As we can see, spirituality has come full circle. In the beginning, people instinctively knew that Mother Nature was the most important phenomenon in this world. Now, after a lot of studies and speculation, most people believe that all living things have similar lives, energy and intelligence. Cutting down trees for timber, polluting a river just because there is no other way to dispose of poisonous chemicals or eating animals because the Abrahamic religions assume that animals are not worthy of heaven are causing our Earth to be destroyed day by day. Maybe, as we abuse the animals and they go extinct, humans will realize that all of us are in this together.
After a millennium of ignorance and bloodshed in the name of religion, many people are not flocking to the pagan religions which offer them peace, freedom and hope without the drawbacks of tithing, proselytizing and arrogance. It is time to let go of artificial religions and allow natural ways of life to enrich us. Regardless of gender, color, race, orientation, nationality or religion, the world will be wiser and gentler in the future.