The Surprising Truth Behind a Feared Word

The word: Occult.

Did you know?

The word occultus is Latin, and it simply meant something that is concealed or hidden.

From something behind a door, to an X-ray that missed an occult fracture. From a medical test that checks for occult blood too little to see, to occult magnetism that can't be explained. And from an occult infection with no obvious symptoms, to unseen forces.

But, one by one, every definition was ruled out, except for one: unseen forces. Not just any unseen forces. Demonic ones.

If you were raised like me, evil was what the word meant in the house where I grew up. There, occult meant witchcraft and demons, and it was enough to give me nightmares as a little girl. I would not say the word out loud after dark. Hidden came to be forbidden. Which raises the questions:

Who?

Religion played a significant part in twisting the definition. By the twentieth century, Christian religions explicitly isolated the word occult with demonic and Satanic activity.

What?

Practices that religion says could open a person to raised consciousness. They call it demonic influence, and it's not just witchcraft. They include: Yoga, hypnosis, martial arts, activities involving relaxation, alternative healing, entertainment, and altered states of meditation.

Where?

It began in Christian communities in Europe and spread with missionaries and churches to North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

How?

Through sermons, religious instruction, books, and warnings.

Why?

Power, influence, and obedience. When religious authorities decide what comes from God and what comes from the devil, they gain the power to define belief and behavior. In other words, obedience, conformity, and discouragement of independent spiritual exploration.

The most powerful mechanism is fear.

Not every religious leader intends that outcome, but when an institution controls what people are taught to fear, it will influence whom they trust and obey.

As an author of historical fiction, I think about hidden truths a lot. After all, my novels are filled with secrets, forgotten letters, hidden rooms, family histories, and things that would rather be kept buried.

When I was a girl, a few friends and I held a séance by candlelight. I was terrified, but I wanted to find out whether the occult was true. Nothing happened. Not a whisper, not even a respectable ghostly knock. The only thing that showed up that night was fear, and we had brought that with us.

It's not séances or communicating with spirits that fascinates me. It's the mysteries people leave behind and the truths they don't want discovered.

To me, the real intrigue lies in what has been deliberately kept hidden.

So when I hear the word occult now, I don't hear witchcraft. I hear the Latin word for hidden.

I hear the truth behind a feared word.

Until next time,

Harper Woods Author of the Privileged Secrets trilogy harperwoodsauthor.com