By Meredith Starr
OCCULTISM is the methodical study of the forces, potential or revealed, in man the microcosm, and in Nature the macrocosm. The method employed in investigating occult phenomena is the method of science; the aim occult science has in view, is the aim of religion.
But before man can attempt to control Nature by occult means, he must first realize that he is perfect microcosm himself – that is, that in his organic, mental and spiritual constitution he mirrors and reflects all the elements and processes which inhere in Nature. That is, he must attain to the Vision of the Universal Self in man, thus becoming conscious of the tremendous fact that he is the Son of the All-Father. That Impersonal being to whom the Hindus have given the comprehensive name of Mother-Father, and whom the Rosicrucians obscurely designate by the Rose of Ruby and the Cross of Gold.
As the initiate Jesus said: “No man cometh unto the father except by the son.” The identification with the absolute Being only takes place after the aspirant has attained to union with the Angel, Adonai, the Hebrew term for that misused and misunderstood word, the Higher Self.
There are two kinds of occultists. There are those who use occult powers for their own personal, and hence selfish ends, and there are also those who use these powers to uplift and ennoble their fellow creatures.
The first school employs practices to which the name Black Magic has been given. A black Magician is simply a deluded person who tries to exalt himself at the expense of those whom he causes to suffer and who uses occult forces to gain this end. There are, even at the present time, various organizations in the world that cultivate personality to the detriment of morality.