THE MODERN OCCULT. 451 



well while bearing in mind the particular form of occultism or mysti- 

 cism, or it may be merely of superstition and error, which one or another 

 of the occult movements exhibits, to emphasize the importance of the 

 intellectual motive or temperament that inclines to the occult. It is 

 important to inquire not only what is believed, but what is the nature of 

 the evidence that induces belief, what attracts and then makes con- 

 verts, what the influences by which the belief spreads. Two classes of 

 motives or interests are conspicuous; the one prominently intellectual or 

 theoretical, the other moderately or grossly practical. Movements in 

 which the former interest dominates contain elements that command 

 respect even when they do not engage sympathy; they frequently appeal, 

 though it may be unwisely, to worthy impulses and lofty aspirations. 

 Amongst the movements presenting prominent practical aspects are to 

 be found instances of the most irreverent and pernicious, as well as of 

 the most vulgar, ignorant and fraudulent schemes which have been 

 devised to mislead the human mind. Most occult movements, however, 

 are of a mixed character, and in their career the speculative and the 

 practical change in importance at different times or in different lands, 

 or at the hands of variously minded leaders. Few escape and some 

 seem especially designed for the partisanship of that class who are seek- 

 ing whom they may devour; and stimulated by the greed for gain or the 

 love for notoriety, set their snares for the eternally gullible. For- 

 tunately, it must be added that the interest in the occult is under the 

 sway of the law of fashion, and many a mental garment which is donned 

 in spite of the protest of reason and propriety, is quietly laid aside when 

 the dictum of the hour pronounces it unbecoming. 



Historically considered, the occult points back to distant epochs and 

 foreign civilizations; to ages when the facts of nature were but weakly 

 grasped, when belief was largely dominated by the authority of tradi- 

 tion, when even the ablest minds fostered or assented to superstition, 

 when the social conditions of life were inimical to independent thought 

 and the mass of men were cut off from intellectual growth of even the 

 most elementary kind. Pseudo-science flourished in the absence of true 

 knowledge, and imaginative insight and unfounded belief held the office 

 intended for inductive reason. Ignorance inevitably led to error and 

 false views to false practices. In a sympathetic environment of this 

 kind the occultist flourished and displayed the impressive insignia of 

 exclusive wisdom. His attitude was that of one seeking to solve an 

 enigma, to find the key to a strange puzzle; his search was for some 

 mystic charm, some talismanic formula, some magical procedure, which 

 shall dispel the mist that hides the face of nature and expose her secrets 

 to his ecstatic gaze. By one all-encompassing, masterful effort the cor- 

 rect solution was to be discovered or revealed; and at once and for all, 

 ignorance would give place to true knowledge, science and nature be- 



