I've been big in occult reading for a long time, and let me tell you, this one came to my attention way later, but wow. It is a good semi non biased expose on the history of the occult, and a few interesting theories. I would have to say, it is maybe the second or third best occult book that I have read.

I thought it would be helpful, before trying to get a better understanding of this book, to gain a clear understanding of the title. At www.dictionary.com, occult is described as:

1. Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena.
2. Beyond the realm of human comprehension; inscrutable.
3. Available only to the initiate; secret: occult lore.
4. Hidden from view; concealed.

From this description I get a better understanding of what this book will be about... topics that are beyond the realm of our current comprehension.

For those interested in astrology, Wilson's birth chart shows his Ascendant at 29 Degrees of Gemini and an Aquarian Midheaven at 22 Degrees. His Sun is at 3 Degrees of the caring and intuitive Cancer conjunct his Ascendant. The author's Scorpio Moon in the 5th House gives a depth to his ability to understanding occult matters at a deep level... and gaining enjoyment through doing this.

At first I found it difficult to `get into' The Occult.

Having said this though, working through the first part of the title was very worthwhile - I am glad I invested my mental energy and time reading this book. I usually take a couple of weeks to ready a book but this one needed months to read, understand and digest - every moment was worthwhile. Some of the topics covered include:

Magic, poetry, witchcraft, telepathy, precognition, second sight, water divining, development of self-consciousness in man, unconscious exercise of the `evil eye', mysticism, Egyptian Book of the Dead, I Ching, Jung, Taoism & Zen, Seances, black magic, travelling clairvoyance, Kabbalah, racial memory, symbols, tarot, evolution and tantric yoga.

Some of the historical figures that were covered include:

Peter Hurkos, Jim Corbett, Bertrand Russell, Fiona Whittaker, John Cowper Powys, Louis Singer, A.L. Rowse, Irene Muza, Yeats, Ramon Medina, T.S. Elliot, Keilner, Aleister Crowley, Ivar Lissner, Levi-Strauss, Hoerbiger, Denis Saurat, Plato and Edgar Cayce.

While I was digesting the ideas in this book I came across a couple of statements that caught my attention. These are:

on Swedenborg `He rejects the notion that God is neither vindictive nor petty-minded, and that since he is God, he doesn't need atonement.'
p. 364

Most people are excessively personal - they brood too much on their ills and their worries and resentments. When this happens, the vision becomes narrow. I have elsewhere suggested a convenient term for this narrowness: mono-consciousness.
p. 740 - 741

We have a deeply ingrained habit of passivity which is more dangerous than cigarette smoking or drugs. ...Because it produces an inner condition of boredom and stagnation that makes us long for crisis, for excitement, and which explains, for example, the steady rise in the crime rate...
p. 749

This chemical serotonin seems to have a great deal to so with evolution of species. The primates, men and apes, have more serotonin than any other species, far more.
p. 752 - 755

So far... all that we really know is that minute quantities of serotonin affect mental states, alter perceptions, and that new dimensions of conventional reality accompany changes in the level of serotonin in the brain, ...serotonin is crucial to rational thought.
p. 752 - 755

The comment about serotonin is of particular interest considering that depression is such a widespread disease (in the Western World). Particularly since it is connected to people not having enough serotonin available in their bodies to keep them `up' - based on my understanding of this problem.

The Occult is a title that will appeal to anyone who is interested in the mysteries of life - any type of unexplained phenomena such as ghosts, UFOs, psychics, magic, consciousness, psychological theories, and anything else that brings better understanding to our lives.

I would recommend this title to anyone who has even the most remote spark of curiosity about the world around them.

I got more out of The Occult than I even imagined I would, on many different levels.


References

Birth Data: www.khaldea.com and www.astrotheme.fr.
26 June, 1931
Leicester, England
4.30am

www.dictionary.com