Occultism and Spiritualism

to occultism will be recognized by the following characteristics:

1. It admits, between the self and the non-self, between the Spirit and the body, the existence of one or several intermediate principles.

In general, the Trinity dominates all secondary divisions, and we see taught the existence of three persons in God (or three divine modalities), of three principles in man, and of three planes in nature, synthesized into a total unity encompassing them all—hence the name of Tri-Unity given to this doctrine.

2. It employs in its reasoning a method which, in itself, characterizes occultism: analogy. This method determines the existence of analogical correspondences which play a role in this philosophy.

3. It gives, in all its studies, a particular importance to the invisible plane or world and to its relations with the physical or visible plane. From this arises an absolute tolerance for all religious forms.

The intermediate or intermediates between the Spirit and the body, the analogical method, and the study of the invisible world are the characteristics of any writer who has studied within occultist centers. Some stop at one of these studies; these are the disciples adapting occultism to a specific science, art, or era. Others display without restriction the three modes of studying the occult; these are the masters and the classics. Each philosopher remains free to adapt these general teachings to personal details. Hence the originality and freedom left to each writer; hence the various schools and the breadth of the field to be cleared by newcomers.

Let us now approach in some detail the study of each of the characteristics of occultism.

The transition from being to object, from the self to the non-self