Why is Witchcraft & the Occult So Secretive?

Why is Witchcraft & the Occult So Secretive? 

 

As a practitioner of magick and the occult, and one who is recognized as a voice among the pagan community, I often get asked:

- Why is witchcraft so secretive?

- Why do people in covens or esoteric orders keep so many secrets?

- If they're not conducting conspiracies then why do they keep secrets?

- If you're not doing anything illegal than why keep secrets?

There are always various forms of this type of question. A lot of times those who are from the outside world of the occult and witchcraft have no understanding and will most times start to make up stories and let the imagination run wild. This is where we get myths about baby sacrifice, sex orgies and even how the Freemasons are trying to take over the world. There is as many made up stories about witches as there are horror movies that indulge in these myths.

The word “occult” its self means “secret,” or “mystery” as does the words “rune” and “esoteric”. So by nature when you use these words to describe your practice you are indeed saying you are practicing the secrets or mysteries

This subject is one of the top things I'm always asked about magick. It is not a simple cut and dry answer either. However, there are 5 main reasons that we will cover. Hopefully, this help shed some light on this tradition and we can put the stereotypes behind us

 

1. An Oath to the Spirit World & the Gods

At some point in the early stages of most practitioners of magick you go through an initiation. Part of this initiation is declaring an oath, either in a group or as a self initiation. This oath usually indicates to keep the work of magick secret and sacred. It is only meant for those who practice it and more importantly for those who have went through the training to understand it on both an objective and subjective level. Pagan gods, lower level spirits, elemental spirits and even angelic or biblical entities take this oath very seriously. Most entities of this nature will only work with you if you have taken the oath and may refuse to work with you if you break it. The biggest part of working magick is developing a relationship with these spirits and as with any relationship it is built on trust. In most cases, we are only aloud to speak of certain things with others who are also on the path. So by breaking this oath we could highly damage our spiritual work. However, by keeping this oath it allows us to grow further.

2. What Happens in the Circle Stays in the Circle

Have you ever wanted to reveal a secret to someone so deep that you would be scared of it ever getting out? Well, when you work magick with other people sometimes it is good to know that no matter what, you know for a fact that it will not leave the other persons lips. Being in a sacred space/ magick circle can be very intimate and an emotional experience. There are times that you will be at your most vulnerable or even times you may have to see yourself for who you really are and you may not like what you see. When you are in circle you are your true self without that everyday image or mask you put on to deal with the outside world. There are times when people may break down and cry or even be filled with so much joy they dance naked around the circle. Some people may not want others to know they are witches because it could ruin their lives or careers. Some may even have a chance to reveal a secret about themselves that they couldn't tell anyone else. Just so we're clear, it's not that anyone is doing anything illegal it's just somethings others wouldn't understand.

So it is good to be surrounded by others that have taken the same oaths as you and you have no doubt that you can confide in them. I will mention that public circles and public displays of ritual are a bit different and usually don't involve this type of secrecy.

 

3. Appreciation of the Knowledge

Many secrets of the occult have been revealed and written about. However, there's a big difference between 'knowing' it and 'experiencing' it. For example, I could tell you that we are all one and interconnected to the universe, which on some level most of us already know this but imagine the difference when you actually experience this. Now try to imagine not ever knowing this and coming to a point where you actually experience and learn it on your own. There are many secrets and experiences in the occult/ magick world that can not be explained within the human range of language of understanding. Many experiences like this would do them injustice to try to explain them and even would spoil someone else's experience by giving them a preconceived notion of your own point of view.

Another metaphor to understand better: If you take 2 people, both the same age, both of them have 10 million dollars. Person 1 won his money in the lottery. Person 2 worked for years to earn his money. Which person would be more appreciative of their wealth and would continue to grow that wealth? Person 2 of course. It's the same ideal with occult knowledge. If you work and practice for years and gain much wisdom and insight, it holds much more value than if I just told it to you. Think of it in the same way as when the Star Wars or Avengers movies came out and most “respectable” people didn't speak of spoilers or spoke of how good it was, so not to ruin the experience for other people who hadn't seen it. Magick after all, is about the experience and not about any written doctrine.

4. Chemistry

Remember that everything is some type of energy. When we do rituals or cast spells, we are manipulated energy into a desired outcome. These energies can range from some sort of intelligent organic energy to projecting our own energy. We usually do not speak of the details of our rituals because any outside influence can greatly change our desired effect.

The ideal of chemistry being that you are combining elements to make a new element. When we are working magick we are focusing our energy on a desired outcome. If we tell someone else what we are doing, that other person can mix their energy into it as well. This can be done unintentionally just by pondering on it to much. Which can greatly effect the outcome of our work or even cancel it out. Usually we have barriers or banishing rituals to stop this sort of thing but it can still have an effect if you're not careful, especially for the novice student.

Ceremonial Magick can be very particular and strict on this ideal. Everything needs to be pure and focused. Somethings things in this tradition may require a great deal concentration and anything foreign in the sacred space could be counter-productive or even dangerous 

 

5. Tradition:

The tradition of keeping magickal practices and philosophies secret and undisclosed can be traced back all the way to Greco-Roman and Egypt antiquity perhaps even further. Mostly centered in Alexandria, there were what was referred to as the “Mysteries Schools.” These schools taught a number of things like, philosophies, spirituality, mathematics, theology, and the Hellenistic Religions. One had to be initiated into them in order to learn from them. The knowledge was considered sacred, there for one had to go through a series of preparatory work in order to gain initiation. Later on during the rise of Christianity around the 2^nd century, the Christians would deem these schools “Demonic Imitation of the true faith” while starting to persecute anyone caught attending, even though the Catholic church would themselves start to adapt these practices them selves. This would cause these schools to become even more secretive through the ages to come.

Some of the modern manifestations of the Mystery Schools still hold this tradition. Some of these were developed during the Victorian era, some within the last Century and there are a select private few that have survived through the ages from Ancient Alexandria itself. Their tradition of remaining secret is what helps them survive but in the current age they are becoming more known to the public but still keeping their practices secretive for the same reason as listed throughout this article.

As the Catholic church began dominate the world those who would practice some forms of magick would have to become even more cautious for fear of persecution, especially during the time of mass hysteria of the inquisition throughout Europe and then the witch trials of Salem. In more modern times this tradition continued even when witchcraft technically became “legal” to practice in 1985 in the supreme court case Dettmer v. Landon, 799 F.2d 929. A lot of the older witches will still remain secretive about there practice due to this tradition and it has become a habit. Even in this modern era, you still have people who ridicule us and want to persecute us for our practice. There are even cases of parents being so harsh, sometimes violent to their children for even hinting at an interest in it. They have it embedded in their psyche to remain private even as the grow into adults.

In certain parts of the world today such as Syria and Saudia Arabia where sharia law is in effect, any form of the practice of witchcraft can have you beheaded or imprisoned for life. This can include something as simple as being in possession of a single tarot card or a book on the subject. In certain parts of Africa they embark on witch hunts and executions. They still hold the same mentality of witches as they did during the inquisition. All one has to do is accuse one of being a witch and you're guilty. Although, currently human-rights activists and the UN have stepped in to try and stop this brutality in Africa because it has been involving the execution of young children.

In conclusion, there can be several reasons why those who practice magick may want to remain secretive. This can go beyond what has been listed here. Ultimately, it is really nobodies business why they may want to remain secretive but the indivdual or persons practicing it. As long as there is no illegal activity going on, nobody is being hurt or being made to do things against their will, people can do what they want in private as much as they want. And I can assure you that those that practice witchcraft, 99.9% of the time they are not doing anything that require the presence of the law or authorities. This is because there are no magickal acts that require you to do anything against your will or that is illegal.