An essay on occultism in film from my third year of my degree, part of a Spiritualities, Sacred and the Screen module.
The portrayal of the Occult, in particular Satanism and Demonic Children;
focusing on the films The Exorcist, The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby and Little Nicky
The term ‘Occult’ refers
to many things, the word itself comes from the Latin word occultus which roughly translated means hidden or concealed.
Primarily, it is a term used to group together the paranormal or supernatural, (Dictionary) as well as covering
left-hand path religions and beliefs such as Satanism and Devil Worship. Many
religious groups ranging from Abrahamic religions (for example; Christianity,
Judaism, Islam) to India religions (for example; Hinduism, Sikhism) recognise
the Occult in one form or another (Jenkins, 2004). However, some religions, in particular
conservative Christians, view anything that is not Christian as being Satanic,
or of Satan, and therefore deem anything that is un-Christian as being part of
the Occult (Cult Awareness). Many of these
religions deem the Occult as acts or articles of paranormal or supernatural
activity which are not achieved by or through their idea of ‘God’, and are
therefore considered the work of an opposing entity of some form. However, ‘Occult’
can also refer to acts that require knowledge which is not generally widely
know or “talents which lie beyond the
five senses” (Religious Tolerance)
Occultism is the study of
the Occult and covers topics such as ‘Magick’, alchemy, spiritualism and
astrology amongst others, and also includes activities such as tarot cards, tea
leaf reading and Ouija boards (Cult Awareness). Many whom study the Occult, known as Occultists,
claim to follow non-traditional religions such as Gnosticism, Hermeticism,
Thelema and various forms of Satanism, such as LaVeyan Satanism and
Luciferianism. It is unclear when exactly Occultism appeared, yet some ideas
and beliefs systems can be traced back to at least the Middle Ages (Jenkins, 2004). However between the
15th and 17th centuries Occultism had a revival in
Western countries (Jenkins, 2004). Many 17th century
scientists, for example Sir Isaac Newton, were accused of using the Occult
within their research and experiments (Isaac Newton's Life). This revival was
stopped due to the Age Of Enlightenment, which saw more people accepting
reasoning from science and natural philosophy over religion (What Is The
Age Of Enlightenment?).
