occult from public

[voidweaver]

How many of you find it difficult to hide your passion for the occult from the general public? For me it is a very important part of my life but people always think there is something up with me because I don't tell them much because I devote a lot of time to study and practice. I would love to wear more occult like jewelry but I wouldn't want to draw any attention to myself. It is a personal thing to me but is also part of my very being.

[isis.auset5]

I can understand what you mean. Apart from the tattoo I'm planning on doing, there is nothing that would make people create a connection between me and the occult. Of course, sometimes I have to bite my tongue and inside I feel as though I'm repressing a part of myself, and maybe it will become even harder in the future, but it's what happens.

[Asurendra]

To a large degree I think this depends where you live. I live in the city of San Francisco and if you walked down the street in the regalia of the Black Mass with horns on your head no one would bat an eye. But, where I grew-up in Cincinnati if you wore something obviously 'occult' then you might have fundamentalist Christians 'witnessing' to you. If you are in Saudi Arabia you might be arrested.

I have done Invocations in Golden Gate Park at 2 AM (or thereabout depending on the Planetary Hours) and while the energy was great you would be amazed at how many people will still just show-up in places where you don't expect them! So, when practicing the occult in public it can sometimes be problematic.

[voidweaver]

On the other hand it gives me a sense of this part of my life being mine and that's kinda cool. The thing is it may be more difficult to hide it from others the deeper i go into it and people are bound to notice the changes on account of the training. Practicing the occult is after all a self transformative process. For anybody that would like to know, my flavour of magic is the hermetic kind but I also have a big interest in chaos magic.

[Rin]

Yeah it can suck at times, having something be such a huge part of your life, but to be unable to share it with the people around you because they don't understand it. The best middle ground I've found, being in a situation where actually discussing magic or spirituality with friends/family is out of the question, is to translate it into more understandable or acceptable interests. If someone asks what I'm reading, I say it's philosophy or metaphysics instead of occult or magical, if they ask what I'm doing with my time I say I've taken up meditation (which is true) and cite the proven health benefits, instead of referring to ritual work or spiritual/magical practice. And I avoid launching into detailed explanations of my beliefs/experiences/worldviews when it comes to the subject of spirituality. It's a half truth at best, but some things it's impossible to talk about in a way that will make people understand, so you have to leave well enough alone.

[eris]

In my experience, it's pretty futile to try to explain something to someone that will never understand. So, whether you want to be open about things or not, it's probably in your best interest to only talk to people who will accept it. That is unless you like to argue

[Asurendra]

I see Eris really is trying to live up to his name putting that apple out 'for the most beautiful' as his avatar. Wasn't it bad enough the last time someone did that?

[eris]

or good enough last time, if you want to look at it that way.

The symbol is the sacred chao, and represents the balance between nothingness and somethingness,

[Asurendra]

In Greek mythology Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, took a golden apple and wrote upon it 'To the most beautiful' and three goddesses showed-up to claim the apple (he must have been young since any heterosexual male knows you don't provoke the goddess). Each tried to bribe him and he chose Aphrodite because she said she would get him the most attractive female on earth; Helen of Sparta. The other two swore revenge and the strife led to the Trojan War. That is what the golden apple with Kallisti on it in Greek means. Why this should be juxtaposed with a polygon I don't know: perhaps it is order and chaos but that seems forced.

[eris]

Yes, I know the story.It's not my symbol.

It's the most common Discordian symbol. The apple representing eris and and physical existence. The hollow polygon representing aneris, imagination, nothingness and potentiality. It basically represents the balance between what is and what isn't, what can be and what never will. It also represents everything not worth knowing.

[ne1]

Yes, I know the story.It's not my symbol.

It's the most common Discordian symbol. The apple representing eris and and physical existence. The hollow polygon representing aneris, imagination, nothingness and potentiality. It basically represents the balance between what is and what isn't, what can be and what never will. It also represents everything not worth knowing.

Nifty. I didn't know that. Thanks!

[Asurendra]

OK, thanks for clarifying that.

[eris]

This may be of interest to you. It explains the symbol, and it also explains anything anyone may possibly want to know about anything [gz]

http://principiadiscordia.com/book/9.php