Studies in Occultism; A Series of Reprints from the Writings of H. P. Blavatsky

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Studies in Occultism; A Series of Reprints from the Writings of H. P. Blavatsky

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Title: Studies in Occultism; A Series of Reprints from the Writings of H. P. Blavatsky No. 1: Practical Occultism--Occultism versus the Occult Arts--The Blessings of Publicity
Author: H. P. Blavatsky
Release Date: November 5, 2005 [EBook #17009]
Language: English
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STUDIES IN OCCULTISM
by
H.P. BLAVATSKY

STUDIES IN OCCULTISM
A Series of Reprints from the Writings
of
H.P. BLAVATSKY
NO. 1
PRACTICAL OCCULTISM
OCCULTISM VERSUS THE OCCULT ARTS
THE BLESSINGS OF PUBLICITY
POINT LOMA EDITION
The Aryan Theosophical Press Point Loma, California 1910

See Book List at the end of this volume for the other numbers of this Series and also for other Theosophical literature.

CONTENTS
PAGE
Practical Occultism 1 From Lucifer, April, 1888
Occultism versus the Occult Arts 17 From Lucifer, May, 1888
The Blessings of Publicity 42 From Lucifer, August, 1891

Occultism is not magic, though magic is one of its tools.
Occultism is not the acquirement of powers, whether psychic or intellectual, though both are its servants. Neither is occultism the pursuit of happiness, as men understand the word; for the first step is sacrifice, the second, renunciation.
Occultism is the science of life, the art of living.--Lucifer, Vol. I, p. 7.

PRACTICAL OCCULTISM
IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS
As some of the letters in the Correspondence of this month show, there are many people who are looking for practical instruction in Occultism. It becomes necessary, therefore, to state once for all:--
(_a_) The essential difference between theoretical and practical Occultism; or what is generally known as Theosophy on the one hand, and Occult science on the other, and:--
(_b_) The nature of the difficulties involved in the study of the latter.
It is easy to become a Theosophist. Any person of average intellectual capacities, and a leaning toward the metaphysical; of pure, unselfish life, who finds more joy in helping his neighbor than in receiving help himself; one who is ever ready to sacrifice his own pleasures for the sake of other people; and who loves Truth, Goodness, and Wisdom for their own sake, not for the benefit they may confer--is a Theosophist.
But it is quite another matter to put oneself upon the path which leads to the knowledge of what is good to do, as to the right discrimination of good from evil; a path which also leads a man to that power through which he can do the good he desires, often without even apparently lifting a finger.
Moreover, there is one important fact with which the student should be made acquainted. Namely, the enormous, almost limitless responsibility assumed by the teacher for the sake of the pupil. From the Gurus of the East who teach openly or secretly, down to the few Kabalists in Western lands who undertake to teach the rudiments of the Sacred Science to their disciples--those western Hierophants being often themselves ignorant of the danger they incur--one and all of these "Teachers" are subject to the same inviolable law. From the moment they begin really to teach, from the instant they confer any power--whether psychic, mental, or physical--on their pupils, they take upon themselves all the sins of that pupil, in connexion with the Occult Sciences, whether of omission or commission, until the moment when initiation makes the pupil a Master and responsible in his turn. There is a weird and mystic religious law, greatly reverenced and acted upon in the Greek, half-forgotten in the Roman Catholic, and absolutely extinct in the Protestant Church. It dates from the earliest days of Christianity and has its basis in the law just stated, of which it was a symbol and an expression. This is the dogma of the absolute sacredness of the relation between the god-parents who stand sponsors for a child.[A]
These tacitly take upon themselves all the sins of the newly baptized child--(anointed, as at the initiation, a mystery truly!)--until the day when the child becomes a responsible unit, knowing good and evil. Thus it is clear why the "Teachers" are so reticent, and why "Chelas" are required to serve a seven years probation to prove their fitness, and develop the qualities necessary to the security of both Master and pupil.
Occultism is not magic. It is comparatively easy to learn the trick of spells and the methods of using the subtler, but still material, forces of physical nature; the powers of the animal