Principal Sorcery | Witchcraft Ceremonial Magic Incantations and Wicca

Principal Sorcery | Witchcraft Ceremonial Magic Incantations and Wicca.

This channel by no way condones even discussing the evil side of man, but I feel it necessary to be aware of the reality of the world around us. For all of our well being...
-joegecko

The Victorians and the Occult: Entertainment, Magic and Ghosts

Introducing the 'Occult'

The 19th century was an age of exploration. A form of this exploration manifested itself through the concept of ‘the occult’. By definition, the term occult symbolizes ‘mystical, supernatural, or magical powers, practices, or phenomena.' (OED)(1)Traditional culture in society shifted towards the wonders of the world. Magic and illusion shows came off of the streets and entered the luxurious backdrop of the theatre to be enjoyed by society, particularly sparking interest in the educated, middle and upper classes and spiritualism became a mode of ghoulish entertainment (though this was a profanity in the bible). The occult also touched literature in the way that many famous writers such as Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte and Henry James pondered on the notion of the supernatural and ghosts in fiction as a riveting and deeply unsettling way of storytelling. Sociologist Max Weber referred to this as a process of disenchantment in the world: ‘Weber wanted to indicate the growing importance of rational science (instrumental rationality) in everyday life, and hence the corresponding disenchantment of the world and the erosion of religious powers’ (Weber, 26)(2). Ghost stories, transmissions and weird phenomena slowly became Victorian hegemony as the entertainment of the occult grew more popular.