To Be Silent

Occultism has never really been in the public eye. However, in this day and age we have the luxury of not being terribly persecuted for an interest in the paranormal or the occult even if it should be made public. We will most likely not be burned at the stake or banished from the community. Even with this relative security there are still reasons why the occult remains a hidden thing.

One reason to keep occult operations a secret is to ensure that they are effective. Letting everyone who will listen know about your recent projects introduces new variables that could cause failure. These people might begin thinking about your occult experiment, they may doubt you or your abilities, or they may even doubt the possibility or existence of anything occult or paranormal. This will not work in your favor as they are essentially devoting attention and intention to your failure, much as you devoted the same to the success of your goal. At best you will still succeed, but this added influence is unnecessary and could cause an operation to be less than effective. I see no reason to risk it.

Another reason to keep your occult interests secret might be the lingering stigma of looking into the "dark arts." Most people will either think you're working with the Devil and going against God or that you're indulging in superstition or dangerous cult activities. This could hurt your social standing and as any outcast will tell you, social standing can be very important depending on what you want to do in your life. To avoid social stigma it may be for the best to keep occult interests a secret from those that don't need to know. Those that do need to know is something you will have to decide for yourself based on your circumstances.

It's important to note that the secrecy surrounding occult pursuits is a big reason why they have to be kept secret from people that think in the above ways in the first place. If these pursuits were not generally hidden then more people would know and understand them and there would potentially be less of a stigma around them. However, not everyone is comfortable with occult teachings and practices and, as I mentioned earlier, telling people about what you're doing can work against you. Esoteric teachings are esoteric because most people are not willing to accept them and are not ready to learn them.

As unfortunate as it may be that not everyone can accept and take advantage of occult knowledge, the relative secrecy around occult knowledge is necessary. Another advantage of living in this day and age is that those ready to seek out the occult can easily find what they're looking for at their local bookstore or on the Internet. I think this shows that the part of the Hermetic Quaternary the title references (To Be Silent) is useful and also not a great barrier to knowledge or understanding for those genuinely seeking it.