Where is the Line Drawn between Occult Beliefs and a Cult?
When reading about many of the secret societies that practiced witchcraft and held other occult beliefs throughout history, I began to wonder where the differences lie between these societies and cults. My curiosity began when reading about Guido Von List and Wotanism. Guido Von List was a charismatic leader who created his own set of teachings about reinstating the "pre-Christian German values" and he was able to convince others to follow him. Charisma is a common trait in many cult leaders, allowing them to control their followers. Jim Jones is considered one of the most charismatic cult leaders because of his public speaking ability, sexual appeal, and total participation in every group aspect of his cult (Dittman, 2003). Jim Jones' followers were so devoted to him, that eventually many of them followed him to the end, resulting in the Jonestown Massacre.
Are these secret societies only a tragedy from being defined as cults in the court of public opinion? They also had a charismatic leader to control their followers' beliefs. I continued my deep dive by consulting the TCU Library and Google Scholar to find resources about the differences between occult societies and cults. It was interesting to me how few articles I could find published since the 2000s. One of the articles I did find talked about how humans are predisposed to seeking out answers and finding patterns even when they may not be there (Singer & Benassi, 1981, p. 50). We frequently discuss in class how occult beliefs typically stem from humans attempting to find meaning in our world. Both occult and cult leaders use their somehow accumulated "knowledge" to convince others that they know the meaning of life and that they alone have the explanation for the universe. Dion Fortune claimed she had come into contact with reincarnated enlightened beings called the Ascended Masters that guided her to higher spirituality which was the basis for her founding the Society of Inner Light (A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and The Occult, p. 256).
Overall, the section covering the 1900s to today in A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and The Occult sparked me to look into the defined differences between occult beliefs and cults. I was shocked at how blurry those lines were and that they shared so many characteristics with each other. My research led me to the line between dangerous and "crazy" which is based largely on the public reception of the group and how they view the leader. Throughout the rest of the semester, I hope to look closer into these differences.
Citations:
Dittmann, M. (2003, November 1). Lessons from Jonestown. Monitor on Psychology, 34(10). https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/jonestown
Thanks so much for diving into the differences between cults and secret societies. I think you are on to something in thinking that one difference might tragic outcomes of cults. I started to think that one difference might be cults tend to be religious, but that falls apart when considering that the secret societies were either quasi-religious or completely religious in their own ways. then I thought , well, maybe its the secrecy of the secret societies, but cults tend to keep to themselves, and we really only learn about them when there is a tragic outcome. This would be a great discussion for class. Thanks for your research.
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