The Occult: A History

This wonderful book is a voluminous history of the occult using the principle figures in the western occult tradition such as Crowley Paracelsus and Pythagoras among others. Wilson includes excellent background material and puts forth a compelling theory of why the occult More...is the science of the future when people will one day realise their true power and importance in the world. Mr. Wilson is annoyed at the current world-view pushed by existentialists and scientists that humans are no more than insigninficant accidents in an indiffernt cosmos. He postulates an emerging human ability which he refers to as Faculty X a faculty of clarity direction and purpose which goes beyond the ordinary senses and proposes how this may be the key to future human evolution. Much emphasis is placed on the wills role in human development throughout humanitys existence and its continued importance in the future as well as the importance of contemporary humanitys researc! h into the subconscious mind. Wilson disregards the hyper-skepticism of modern science and even delineates how the philosophy behind such a view is now outdated and how the resulting world view has become narrow and cynical. Nevertheless Wilson is very objective and gives a very critical analysis of all occult phenomena -- powers which are the key for humanitys future growth.