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