Do You Ever Meet Some People Into The Occult And Genuinely Believe They Are Insane? Options

I meet some "new agers" and magi of sorts every once in a while...

Sometimes they are thoughtful people....

But I do meet people I believe to be...troubled. Is it really just me? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused012.gif)

Not at all. At times I help out in my local occult shop when the owner has other things that need attending to. You meet some absolutely A-grade whackos that come in spouting all kinds of nonsense, not just in terms of being ill-informed, but clearly mental to boot. Interestingly though, I must say that in all fairness the really serious practitioners tend to be more sober. It is those who have occult and new age subjects as a fringe interest who tend to be bonkers as well.

But this is true of life in general. Go to the gym. Wackos there. Go to a bar. Whackos there. And Whacko is relative anyway. Certified geniuses are almost always whacko. Look at Mozart. Utter genius. Nearly insane. My hero.

I use the term Whacko jokingly, by the way. Insanity is relative. I'm anti dogma, and by virtue of that I can't judge behaviors in other contexts. It's societal norms that place labels on people (and dogmatic beliefs). So, if someone seems a little odd, they're not necessarily insane, they're probably very creative. Creativity = Magick (my ultimate definition... the creative will, my slight modification on Crowley). Crowley was viewed as nuts by some, brilliant by others, antisocial by most, but he's my hero anyway.

Jesus was almost certain viewed as insane by the dogmatic of his day. Same with Galileo, Buddha... all visionaries, all probably thought of as dangerous quacks. All brilliant.

So, I HOPE magick draws the visionaries, because it's the ultimate expression of creativity, invention, science, and MIND.

And, then, there probably are some emotionally distraut people in Occult shops. But I see them everywhere. They're not particular to the occult at all. If magick can bring them a grounding to their life, I think that can be a good thing.

every time i look in the mirror!

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Not only have I meet some who I think are nuts but Im more then sure that I am at the very least more insain then the adverage person who is called nuts. But as Im sure you read Mesu's post Im also a genuis.

Well I don't know enough occultist to really say one way or the other. I'm sure there are many many locos out there. I know over the past few years where I've been on these online forums I've deffinately found my share of crazies.

yeah i've met some "crazies" too, but i always felt that it was my own energies projecting out to those people, you know, like attracts like kinda deal. and even though intuitively i knew what they were about i still had talked to them to hopefully glean some info from thier experience. i have learned to now just stay away from ppl like that, they ususally don't know much and if they do they are dangerous, acting only on impusive desires and emotion.

...as a fringe interest who tend to be bonkers as well.

This is true of any given religion. It is the fringe believers who turn out to be the extremists. Many mistake the religions or occult practices as dynamics of paradigm rather than paths to find your own; it is in this that this said "many" tend to act out of desperation of tribalistic tendencies, believing themselves and their beliefs to be in a state of anomic distress.

Translation: Fringe-People think "their way" is "the way things are" rather than "the way to find out how things are." Because of this, people fight over petty differences.

Ok, in all honesty, the only thing about occult stores I dislike is the feel of the place. It always has a feel to it, sometimes pleasant to me but not to others whose company I enjoy, sometimes a feeling I do not enjoy.

But the Wackos I almost always enjoy, unless I have no way away from them, and they attached themselves to me. But if I have time to burn…oh baby is it entertaining. You can pretend to be totally ignorant and ask silly questions and appear impressed, or you can ask real simple questions that are a fundamental challenge to what they are spouting and watch literally how their mind derails jumps subjects and then comes right back where they left off as if nothing happened.

But I used to work graveyard shift in a gas station in San Francisco during the 90s, nowhere else on earth will you find such an eclectic bunch of wackos in such a small area of land. And I had a blast, in some ways (entertainment value/reading time it provided) it is the best job I ever did have.