[Opinion] Psychological vs. Spirit Model of Occult Belief

[AlfrunGrima]

Once a person has had strong spirit contact, its really hard to fully believe in the psychological model.

Indeed! ... If I read the psychological explanations however, they are good as well. But in daily practice I rely the more on spirit contact and on the idea that there are separate timelines and that the universe is quite fractal.

 

[Morell]

Psychological model: you believe that magick works by unlocking hidden parts of your (sub)consciousness. For instance, in the Goetia, you believe that all the demons are just metaphors for hidden parts of your own mind/psyche that the old authors were simply incapable of comprehending, but now with advancements in modern psychology, we've come to understand that they are actually within ourselves, and things like rituals, seals, evocation etc are just methods of unlocking those parts of your mind, and the results of your magick are caused by those parts of your own mind being unlocked and put to work to achieve your goals. This is popular with mostly modern occultists, even Crowley etc. You believe the power is within you.

Spirit model: popular with folk, shamanistic, and mixed tradition occult practices such as ATRs. You believe that magick comes from spirits, and the practitioner is nothing but an ambassador to the spirits, whose job it is to convince and appease the spirits so that they do the work you/the community requires. You believe the power is in the spirits.

Which one do you identify with, and if you identify as both depending on the practices, which practices do you ascribe to each model?

Both are true.

Person has their own energetic abilities, spirits exist and have their own energetic abilities. Each has advantages and disadvantages. the best is to admit both. When you start magic, you start with your own abilities, some remain with them, some start contacting spirits and take advantage of cooperating with them.