Popular Occulture: Exploring the Esoteric Elements of Pop Culture
This is the first, of what I hope will be many posts exploring the esoteric elements found within pop culture. There is no shortage, to be sure, but before we dive into anything too specifically, I wanted to first introduce the series and what brought me to it.
We’ve all heard the stories and allegations - Jay-Z and Beyoncé are card-carrying members of the Illuminati… Dungeons & Dragons was designed to initiate impressionable young boys into the horrors of the occult… Disney is the main branch of a government-sponsored mass mind-control program… But are these assertions fact or fiction? Well… it depends on who you ask. There is certainly no shortage of armchair experts on YouTube, Reddit, and other online outlets who swear up and down that all of the above is true, and that all these and more are part of an ongoing plot to poison our youths and destroy the moral foundation of society. But have any of these folks earnestly explored the subjects at hand, or are they speaking from a place of well-meaning ignorance? In my experience, the answer is usually the latter. How do I know? I used to be one of them! Oddly enough, that is how my own esoteric studies began.
In my late teens, I used to spend hours listening to people like Professor Griff, the ex-“Minister of Information” for the hip-hop group Public Enemy, wax poetic about the thirteen bloodlines of the Illuminati and their plot to control the masses by sinister occult means, and I believed them! That is, until I took their advice and looked into the matter myself. On Professor Griff’s suggestion, I went out and bought myself a number of books on occult symbolism, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and more. As I pored over these forbidden texts, however, I was surprised to find a fountainhead of divine wisdom where I’d expected to uncover an ominous Satanic plot. Though I was intrigued, I wasn’t yet ready to take my plunge into the Great Ocean of occult knowledge - but the seed had indeed been planted.
A decade-and-a-half later, I have basically dedicated my life to the study of occult philosophy and a myriad of other related subjects, and though I don’t claim to be an expert, I can say that I have established a firm grounding in the field. Among other things, this has enabled me to gaze beyond the veil of mystery surrounding the occult elements of pop culture, and with this series, I hope to shed some light on the subject for others as well. I must admit, however, that I am not regularly rubbing shoulders with the bluebloods at seedy masquerades in the Hollywood Hills or backwoods orgies at the Bohemian Grove, so I can’t 100% confirm or deny the existence of secret sects within the entertainment industry and the government. In all honesty, I still believe that there is a sinister side of occultism, but to my understanding, the motivation is not necessarily to corrupt the souls of the innocent; from what I can gather, it often simply comes down to financial gain.
In esoteric parlance, there are two separate threads of occultism - the right-hand path and the left-hand path. The right-hand path is one of selfless service to the whole; it involves the use of one’s innate gifts to assist in the upliftment and liberation of all beings, much like the bodhisattva of Buddhism. In this regard, think of a company like Disney, who uses the arts of storytelling, animation, and music to plant subtle suggestions in our subconscious that teach us important life-lessons to help us become kinder, more effective members of the human collective. The left-hand path, however, involves the manipulation of occult forces for self-serving purposes; in this thread of esotericism, the ends justify the means, and the end is oftentimes prosperity at the expense of others.* With that in mind, think of the manner in which modern news corporations manipulate the emotions of the masses with fear-mongering headlines to hook us in and gain billions of dollars in ad-revenue through our frantic clicking.
But fear not - both of these threads eventually converge into a middle path that ultimately serves the whole, despite any ill-intentions those who follow the latter may harbor. As history has shown, sometimes evil is necessary to bring about sweeping transformation for the good of all. The path of liberation is a long and winding road with many twists and turns that the human intellect fails to grasp while we are in the thick of both personal and collective suffering. This concept is best illustrated by an old occult maxim: “the average person mistakes the Holy Guardian Angel for the Devil.”** Put simply, this means that we often mistake challenging aspects of life, which are meant to help us grow into a fuller version of ourselves, for oppressive forces that are out to harm, and perhaps even destroy us - and as we can see from my opening statements, we project this idea onto popular culture as well. It is my intention to use this series to dispel this common misconception and to help others find the light hiding within the appearance of darkness.
Stay tuned for the next entry in the series, in which we will dive deeper into the Disney/MK-Ultra conspiracy, and explore the initiatory aspects of one of their most popular recent films.
*This is admittedly an overly-simplistic comparison of the right- and left-hand paths, so please don’t take the above as a definitive statement on either. By attributing the motive of “prosperity at others’ expense” to the LHP, I simply meant to illustrate that the “elites” are far more likely to exploit the populace for financial gain than steal their adrenochrome or anything like that. Please understand that I am not in any way suggesting that any individual LHP practitioner’s aims are quite so superficial. I am of the belief that I - nor anyone else - truly has the right to judge another’s personal path. As one of my favourite Golden Dawn lectures states: “Be not hasty to condemn another’s sin. How knowest thou that in their place thou couldst have resisted the temptation?”
**I have substituted the average person for the profane, as I feel the latter term is not only insulting, but it also goes against my core belief that all of existence is inherently holy.
Tim