Occult
From Latin for hidden: the study and practice of knowledge held to be concealed from ordinary view.
Also: occultism, the hidden arts, occulta
Occult comes from Latin occultus, hidden. In the Renaissance it referred to hidden qualities in nature, such as the pull of a magnet. In the nineteenth century, French writer Éliphas Lévi helped establish occultisme for a family of subjects including astrology, alchemy, ceremonial magic and Kabbalah. Today it is used broadly, and in everyday speech often carries a note of the sinister that scholars say is unearned. Historians, such as Wouter Hanegraaff, prefer the term esotericism for the intellectual side. People inside these traditions use many words for what they do. This site treats occult as a heading, not a claim about danger or truth.