Archive Report
Archive Report
Superstition in Technological society
’Occult Boom’ in Twentieth Century America
Despite the rationalism of society today, and perhaps partly because of it, belief in occult matters not only persists but is growing. Many theologians and social thinkers are worried about the new interest Americans show in astrology, mediums and seances, witches covens, Satanism and black masses. There is abundant evidence that millions of persons half-believe, are willing to believe or do indeed believe in mysterious forces that are dismissed by science and most Western religions as superstition.
The present “occult boom” seems to have tapped a hidden reservoir of the mind. Classes in the history of witchcraft, sorcery and the black arts are being taught in many high schools and universities, and they are usually over-enrolled. Bookstore ...