AdamWho

I think that people like the occult (and religion for that matter) is because they

1. Have an instinctual need to form up in groups.
2. Are unhappy with what real life has to offer.

It is much more fun to imagine that your part of some big secret group, that you are important and special. A more palatable alternative than thinking; I am unimportant and alone in the universe.
People do this with more than religion; think about sci-fi fans, people associating with music genres, people on this board and all the crazy ways people cling together in an attempt to find meaning in their boring, painful lives.

Demosthenes

it's also a classical example of how people can sabotage their reasoning skills. Probably they're trying to find some deep meaning in their lives and going about the wrong way to do that.

If you find the asnwer to that question, then you also answer why people believe in the alien visitation, astral projection, channeling, crystal magick, creationism, and so on. They all stem from common causes.

Jamie_L

This is also, IMO, why so many people believe in "grand" conspiracy theories.

The occult is like religion in that it offers a sense of wonder, a simple explanation for unusual events, and a promise that the universe has grander things to offer than the banal, hum-drum of our daily lives. Unlike religion, casual belief in the paranormal or the occult doesn't require rigorous worship, adhering to moral codes, listening to preachers, etc. Which makes it perfect for lazy people who just want to believe something cool that they can ignore when it suits them.

If I can trot out a tired old atheist analogy: I told my mother-in-law I wasn't going to encourage my kids to believe Santa was real. She accused me of robbing them of childhood wonder. That's where occult belief is rooted: the sense that the world as it actually exists is somehow boring, and that it needs all this supernatural, spooky-business for it to be woderous, exciting and interesting. People don't think that explicitly, but that's the underlying drive, I think.

Jamie

Ab_Normal

In Sleeping with Extraterrestrials (which I just read this weekend), Wendy Kaminer pins it on the elevation of the theraputic mindset, which holds that everyone has their own truths which others can't and shouldn't judge, over good ol' rationality. I recommend the book.

HaysooChreesto!

I disagree with that. Most read horoscopes because they're just kind of fun for some people.
And don't bash the palm reader too much. Once when I was 18 I was out on a date with this really good looking girl and as a spontaneous idea I suggested we stop at a palm readers botique on Sunset in Hollywood.
It was really corny but she thought it was a lot of fun. Totally bitchin' sex soon followed (remember, it was the 80's!).
Seriously though, if people want to give their hard earned money to Miss Cleo let 'em have at it.
It's mostly just a distraction and if even a slight coincidence occurs they probably get a kick out of it.

Keep in mind as well that tarot card readers, palm readers, and the rest of that ilk have to pay taxes. They don't get the exempt status that Jebus' employees enjoy.

Anti-Creedance Front

I really don't care what they believe in, cause they're not out to fuck with people. Christian fanatics are. Oh, are they ever.

Feather

I read the horoscope for capricorn (that's my "sign") occasionally, too because it can be entertaining. But I don't believe a word of it. Especially when experience has shown that the "hits" incurred are random and about as likely (although a little less so to be honest) than the "misses."

The problem isn't that this sort of crap exists so much as it is that people actually believe in it irrationally.

It doesn't matter if you had hot sex after visiting a palm reader. Did you believe the palm reader's predictions and, more importantly, did they actually happen? More importantly than that, even, is if they actually did happen were they the typically vague, so-general-it's-bound-to-succeed kind?

Kassiana

Most people with religious beliefs involving the occult, at least those I know, give about as much credence to newspaper horoscopes as they do to conservative Christian ideology.

beyelzu

i always think of a line by hole

i dont really miss god, but i sure miss santa claus


i mean at least santa was pretty laid back, when you messed up he gave you coal, he didnt send you to hell.


and i have stated my opinion before that believers in the occult are as bad as fundies, cuz they both believe that the surpernatural occurs on a regular basis. and both believe that they can cause through prayer, ritural etc

thebeave

I can relate. It sounds crazy, but the better informed, more rational and more intellectually honest I've become over the years, the less attractive to women I've become (and vice versa). I guess intelligence is not one of the qualities selected for these days!