Produced by Stacy Brown Thellend, Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net STUDIES IN OCCULTISM by H.P. BLAVATSKY STUDIES IN OCCULTISM A Series of Reprints from the Writings of H.P. BLAVATSKY NO. 1 PRACTICAL OCCULTISM OCCULTISM VERSUS THE OCCULT ARTS THE BLESSINGS OF PUBLICITY POINT LOMA EDITION The Aryan Theosophical Press Point Loma, California 1910 See Book List at the end of this volume for the other numbers of this Series and also for other Theosophical literature. CONTENTS PAGE Practical Occultism 1 From _Lucifer_, April, 1888 Occultism versus the Occult Arts 17 From _Lucifer_, May, 1888 The Blessings of Publicity 42 From _Lucifer_, August, 1891 Occultism is not magic, though magic is one of its tools. Occultism is not the acquirement of powers, whether psychic or intellectual, though both are its servants. Neither is occultism the pursuit of happiness, as men understand the word; for the first step is sacrifice, the second, renunciation. Occultism is the science of life, the art of living.--_Lucifer_, Vol. I, p. 7. PRACTICAL OCCULTISM IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS As some of the letters in the Correspondence of this month show, there are many people who are looking for practical instruction in Occultism. It becomes necessary, therefore, to state once for all:-- (_a_) The essential difference between theoretical and practical Occultism; or what is generally known as Theosophy on the one hand, and Occult science on the other, and:-- (_b_) The nature of the difficulties involved in the study of the latter. It is easy to become a Theosophist. Any person of average intellectual capacities, and a leaning toward the metaphysical; of pure, unselfish life, who finds more joy in helping his neighbor than in receiving help himself; one who is ever ready to sacrifice his own pleasures for the sake of other people; and who loves Truth, Goodness, and Wisdom for their own sake, not for the benefit they may confer--is a Theosophist. But it is quite another matter to put oneself upon the path which leads to the knowledge of what is good to do, as to the right discrimination of good from evil; a path which also leads a man to that power through which he can do the good he desires, often without even apparently lifting a finger.