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Originally Posted by kvanlaan  Does anyone know why these things became big at this time? I believe Wicca was 'codified' and structuralized in the late 19th century and the 1920's and 30's were big on the occult (Crowley's heyday). What I want to know is why then? What was the impetus for its popularity at that time? (Or am I off-base and it was pretty much constant? Just wondering...) |
Of course it was always in the background, but I think it came on strong then because people started sensing that the empirical enlightenment was not living up to its promise. The political positivists, posing as confident social engineers, had not managed to stop a huge war. Civilization was in upheaval. The modernists in general had abandoned anything resembling a "soul" or "spirit" and were trying to come up with a mechanical explanation for everything. But then came quantum physics and relativity, which messed up the neat and tidy machine big time.
Coinciding with that was the radical shift away from orthodoxy in the mainstream (caused in part by the confluence of skepticism and irrationalism). Mix the whole thing up, and people yearn for some sort of inside (gnostic) knowledge to see them through the shifting culture.
But if you reject Christianity and God's straigthforward creation, yet yearn for some kind of truth, you naturally will get sucked into the occult.