Any occultist who gets out and about a bit will quickly be aware that it seems there are more chiefs than Indians in the world of mainstream western occultism. One wouldn't be thought stupid for thinking that it looks like every man and his dog are claiming adeptship after simply having read a few of Aleister Crowley's books and attending a Golden Dawn workshop.

So what really is an adept in the traditional western esoteric sense?

My dictionary defines an Adept as "a very skillful person." It is not hard to see, with this small definition, that it excludes a great numbedr of the people who use this label to refer to their degree of expertise in occult science, either publicly or privately. But in considering this definition there might be argued to be a good degree of flexibility in an understanding of the word skill. A huge weight of artistic license is liberally applied to this word in the realm of occult training, especially in the area of the commercial exploitation of the mystery tradition.

Again, my dictionary defines skill as "a special ability or expertise; something requiring special training ..."

On the basis that they have never had special training, this definition would further back up the exclusion of over half of those who claim adeptship.

Having removed from our calculations those who obviously display no form of expertise at all, and those who have never undergone any kind of special training to attain the alleged expertise they possess, we should look more carefully at just what expertise is when it comes to occult science.

The easiest way to do this is to first define the most basic activities that most occultists would agree are necessary to be involved in, in order to be seriously considered an occultist. In my opinion the foundation of any serious interest in western occultism is a good reading background. Although I agree that one could become an adept, with the right tuition, without ever having read a book, this would not be at all a common situation, and would be referred to under the banner of an exception to the rule.

So, any occultist who is worth his salt is going to have to be well read. He should have a wide general knowledge of classical and modern occult literature. The basis for this argument is that most students of alchemy are very likely to have begun their journey by reading about the subject, and if they are enthusiastic students, the first personality requirement for adeptship, they will read a lot and widely. Also, it is very hard to attain skill without a wide knowledge of the various techniques and opinions available from practitioners of the art. An unread occultist is a very isolated occultist with a narrow passage of understanding.

Another aspect of serious interest in occultism is, in the least, a fascination with the practical psychic and spiritual side of study. This will usually lead to a desire to take up the practice of certain occult techniques for directly attaining psychic abilities, or indirectly, through the more wholesome focus on spiritual progress.

These two important subjects, reading and practical exercise, are the basis of any serious interest in occultism. Therefore, when beginning to consider a realistic definition of adept we could expect such a person to be an expert in the research and use of occult literature, and an expert in some form of practical technique(s).

Leaving aside the literary aspect, let us focus on the practical side. Especially since there is way too much intellectualism in occult circles, especially by men, and by far a huge lack of skill in the practical application of the intellectual concepts.

When trying to define what is adept when considering skill in the practical application of occult techniques, it is important first to take a look at the atmosphere that has been cultivated in the mainstream when it comes to measuring degrees of skill. Since we are experiencing a big growth in interest in occultism, and a logical reduction in expert training and accurate knowledge along with that increase, it is understandable that their truly skilled might be lost in the crowd.

Under such conditions what was once the lay-person fringe of the occult world, or the inexperienced quack who based his belief in superstition rather than fact, has now become the mainstream figure. With this trend has come a situation where the relatively inexperienced and unlearned student rather than being the passive and receptive side of the tuition relationship has now taken up the role of actively defining truth.

The best example of how this condition progressed is found in the history of the Golden Dawn. Its founding members and their first generation of students were very learned men and woman. They in their turn found it slightly more difficult to find good student material, and so had to put up with a lower class of success. These not so well trained students eventually attained positions of authority, and, not understanding the process as well as their mentors, altered rules and accepted a further reduction in student quality. Three generations of this behaviour and they ended up with persons who were running the show who had almost no understanding of the true nature of occult training and largely no practical skill at all.

This was the foundation bed for modern occultism. Onto this stage were invited persons who's interests in being involved in occult training had nothing to do with the actual purpose of the process at all. These individuals, who set themselves up as authorities, immediately began, either directly through personal training or the publication of books, to redefine the entire institution of training in the ancient mysteries. Their first act was to slowly erode the conceptions of what skill in occult science was all about. Intellectual pursuits took precedence over practical application of occult laws. Practical work was reduced to exercise by rote coupled with the gentle message that only the absolute best students could ever expect any results from practical work.

With teachers who cared only for an academic approach to occultism, possessing not skill in getting no tangible practical results through training others, students once thirsting for success with high hopes would learn to worship the smallest accomplishments as being of major importance. In this environment it is a little more than an unspoken rule that the results our forefathers, the occultists of the ancient and classic ages, attained to and taught us we should expect, have become a dream or been outright denied as simply a metaphor, or worse, gross exaggeration or lies.

Since the average modern student of the occult is often unaware that this situation exists, he often finds himself, absorbing and accepting this putrid atmosphere, without realizing that is has little or no basis in fact. Before long, like so many other he is investing in defending the arguments upon which this decaying view of occultism is built, thereby encouraging and smoothing the way for greater falsehoods.

An adept, then, is not someone who claims to be. He is someone who is demonstrably so. What he can demonstrate is a skill in attaining results from work, not in the simply rote-execution of ritual, or mental gymnastics that we see in excessive quoting and offering up of cliche's. Of all of the things that magick and alchemy concern themselves with, clairvoyance, divination, astral projection, transmutation, extreme healing, prophesy, manifestation, telepathy, telekinesis, remote viewing ... whatever ... an adept has extremely proficient skill in one or more of these areas.

On top of this craft aspect of occultism, he also, in my opinion, has made some serious degree of progress on the path towards spiritual development and the attainment of enlightenment. He is to some degree beyond the normal - obviously understanding, compassionate, intelligent, confident, successful, happy, productive (in a creative sense), artistic, diplomatic, enthusiastic, secure in himself ... and can teach these skills to other willing students with some degree of ease and professionalism, at no cost and with great effect.