The Occult

Prior to the thirteenth century, most folks thought that “there was only one way to do magic and that was to enlist the help of demons.” That’s according to Philip Ball, in his book Invisible. I’ve enjoyed Ball’s writing over the years, so I was happy to spot Invisible at the local library.

Chapter 2, the focus of today’s blog post, is on Occult Forces. Yes, they do exist in nature, since occult forces are literally “influences that are invisible or hidden”. If we measure nature by what we humans can see, then the foundations of chemistry certainly fall under the occult. Atoms are too small to be seen by the naked eye tuned to the frequencies of visible light. We can “see” atoms mediated by technology, if you believe the output on a computer screen hooked up to a scanning tunneling microscope. Molecules are smears of electron density from neighboring atoms. We don’t see chemical bonds – certainly not sticks connecting balls – although arguably the localized electron density is the bond. With very careful manipulation you can “see” a chemical reaction as atoms are nudged toward each other, but only on the computer screen.

During the Renaissance, non-demon-mediated magic began to dominate. It was called natural magic. Ball describes it thus: “… nature itself was infused with invisible, occult forces that caused marvelous effects. These forces rationalized a whole suite of ‘philosophical arts’ that today seem to exemplify the credulousness of that age: alchemy, astrology, divination. But the aims of natural magic were primarily practical, even mundane: it was a system by means of which useful matters could be accomplished, whether making metals and medicines through alchemy, or constructing ingenious machines, or hiding things from sight.”

Magnetism was well-known since ancient times. It certainly seemed magical. The harnessing of electricity was magical to nineteenth century onlookers wowed by the scientific demonstrations of the day – occult, but no longer devilishly so. Gravity’s “action at a distance” certainly seemed occultic, as introduced by Isaac Newton. Einstein’s explanation of bendy space-time still sounds strange to modern ears. As a non-physicist, I still have to work hard when I think about field theories. When I teach chemistry, I mainly resort to simple classical pictures, even though I’m an applied quantum mechanic.

I agree with Ball that I’ve become comfortable with the occult. So have my students, before they set foot in my class, however much I try to remind my students of the strangeness of scientific theories and models. Ball writes: “Today we accept invisible emanations and forces without demur: they bind atoms and molecules, hold shut the refridgerator door and enable us to talk to one another from mountain-tops. And like natural magicians we can control and manipulate them, and work wonders.” Perhaps, that’s part of the attraction of science – it’s like magic!

The surprising thing about the advance of science is that overall it doesn’t seem to have wiped out occultic thinking. Anthropologists and sociologists have shed some light. Ball writes: “For magic is not so much a technical skill as a mode of thinking… a genuine cultural phenomenon rather than a consequence of individuals’ ignorance and credulity… we engage in [it] every day: if I follow this routine, I will be protected from illness.” Given the manic behaviors observed during the present COVID outbreak, magical thinking is alive and well.

From ascribing the unknown to demons, magic through scientific technology has evolved to entertain and instruct. Whether it be a cool chemistry demo, or a magician’s disappearing act, the audience knows there’s an “explanation” behind what they see but they’re there to be wowed away from the mundane. Ghosts, apparitions, and demons, made a comeback on the theater stage, in staged photographs, and later in movies, featuring the technical wizardry of the day. Today’s blockbusters are about the fantastic, the superheroes, the larger-than-life, to distract us from what we deem mundane. Industrial Light & Magic is indeed an apt name for a techno-wizardry company.

Or perhaps techno-wizardry is in the eye of the beholder. I no longer know who first came up with the following lines, but they seem apt to quote in this situation. Here’s my version. “Anything invented before you were born seems natural. Anything invented during your youth is exciting technical wizardry. Anything invented once you hit middle age is the work of demons.”