Roddy Lumsden Reviews: An A-Z of the Occult

The term 'the occult' is often misused as another catch-all term for the paranormal or supernatural. In fact, it alludes more specifically to 'hidden knowledge' used in the pursuits of religion, philosophy and science. Divination, alchemy, hypnotism and numerology are among the common historical disciplines involving occultist ritual and practices. An A-Z of the Occult (Mainstream £12.99) by Simon Cox and Mark Foster contains a series of articles which introduce the reader to the occultist spectrum, from voodoo and yoga.

Books on this and related subjects continue to proliferate. What is referred to as 'the Fortean bookshelf' is heaving under a stream of releases, buoyed by two of the great successes of the past decade – the Harry Potter books and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Fortean Times, once a near-academic publication pored over by bearded men, is now a frothy monthly with a wide readership.

Cinema also mines the rich seam of the occult: the odd vampire and a touch of satanic ritual was ample for the horror flicks of yesteryear. Writers such as Stephen King have beefed up the horror genre, and most of the more lurid aspects of the occult covered by this book have made their way on to the big screen.

With the aid of a series of specialist co-writers, Simon Cox has been knocking out titles in this 'A-Z Series', including books on Atlantis, Egyptology and the Holy Grail. They are not aimed at, or recommended for, those who are already knowledgeable about these subjects, but they make able introductions for those whose interest has been piqued by the occult rearing its head in mainstream culture.

The text looks occasionally clumsily hurried ('Of all the great alchemists... Fulcanelli is perhaps the most enigmatic and elusive of them all.'), but is well-researched and wide-ranging, though focussed on European strands of the occult. Inevitably, some of the more general articles, such as those on dowsing and vampires can offer no more than a brief introduction to subjects which could fill books of their own. The best pieces in this book are the potted histories of movements and individuals who have made their way in this area. If you have wondered what Rosicrucianism is, or are curious about Martinism, look this way, though the authors understandably struggle to paraphrase that other recently faddish strand of the occult, the baffling Kabbalah.

Time is kind to occultists, one feels, reading this book. From a distance, mysterious figures such as John Dee and Eliphas Levi (the French mystic whose writings influenced the English occultists of a century ago and their Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) seem arcanely esoteric. More recent mystics such as Wicca pioneer Gerald Gardner and his muse Dion Fortune seem not quite so exotic. Somehow, a civil servant called Gerald and a modern day magician who was also the gardener Violet Firth from Llandudno don't seem as alchemical. Cox and Foster's pen portraits of Fulcanelli, Dee, Fortune, Crowley and all offer some of this volume's best moments.

Much of the subject matter here is under debate, part of its appeal of course. My favourite piece of arcana pulled from the book is the possible derivation of the word abacadabra. Apparently, depending on which scholar's etymological tussle you follow, it could mean, 'I will create as I speak', 'disappear like a word' or 'hurl your death-bolt even unto death'! Magic stuff.