Contemporary Occultism: Western Magic Since the 1960s

Contemporary occultism is the diverse world of Western magical, esoteric and witchcraft practice that has taken shape since the occult revival of the 1960s and 1970s. It includes revived ceremonial orders such as the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientis, modern witchcraft and paganism, Satanism and the left-hand path, chaos magic, revivals of historical grimoire magic, and a large, decentralised culture of books, festivals and online communities in which these currents mix.

The Occult Revival of the 1960s and 1970s§

In the late 1960s, journalists in Britain and the United States began to speak of an "occult explosion". The counterculture's interest in Eastern religion, psychedelics and alternative spirituality broadened to embrace astrology, tarot, witchcraft and ritual magic. Colin Wilson's bestseller The Occult (1971), Hollywood films such as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and the rise of specialist publishers like Llewellyn in the United States and new paperback reprints of classic texts made occult knowledge widely available.

This revival built on earlier foundations: the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, whose rituals Israel Regardie had published between 1937 and 1940; the writings of Aleister Crowley, who died in 1947 but became a countercultural icon; Theosophy and New Thought; and the modern witchcraft of Gerald Gardner. What was new was the scale of interest and its connection with popular culture, discussed further in Magic and Culture.

Revived Orders: Thelema and the Golden Dawn§

After Crowley's death, the Ordo Templi Orientis dwindled almost to nothing. In the late 1960s and 1970s Grady McMurtry, a former student of Crowley, revived it in California on the basis of authority Crowley had given him; this branch, often called the "Caliphate" O.T.O., won legal recognition in US courts in the 1980s and is now the largest Thelemic organisation, with bodies in many countries. Kenneth Grant led a separate Typhonian current in Britain. The religion of Thelema itself is described in Thelema and the Book of the Law.

Golden Dawn-style orders were also re-established from the 1970s onward, some claiming lineage through surviving temples and others founded on Regardie's published material. Groups descended from Dion Fortune's Society of the Inner Light, the Builders of the Adytum founded by Paul Foster Case, and a host of smaller lodges continued the Western Mystery Tradition of initiation, Qabalah and ceremonial ritual.

Witchcraft, Paganism and Satanism§

The most numerous strands of contemporary occultism are modern witchcraft and paganism. Wicca spread from Britain to North America and beyond in the 1960s and 1970s, branching into Gardnerian, Alexandrian, eclectic and feminist forms; Starhawk's The Spiral Dance (1979) helped connect witchcraft with feminism and environmentalism. From the 1990s, "traditional witchcraft", discussed in Traditional Witchcraft, emphasised folklore, the land and non-Wiccan lineages, while reconstructionist movements revived Norse, Hellenic, Roman and other pre-Christian religions.

Satanism took organised form with Anton LaVey's Church of Satan in 1966, described in LaVeyan Satanism and the Church of Satan, followed by Michael Aquino's Temple of Set in 1975, treated in The Temple of Set and the Left-Hand Path. In Sweden, Dragon Rouge, founded around 1989 by Thomas Karlsson, combined the left-hand path with Qabalah and Nordic themes. The 1980s and early 1990s saw a backlash in the Satanic Panic, which cast suspicion on all forms of occultism.

Chaos Magic and Postmodern Occultism§

In the late 1970s, a small group of British magicians around Peter J. Carroll and Ray Sherwin created chaos magic, introduced in What Is Chaos Magick?. Its pragmatic, experimental spirit, its willingness to use any symbol system and its embrace of popular culture made it one of the most influential forces in later occultism, even among people who never called themselves chaos magicians. Its typical techniques, especially sigils, have become common across modern magic.

Scholars frequently describe this as a "postmodern" turn: authority shifts from lineage and initiation to personal experience and results, traditions are treated as resources rather than fixed systems, and magical practice is framed in psychological or informational language. Not all contemporary occultists share this outlook; many explicitly reject it in favour of tradition.

Grimoire Revivals and Historical Scholarship§

From the 1990s onward, a strong countercurrent turned back to historical sources. Practitioners and independent scholars began publishing careful editions of medieval and early modern grimoires, such as the Key of Solomon, the Grimorium Verum and the Book of Oberon, and practising "grimoire magic" with close attention to the original texts. Joseph Peterson's editions and Jake Stratton-Kent's work on the Grimorium Verum exemplify this trend, as does the renewed interest in Enochian magic based on John Dee's manuscripts.

This revival coincided with the growth of academic research on Western esotericism. A chair in the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents was established at the University of Amsterdam in 1999, the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism was founded in 2005, and specialised journals and conferences multiplied. Contact between scholars and practitioners has influenced both, encouraging more historically informed practice and more sympathetic scholarship.

Occultism in the Digital Age§

The internet transformed occult culture. In the 1990s, mailing lists and websites allowed rare texts and private rituals to circulate freely; later, forums, blogs, podcasts and social media created a global marketplace of teachers, styles and debates. Witchcraft and tarot communities on platforms such as Tumblr, Instagram and TikTok reached young audiences in the 2010s and 2020s, and occult aesthetics became part of fashion and design. Christopher Partridge's concept of "occulture" captures this diffusion of esoteric ideas into popular culture.

Digital culture also raised new controversies: disputes over authenticity and appropriation, the commercialisation of spirituality, magical activism, conspiracy theories and the appearance of extremist groups using occult imagery. Contemporary occultism is thus marked by both remarkable creativity and fragmentation. Its continuities with nineteenth-century movements, from Theosophy to the law of attraction, remain strong.

Frequently asked questions§

What is the occult revival?§

The term usually refers to the surge of interest in magic, witchcraft, astrology and esoteric religion in the late 1960s and 1970s. Historians also use it for the earlier revival of the late nineteenth century associated with Lévi, Theosophy and the Golden Dawn.

What is "occulture"?§

"Occulture" is a word used by the scholar Christopher Partridge, and earlier by Genesis P-Orridge, for the broad cultural reservoir of esoteric, paranormal and alternative spiritual ideas that circulates through music, film, literature and the internet.

Are occult orders still active today?§

Yes. Orders such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, various Golden Dawn organisations, the Illuminates of Thanateros, the Temple of Set and Dragon Rouge remain active, alongside countless independent covens, lodges and online groups.

How many people practise occultism?§

Reliable figures are hard to obtain, because many practitioners belong to no organisation and surveys use different categories. Censuses in several English-speaking countries record tens of thousands of self-identified pagans and witches, and the wider audience for occult books and media is much larger.

Sources and further reading§

• The Re-Enchantment of the West — Christopher Partridge, 2004–2005
• The History of British Magick After Crowley — Dave Evans, 2007
• The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft — Ronald Hutton, 1999
• Contemporary Esotericism — Egil Asprem and Kennet Granholm (eds), 2013
• The Occult — Colin Wilson, 1971
• Persuasions of the Witch's Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England — T. M. Luhrmann, 1989
• Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed — Wouter J. Hanegraaff, 2013
• The Spiral Dance — Starhawk, 1979
• The Golden Dawn — Israel Regardie, 1937–1940
• Dark Enlightenment: The Historical, Sociological, and Discursive Contexts of Contemporary Esoteric Magic — Kennet Granholm, 2014