Hello Esclarmonde!

I enjoy your posts.

My reference to occult is typical in the Manchurian Candidate literature, so please do not take offense or think of my post as a religious article. No where in my story did I refer to Christian dogma or scriptures.

Consider a brain washing technique in which you are tortured until the pain causes your consciousness to flee by rising above your body, where you are then instructed to create an alter ego which you "store" behind a trigger for later activation.

Consider the alter continuing to function through time in an alternate reality, gaining new experiences and developing an identity unique and seperate from your conscious awareness.

These interpretations I have read in alledged reports of victims of satanic/ritual abuse as well as victims of brain control alledgedly at the hand of the intelligence community.

Because the techniques of abuse and conditioning follow the same patterns both within intell and the satanic/ritualised cases, it is common to see the literature refer to these techniques as "occult", as well as the surface manifestations we will witness in the victims that indeed reflect the underlying techniques employed.

I do not know if the generalization of the term "occult" in the literature infact reinforces the cultural biases you have identified, or if you have just misunderstood the historical use of that term in the literature.

I personally do not know enough about the origination and application of the term to make a meaningful hypothesis.