So I've noticed how differently people deal with the weird and supernatural, like there's exorcists, people who use guns, people who use technology, use rituals, their own magick, those who have psychic powers, and people like me who use mythology, rumors, and knowledge.
it's just something i've noticed that you can probably fit anybody who's deep enough into the occult into a box like a class in a video game.
So any opinions or thoughts on this, have you noticed this to or am i just nuts?
This is my personal opinion. Among people practicing in the occult, there are only two main groups:
A. People who
KNOW they have magic abilities and use them regularly
B. People who
BELIEVE they have or could one day attain magic abilities
The difference is, there is always belief in knowledge, but there isn't always knowledge in belief. One can believe something that isn't true if they want to believe strongly enough. I don't see any point in distinguishing and breaking down groups any further at this point, because I'm not even sure which categories are legitimate and how many practitioners are actually successful at it.
There's no point in trying to classify all the sub groups you come across when most of the people you encounter fall into Main
Group B.
Let's use your exorcist example. How many of the alleged exorcists that you've interacted with or seen online/in person has actually exorcised a demon from someone?
Likely ZERO, they'll even tell you they've never done it (the honest ones), and that's my point. They may
BELIEVE they are an exorcist or could one day be one, but as of now they don't
KNOW if they can actually exorcise demons. There is no point in counting such individuals among the ranks of "exorcists" to begin with, since they haven't actually exorcised anything.
TLDR - There is no need to bother "prematurely" classifying occultists into groups, when we can't even verify whether or not most alleged practitioners are legitimately able to apply their knowledge practically, and tangibly affect the world around them.
I am jokingly agreeing with you, by the way.
Armchair occultists, practictioners, larpers, know-it-alls, list goes on and on.
I would argue the only group you listed that are actual occultists are "practitioners".
Notice that if someone reads about planes and piloting, nobody calls them an "armchair pilot", they simply aren't a pilot period, they're just someone who reads books about a particular field of interest. They are at best a "pilot enthusiast".
The larpers don't count for anything and the "know-it-alls" are usually just armchair occultists so you kinda just classified the same group twice.
I'd also argue that one doesn't really "know it all" if they haven't practiced and achieved actual feats. Practical knowledge is "true knowledge".
Someone can read as many martial arts manuals as they want, they won't be able to do anything with that "knowledge" until they actually apply it practically, because their knowledge is shallow (it isn't "true" knowledge).
