Yeah…it is sad. And like I said man, occultism has a deliberately bad reputation that was created by its own kin. Like, when you got some dude running around saying “666 I’m the beast bleh, fear me, I’m the most evil man who’s ever lived” (Crowley) and you got people like Levey running around founding a “Chruch of Satan” just to piss of Christianity, it’s not really a shocker that the satanic panic would later happen and people would form this natural fear/fascination with the occult.
Pretty much, the occult movement self-canabalized like right after it was born and gained steam, lol. It took me years and years to work up the courage to study occultism in objectivity, and what I found was a lot of bad press and the westernization of old spiritual practices lifted from Hindu mystical schools, Jewish mystical schools, and Greco-Roman mystical schools.
Now this is where it gets kinda funny, speaking of the deliberate bad press. Occultism intentionally gatekeeps because there is this idea that only the worthy student may learn the secrets. Pretty much, if you’re crazy enough to sort through the crap and overcome all the fears and taboo of that world, only then are you ready to learn the true secrets. It’s like the Mr. Miyagi treatment.
The secrets being…meditate and cultivate intense focus, and learn to visualize. 
That’s what’s so funny to me, by the rules of occult tradition, they weren’t allowed into the club because their own fear meant they were unworthy lol.
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