From:    Gordon                                 Area: ENOCHIAN
To:      Josh Norton                            22 Aug 94 13:09:58
Subject: Re: enochian 101                       UpdReq 

I have to agree with your views on mental health, Josh.  I haven't worked as a 
mental health provider, but I did a fair amount of freelance work as a mental 
health researcher, and while I was at it I took full advantage of the 
opportunity to comb the various abstracts indexes for references to occult 
phenomena, magick, etc.   
 Now, in fairness, this was several years ago, before "ritual abuse" was a 
touchstone issue in the Psychological world.  
 What I found was an absence of any real indications that the study of magick 
leads to severe mental health problems.  Given the number of magical 
practitioners in the U.S. since the 1960's, and the obvious "high profile" 
publication value of the topic, it seems unthinkable that if there was any 
significant incidence, there would not be a body of published material.  
There is, for example, on Satanism (primarily in relation to young teens - 
there were no clear references to organized Setian practitioners).  The fact 
is that the only real references on Magic were incidences of panic among 
African immigrants, whose belief system includes animistic magical practices.
 Occult topics occured, but in most instances it was very clear that the 
references were to Satanic practices derived from buying "The Satanic Bible" 
at Waldenbooks, and the coverage really focused on teen rebellion and social 
disorders, with occult practices as a symptom of cultural alienation.
 It seems to me that if mental health disorders due to magical practice were 
common enough that any given individual was likely to see more than one in, 
say, a five year period, there would be a *much* larger body of literature.  
I'm not calling the previous poster a liar, merely suggesting perhaps he 
misinterpreted the significance of magical practice as part of an overall 
diagnosis of a pre-existing disorder.
 On a personal level, I also have to agree with a certain amount of natural 
selection...those who are not competent or are unstable will not achieve, and 
if they fail so badly they are unable to continue their current life, perhaps 
that is really for the best.


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