The difference between theory and practice for occult or spiritualism can make the difference between reaching your goals and just treading water. While most of my content discusses books or similar, this article is about how to make use of those books. Theory is great, but you have to practice it to make use of it and truly cement it. Just because I understand a yoga asana, doesn’t mean I can do it.
Any spiritual application is going to require applied effort. You need to practice what you’re learning or it’s just words across a page or screen. Theory is important, but practice puts theory into a useful context. That being said, you need balance.
Practice without understanding leads to stagnation. This doesn’t just apply to spiritual practice, but basically any form of learning. You can memorize phrases, but that only takes you so far for synthesizing a conversation.
I started this piece while reflecting on some of the recent works I’ve started reading. The mix of books I’m reading require a lot more time to actually digest, while others have been complete duds. As I learn more, I learn how to dig deeper and the practice matters more. When learning, we need to look into why theory and practice matter, what the major differences are from a spiritual practice standpoint, then we’ll go over how to factor in your needs and how to find the right balance.
The Difference Between Theory and Practice
This seems to be a commonsense assertion on the surface, but it gets complicated quickly. Many people buy and read more books than they actually apply by a wide margin (myself included). While you may enjoy being an armchair occultist, some things just won’t make sense without actually applying.
Theory is the scaffold to understanding, but practice is the actual building process. A poor scaffold (or even a lack of a scaffold) will lead to nothing getting done, even with hard work. But, if you never pour the concrete for the foundation, it doesn’t matter how good the scaffold is.
This analogy breaks down when you can do each piece in stages. You can’t just add a layer of bricks to the walls then add a step to the scaffold in real life. The real world lets you learn new practices and fill them in with theory or vice versa depending on your style of learning.
If you’re into the occult (or new age spirituality in general) from a more academic curiosity, you may not really need to practice to fulfill your goals. If you want to really “get it” though, you need to apply at least some of the theory. There’s quite a difference between reading the description for the Analysis of the Keyword and really feeling it when you both understand and experience saying: Let the divine light descend.
Why Theory Matters
Theory is the scaffolding which gives you an understanding of the philosophical framework behind the system. It makes the difference between chanting random syllables and chanting a mantra. It can also be the knowledge to recognize Mala beads from a beaded bracelet. The intention is as important as the result.
Theory enables you to take your practice further. What do the 108 beads on a Mala mean, and what do the 78 cards in a Tarot deck symbolize in the Kabbalah? Take the practice further, but put the theory into practice.
Astrology may seem like new age garbage until you understand what is encapsulated in the theory behind it in the metaphor. I still don’t care about my natal chart, but I get the role astrology plays in certain grimoires. When you see the patterns, you see the deeper meaning. Occult theory is built on and then further expounded on (or perverted depending on the politics of the time).
Hermeticism has its own quirks which impact how they interpret other works. The Goetia takes on a new meaning when viewed through an understanding of Jungian psychology. As your understanding of the theory behind each practice grows, so does your context. It’s not a trade off, it’s an enrichment.
Theory builds the scaffold which raises you higher and allows you to build on what you have. Too high a scaffold just leaves you with empty space as you develop further. A tight scaffold can become a platform however, which is more than enough when all you want is knowledge. Theory grants you information, but practice puts it into context.
Why Practice Matters
I’m currently working my way through many books (which I hope to review here sooner than later). The current issue is that some of the theory takes quite a while to digest. How do you review a book on yoga without practicing it? How can you know how an occult system impacts you without at least trying to make use of it?
While I may not care about the practice behind every single thing I read, it would be disingenuous to write reviews without at least trying to apply a system. Meditation has many forms, from Daoist to Buddhist and beyond. Each of these differ in purpose and practice, but can ve interpreted the same theoretically.
I may not practice some systems, but I do practice others. Why are you reading about a system or spiritual path in the first place?
If it’s just out of curiosity, that’s one thing, but if you really want to improve your life you’ll need to practice or come to terms with why you won’t. Armchair occultism can be fun, but if you expect it to do much without practice, you’re probably missing the point. What do the words mean?
For certain works, the theory just won’t make sense until you apply it. It’s one thing to read a sutra or mantra, it’s another to understand them and their usage. Emptiness in the Heart Sutra is a philosophical abstract without practicing Buddhism. Enough theory may get you closer to understanding, but there’s a leap of faith to internalize its meaning at a spiritual level.
Two Sides to the Same Coin
Theory and practice in spiritual practice both contribute to the same goal. While we compared the two to scaffolding and the actual building previously, the scaffolding is useless at a higher level without the construction to a certain minimum point. Real builders grow their scaffold as they go up, but it’s in certain steps rather than every brick.
Spiritual theory can be easily digested (or take ages) depending on where you are in terms of your development, understanding, and even luck. Some people just “get” things; others need a bit more help. It’s one thing to know there’s a difference between low magick and high magick, but it’s another to understand how they impact your spiritual development.
To further convolute it all, the theory behind magick can impact what you feel it means or does. On one hand, it is viewed as just manipulating your own mind to make you more receptive to changes you want, on the other it manipulates the world. How you contextualize the process and how you experience the results feeds back into your growth and understanding.
No one is circumventing the laws of nature, but are the Goetic demons a piece of the self or something external? Even if they’re conceptually different, how different are the results in practice? It doesn’t matter if you feel that one is a force of the universe and the other an internal force if you get the results you want out of the practice. Theory is the abstraction, but practice puts it in context.
Factoring in Your Needs
Spiritual growth is personal development. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. Where are you and where are you going?
If you don’t like working with other languages without understanding them, reciting Tibetan or Pali mantras for Buddhism won’t do as much for you as something put into English (or your native tongue). On the other hand, if you feel that the power is in the form itself, then a translation will feel “weaker”. What works for you and what are you getting out of the process?
This gets even deeper with theory. If you just want to do something and slowly deconstruct it, you’ll approach the balance between theory and practice differently than if you insist on understanding every step. I prefer to get an overview then dive in for certain practices, but others are too much too fast and I need to slowly work through.
Finding a Balance
Spiritual development is a personal journey and where you go or how you travel will be personal to you. You might prefer to work with other people, or you might prefer to go it alone. It doesn’t matter how you approach the process as long as it makes sense and helps you.
This isn’t to say just disregard the rules and dive in, but don’t let yourself obsess over the most mundane ideas or insist on 100% understanding of every single minute concept if it gets in the way. Some things just don’t make sense without trying them. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram reads one way, but feels another. No words will make it make as much sense as just going through it a few times.
While you can prioritize either practice or theory over the other, both complement one another. If you learn a language but never use it, can you say you actually speak it? It’s one thing to know how something works on paper, it’s another to see it in action. On the flip side, seeing it in action without understanding what’s behind it means you may not understand what you’re seeing at all. Hearing French is just gibberish to me, though it can be the sweetest poetry or the harshest criticism to a speaker.
It’s okay to give up on theory for a bit and just chew on ideas. You can also sit back in your armchair and just read if it makes you feel safer about what you’re doing. Balancing theory and practice is usually more straightforward in standard sciences, but the occult strikes a balance between science and art depending on the nature of the practice and the presentation.
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