Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Occultism or it is well known as paranormal has word occult as its root word. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance states that ‘the word “occult” is derived from the Latin word “Occultus” which means “hidden”.’ religioustolerance.org, April 12, 2013. Besides, according to Tiryakian, occult deals with hidden forces in nature which cannot be measured by the science. It is stated by Mercia Eliade as below “By ‘occult’, writes Tiryakian, I understand intentional practices, techniques, or procedures which: a draw upon hidden or concealed forces in nature or the cosmos that cannot be measured or recognized by the instruments of modern science…” 1976:48 Therefore, it can be concluded that the nature of occultism is hidden forces which cannot be recognized or measured by modern science. The nature of occultism as stated above gains controversy toward occultism itself. There are so many debates on occultism through many years and even centuries. Melton 2000:viii shows some controversies on occultism in the past. In the 17 th century many people believed in occultism while others considered it as “a source of fear” and it caused death. The controversy on occultism continued in the 18 th century. Nevertheless the topic of controversy changed. In the 18 th century, the existence of occultism was questioned by the emergence of Deism. Deism was a 1 belief that merely admits the existence of God as the Creator of the world. The belief in Deism which questioned occultism is explained by Melton as below. Deism affirmed the existence of God the Creator, but suggested that God had merely established a system of natural law, leaving the world to govern itself by that law. By implication, God was divorced by the world, and supernatural events did not occur, rather the “supernatural” was merely the misobserved “natural”. Furthermore, neither angels nor spirits communicated with humans, and, in turn, prayer did not reach God. 2001:viii According to the quotation above, Deism considered occultism with supernatural power never existed. According to Deism, world was not governed by God since God only created world. Therefore, according to Deism, there was no angel and prayer was not required since it did not reach God. This view point of Deism is contrary to occultism. Occultism admits there are angels and prayers since God is no mere the world’s creator. Occultism believes that God governs the whole world. Furthermore, in 20 th century the controversy on occultism became wider. It came from not only experiences in real life, as what happened in the 17 th century, but also from fiction works and TV programs. Spotlight Ministries says some people argued that fiction works and TV programs which have magic, witchcraft or any occult powers as the theme would not lead the readers and viewers to the real thing. On the other hand the others thought those fiction works and TV programs were considered as harmful especially to the readers and the viewers since those works and TV programs could introduce them to the occult world spotlightministries.org.uk, May 23, 2013. The facts above show that occultism gains controversy in fiction as well in real life. These facts become the reason why the writer chooses occultism as the topic of this study. The writer also realizes that the definition of occultism can be various depend on who views it. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance state that conservative Christians view occultism possesses evil or demon religioustolerance.org, May 25, 2013. On the other hand anthropologists have their own view on occultism. James Lett says that occultism paranormal is an “emic” which means that it belongs to cultures. He also says that paranormal is an “emic belief” concerning “the unreal real” faculty.irsc.edu, May 25, 2013. The differential concepts about occultism as stated above make the writer want to analyze what occultism is from the view point of occultist and how the occultist views occultism. Scott 1974:3 argues that the cause of ‘bad name’ attached to occultism is not the nature of occultism. It is because of ‘the nature of public mind’ that judges a whole of occultism just by a little part of it. Just because of hearing only the ‘evil side’ of occultism which is done by some believers, then public judge it as bad as evil. Besides Scott also stresses that only few people who know enough about occultism to judge it at all. What Scott says as stated above is reflected in Paulo Coelho’s Brida. Paulo Coelho’s Brida talks about a journey of a twenty one-year-old girl, Brida, in the process of learning magic. In Paulo Coelho’s Brida the author tries to describe a different view on occultism through the main characters. The characters in Paulo Coelho’s Brida can describe how the nature of occultism can bring positive or good things in human life, in this case Brida. Through this journey Brida finds that occultism helps her not only in learning magic but also in solving certain problems such as how to face her fear and how to be confident in taking every step in her life. Finally at the end of her journey Brida becomes a witch. Her ability as a witch is determined not only by her knowledge on magic but also her view toward her life that is affected by occultism. Paulo Coelho’s Brida is worth analyzing because it does not merely concern occultism and human life. The way Paulo Coelho describes the occultism may help the readers to understand the occultism. He mentions common matters in human life such as fear and faith. Besides Coelho also describes that occultism is connected to religion in order to emphasize the importance of religion in occultism. The way Paulo Coelho describes occultism is affected by his life story. Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author. Before he becomes an author, Paulo Coelho had great experience in his life. Paulo Coelho ever attended Jesuit school and he was sent to mental asylum since he rebelled his parents, who did not support him in becoming a writer. These facts indicate he has knowledge of religion and also experiences hard life. These knowledge and experience affect him in the way he views things happen in his life. As Coelho says : “I have forgiven. It happens with love, all the time when you have this love towards someone else but you want this person to change, to be like you, and then love can be very destructive ravenseniors.wikispaces.com, April 30, 2014. Besides, Alan Riding says Paulo Coelho also joined the Alternative Society that advocated drugs and practiced black magic before he returned to Catholicism. His return to Catholicism happened when he traveled to Spain nytimes.com , April 7, 2013. Coelho’s hard life, his knowledge in religion and also his experience in occultism affect him in the way he writes Paulo Coelho’s Brida in which it talks about occultism, religion and also human life.

B. Problem Formulation