As I descended into the basement of the Koerner Library to meet with UBC’s Occult Club, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. All I had to go on were a few posters and a website, along with a time and location from someone who signed their emails only with the letter Z (and the somewhat less atmospheric email heading of “admin").
When I arrived, only two members had preceded me. I sat down and made conversation with the others about their recent tarot readings and spiritual discoveries until the room filled up with a good handful of people. The discussion broadened to everyone’s experience with the occult. Eventually, Z, which I soon learned stood for Zorya (which is a pseudonym, as her spiritual practices are not part of her public persona), arrived in the flesh and began a seminar about entities called egregores and servitors.
Now may be the time to lay my tarot cards on the table. I was raised in an agnostic household that didn’t concern itself too much with the spiritual world, aside from the occasional wisecrack at the dinner table about this evangelist neighbour or that born-again uncle. So I brought with me to the meeting a healthy skepticism.
I was surprised, then, to find Zorya’s talk to be concerned almost as much with sociology and psychology as it was with magic. She spoke about concepts being given power by the widespread belief that said power exists — a point similar to the theories of social scientists like Durkheim and Weber on the nature of nations.
She recommended imbuing objects with sentimental worth and assigning specific feelings to them, emphasizing self-control over one’s emotions. The more mystically-inclined among you need not despair; she also produced a tengri doll and recounted conversations she’d had with it via pendulum. There was also enough to interest a layman like myself, striking a balance, as she put it, “[between] mystery and reason.”
In an interview a few days later, Zorya told me she intends to continue the educational slant of these meetings and provide a safe and discreet space for people interested in exploring the occult.
“When a cat is thirsty, it will drink somewhere, and I’m happy to provide a place where people can do it safely… and experiment.”
So if you are, in fact, thirsty for a bit of magic this Halloween season, if you want to see some familiar societal theories from a more mystical point of view, or if you just want to talk about star signs with a fun bunch of people, UBC’s Occult Club may be for you. You can get in touch with them at ubc.occultism@gmail.com. They’ll be waiting.
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