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Origins of the occult powers 

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Human beings began to acquire knowledge when evolution operated a radical genetic modification at a cerebral level.  The animals that, until then, acted on instinct, acquired the ability to control themselves, putting into effect reasoned-out choices. Rising to such an ability, the interest for external environment grew, pushing them to elaborate new solutions to life’s problems. Forced to face alarming phenomena, of which they ignored both origin and cause, natural events like earthquakes, eruptions, floods, diseases, etc., had to have provoked great apprehension in them, greater than that represented by wild animals or enemies. That need for knowledge was the beginning that brought on the development of the occult power.   

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In those times, the survival of man was based on the supremacy of strength; consequently, it was logical to assume that if “something” existed capable of provoking similar calamities, it had to be immensely powerful.  However, no one in the realm of man’s experiences corresponded to such a creature; therefore, he was forced to resort to his imagination, giving life and substance to "supernatural" entities.  Such abilities were attributed to 

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hypothetical Spirits or Divinities,

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from which the events of the world had to derive.  Man’s existence and survival depended on these spirits and they used all sorts of prayers, offerings and sacrifices in order to benefit from their benevolence.  This type of supernatural trend, still present in some populations that have remained in a primitive state, was transformed over time into forms of religion.  Subsequently, the desire in man grew to not die completely, inducing him to refuse the concept of absolute death.  Those men, not being able to avoid physical death, were newly forced to resort to the world of their own imagination.  The fear of death pushed them to attribute to that same Divinity the power to make them rise to a kingdom of joy. 

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The first polytheist religions, obviously based on primitive concepts, were developed thousands of years ago. For example, in Egypt, the right to immortality was anciently ascribed exclusively to the Pharaoh, considered to be son of the Divinity, and only subsequently was such a privilege extended to a certain number of people pertaining to more modest classes. The possibility for the lower classes to acquire such an honor came later as a manifestation of the generosity of their gods that, in acknowledgment of the earthly suffering, compensated them for the sacrifices that the people were willing to make in their name. In reality, such an extension happened under the threat of revolts, to satisfy the dissatisfaction of the people who thought that by now this right had not been exclusively for the high dignitaries. The times were ripe for a new spiritual direction.  

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In ancient times, every city had its own Divinity to apply to for the satisfaction of its every need. In case of war, the gods had to support the army and from them derived, in theory, the fate of the conflict. Who won subdued not only the defeated populations, but also the losing Divinity. Basically, victory or defeat was due to the merit or fault of the Divinity. In case of failure, it was even normal for the succumbing population to accept enslavement since it was their Divinity that, angered by some presumed fault, punished man by expiating him.

In such compulsorily ignorant populations, forced to live and die for often incomprehensible reasons, it was inevitable that religious faith could make up a psychological force that was very important for the control and submission of the people.  This force, based on the fear of the unknown, has been the weapon on which religious empires have been built:  think of the monumental works erected in honor of these Divinities for an idea of how much it has influenced the suggestion in the transcendent.  

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Anyhow, it cannot be thought that it was all organized in bad faith; it was actually the contrary.  The supporters of the various religions were absolutely convinced that they possessed the supernatural truth.  Religious faith was the reasonable answer to their existential needs.  Their intellectual ability had only searched the answers from the data that they possessed in those times.  

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The great monotheist religions were officially born with the writing of the Sacred Texts.  These were drawn up by collecting the dispositions that the prophets obtained through dreams or visions.  In those times and even later, the interpretation of dreams represented a very serious issue.  The same denomination of  “divination” literally means the art of foreseeing the future through the interpretation of events, thought to be signs given by the Divinity.  Only the high dignitaries of the cult were delegated to such interpretations.  The Sacred Texts, closely guarded, were not shown to anyone;  basically, whoever represented the religious power was the only interpreter of the divine will, and it was all organized in a way that its word could not be debated.

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Today, if someone were to propose a new religion based on revealed "dreams or visions" he would be taken for crazy; nevertheless, the foundations of actual religions derive from just these historical presuppositions:  verify to believe.  Certainly the majority of those who belonged to religious institutions felt invested with the responsibility of diffusing the divine will:  otherwise it would not explain the great sacrifices made by many religious observers in name of the cause. 

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In those times and for the following centuries, the religious beliefs had been the fulcrum of social order, obtaining great power and respect, because contesting it often meant loss of life.  

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We find cults and Divinities of every type; religions exist for practically every taste and necessity. 

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The fact that there are thousands and thousands of Divine revelations unfortunately highlights the lack of credibility that can be attributed to a philosophy that lavishes many different versions of the truth.  

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Concepts that instead should have, in theory, a unique universal matrix having to go back to the origins of a god. 

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Even if we admitted the existence of different and equally valid truths, something obviously absurd, the imaginary nature of such ideologies is clearly manifested. 

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For the believer, it is not even a determining factor to demonstrate the objective truth on the origins and the contents of the Sacred Texts:  it is sufficient that faith gratifies the sensory system in some way and he accepts it no matter what, even if it was shown to be unreasonable.  It is a way to create a virtual world, where the meaning is acquired on an abstract basis that doesn’t correspond to reality, for the single scope of obtaining a psychological sensory satisfaction. 

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The evolution of society has often imposed the ministers of religious cults to modify the doctrine itself, adapting it to the criticism of its followers.  Such criticism, directed against the established religious norms, comes from their inadequacy when compared with the cultural evolution:  the believer, while still considering the moral principles of faith valid, questions the interpretations that have been made of it, which no longer reflect the social changes made due to intellectual development.  In this way the trust in religious philosophy is contested more and more, provoking a considerable decrease in the initiations to the faith.  The increase in instruction unavoidably creates doubts in the observant, who are no longer content to adhere blindly to the doctrine and instead question the motivations that delude their expectations of a world that should be just and fair for everyone. 

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The Sacred Texts were often written as metaphors so as to be able to interpret and adapt them to social changes.  However, to enunciate the rules in such a generic way, without any parameter of reference, creates many dubitative formulas and it is inevitable that the holders of religious power would conclude, attributing to such Texts their own personal interpretation dictated by their own personal culture and conviction.  The only common matrix, perennially  unchanged in time, 

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is the refusal of all other religions. 

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In reality, research on a Universal God does not exist, but only a systematic defense of personal convictions; even the faithful are induced to construct their own subjective version dictated more from individual egoistic requirements than from those of their official faith. 

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Religions in the world have always existed.  Since the beginning, man's history has seen the proliferation on our planet of myriads of beliefs, doctrines, dogmas, cults, schism, and so on. Counting them, we discover that they are an impressive number: 

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not tens or hundreds, but tens of thousands. 

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Man has certainly demonstrated a remarkable and fervent imagination in his search for the supernatural.  To think, then, that of all the many prophets, apostles, seers, announcers, fortune tellers, wizards, and who knows what others, the one and only true God could only be the one represented by one’s own exclusive faith, is really a difficult thing to accept for those who want to make good use of their reason.

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For the most part, believers assume their faith because of tradition, where religious convictions do not derive from a personal and systematic investigation but, on the contrary, are accepted without verification through the knowledge of presumed truth enunciated by others.  Religion learned by tradition, or if you prefer, by conditioning and adaptation to society, possesses a somewhat different meaning from religion matured through an inner search of personal spiritual needs.  We are in presence of 

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a true psychological mental manipulation, 

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surely not worthy of an evolved society:  if it were up to the high religious hierarchies, men would have to stop thinking, without ever discussing what is imposed on them.  But to sell religion as absolute truth falsifies the truth itself since faith represents, however and always, only an opinion, an imaginary theory, without any foundation in reality.  Besides, it is necessary to observe that the main motivation that moves individuals towards faith is not the solidarity for one another or the love for people, but the conviction of being compensated after death for the sacrifices made in the name of their religion. 

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The analysis that history makes of religions is indeed unpitying. It is astounding to see the cruel devotion demonstrated by fanatics of certain dogmas.  The obtuse and blind trust in their own convictions has pushed entire populations to intolerance.  Resentment and hatred connected to faith have plagued humanity for all its existence.  A large part of the responsibility belongs to those who, unconsciously, have contributed

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  to making the requirement of love and justice an instrument of social hatred.  

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This does not intend to say that without religions there would not have been wars and abuses of power, but it is certain that religious power has always tried to impede rational philosophy from giving the only answers capable of constructing a better world.  The use of the religious cult as an instrument of imposed cultural conditioning is the manifestation of how human thought can be directed towards concepts that only apparently contain a guideline of love for one another, while in reality, it can constitute centers of intolerance that culminate into aggressiveness, persecution and lack of development.   

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Do not forget that it has been the evidence of rational thought that has put an end to the absurd religious convictions that have plagued society for a great part of its existence.  We cannot and do not want to condemn those who, in good faith and sometimes at the cost of enormous sacrifices or of life itself, have paid in tribute to their wrong convictions.  Whoever adheres to religious beliefs by assumption is subordinated, often from birth, to such remarkable psychological pressure that they are impeded from making objective judgments of their own theological analysis.  For these believers it is extremely difficult to put in doubt the dogmas of faith since such a possibility is excluded, for inadmissibility, from their own doctrine.   

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However, to influence those who are not free to judge their own thoughts in the correct way removes every value of the proposed contents. 

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The religious institutions must convince themselves that man does not have any power over universal physical laws and can only ascertain their validity. To understand such laws, God grants humanity the possibility to formulate hypothesis. Subsequently, it is reason that must make man realize what really can be laws imposed by God.  

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