History of Occult Europe
The term "occult" within the context of the EAUSD's work is used loosely to refer to esoteric, arcane, otherworldly, supernatural or otherwise unexplainable and/or unexplained phenomena. The source of such words arks back thousands of years, primarily with Hellenistic and Roman intellectual-religious practices. The earliest esoteric practices recorded in history have their footing in Hermeticism, Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, schools of thought that merged the divine with the human in different ways, be it remarking that the soul was divine in nature or that one could be reborn in the divine itself.
After the fall of Rome, practices such as alchemy and thaumaturgy were commonly inscribed in grimoires, tomes which collected esoteric recipes, tales, myths or historical records - several of which were preserved by monasteries and copied, now preserved in EAUSD sites. As the Renaissance evolved, Italian thinkers and wealthy families spurred a rebirth of ancient thought, seen as valuable wisdom, inevitably linked in many ways to Christianity. In the 17th century, these schools of thoughts and ideas became associated particularly with societies, most famously the Freemasonic society and Rosicrucianism.
The 18th and 19th centuries marked an important transformation in Western esotericism. During the Enlightenment, the increasing emphasis on reason, empiricism, and scientific knowledge contributed to the marginalization of esoteric traditions, which were increasingly distinguished from both established religious doctrine and rational philosophy. Rather than disappearing, however, esoteric thought underwent a revival in the 19th century, developing into what is commonly described as modern occultism. This period witnessed renewed interest in Hermeticism, magic, astrology, spiritualism, and other forms of hidden knowledge, as well as the emergence of influential organizations such as the Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The 19th century was therefore crucial in reshaping earlier esoteric traditions into new forms that would strongly influence Western spirituality and occultism in the following century.
The 20th century saw esotericism diversify and become increasingly integrated into broader cultural and spiritual movements. Earlier occult traditions influenced the development of modern Paganism, including Wicca, while the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s encouraged renewed interest in mysticism, alternative spirituality, and Eastern religious traditions. These developments contributed to the emergence of the New Age movement, further expanding esotericism beyond its earlier occult and initiatory forms.
The Organization and its History
The birth of the organization can be attributed primarily to the Black Plague, a phenomenon commonly considered a natural occurrence or partly man-made disaster. Sources of the time, however, speak of a generalized corruption, an abstracted personification of the rot caused by military campaigns, famines and the chaos of the European continent - the Dark Ages solidified in one catastrophic event. Witness accounts report mist, water or a strange darkness condensing at the door of soon-to-be victims, or other phenomena including nightmares, vomiting, paranoia and anxiety preceding infection even by a up to a week. No singular entity is credited for the Plague, and the effects of the disease past the strange symptoms were entirely natural. While doctors, priests and governments worked to combat the disease, esoteric experts and practitioners found themselves fighting back against the supernatural elements of it, eventually achieving victory due to the eradication of the virus.
Upon learning of such occult events, the major powers of the European continent secretly came together to pool their efforts and create a united organization to study and fight against such occurrences. France, Venice and Genoa, Hungary, England, Castile and Aragòn, the Papal States and the remains of the Byzantine Empire founded the Societas Arcana - the first blueprint for such organization. During the 15th and 16th century, the society grew more powerful, gathering known figures such as Petrarch, William Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Francis Drake, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and the Sforza and Medici families. In 1572, with the foundation of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, the organization received its first military attaché; its closeness to the Savoy family also embedded it within Italian society and politics, allowing it to grow exponentially. During the French Revolution, the organization saw its efforts halted due to the chaos of the conflicts, though members and militant occultists found themselves battling esoteric phenomena set free by the bloodshed. In Spain, a group named la Lanza Plateada fought against entities drawn to the carnage in the Iberian conflicts, while Napoleon's advance into Russia was halted both by the weather and by roaming vengeful spirits that protected the territory.
As Europe settled into a temporary peace, the organization was formalized during the works of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, moving from an impromptu order with a constantly shifting leadership and duties to a singular authority with an established charter: the Organisation européenne pour les études occultes - the name would remain unchanged until 2002. At the onset of World War 1, the organization found itself once more cut off, though local groups still managed to catalogue an extreme number of supernatural events: from the Angels of Mons to beneficent spirits guiding soldiers to safety, to feral men wandering the crater-ridden land and more. The interwar period only served to distance organization chapters, though World War 2 itself was a strongly uniting event. The organization found itself with its first major enemy: the Thule Society and the Third Reich's occult efforts. Militant and partisan members of the organization, together with established military and political representatives, fought a hidden war against Heinrich Himmler and the SS, moving equipment and resources secretly to prevent the use of esoteric power by the regime. The Egregorian Front, a particularly militant sect of the organization, frequently conducted raids and assassinations on SS personnel, seized esoteric items and waged guerrilla wars against the Third Reich even in Germany itself - the German chapters of the organization, bound by a centuries-old charter, were either massacred or joined the resistance.
The aftermath of WWII led to a renaissance for the organization. Recognized for their valiant efforts in the fight against the Third Reich, its members received covert awards, though such secrecy was hardly necessary. The general populace, by the 1960s, was aware of Nazi occultism, and as such the veil was slowly lifted and the organization revealed itself to the public in 1961. This is commonly credited as the landmark event that launched the worldwide popularity of Wicca, spirituality, and the New Age movement: millions of spiritual and occultist practitioners suddenly found their beliefs legitimized by the existence of such a society, by the hard evidence of its works and the esoteric events it had catalogued. Within the decade, the Hippie movement and counterculture had taken over the world, together with increased paganism, Satanism and fringe spiritual currents, which would only gain in traction and popularity over the last years of the 20th century. The end of the 20th and the start of the 21st century would see a shift in the cultural zeitgeist: a normalization of the occult.
By now, the counterculture movement had faded, leaving behind the shock of the organization's reveal. While the Cold War saw the organization occasionally intervene to maintain European integrity in the face of American and Soviet paranormal experimentation, it was mostly focused on local events and occurrences. At this time, esoteric groups and societies had become common, even opening storefronts to sell crystals, candles and other ritual items, or to serve as meeting places for practitioners. Even large-scale corporations were founded, such as Hexenladen, a German mass-scale producer of low-power esoteric items and witchcraft components. Though attempts were made to militarize or capitalize off the popularity of occultism, most countries' militaries saw little need for arcane weapons, commonly considered unreliable and unprofessional especially among the arms race and military evolution of the 1990s. These attempts were cut short by the EU's 2003 Regulation on the use of arcane goods for military purposes and Regulation for the sale of arcane goods. The strict parameters of these laws left leeway for small enterprises and stores, allowing the occult culture to flourish while regulating the mass production and exploitation of esoteric goods and events.
Since the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty, when it was formalized, the EAUSD has been a world-renown body which studies and advises on esoteric, arcane and supernatural events, beings and items within the European continent, with limited outreach across the Atlantic and to the east. It is partnered with each European Member State's ministry of the occult (names may vary) together with the United States' Department of the Arcane, the Japanese Ministry of Spiritual Affairs and Brazil's National Agency for the Surveillance of the Supernatural (ANVS). It maintains stale relationships with the Russian Bureau of Esoteric Sciences, previously named the Soviet Institute of Supernatural Scientific Exploitation.