The Washington Post's recent article provides a counter definition to occult- "occultation means the spreading of something over the soil to exclude light and thereby inhibit plants from growing" ( pizzagate )

submitted by jangles

There appears to be some stretching of the English in this recent Washington Post article as they introduce new definitions to dilute the ramifications of being associated to Occult activities. Is this an indication that the secret societies are going to be outed? What is your opinion?

Quoted directly from the WP article 3/16/17 , archive

The word “occult,” which can be used as a noun, an adjective or a verb, signifies something hidden, concealed from common forms of perception. Hence its relevance to paranormal phenomena and closely guarded secrets. In astronomy, one celestial body can occult another, as when the moon hides the sun during a solar eclipse. But let’s bring it a bit more down to earth — to the earth in your yard, that is. In this case, occultation means the spreading of something over the soil to exclude light and thereby inhibit plants from growing. The word has come into recent use thanks to Canadian farmer Jean-Martin Fortier in his 2014 book, “The Market Gardener.”

eyeVoated

That. And perhaps author Adrian Higgins sucks at writing. But really, who cares? No intelligent person would pay for a copy of Washington Post; it's pure smut; it's the fast food of literature, not suitable for compost. In an earlier thread, there was speculation of human remains in our food supply. So perhaps it would be better to make the best use out of Mr. Higgins's crap article, and look into gardening.

Pixel_loves_Polygon

The word occult does in fact mean hidden, to obscure or be obscured.. the moon occults the sun during an eclipse for example. That is not a new definition. The reason the occult is even called the occult is because it is traditionally hidden or not publicly shared. But many things are called occult or occulted and the word is not inherently negative. From Miriam-Webster dictionary: 

1:  not revealed :  secret
"deep subterranean occult jealousy" — J. C. Powys
2:  not easily apprehended or understood :  abstruse, mysterious
"occult matters like nuclear physics, radiation effects and the designing of rockets" — Robert Bendiner
3:  hidden from view :  concealed occult underground passages
4:  of or relating to the occult
*"… the occult arts—astrology, palmistry, card reading" … — Amy Fine Collins*
occult practices
5:  not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone occult carcinoma; 
also: not present in macroscopic amounts: occult blood in a stool

So no, I don' think (in this case) this article has anything at all to do with the occult as it relates to pizzagate or is any indicator of anyone being outed. Sorry to say.

CeepsNo

Yes, they are always trying to modify language so its often difficult to talk along partisan lines.

carmencita

Yes. Thank You. Exactly What I Was Thinking. They are on a campaign to brainwash the readers.

Vindicator

Elegant little post, jangles. + Clear pizzagate premise statement + Link, plus a quote + Archive Thumbs up! Have my upvoat. :)