After hearing a new occult saying I hadn't heard before.. I think I've just come to this conclusion personally, or at least entertained it as a likely case when referring to much of the occult.
And that's that.. Occult basically means hidden, and the spiritual world is hidden in the sense that you can't see it. (Outside of perhaps rare examples while on certain drugs or when dreaming or in certain trance states or whatever.) So.. In a sense, the hidden world of spirit is kind of synonymous with the word "occult" in my opinion.. And most of the occult knowledge I've learned about.. Has had a kind of religious/spiritual feel to it.
Also.. In order to become a Free Mason you have to believe in a God.. It doesn't have to be a Christian god, or any specific god, just a god. Plus many other secret societies pull from all of this knowledge that goes all the way back to Egypt and earlier of mysticism and magic type stuff, including tarot cards and astrology and... The occult culture just seems to be inundated with things of some sort of mystical nature.
I think it's safe to say that almost all occult knowledge I've learned has been religious/spiritual/mystical in one context or another. In fact.. Much of it is like a secret version of the mainstream religions most people adopt. Which is one reason it extra fascinates me, cause it's like a new layer on the perspective of organized belief systems in societies.
I have also met some secret society people and they tend to believe in their various Gods and spiritual things, often with the same kind of commitment you see from people practicing Christianity or Bhuddism and other various systems.
So I may be reaching a bit here but.. I think occult kinda means hidden religion. Or hidden spirituality, or.. The "hidden laws of the universe".
I won't be so bold as to claim much in regards to laws of the universe, though.. I think many of these people who are in occult groups are.
I mean technically the word just means hidden. But.. I feel like, I understand the word in a whole new way.