In Colin Wilson’s The Occult, he writes around a few main themes; human beings have gotten caught in the “triviality of everydayness” and that the understanding of things greater than themselves is what makes human beings extraordinary. Wilson writes in his introduction “and since a man needs a sense of meaning to release hidden energies, this forgetfulness pushes him deeper into depression and boredom, the sense that nothing is worth the effort” (xxv). Meaning that since the world has becomes a cycle of working and making money, human beings have pushed the more occult, supernatural, “weird coincidences” that they experience every day into the back of their minds, where they do not have to worry about them. Every human experiences occult things, but most of them do not recognize these instances or choose not to pay attention in order to keep their lives in order.

Wilson also coined the term “Faculty X” to explain the ability that allows humans to reach into the occult, the hidden, the unknown, and obtain certain powers. Faculty X is the key that unlocks the deeper, more magical and confusing things in life. It is something that all humans have, but most haven’t tapped into. There are certain people in the world that can naturally access this part of themselves more easily, these include sorcerers, early mediums and even witches, but all humans can essentially work hard with Faculty X to unlock the hidden meanings behind the coincidences and magic that happen in their everyday lives. This is what distinguishes humans from other creatures; humans can access this within themselves. Wilson writes in his introduction: “Man has reached a point in his evolution where he must graduate from clocks to watches, from large to subtle. He must turn increasingly inward. That is, he must turn to the hidden levels of his being, to the ‘occult’, to meanings and vibrations that have so far been to fine to grasp” (xxxviii). His point is that it is time in human evolution for them to focus in and on their own “powers”. Wilson connects the stories of countless historical accounts of people all over the world experiencing strange unexplainable occurrences.

Colin Wilson wants the world to evaluate these phenomena and see how people can work with the world to reach their higher selves, their “supernatural”, probably more natural than most things in the world actually, abilities that allow them to utilize every corner of the universe. Wilson makes the point that having this sight while using Faculty X, and even possessing occult powers naturally, is not always evil or ominous. There is evil existing in some cases, but most often, “powers” or sixth senses are misunderstood by thousands of years of stigma and taboo attached to all things occult.