Is Wicca no longer Occultism?

So the first thing I read this morning was an article on the Wild Hunt Pagan News Blog, that the library of congress has reclassified Wicca and Paganism from the Occult to the Religion section.  I am all for mainstreaming and being recognized as a religion.  However in this particular case, I am of two minds.  Wicca is my religion.  Many of my magickal and witchcraft practices I would say that "Yes, they are occult practices".  I don't just mean in the occult means hidden sort of way.  Spirit evocation, the bending and warping of time in ritual, the changing of outcomes in the world, all of these things I would call "occult".  The root of this concern is that  I came into Wicca  and Witchcraft in an overt way when I was looking deeper into the occult.  I was always, even as a child, into crystals, psychicism, and new age topics.  When I started to be pushed to go deeper, that was when I dove head first into ritual, spell craft, and worship of Pagan Gods.

Would I have found Paganism if it had been in the religion section instead?  I would have to say that most likely I would have.  At the time, I was also reading Qabala, the Tibetian book of the dead, the Gnostic Gospels, and anything else I could get my hands on.  I was certainly seeking.

But, are we embarrassed that we engage in occult practices and witchcraft?  Are we still trying to sugar coat the power of what we do with over-emphasizing "harm none" (don't even get me started on that one) and "love and light"?

Right now my personal practice and engagement of the Gods and the Mysteries is about digging deeper, diving down to the dark depths and rising back up to meet the sun.  My next post will be about how deep into the hidden mysteries we all really can go.

Blessings,