Word: occultism
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...Henry Adams wrote that in the modern world the dynamo had replaced the Virgin as the power that drives history. Were he around today, it is the computer, not the dynamo, that would impress him with its occult powers and emanations of moral force. It enables the mind to ask questions, find answers, stockpile knowledge and devise plans to move mountains, if not worlds...
...these environs with a superstitious aura. Frequently, it is explicit--a fake phantom in "I Do Not Take Take Messages from Dead People," or the black magic of an obeah man in "The Conversion of Millicent Vernon." More often, she only hints at spectral shadows--voodoo, zombies and the occult in general--to supply that uniquely West Indian flavor...
...long as it emphasizes the sweep of history, this encyclopedia has dignity and flair. When it tries to keep up with current events, the book often resembles a hardbound USA Today. An untroubled Donald Trump appears, along with Wayne Gretzky, Jimmy Breslin and Oprah Winfrey. Parapsychology and the occult are given two massively illustrated layouts; the Holocaust merits less than half a page. In the section on American writers, James Baldwin stares out from a large color portrait, while Mark Twain is granted a small black-and- white snapshot, and Henry James is not seen at all, though oddly enough...
...POWER, by James Mills (Warner; 406 pages; $21.95), is a brave and probably foolhardy try at combining the structure of a conventional spy thriller with what spy fans are likely to consider a lot of annoying nonsense about occult forces and psychic phenomena. Jack Hammond is a U.S. spy who gets caught between two beautiful Soviet witches. Evil, gorgeous Darya can dematerialize herself and drive men mad with multiple orgasms. She can also fox computer memories and detonate nuclear warheads. Good, gorgeous Valentina uses the power of Jesus for psychic healing. Hammond's problem is to keep sickly General Secretary...
Exhibit C: No explanation is given about why the Yin/Yang symbol is banned. It's prominence in the flag of South Korea is presumably "a strong indication of the influence the occult is having" in populous East Asian democracies...