Adept

An adept is an individual identified as having attained a specific level of knowledge, skill, or aptitude in doctrines relevant to a particular occult discipline, such as alchemy or magic. According to magical tradition, adepts stand out from others due to their enhanced abilities. All human qualities are developed in them, including intelligence and spirituality. According to Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater, anyone can become an adept through spiritual development and self-improvement,[1] though others insist that initiation or esoteric transmission into a magical organization or tradition is a necessary preliminary.[2] The word "adept" is derived from Latin adeptus 'one who has attained' (the secret of transmuting metals).[3] A. E. Waite recounts the use of the term in alchemy in his 1926 book, The Secret Tradition of Alchemy.[4] Madame Blavatsky makes liberal use of the term adept in her works[5] to refer to their additional function as caretaker of ancient occult knowledge. She also mentions their great compassionate desire to help humanity and also documents other powers of the adept such as being able to take active control of elemental spirits as well as the physical and astral conditions of non-adepts.[6] In Alice Bailey's body of writing she outlines a hierarchy of spiritual evolution and an initiatory path along which an individual may choose to advance. In her works an Adept is defined as a being who has taken five of the seven initiations.[7]