Sure let me try.

For clarity and to assist others in understanding the meaning of "occult" I am referring to the literal meaning of the word, which is derived from the Latin word occultus meaning clandestine, hidden, secret.

The word is most often used in reference to subjects considered esoteric rather than metaphysical as metaphysical refers primarily to philosophy or theories about the meaning of reality and our perception of reality,  aesthetics, epistemology, ontology, ethics, logic and law.

Esoteric subjects on the other hand refer to those encompassed by the word occult such as magic( magick), extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, numerology, divination, lucid dreaming.

The word occult is truly so vast and vague that it has been applied to many religious practices and organisations throughout history, for example the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn a sect of Zoroastrianism popularized by Israel Regardie and the controversial Magi Aleister Crowley.

The word occult is not only reserved for religion and mysticism, it is also used in medical science, as in the term occult blood, which simply means blood that is unseen by the physical eye but can be detected by scientific testing. This is often used to detect intenal bleeding such as blood in stool or other body fluids in trace amounts.

Likewise, applied to religion, spirituality and mysticism the occult can be considered  the study of "Truth", a deeper truth that exists beneath the surface: 'The truth that is always hidden in plain sight'

Ive always beleived that churches or some other organizations were occult. The only difference is that society says its okay, because of the brain washing. Its just another way to get money from people and the government. I have not ever seen a difference in what a catholic priest does and what a priest or priestess does in their cerimonies. e.g. altar, cup, candles, incense, colored robes, raised arms etc, etc.
or Maybe I'm wrong

1- Occult literally means hidden and in reference to spirituality refers to "that which is hidden or unknown"
The Occult as a spiritual way of being is a very broad term covering many spiritual and mystical practices and beliefs.
2- Magic has several definitions, Magic is often spelled two ways, "Magic" to refer to illusionist magic such as card tricks, shows and entertainment and Majick or Majik to refer to mysticism.
Magick in reference to spirituality literally means " to create change by force of will" and is a very large aspect of the Occult which encompasses all forms of ritual, spellcraft,invocation, excorcism, sorcery, manifestation, transubstantiation and many other practices considered "Occult" (with the one exception of transubstantiation which is a Catholic practice, but interestingly  is very similar to many Occult/Magickal practices.
I hope this helps clarify your questions

From gaeliccrossedone:
These definitions are VERY helpful,Occult is simply a way to lump all the "unknown knowledge etc. etc. from different belief systems" into a category.It is a human trait to categorize things, it is a way of keeping order.Many religious beliefs rely heavily upon categorizing things that arent understood to the fullest.

An important key to understanding is really knowing the differences between positive and negative energies, often times in relation to the words "occult" and "majik "  religions can group both into the same category when they are two completely different things.....positive and negative. Does this make sense?
What Im trying to say here, is you must have a complete understanding of the power of both energies, this is how our spirits lose their way....when we get into things we fully dont understand ..............it can have drastic consequences upon our spirits.

And I would have to disagree for there's a huge difference between information and knowledge, as there is with wisdom.
We have this internet full of information, this doesn't make it knowledge, why then is not everyone wise and the world enlightened? Because people think their information is the same as knowledge.

OP: when I think about your question, I automatically think about the Bible and the way it is used today. The bible is important to millions of people all over the world from three major religions especially; yet we have all noticed that people will quote a scripture having no clue as to its true meaning both historically, culturally, and spiritually; its taken all out of context most times because the Bible truly is one enigmatic, allegorical, poetic writing which includes old Judaic tribal custom, and alludes to ancient occultic wisdom even after all the editing and censorship by the Church.
Since Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all base their religions on that book or parts of it, and since most of those people take it all literally, they miss out on what is hidden. The people who seem to  take the most time to contemplate on its deeper meanings are the Rabbis especially those orthodox Rabbis and the writers of the Talmud. The average evangelical preacher really has no clue. If people think everything is all hanging out in the open, and we know everything already, they aren't looking closely enough.