If something is magic its often refered to as occult ----------- what about other religions why are they not a occult ..but an religion?

am i making since? probably not !

Deborah, these are good questions thta make perfect sense !

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

^ Good answers. I would add, though, that :"occult" is pretty much meaningless, since there is no lack of information on various and sundry metaphysical practices.  Nothing is hidden anymore.

 For instance, Serge Kahili King has written on everything from "kahi"--a form of laying-on of hands healing--to the trusty old Hawaiian death curse.

(BTW, I've done the former, never had occasion to do the latter.)

Greyfox, plz do tell how the Hawaiian Death curse works.

It has been a good twenty years since I read about it, but as I recall, it involves invoking a specific Hawaiian deity.

You might try googling  King, see what you can find in the way of his books.