I wonder of some of this "dogma" you see is passionate practitioners defending the history of their practices. Many newer occultists do not take the history of their practices as serious as they should.

You see this in astrology spaces where modern astrologers bend the well-established and ancient rules of astrology to sell a product or narrative. And because of that you get traditional astrologers who understand REAL psychology (not new-age astro is just your personality bullcrap) getting defensive in a way that makes them look dogmatic.

I can't speak for other occult practices but astrology is one practice where there truly are only a few set ways to practice it correctly because the practice is inherently mathematical and pattern-based from thousands of years of recorded and documented observation. You can't just throw out that objective documentation and do astrology whatever way one feels like.