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The Occult:
Conservative Christian beliefs
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Conservative Christian beliefs about the Occult:
There is no consensus on the nature of the Occult:
 | Some people (particularly individuals involved in occultic activities)
look upon the Occult as fascinating, harmless, mysterious, spiritual and a
source of knowledge and healing power. |
| Others (particularly conservative Christians) see it as being
profoundly evil, criminal, destructive, life threatening, and Satanic. It
is a word that generates horror and revulsion. |
Although it is common for people to differ in their religious views, it is
rare to have a disparity as extreme as this.
Many Evangelicals and Fundamentalist Christians define the Occult as including an
enormous range of practices. We have seen references to:
| Religions & Spiritual Movements:
 | American Meditation Society |
| Anthroposophical Society |
| Baha'i Faith |
| Ceremonial Magick. This includes the use of rituals, spells, chants to change the material
world. |
| Children of God (Family of Love) |
| Christian Science: An established Christian denomination
centered in Boston MA. |
| A Course in Miracles |
| Eckankar: A religious and spiritual path, sometimes called the Religion
of the Light and Sound of God. |
| Gothic Satanism: This is a non-existent, anti-Christian faith whose members
were believed to engage in
cannibalism, human sacrifice, etc. It is an imaginary faith created during the
latter Middle Ages. It justified
the extensive Witch burnings and hangings of the 15th to 18th
centuries. |
| Hinduism: The third largest of the world's great
religions. |
| Hindu sects of various types, such as Hare Krishna. |
| Jehovah's Witnesses (a.k.a. Watchtower
Society, WTS) |
| Kabala |
| Macumba: This is a syncretistic
religion combining elements of Roman Catholicism and African
native religions. It is similar to Vodun. |
| Mormonism (a.k.a. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints) |
| New Age: This is a system of thought including belief in monism,
pantheism, reincarnation, personal transformation, spirit guides, etc. Includes practices
such as channeling, use of crystals, meditation, etc. |
| Palo Mayombe |
| Rastafarianism |
| Rosicrucianism: An ancient syncretistic religion dating back to the 17th
century. |
| Santeria: A Caribbean religion which combines Roman
Catholicism and African native beliefs. |
| Satanic Ritual Abuse: The abuse and murder
of children by Satanists during rituals. This appears to be a
non-existent phenomenon. |
| Satanism: A modern religion based on a pre-Christian concept of
Satan, who is recognized either as a principle or as a supernatural being. |
| Church of Scientology: A religious movement based on the
writings of L R Hubbard. |
| Self-Realization Fellowship |
| Spiritualists National Movement, and other branches of Spiritualism/Spiritism. |
| Shamanism |
| Theosophy: A religious group whose beliefs are largely based on the writings of Helena Blavatsky. |
| Transcendental Meditation |
| UFO cults: Groups who believe that extra-terrestrial beings are attempting to
communicate with us and lead humans to a higher plane of understanding.
6 |
| Unification Church: An established Christian denomination
originating in Korea. |
| Vedanta Society |
| Vodun: A syncretistic Caribbean religion which combines Roman Catholicism
and African native beliefs. |
| Voodoo: A non-existent religion from the Caribbean invented
for Hollywood horror
movies). |
| Wicca: A Neo-Pagan earth-based religion
similar to Native American spirituality. It is sometimes called "White
Witchcraft" by the public. |
| Zen Buddhism 7 |
|
| Divination Techniques -- methods of foretelling the future:
| Astrology |
| Biorhythm |
| Crystal divination |
| I Ching |
| Palm Reading |
| Rune casting |
| Tarot Card Reading 5 |
| Tea Cup Reading |
|
| Games
| Adult games (e.g. Ouija Boards). |
| Children's TV programs and cartoons (e.g. She-ra). |
| Children's toys (e.g. Smurfs). |
| Fantasy role-playing games (e.g. Dungeons and Dragons) |
|
| Medical and therapeutic techniques:
| Aura reading |
| Various holistic medical processes |
| Hypnotism |
| Iridology (diagnosis from study of the iris) |
| Reflexology (diagnosis from manipulation of the foot) |
| Visualization techniques (a.k.a. guided imagery) |
|
| Other Activities
| Educational courses - a range of modern methods of teaching |
| Fire walking (bare-foot walking on a bed of glowing coals). |
| Heavy metal rock music. |
| Holistic Health Practices (healing by acupuncture, flower remedies,
homeopathy, etc.) |
| The Masonic Lodge (or similar men's fraternal organizations). |
| Meditation. |
| Reading novels by specific authors (e.g. Carlos Casteneda). |
| Yoga and other exercise techniques. |
|
Impact of Occultic activities:
Many conservative Christians believe that if a person engages in occult experiences,
then "points of contact or entanglement with demonic entities" will
occur, and "malevolent spiritual entities" (demons) can infiltrate
their mind and body. They become demon possessed.
Many Evangelical Christian authors often visualize the opening of occultic "doorways"
through which malevolent forces have a "legal right" to infiltrate the
person's home and cause serious spiritual problems. These demons can become
attached to the person's location and can cause inter-generational infestation
over a period of decades or even centuries.
These views correspond closely to 1st
and 2nd century CE beliefs in possession by demons and evil spirits. They have
been abandoned by most psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals
for centuries. Within the professional therapeutic communities, such beliefs now appear to be confined to a small minority of mental health professionals
who are Roman Catholics or conservative Protestants.
Rex W. Rosenberg, a conservative
Christian clinical psychologist who has specialized in Multiple Personality Disorder,
believes that such infiltration can lead to what he calls "demonically-mediated
dissociation" (DMD). This is one form of a mental disorder that others call
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) or Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
1,2 All forms of
MPD and DID are now recognized by almost all therapists as iatrogenic (physician created) disorders that no not occur in nature.
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Many books have been written by Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christian authors in
opposition to the Occult. 3 Most are filled with
fear and lurid descriptions of the fate of occultists. They are quite
terrifying.
One partial exception appears to be a "transition book." It is titled: "When the Devil Dares your Kids, Protecting Your Children from Satanism,
Witchcraft and the Occult" by Bob and Gretchen Passantino. See a critical review of that book. The
quality of the Passantino's book is at a much higher level than is seen in most
conservative Christian writings. 4
Pat Robertson, his Christian Coalition and 700 Club discuss the
Occult
frequently. In his book, "The New World Order," he describes a world-wide
conspiracy whose goal is to establish "an occult-inspired world socialist
dictatorship....[a] new world order based on the overthrow of civil governments, the
church and private property.". He identifies the leader of the conspiracy is "international
Freemasonry." which he believes is dominated by "satanists and
occultists." By this century, he writes that a Freemasonic coalition of "humanists"
and "occultists" had seized control of governments, schools, banks, the
media and "apostate" churches. We have been unable to find
concrete
evidence of such a conspiracy.
Comparing beliefs about the Occult:
Some of the beliefs by conservative Christians, and
the contrasting beliefs of others:
|
Common conservative Christian
belief about the Occult |
Belief by Occultists |
| All occultic activities are controlled by demonic forces, and
are inspired by Satan. |
With the exception of Satanists, no occult groups
recognize the existence of Satan. |
| Engaging in any occultic practice will lead to personal demon possession. |
Mental health professionals essentially all agree that
demons do not exist. Possession is impossible. |
| All occultic activities are controlled by a single, secret, international organization that
is seeking total political power. |
All occultic groups work quite independently of others, with
the exception of cooperation during psychic fairs. |
| Occultists hate Christianity. |
Some Satanists ridicule Christianity. Some Wiccans fight
back legally when they experience by prejudice and physical attacks by Christians. But, most
of the remaining occultists are Christians. |
| Once you start in the Occult you are prevented from leaving. |
Anyone is free to leave any Occultic group or practice at any time. |
| All occultic practices are recruiting programs for Satanism. |
There is no connection between Satanic and other occultic
groups. |
| "Occult crime" is a separate class of criminal activity inspired by the
Occult. |
With the exception of some young dabblers in Satanism who
are into painting graffiti, (and very rarely animal sacrifice), occultists do not engage in criminal acts that
are associated with their practices. |
| Occult groups commit 50 to 60 thousands of human sacrifices per year. |
The only known documented human sacrifice in the U.S. or
Canada
was by the Solar
Temple leadership; they are a Christian-New Age group. |
| All elements of the Occult recruit extensively, and concentrate heavily on youth. |
Satanists and Neopagans to not recruit members of any age. Most Wiccan
covens refuse to initiate or educate an individual under the age of 18.
Other occultic practitioners are typically approached by
an interested person rather than vice versa. |
| Witchcraft (most often Wicca) and Satanism
are essentially identical. |
Wicca and Satanism are totally different religions. Their behavior codes are totally
contradictory. They recognize different deities. Their beliefs, rituals etc
are quite different. |
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Rex W. Rosenberg: web site dealing with "Demonically-Mediated
Dissociation" (DMD) at:
http://www.awav.net/wzeroall/
- Rex W. Rosenberg, "Occult Activities and Manifestations Survey,"
at: http://www.awav.net/wzeroall/survey.html
- The following Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian
anti-Occult references were consulted. None are particularly
reliable. However, they may help the reader gain an understanding of the mind set of people who
fear the Occult. Some of the material in these books appear to have been
derived from the Middle Ages and other Christian anti-occult books. You will not believe the
amount of misinformation, religious hatred and religious intolerance contained within
these publications:
| D.W. Hoover, "How to Respond to the Occult," Concordia, St. Louis (1977)
P. 8 |
| J. McDowell & D. Stewart, "The Occult, Here's Life," San Bernadino (1992) |
| N. Price, "New Age, the Occult and Lion Country," Power Books, New Tappan NJ (1989)
|
| Texe Marrs, "New Age Cults & Religions," Living Truth, Austin (1990) |
| W.Viser, "The Darkness Among Us," Broadman & Holman, Nashville (1994)
|
| E. Winker, "The New Age is Lying to You," Concordia, St. Louis (1994)
|
| D. Hunt, "America: The Sorcerer's New Apprentice," Harvest House, Eugene, (1988) |
| T. Schwarz & D. Empey, "Is Your Family Safe?," Satanism, Zondervan, Grand Rapids
(1988) |
| J. Michaelsen, "Like Lambs to the Slaughter," Harvest House, Eugene (1989)
|
| M.F. Unger, "Demons in the World Today," Tyndale House, Wheaton IL (1971) |
B & G Passantino, When The Devil Dares Your Kids," servant, Ann Arbor (1991)
Solandia has many pages showing the great variety of Tarot Cards that are currently available. See:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/
Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna, "Alien abductions and the Orthodox
Christian," Orthodox Christian Information Center, at:
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/
This list is taken from a number of conservative Christian sources,
including Bishop Alexander (Mileant), "The enticement of the occult,"
OrthodoxPhotos, at:
http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/
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Copyright © 1995 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally published: 1995-JUN-8
Last update: 2007-OCT-16
Author: B.A. Robinson
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