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The Occult: What Is It? The word occult comes from the Latin occultus, which means “concealed.” In its ordinary usage, it means “beyond the bounds of ordinary knowledge—the mysterious, the concealed, or that which is hidden from view.” Witchcraft, magic, etc., are occult substitutes for Bible miracles. Whereas God does miracles for His people, believers in the occult seek miracles by appealing to spirit powers (demons).
Students of the occult frequently divide occult phenomena into three areas: (1) forms of divination, (2) types of mystical experience, and (3) magical manipulation.
Divination is an attempt to obtain, by supernatural means, information which cannot be obtained by the natural processes of study and investigation. Divination seeks especially to foretell the future. Just as magic is the occult substitute for divine miracles, divination is the occult substitute for God-inspired prophecy. God drove Israel into captivity because they practiced sins that included divination (II Kings 17:17-18) or soothsaying.
Augury (another form of divination) involves interpreting omens— and is based on the belief that the activities of gods could be predicted. This is done by observing events in nature (the weather, behavior of animals, the movement of stars, etc.), or by observing the results of ritual ceremonies involving chance (casting lots, tossing arrows, etc.). King Manasseh of Israel practiced such things and did evil before God (II Kings 21:6; II Chron. 33:6). The most common form of divination (augury) today is astrology. Other examples of divination include reading palms (palmistry), Ouija boards, tarot cards, crystal balls, and interpretation of dreams.
Any attempt to transcend the bounds of the physical world with outof- body experiences such as astral flight or levitation fits into category two—types of mystical experience. Séances, necromancy and psychic healing also fit into this category.
Necromancy is the alleged power to communicate with the spirits of dead people (“ghosts”). The Scriptures call this “having a familiar spirit.” Today, people who do this are called spiritists, spiritualists, or mediums. There are millions of people in South America who claim this power, and hundreds of thousands in the United States, many of whom are members of the hundreds of spiritualist or spiritist churches (The Occult: Witchcraft, Magic, Divination and Psychics).
Magical manipulation—using hidden forces of the spiritual realm to manipulate people and circumstances—is the third category. Practitioners include sorcerers, witches and witch doctors (The Occult Connection).
Today, the tentacles of occult philosophy reach into every area of society. Police departments request psychics to help solve crimes; universities offer courses in paranormal and occult science; well-known science fiction writers mask occult doctrines in their works through pseudo-scientific language; and leaders of the women’s movement urge their followers to return to the ancient religions in which female deities were worshiped (witchcraft). Even the American Medical Society endorses the search for “new” powers to aid the healing process.
Is this saturation of occult philosophy a mere coincidence—or is there an agenda being implemented by these varied, seemingly unconnected disciplines?
Occult Saturation: Preparation for a New World Order
Within the past few decades many voices have been crying for a New World Order. These include, among others, past and present presidents of the United States, the pope, the president of Russia and the prime minister of England. What is being declared as “new” is really not new at all, but is a renewed attempt by mankind to unite in order to build a kingdom or government without God’s intervention or rulership. It is in fact a continuation of the ancient Tower of Babel and is the driving philosophical/religious force behind the United Nations and the planned New World Order. Scholars believe that the Babylonian Tower was a type of pyramid. This pyramid was never completed because God intervened and confused the languages of man, dispersing humanity over all the earth.
The unfinished pyramid on the back of the U.S. one-dollar bill depicts the renewal of this one-world vision. The all-seeing eye above the pyramid is thought by some to represent “big brother” or the ruling Elite, but it is also thought to represent Lucifer or the occult force behind the New World Order. One writer notes: “The New World Order as envisioned by the Elite is hardly a recent undertaking. Theirs is a philosophy rooted in ancient occult traditions. Success is near, and the infiltration of society by New Age occultism is the reason for this success. The New World Order has never been solely about world government; rather, from the beginning its proponents have been privy to secret doctrines and it is a spiritual plan more than anything” (New World Order or Occult Secret Destiny? The New Age Movement and Service to The Plan).
Robert Hieronimus is a proponent of the New Age and the Secret Brotherhood’s plan for a New World Order. In his book, America’s Secret Destiny, he traced the spiritual vision of America’s founding fathers and the plan’s eventual fruition in the New World Order and the New Age Movement (both of which are synonymous).
Willy Peterson, though writing from the opposite camp, confirms the assertions of Hieronimus. “In order to reach their aims of world unity and thus engage the whole world in service to the Plan, ‘enlightened’ Freemasons and New Agers have been pushing for collectivist motifs that promote monistic pantheism and unity. This is why the chief instigators to the globalist League of Nations and the United Nations have been Theosophists, trying to work out the plan. This is why the verbiage and aims at the UN is for world peace and brotherhood. It is a spiritual undertaking in a secular world.”
These so-called “enlightened people” are considered to be the torchbearers of a spiritual plan that can be traced to the time of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, up through to the Illuminati and onwards. David Allen Lewis writes in Dark Angels of Light, “Whether the Illuminati has one special organization that is its original descendant ... its philosophical torchbearers are represented by literally hundreds of organizations and individuals in many diverse realms.”
A Blueprint for Destiny
It is no coincidence that America has become the center of New Age and New World Order conspiracies. Heironomus states that “America’s Great Seal may be seen as a blueprint for the elevation of consciousness. It says, in part, that we must transform ourselves before we can change the world, and it is during the process of self-transformation that we can catch a glimpse of what part we are to play in national and global transformation.”
Texe Marrs, author of Dark Secrets of the New Age, writes: “The New World Order, or rather the philosophy its deliverers hold to be true, is one and the same as the New Age ideal of man’s divinity and self-transformation. In order to partake ... one must awaken to the original sin of Lucifer, as proposed to Eve in the Garden of Eden, that we “shall be like God’ [now in this physical life].” (See Genesis 3:5.) It is not surprising, then, that Christians are often cited as the main obstacle hindering its success.
True Christians proclaim only one Savior—Jesus Christ—and only one salvation through Him. On the other hand, the New Age belief allows for many ‘saviors’ and enlightened teachers, masters and gurus, and hence many ways to salvation. Therefore, the only belief system not compatible with the New Age and coming New World Order is true Christianity.
“The New Age is a universal open-arms religion that excludes from its ranks only those who believe in Jesus Christ and a Personal God. Buddhists, Shintoists, Satanists, Secular Humanists, witches, witch doctors and shamans—and all who reject Christianity are invited to become trusted members of the New Age family. Worshippers of separate faiths and denominations are to be unified in a common purpose: THE GLORIFICATION OF MAN” (Ibid.).
Secular Humanism: The glorification of man is both the philosophy and goal of Secular Humanism. The Humanist Manifesto I was written in 1933. A second addition, Humanist Manifesto II, was completed in 1973 and signed by such notables as the author Isaac Asimov; professors Brand Blanshard, Anthony Flew, and A.J. Ayer; psychologist B.F. Skinner; situational ethicist Joseph Fletcher; and biologist Jacques Monod. The following are selections that show the general direction of the manifesto.
“ ‘Promises of immortal salvation and fear of eternal damnation are both illusory and harmful.’ Why? Because ‘they distract humans from present concerns, from self-actualization, and from rectifying social injustices.’ Moreover, science has found ‘no credible evidence that life survives the death of the body.’
“ ‘We affirm that moral values derive their source from human experience. Ethics is autonomous and situational, needing no theological or ideological sanction.’
“ ‘In the area of sexuality, we believe that intolerant attitudes, often cultivated by orthodox religions and puritanical cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct.’ The authors affirm ‘the right to birth control, abortion, and divorce.’ They also permit any form of ‘sexual behavior between consenting adults,’ for ‘short of harming others or compelling them to do likewise, individuals should be permitted to express their sexual proclivities and pursue their lifestyles as they desire’ ” (McCallum, D., Optimistic Secular Humanism, 2004).
Secular Humanism has dominated western thinking and is finding its ultimate expression in plans for a New World Order. And one way to get all people—including professing Christians—mentally prepared for this New World Order is to desensitize them by saturating them with teachings and practices of humanism, sexual promiscuity, eastern mysticism, witchcraft, satanism, paganism and occultism as well as ethnic diversity and politically correct “tolerance” propaganda. Astrology is one such example.
Astrology
In 2003 a U.S. public opinion poll was taken regarding beliefs in astrology. Of those participating, 31%, or nearly 1 in 3 people, believed in the accuracy of astrology—and among those aged 25 to 29 that number rose to 46%, nearly 1 in 2. Belief by people over age 64 was only 17%, or about 1 in 6. These statistics clearly show how influential this saturation campaign has been at all levels of society in changing beliefs in just one generation.
In the United States and Canada, 1,800 newspapers print daily horoscopes. Twelve thousand Americans claim to be full-time astrologers, and another 200,000 work at it part-time. Author Linda Goodman’s two books on astrology have sold an incredible 60 million copies. The phenomenon of astrology is growing.
God’s View of Astrology: Throughout history, man has searched the heavens for answers to life’s questions. And throughout history, God has condemned such practices.
The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from these things that shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; there shall not be a coal to warm them; nor fire, to sit before it. Thus shall they be to you with whom you have labored, even your merchants from your youth. Each one shall wander to his own quarter; none shall save you” (Isaiah 47:13-15).
As Isaiah explains, astrologers do not have the power to save anyone from troubles or death. Reading the stars and planets will not tell man what he needs to know. God Himself reveals what man needs to know, as the biblical account of Daniel and his companions shows. “And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king asked them, he found them [Daniel and his friends] ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his kingdom…. Daniel answered before the king and said, ‘The secret which the king has demanded cannot be shown to the king by the wise men, the enchanters, the astrologers or the magicians. But there is a God in heaven Who reveals secrets and makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days’ ” (Daniel 1:20 and 2:27-28).
Therefore, people who use astrology are using witchcraft. It makes no difference if it is checking one’s astrological “forecast” in the daily newspaper, making and using astrological charts, or consulting with astrologers. True Christians live by the Word of God and walk in faith, believing God the Father and Jesus Christ, and do not seek to know the future through astrology.
Ouija Boards—Doorway to the Occult
One of the chief tools used in divination is the Ouija board. Promoted as a “harmless game,” players place their fingertips on a “pointer” which moves around a board indicating answers to questions asked by the users. The pointer’s movement is touted to be nothing more than the subconscious actions of the participants. Occultists, however, know better.
Precursors to the Ouija board date back to ancient times. Similar instruments are known to have been used in China and Greece in the 500s BC, allegedly to communicate with the dead. Third-century Romans employed such devices as well. The Ouija board was widely used as a “parlor game” in the mid-1800s in Europe. But it was not until after World War I that the board became enormously popular in America—when many were desperate to communicate with loved ones lost in the war. The design of the modern Ouija board is credited to inventor William Fuld.
The Ouija board’s popularity surged again in the 1960s and 1970s alongside a renewed interest in the occult and the supernatural. In 1966, the Parker Brothers game company acquired the patent from Fuld and began producing Ouija boards by the millions—stressing that the “game” was for “entertainment” purposes only. In fact, the company markets the controversial board under the tagline, “It’s only a game—isn’t it?”
Unfortunately, many are deceived into believing that the Ouija board is just a game. The board, in reality, is an occult device designed primarily to contact spirit entities (or, ostensibly, the dead) in an effort to gain knowledge or insight concerning careers, relationships, the afterlife, etc. Those who use Ouija boards are often amazed at the kinds of information the board will reveal—things that would otherwise be impossible to know.
While advocates claim the Ouija board is a legitimate means to discover insight, wisdom and truth from the spirit world, even those steeped in the occult warn of its use. Vicar Kevin Logan writes of his participation in a 1987 television program with a group of witches. “A variety of witches faced us across the TV studio and encouraged us by supporting our warning to the public to avoid playing around with the Ouija board. One witch said, ‘It is a powerful tool in the occult and we would warn anybody who does not know what they are doing to steer well clear of the Ouija’ ” (Kevin Logan, Paganism and the Occult, p. 130; http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Wicca%20&%20Witchcraft/ouija_board.htm).
Master occultist J. Edward Cornelius affirms that concerns over Ouija boards are founded in truth. He warns: “Tragedies prove beyond a shred of a doubt that the [Ouija] board is capable of bridging the invisible world with our own” (Cornelius, Aleister Crowley and the Ouija Board; deals with the life of Aleister Crowley, one of the greatest occult magicians of the twentieth century; http://feralhouse.com/aleister-crowley-and-the-ouija-board/).
But the dead cannot be contacted (Eccl. 9:5), and the only spirit entities that respond to such “channeling” are demons. Such “consulting of spirits” is condemned in Scripture as a serious sin: “There shall not be found among you anyone who … uses divination, or an observer of times, or a fortuneteller, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or one who seeks oracles from the dead. For all that do these things are an abomination to the LORD…” (Deut. 18:10-12).
The prophet Isaiah writes: “And when they shall say to you, ‘Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and to wizards who peep and mutter’— but should not a people seek unto their God? Should the dead be sought on behalf of the living?” (Isa. 8:19). God desires that we look to Him for answers, not to demon spirits that can take control and ruin our lives.
While at first appearing to be an innocent “game” for entertainment and enjoyment, the Ouija board is clearly a gateway to the occult. Demonic spirits greatly desire to influence the lives of humans—and such influence often begins by opening the door of communication through Ouija boards. Users may find themselves addicted to the “guidance” offered by the spirit world—only to be quickly pulled into numerous occult practices.
Scripture warns us: “Be sober! Be vigilant! For your adversary the devil [with his demons] is prowling about as a roaring lion, seeking anyone he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). The Ouija board may be advertised as “only a game”—but that is exactly what Satan would have us believe. After all, he pawns even himself off as an angel of light (II Cor. 11:14).
Tattoos—Links to the Spirit World
Many people today believe that tattoos are an innocent form of artistic “self-expression.” But what is the origin of the practice of tattooing? What does the Bible have to say about marking the human body?
Traditionally, tattoos have been associated with rebellion, immoral behavior, crime, gang membership, etc. Much of this is true, but the ancient origins of tattooing are even more ominous. An abundance of research shows that the practice of tattooing the human body originated in occult mysticism. The “tattooist”—the one who creates and applies the tattoo— was anciently a priest or a practitioner of magical arts.
The following quotes are taken from Terry Watkins’ Web site, www.biblebelievers.com/watkins_tattoos/pagan.html. They demonstrate that tattooing is clearly linked to some form of occult practice. Bold emphasis has been added.
“Tattooing is often a magical rite in the more traditional cultures, and the tattooist is respected as a priest or shaman” (Michelle Delio, Tattoo: The Exotic Art of Skin Decoration, p. 73). Remember, a shaman is well known to be an intermediary (medium) between the physical and the supernatural— and uses “magic” to cure illnesses, predict the future, control spirits, etc.
“In Fiji, Formosa, New Zealand and in certain of the North American Indian tribes, tattooing was regarded as a religious ceremony, and performed by priests or priestesses” (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, p. 64).
“The actual tattooing process, which involved complex rituals and taboos, could only be done by priests and was associated with beliefs which were secrets known only to members of the priestly caste…. [Researchers have] concluded that historically tattooing had originated in connection with ancient rites of scarification and bloodletting which were associated with religious practices intended to put the human soul in harmony with supernatural forces and ensure continuity between this life and the next” (Steve Gilbert, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 158).
According to Watkins, Delio notes in his book that many tattoo designs have mystical and occult meanings. Tribal tattoos, in particular, were known to be “channels into spiritual and demonic possession.”
“Tattooing is about personalizing the body, making it a true home and fit temple for the spirit that dwells inside it…. When the designs are chosen with care, tattoos have a power and magic all their own. They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul…. Some tattooists in the West are experimenting with ritual tattooing. This method of working incorporates doing a ritual to create a sacred space in the area where the tattoo is positioned. Often incense is burned and the gods are invited to bless the proceedings” (Delio, pp. 8, 13, 75).
Indeed, the origin, meaning and purpose behind the practice of tattooing is clearly pagan—and involves demonism, shamanism and occult mysticism. Furthermore, the tattooist—the shaman or occult priest—often uses the tattoo as a “point of contact” to the spiritual world. Thus the tattoo is much more than just a body decoration—more than a layer of ink cut into the skin. According to Watkins, in every culture, up until the 20th century, the tattoo has been a “vehicle for pagan, spiritual and religious invocations.” Even today, in many countries including the United States, the tattoo “continues to be a bridge into the supernatural world.”
Amazingly, Rolling Stone magazine verifies this tattoo-supernatural link in its March 28, 2002, issue which features the famous tattoo artist Paul Booth. The writer describes Booth’s technique as “allowing his clients’ demons to help guide the needle” (p. 40; bold emphasis added; quoted on Watkins’ Web site).
God warned the nation of Israel that they were not to follow the ways of the pagan nations around them (Deut. 12:29-32). He specifically commanded them not to practice tattooing: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am the LORD” (Lev. 19:28).
Obviously, having a “rose” tattooed on one’s forearm doesn’t necessarily indicate an interest in the occult. But it does violate God’s command against tattooing. And Christians are called by God to be unspotted from the ways of this world (James 1:27). Can we honestly participate in anything that is associated in any way with Satan and the occult? The apostle Paul warns, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of demons” (I Cor. 10:21).
Occult Influences in Schools
The public school system has become an important vehicle for promoting the anti-God, anti-Christ, humanist and occult agenda of the New World Order. The assault on children’s minds under the guise of education is reflected in this brief sampling of actual events that have occurred in various public schools across America:
“The Witches, by Roald Dahl, was read aloud to second graders … during regular school hours…. The book starts out with the caveat: This is NOT a Fairy Tale. This is about REAL witches! The book goes on to say that real witches dress in ordinary clothes; look like ordinary women; hate children; and get their pleasure from doing away with one child [i.e., human sacrifice] a weekend, 52 a year. The parents learned about this horrendous instruction only when their second graders had nightmares.
“Seventh graders … have for years been assigned to read the guide to the London Dungeon, a British museum where tourists can see frightening displays of wax figures demonstrating hideous torture practices that were used in bygone eras. The guide itself states that the exhibition is not recommended to unaccompanied or young children. The class assignment instructed the children to write a paragraph describing their own form of torture. One child announced that he was going home to try this kind of torture on his little brother.
“In another school, eleven-year-olds were given a book called The Headless Cupid, which is about a girl practicing to be a witch. The book graphically describes the First Amendment-protected religion of witchcraft, occult practices, spirit guides, séances and initiation rites.
“A class of sixth graders was shown the R-rated movie Dawn of the Dead as a reward after they had finished a test. Parents were not informed in advance, and when they finally reviewed the film, were shocked to find that it contained cannibalism, brutally violent scenes and was steeped in satanic and occult-related themes.
“In still another American school, the film The Sword and the Sorcerer was shown to sixth graders. Parents complained because it shows a witch calling up the devil from the pit of hell while the walls appeared to be coming alive with humans who are bleeding and screaming in agony. The witch worships the devil by licking and kissing him, calling him ‘my god and my master’ ” (The NCSCIA FOCUS Pre-Halloween, 2001 Edition).
The Occult and the Feminine Divine
Under the guise of New Age spirituality, feminine occult practices and Satanism are increasing in scope and activity. For example, at the 13th annual Women of Wisdom Conference held in Seattle, February 16-21, 2005, the theme was “Living Boldly with Heart, Intention & Commitment.” It was billed as, “A week of lectures, performances and experiential workshops, with presenters from diverse ethnic and spiritual backgrounds exploring the Divine Feminine.”
The WOW New Age workshops bring in elements from diverse perspectives, such as Hindu, Wiccan, Celtic and others, incorporating occult practices such as tarot reading, meditation, chanting, ecstatic drumming, and “ecstatic tantric dancing.” They dwell on issues such as sexuality, eroticism, feminine consciousness, and personal altars as well as healing with chakras, medicine wheels, crystals and colors.
Examples of the various features of such New Age workshops follow:
Sharron Rose, a 56-year-old DVD producer/distributor in Shoreline, Wash., taught a full-day workshop on Tantric Dance of Durga. Rose, also a teacher and choreographer who has studied dance and spirituality in India, focused on the mythical teachings of Durga, a Hindu goddess of power and beauty. In her teachings, Rose said, she wants to remind women of how females in various spiritual traditions have always been “the spirit and foundation of everything.”
Danielle Rama Hoffman, LMP, a self-proclaimed energy healer, transformational trainer and leader of spiritual tours to Egypt, hosted Awaken the Sekhmet Within: Solar Feminine Power. Her summary said: “Fortify your feminine nature with the solar power of Sekhmet: the Egyptian lioness goddess of courage, compassion and healing.”
Suzanna McCarthy, LICSW, Spiritual Director, Wisdom’s Gate, offered Traversing the Dark Night of the Soul—Companioned by Hecate and Isis-Wisdom-Sophia. The pamphlet for her workshop read: “The Dark Night of the Soul is a solitary experience that follows the path of ‘no path.’ The ‘self’ is stripped away; slowly, the true SELF emerges. Realizing that matters are out of our control, we enter into the mystery. This journey requires courage and consciousness as the outcome is unwritten. Powerful allies Hecate and Isis-Wisdom-Sophia provide ancient wisdom and spiritual gifts as they companion us during our journey.”
Joanne Halverson, LMHC, and Margaret Riordan, PhD, IFCM, (with 20 years of experience in goddess spirituality and shamanism), presented Ancient Power, Ancient Healing: the Sacred Snake, the Eternal Goddess and the Feminine Face of the Divine. Their ad read: “Explore the ancient power of the Divine Feminine, delving into archaic stories, myths and images centered around the Sacred Snake and her association with the Mother Goddess. The Sacred Snake was a symbol of female power and holiness in many pre-patriarchal cultures. Her energy represents wisdom, strength, healing, transformation and a capacity for ecstatic experience of the Divine in one’s life. Reclaim this mysterious and awesome power, bringing this transformative gift into your daily life.” (Adapted from www.womenofwisdom.org, bold emphasis added.)
The above excerpts reveal the underlying philosophies and the satanic spiritual powers behind feminist movements worldwide.
Divine Goddess Worship in Modern Israel: While normative Judaism proudly boasts that it worships the one true God of the Old Testament (while rejecting Jesus Christ and the New Testament), some modern Jews are reviving goddess worship and occult practices in the land of Israel—just as it was in ancient Judah. The Jerusalem Post gives the following report on a group of goddess worshipers who worship Mother Earth: “Thirteen men and women are seated around the artifacts. A bag of instruments is passed around, and a shrine with Neolithic goddess figurines, babushkas, photographs of goddess statues, and a ceramic plate painted with a spiral design is quietly constructed. The earth below is the archeological site of a civilization over 8,000 years old. A few hundred meters away, one of the oldest known wells, now covered, marks the spot where people of the Yarmukian society once came to fill buckets of fresh water for pottery, drinking and bathing.
“We are in Kibbutz Sha’ar Hagolan, south of Lake Kenneret, but the modern blessing ceremony some Israeli women have invented might have origins much older than was previously imagined. They have chosen this place to conduct their ritual because of the goddess figurines recently found in this area. Iris Yotvat, one of the leaders of the goddess spirituality movement in Israel and a former movie star, leads the group in songs and prayers. As a chalice filled with water passes from hand to hand, each person places a few drops on their skin and thanks Mother Earth for her blessings.
“Some of the women remind everyone that we were not here first, and we will not be here last. A thin bundle of smoking sage, tightly bound with white string, is passed around for meditation and cleansing. After each person says his or her blessings and thoughts, Yotvat begins to sing to the beat of a slow drum. Tambourines, flutes, shakers and darbukas join in the songs of praise to the Great Mother, the creator of life.
“For many of the men and women seated here, the power of the circle represents a sacred space. It provides a medium for group meditation and unity. It relates to the moon and the ancient symbol of eternity, where time has no end and no beginning. The goddess worshipers believe that a divine goddess was praised thousands of years ago when agricultural societies lived in relative peace, and that the loss of that feminine spirit is part of what ails our modern culture.
“Despite their marginality, their convictions are supported by a growing body of archeological evidence and by many biblical scholars. Many of those who believe in a divine feminine recently united in the Negev desert for a Shakti festival to learn more about ancient goddess figurines and how they connect to their lives today” (The Jerusalem Post, April 28, 2005; bold emphasis added).
These modern-day Jews are worshiping the queen of heaven, as the ancient Jews did before God sent them into exile for these and other occult, pagan religious practices. They have forgotten that those who are involved in goddess worship of any kind, whether Jew or Gentile, are in direct defiance of Almighty God! In fact, they are committing gross, abominable sins in transgressing the first and second commandments. God’s fierce judgment against these practices is revealed in Jeremiah 44, and once again will be executed against such sins.
Feminine Divine—Virgin Mary and Pagan Goddess Worship: Roman Catholicism makes “the Virgin Mary” the central focus of its worship and blasphemously calls her “the Queen of Heaven,” “co-Mediatrix” and “co-Redemptrix” with Jesus Christ—Who, in fact, is the only Redeemer and Mediator (see Hislop, pp. 264-267). Notwithstanding, the Bible presents an entirely different view of the “queen of heaven.”
Mary Ann Collins, a former Catholic nun, has written extensively on her Web site on numerous topics related to Roman Catholicism. The following section is excerpted from her article, “Mary Worship?”
“Goddess worship is not ancient history. It is going on today. It is practiced in Wicca and a variety of modern pagan religions. (Wicca is a religion based on witchcraft. It involves goddess worship, rituals and spells.)
“The credibility of goddess worship has been increased through its acceptance by university professors and its incorporation into textbooks. Wiccan doctrines are being promoted in publicly funded, accredited colleges and universities. Nursing school textbooks are overtly promoting goddess worship, including textbooks written by the National League for Nursing (an accrediting agency for nursing schools).
“In the following table, I will compare Catholicism’s version of Mary with the goddess who is worshiped by Wiccans and modern pagans. My reason for doing this is that Wiccans and modern pagans live in modern America. If I compared Catholic doctrine about Mary with the goddess worship of ancient civilizations, it would seem remote and far removed from the real world. It would seem like a legend instead of real life.
“[O]vert goddess worship has infiltrated a number of main-line Protestant denominations. There have been some conferences in which Catholics and representatives of various Protestant groups worshiped the goddess Sophia and openly said that Jesus Christ is irrelevant.
“All Christian groups need to guard against goddess worship. According to the Bible, God’s people are not supposed to worship any other deities. The Old Testament prophets often rebuked the people of Israel for worshiping ‘foreign gods.’ The people who worshiped the goddess Sophia at those conferences were doing the same kind of thing that the ancient Israelites did. They claimed to be God’s people, but they were worshiping a ‘foreign god.’
“The table compares the Mary of Roman Catholic theology and religious practice with the Biblical portrayal of Mary and with the goddess which is worshipped by Wiccans and modern pagans. My information about Wicca comes from the book, ‘Wicca: Satan’s Little White Lie,’ by Bill Schnoebelen (who was the high priest of a Wiccan coven before he became a Christian), the ‘World Book,’ and the on-line version of ‘The Encyclopedia Britannica.’
“One popular prayer in Mary’s honor is the ‘Hail Holy Queen,’ which is known in Latin as the ‘Salve Regina.’ It is traditionally included as part of praying the rosary. ‘Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! Our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping, in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.’ ”
Marian Apparitions: Collins continues: “On May 13, 1981, a man shot Pope John Paul II. As the ambulance carried him to the hospital, the Pope kept praying, ‘Mary, my mother! Mary, my mother!’ One year later, the Pope made a pilgrimage to Fatima to thank Our Lady of Fatima for saving his life and to consecrate the entire human race to her. The video ‘Catholicism: Crisis of Faith’ shows the Pope kissing the feet of a statue of Mary.
“Millions of pilgrims go to shrines which honor apparitions of Mary. Every year fifteen to twenty million pilgrims go to Guadalupe in Mexico, five and a half million go to Lourdes in France, five million go to Czestochowa (Jasna Gora) in Poland, and four and a half million go to Fatima in Portugal….
“Are these pilgrims worshipping Mary? You can observe them and see for yourself, thanks to a video entitled ‘Messages from Heaven.’
“If you watch the video, you will see the Pope bow in front of a painting of Mary and cover the area with incense. You will see a million pilgrims walking in a procession, following a statue of Our Lady of Fatima and singing songs in her honor. You will see several million people in a procession following a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You will see people weeping and raising their arms towards Mary. You will see the largest assembly of bishops and cardinals since the Second Vatican Council, gathered together to join Pope John Paul II in solemnly consecrating the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. [You can watch this video online; the information is available on Collins’ Web site.]
“Goddess worship has infiltrated mainline Christian denominations. In November 1993, a Re-Imagining Conference was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Most of the 2,000 participants were women. This ecumenical church conference was sponsored by and attended by members of over a dozen denominations, including Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists. They prayed to Sophia, the goddess of Wisdom, calling her their Creator. They did rituals for this goddess, including a communion service where bread and wine were replaced by milk and honey. They openly rejected the doctrines of the incarnation and the atonement. This conference was repeated in 1996, 1998 and 2000.
“There are Wiccan Web sites with Web pages devoted to individual goddesses. The Virgin Mary is included among the goddesses of the following Web sites: The Spiral Goddess Grove, The White Moon, and Goddess 2000. They consider Mary to be the ‘Divine Feminine’ and say that for centuries many people have ‘blended’ their ancient goddesses with Mary.” (See www.catholicconcerns.com/MaryWorship.html.)
In II Thessalonians Two, Paul writes about the Mystery of Iniquity that was already at work in the first-century Church. The mixing in of pagan and occult beliefs and practices has no place in the true Church of God, which acknowledges Jesus Christ as its Head (Eph. 1:22-23) and worships God the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).
Deepak Chopra and Occult Eastern Spirituality
Eastern spirituality has attracted many followers in the past four decades. In the Western Hemisphere, especially in America, Deepak Chopra is the most prominent and widely known teacher, author and advocate of Eastern spirituality. His teachings are a combination of Buddhism and Hinduism. Chopra does not believe that God is a Spirit Being, nor does he believe in a personal God as the Bible teaches. Rather, he believes in a pantheistic God that is a force of pure energy. Since everything is based on energy, and God is energy, God is in everything. Since God is in everything, God also exists in everyone. Therefore, Chopra teaches that in order to know God, one needs to find the deepest inner self. Consequently, when a person connects with that pure spiritual energy of the self, then one knows God.
Chopra teaches that one knows God through seven stages of spiritual development. The end result is “nirvana,” a state of enlightenment that supposedly puts one on the same level as God. To achieve this, a person has to empty his mind through yoga and meditation until he hears nothing. What Chopra calls God and knowing God through yoga and meditation is, in reality, being familiar with and submitting to demon spirits, principalities and powers—for Satan is “the god of this world” (II Cor. 4:4).
Eastern spirituality as taught by Chopra is cloaked in the same lie that Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan told her that if she and Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would “become as God.” Chopra has developed this satanic philosophy into a highly sophisticated seven-step process in his book, How to Know God— The Soul’s Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries (all quotes are from the Large Print Edition).
Of nirvana, Chopra writes: “However long it takes, according to Buddhism, my mind will eventually desire the opposite of what I have. The karmic pendulum swings until it reaches the extreme of poverty, and then it will pull me back toward wealth again. Since only God is free from cause and effect, to want nirvana means that you want to attain God-realization [i.e., you realize that you yourself are God]. In the earlier stages of growth this ambition would be impossible, and most religions condemn it as blasphemy. Nirvana isn’t moral. Good and evil don’t count anymore, once they are seen as the two faces of the same duality” (How to Know God, p. 258; bold emphasis added).
This duality—good and evil co-existing in God—is nearly the same belief as that of witchcraft, which believes that good and evil are embodied in the “Force.” Yet, the Scriptures teach that God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all!
Chopra continues: “For the sake of keeping society together, religions hold it as a duty to respect goodness and abhor evil. Hence a paradox: the person who wants to be liberated [where nothing is good or evil] is acting against God. Many devout Christians find themselves baffled by Eastern spirituality because they cannot resolve this paradox. How can God want us to be good and yet want us to go beyond good?” (Ibid., p. 258.) Chopra misunderstands because he does not know the true God of the Bible. Jesus Christ said that the only one Who is good is GOD (Matt. 19:17). To go “beyond good” is to go beyond God—be greater than God Himself—which is an absolute impossibility.
Yet, there is another meaning that Chopra is implying. In going “beyond good,” one may choose a life of sin or lawlessness without guilt. Hence, one is “liberated.” To substantiate this claim, he shows that according to Hinduism there is a right-hand and a left-hand path to God: “The answer takes place in consciousness. Saints in every culture turn out to be exemplars of goodness, shining with virtue. But the Bhagavad-Gita [Hindu religious writings] informs us that there are no outward signs of enlightenment, which means that saints do not have to obey any conventional standards of behavior. In India there exists the ‘left-hand path’ to God. On this path a devotee shuns conventional virtue and goodness. Sexual abstinence is often replaced with sexual indulgence (usually in a highly ritualized way). One might give up a loving home to live in a graveyard; some tantric devotees go so far as to sleep with corpses and eat the most repulsive decayed food. In other words, the left-hand path is not so extreme, but it is always different from orthodox religious observance.
“The left-hand path may seem like the dark side of spirituality, totally deluded in its barbarity and insanity—certainly Christian missionaries to India had no problem holding that interpretation. They shuddered to look upon Kali [an Indian goddess] with her necklace of skulls and blood dripping from her fangs. What kind of mother was this? But the left-hand way is thousands of years old, its origins are in the sacred texts that exhibit as much wisdom as any in the world. They state that God cannot be confined in any way. His infinite grace encompasses death and decay; he is in the corpse as well as the newborn baby. For some (very few) people, to see this truth isn’t enough; they want to experience it. And God will not deny them. In the West our abhorrence of the left-hand path doesn’t need to be challenged. Cultures each go their own way” (Ibid., pp. 259-260; bold emphasis added).
The Effects of the Left-Hand Path on Youth Culture Today: David Kupelian, in his book The Marketing of Evil, explains the adoption of the “left-hand path” by the modern youth culture today. Those who promote this kind of aberrant behavior do not refer to it as the left-hand path of Hinduism. Rather, they promote it as “freedom of expression” that has deep “spiritual” qualities: “[S]omething … is intent on degrading this generation so totally that little hope would be left for the next generation of Americans” (p. 70).
“Hollywood’s depictions [of Sodom and Gomorrah] don’t even begin to capture the shocking reality of what is going on in America’s culture today— they’re not even close.
“First of all, there’s sex. Very simply, there seem to be neither boundaries nor taboos any more when it comes to sex. Anything goes— from heterosexual to homosexual to bi-, trans-, poly-, and you-don’t-want-to -know sexual experiences. Sex has become a ubiquitous, cheap, meaningless quest for ever-greater thrills.…”
“Moreover, with the evolution of online pornography, every type of sexual experience has literally been shoved under the noses of millions of Americans against their will, who find their e-mail in-boxes filled with hardcore sexual images. As a result, many pastors are struggling with how to deal with large numbers of churchgoers reportedly caught up with Internet pornography.
“What about body piercing? It has progressed from traditional earrings for females, to earrings for males (eager to display their ‘feminine side’ which the ‘60 cultural revolution sold them), to multiple piercings for both males and females in literally every part of the body—the tongue, nose, eyebrow, lip, cheek, navel, breasts, genitals—again, things you don’t really want to know.
“It’s the same progression to extremes with tattooing. But why stop with ‘conventional’ piercing and tattooing? Ritual scarification and 3D-art implants are big. So are genital beading, stretching and cutting, transdermal implants, scrotal implants, tooth art and facial sculpture.
“How about tongue splitting? How about branding? How about amputations? That’s right—amputations. Some people find these activities a real ‘turn-on.’
“There are no bounds—no lower limits. Whatever you can imagine, even for a second in the darkest recesses of your mind, know that someone somewhere is actually doing it, praising it, and drawing others into it via the Internet.
“Strangest of all is the fact that any behavior, any belief—no matter how obviously insane—is rationalized so it sounds reasonable, even spiritual. Satanism itself, and especially its variant, the worship of Lucifer (literally, ‘Angel of Light’) can be made to sound almost enlightened— of course, only in a perverse way. But if you were sufficiently confused, [Satan is the author of confusion] rebellious and full of rage—if you had been set up by cruelty or hypocrisy (or both) to rebel against everything ‘good’—the forbidden starts to be mysteriously attractive.
“Let’s pick just one of these bizarre behaviors. How about hanging by your skin from hooks? It’s called ‘suspension.’ In literally any other context, this would be considered a gruesome torture. But to many people who frequent ‘suspension parties,’ it’s a spiritual experience. Consider carefully what ‘Body Modification Ezine’ (www.bmezine.com)—the Web’s premiere site for body modification—says about ‘suspension’:
“ ‘What is suspension?
“ ‘The act of suspension is hanging the human body from (or partially from) hooks pierced through the flesh in various places around the body.
“ ‘Why would someone want to do a suspension?
“ ‘There are many different reasons to suspend, from pure adrenaline or endorphin rush, to conquering one’s fears, to trying to reach a new level of spiritual consciousness and everything in between. In general, people suspend to attain some sort of “experience.”
“ ‘Some people are seeking the opportunity to discover a deeper sense of themselves and to challenge pre-determined belief systems which may not be true. Some are seeking a rite of passage or a spiritual encounter to let go of the fear of not being whole or complete inside their body.
“ ‘Others are looking for control over their body, or seek to prove to themselves that they are more than their bodies, or are not their bodies at all. Others simply seek to explore the unknown.
“ ‘Many people believe that learning how one lives inside one’s body and seeing how that body adapts to stress—and passes through it— allows one to surrender to life and explore new realms of possibility.’
“Gosh—‘control over their body,’ ‘discover a deeper sense of themselves,’ ‘conquering ones fears,’ ‘trying to reach a new level spiritual consciousness.’ What could be wrong with that?
“Or, how about tongue splitting—literally making yourself look like a human lizard—how could that be a positive, spiritual experience?
“ ‘The tongue,’ explains the BME Web site, ‘is one of the most immense nervous structures in your body. We have incredibly fine control over it and we receive massive feedback from it. When you dramatically alter its structure and free yourself of the physical boundaries your biology imposes, in some people it triggers a larger freeing on a spiritual level’ ” (Ibid., pp. 71-73; bold emphasis added).
The left-hand path is an occultic, demonic, bizarre corruption of the mind and body that breeds a culture of rebellion and death—while the right-hand path of Eastern spirituality leads to worship of self as “God.”
Spiritual Evolution—Idolatry of Self: Chopra defines the spiritual evolution of coming to know God as a seven-step union of the mind, soul and God—which is nothingness: “Believe it or not, we find ourselves very close to the soul now. We have whittled away the scientific objections to God by placing him outside the reach of measurement. This means that a person’s subjective experience of God can’t be challenged—at the quantum level, objectivity and subjectivity merge into each other. The point of the merger is the soul [demon possession]; therefore knowing God comes down to this: like a photon nearing a black hole, your mind hits a wall as it tries to think about the soul. The soul is comfortable with the uncertainty; it accepts that you can be two places at once (time and eternity); it observes cosmic intelligence at work and is not bothered that the creative force is outside the universe….
“The mind is creeping closer and closer to the soul, which sits on the edge of God’s world, at the event horizon. The gap of separation is wide when there is no perception of spirit; it grows smaller as the mind figures out what is happening. Eventually the two will get so close that mind and soul have no choice but to merge [demon possession]. When that happens, the resemblance to a black hole is striking. To the mind, it will be as if falling into God’s world lasts forever, an eternity in bliss consciousness. From God’s side, the merging takes place in a split second; indeed, if we stand completely in God’s world, where time has no meaning, the whole process never even occurred. The mind was part of the soul all along, only without knowing it” (Ibid., pp. 487-489, bracketed comments added).
Chopra describes his seven-step processes: “If you regard the soul as a kind of force field steadily pulling the mind toward it, every one of the seven stages can be described as closing the separation:
Stage One: I am in such separation that I sense deep fear inside.
Stage Two: I don’t feel so separate; I am gaining a sense of power.
Stage Three: Something larger than me is drawing near; I feel much more peaceful.
Stage Four: I am beginning to intuit what that larger thing is—it must be God.
Stage Five: My actions and thoughts are drawing on God’s force field, as if we are both involved in everything.
Stage Six: God and I are almost together now. I feel no separation; my mind is God’s mind.
Stage Seven: I see no difference between myself and God” (Ibid., p. 490, bold emphasis added).
Chopra’s seven-step thought process creates in a person a kind of “self idolatry.” One will never come to know the true God through such means—for He reveals Himself to the humble. The prophet Ezekiel warned the leaders of ancient Israel, who had set up idols in their hearts: “And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I at all be inquired of by them? Therefore speak to them, and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols: So that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they have deserted Me for their idols—all of them.’ ”
“ ‘Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Repent and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger who lives in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to ask of him concerning Me; I the LORD will answer him Myself. And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him for a sign and for a proverb. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know that I am the LORD’ ” ’ ” (Ezekiel 14:2-8).
Besides idolatry of the self, Chopra’s teachings illustrate a renaissance of ancient yoga philosophies. As he states, “In ancient India this closing of the gap was described as yoga or union (the same Sanskrit root gave us the verb ‘to yoke’) [that is, in bondage to the elemental spirits of the world—Satan, his principalities, powers and demons]. Because the Indian sages had thousands of years to analyze it, the entire process of joining the soul was turned into a science. Yoga precedes Hinduism, which is a particular religion, and at its inception the practices of Yoga [that are also taught by “Yoda,” the master teacher of the mysteries in the Star Wars movies] were intended to be universal. The ancient sages had at their disposal the power to witness their own spiritual evolution, which boiled down to watching the mind approach the soul.
“What they discovered can be stated in a few cardinal points:
Evolution takes place inside. It isn’t a matter of pilgrimages, observances, and obeying religious rules. No codes of conduct can alter the fact that every mind is on a soul journey.
Evolution is automatic. In the larger view, the soul is always pulling at us. Its force field is inescapable.
A person is required to pay attention. Since the journey to the soul happens only in awareness, if you block out awareness you impede your progress; if you pay attention, you build up momentum.
The final goal is inevitable. No one can resist the soul forever. Saints and sinners are on the same road.
“You can accurately graph a person’s spiritual growth on this scale alone. The ego moves from an isolated, helpless state to a realization that it might have power; then it looks where the power comes from, at first deciding that it must be external, in the form of money and status, but in time realizing that the power source is internal. More time passes and the difference between inner and outer power dissolves. All reality is perceived as having one source; in the end, you are that source….”
Chopra continues, describing how “faith” is involved: “FAITH …
Stage One: Faith is a matter of survival. If I don’t pray to God, he can destroy me.
Stage Two: I’m beginning to have faith in myself. I pray to God to help me get what I want.
Stage Three: Faith brings me peace. I pray that life should be free from turmoil and distress.
Stage Four: I have faith that inner knowledge will uphold me. I pray for more insight into God’s ways.
Stage Five: Faith tells me that God will support my every desire. I pray that I am worthy of his faith in me [God puts faith in no man, nor is any man worthy].
Stage Six: Faith can move mountains. I pray to be God’s instrument of transformation.
Stage Seven: Faith melts away into universal being. When I pray, I find that I am praying to myself [because I become a god, ‘I am’]”
(Ibid., pp. 490-495, bold emphasis and bracketed comments added).
Like all other religious systems that man has fabricated, Chopra’s belief hangs precariously upon the ability of the individual to achieve salvation by vain philosophy and empty works. This is clearly a deception.
In his epistle to the Colossians, the apostle Paul warned the brethren not to be deceived by such ideas: “Beware lest anyone takes you captive through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the elements [elemental spirits] of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, Who is the Head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:8-10).
Oprah Winfrey—New Age Champion
The popular and highly influential talk-show host Oprah Winfrey is one of many entertainment personalities staunchly supporting today’s New Age agenda. The fact that Winfrey is pushing New Age philosophy is an indication of the movement’s growing popularity.
Winfrey’s daily talk show on XM Satellite Radio, called “Oprah and Friends,” features various New Age programs—such as her “Soul Series” in which she gives the “shared spiritual wisdom of the world’s great religions” (including one of her favorites, Buddhism). “Oprah and Friends” also features a daily “spiritual” lesson from a curriculum called “A Course in Miracles,” taught by Winfrey’s longtime friend Marianne Williamson, one of today’s principal New Age leaders. (See www.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/mwilliamson_main.jhtm. [No longer available]) Williamson is a co-founder of the Peace Alliance, which exists for the purpose of ushering in an era of global peace established on New Age/New Spirituality principles.
According to information from its publishers Web site, www.acim.org, “A Course in Miracles” teaches students to rethink everything they believe about God and life. The course workbook openly states: “This is a course in mind training,” and focuses on “thought reversal.” According to the program’s objectives, by the time Winfrey’s followers have completed the year-long course they will have developed a new mindset—a New Age worldview in which there is no sin, no evil, no devil, and where God is “in” everyone and everything.
Proponents claim that “A Course in Miracles” is a “new revelation” from Jesus to help humanity work through troubled times. This “Jesus”—who is “another Jesus” (II Cor. 11:4) and bears no resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible—allegedly began “channeling” the teachings in 1965 to Helen Schucman, a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology. One day Schucman heard an “inner voice” stating, “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.”
According to the Web site, Schucman “experienced the process as one of a distinct and clear dictation from an inner voice, which earlier had identified itself to her as Jesus…. [The seven-year process] included heightened dream imagery, psychic episodes, visions, and an experience of an inner voice. The experiences also became increasingly religious, with the figure of Jesus appearing more and more frequently to her in both visual and auditory expressions.”
Subsequently, “A Course in Miracles” was quietly published in 1975 by the Foundation for Inner Peace (originally called the “Foundation for Para-Sensory Investigations”). For many years the material remained an underground cult classic, studied by New Age-seekers individually, with friends, or in small study groups. There are currently over one and a half million copies of the course in circulation worldwide.
Supporters agree that the principles of New Age spirituality— often collectively referred to as a “civil rights movement for the soul”— are clearly articulated in Schucman’s “A Course in Miracles,” which is fast becoming the “New Age Bible.”
Touted as a “complete self-study spiritual thought system” that reveals the way to “universal love and peace,” each lesson focuses on a particular New Age teaching. For example, Lesson 29 instructs the student to go through his or her day affirming that “God is in everything I see.” Lesson 35 asks the follower to believe, “My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.” Lesson 61 encourages the student to repeat the affirmation, “I am the light of the world.” Lesson 70 teaches the student to believe and say, “My salvation comes from me.”
Other affirmations include: “There is no sin.” A “slain Christ has no meaning.” “The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.” “The oneness of the Creator and the creation is your wholeness, your sanity and your limitless power.” “The name of Jesus Christ … is but a symbol…. It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray.” “The Atonement is the final lesson he [a man] needs to learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation.”
A key teaching from “A Course in Miracles” is that “we are all one” because God is “in everyone and everything.” But diligent Christians recognize that these teachings are the exact opposite of what the Bible really teaches. Men are not God (Ezek. 28:2; Hosea 11:9), and, as Christians, our “oneness” exists only through the true God the Father and Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26-28; John 17:11, 21).
The course’s manual specifically states that “a universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary” (page 77). In other words, absolute truth does not exist; we each determine what is true or false, right or wrong, good or evil by our relative experiences and how we “feel” about those experiences. “We look inside [ourselves] first, decide the kind of world we want to see and then project that world outside, making it the truth as we see it. We make it true by our interpretations of what it is we are seeing” (bold emphasis added). But Scripture says, “Your Word is the truth” (John 17:17).
By the end of the course, the student is “left in the hands of his or her own Internal Teacher”—that is, their own self-centered “conscience” led astray by the god of this world (II Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9). Or worse, their new “internal voice” is a “familiar spirit”—a demon who will implant all manner of satanic thoughts and ideas. Scripture warns: “Now the Spirit tells us explicitly that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, and shall follow deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (I Tim. 4:1). The prophet Isaiah wrote: “And when they shall say to you, ‘Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and to wizards who peep and mutter’—but should not a people seek [instead] unto their God?…” (Isa. 8:19).
Indeed, such wicked spirits are more than willing to become one’s “inner teacher” if invited in through New Age practices. Giving heed to one’s so-called “inner-god” or “internal voice” can quite easily result in becoming directly influenced by powerful demon spirits—and is a first step in being drawn fully into the occult. And Satan always works subtly, disguising himself and his teachings to appear good and right—as if he were an “angel of light” (II Cor. 11:13-14). But Isaiah tells us where to find the truth: “To the law and to the testimony! If they [who teach New Age philosophies] do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20).
In reality, such New Age gobbledygook is nothing but repackaged teachings from ancient Hinduism—just as Eastern spiritualist Deepak Chopra teaches. Ultimately, however, such teachings stem from the same lie that Satan the devil told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan told Eve that she should liberate herself and take of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”—that she could determine and choose for herself what was true and false, good or evil—that she would, in effect, become a god (as Satan believes himself to be a god).
Why does New Age philosophy appeal to so many people? Precisely because people do not like to be told how to live—for the “carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can it be” (Rom. 8:7). Any religion or philosophy that appeals to the self as an “inner-god” undermines authority and absolves people of responsibility. It soothes the conscience—live as you please, since you “make the truth as you see it.”
In stark contrast to New Age ideology, the Bible teaches about the inherently deceitful nature of the self, about the need for repentance and a change of heart, about the blessings that come from obedience to the Creator’s immutable laws. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The real Jesus of Scripture would direct us to worship God the Father and keep His commandments.
Indeed, Oprah Winfrey’s “A Course in Miracles” is an unmistakable sign of the times. At this critical juncture in history, New Age teachings are spreading like wildfire around the world. Even within nominal Christianity, the Jesus of the Bible is being reinvented and redefined— resulting in a popular but false New Age gospel. Meanwhile, the “New Age Peace Plan” is deceptively gaining momentum as mankind progresses rapidly toward a New World Order.
Atheism—Pathway to the Occult
When God created the first humans, He intended that they enjoy an intimate personal relationship with their Maker. Genesis 3:8 indicates that God, Adam and Eve walked together in the Garden of Eden, perhaps daily. Indeed, the innate need for such a relationship is so profound that, without it, man is at best a mere survivor, spending his days in virtual futility.
While any sin can ultimately cut one off from a relationship with God, there is perhaps no offense so disturbing as the extreme stance of atheism. To categorically deny the existence of God is to deny the very purpose of human life. As the psalmist wrote, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God!’…” (Psa. 14:1).
Atheism in the United Kingdom and the United States is evidently on the rise—largely thanks to Richard Dawkins’ highly controversial book, The God Delusion. Alvin Plantinga, writing for Christianity Today, says Dawkins’ book, published in 2006, is mostly “an extended diatribe against religion in general and belief in God in particular”—and worries that such books will only “encourage timorous atheists to come out of the closet” (“The Dawkins Confusion,” Christianity Today, March/April 2007; www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/002/1.21.html).
Robert Steward, a writer for the Journal of Evolutionary Philosophy, admits that Dawkins’ book reads like a “declaration of war upon mainstream religion.” He writes: “Dawkins is one of today’s most vocal advocates for atheism and his new book is a potent expression of a growing [anti-religion, anti-God] atheist viewpoint…. [In his book, Dawkins] asks us to imagine a world without the destructive influence of religion” (www.evolutionary-philosophy.net/review_god_delusion.html).
Steward adds that Dawkins, by his own definition, describes an atheist as someone who “believes in nothing beyond the natural, physical world” (Ibid.).
Indeed, atheists not only deny the reality of God, they deny the existence of the spirit realm itself. Ironically, this position puts the atheist one step closer to the occult. Without a relationship with God, a huge void exists in the atheist’s life. But there are evil spirit beings— demons—more than willing to fill such a void. Satan and his demons typically operate in “disguise” (see II Cor. 11:14)—so it is clearly to their advantage if one denies their existence. One cannot guard against what one denies—thus, for some, atheism may be their first unwitting step towards the occult.
Voodoo and the Occult
While the Western Hemisphere has absorbed Eastern spirituality, Voodoo (also known as Vodun) is practiced by over 60 million people worldwide, predominantly in the Southern Hemisphere and many Island countries.
The 2003 Encyclopedia Britannica contains this entry on voodoo: “VOODOO: Also spelled Voudou, French Vaudou, national religious folk cult of Haiti. Voodoo is a mixture of Roman Catholic ritual elements, which date from the period of French colonization, and African theological and magical elements, which were brought to Haiti by slaves formerly belonging to the Yoruba, Fon, Kongo, and other peoples of Africa. The term voodoo is derived from the word vodun, which denotes a god, or spirit, in the language of the Fon people of Benin (formerly Dahomey, which also included parts of today’s Togo, and Nigeria).
“Although voodooists profess belief in a rather distant supreme God, the effective divinities are a large number of spirits called the loa, which can be variously identified as local or African gods, deified ancestors, or Catholic saints. The loa are believed to demand ritual service, which thereby attaches them to individuals or families. In voodoo ritual services, a number of devotees congregate at a temple, usually a humble meeting place, where a priest or priestess leads them in ceremonies involving song, drumming, dance, prayer, food preparation, and the ritual sacrifice of animals [including drinking the blood of the animal]. The voodoo priest, or houngan, and the priestess, or mambo, also act as counselors, healers, and expert protectors against sorcery or witchcraft.
“The loa are thought by voodoo devotees to act as helpers, protectors, and guides to people. The loa communicate with an individual during the cult services by possessing him during a trance state in which the devotee may eat and drink, perform stylized dances, give supernaturally inspired advice to people, perform medical cures, or display special physical feats; these acts exhibit the incarnate presence of the loa within the entranced devotee. Many urban Haitians believe in two sharply contrasting sets of loas, a set of wise and benevolent ones called Rada loas, and a harsher, more malevolent group of spirits called Petro loas. Petro spirits are called up by more agitated or violent rituals than Rada spirits are evoked by.
“A peculiar, and much sensationalized, aspect of voodoo is the zombie. A zombie is regarded by voodooists as being either a dead person’s disembodied soul that is used for magical purposes, or an actual corpse that has been raised from the grave by magical means and is then used to perform agricultural labour in the fields as a sort of will-less automaton. In actual practice, certain voodoo priests do appear to create ‘zombies’ by administering a particular poison to the skin of a victim, who then enters a state of profound physical paralysis for a number of hours.
“For decades the Roman Catholic church in Haiti denounced voodoo and even advocated the persecution of its devotees, but because voodoo has remained the chief religion of at least 80 percent of the people in Haiti, the Catholic church by the late 20th century seemed resigned to coexisting with the cult” (CD-ROM Version, bold emphasis and bracketed comments added).
The modern Roman Church’s inability to triumph over occult religious belief and practice in Haiti—and her eventual willingness to co-exist with it—recalls her early history in which she absorbed many of the occult beliefs and practices of Roman paganism.
The Only Way to Know the True God is through Jesus Christ
God cannot be known through Eastern mystic philosophy. He cannot be known through any religious system. The only way to know God the Father is through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the only one who can reveal the Father to a person. “At that time Jesus answered and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for it was well pleasing in Your sight to do this. All things were delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son personally chooses to reveal Him’ ” (Matt. 11:25-27).
And again Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day…. For this reason, I have said to you, no one can come to Me unless it has been given to him from My Father” (John 6:44, 65).
God also revealed through the prophet Isaiah that if a person truly seeks Him, he or she will find Him, because Jesus will reveal Him. “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:6-7).
Jesus Himself promised, “Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8).
Obedience—Key to Knowing God: Anciently, when King David handed over the twelve-tribe Kingdom of Israel to his son Solomon, he gave this charge: “And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God, so that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever. And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever” (I Chron. 28:8-9).
The New Testament shows that in order to truly know God one must first repent of all sin—and sin is the transgression of God’s law (I John 3:4). Afterwards, a person must be baptized for the forgiveness of those sins: “Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
The Holy Spirit enables a person to obey God. And a person who knows God will be obedient to His standards. This is the opposite of what Chopra advocates when he claims that “saints do not have to obey any conventional standards of behavior.” The apostle John wrote that Christians who know God will be keeping His commandments: “And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him. Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked” (I John 2:3-6).
In the next chapter we will examine how occult themes have pervaded the entire entertainment industry.
