Dangers of the Occult

Are vampire tales just a source of entertainment and fun? Are witchcraft and astrology harmless hobbies, or can they do damage to people who practice them? Many do not realize that the occult now pervades modern culture, and that Christians must remain on guard against its evil influence.

Millions around the world are pursuing astrology, witchcraft and the occult. Are they sowing seeds of doom and destruction? Are these just harmless hobbies, or can you face real dangers if you dabble in the occult?

Earlier this year, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 set a record on its first day in theaters, taking in $92.1 million across the United States on Friday, July 15—smashing the previous record by nearly $20 million. That old record was held by another occult-themed movie—The Twilight Saga: New Moon—which took in $72.7 million on its November 20, 2009 release date.

The latest (and final) movie in the Harry Potter series went on to shatter previous U.S. records for opening-weekend box-office, bringing in $168.6 million—well ahead of previous record-holder The Dark Knight. Worldwide, too, this latest Harry Potter blockbuster broke records, adding $307 million in ticket sales outside the U.S., surpassing the previous record-holder, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

With the new Harry Potter movie bringing in more than $475 million in its first weekend of release, there is no doubt that the occult remains big box-office—and big business. Seven of the top 25 money-making films of all time are from the eight-film Harry Potter series—a series that has already earned more than $5 billion in ticket sales.

Occult themes are also popular in books. Of course, the Harry Potter films had their start in print, with an estimated 450 million copies of the seven Harry Potter books having been sold. Other authors have capitalized on the trend; the four novels in the Twilight series have together sold more than 100 million copies. Twilight books are especially popular with young girls, who have followed the saga of a teenage girl who falls in love with a century-old vampire. Not surprisingly, the Twilight books have already been adapted for film; three Twilight films have earned more than $1.8 billion in ticket sales, with a fourth, Breaking Dawn, Part 1, currently set for release in November 2011.

Today's media fascination with the occult extends far beyond Harry Potter. Thirty-five years ago, many considered the television series Bewitched controversial. Today, it seems tame compared to such popular television fare as The Vampire Diaries and True Blood, which glamorize the occult.

Yet, for many, the occult is more than fiction. A CBS News poll in February found that 48 percent of those surveyed believed in the existence of ghosts, with 22 percent reporting that they had personally seen or felt the presence of a ghost. That figure mirrors the results of a 2006 Ipsos Reid poll that found 47 percent of Canadians reporting a belief in ghosts, with 18 percent saying they had been in the presence of a ghost. Similarly, a British research firm found that more than 40 percent of Britons reported belief in ghosts. This is quite a change from the 1950s, when a Gallup poll found that just about one out of ten Britons believed in ghosts ("Four out of ten Britons believe in ghosts," The Sunday Times of London, April 13, 2009).

Even leaders of nations pursue the occult. Former White House chief of staff Donald Regan reported, in his autobiography For the Record, that President Ronald Reagan's travels and activities were reviewed by an astrologer of his wife's choosing. The London Daily Telegraph reported that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher consulted an astrologer "for signs of future dangers." Most members of India's Parliament have personal astrologers on retainer. Even in the former Soviet Union, once a bastion of materialism, the occult has held sway, as Russia is "swamped by astrologers, UFOlogists, soothsayers, parapsychologists, bogus doctors and other charlatans, whom genuine scientists make few efforts to contradict.… One of the main tasks of a senior official in the Presidential Security Service is to study astrology and prepare horoscopes" (London Daily Telegraph, July 29, 1996).

How Has Mankind Been Deceived?

Scripture reveals the source of occult deception. "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Revelation 12:9). Satan deceives the whole world, not just a part of this world. And he also has spirit helpers, called demons.

How does Satan deceive the whole world? He does it through the occult, false religion and false education—and through a social system that seeks licentious pleasure rather than God! The prophet Isaiah wrote: "And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19). Whom are people seeking today: mediums, wizards or the true God? Isaiah wrote: "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).

We need to understand that there is a real spirit world! Notice this warning: "When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead" (Deuteronomy 18:9–11).

God Almighty condemns sorcery and witchcraft. If you are "playing around" with such darkness, then you need to reject that underworld of evil! Seek the true God of your Bible! God's warning continues: "For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you" (Deuteronomy 18:12–14).

Can anything be more clear concerning the evils of witchcraft and sorcery? And yet millions of adults are teaching their children that there is nothing wrong with a Harry Potter actively pursuing witchcraft and wizardry. But the prophet Samuel told King Saul that witchcraft is sin. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king" (1 Samuel 15:23).

Spiritual Harlotry?

Are there "innocent" ways to have "fun" with the occult? Some argue that dressing up in ghoulish Halloween costumes is only harmless play, and rationalize that parents who let their children celebrate Halloween are not encouraging them to expose themselves to symbols and practices of the occult. But parents who take this approach are risking their children's spiritual lives by underestimating the devil's influence (Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4).

Even at the level of physical safety, more and more parents are coming to realize that the Halloween practice of "trick-or-treat" can put children at risk of grave harm. In the above-mentioned Ipsos Reid study, it was found that 84 percent of Canadians agreed with the statement: "In this day and age, it's unsafe for children to go trick-or-treating on Halloween without an adult to supervise."

Can anything be more clear concerning the evils of witchcraft and sorcery? And yet millions of adults are teaching their children that there is nothing wrong with a Harry Potter actively pursuing witchcraft and wizardry. But the prophet Samuel told King Saul that witchcraft is sin. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king" (1 Samuel 15:23).

In Luke's gospel, we find that our Savior cured many individuals who were plagued by evil spirits: "And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight" (Luke 7:21). Do we teach our children to attract and cultivate evil spirits at Halloween? Certainly, dressing up like a demon or a witch invites evil rather than opposing it!

The Apostle James advises us to resist evil, not entertain it! "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). That is your Creator's instruction to you! He promises that the devil will flee from you. Yes, "Resist the devil"! Do not join the masses in celebrating the dark world of Satan and the occult! Do not participate in the dark traditions of Halloween or any other such practices.

Notice God's warnings against mediums and familiar spirits: "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31). The Creator God plainly states that we should avoid mediums and spiritists. He does not want you to be defiled by evil influence. Notice His strong language: "The person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 20:6–7).

When a person consorts with mediums and familiar spirits, God says that he is prostituting himself. Christians are to be clean and wholesome. They should be "holy," as we just read. Remember what the Apostle Peter wrote: "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Peter 1:15–16).

Astrology and False Prophecy

Satan also deceives mankind through astrology. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Astrology originated in Mesopotamia, perhaps in the 3rd millennium bc, but attained its full development in the Western world much later, within the orbit of Greek civilization of the Hellenistic period. It spread to India in its older Mesopotamian form. Islamic culture absorbed it as part of the Greek heritage; and in the Middle Ages, when Western Europe was strongly affected by Islamic science, European astrology also felt the influence of the Orient…. Although various Christian councils condemned astrology, the belief in the worldview it implies was not seriously shaken. In the late European Middle Ages, a number of universities, among them Paris, Padua, Bologna, and Florence, had chairs of astrology."

Even though all true Christians have condemned astrology over the years, it has persisted. In our modern time, astrologers admit that the newspaper variety of horoscope advice is mainly entertainment. But when world leaders consult astrologers for guidance, they are seeking the wrong god! Listen to God's warning through the prophet Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord: 'Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them" (Jeremiah 10:2).

We have already seen that Jesus predicted that signs and wonders would deceive the many. The book of Revelation reveals dramatic events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ. There will be a great false prophet and religious system that will perform miracles, signs and wonders. The Apostle John writes this about the great false prophet. "He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men" (Revelation 13:13). Millions, if not billions, of people will be deceived by these impressive miracles. "And he [the false prophet] deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast" (Revelation 13:14).

How can you tell whether someone is truly a minister of God, and not someone controlled by the occult world? Deuteronomy gives us a key. "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'; which you have not known; 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him" (Deuteronomy 13:1–4).

A false minister or prophet may even prophesy accurately concerning some sign or wonder. But God says that if he leads you after other gods—if he leads you away from the God of the Bible and the true Jesus Christ of your Bible—then he is a false prophet. Notice also that God may be testing you, to see if you will be faithful to His word and to His way of life!

Be on Guard!

Satan has deceived the whole world. He has many methods of deception, including witches, wizardry, channeling, sorcery, astrology, spiritism and false religion. You need to be on guard against the dangers of the occult.

The Apostle Peter gave us this instruction: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world" (1 Peter 5:8–9).

God promises us protection from evil. Jesus taught us to pray: "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13). Paul exhorted Christians: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:11–12). You can overcome the wicked one by knowing the word of God—the Bible—and living by it. You can overcome the temptations and deceptions of the occult and false religion. As the Apostle Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." May God empower you to go forward in faith. May you live not by the dark deceptions of this world, but by the light of truth, God's word.