The Occult and Contemporary Culture
What you can’t see can hurt you.
Perhaps, not since Medieval times has the occult had such an influence on culture and society as it has since the 19th century to the present. Occult, by definition means “what is concealed, hidden, unseen, etc..” Although it is clearly manifest in television and movies, more recently, “Harry Potter”, it is casually dismissed as fantasy and harmless entertainment.
Wicca, the pagan religion of witchcraft is widely popular throughout Europe and the U.S. Not a few consider the practice of wicca as compatible with Christianity, even Catholicism…think of some of the deformed orders of women religious, such as The Sisters of St. Joseph for instance, who have a reputation for wiccan tendencies if you will.
I have met a few Catholic converts from wicca who have since reverted back to the Craft. One man had been an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, while retaining his wiccan practices. Another woman, who had gone through a sort of exorcism upon her conversion, later publicly boycotted Harry Potter movies. Both of these folks abondoned Catholicism and returned to the Craft. Both insist it is a harmless religion, which promotes the good. The author, Michael O’Brien believes otherwise, as do I.
Seeing the context of the times
“In his book, An Exorcist Tells His Story(Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1999), Fr. Amorth warns that modern men are losing their sense of the reality of supernatural evil. As a result, he says, many have made themselves more vulnerable to the influence of evil spirits who seek to corrupt and destroy souls. Amorth does not hesitate to say that cultural influences such as film, television, music, and books play no small part in the lowering of spiritual vigilance. “I was able personally to verify how great is the influence of these tools of Satan on the young. It is unbelievable how widespread are witchcraft and spiritism, in all their forms, in middle and high school. This evil is everywhere, even in small towns.” (pp. 53, 54)
.
He emphasizes that, knowingly or unknowingly, the practitioner of magic always exposes himself to diabolic influence. “Directly or indirectly, witchcraft is a cult of Satan.”With occult themes now a part of mainstream culture, the (Harry) Potter series is juxtaposed between a growing amount of blatantly diabolical material for the young on one hand, and on the other a tide of cultural material that redefines good and evil in subtler ways. Thus, it can appear to be a healthier specimen of what has been more or less normalized all around us. This is precisely the time when we need to exercise more careful discernment, because in the confusing array of the extremely disordered ranging to the less disordered, our perceptions can be seriously blurred.
.
Our society is saturated in false options, especially the lure of the “lesser evil” argument. In comparison to the great evil of Satanism, a lesser evil such as witchcraft (and in Harry’s case, “good sorcery”) can seem preferable by far, a message further reinforced by the Potter books’ condemnation of the extremes of diabolical behavior. What we so often forget is that manipulation of the “lesser evil” concept is a classic adversarial tactic in the great war between good and evil—the real war in which we are all immersed. If the lesser evil is presented with a little window-dressing of values, we can turn to it assuming we are making a choice for a good.” - Michael O’Brien
The Tarot.
A few of my blogger friends recently posted upon the evils of the Tarot, a dark art of fortune telling by the use of symbol laden cards, associated with the same practice of fortune telling using regular playing cards. In fact, just last night on the television show, “The Bachelor”, the couple had their fortune read at dinner. People often do it just for fun.
I encourage you to read Adoro’s post on the Tarot - with documentary links to back up her astonishing tale. Then read Cathy’s post, and then read Anita’s post on Marianne Williamson’s, “A Course in Miracles” - which is off the Tarot topic, but ties in with the occult/New Age deception. Don’t forget my post from yesterday on Scientology, paying particular attention to Paula’s comment there as well, and follow her links. Together these posts provide a rather revealing glimpse into how deeply permeated with the occult is our contemporary society and culture, along with academia, economics and politics, not to mention mainstream religion.
Diabolical delusion.
Sr. Lucia of Fatima once wrote about this “diabolical delusion that is sweeping the world.” For some reason we find it easy to dismiss events such as Fatima, that are in the past, or persons, who are now dead, but have alerted us to the dangers that surround us. In our state of denial we tell ourselves that was then, this is now - as if the dangers died with the person. Thus, we let down our guard.
I did. About 8 years ago, I went to a psychic, who used the Tarot for my ‘reading’. (I did it for “fun” - insisting I didn’t believe in it and therefore it was harmless.) Interestingly enough, the reader told me, “I see you were a monk once…you have to move beyond that now - it’s over and done with. You cannot live your life as if you are still a monk, give up that entire notion.” I wonder what spiritual being would want me to give up my entire spiritual formation and “move on” as it were? Move on to what?
I felt rather guilty about the readings and consulted with a priest. He insisted that it wasn’t sinful, as long as I wasn’t going to let it rule my life. He also said he believes some people are gifted with psychic powers, and the clairvoyance is not in the cards, rather the spiritual gift of the psychic. Needless to say, I confessed my experiences to another priest.
Priest and prophet forage in a land they know not.
John of the Cross asks, “Where does this poisonous harm fail to reach? And who fails to drink little or much from the golden chalice of the Babylonian woman of the Apocalypse?” - The Ascent of Mt. Carmel
As I mentioned before, numerous congregations of deformed religious women have allowed the New Age and occult practices into their communities. When I was with the Carthusians, the Father Master there had a Zen master, a woman who came into the Charterhouse to instruct him in the spirituality of Zen. (I helped him build his Zen garden.)
In another monastery I lived in, I recently heard that one of the monks there was a fan of Mariane Williamson’s, “A Course in Miracles”. (Another monk there is a firm believer in UFO’s and aliens amongst us.) While a priest friend of mine revealed to me that he believes in the Enneagram, subtley infusing those principles into his homilies. The New Age is here, and it seems to be pretty pervasive - we are just blind to it.
What of it?
What is the sin in playing around with the occult? For one, it reintroduces a soul into the ”original” sin, as it were. The devil tempted Adam and Eve with the promise they will be like God, they will have the same knowledge as God…knowledge, power, control over one’s destiny, as it were. It demonstrates a complete lack of faith in God alone, a hope in His loving, providential mercy, and a lack of charity, departing from Him and turning to idols. By dabbling in the occult, we open ourselves to the devil, we become ensnared, enchanted as it were, by the glamour of evil, no matter how ‘nice’ or ‘natural’ it seems to be.
“Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, solid in your faith!” - 1 Peter 5:8-9
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray and do thou O Prince of the Heavenly Host cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
So let me ask this–is the problem with Harry Potter one of desensitizing us? Thats what I’ve taken–that its dangerous for kids who are not old enough to be talked to and understand that magic is never acceptable, is always contrary to Catholic beliefs, etc.
I mean Lord of the Rings has magic–on both sides, no less. The difference I see is that very few 8 year olds are going to pick up and read LOTR. (And obviously that Tolkien was a Catholic).
May 15th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
NAB: I do think it’s a problem of desensitizing us. We arrive at a comfort level with the concept of witchcraft, wicca, in and through the series. I love the Potter series as an adult, because it’s the classic tale of the loser kid winning. O’Brien has his finger on the matter however, so I think it is good to read what he has to say.
If I had kids, I would be careful of the Potter series. I was intrigued with witchcraft and the occult when I was pre-teen - if Potter was around then, I would have really gotten into it. It is a threshold phenomenon I think. It’s relativistic, presenting magic and witchcraft as morally neutral at the least, or simply another aspect of good and evil, except they are both rooted in what is not of God.
I never got into Tolkien. So I can’t really speak to that, I just know that in his work, the boundries of good and evil are clear, whereas in Harry, it’s pretty hazy.
Back to Harry - I really think adults can be influenced by the stories as well…depending upon their openess to the occult. Many, many adults are spiritually immature and therefore vulnerable, lacking discernment, despite their education and intellectual prowess.
May 15th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
I agree completely. That’s actually a problem I see with media in general. Too many passive readers/listeners/watchers who then imbibe wholesale these ideas. If you try to tell them that they’re subject to manipulation they claim they are too intelligent for that.
I taught my students this by an example from me: When I watch a movie with car chases in a theater, I almost always start speeding at first when I leave…I have adjusted to the through-the-windshield camera angles, and have lost perspective. That’s what media is about, and its a lot more pernicious than that–but a discerning person can avoid falling into the consumer trap.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
NAB: You are spot on. I watched “Friends” for years, dismissing all the immorality because I liked the characters. I noticed that I was much more ‘open’ to things, irregular lifestyles, immodest clothing, etc. Media surely influences culture and the erosion of morals and values. I honestly believe people have no idea as to the influence of TV, movies, radio, and advertising.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Great reflections, Terry!
May 15th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
IMO, Harry Potter is a modern day fairy tale. But, its merchandising beckons & gives young people an introduction to the occult, & without the proper education & knowledge of such dangers, they are lambs being led astay.
Some argue that this is not the intention of the author, witch (heh! are you paying attention?:) is probably true. However, the curiousity is out there, & a lukewarm “it’s-okay-it’s-just-entertainment” attitude might not be a good thing in the long run.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Well, here’s the thing about Tolkien: the whole point of The Lord of the Rings is the peril of meddling with “magical” powers, and the danger, particularly to mortals, of being corrupted by such powers. The One Ring is a powerful weapon that the good guys could have used to overthrow the Dark Lord; but if they had made use of this weapon, they would have cast him down only to set up a new Dark Lord in his place.
The only real hope for Middle-Earth, then, was the path of folly and weakness. The Lord of the Rings is thus deeply Christian; after all, St. Paul says the Cross is a stumbling block to the Jews, and folly to the Greeks; and yet it is the only way of salvation.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Anita, thanks much for your comments - the Tom Cruise thing is very funny! If only he would renounce that crap and come back to the Catholic church.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Terry, good reflections on the occult. However, I feel that I need to say something about the comment on the Sisters of St. Joseph. In the first place, they are many different groups, and not all are affiliated with one another. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, KS, were my teachers in grades 6-8, back in the early 1960’s. I still stay in contact with one of the Sisters who was my 7th and 8th grade teacher. I can’t think of anyone who would be less likely to be involved with Wicca. I’m sure there are nuns who have gone off on tangents. But it is unfair to characterize a whole order, or group of orders, as being so heterodox as to be involved in the occult.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Melody, I knew I ought to have stipulated which sisters were involved, but the post was way too long. At the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, and amongst some of the SSJC’s associated with this Province, not a few are into wicca, New Age, etc. Around the country, even Poor Clare nuns and other established religious orders, have dabbled into these more occult spiritualities. Perhaps it is not the entire congregation, and surely not the older faithful nuns, but many congregations have admitted into their communities elements that are occult. Not all are wiccan, but nevertheless, they accept occult based spiritualities. It should be common knowledge that the woman priest thing is often based in goddess theology.
In many cases, it is not a situation of individual religious, instead, it comprisess entire communities.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
I had an interesting experience when the Harry Potter books first came out. I am a school librarian in a public school and was wondering what all the fuss was about. I took the first book home to read. As I read it, I felt drowsy and fell briefly asleep. I dreamed I was in the school I worked in and saw a drug deal in progress in the hallway. The two young people were having trouble communicating as they did not speak the same language. I stepped in and acted as translator so that the drug deal could proceed. Then I woke up. I feel the dream meant that by having those books in my library I was giving the “dealer” a ready chance to communicate with innocent children. How important it is to pray for children everywhere! The devil is prowling like a roaring lion.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Ok, I’ll add something about the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet in St. Paul. I’m a 1990 alum of St. Kates. About 3 years ago I wanted to revisit my roots and go on a weekend retreat with the good sisters. Well….I was shocked. This is what I found: a movie on goddess worship, fellow retreatants who were into wicca, yoga meditations, a labyrinth, a library full of new age books in which we had most of our meetings, open disdain for the heirarchy of the Roman Catholic church, our retreat leader was a very tubby, mannish “sister” who wore jeans, an oversized t-shirt with a pin in the shape of a tree, lots of talk, talk, talk about our feelings and crapola like that…what I didn’t find: any talk of virtue, no mention of Mary, Jesus was mentioned but not focused on, Mass, any Catholic prayers such as the Hail Mary, they had some awful “new translation” of the Our Father which was completely heretical…in fact I fasted most of the weekend and felt compelled to pray for spiritual protection from these sisters. They are self described “militant and radical feminists” and I could find nothing discernably Catholic going on there. What a shame, what a crying shame.
St. Joseph pray for them, pray for us, and I pray these sisters leave my alma mater to some real Catholic order soon. Amen+
May 16th, 2007 at 11:50 am
I’m still trying to put the puzzle pieces together regarding the SSJ Federation ‘06 event, their keynote speaker Alfredo, what he says about himself & his past, and the headlines regarding the World Bank rukus (EU vs US) …. there seems to be a connetion.
http://www.sistersofsaintjosephfederation.org/VOReillyEvent2 006.pdf#search=%222006%20conference%20Sisters%20of%20St.%20J oseph’s%20Milwaukee%22
” … And what can we say of Alfredo’s words?
My graduate studies in literature and drama were done at Toronto in the
department where Marshall McLuhan … it was there I first heard of the global village and society of which Alfredo spoke so profoundly…”
“… Nonetheless, we revered him because he kept calling us back to the medium
which is the ultimate educator of our souls.
One of the many strengths of Alfredo’s transcendent vision of a global society and global beings and his hopes for that vision, is its rootedness in the midst of our cultural moment: politically, economically, socially, and ‘religiously.’
After 30 years with the World Bank, why not? …. the current economic paradigm is not working; that the search for a global ethic for human development is necessary and needs to emerge from something more than a process of Western deductive and abstract reasoning….”
Hmmm … introduction to Alfredo auto-bio:
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/kjo/articles/articlessub2/peace -abundance.shtml
“… In 1947, the Council of the Supreme Spirit allowed me to return to earth. This was not a unanimous decision, but I insisted so much that they let me come. I was not the only one who attended the meeting of the Council; my four siblings were there, too. It was a group decision and all five us engaged in intense negotiations. We all felt that Chile would be the right place to be born this time around and we became part of the same family. We chose the same parents―Alberto and Ines—who came to earth before us for many important reasons. As a result of the negotiations, one sibling decided to precede me and the three remaining ones were born after me. All of these deliberations might have happened thousands of years ago.
Was it the right choice to make and the right time to come? …. Only recently I began to remember the content and scope of the Council’s discussions. Specifically, the Council members sent me with a clear and precise mandate that incorporates a large array of goals, events and directives for this lifetime, including the healing of humanity. ….”
hmmm….. And a recent (there has been several) headline concern World Bank policies:
Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/apr/07042509.html
LifeSiteNews.com
Wednesday April 25, 2007
European Nations Demand World Bank Continue Forcing Abortion on Developing Nations
Stephen Mosher asserts that forcing population control on poor nations via financial pressure is “economic assassination”
By John-Henry Westen
WASHINGTON, April 25, 2007
(LifeSiteNews.com) - For decades the World Bank has been pressuring developing nations into implementing population control in order to qualify for receipt of loans. That program accelerated during the Clinton era in the 1990s as the Bank, which is controlled by the United States, more openly insisted countries wishing to receive funding permit abortion, and institute ‘family planning’ programs.
The current Administration has attempted to alter this abortion-pushing stance with the guidance of Juan Jose Daboub, a former El Salvador finance minister, who was last year appointed as a managing director of the bank under President Paul Wolfowitz. The new health strategy sought to relax requirements that recipient countries implement population control ‘family planning’ policies as a condition of receiving loans.
However the World Bank Board of Directors deferred a decision on accepting the new health strategy on Tuesday after receiving complaints from European World Bank Directors. In an April 19 letter, a copy of which was obtained by LifeSiteNews.com, Bank Directors from Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany and Norway demanded that the bank continue its coercive population control policy….”
hmmm … Now I do wonder if “Alfredo” who spent 30-years at the World Bank and who the COUNCIL of SUPREME SPIRIT sent to Mother Earth as a change agent, appproves of the new aid policy pushed by the new WB leader(s). Clearly the EU doesn’t …
Got me wondering …. and wondering why Alfredo was the Key speaker at the SSJ Federation conference …
Jesus, have mercy us!
May 16th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Terry: Excellent post. You’ve given me some items to read on further.
I’m a Harry Potter fan and I need to reflect on that. I”m also a Tolkien fan.
Sanctus Belle: Hey, you and I were at St. Kate’s at the same time! I’m 1986-1993. I would have graduated in 1990 if I was not working full-time. Back then, I would have bought the whole garbage hook, line and sinker. Amazing how life changes.
May 16th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
If only he would renounce that crap and come back to the Catholic church.
Terry, it’s amazing how quick people are to reject as nonsensical the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist; but these same people are just as quick to believe that the root of all evil is a herd of dead aliens trapped in antifreeze in a giant volcano.
May 16th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Awesome post, Terry.
Sanctus, thanks for the “inside” info. I have considered attending a “retreat” but I don’t think I’d be able to stomach it. someone needs to get a small camera and a mini recorder and inflitrate that garbage and put it out there for the auorties who could do something about it.
So sad. The foundress of their order is rolling in her grave.
May 19th, 2007 at 10:09 am
[...] A while back I posted an article about Bishop Murphy’s incredibly cavalier response in dealing with the occult practice of Reiki in a growing number of parishes here on Long Island. Please read this post about the occult and the evil behind it. [...]