Many of us have had experiences in life where we saw or felt something that couldn’t be explained by natural causes. Others have had experiences where they undeniably saw or felt a sinister presence or perhaps an apparition that they knew was supernatural. I used to be very skeptical about anything beyond the physical world and thought those stories were made up or were merely hallucinations. I later learned after many years that there is in fact a spiritual world that is very real, and many of the stories that I had never taken seriously before turned out to be true. What we hear of today about angels and demons are often lumped in with cultural myths such as the tooth fairy, cupid, or some other silly characters. What I know to be true about the spiritual world comes from believing what God revealed through Scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Take angels for instance. I’ve seen in many new age circles that “angel readings” are becoming quite popular. Practitioners offer these readings as a way to communicate with angelic beings to guide people through life or help them in an area where they are struggling. The problem is that whenever someone dabbles into anything having to do with divination or summoning any kind of spirit, they unknowingly open the gates to demonic forces, even if it seems harmless at first or the “energy” they contact appears benign.
The concept of angels comes to us from Christianity, specifically the Catholic faith, and there are numerous references to them in Scripture. Angels are created spirits made by God without bodies who act as messengers, (according to Bishop Louis LaRavoire). They serve the true God as defined by Christianity; it is contradictory to say that they have other purposes, like some religions teach. Their nature is far superior to that of humanity. There is a hierarchy of nine choirs of angels that start with the seraphim at the top and descend to the cherubim, thrones, dominations, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, and angels. God assigns an angel to every person when they are born out of His love for us. They help us by praying for us, protecting us from spiritual and bodily harm, putting good thoughts in our head, and inspiring us to do good. They also help lead us to God and want to see us get to Heaven. On a side note- despite some of the pretty paintings you see, angels have a masculine energy and are not chubby babies.
Demons were actually once good angels that rebelled against God and were cast out of Heaven, henceforth called devils. They seek to harm and tempt us to sin. It’s important to know that these spirits are older than humanity, have knowledge of every human event, and are far more intellectual than the smartest humans who ever lived. When people contact “the other side” or practice the occult to gain hidden knowledge, they are actually calling on these spirits (whether they know it or not). This is certainly true of psychics who claim to contact the other side and those who practice spiritism.
How they can attack…
Devils can attack in different ways, from tempting us to do evil (though they can never force us), putting bad thoughts in our heads, physically causing us bodily harm, and through other phenomena known as infestation, oppression, obsession, and in rare cases possession. Infestation is an occurrence in which demonic activity is seen in objects or locations, for example if someone sees an object moving by itself in the home, disappearing, or flying through the air, etc. Oppression is a more serious attack on a person’s life that can affect finances, work, family, or bodily health. Physical assaults can fall into this category as well. Obsession is a type of attack where obsessive, disturbing thoughts are provoked that are often irrational and relentless. This is different from obsessive-compulsive disorder or recurring thoughts that stem from guilt or some other emotion. Possession occurs when a devil enters the human body and exercises power over it. There have been numerous documented cases of this phenomenon, as can be seen from the works of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and some that were made into Hollywood films were loosely based on the real life cases.
Sometimes God permits us to be tempted or even attacked by these evil spirits in order to try us. It can be a wake-up call for the person to finally turn to God, change their life, or serve as an example to others. In recent times, however, numerous people have unknowingly invited the demonic into their homes by messing around with the occult or having superstitious objects in their home. Divination of any kind was always forbidden by the Church because it is a tool of the enemy that leads us away from God. Those who practice divination are implicitly or explicitly calling upon the devil for assistance. This includes tarot cards, crystal balls, Ouija boards, tea leaf readings, dowsing, palm reading, and other similar practices. Even superstition, which seems stupid, is forbidden by Christianity because you are attributing to a creature a power that only belongs to God. It includes carrying “lucky charms” such as a rabbit’s foot or amulets, believing you’ll get 7 years bad luck after breaking a mirror, not walking under a ladder, etc.
If you were to walk into any bookstore today you can easily find a new age/occult section. Even most health food stores that I’ve gone into sell crystals, fairy statues, Buddha statues, smudge sticks, and divination tools. Transcendental meditation (TM), reiki, energy healing, astrology, and shamanism are promoted in every herbal conference and holistic health center that I’ve seen. Worse yet, there’s consultations in “soul retrieval” and past life regression therapy. Please don’t fall for it. And of course, there’s yoga. Yoga yoga everywhere. Almost every holistic person I know is into yoga and most health centers offer classes in it. Even people who aren’t otherwise into natural health have taken yoga classes. Yoga is a topic for another day but it has roots in Hinduism and its various poses are tributes to pagan gods.
Growing up I used to be really interested in witchcraft. My favorite TV show was Charmed, which glamorized witches, spells, and magic. Since then, magic has been popularized and promoted to adults and children alike, as can be seen by the popularity of the Harry Potter series and others. When I started learning about herbalism several years ago, I later realized you pretty much cannot separate it from paganism and earth worship, because when it was revived in this country in the 1960s, that’s what many of the so-called hippies and alternative folks were getting into as part of the rebellion. And there is definitely no place in those circles for Christianity, unless you happen to meet a few ecumenist-type herbalists who are accepting of everyone. Practices that seem like harmless fun are not the case since most people do not know their origins or the effects they can have.
The term occult refers to that which is hidden, specifically to various aspects of the supernatural. There were many nations and traditions who practice different forms of it and it continues to this day. There were certain individuals in history who were very influential in promoting or reviving some of these philosophies and deceived people into thinking no harm comes from it. Probably the most influential person on the modern new age movement is a woman named Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.
Born
in 1831 in Russia, she was the author of two influential books entitled The Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled, which she claimed was dictated to her by “masters” who she stated were evolved souls that guided mankind. Her works and beliefs were completely contrary to Christianity and even praised Satan. Many people who are into new age practices have probably never heard of her, yet she laid the foundation for much of current occult thought. In the herbal circles I used to study in, I remember often hearing about spirit guides in the various meditations we were encouraged to practice. The goal of these meditations and of the spirit guides is supposedly to help us transcend to different planes of spiritual progression. The concept of spirit guides comes to us from her, and they are without a doubt demons in disguise. The only true guide to trust in is your guardian angel.
When speaking with others who are involved in various new age/occult practices, certainly none of them think they are practicing anything that is harmful or satanic. The new age is basically a hodgepodge of different world traditions, mostly paganism and Eastern philosophies mixed with occultism, earth worship, and Wicca. For anyone who thinks like I used to that Wicca is a benign nature-based religion, you should know that the man who brought contemporary Wicca to the mainstream in the 1950s was Gerald Gardner, who was heavily influenced by notorious satanist Aleister Crowley. Crowley’s philosophy of “do what thou wilt” had a major influence on society that took off during the 1960s, and we can see the fruits of this kind of thinking today probably more than any other time in history, with the selfishness, rebellion, and the me me me attitude.
What’s troubling is that these dangerous practices are promoted unchecked, and there is a growing interest in them as people search for answers to some of life’s questions. I myself used to dabble in the occult and have practiced astrology, tarot card readings, the Ouija board, dowsing, dream interpretations, meditations, and palmistry. All of these lead to a dead end road and away from God, and are a deceptive tool of the devil. Please do not be fooled- there is no such thing as “white” magic. Magic of any kind is contrary to the teachings of God and must be avoided at all cost.
2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no wonder: for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.“
Sources and further reading:
Dominican Priests and Brothers of the Holy Face of Jesus. Faith in Action: A Quarterly Traditional Catholic Magazine. “Knowing our enemy.” Vol. XIII, Issue 1.
Flynn, Ted. Hope of the wicked. MaxKol Communications Publishing.
LaRavoire, Louis. My Catholic Faith.
Sarchie, Ralph. Deliver us from evil: A New York cop investigates the supernatural. St. Martin’s Press. (Good book, just ignore the few heresies it contains).
Short documentary about Anneliese Michel– She was the real life Emily Rose, upon which the movie was based. Some parts of the movie were actually true, but this documentary goes into more detail.
A Spoonful of Garlic 
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