03700
 
 

OCCULT
 
 

It has been reported that there are three times more witches and fortune tellers in the old West Germany than there were preachers.
 
 

There are murderers in prisons in this country for killing in the practice of human sacrifice.
 
 

In America we have schools teaching courses in witchcraft. Americans spend over two hundred million a year on astrology. It has been reported that Americans buy two million Ouija boards a year. I have been told that there is a "rent a witch" firm in Ohio.
 
 

Doubleday has an occult book club with over a hundred thousand members. Baseball clubs hire astrologers to help in the seasons games.
 
 

So, do you think that the occult is active in our nation? Indeed, Christians dabble in it at times.
 
 

Have any of you ladies been around when someone was determining the sex of an unborn child? There are several methods. You can swing the wedding band suspended on a thread over the unborn baby. If it swings one way it's a boy and if the other way it's a girl. Spit into Saniflush and if it turns one color it's a boy, if it turns another color it's a girl (This one may have some basis in science). Take the number of the month of conception and add the age of the mother at conception and if the total is even it's a girl, if it's odd then it is a boy.
 
 

Have you read your horoscope? Have you ever had a wart removed in any manner other than medically? Have you ever water witched? Have you ever used an Ouija board? (See appendix one if you want further information on water witching. It contains information I assembled after being told by a student that he and a Christian leader had been out water witching and that he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.)
 
 

If you answered any of these yes, then you have been involved in the occult. We tend to accept some of the Borderline occult in America.
 
 

Why do we as Christians accept the Devils activities as all right?
 
 

a. Education - we've been bombarded with it. We are in the world system, and being influenced by it.
 
 

b. Movies such as Shirley McClain's movie on her experiences, Friday the 13th and many many more.
 
 

c. T.V. series Friday the 13th, as well as a number of movies that uplift the occult.
 
 

d. The television show Bewitched may have started some of the acceptance - cute witch with a cute wiggling turned up nose. What can be the matter with that? It is witchcraft.
 
 

e. We are not spiritual enough to discern the good from the bad.
 
 

f. There are talk shows now that have "good" witches that make it sound really good.
 
 

Let us move now into our study of the occult.
 
 

Occult defined: The term relates to something that is secret or hidden. It relates to things that are beyond the normal understanding - related to the mystic or dark side of things.
 
 

Some of the parts of the occult are:
 
 

parapsychology

palmistry

horoscopes

astrology

crystal balls

Jean Dixon type prophecy

tarot cards

seances

drugs

Ouija boards

astral projection

water witching

removing warts

the sixth and seventh books of Moses
 
 

Let's see from the start that Satan is able to do great feats.
 
 

Satan's copies before Pharaoh: Ex 7:8-12 Aaron's rod became a serpent - The magicians did the same - Aaron's serpent ate those of the magicians; 7:14-25 Water to blood - v22 "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments"; 8:1-7 Frogs upon the land - v 7 The magicians did it, also; 8:16-19 The lice came - v 18 Magicians tried but couldn't; 8:20-32 flies - Magicians don't try; 9:1-7 livestock killed - Magicians don't try; 9:8-12 - boils - Magicians couldn't even stay in court of Pharaoh v 11.
 
 

What do we learn here? God can and does limit the Devil's miracle power when He wants to, or the Devil's powers may be limited by the nature of the Devil himself.
 
 

The power we see today in the Occult is by God's permissive will and we need not get upset. We need only avoid it and/or deal with it if it comes up. We need not go looking for trouble. It will find us if the Lord wants us involved. We aren't to be ghost busters, or demon dumpers, we are to be good soldiers of the Lord.
 
 

Take a moment to read Ex 20:4,5. This text speaks of idolatry. This is the putting of something in place of God. It is the looking away from God. It is looking to something else for help, wisdom, and guidance. These are the things people in occultism are looking for. Occultism is very close to idolatry in principle.
 
 

Let us take time to look at some of the specifics of the occult, so that you will know what the occult is. I fear that many believers do not know what they are dealing with.
 
 

Astrology: Astron means star and logos means discourse. It is the finding out of how to live your life from the stars. It is allowing the horoscope to control your life and run how you think.
 
 

In 1500's NOSTRADAMUS studied the stars for years. Many predictions come from him. Some were true. He believed God guided our lives and affected our lives by the stars and planets and constellations. To believe in this is to believe that every light bulb in a light bulb factory affects the life and future of the cockroaches and the spiders.
 
 

The stars in the early days were, and even still are, believed to affect the growth of crops etc. This is linked to the same thinking that produces astrology.
 
 

Astrology refuted:
 
 

1. Finding your future, from other than God, is a form of idolatry. Lev. 19:4 "Turn ye not unto idols, nor make...melted gods."
 
 

2. Astrology is allowing unsaved people and the devil to have

control over your life.
 
 

3. Isa 47:11-15 shows the end of the star gazers.
 
 

What about just trying it? One pastor said this. He tried it just once. The reading said he should drive more carefully that day. Later that day he noticed he was driving much slower than usual. It had affected his life. He said that was enough.
 
 

Sure astrology works to some extent, but it is the devil and certainly his workers behind it.
 
 

Mind reading: The mind reader supposedly can through thought waves tell what you are thinking, with no verbal or physical communications. The mind readers have been exposed so many times over the years that one should be surprised to find anyone that believes in them however there are many that do.
 
 

If the mind reader is not tricking his viewer, then his information is coming from some source other than God. That source is probably Satan.
 
 

Ouija board: There were four million boards sold in the U.S. in 1967. The board usually has a yes in one upper corner and a no in the other corner. The alphabet, and numbers one through zero are printed on it as well. There is a glass or pointer that the participants lightly touch. The pointer then points you to the yes or no, or if the answer is longer will spell out the answer to your question.
 
 

Finding out information from non natural, nonscientific means leaves you gaining information from the supernatural. God does not operate this way and there is only one other in the supernatural that does.
 
 

Prediction: One of the current favorites is Jeanne Dixon. Jeanne Dixon once mentioned that she had a snake crawl up on her stomach and look at her. She said that she saw in those eyes the wisdom of the ages. Sounds like Eve and the garden! She is a good Roman Catholic and claims her powers of prophecy are from God.
 
 

Let's see what God says about the accuracy of His prophecies.
 
 

Deut. 18:22 mentions that the prophesied item must come to pass or the prophet is a false prophet.
 
 

Deut. 13:1-3 If the item comes to pass and a prophet tries to get you to follow other gods he's false.
 
 

If Jeane Dixon is one of His then the Lord has slipped in the last few hundred years. She is in trouble for Deut. 18:20 says a prophet presuming to speak for Him will die. Deut. 13:5 also states false prophets are to be killed. I wonder if she would like some literal interpretation and quick application?
 
 

The predictionist can usually by viewing the world situation, and knowing history, give a 50% accurate set of predictions. They can also subscribe to a subscription service that will help them in assembling their information.
 
 

ESP: Extra sensory perception is basically knowing about what someone is holding or thinking about without communication. It is usually done in tests with shapes on cards. Some offer proof of this by suggesting twins that often sense when the other is dying. This may or may not be ESP. It is communication on a thought level. This goes into the mind reading area, also.
 
 

ESP refuted: Some say what's wrong with using this sixth sense, or whatever it is.
 
 

1. God gave us six senses: Sight sense, smell sense, hear sense, touch sense, taste sense, and good sense. Those are the only senses we need. No other sense is found in the Scripture. If He had given us some super dooper sense why didn't He make it one we'd know all about like the others? Why didn't He tell everyone how to use it.
 
 

2. If God didn't give us a super sense then where does it come from if someone has it? THE DEVIL.
 
 

Witches: The Old Testament gives us some information concerning witches. Ex 22:18 They are to die. Deut. 18:10-12 states that witches are an abomination unto the Lord. Gal 5:19-21 tells us that you can't be a witch and be saved.
 
 

Coven and Sabbaths: A coven normally contains six male, and six female witches, with a high priest or high priestess. They meet monthly and have several festivals during the year.
 
 

It is reported that during these ceremonies they remove their clothes and bath in salt water. The salt water bath is to purify them.
 
 

Witchcraft: This is the practice or craft of the witch. It involves all that they are and all that they do.
 
 

One of the famous cases of murder in California might be of interest to you.

There is a book named Helter Skelter which details the thinking and actions of Charles Manson and his followers. His thinking seems to have been a mixture of Rock and Roll, the Devil, witchcraft, and Indian myths. ("HELTER SKELTER"; pp 239-242))
 
 

This study is continued in topic number d03750.