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What Is the occult? The occult is defined as having perception beyond the range of what is normal. It is the quest or the claim to have hidden knowledge and power. The world’s fascination with the occult and the unknown has greatly increased over the years. This fascination of the unknown and quest to know more about the spirit world has caused many souls to seek out different forms and practices of the occult.
What Is The Occult & Its Practices
All occult practices fall within three categories of:
- Magic / Sorcery
- Divination / Fortune-Telling
- Spiritism / Necromancy
Sorcery & Magic
Sorcery is defined as the use of power gained from the help or control of evil spirits and especially for divining. The same word for sorcery is magic. Magic and sorcery is used to manipulate and control things, people and situations through the knowledge and control of the spirit realm.
- Sorcery and magic involves the use of charms or spells that are believed to have supernatural power over natural forces
- Magic spells or incantations
- An extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source or something that seems to cast a spell
- The art of producing illusions by means of the hand
Acts 19:18-20
Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars.So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.
Divination / Fortune Telling
Divination or fortune-telling is a way of seeking hidden knowledge that is not easily available to humans. Some examples of divination are reading crystal gazing, tea leaves, reading palms, reading horoscopes, astrology, water witching and even drugs. Divination is defined as the following:
- The art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events
- The practice of seeking hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers
- Unusual insight or intuitive perception
Acts 16:16
One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters.
Spiritism / Necromancy
Spiritism or necromancy is the method of trying to contact the dead to receive desired knowledge of some sort. Mediums are individuals who yield themselves to demon spirits to speak through them or to give them information known through what is called a familiar spirit. A familiar spirit will give the seeker details of the past, present and the future. It is through this demonic or familiar spirit that people receive readings from a psychic. The practice of necromancy is very dangerous and involves:
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- The conjuring up of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events
- Seeking out mediums who go between speaking to the living and the dead.
Isaiah 8:19-22
When people tell you,
Try out the fortunetellers.
Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world, get in touch with the dead?
Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”
People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished, they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
Cursing first this god and then that one
Looking this way and that,
Up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
They end up in the dark with nothing.
A Warning From God
The Bible warns us against getting involved with these occult practices. These practices are not of God they are devices of Satan. When people involve themselves in the occult they are removing God from the picture and putting Satan as their source of knowledge and wisdom. It is a way of self-seeking for wisdom that does not come from truth.
James 3:14-15
But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
God warned His people in the Old Testament by telling them to never sacrifice their sons or daughters as burnt offerings to other gods, do not let your people practice fortune-telling, use sorcery, interpret omens or engage in witchcraft. In their disobedience to the Word of the God they yet sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire to strange gods. They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and witchcraft. They sold themselves to evil and aroused the Lord to anger.
The warning that was given to the children of Israel in the Bible still applies to us today as children of God. We are not to seek the hidden devilish wisdom of psychics, mediums and fortune tellers. We are forbidden by God to use magic or sorcery to manipulate and control others into doing what we want.
Not A Part of God’s Kingdom
Galatians 5:19-21
The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: committing sexual sin, being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, worshiping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups, being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now as I warned you before: The people who do these things will not have a part in God’s kingdom.
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