Major Categories of Occult Groups
Major Categories of Occult Groups from a Christian Perspective
The occult world in its extreme diversity can be narrowed into three categories from a Christian perspective:
1. Christian occult & paganism, and occult infiltration into Christianity
A. Christian occult practices and Christian paganism
B. Infiltration into Christianity by members from occult groups
2. The harmless occult world: harmless to other people
A. Religions that are not Judeo-Christian
B. White witchcraft with its traditional occult practices
3. Satanism, the harmful or evil occult world: harmful to other people
A. General black witchcraft with occult groups not bound to evil spirits
B. Satanism black witchcraft with occult groups consciously bound to evil spirits
In each of these three types there are numerous groups that can be called sub- groups, sub-sub- groups, and so on. The occult is the most diverse spiritual grouping varying in thousands of groups. If you thought the body of Christ was diverse think again. The diversity in Christianity is a drop in a bucket compared to the diversity in the occult. Many share some similarities yet are totally different in their perspectives, focus, goals and objectives. The three broad types given here only serve to show their level of harm to other people and their infiltration into Christianity.
1. Christian occult & paganism, and occult infiltration into Christianity
There are two broad sub-categories as the title suggests:
A. Christian occult practices and Christian paganism
B. Infiltration into Christianity by members from occult groups
A. Christian occult practices and Christian paganism
Christian occult practices and Christian paganism is simply the adoption of occult practices and religious beliefs that have no biblical basis. It is Christians who out of being deceived or for lack of knowledge end up adopting practices from occult groups.
As evangelicals it is customary for us to bash the Roman Catholic Church as the biggest culprit of embracing pagan practices. However we have our own logs to clear in our own evangelical camp.
Needless to say that the Catholic Church are by far the super heavyweights of Christianity in embracing pagan practices, including the ones the bible explicitly forbids. These include adoption of graven images in form of pictures, sculptures, and paintings.
A Catholic ministry known as Most Holy Family Monastery has tones of resources explaining how the Catholic Church became so contaminated with non-Christian beliefs. Their website is at MostHolyFamilyMonastery.com where you'll also find free video and audio downloads on Catholic infiltration by Freemasonry.
It's a blessing to see people within Roman Catholicism stepping up to reveal the mess around them. It's better than being done by us outsiders from evangelical and protestant circles. We've our own mess to clean up, including false teachings that are increasingly infiltrating into our long-established doctrinal beliefs.
Christian occult practices and Christian paganism encompass both categories of the occult definition. Here is the definition just to recap:
The occult from a Christian perspective is firstly , any practice, activity or entity which serves the role for tapping into the spirit world that is outside the biblically authorized spirit realm. Secondly , it is any practice, activity or entity which has spiritual symbolic value that is outside the biblically authorized spiritual practices or activities.
Most pagan practices do not condemn Christians practicing them to end up in hell. They primarily work to compromise their walk with God. Christians who knowingly practice activities that highly tap into the spirit world like tarot cards grieve the Holy Spirit and ultimately risk his departure.
These include astrology through reading of horoscopes, carrying of objects and pictures in churches that supposedly represent Jesus (and Mary), embracing superstitious beliefs like “lucky” charms, practicing non-biblical beliefs on numbers, colors, times, time cycles, dates, and other symbols, and so on.
Astrology is the belief that the heavenly bodies influence events on earth and in people's lives. This encompasses reading of horoscopes. The bible says, “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them,” Jeremiah 10:2.
Christians who knowingly practice activities that highly tap into the spirit world like tarot cards grieve the Holy Spirit and ultimately risk his departure. The practices make believers to be involved with other spirits other than the Spirit of God. This is defined as idolatry, an abomination to God (Exodus 20:4). Sins of idolatry are no small matter to God. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins,” James 4:17.
Some types of symbolism from the occult world seem not to be of any concern in affecting a person's walk with God. However, they are still not worth embracing. They are not Christian practices. They are pagan practices with pagan spiritual symbolic value.
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