The occult includes any activity that involves consulting someone other than God for wisdom or power.
True wisdom comes from God. The occult describes knowledge passed to humans from demons. Demons have no association with truth. The leader of the demons is the father of lies, the destroyer, the enemy, the accuser: Satan.
When you seek wisdom from the occult, the “wisdom” you will receive will be mostly lies, often with a few kernels of truth thrown in to make the lies more believable. When you seek power from the occult, such as healing power, you are asking for power from Satan. There is no such thing as a “white witch” or “white magic”. Power comes from God or it comes from darkness, there is no middle ground. Sorry.
The occult includes specialties such as:
- Tarot cards/tea leaves reading
- Reiki/spiritists
- Astrology
- Mediums/necromancers
- Psychics/soothsayers/fortune tellers
- Witchcraft/spell casting
- Divination/sorcery
- Anything “new age”
- Human sacrifice
What does the Bible say about the occult?
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.”
Deuteronomy 18:9-12 NIV
“They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.”
2 Kings 17:17 NIV
Some of these practices are a twisted version of religious practices, which almost lends them an air of respectability. But make no mistake: all of these practices lead to destruction.
Why?
Each of these practices involves seeking wisdom or power from darkness. When we need wisdom or power, we should be turning to God for help. Not the destroyer, Satan. And if you are seeking power but not asking God, who are you asking? Satan. Deriving power from evil is the same as worshiping Satan, and it declares you to be the property of the destroyer. Which means you will share his fiery fate.
But wait! Even reiki??
Reiki is a perversion of healing prayer. The Bible tells us to anoint the sick, and to lay hands on them and pray for healing.
“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”
James 5:14-15 NIV
Reiki, then, is hands-on prayer… with the exchange of money, and *without* calling on God.
If the reiki practitioner isn’t praying to God, who are they asking for help from? “Spirits”. What spirits will answer their call? Only evil spirits. God’s angels take orders from God alone; you do not pray to or worship angels. That leaves only evil spirits to answer the invitation of the reiki master. Evil spirits which will then have a legal right to mess up your life, whisper lies to you, torment you, and even possess you.
The story of Simon the sorcerer in the book of Acts has an important lesson that applies to reiki.
“Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”
Acts 8:9-10 NIV
We already know, by the description of him that he was “boasting”, that this man was not truly a man of God at all. Simon the sorcerer saw believers being baptized, and he decided to get baptized too. When he saw the apostles laying hands on people to impart the Holy Spirit, he wanted in.
“When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
“Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.”
Acts 8:18-22 NIV
Do you understand what happened here?
Simon the sorcerer wanted to *purchase* the power of God so he could then sell it to his clients at a profit.
Is your reiki practitioner any different than Simon the sorcerer? Reiki is hands-on prayer — minus the power of God — for money. I hope that if somebody ever tries to charge you for prayer that you run the other way. Prayer never costs money. Prayer is free. It is a gift from God. No true Christian would ever charge money to pray for you.
If you are seeking *actual* hands-on prayer, find a local church that does it still. Many don’t, unfortunately, but some still do.
Alright, so I have sought out the occult in the past. What now?
Almost everybody has been touched by the occult in their life. Don’t panic, God can fix this! All you need to do is pray out loud and *repent* of seeking the occult [feel and express regret or remorse about your sin] and *renounce* the occult practice(s) you sought [turn away from your sin and choose a different path]. This will remove the legal right of any evil spirits to be in your life. You may still need deliverance prayer to cast out any more persistent demons that may have attached themselves to you, or you may be able to cast them out yourself with the authority of Jesus Christ.
*However, if you do not know how to put on the authority of Jesus Christ, you should never attempt to cast out a demon on your own. It can be extremely dangerous for a novice.*
Next time you are looking for wisdom, insight on the future, healing power, or help, seek it from God alone.
He will reveal whatever you *need* to know, and He will heal you *when the time is right*. And there is the heart of the matter, isn’t it? We don’t agree with God’s timing. We get impatient. We get desperate. We get to a place where we would do *anything* for help. And that’s exactly when the devil has you in his grip.
Trust God instead. Have faith in His promises. Have faith in His plan, even when it doesn’t make sense to you.
Stay humble all!