Marcia Montenegro: The Occult, Part 2

Marcia Montenegro, former New Ager and professional astrologer, returns to discuss the Occult once again. She was first on the show in March, and this month we did a follow-up to get into some topics that time wouldn't allow us to discuss last time. Marcia and I discussed New Thought, Therapeutic Touch, Wellness, and Meditation, and were even able to incorporate questions from listeners and followers of Marcia's ministry, Christan Answers for the New Age.

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An Outline of the Discussion

We began with a recap of the first episode we did on the occult. Marcia briefly explained the three main categories of Occult activity:
- Divination
  - Fortune telling, reading hidden meaning into things like the stars, palm reading, etc.
- Spirit Contact
  - Contact with a disembodied being such as an angel, a person who has died, etc.
- Sorcery
  - Altering reality by supernatural or spiritual means.
We also discussed the Occult in media. Marcia helped me see the occult themes in “Power Rangers” and helped me to discern whether or not to let my children watch “Ben 10” and “Ninjago.” We also discussed “Harry Potter,” “Twilight,” “Lord of the Rings,” and the Narnia series.
- Christine in Atlanta asked:Â What do you think about the Harry Potter/Twilight books as compared to the Lord of the Rings/Narnia books?
We then got into New Thought, Oprah's Spirituality, and New Age “Christ Consciousness”. We kicked off the subject by playingÂ this Youtube clipÂ of Oprah to explain “Christ Consciousness”.
- New Thought and New Age are different movements. They have similarities, and there is some crossover, but they are not two names for the same thing.
- New Thought began late in the 19th century and (mis)used the Bible to make its case. People involved in New Thought will often claim to be Christian.
- New Thought teaches that we are all connected to God, and have divine qualities. It's our mission to rediscover this divinity within us.
- New Thought teaches that Jesus was a normal man like anyone else, but was more advanced in His understanding of His own divinity, and came to show us the way to our own divinity.
- Christian Science, Church of Unity, and Church of Religious Science all came out of New Thought.
Moving on, we discussedÂ TherapeuticÂ Touch.
- Deborah on Facebook asked:Â As a nurse, there have been CEs and articles on Therapeutic Touch. It has been a few years since this first came up in the nursing profession and then I never heard anymore about it. I know, as a nurse, the importance of a patient developing trust in me, and my touching him/her in the administration of their care is a normal thing to me, not something I have to learn or be instructed in as Therapeutic Touch. It seemed kind of silly to me when I first heard of it. It may go much deeper in the course material with the hidden concepts of the occult. Please comment.
- TherapeuticÂ Touch does not actually involve touching.
- It came straight out of the Theosophical Society, Madame Blavatsky.
- It is an Occult practice (sorcery) because it involvesÂ channelingÂ unseen energies or forces.
We next proceeded on to Wellness.
- Wellness is a concept that is very common in our culture today. It comes from the New Age. Going beyond the physical and mental, it purports to promote spiritual health. A New Age, or at least non-Christian concept of spirit.
- Insurance companies are requiring people to engage in New Age Wellness practices.
- Summarizing a question asked by Sarah in Minnesota:Â Yoga: Is it ever okay for a Christian to do Yoga? Can it be done just for exercise, as in P90X or other programs? How does one tell oneâ€™s Christian friends why one is not doing Yoga and defend this position?
- Yoga is a spiritual exercise that is inseparable from Hinduism. If you are not involving the spiritual, you are not engaging in Yoga.
  - Yoga is to Hinduism as Communion is to Christian.
- Some people turn to Pilates as an alternative to Yoga. However, most Pilates classes are taught by Yoga instructors and they have been blending Pilates principles with Yoga.
- Christine in Atlanta asked:Â Can you discuss the technique where someone holds a bottle of some kind of nutritional supplement, and the doctor monitors some kind of feedback that the body is supposedly giving? I know of a number of people who have done this. It's supposed to be some kind of indicator of an “innate body intelligence.” I think that was how it was described to me.
- Homeopathy is based on a concept of “Vitalism” which came out of New Thought.
- Applied Kineseology is also a Wellness technique that is a form of divination.
Our last topic of conversation was Meditation
- Biblical mediation involves considering the scriptures.
- Occult meditation involves emptying the mind of thought.
- Contemplative Prayer is a form of occult mediation, wrapped in Christian-sounding lanquage
  - Psalm 46:10a is often misused to support Contemplative Prayer. The King James says: “Be still, and know that I am God;”. However, the NASB says “Cease striving and know that I am God;”. Spurgeon said: “Shut up and listen to me.”
We closed with a general question from Patrick: How do we get other Christians to be interested enough to care about opposing New Age practices and teachings in the church? It seems to me if the topic comes up and I oppose it, I get looks and comments like I'm from another planet.
- People will say that you're going overboard being concerned about false teaching, but most of Paul's letters in the New Testament warned of false teaching within the Church. He instructs Timothy to hold to sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:6, 6:3, 2 Timothy 4:3, Titus 1:9, 2:1), he warned of the Judaizers in Galatians (Galatians 2:11-20), Ascetic teachings in Colossians, Gnostic teachings in 1 John 1, etc.