Magic, the Occult, Wicca and New Age Beliefs / Spiritual Journey

MAGIC, THE OCCULT, WICCA AND NEW AGE BELIEFS

With Halloween coming soon, this is a good time to cover this topic.  Most of us know of someone entangled in these beliefs that completely go against God's Word.  You will want to read the complete story of Marcia Montenegro about how she was drawn in and engulfed in these beliefs.  Even some who call themselves Christians believe in occultic games, magic, spell, divination, or allow their children to read books that encourage and entice these practices.  I heard the following personal testimony given on the very informative Christian radio broadcast, Point of View (www.pointofview.net).  

MARCIA MONTENEGRO'S STRANGE BUT TRUE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

When witches and wizards are popular and cool, Christians need to understand what the Bible teaches about the supernatural world. Marcia Montenegro is a former astrologer who became a Christian in 1990. She is the author of "10 Q&A on Magic, Spells, and Divination" by Rose Publishing, as well as a key contributor to "Christianity, Cults, and the Occult."

"Spirit guides, meditation, astrology, the "higher Self," raising the kundalini, developing psychic abilities, praying to gurus, astral travel, numerology, Tarot cards, contacting the dead, hanging out with witches, Sufis, followers of Muktananda, Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Maharaji, -- all these and more were part of my journey. How did I get on this path?

I grew up with an agnostic father and a mother who was raised going to church. My sister and I had to attend church, because my mother thought that was the right thing to do, although she did not always go. Due to my father's job in the Foreign Service, we moved around a lot, so we ended up in different churches located overseas and in the Washington, DC, area. Eventually, I became serious about religion. In high school, I had the idea that being good would please God and get me into heaven. But reading about other religions and meeting those who believed differently made me wonder. Maybe there was more to it than what I had -- some knowledge of God and Jesus which was mostly superficial. I wanted something deeper, more experiential. I was also rejecting the idea of hell and was disillusioned with Christians. Christianity seemed defined by sermons, going to Sunday School, and doing good works. How boring! I was missing out on something! Also, I never fit in during my high school years. Being someone who wrote poetry, being in an alcoholic home, having no real roots all combined to make me feel different and unlike other people. I started my journey at the end of high school.

That journey continued through college where I had paranormal experiences, made friends with someone who said she saw auras, and attended spiritualist meetings where the ministers received messages from the dead. One bright sunny Florida afternoon, as I rested on my bed fully awake with eyes partly closed, I felt myself floating...Click here to continue reading Marcia's personal story.