I agree with everything you wrote. As you know, I deal a lot with combating new age and witchy ideas through my teaching on herbal medicine. My book, The History and practice of Christian Herbal Medicine is all about the very Catholic history of herbal medicine... and it is hated alike by pagans and anti-Catholics who post negative reviews. One thing I think is an issue among many modern Catholics is that they are city folk, mostly, and lack a needed connection to nature. Our ancestors could not have imagined living without, at least a small garden. God made man to till the soil and the steward nature. When Jesus healed the blind man, He did so with real mud, not just spiritual words and He always sought quiet prayer time in nature. There needs to be a focus on getting Catholics out of the cities more often, and not just for spiritual retreats, but actually getting into the woods and getting hands dirty, with an emphasis on Catholic spirituality and nature that many saints wrote about - Saint Hildegard von Bingen and such would satisfy the longing that leads many to paganism and new age stuff.
Thank you for sharing this with us, Jenny. One wonders how many demonic New Ages practices have led to the corruption of seminaries and convents, especially following the supposed "openness" after Vatican II, and if they even inspired the sex abuse crisis.
Great and important article. There are a lot of false gods out there, but most we don’t see as gods. “Thy will, not my will” goes against our impulses, and “spiritual but not religious” is a “my will be done” philosophy—the basis of all false gods.
So true. I have two cradle Catholic friends who now no longer attend mass or connect with the Church. It got too inconvenient, they just stopped believing in the Catholic woo woo etc etc. They now justify this by saying…’we all find God in our own way…whatever is most appropriate for each of us…I feel spiritual in nature…I know when I look at a sunset I’m in the presence of God.’ They believe in Jesus, (though I presume don’t feel it is necessary to take his authority into account any more) they just think spirituality is better than old fashioned religion. Of course it is, if you are concentrating on your own ‘feel good’ needs. They continue to live good Christian lives and I love them dearly, but cannot discuss the faith with them without facing unintentional condescension, as they rush to ‘validate’ my choices (subtext ‘as you must validate ours’) while changing the subject as quickly as possible.
When I was college age, a young adult, I probably fell into the category of spiritual but not religious, but I was always Catholic meaning I wasn’t interested in any other types of religions. In my heart, I had grace to know the truth of the faith of my youth—I just wasn’t practicing Catholic at the time.
That being said I had a college professor who I liked very much who went to seminary dropped out. Okay. Sometimes people find out the priesthood isn’t their vocation in seminary.
I was going through some stress at the time & it was suggested to me reiki. I asked him about if & he said he had done it & never experience any type of spiritual negativity.
That being said—I didn’t do it because it felt off to me. Later, I found some more stuff about that professor; which I can tell you privately if you to know.
Thank you, Phillip, for sharing. I'd love to her more. Reiki or any kind of energy "healing" is so dangerous and opens so many portals that need to remain closed--I pray more and more people get educated about this.
Why is new age so popular? Because it’s all about YOU, everything is directed for you to explore you, by yourself, so in a society of narcissists, it not at all surprising. Christianity is about HIM, everything is directed towards HIM, to explore HIM and HIS truth, with the help of HIM, so in a society of narcissists it’s not at all surprising they don’t get HIM. 🙏😇🙏
I too was away from the Church for many years. When I came back, a priest friend (who is still both) recommended a book by Rohr. When he asked me how I liked it I told him we should start building the pyre for his books now and remind him he's Catholic. So a good experience, all in all, as I knew I was at least better at the Catholicism than Rohr and I fairly ran to the nearest parish offering 1962 Masses where I have happily remained for years now.
Please pray for me! Am working to bring truth to a situation here in my home city. An otherwise lovely Catholic retreat center that also forms Spiritual Directors, is featuring an immersive Enneagram program, open to anyone. Being led by a Methodist clergyman and his wife, who is the founder of her own Christian new age-ish spiritual direction group. Have written to the Catholic center with my concern and a gentle correction (Fr. Mitch's articles, the letter from the Pope, and an item from the Catechism) and received a thoughtful letter back that doubled down on the beauty of ecumenism and that the Church did not really speak against the Enneagram directly when it is used as a means to learn about ourselves and grow closer to Christ... . At first I wrestled with the concept that I was being "judgmental" and seeking to apply the Church of Me to this situation. But truly, this is a see something, say something, do something moment. As when driving past a house on fire. Have seen and said, and am now working to figure out and follow through with the "do something" part. Contact the Archdiocese seems prudent. God bless you for your thoughtful sharing in this post!
Katherine, you're most certainly in my prayers! I'll continue to pray for this situation and that the light of God's Truth will shine down upon all involved.
Jenny, you are spot on. The number of Catholics who have been enticed, mostly unknowingly, is staggering. We priests are failing to instruct our flock to the detriment of the salvation of souls. Sadly many priests have been taken in as well. Centering prayer, yoga, feng shui, crystals, enneagram, astrology, ouija, ghosts, etc., are all extremely dangerous and open the door to the demonic. I have encountered numerous Catholics who have incorporated these practices into their lives without knowing what they are doing. But Satan knows and he counts on their ignorance.
Can confirm. I'm Christian (not Catholic, at least not yet), but my history includes being saved out of a generational occultic family steeped in New Age and Freemasonry. I am unfortunately well-versed in the defiled filth and can spot it a mile away.... And I have seen SO much heinous stuff in churches of all kinds since being set free -- people wearing talismans or other witchcraft items seem to be the most common -- I even heard a pastor once preach from the pulpit of a protestant church about the wonderful enneagram. 😒
It's a bad situation. My frustration is that when you tell people that it is idolatry and witchcraft, they tend to look at you like you have two heads, because they cannot see it, or more worrisome, don't *want* to see it.
I agree--in many cases they don't want to see it, and one reason may be due to the fact that it's become so commonplace. This video just arrived in my email, I haven't watched it yet but it sounds good:
This is definitely a topic that must be brought into the light and exposed. I've noticed a rise in "manifestation", which looks attractive from the outside, but is so dark when seen for what it is.
I'm not sure if this falls into New Age specifically, but I have also been working to get certain phrases out of my language like "knock on wood", "jinx", etc. While I grew up with these as innocent jokes, I've noticed the superstition within them and don't want to even stray into that territory.
Totally agree with you. New Age has entered the Church through some useful idiots. The feel good factor is what makes these weak minded souls mislead others. As a college student, studying in a Catholic college, I used to be so confused with our prof, who was a nun, then a guest speaker, a priest added more to the confusion. These troubled misled souls have taken highly influential jobs and misled many with their Gnosticism and New Age stuff masking it under their Catholic identity.
Be careful, study the Baltimore or Catechism of Trent, don't fall for the tricks of the devil.
Thank you, Lydia, for sharing your experience. It's so sad--and so evil! The Baltimore or Catechism of Trent are great sources to reveal the Truth and the Light. I, too, encourage readers to study them.
I grew up protestant (became Catholic as an adult) in a church which became charismatic, and later encountered New Age philosophy so I experienced some of this kind of thing personally. It's seductive. It aligns with the secular world which is all about feelings and not about reason or faith. This kind of feeling-based spirituality has invaded Catholicism widely now. It's everywhere. We have to reject this anthopocentric view of the world and return to our roots as Catholics.
Tale as old as time... The devil hates it when God's people walk in true charisms and so he sneaks in defilement and filth to muddy the waters. I have seen that happen so, so many times, and when God's people don't have discernment, they end up bound. It's really a travesty.
When we seek the God of consolation, He consoles us in ways that are way over and above the consolations that we seek from a distance. We can only imagine them; God provides the realities (cf. Galatians 5:16-25). The imitations are limited by our imaginations, as enticing as they may appear to be. The realities from God arrive when we don’t lean on our understanding, and trust in Him with all of our hearts (cf. Proverbs 3:5-6).
Yes to everything you write here! I converted from the occult and new age worlds and I am always shocked when I meet Catholics who dabble in the new age and don't have any idea of the dangers involved.
I agree with everything you wrote. As you know, I deal a lot with combating new age and witchy ideas through my teaching on herbal medicine. My book, The History and practice of Christian Herbal Medicine is all about the very Catholic history of herbal medicine... and it is hated alike by pagans and anti-Catholics who post negative reviews. One thing I think is an issue among many modern Catholics is that they are city folk, mostly, and lack a needed connection to nature. Our ancestors could not have imagined living without, at least a small garden. God made man to till the soil and the steward nature. When Jesus healed the blind man, He did so with real mud, not just spiritual words and He always sought quiet prayer time in nature. There needs to be a focus on getting Catholics out of the cities more often, and not just for spiritual retreats, but actually getting into the woods and getting hands dirty, with an emphasis on Catholic spirituality and nature that many saints wrote about - Saint Hildegard von Bingen and such would satisfy the longing that leads many to paganism and new age stuff.
Thank you for sharing this with us, Jenny. One wonders how many demonic New Ages practices have led to the corruption of seminaries and convents, especially following the supposed "openness" after Vatican II, and if they even inspired the sex abuse crisis.
That's an excellent point, Kaleb. Once those doors are opened, even slightly, evil swoops right in wherever it can ...
Great and important article. There are a lot of false gods out there, but most we don’t see as gods. “Thy will, not my will” goes against our impulses, and “spiritual but not religious” is a “my will be done” philosophy—the basis of all false gods.
So true. I have two cradle Catholic friends who now no longer attend mass or connect with the Church. It got too inconvenient, they just stopped believing in the Catholic woo woo etc etc. They now justify this by saying…’we all find God in our own way…whatever is most appropriate for each of us…I feel spiritual in nature…I know when I look at a sunset I’m in the presence of God.’ They believe in Jesus, (though I presume don’t feel it is necessary to take his authority into account any more) they just think spirituality is better than old fashioned religion. Of course it is, if you are concentrating on your own ‘feel good’ needs. They continue to live good Christian lives and I love them dearly, but cannot discuss the faith with them without facing unintentional condescension, as they rush to ‘validate’ my choices (subtext ‘as you must validate ours’) while changing the subject as quickly as possible.
This is a much needed article, thank you Jenny for writing it!
Thank you, Christina, for your insight and help while I was researching it. I pray this issue gets exposed and corrected.
When I was college age, a young adult, I probably fell into the category of spiritual but not religious, but I was always Catholic meaning I wasn’t interested in any other types of religions. In my heart, I had grace to know the truth of the faith of my youth—I just wasn’t practicing Catholic at the time.
That being said I had a college professor who I liked very much who went to seminary dropped out. Okay. Sometimes people find out the priesthood isn’t their vocation in seminary.
I was going through some stress at the time & it was suggested to me reiki. I asked him about if & he said he had done it & never experience any type of spiritual negativity.
That being said—I didn’t do it because it felt off to me. Later, I found some more stuff about that professor; which I can tell you privately if you to know.
Thank you, Phillip, for sharing. I'd love to her more. Reiki or any kind of energy "healing" is so dangerous and opens so many portals that need to remain closed--I pray more and more people get educated about this.
Why is new age so popular? Because it’s all about YOU, everything is directed for you to explore you, by yourself, so in a society of narcissists, it not at all surprising. Christianity is about HIM, everything is directed towards HIM, to explore HIM and HIS truth, with the help of HIM, so in a society of narcissists it’s not at all surprising they don’t get HIM. 🙏😇🙏
Well said, Lauren! This is absolutely true. So many prayers are needed! St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle ...
Amen my Sister 🙏🥰
I too was away from the Church for many years. When I came back, a priest friend (who is still both) recommended a book by Rohr. When he asked me how I liked it I told him we should start building the pyre for his books now and remind him he's Catholic. So a good experience, all in all, as I knew I was at least better at the Catholicism than Rohr and I fairly ran to the nearest parish offering 1962 Masses where I have happily remained for years now.
Please pray for me! Am working to bring truth to a situation here in my home city. An otherwise lovely Catholic retreat center that also forms Spiritual Directors, is featuring an immersive Enneagram program, open to anyone. Being led by a Methodist clergyman and his wife, who is the founder of her own Christian new age-ish spiritual direction group. Have written to the Catholic center with my concern and a gentle correction (Fr. Mitch's articles, the letter from the Pope, and an item from the Catechism) and received a thoughtful letter back that doubled down on the beauty of ecumenism and that the Church did not really speak against the Enneagram directly when it is used as a means to learn about ourselves and grow closer to Christ... . At first I wrestled with the concept that I was being "judgmental" and seeking to apply the Church of Me to this situation. But truly, this is a see something, say something, do something moment. As when driving past a house on fire. Have seen and said, and am now working to figure out and follow through with the "do something" part. Contact the Archdiocese seems prudent. God bless you for your thoughtful sharing in this post!
Katherine, you're most certainly in my prayers! I'll continue to pray for this situation and that the light of God's Truth will shine down upon all involved.
Jenny, you are spot on. The number of Catholics who have been enticed, mostly unknowingly, is staggering. We priests are failing to instruct our flock to the detriment of the salvation of souls. Sadly many priests have been taken in as well. Centering prayer, yoga, feng shui, crystals, enneagram, astrology, ouija, ghosts, etc., are all extremely dangerous and open the door to the demonic. I have encountered numerous Catholics who have incorporated these practices into their lives without knowing what they are doing. But Satan knows and he counts on their ignorance.
Can confirm. I'm Christian (not Catholic, at least not yet), but my history includes being saved out of a generational occultic family steeped in New Age and Freemasonry. I am unfortunately well-versed in the defiled filth and can spot it a mile away.... And I have seen SO much heinous stuff in churches of all kinds since being set free -- people wearing talismans or other witchcraft items seem to be the most common -- I even heard a pastor once preach from the pulpit of a protestant church about the wonderful enneagram. 😒
It's a bad situation. My frustration is that when you tell people that it is idolatry and witchcraft, they tend to look at you like you have two heads, because they cannot see it, or more worrisome, don't *want* to see it.
I agree--in many cases they don't want to see it, and one reason may be due to the fact that it's become so commonplace. This video just arrived in my email, I haven't watched it yet but it sounds good:
https://www.churchpop.com/exorcists-reveal-how-the-occult-creeps-into-daily-life-and-how-to-spot-it/
This is definitely a topic that must be brought into the light and exposed. I've noticed a rise in "manifestation", which looks attractive from the outside, but is so dark when seen for what it is.
I'm not sure if this falls into New Age specifically, but I have also been working to get certain phrases out of my language like "knock on wood", "jinx", etc. While I grew up with these as innocent jokes, I've noticed the superstition within them and don't want to even stray into that territory.
Totally agree with you. New Age has entered the Church through some useful idiots. The feel good factor is what makes these weak minded souls mislead others. As a college student, studying in a Catholic college, I used to be so confused with our prof, who was a nun, then a guest speaker, a priest added more to the confusion. These troubled misled souls have taken highly influential jobs and misled many with their Gnosticism and New Age stuff masking it under their Catholic identity.
Be careful, study the Baltimore or Catechism of Trent, don't fall for the tricks of the devil.
Thank you, Lydia, for sharing your experience. It's so sad--and so evil! The Baltimore or Catechism of Trent are great sources to reveal the Truth and the Light. I, too, encourage readers to study them.
I grew up protestant (became Catholic as an adult) in a church which became charismatic, and later encountered New Age philosophy so I experienced some of this kind of thing personally. It's seductive. It aligns with the secular world which is all about feelings and not about reason or faith. This kind of feeling-based spirituality has invaded Catholicism widely now. It's everywhere. We have to reject this anthopocentric view of the world and return to our roots as Catholics.
Tale as old as time... The devil hates it when God's people walk in true charisms and so he sneaks in defilement and filth to muddy the waters. I have seen that happen so, so many times, and when God's people don't have discernment, they end up bound. It's really a travesty.
When we seek the God of consolation, He consoles us in ways that are way over and above the consolations that we seek from a distance. We can only imagine them; God provides the realities (cf. Galatians 5:16-25). The imitations are limited by our imaginations, as enticing as they may appear to be. The realities from God arrive when we don’t lean on our understanding, and trust in Him with all of our hearts (cf. Proverbs 3:5-6).
Yes to everything you write here! I converted from the occult and new age worlds and I am always shocked when I meet Catholics who dabble in the new age and don't have any idea of the dangers involved.