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Christianity + Occult

Mart

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As far as I'm aware you can, that would be mostly the Right Hand Path and Direct Magick a.k.a. Energy Manipulation.
Various psalms and prayers are commonly used in various practices like vodun/hoodoo, then there's also working with angels in various judeo-christian paths...
But don't quote me on that, I'm no expert on religions.
 

QueenJazz

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Psalms, working with saints and angels is a huge part of hoodoo (not to be mixed with voodoo) voodoo is a religion. You can read about the magical practice of hoodoo and see if you’re into that.
However, your question makes me kinda feel you’re not ready, most people I’ve seen with this mentality will quit after a while and run back to the church for forgiveness.
 

YiSaga

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That's a tad catty Miss Jazz you know the dungeon master wants players to dwell in all possibilities in the wholesome ways. Right hand path and kabalah and over all holy Jewcraft. I always seen christians as like dancers, vibrant in their way as all ls. The Bible is an engine for one to use to compare life to something and have a roadmap. I'll be honest it's basic like watery onion soup in regards to the everchanging complexity of life. So these dancers will dance to this same tune and it's hard to rightly break free. I'd say a Christian becomes an occultist when they master what they are given to do through life and through spiritual purpose. They will start finding themselves bouncing off of life itself more than the preferred holy scripture. What I recommend is (if one has not already) is looking at the similarities between cultures and trace it back to the christian values that make you do good. I'm not saying get invested in torah or quaran to the point where it absorbs your attention, and then life. If you bounce your attention between instrumental science and Hermetic kabalah and over all jewcraft to jew the universe between you and urself, you might come to the conclusion of living well. A Christian if I can define, is like the perfect compliant energy battery, but the terf changes way to much to be stuck on on one book.
Reading list but I don't even get hung up on one text

Initiation into hermetics
Liber novus (makes me want to slam in Gnosticism)
And I said one in another post about grimoire recommendations
You don't just finish a magical text btw
Non-religious objective science fills the hole real nice in a jiff. The proper models, as close as you can get to
 

SkullTraill

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The occult and Christianity have walked hand in hand until somewhat recently. Traditionally it was something done by high clergy, and the negative stigma around it only arose when common people started practicing it, thereby reducing the importance of the clergy, leading them to brand it as witchcraft and that's where the associations with "blasphemy" arose. At the end of the day, prayer is just a church-approved and regulated occult practice. Prayers and incantations are used throughout the occult, and many branches of the occult work directly with Christian dieties.

As for how to reconcile the two, you only need realise that being a good Christian is not about doing what the pope/modern religion tells you to do. It's about your faith in God and the bible. There is not mutual exclusivity between being an occultist and a good Christian, you just need to unlearn some false thruths that the modern church has indoctrinated you with.
 

Mart

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Sorcery has always been one of the Three Great Royal Sciences, along with Alchemy and Astrology. The very meaning of the word "occult" is "hidden", so it has been, for thousands of years. Like Skull said, it was reserved for the privileged castes for the most part and those secrets were always closely guarded (they still are). If you look at the christian church ceremonies with a fresh perspective you will quickly recognise it as ritual magic for the most part. I am certain whomever the real historical person behind the modernised "Jesus Christ" image was, most likely practiced sorcery of some sort himself. :)
 

SkullTraill

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Sorcery has always been one of the Three Great Royal Sciences, along with Alchemy and Astrology. The very meaning of the word "occult" is "hidden", so it has been, for thousands of years. Like Skull said, it was reserved for the privileged castes for the most part and those secrets were always closely guarded (they still are). If you look at the christian church ceremonies with a fresh perspective you will quickly recognise it as ritual magic for the most part. I am certain whomever the real historical person behind the modernised "Jesus Christ" image was, most likely practiced sorcery of some sort himself. :)
Exactly.
 

The God-King

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Of course one can be Christian and do Occult. I think when most people ask this question they are asking if one can be Protestant/Lutheran/Insert Other Denomination Here and still be an Occultist. In that case, if you're talking about a specific Christian denomination then probably not because in those cases you're getting very nuanced within the religion. But if we take Christianity overall, then yes one can be an occultist and a Christian. There are even Christian groups (idk if I want to call them "denominations" since I don't think they are officially recognized in Christianity as a whole) that promote the practice of magic such as Christian Mysticism and many Gnostic sects such as the Johannites. The Johannites not only encourage magical practice, they encourage it in the Neoplatonic and Hermetic way which fits ever so snuggly with Christianity. They even have their own occult secret society called The Friary!

Mainstream Christianity will tell you that the occult is work of the devil and to stay away. However if you ignore that and take a journey deeper into the mysteries of Christianity you will find there are many parallels to the occult and those parallels can be connected to form a coherent system and practice.
 

Lemongrass00

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Psalms, working with saints and angels is a huge part of hoodoo (not to be mixed with voodoo) voodoo is a religion. You can read about the magical practice of hoodoo and see if you’re into that.
However, your question makes me kinda feel you’re not ready, most people I’ve seen with this mentality will quit after a while and run back to the church for forgiveness.
I was raised in a super conventional way of Christianity. I became aware that early Christians had a history of using magic as well as it being ingrained in ancient Judaism so I’m trying to expand my mind but I am definitely concerned with not committing blasphemy.
 

Lemongrass00

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Of course one can be Christian and do Occult. I think when most people ask this question they are asking if one can be Protestant/Lutheran/Insert Other Denomination Here and still be an Occultist. In that case, if you're talking about a specific Christian denomination then probably not because in those cases you're getting very nuanced within the religion. But if we take Christianity overall, then yes one can be an occultist and a Christian. There are even Christian groups (idk if I want to call them "denominations" since I don't think they are officially recognized in Christianity as a whole) that promote the practice of magic such as Christian Mysticism and many Gnostic sects such as the Johannites. The Johannites not only encourage magical practice, they encourage it in the Neoplatonic and Hermetic way which fits ever so snuggly with Christianity. They even have their own occult secret society called The Friary!

Mainstream Christianity will tell you that the occult is work of the devil and to stay away. However if you ignore that and take a journey deeper into the mysteries of Christianity you will find there are many parallels to the occult and those parallels can be connected to form a coherent system and practice.
I definitely understand the mainstream watered down Christianity and I definitely want to journey deeper.
 

Mart

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It's not really my thing personally, so I'm not sure what would be a good text to recommend. Perhaps someone else will. :)
However, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has borrowed a lot from Kabbalah, so that direction might be worth checking out for you as well.
As far as Golden Dawn goes, there's Ritual Magic Manual by David Griffin which if I remember right is beginner friendly.
Though keep in mind GD teaches their own system, which is said by some to be kinda watered down. But if you want to work your way towards Enochian stuff a.k.a. angelic magick it might not be a bad place to start your research.
 

Scottish_Pride

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Can you be Christian while still practicing occult rituals or is it seen as blasphemous? Is anyone here a Christian and if so how do they reconcile the two?
Personally, I think so. Obviously you'll have to ignore what most of modern Christianity says about the subject, but tbh some parts of the religion already are doing magic in some ways. What do you think praying does? It sends out an intent or wish. And regardless of whether your prayers are "answered", the attention you put in plus what is probably a fair amount of emotion will matter. Obviously just one person praying is very weak and inconsistent compared to somebody intentionally casting a spell, but the same-ish components are there. Hell, the whole thing about "prayer shawls" is just begging to be compared to enchanting an object.

You also have to remember, that the Christianity we have now is vastly different from old school Catholicism. (remember that Catholicism was once all there was to Christianity, until pretty far down the timeline) Even the oldest bits of Christian ritual we have today, Catholic church included, are nothing compared to what we know was once standard practice. Priests would go around doing house blessings, the idea of spirits such as angels and demons existing in the world was taken very seriously, etc. One's connection to god used to be something you had to personally build, almost as a form of mysticism. Even today, old-fashioned mass can very much put you into a sort of relaxed trance, with the singing, organ music and the incense they'll sometimes use. Communion also has direct parallels with the occult idea of cleansing/banishing, since the point of it is to wipe away sin.
 

league

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that is the debate between religion and Spirituality. Religion restricts but Spirituality lets you explore.

 

Lemongrass00

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that is the debate between religion and Spirituality. Religion restricts but Spirituality lets you explore.

I can see that, but personally I'm more worried about the fate of my eternal soul and I like the comfort religion/ Christianity gives me over venturing into the unknown despite how fun and interesting it might be to explore.
 

league

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I can see that, but personally I'm more worried about the fate of my eternal soul and I like the comfort religion/ Christianity gives me over venturing into the unknown despite how fun and interesting it might be to explore.
I agree again with mart on the statement of:
Practice is about taking control of your own destiny.
No one thing or being can take control of ones own destiny. Faith is a leap not a restriction
 
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