The GREAT DENIAL

of occult Phenomena

Challenging educators to review their roots

submitted by

Dr. Robert H. Matzken

Centre for Bible and Pedagogy

Amersfoort, NL

Paper submitted to the

Vereniging vir Christelik Hoer Onderwys

te Bloemfontein

 published with permission from the author

February, 2001 Theses

1. In a critical discussion of the Harry Potter books we were struck by the following statement:
“It’s not so much the outpouring of the occult and satanistic practices. What’s bothering us most is the denial of all such rituals as coming from the netherworld and referring it all to the world of fantasy and imagination.”
2. This denial is crucial for our investigation. It implies a complete desensitization of all underlying worldviews and principles, which in itself is a clear mark of our postmodern culture and society. This denial distracts the attention from the facts to the intentions. This should be explored further, since postmodernism replaces..
            . . . objective facts by subjective perceptions
            . . . absolute standards by ‘authentic’ values
            . . . academic arguments by political correctness.
So, at this place, we’ll have to re-adjust our paradigm, aligning it to the Bible.
3. Once this is settled, we can proceed with our research on the causes of reasons for the denial of all phenomena which are evidently supernatural (or netherworldly) and are yet ascribed to the human subconsciousness or even unconsciousness.
This terminology leads to the research and publications of Carl Gustav Jung, the ‘founding father’ of modern psycho-analysis.
4. It is rather well known that in 1909 Jung received his command from the ‘Geist von Unten’ (Spirit of the Depth) to integrate his mother’s world of the esoteric (spiritism, animism and Eastern religions) into the academic world of psychology and psychiatry. He who studies the rest of Jung’s life, e.g. by reading his biography, cannot but conclude that he has fulfilled this command from the netherworld. Even after his death in 1961, this has continued until this present day.
5. Less known is the fact that Jung started his academic work in 1902 by writing his thesis Psychologie und Pathology okkulter Phänomenen, eine psychiatrische Studie (Leipzig, Buch und Verlag von Oswald Mutze, 1902), in which he denies the demonic nature of such phenomena.
In his professional work, Jung had already been confronted with several spiritist phenomena like
the psychograph (turning the glass), which he explains as purely psycho-motoric
lifting the table by non-human forces
out-of the body experiences and astral journeys
- double personalities, as a split-off of one’s personality.
He concluded that this had nothing to do with spiritism, “since the girl concerned was only 14 1/2 years old and could not have studied at this age the occultism and gnostic literature”!
6. Consequently, we (academic people, educators, Christian counselors) have become conversant with Jungian terminology, without realising its esoteric background, like
            (collective) unconscious            unmasked as the spirit world, Eph. 6:12
            archetypes                               unmasked as spiritual entities
            individuation                 unmasked as invoking the spirits
            Animus/Anima             unmasked as Yin-Yang or an androgyn person
7. In line with this reasoning, many Christians are refusing to consider occult, esoteric or spiritist phenomena to the ‘methodeias tou diabolou’ (Eph. 6:11). Their negation is based on an unbalanced exegesis of the apostel Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 10:25-26, “Whatever is sold in the market, eat, asking no question for conscience’ sake; for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” (e.g. by prof. dr. Greijdanus)
8. These words are a correction on the idea that the world of darkness is standing on its own as a formidable anti-God realm. But the context shows that there is indeed a ‘sacrifice to demons’ and a ‘fellowship with demons’ (vs 20-21), since, although in principle defeated on Calgary’s cross (Col. 2:15), Satan is still ‘prince of this world’. .
9. A similar reasoning is found in Habakkuk 2:18-19.
The prophet is mocking with a carved or melted image as a dumb idol on which man is trusting. On the other hand, such idols represent demons as ‘teachers of lies’ who are ensnaring those who are ‘making a deal’ with them. Such ritual use is in fact ‘invoking a spirit’ (cf. Isa 66:3, “burning incense as blessing an idol”).
10 Although the apostle Paul said that “we are not ignorant of his devices”, many contemporary Christian leaders are very ignorant.
Therefore we just list some of Satan’s ensnaring lies

 
11. In this present age, the supernatural becomes very real and near for many young people. The Bible is full of instruction within the framework of Torah, Prophets, Gospels and Apostles. But if this is not taught, many young people will be charmed, “away from the boring Bible and “toward the kicks of the occult.”
12. Now the crucial question is:
“Does the phenomenon (or symbol) evoke the context?”
In other words: drawing mandalas, gazing into candles, listening to Tibetan sound scales, drawing horoscopes, using New Age or Hindu symbols: Do these evoke the realm of the netherworld?
13. Let’s make the question more distinct: 
Does the mantra AUUUMM or another personal mantra, a hypnotic trance, a visualisation of a strong desire, expressing a wish to meet ‘a personal helper or guide’, etc. invoke a demonic spirit?
The answer is: YES! There are many ways to invoke a spiritual being (other than what the Bible teaches on the Presence of Jesus Christ by His Spirit in the believer). Such beings present themselves as ‘helpers’ but soon turn out to be ruthless masters, just like in the Persian fairy tale of the spirit in the bottle.
14. This conclusion helps us in answering question # 10. Generally speaking, we can say that such phenomena or symbols are not neutral, but evoke a climate wherein all occult ‘teachings of lies’ Hab. 2:18, 2 Thess. 2:11) thrive.
This effect can be strengthened by a real invocation (see # 11)
It can be neutralized by creating a healthy or safe ‘distance’ (e.g. by the Bible, in clear, ‘thoratic’ or ‘elenctic’ instruction
and, to a lesser extent, by humor, irony and jesting (badinage).
Be aware that such ‘literary genres’ creating ‘distance’ for adults, generally do not have this effect on children!
15. A very effective tool is the changed meaning of ‘Fantasy’.
Of old, fantasy stands for materialisation of a spirit or ghost, Mt. 14:26, Mk 6:49.
Since the christening of our societies: it stands for sheer imagination or expression of things of the real world "that the eye can see" (Calvin's Institution I.11.12, the functions and limits of the arts).
Since 1990 or the re-enchantment (Wiederverzauberung) of our world, fantasy quite often refers to efforts to make the unseen world real to man and a means to draw us to the world of the unseen, guided fantasy.
16. From an unexpected source, some of these theses are confirmed.
In his book ‘LTI, the Language of the Third Imperium’, the author Victor Klemperer traces the atrocities of Hitler’s nazism to a special use of the German language: Lingua Tertii Imperii, and its source in German Romanticism, not unlike postmodern Guided Fantasy, measurelessness, contempt for all limits.
“I became aware of the connection between the bestialities of the Hitler regime and the ‘faustic’ (derived from Goethe’s Faust) extremities of the classic German literature and the idealistic German philosophy” (to which we may add: the invocations of the Wagnerian music, especially the Nibelungen (Greek nephilim).
17. Conclusion (with a smile to a well-known French saying):
“La négation est aisée, mais établir la connection, c’est difficile”
The negation is easy, but proving the connection, is difficult; and yet is a Biblical command, both ‘thoratic’ (from the Old Testament) and ‘elenctic’ (from the New Testament).
“Proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord,
and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove (unmask, elengchete) them”, Eph. 5:10-11