C Fred Dickason - Angels Elect and Evil

e have been invaded by the occult! Though the roots in Western civilization reach back centuries, occult practices, enhanced by the advance of the New Age movement, have been thrust upon us with great force. With the beginning of the Age of Aquarius (some pinpoint 1966), mankind has come into the potential of great secret knowledge and healing, adherents proclaim.

Angels are capturing people's fancy and investigation. Devotees of the angelic fad tell us that angels see all, hear all, and know all. They will help us to find secret knowledge and power; they will guide us unerringly in the way of blessing and prosperity; they will show us truth and the meaning of life itself. They are either messengers of God or the spirits of deceased humans who can now impart to us their great learning from their experience and wisdom from the other side. The bi-monthly Angel Watch Journal keeps abreast of reports of personal encounters with angels. Angels save us from disasters, encourage those in danger, dispel the fear of death, and care for our well-being and physical health. They watch over the life and death of every single cell of our bodies, and they love us.

Attractive, isn't it? Satan does not set his traps with unattractive bait, nor does he announce that there is evil and death in every bite. His angels are disguised as angels of light, and his apostles and prophets come as messengers of God (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). This attraction comes because mankind is limited and sinful, seeking security and success in face of great odds and fears. It attracts also because it is a counterfeit of the truth.

God is great and good and really cares for us. He does use angels to minister to us (Hebrews 1:14). But He also warns us regarding sin and deception. He warns about false prophets and the angels of the devil. We need to take warning and be on guard. We should not belong to the cult of the open mind. God revealed His truth to us in the Bible for our good. To ignore what the Bible says to us on the topic of angels is to put ourselves in danger. If we follow the popular seeking for contact with angels instead of following God's Word, we will reap the consequences of embracing the lie authored by the one whom the Lord Jesus called the father of lies, Satan (John 8:44).

Interest in the supernatural has exploded. Kindled not only by those involved, but also by the coverage of the mass media, the movement has swept many into great danger and lasting hurt. In 1994, the vast majority of the 1,556 daily newspapers in the United States cater to those who want astrology columns and advice. In the later 1960s and early 1970s, designated by occultists as the beginning of the Age of Aquarius, national magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Ladies Home Journal Time, and Newsweek carried cover stories and devoted large sections to the secret arts, and some repeatedly so. Both Time and Newsweek of December 27, 1993, carried cover stories on angels. There are stores that have angel statues, figurines, pins, stationery, and so on, and some are devoted exclusively to angel goods. Screen and television films and radio programs feature the satanic, the demonic, the horrific.

State police offices in California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa, among others, have published information for their officers regarding satanic rituals and crime. Mark Bubeck's book The Rise of Fallen Angels presents the menace of satanism in our culture that threatens to expand exponentially through generational exposure.

ESP (extrasensory perception) and telekinesis (moving objects without physical means) are serious studies on the psychic frontier. Arthur Koestler of England, the Maimonides Medical Center of New York City, J. B. Rhine of the Foundation for the Research on the Nature of Man in North Carolina, and scientists in Russia have seriously investigated these matters. The Philippines have become a center of psychic surgery. Russia has experimented with Kirlian photography that supposedly captures energy discharges from the human body Eastern healing techniques defy and contradict physiological and neurological science. These phenomena may be explained by the intervention of Satan's angels.

Some estimate that there are as many as two hundred thousand witches in the United States. Psychics are hired by hotels and conventions to entertain guests. Some rock music groups promote the philosophy and practice of satanism. Their lyrics are occupied with violence and death. Black magic and voodooism have long been in existence, and religious groups, such as Santeria, are seeking approval for animal sacrifices under the guise of freedom of religion.

Spiritist groups continue to grow. The Church Universal and Triumphant, with headquarters in a 50,000-acre ranch in Montana, promotes contact with ascended masters and angels. Their spokeswoman, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, lectured at the Chicago North Shore Hilton in a three-day seminar, February 2628, 1993, on how to contact angels, your guides, guardians and friends. She taught on how angels help individuals to recapture the spirit of joy, create miracles in people's lives, help people heal themselves and their families, and how to work for success. She received dictation, she claims, from the archangels Gabriel, Raphael, and Zadkiel. She also offered the sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads and the third-eye blessing with the emerald matrix. She had on her program Mary Ellen Maunz, Montessori Master Teacher, Directress of Montessori International Elementary Program.

Most occultly involved people consider themselves very religious and seeking the good of mankind. Some are overtly or secretly seeking power and knowledge for their own self-advancement, even at the expense of others.

The popularity of the occult is bringing more participants out into the open. It is not only more acceptable today; but it works, and it gives meaning and power to a person's life. In the U.S., there are forty-seven colleges or universities that offer accredited undergraduate degrees in New Age studies (five in Canada) and fourteen offer graduate degrees. In California alone, eleven institutions offer non-resident graduate degrees. There are more than one hundred nonaccredited institutions offering degrees in such studies. Secular bookstores feature whole sections on the New Age and the occult. Publishing firms are raking in millions of dollars yearly through occult-oriented books. Best-seller lists in June 1995 in the