Do you believe in magic? If you are a child of the 60s, your mind is probably drifting back to the lyrics of the song by the same name, made popular by the band The Lovin’ Spoonful. According to the lyrics, the magic referenced in the title is the power of music to supply happiness and freedom to both those who make it and those who listen to it. But two simple lines of the song caught my attention: “I’ll tell ya ‘bout the magic, it’ll free your soul”. In context, the writer of the song speaks about how he believes music is like magic that can free your troubled soul. But when it comes to the concept of magic itself, the Bible warns that it will not free your soul. In fact, magic (known as magick to occultists) introduces a person to some very dark and demonic forces which has enslaved the souls of many unbelievers.
In the Bible, we are introduced to magicians very early on. Unlike the magicians we are accustomed to in the modern era who provide mere entertainment value, early magicians described in the Bible were those who were familiar with occult practices. In Genesis 41:8, we see the first usage of the word: “Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.”
The Hebrew word for “magicians” (hartom) is prominent throughout Exodus and to a lesser degree, in the book of Daniel. Some scholars point out that “hartom” is not a native Hebrew word but is believed to have derived from the Sumerian word “hartum” which means “liver-diviner”. Magic differs from divination in that it is the human attempt, either through words or actions, to constrain the spirits (whether good or evil), to do what the magician desires. On the other hand, divination is merely the art of determining omens to assist in forecasting a future event. Max Freedom Long who published a book in 1948 detailing his research on the subject of magic outlined the criteria for identifying its practice. He said it involved: “(1) a form of consciousness which used (2) some form of force, and (3) manipulated that force through some invisible kind of physical matter.”
In its widest sense, magic is the attempt to influence persons and events by utilising the powers of the unseen realm through the use of the occult. It is at this dark intersection that the supernatural becomes a tool whereby the user can transform his or her psychological will into material fact. Although some people are prone to romanticise the occult, it is fundamentally a counterfeit religion that offers self-guided dominion in place of God-guided service. The reason that people are drawn to these practices is due to the fact that occultic or evil spiritual power serves the user’s own selfish interests through the manipulation of dangerous, dark, destructive, and demonic forces.
Although the bulk of references to “magic” are found in the Old Testament, they are not limited only to that era. We read of instances related to Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-11) and Elymas (Acts 13:8). We are also warned that in the last days a false religion will influence many people. This false religion of miraculous power will turn many people away from the truth of God, using the same powers as the magicians of Egypt – Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim. 3:8-9). These two men are not mentioned in Exodus but Jewish tradition identified them as those who opposed Moses as recorded in Exodus 7:11. In context, although the focus is on the fact that these men set themselves squarely in opposition to God’s truth (as most do today), Paul does leave open the possibility that through this comparison, the perilous men of our perilous times will likewise avail themselves of occult supernatural powers and practices. Demons will gleefully join men in their quest for the widespread, active rejection of the truth in the last days, particularly during the Tribulation Period.
In the modern day, you will sometimes see the word in question spelt “magick” and employing the “k” is preferred by occultists to distinguish between magic (entertainment through sleight of hand) as opposed to the magick widely used in the occult. As many of you know, the most famous occultist of the modern era was Aleister Crowley. Incidentally, did you know that Crowley (dubbed the wickedest man on the planet during his life) appeared on the cover of The Beatles album “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”? Sadly, there is a significant list of well-known music artists who claim to have been influenced by Crowley.
Some of them appeared in an article published by the online British newspaper The Independent in which they examine the Rolling Stones song “Sympathy for the Devil”. The writer goes on to say: “Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page was inspired by Aleister Crowley, opened an occult bookshop, and a line of Crowley’s was written into the vinyl of Led Zeppelin III. David Bowie incorporated occult inspiration into his music all the way from ‘Quicksand’ on Hunky Dory to his final album. The list of hard rock and heavy metal bands who have dabbled in and drawn on the occult is a long one, from Black Widow’s chilling early-Seventies ‘Come to the Sabbat’ to Iron Maiden’s ‘The Number of the Beast’ to Marilyn Manson to the welter of contemporary metal bands with names such as Evil Empowered, Make them Suffer, Black Rites in the Black Nights, Black Wedding, The Devil Inside, Pop Evil and Black Soul. As rock’n’roll frontman Jim Jones of the Jim Jones Revue says, Satan is now ‘an easy go-to, a one-stop shop for distancing yourself from everything “good white Christian”’ though, for him, occultism and Satanism represent esoteric knowledge –‘always the smart choice, whatever the consequences.’”
Crowley defined magick in this way: “The art and science of causing change to occur in accordance with one’s will.” In fact, Crowley’s teachings (a magico-religious doctrine called “Thelema”) operated on this central principle: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” The word “thelema” actually appears in the Bible. It is a Greek word which means “what one wishes or has determined shall be done”. Its most well-known usage would have to be in Matthew 6:10: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will [thelema] be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” But rather than seeking God’s will, when he was writing The Book of the Law, Crowley claims he heard the voice of an entity he referred to as “Aiwass”. Crowley claimed that: “Aiwass was an ‘angel’ such as I had often seen in visions, a being purely astral.” According to The Occult Encyclopedia, in his book “Magick in Theory and Practice”, Aiwass is firmly identified by Crowley as “The Devil,” “Satan,” and “Lucifer,” whose “emblem is Baphomet.”
To Crowley, the greatest aim of the magician was to merge with a higher power connected to the wellsprings of the universe. In doing so, he proves exactly why magic is a sin. Because instead of seeking God’s will, submitting our lives and ambitions to Him, Crowley would have us believe we should be guided by selfish pleasure and personal empowerment using any spiritual entity (in his case, demonic) in order to achieve it.
Occultists are deceived and as a result, they have veered down a forbidden alley in search of the things many humans seek at one time or another: empowerment, belonging, meaning and purpose. Don’t expect all magicians and occultists to look like black cape Satanists. Although some are militantly anti-Christian, it is now more common for occult teaching to be masked in religious tolerance, framing its message as open-minded compassionate enlightenment seeking good for humanity. As I said in a recent article, if we thoughtlessly absorb “culture” into our lives, we will unknowingly absorb its burgeoning occult influence as well, leading to the spiritually dangerous practice of syncretism. Occultists are everywhere in the modern era, ready to deceive those who lack Biblical discernment. This is why it is vitally important for all believers to have a Biblical worldview.
