New Age Temptation
Until recently, I thought new age temptation was something I’d left behind completely.
I left the new age and occult in 2017. I love my Catholic faith. And I rarely even think about my old life. So it seemed unlikely that I could be tempted by anything remotely new age.
But I was.
It happened this weekend, on a long sleepless night when I turned to a guided “brain wave meditation” for comfort. This was a meditation I was very familiar with. One that had lulled me to sleep many times when I was deeply involved in the new age.
The meditation itself was expertly produced and there was a seductiveness to it that I was not unaware of. But I listened to it anyway, three times over before I fell asleep.
The next day, something felt off. So I decided to listen to some other meditation on the same YouTube channel. All of which were produced by the same “brain wave” company).
As I listened, I noticed that many of the vibrations and background tracks were unusually deep in pitch. And, underneath the pleasant voice over, I sensed an underlying darkness and it felt malevolent.
I unsubscribed from the YouTube channel and began to think about what had happened. The more I thought about it the more certain I felt. The meditations were dark and I had embraced it.
The fact that this had happened to someone who was well acquainted with the spiritual dangers of the new age – was sobering. And it gave me a new appreciation of the threat this stuff can pose.
Sadly, it is all over YouTube.
New Age in the Mainstream
I am continually stumbling over new age teachings in my day to day life.
A professional organization to which I belong, the American Holistic Nurses Association, promotes numerous new age modalities. The first tier of meditations on my FitBit app are by Deepak Chopra. Popular health and wellness resources focus on new age, Eastern and even occult practices.
YouTube searches for wellness or relaxation or related topics almost always return tons of new age results. (See image below.) I couldn’t find statistics about how many new age and occult videos are on YouTube. But as a platform whose users account for a third of the internet, my guess is that it’s a lot.
So it’s no surprise really that people consume new age and occult content. Unfortunately, for some people, this content will serve as a gateway to even deeper involvement in the occult.
I know this because I was of those people. And – as it turns out – still have the protentional to repeat the same mistake.
New Age Temptation and the Law of Attraction
The really sad thing about all this is that the new age and occult doesn’t actually offer anything. Its guidance is circular. Its peace is an illusion. And its tenants are false.
Oddly enough, I was reminded of this a second time this week. This happened when a complimentary writing clarity session turned into a law of attraction hard sell. What troubled me most about this was the assurance that the universe would return my “investment” in the course.
It will not. But it would be nice, of course. Which is why this kind of stuff is so tempting.
There was a time when I believed in the law of attraction material. I loved the documentary the Secret. I read tons of channeled books. As I say in my personal testimony: I believed I was creating my own reality. But my reality remained largely unchanged.
And the reason for this is simple. Good stewardship and self-indulgence do not overlap.
Catholic Alternatives
To me, there was one important takeaway from this week’s experiences. Which is that there are Catholic and Catholic friendly alternatives to everything the new age offers.
Here are a few – though certainly not all. Actual science. The Rosary. The writings of the saints. The wisdom of Scripture. Traditional prayers and devotions. Talking directly to God. And the beautiful Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
So I decided to talk a bit more about all that here and began to focus on it on my YouTube channel (YouTube.com/c/BarbaraGraver). I’ve also started putting some articles on new age deception on my old blogger blog. (Now renamed New Age To Catholic.)
Most of this material will be available on YouTube (as well as on here). But you’re welcome to check out the informational site as well at NewAgeToCatholic.com. Just keep in mind it is far from done.
New age temptation will always be an issue in our culture. To me, this means that promoting Catholic and Catholic alternatives is worthwhile. My channel description follows.
This channel focuses on three areas. Spiritual deception / spiritual warfare. Catholic and Catholic friendly alternatives to common new age practices. And Catholic living and lifestyle. My name is Barbara Graver. I’m a Catholic writer, designer and holistic nurse with years of experience in the new age and occult. I believe that our Catholic faith can help us live a life that fully nourishes our body, mind and spirit. Welcome to my channel!
YouTube.com/c/BarbaraGraver
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Subscribe to my YouTube station here: YouTube.com/c/BarbaraGraver
Learn more about me and my media on my About Page.
