This chapter is taken from the book written by Kent and Katie Philpott titled, The Soul Journey: How Shamanism, Santeria, Wicca, and Charisma are Connected. It was published by Earthen Vessel Publishing in 2014. It is predominantly written from Kent’s personal point of view.

What is broadly known as Christian mysticism has existed for many centuries. The mystics’ quest was for “more” of God, to experience Him directly and personally. Within Christian mysticism is contemplative prayer, which is distinct from either vocal recitation of words, mental reflection, or mental meditation on God’s word and its meaning and application. 

Kat Kerr’s journeys into heaven to speak with the Father also fit into the classification of Christian mysticism. Within this chapter are other examples of mysticism, not all of which are or claim to be Christian in orientation: the work of Richard Foster, Mirabai Starr, Richard Rohr, and Sarah Young. 

A Connection with Christianity

Contemplative prayer shares a broad theology common to mainstream and historic Christianity. It may, however, involve certain techniques that result in a state of mind resembling or identical to an altered state of consciousness or ecstasy, which then moves it into a category similar to shamanism, Santería, Wicca, and charisma.

While a doctoral student at San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California, (Presbyterian), I learned about contemplative forms of Christianity. At first I was attracted to these and read somewhat extensively in the area, even attending retreats where contemplative prayer was practiced. For some reason it never worked with me; in fact, I would engage in rather heated debates with some of the “spiritual mentors” or “spiritual directors” enlisted there. In any case, I learned firsthand what was involved. 

I want to be clear that there is much in what is called contemplative prayer that I value and actually cherish. We are called to love God with all of our being, and the truth is, in our human weakness, we rarely experience a very deep love for God and what He has done for us in Christ. There are times when I long for nothing more than to simply be alone with my Bible, read favorite passages, settle back and think of Him, and pray and talk and reflect. This is normative and healthy. What I am addressing in this chapter is quite different, something that crosses the line, however faint, into an altered state of consciousness. It is that state, often called ecstasy, especially in shamanism, that exposes a person to invasion by entities that are indeed spiritual but not holy. 

Richard J. Foster 

Richard J. Foster is often associated with contemplative prayer. His book, Celebration of Discipline, published in 1978 by Harper & Row, dramatically impacted many in the years after its first appearance and is still widely used in Bible colleges and seminaries around the world. In the year following its publication, it was our primary text for a class called Spiritual Formation, which was part of my doctoral curriculum. Foster divides his twelve disciplines into three categories: Inward, Outward, and Corporate. In the first category, the Inward Disciplines are meditation, prayer, fasting, and study.1 

1 I was much taken by Foster’s work and attempted to explore it to the extent possible and to seriously engage myself in each of the twelve disciplines. I lived with the book for many months. Though I still deem much of the material in the book to fit within a broad Christian and biblical range, I consider that the very first of the Inward Disciplines, “Meditation,” crosses the aforementioned faint line. Let me explain. 

Foster indicates his awareness that Eastern forms of meditation involve the attempt to empty the mind. Then he says, “Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it.”2 

2 Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 15. It sounds good, but is emptying the mind normative for the Christian? In my opinion, it crosses the line and has neither biblical precedent nor warrant.3 

3 By “precedent and warrant” we mean that, for a Christian to engage in such processes, it should be clearly evident that Jesus engaged in such meditation with His disciples, that such is found in the life of the primitive Church and thus recorded in the Book of Acts, and that such practice is mentioned in apostolic New Testament letters. But there is no such evidence and therefore no biblical precedent or warrant for such a practice.Christians should indeed desire the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16b) but that does not suggest an emptying of the mind but a transforming “by the renewal of the mind” (Romans 12:2). 

Foster also speaks of the Eastern meditative process of detachment, especially as it relates to Buddhism. He acknowledges that detachment from the confusion of the world around us is not the goal for Christians but that Christians actually go beyond that. He implies that the Christian must go through detachment to reach attachment. Again the difficulty is that many would simply say amen to this without questioning the idea of the Christian need to detach. To me, this is the perfect set up for a significant deviation from healthy and scriptural prayer and meditation. 

Even more problematic is what he says later: “It is wonderful when a particular meditation leads to ecstasy. . . .”4 

4 Ibid., 17. When I first encountered this I was much impressed, but after some attempts at what I thought was “ecstasy,” I gave up and fortunately so. The desire for ecstasy might have led me deeper into an Eastern style of meditation, to the point of going into an altered state of consciousness and thus exposing myself to invasion by unwanted and unclean spirits. 

It is precisely for this reason that the influence of Foster finally aroused my critique. What might seem harmless and even appear to conform to some of the experiences of well-known Christian mystics like John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and others, is in fact extremely dangerous and little different from where shamanism, Santería, and Wicca take their practitioners. 

It gets worse. Here are two sentences from Foster’s book that even more closely resemble the teachings of the religions named above: “All who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord are the universal priesthood of God and as such can enter the Holy of Holies and converse with the living God. It seems so difficult to bring people to believe that they can hear God’s voice.”5 

5 Ibid., 19.

On the one hand Foster expresses the biblical truth that in Christ we are seated with Him in the heavenly places, but he reaches too far in his declaration that we actually ought to hear the voice of God. Granted, there were those biblical incidents where it is reported that people heard the voice of God. These were the prophets and others, like Peter at Joppa in the run-up to the conversion of the Roman Centurion Cornelius, but it is not something found elsewhere in the Bible as a normal and regular spiritual practice. Conversations with various spirit entities are common, however, among shamans, Santerían priests and priestesses, and among witches of neo-pagan religions. This must give one pause. 

It gets even worse with Foster. Still in the chapter on meditation, he speaks of dreams. He teaches that a Christian can invite God to inform us through our dreams. “We should tell Him of our willingness to allow Him to speak to us in this way. . . . We simply ask God to surround us with the light of His protection as he ministers to our spirit.”6 

6 Ibid., 23. 

This is characteristic of Wiccan teaching, not biblical teaching. Nowhere in Scripture is there anything approaching this. It is mediumistic and spiritistic – the province of the occult. 

Foster goes on to say, “After awhile there is a deep yearning within to go into the upper regions beyond the clouds. In your imagination allow your spiritual body, shining with light, to rise out of your physical body. Go deeper and deeper into outer space until there is nothing except the warm presence of the eternal Creator. Rest in His presence. Listen quietly, anticipating the unanticipated. Note carefully any instruction given.”7 

7 Ibid., 27.Here Foster seems to promote, regardless of whether only “in the imagination,” out-of-body travel, also called astral projection, definitely belonging to the province of the shaman. 

These concepts are reminiscent of some of the errors found in charisma, in which more and more is asked, even demanded, of God. In charisma, people recently report to be conversing with angels and even Jesus. An acquaintance who is a proponent of having conversations with deity said, “You do not have to read the Scripture anymore, you can go direct.” This connects with shamanism generally, and especially with Santería and Wicca, in my view. 

Beyond Foster 

In the years from 1980 onward, I heard little of contemplative spirituality, and when I did it was from books by those who identified with the Emerging Church Movement, but not always. Though not a large emphasis among Christians, the quest for “more,” a deeper spirituality, was evident. 

Contemplative prayer is closely connected with meditation, but it is not the kind of meditation we find in the Bible, which is focused, alert, and thoughtful attention on God, who He is, and what He has done in His Son, Jesus Christ. In sharp contrast, contemplative prayer encourages an emptying of the mind in order to achieve a light, moderate, or deep altered state of consciousness. 

To do contemplative or centering prayer, one technique is to focus on a word and repeat that word over and over, much like a Buddhist mantra. The word chosen should have spiritual significance or meaning to the one praying. Perhaps one concentrates on a single lit candle or speaks a series of prayers, but the intent is to open one’s mind, soul, and heart to God. Contemplative prayer deliberately encourages the pursuit of a mystical experience with God, and the emphasis is on “experience.”

Mirabai Starr: A Connection with Contemporary Mysticism 

The autumn 2012 issue of Light of Consciousness: a Journal of Spiritual Awakening contains an article by Mirabai Starr entitled, “Contemplative Life.”8 

8 Mirabai Starr is one of the best known and respected teachers and authors of meditation and contemplation today. She has a deep interest in Hinduism, Sufism, Judaism, and mystical Christian practices. Starr points out that many of the world’s religions, including Christianity, have contemplative states. Contemplation, meditation, interior prayer, mental prayer, and centering prayer are essentially synonymous terms and describe means of meeting with the “Divine Presence” that Starr writes about. 

It is in such states of consciousness that a person will encounter “otherness,” the place she considers is where the Divine Presence reveals itself. However, that “otherness” is not what she thinks it is. 

Starr then describes a process whereby, in my view, a person becomes invaded by the “divine” presences (earlier, we called them by various terms, including spirit guides, etc.) that show up in the altered state. She outlines three stages of the process: Stage one is termed purgation or via purgativa. This is where a person surrenders and leaves behind whatever god conceptions he or she has. So, the door swings open to whatever is waiting to come in. 

Stage two is via illuminativa, where that which is divine, the divine light, is poured into the now purged, clean, and waiting empty vessel. During this stage the captivation of the one praying or meditating takes place. 

In my view, this is where possession by unclean spirits occurs. 

Stage three is union, or via unitiva. This is similar to the union sought for in Yoga and is the real and actual intent or purpose of Yoga.9 

9 Yoga means union, with the All, the Universe, the One Supreme Being, and so on. Yoga, as only exercise, is Yoga in name only and is usually practiced in the West as nothing more than exercise. Here the self, or what little is left of it, joins with or merges with the One. 10 

10 The “One” can be variously interpreted or understood depending on the religious concepts held by the one meditating.and actually disappears. Starr points out that this is precisely what the Christian mystics were aiming at in their contemplative practices – to be at one with God, to be in union with the Almighty. But, with what were John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila really in touch? 

What they were engaged in, and what Mirabai Starr recognizes in them and advocates, is nothing close to biblical or historic Christianity. 

We humans are basically repelled by holiness, and in a bizarre, even perverse way are attracted to the unholy. Prior to my conversion at age twenty-one, I shied away from Christians, because they seemed to be “holier than thou.” My friends and I embraced darker alternatives that seemed to be more fun. What Starr advocates looks and is spiritual but is not holy. For those who have not been touched by the grace of God in Christ, Starr’s pagan spirituality is oddly attractive. 

One of the chief points Starr makes is that the deep meditative state will change a person dramatically due to the profound spiritual insights thereby attained. 

I agree with her. As mentioned before, when one encounters genuine spirituality, actual and real spirit, one is transformed. That person will immediately abandon strict materialism and gravitate toward the spiritual and the mystical, almost regardless of what religion or spiritual practice is the attraction – Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, Santería, Wicca, Charisma, or other. 

This meets my own experience in four decades of work as a pastor of Christian churches. Once again, it is necessary to recognize that much that is spiritual is neither good nor God. 

Satan is the master of deceit; if he is thought of as only evil and demonic, then deception is all the more probable. The demonic kingdom with which we are faced, including “the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (see Ephesians 6:12), will appear grand beyond description. In fact, Satan can have an appearance so attractive, he is referred to as Lucifer, the “angel of light” (see 2 Corinthians 11:14). With such power and confidence that he targeted Jesus Himself, would we not be targets? 

Richard Rohr and Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life 

For many people, the tragedies, traumas, failures, and disappointments common to the first half of life can be a catalyst for change, according to Richard Rohr. Once the idealistic views of life fall away, a person may recognize that there must be more, and this more involves the pursuit of God. His analogy is that rather than falling down when trouble descends, one may fall upward. 

In his book, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life11

11 Falling Upward was published in 2011 by Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint. I was given the book by a friend who had been given a copy of it by a pastor of a large seeker friendly church in Los Angeles. This pastor recommended the book for growth in, Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, speaks to the reality of living in a fallen world and being fallen people. It is the nature of the “path” for falling upward rather than downward that I want to address. 

Clues to the actual nature of the “path” are apparent in the blurbs on the back of the dust cover. They are as follows: Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self, writes, “Falling Upward calls forth the promise within us and frees us to follow it into wider dimensions of our spiritual authenticity.” 

Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christianity and Naked Spirituality writes, “Richard offers a simple but deeply helpful framework for seeing the whole spiritual life – one that will help both beginners on the path as they look ahead and long-term pilgrims as they look back over their journey so far.”12 

Christian maturity and spirituality. 

Jim Finley, Merton scholar and author of The Contemplative Heart, writes, “We begin to see that, as we grow older, we are being awakened to deep, simple, and mysterious things we simply could not see when we were younger.” 

Finally, from Cynthia Bourgeault, Episcopal priest and author of The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, Centering Prayer, Inner Awakening, and The Wisdom of Knowing comes, “This is Richard Rohr at his vintage best: prophetic, pastoral, practical. A book I will gratefully share with my children and grandchildren.” While each of these endorsements is vague, the implication here is mind expansion of the variety considered in this book. 

Rohr states that his favorite mystic is Lady Julian of Norwich, who lived from 1342 to 1416.13 

12 Brian McLaren is identified as an evangelical Christian and as a leader within the Emerging Church movement. After falling deathly ill, she received sixteen mystical revelations, usually entitled, “Revelations of Divine Love.” She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches but was not made a saint in the Catholic Church. In her visions she saw God as loving, not wrathful, that all people would experience His love and have salvation (she is referred to by some as a “proto-universalist”), and most importantly, that sin is necessary to enable people to begin to discover the higher way of love. It is easy to see why Richard Rohr would embrace her. 

The Christian mystics, Saints Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross, and even Francis of Assisi, among many other less known Christians, focused on turning inward by means of deep prayer, meditation, and contemplation. 

Characteristic of their experiences in such mind states were visions, revelations, and words of prophecy. These were problematic, because they often contained theology that differed, and sometimes markedly so, with Scripture. 

13 From Rohr’s Introduction, xx. 

But the revelations were accepted by some as coming from divine and therefore holy sources and not to be easily dismissed. The appeal of the ancient mystics is currently undergoing yet another renaissance. 

Rohr’s concepts are an excellent example of importing concepts from mystical, even occult-oriented, religions into spiritual practices for Christians. The popularity of this process is partially due to the fact that there are spiritual or mystical experiences connected with such practices that are entirely convincing and captivating. 

In the back of Rohr’s book is a list of related resources and recordings that are published by the Center for Action and Contemplation. The following quote is revealing: 

In January 2008, James Finley and Fr. Richard Rohr gave a conference in Albuquerque, sharing The Four Noble Truths of the Buddha, the distilled essence of Buddhist teaching. In these talks, each Truth was introduced and explored, with emphasis given to the presence of these truths at the heart of Jesus’ call to awaken to God’s presence in every detail of our lives. 

Sarah Young and Jesus Calling: Who is actually on the other end?14 

“Rest in My Presence, allowing Me to take charge of this day. Do not bolt into the day like a racehorse suddenly released. Instead, walk purposefully with Me, letting Me direct your course one step at a time.” “You are on the right path. Listen more to Me, and less to your doubts. I am leading you along the way designed just for you.” “As you focus your thoughts on Me, be aware that I am fully attentive to you.” “You must discipline yourself to live within the boundaries of today. It is in the present moment that I walk close to you, helping you carry your burdens.” “Come to Me with a teachable spirit, eager to be changed.” 

The above are but a few of the hundreds of affirming statements Sarah says Jesus spoke to her over the years. It is no wonder her books, principally Jesus Calling (published by Thomas Nelson), have become bestsellers. People who buy her books also read Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and others in the health, wealth, and prosperity genre. 

Young is referred to as a woman of listening prayer. She prays then waits for Jesus to answer. She strongly affirms that He does, yet she says she does not hear an audible voice. She listens then writes or journals what Jesus places on her heart. But at the same time, she claims that what she hears in her heart are the actual words of Jesus. Inexplicably, however, she depends on the Holy Spirit 

14 Sarah Young and Jesus Calling are discussed elsewhere in this book, but her work falls more into the realm of contemplative prayer than charisma. 

to determine if what she hears from Jesus is biblically correct! This is more than just slightly confused and confusing. 

Young wanted “more,” and she wanted it now, on this side of heaven. She knew the Bible was the word of God, but she yearned for more. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit was not enough; the Scripture alone did not satisfy; she wanted and needed more. I have noticed that when people want more they will get more, and if they want to hear from God directly they will, sooner or later, hear someone or something speaking. 

Most, if not all, of the “words of Jesus” spoken to Young are directed to her personally. She is instructed to do this and that – trust, know, believe, and so on, all expressed in the first person, “Me,” meaning Jesus. Her devotional books are purported to be a recitation of what Jesus said to her. 

It is difficult to determine if some sort of altered state of consciousness is involved in Young’s praying, but I suspect it is. I have known a number of parishioners who became so totally immersed in deep prayer they would lose track of time and place. I have experienced this myself. This was during a time when I was practicing the techniques taught by Richard Foster in his Celebration of Discipline. Being alone, quieting myself, breathing deeply, tuning out distractions, suppressing worldly concerns, sitting in a beautiful and peaceful place, perhaps with soothing music playing in the background – I could feel myself slipping into a light trance. And when I felt this happen I would become frightened to some degree and pull away. My personal experience informs me of how dangerous it is to put oneself in a spiritually exposed position, straining to listen in order to hear what God might say. 

Young’s Jesus is rather limited in what He says to her. There are continual streams of, “You are on the right path,” “Relax and trust in Me,” “I am with you,” and “Listen to Me.” These words of Jesus are rather imbalanced, however. His messages are encouraging and never otherwise; the pithy little sayings are decidedly skewed to the positive. But Jesus in Scripture is far different from this. A quick perusal in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John will make it clear that Sarah’s Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. 

There is no actual Gospel message in what Jesus supposedly says to Sarah Young. This ought to make one suspicious. Not that what Sarah hears is unbiblical, but the whole of it is sub-Christian at best. 

At worst (and there is a worst) is that Young is listening to something or someone who is not Jesus at all but is rather imitating and counterfeiting Jesus. Helen Schuchman listened to the voice of what she thought was Jesus and came up with the Course in Miracles, a clearly mediumistic deception. Is Young following in her footsteps? My view is, yes! 

But the concerns do not stop there. Beyond Young’s descriptions of what she has experienced is her suggestion that others may also hear Jesus calling.  

Sarah’s books have therefore become for some a school for mediums. Naiveté on the reader’s part coupled with intent to deceive on the part of whoever or whatever is speaking to Young is an extremely dangerous combination. 

Sarah Young’s listening prayer presents a slightly different scenario from much of Christian mysticism. She does not seem to obviously seek an altered state of consciousness. However, it is in the listening mode where a light trance state may be entered, even without attempting to do so. Christian, biblically-oriented praying does not involve listening for an audible reply, whether in the open or in the mind. In that restful, contemplative state, the listening for an actual “still small voice” is the locus of concern, especially for those who have practiced going into deep meditative states of mind. The most powerful shamans can move easily into and out of their ecstasy, so that, over time, an altered state may envelope the one praying without intentionality. Again, when one is in such a state and hears a voice, the question must be asked, who is the speaker? 

Summing up 

Contemplative prayer, shamanism, Santería, Wicca, and charisma all have a common denominator, a connection that is the passive or altered state of consciousness, regardless of the means of getting there. While in such states of mind, encountering spirits seldom seems horrific and demonic. Rather, these beings seem benign, majestic, angelic, powerful, awesome, even holy, and therein is their captivating nature. These religious spiritualities bring their practitioners into the realm of beings, entities, and spirits, but they are unclean and demonic deceivers. This, I realize, is virtually impossible to accept for one captivated by spiritual forces. 

The dots are once more connected: the practices encouraged in books like Rohr’s and Young’s lead to the trance state, whether light, moderate, or deep. These states of consciousness, common to forms of Buddhism (especially Tibetan), Hinduism, Islam’s Sufism, Judaism’s Kabbalah, shamanism, Santería, Wicca (and other neo-pagan religious expressions), and charisma open the door to spiritual beings that can be enlightening and powerful but not holy.

 Chapter 46

The terms “Dark sides” and “wild fire revival” are generally synonymous, but I prefer to call them dark sides. They usually, but not always, follow on the heels of genuine outpourings of the Holy Spirit.

The first great awakening, 1735 to 1742, involving Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, the Tenants, and many others, had its dark sides, yet no one denies it was the real thing. The second awakening, roughly 1798 to 1825 or 1835, depending on how Charles G. Finney is viewed, certainly had its dark sides, which can still be felt two hundred years later. The third, from 1857 to 1859 (and some say this one continued through the Civil War), was perhaps the cleanest of America’s awakenings, an assessment I accept. But this fourth awakening?1 

1 In Awakenings in America and the Jesus People Movement, I make the case that the JPM meets the criteria of a genuine awakening was anything but clean, and the dark sides of it continue. I wonder if we have yet to see the worst of it, and this is being written in 2014.

Let me clearly state that I do not delight, to any extent, in the presence of the dark sides. Neither can I close my eyes to them and pretend that they, or some aspects of them, are a continuation of the fourth awakening or even, as some suppose, a fifth awakening or “wave.”

It is difficult to know where to start describing events and how they yielded unwanted results, because the whole business is so complex. Perhaps I saw some of it while still pastor of Church of the Open Door, from which I resigned in 1980, due to my divorce and the events surrounding it. The Sunday morning services changed from a focus on teaching and preaching to music and more music. The “worship” was relegated only to when the praise and worship band was on stage.  

I think it is biblically correct to say that, when the Holy Spirit moves in power, there is no need for humans to add to it. Two or three are gathered, Jesus is present, and that is enough. With just two or three—wherever, whenever, or whoever—miracles might happen. 

As the awakening waned, the desire, or maybe the need to ratchet things up came imperceptively at first, then deliberately. I had no idea how much worse it would become. 

Some Necessary Background 

I had begun studies at San Francisco Law School in 1980, assuming that a divorced pastor had to change careers. I was right in the midst of law school, had already developed a substantial legal support business with a partner,2 

2 This was Terry Cuddy, who spent eighteen years in a federal prison for bank robbery, was pardoned by Jerry Brown during Brown’s first governorship of California, who then proceeded to obtain a license as a private investigator. It was a real Humphrey Bogart kind of operation. I wrote a book about thirty-three of our adventures titled, Serving in Marin (not published yet, but on the schedule). and was ready to get my license as a private investigator, when an old friend, Prince Altom, pastor of what was then called Corte Madera Community Church, invited me to join him. I set the legal business aside to go back into the ministry. The American Baptist Churches of America, the oldest Baptist body in the USA, understood that it is possible to be restored to ministry, and they took a chance on me. In 1984, I began reviving and reorganizing the First Baptist Church of Mill Valley. After ten months we reopened the closed doors of the church under the new name of Miller Avenue Baptist Church. Thirty years later I am still pleased to preach the Gospel to non-believers and the Scripture to believers. 

The Church Growth Courses 

In 1987 the American Baptists asked me to attend a church growth program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. My brother Bruce was a cop in Pasadena (later the chief of police there), and I stayed with him in his home in Glendale, while I attended what I see now as something rather dangerous.3 

3 I realize there are those who will disagree with me on this point, but I must report what I thought both then and now.

The beginning and the advanced church growth meetings were held one year apart, each lasting five days. There I heard John Wimber teach about signs and wonders, and I was absolutely appalled to hear his instructions on how to manipulate a congregation using music, lighting, and other effects, to get people to where they felt the Holy Spirit was visiting them. I also had opportunity to talk with C. Peter Wagner and Charles Kraft, among others, while at Fuller. 

Church growth and church planting was what it was all about. And I do not blame anyone for desiring those things. The JPM was long gone, but the memories of the experiences of it were still fresh in the minds of many. Would we love to see those days again? Any Christian would answer immediately and loudly, YES! 

Human engineering, meaning applied psychology and sociology, was what I was hearing at Fuller. How to get people excited? How to fill the pews? How to meet human needs? On and on they propounded, with apparently little or no idea that a genuine awakening depends on the moving of the Spirit of God. The ideas expressed were all motivated by the notion that proper means could make awakening happen. I saw the error then, and I had not begun to even consider Reformed theology. 

The Emerging Church or the “seeker-friendly” church developed along the lines I saw and heard at Fuller. Meeting needs, reaching people where they are, targeting specific groups, blending into the culture, and becoming as inoffensive as possible was the litany for church growth and church planting. Cultic in terms of recruitment? Yes, I believe so. Full disclosure? No, not even close. If the Gospel, that offending Gospel that calls attention to our lost and eternally dangerous condition, is not presented, then you can expect the full flowering of a toxic, cultic mentality. 

Next came the Toronto Vineyard happening with Rodney Howard-Browne from South Africa. The Laughing Revival, the Toronto Blessing—such a big splash and magnet, drawing local pastors who ran up to Toronto to get the “anointing.” The anointing, the anointing, the anointing—this was it. Power to command even God’s blessing! More, more, and more. 

Then it spread like wild fire and landed where I could observe it, at Bethel Church in Redding, California. I went there to see it for myself. Enough has been written about that and about the Kansas City Prophets, International House of Prayer, and MorningStar in North Carolina. I suppose I would have succumbed to the pull if I had not experienced the Jesus People awakening and learned something of the other awakenings in America’s history. Moving and grooving to the beat, dancing and swaying “in the spirit,” talking to angels, even to Jesus. Frankly, it is not that much different from shamanistic rituals, Santerían bembes, or Wiccan journeys.4 

4 Released by Earthen Vessel Publishing in 2014 was The Soul Journey: How Shamanism, Santeria, Wicca, and Charisma Are Connected. The connection is the trance state or altered states of consciousness, upon which all of these pagan, neopagan, and even Christian-oriented practices or religions depend.

Spiritual Battles 

It is not surprising that the devil should show up. We see this in the Book of Acts. Jesus warned of it. Paul experienced it. John in Revelation predicted it. In a sense, it is business as usual. The enemy rushes to the holy fire to put it out or pervert it. I have in my mind the backfire, set in the direction of a fire out of control. Whatever metaphor is employed, the picture is one of confusion, deception, and error. 

Our God is a sovereign God, and He will do what He will do and allow what He will allow. The enemy is essentially powerless and can only go so far. Christians may pray, preach, and plan for revival and awakening, while at the same time recognize that the mighty wind of the Spirit moves where He will. 

 Chapter 12 

Who would not be shocked to hear that the ultimate intention of the Creator God is to be forever present with those He made in His image? “Far beyond the wildest imagination” does not express the utter preposterousness of such a concept. 

We humans have difficulty being in the presence of one another for extended periods of time, however strong the bond. There are exceptions, surely, but overall, I suspect that for the majority of us loving togetherness for ever and ever is questionable. 

Many rooms 

During the closing days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He had long talks with His disciples. Part of one conversiation that suits our purpose is John 14:1–3: 

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 

After three-plus years of following Jesus, seeing Him raise the dead, heal all manner of illnesses, cast out demons, and break the fundamental laws of nature by multiplying food in vast quantities, walking on water, and calming storms with his command, they knew His word was not to be doubted. No, He would not lie to them or give them false comfort. 

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb 

The Church, that invisible Body of believers known only to God, is referred to as the Bride of Christ. The word “church” in the Greek is ekklesia and is feminine in form. 

Jesus is the bridegroom. He referred to Himself as such in Matthew 9:15: “And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.’” 

One of the last parables Jesus gave to His disciples is the parable of the wedding feast. It is found in Matthew 22:1–14, and in it He painted the picture of a wedding feast. The second coming of Jesus at the end of the age is likened to a bridegroom coming to take His bride away. And when this happens there will be a wedding feast, or as it is spoken of in the book of Revelation, a marriage supper: 

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out, 

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come; 

and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (Revelation 19:6–8) 

The Bride then joins the Bridegroom, and they are happily united forever. Here now is what was revealed to the Apostle John as found in Revelation 21:1–4: 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

The promise of the ultimate triumph of the “offspring” of the woman, depicted in Genesis 3:15, is fulfilled. By means of the completed work of Jesus the Messiah, the Word become flesh, God become flesh, that atoning death for sin, then the resurrection, and finally the ascension to heaven, the dwelling place of God, there is a Bride, the Church. 

No longer east of Eden, no longer in a world torn and tortured, no longer the presence of that hideous strength, Satan and his demons—no, it is paradise restored. 

It seems fitting to close with words that Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth: 

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are deemed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything even the depths of God. 1 corinthians 2:5–10

And so it will be forever and ever, says the Preposterous God. Amen! 

Chapter 25 from Pathways to Darkness

In Ayman S. Ibrahim’s A Concise Guide to the Life of Muhammad (published by Baker Academic in 2022) is a chapter titled, “Was Muhammad a Real Historical Figure?” Here he mentions three Muhammads: The Muhammad in popular and cultural Islam, then a second, Muhammad in the Muslim traditions, and finally the Muhammad of history. We will focus only on the first of these, the Muhammad in popular and cultural Islam, otherwise known as “the legendary Muhammad.”

The Quran presents Muhammad as an ordinary man who looked to Allah for mercy and help, but not the legendary Muhammad, this popular Muhammad, who was highly venerated even to the point where he was worshipped. It is thought here that he possessed divine qualities and could influence daily lives, even perform signs and wonders, that he knew the future, could raise the dead, and heal the sick. It was believed that he could visit sick people in dreams, especially if they drank holy water or recited verses from the Quran.

In other words, Muhammad was believed to have metaphysical or mystical abilities, and so Muslims like to visit holy places, shrines, and graves, associated with him, and they do so to obtain power, blessings, and protection from evil. And such activities are condemned by mainline Muslim theologians, but still these are popular with large segments of the Muslim population around the world. These will look to Muhammad to interpret dreams, receive divine visitations, and tell their future. 

Again, this is the legendary Muhammad and not the Muhammad of the Quran. 

The reason for the inclusion of this chapter on Islamic mysticism will be plain from the following, “Summary of the Exorcist Tradition in Islam.”

Summary of The Exorcist Tradition in Islam

Kent’s personal introduction: While attending the Mill Valley Islamic Center’s Mosque in January of 2016, I noticed a book on a shelf in the foyer, and during the prayer time I skimmed through this book by Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.1 

1 Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, The Exorcist Tradition in Islam (Birmingham, England, UK: Al-Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution Ltd., 2007). I was stunned and had to read it. The Imam Abdullah allowed me to take it home on the promise to return it the next Friday. I bought a copy online, read every word, and began to prepare this for a section of Islamic Studies.

The Exorcist Tradition in Islam (hereafter, Exorcist Tradition) confirmed so much I already knew about “folk” Islam. Here, however, information I thought relevant to only rural Muslim folk was actually mainstream for Muslims everywhere. It also confirmed what I already knew and had written about over the years, including my first published book by Zondervan Publishing House in 1973, entitled A Manual of Demonology and the Occult. During the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, I actively and extensively engaged in what Dr. Philips refers to as exorcism but which I call deliverance ministry, as in the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil” (see Matthew 6:13). Then, in more recent times, I wrote Deliver us from Evil: How Jesus Casts out Demons Today, published by Earthen Vessel Publishing in 2015. 

When I returned Dr. Philips book, I also gave the Imam a copy of the new book mentioned above, which he gladly received and in which he eagerly expressed interest. It seemed necessary to me then to prepare this present chapter to assist those who might deal with this subject in their outreach to Muslims. 

Notes on the introduction to The Exorcist Tradition in Islam 

Dr. Philips gives the following reason for the writing of his book: 

In the last ten years, an upsurge of interest among Muslims about possession and the spirit-world has led to the republication of most of the classical texts on this subject (p. 7). 

He also says there has been a growing number of exorcists among Muslims. This interest then is the prime reason for Dr. Philips’ book, and his work is based upon sources that are accepted by Muslim scholars as being authentic and reliable. 

Chapter One is “The Spirit World,” where the focus is on three areas: the human spirit, jinn, and angels. Chapter Two is: “Spirit Possession,” in which he discusses the reasons for possession, partial possession, magic, the Evil Eye, exorcism, the validity of the need for exorcism, the exorcist, and methods of exorcism. Chapter Three is “Modern Muslim Exorcists.” A questionnaire developed by Dr. Philips was presented to Muslim exorcists, the results of which are presented along with a profile of the 20th century Muslim exorcist and a survey of Christian exorcists. Chapter Four is the author’s opinions about exorcism. There is an appendix that consists of interviews with seventeen exorcists, followed by an index of Qur’anic verses and hadith dealing with the subject, and concluding with a bibliography. Following now is commentary on these chapters. 

Chapter One: “The Spirit World” 

In Islam there are three different categories or species of created entities: human souls, angels, and jinn, all of which are considered rational yet invisible beings. Humans have bodies that are inhabited by human spirits or souls. Both the terms ruh and nafs are used in reference to the human spirit or soul. In this section we will use the word “soul” for the human spirit. 

Souls 

Sunni Muslims believe the soul dies at death, based on Qur’an 3:185; 28:88; and 40:11. 

When a person dies, there is some disagreement among Islamic scholars about what happens to the human spirit or soul between death and the Day of Resurrection. A dominant idea is that they return to the barzakh, the place from which they originally came. It is from the barzakh that souls are “blown by angels into the human embryos” (p. 21).2 

2 Barzakh is a Persian word that means separation, that is, a spiritual state in which souls wait before being blown into humans while in the womb.

Upon death the souls of the prophets await the Day of Resurrection in the highest level of paradise, the seventh heaven. This is a lesser place than that of the martyrs, whose souls change into green birds in paradise (Abu Dawud, page 455, no. 3). In this hadith, it is also said that if the martyr leaves behind unpaid debt, he or she will not enter paradise. 

The souls of the ordinary believer will not enter the bodies of green birds in paradise; they will, however, exist in the form of birds but are not allowed to roam around in paradise, unlike those of the martyrs. 

The souls of disobedient believers are held in their graves and punished for their sins. Two kinds of disobedient believers are mentioned by Muhammad as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 141, no. 215 and by Sahih Muslim, vol. 1, pp. 171–172, no. 575: “Surely, they are being punished right now, and not for major offences. One of them was not careful to protect himself from the splash of his urine, and the other used to spread rumors.” 

The souls of disbelievers sorrow greatly. These souls remain in the grave and are punished until the Day of Resurrection. Souls of believers have contact with each other just before they die, and the souls already having died inquire as to the lot and fare of acquaintances yet living. 

Some Muslim esoterics, called Batini, believe that perfect souls leave their human bodies and educate living Muslims in order to improve their souls. 

Angels 

Although angels take the form of males, as in Gabriel who appeared to Muhammad, they are considered to be neuter with no actual sexual gender. 

Names are given to some angels in Islam: Jibril or Gabriel is the angel of revelation (Qur’an 26:192–193);3 

3 Where no citation is given, the authority comes from multiple hadith.

Mikail or Michael is responsible for rain; Israfil is the angel who will blow the horn at the time of the end of the world; Malik is the name of the guardian angel of hell (Qur’an 43:77) who lights hellfire and makes sure no one escapes; Munkar and Nakir are the two angels who will determine, after a person is dead, whether he or she was a faithful Muslim; Harut and Marut were angels who were sent to the people of Babylon to determine if they had real faith or not (Qur’an 2:102); and Raqib and ‘Atid are the two angels who sit on the shoulder of each Muslim recording their good and bad deeds (Qur’an 50:17–18). The following passages in the Qur’an speak of recording angels who are not named: 82:10–11 and 50:17–18. 

Angels have authority over the heavens and the earth. Angels determine or set in motion all that happens (Qur’an 79:5 and 51:4), yet they are merely servants of Allah. Angels are able to travel at incredible speeds. 

Some angels are able to read the minds of humans, and some know the acts that were planned by people but never carried out. Angels are in constant contact with humans, from birth to death and after death. Angels are assigned to each person at the moment of conception. They inspire people to do good and guard them from doing evil (Qur’an 13:11). There are also angels who pray to Allah for people about certain matters. 

One thing angels do not do is possess humans as jinn do, nor do they incite people to do evil. 

Jinn 

Jinn are hidden from human sight. The Arabic word for jinn is janna and means that which is concealed or hidden. Jinn is the plural form and jinni is the singular form. 

The belief in jinn is shared with Jews and Christians, but most modern day Jews, as well as some Christians, disavow the existence of jinn or demons. 

Jinn originate from fire (Qur’an 15:27; 55:15) and were created before humans existed (Qur’an 15:26–27). Since jinn are created beings, they also experience death (Qur’an 28:88; 55:26; 46:18). 

Satan, or Shaytan, is close to the concept of devil or demon. There are those who say Satan was not an angel but only a jinn; however there are those who disagree and believe Iblis, which is the personal name of Satan, was among the angels, but he refused to bow down to Adam and thus became a demon or even the devil (Qur’an 7:11 and also Qur’an 26:75–78). 

Though jinn are invisible to humans, some animals can see them. Some believe that certain jinn, like the angels, can assume human shapes and forms. Some jinn take animal shapes on a constant basis. 

(Note: Here is a connection with “spirit animals” common to Shamanism and neo-pagan groups like Wicca.) 

There are three different kinds of jinn. One type flies in the air all of the time; others take the form of dogs and snakes; and others wander the earth. These latter jinn are referred to as qarin, which means companion, and they will accompany a person from their birth to their death. 

There are jinn who listen in on the conversations of angels, who inhabit a lower level of heaven, and then report their findings to fortunetellers (Qur’an 72:8–9; 15:17–18). 

Jinn can be Muslims or non-Muslims. One treats a Muslim jinn differently, almost reverently, but not so a non-Muslim jinn. Satan is a non-Muslim devil. 

Some Muslim scholars contend, and are supported by some hadith, that camels are jinn or are created from jinn. 

Some hadith say that jinn eat and drink and do so with the left hand. 

Some, mostly Sunni scholars, teach that jinn can have sexual relations with humans and may have offspring, based on Qur’an 72:6. There are hadith that report that Muhammad habitually said when entering the toilet, “O Allah, surely I seek refuge in You from evil male and female jinn.” This particular saying was collected from all six of the major hadith, i.e., Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 1, pp. 105–106, no. 144 and Sahih Muslim, vol. p. 205, no. 729. In addition, Qur’an 55:74 and 18:50 indicate that jinn deflower females. 

Hinn are the lowest category of jinn and appear as black dogs. 

Jinn, like angels, are able to travel large distances very rapidly. They are also able to affect the human mind by implanting evil thoughts. Some jinn sleep and eat with humans without the humans being aware of it. Jinn may cause humans to be ill. 

At a person’s death, even a Muslim, jinn will attempt to cause him or her to go astray and leave the straight path of Allah. 

Jinn are the only possible source of possession of a human being; human spirits or souls or angels do not possess humans. Jinn can cause both physical and mental problems.

Chapter Two: “Spirit Possession” 

Sar is the most commonly used term for possession by jinn, and only jinn can possess a human being. This word is also used to denote epilepsy and literally means, “to throw down.” Mass is also a term used to refer to spirit possession but is also used to describe mental illness or madness. A possessed person is called a mansus. An insane person is called a majnun. 

Not all Muslim scholars hold to the idea that jinn possess people; some are more likely to see marks of possession as mental or physical illness; major Islamic scholars, however, do attest to spirit possession. In fact, it is said that if one denies spirit possession of human beings it is akin to apostasy and a denial of the Qur’an. 

Qur’anic evidence for spirit possession is found in Qur’an 2:275: “Those who devour interest rise up like one stumbling from Satan’s touch.” The hadith are used to substantiate this as well, several of which have wording like, “Verily, Satan flows in the bloodstream of Adam’s descendants” (Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, pp. 1187–1188). In addition, Qur’an 14:22 suggests the possibility of spirit possession, but such is not absolutely clear from the passage itself. 

The Sunnah, the pattern of truth found in hadith, support spirit possession by jinn, and not only the possibility of such but also its reality. 

Spirit possession occurs from lack of faith in Allah, not performing prayers, lustful inclinations of jinn, or horseplay. Major trouble may occur if jinn become angry. The example given by Dr. Philips is interesting: a person accidentally splattering urine on or pouring hot water on the unseen jinn will make the jinn angry, who in retaliation may possess the offender. In general, jinn tend to be harsh, ignorant, and volatile. 

Jinn fool mediums into thinking that they, the medium, can call up spirits of the dead, who even impersonate deceased ancestors, often using unknown languages that no one can understand. 

Objects, animate or inanimate, may also be possessed, as Jinn can dwell in both. One example is that rats, which are possessed by jinn, force the necessity of putting out a candle’s flame at night less the rat use it to burn a person (see Qur’an 7:148 and 20:86–89). 

Jinn may also appear in visions, while a person is awake or asleep, in order to lead the faithful Muslim astray. 

Sihr is Arabic for magic and refers to whatever is caused by hidden forces. It can also refer to speech that is subtle and strange, and Muhammad is reported to have said, “Some forms of speech are magic” (Sahih al-Bukhari, vo. 7, p. 445, no. 662). 

In Sharia Law, magic is defined as “a contract or incantation, spoken or written, or something done which will affect the body, heart or mind of the one bewitched without actually coming in contact with him.” It is said that Allah may allow such magical deception to occur. 

Islamic scholars generally disavow the use of amulets and charms meant to ward off evil jinn, curses, and in order to achieve good fortune. There is a division amongst Muslim scholars as to the reality of magic, yet it is widely practiced, since in the Qur’an and the Sunnah magical practices are mentioned. Evidence of this is found in Qur’an 2:102; 113:4; and 7:116. Qur’an 113:4 reads, “And (I seek refuge) from the evil of the witches who blow on knots.” The blowing on knots, rope, or animal hair was a mechanism by which spells were cast. 

The Qur’anic verses 7:117 and 20:66 also refer to the reality of magical practices. Magic works through the power of jinn and Satan directly. It is evident then that spirit possession and magic are linked together, the second being dependent upon the first. 

The Evil Eye is known to all Muslims and is a major issue for them. It essentially refers to an evil glance or look, which is thought to have a powerful impact upon the person looked upon. Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, p. 1192, no. 5427 says, “The effect of the evil eye (al-‘ayn) is real, for if there were anything which could overtake destiny, it would have been (the effect of) the evil eye.” This effect is caused by jinn. 

Exorcism is the term used for the expulsion of evil spirits. The name of Allah may be invoked along with a number of other rituals such as the recitation of formulas, prayers, and the use of various artifacts, charms and amulets, thought to have spiritual power. A popular practice is for the exorcist to recite the Qur’an over a cup of water, which is then drunk by the patient. Beatings are frequently used to drive evil jinn out. 

Exorcism treatments, according to Islamic Law, are divided into prohibited and permitted categories. Prohibited and permitted treatments are those stated to be so by Islamic Law, but whatever measures prove to be of value belong to Allah. 

In Islam there is no official position known as the exorcist, but different tribes and language groups employ various titles, such as ‘amil in India and Pakistan. 

The methodology of exorcism generally involves the following steps: 

1. The undoing of charms, where the spirit possession was the result of magic. Such charms are weakened or cancelled. Once a charm has been removed the spell is neutralized. 
2. The possessing spirit is commanded to leave. The exorcist may engage the spirit in conversation. The jinn may be evil or good, Muslim or non-Muslim. Non-Muslim spirits may be converted to Islam. The possessing spirits can be corrected and admonished. 

1. If a jinn refuses to leave, curses may be spoken by the exorcist. Offending jinn can be scolded, threatened, and “Allah’s curse” may be used against it. 
2. Recitations from the Qur’an may be used for physical healing as well as driving out jinn. Such authority is found in Qur’an 17:82 and 10:57. 
3. Ayah al-Kursi means “Verse of the Footstool” (Qur’an 2:255), which the Prophet said was the greatest verse in the Qur’an as it relates to humans. This verse is said to have power when it is read over a spirit-possessed person. 
4. Surah al-Baqarah is the second chapter in the Qur’an, also known as “The Cow.” In Sahih Muslim, vol. 2, p. 337, no. 1707, Muhammad is reported to have said, “The devil flees from a house in which Surah al-Baqarah is read.” There are 286 verses in that chapter, the longest in the Qur’an. 
5. The Basmalah is a term that means, “In the name of Allah” or “God the Merciful, the Compassionate.” This is spoken often by Muslims and is a kind of prayer or incantation. When spoken it is said to weaken or disarm Satan and the jinn. 
6. Ta’awwudh is a word that means taking refuge or protection from Satan in Allah (Qur’an 41:36 and 23:97–98). It is powerful to ward off evil jinn and Satan. If a person remembers Allah when entering a house and while eating, then devils will not be welcome. 
7. Adhan and iqamah are both calls to prayer and are said to have the ability to drive away demons. 
8. Prophetic Prayers, found in various hadith, can cure illnesses and ward off jinn. 
9. Natural medicines such as dates may be used to ward off physical trouble caused by jinn. A bath can protect against the evil eye (Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, p. 1192, no. 5427). 
10. Beating can be used when all else fails. It is thought that only the jinn experience the pain inflicted on the possessed person. The pain causes the jinn to depart. 

Chapter Three: “Modern Muslim Exorcist” 

Methods of Exorcism 

A number of exorcists from the following seven countries were interviewed to determine the methods they used in exorcisms. 

Egypt: Recitation of the Qur’an; Crushed lotus leaves in water and Qur’an read over it then drunk; drinking and bathing; communication with jinn; command to leave; Adhan called in right ear and Uqamah in the left ear; Qur’an read over water and olive oil, water then drunk and oil rubbed on body. 

Saudi Arabia: Qur’an recited; grasping the neck; beating; Qur’an read over olive oil and water, oil rubbed and water drunk; string tied around finger and toes followed by beating; communication with jinn; command to leave; jinn bound with an oath to leave; blowing; slapping. 

Pakistan: Scented oil poured on cotton and Qur’an read over it and given to smell; Qur’an verses recited in the patient’s ear; patient shaken; a lock of hair of the patient’s wrapped around the finger of the exorcist; beating; Amulets with Qur’anic verses tied around patient’s arm; Qur’an read over water and drunk; Nails with Qur’anic verses read over them hammered in the four corners of the patient’s house; communication with jinn; jinn scolded and commanded to leave; incantation before lighting lamps and blowing over lamps causes jinn to leave patient, enter lamp and be burned; Qur’an recited over oil and poured in patient’s ear; knot tied in patient’s hair to imprison the jinn; bound with oath to leave; Patient tied; Qur’an recited; amulet put around patient’s neck or right arm; charm burnt and smoke inhaled. 

India: Patient recites over Qur’an; Qur’an recited over water then drunk and bathed with; Qur’an recited over patient; blowing; patient tied down, talismans made of lines, numerology and knowledge of names; charms written in saffron ink on plate, washed with milk and drunk; amulets with Qur’anic verses given to patient; communication with jinn; a lock of hair grabbed to arrest the jinn; knot tied in patient’s hair; prayers; amulet worn around neck for seven days. 

Trinidad: Qur’an recited over water and drunk; Qur’an recited and blown in patient’s face; supplications; prayers; command to leave; mustard oil put in patient’s right palm and Qur’an recited over patient with blowing; mustard oil placed in patient’s ear and sealed; nostrils pinched closed and palm with mustard oil held in front of mouth; patient’s limbs massaged and pressed to determine location of jinn; communication with jinn; jinn driven upward to head and hair; tied lock of hair cut off; beating. 

Bahrain: Patient faces Mecca, and line is drawn in front of him and another drawn around him, along with supplications; Qur’anic verses are recited; light beating; communication with jinn; command to leave. 

Sudan: Exorcist touches aching body part with hand; Qur’anic verses recited; point of pain blown upon; administered only at sunrise or sunset; Qur’anic verses written on plate or bowl, then washed with water, patient drinks water and water rubbed over body; Qur’an verses or their numerical equivalent written on paper and burned while patient inhales the fumes; amulets with Qur’anic verses written on are tied to patient’s ankle, waist, or neck; beating; fasting from meat and dairy products.

General notes: 

Other means of treatment are the following: the patient made unconscious by depressing the jugular veins, supposing the jinn will expose itself thereby; the jinn may be arrested by tying knots in a patient’s hair, the patient’s fingers and toes may be tied to arrest the jinn; amulets with Qur’anic verses written on them may be used; other occult sciences may also be employed. 

Most of those requesting exorcism are women. The jinn may be Muslim or non-Muslim. Exorcists attempt to convert non-Muslim jinn. In India and Pakistan there are few real cases of exorcism. Most are possessed by a single jinn. These jinn may be male or female. 

Signs of possession are the following: change of personality; physical changes; mental changes; spiritual changes. In this last category is included strong reactions to the Qur’an and/or to the adhan (the call to prayer), reaction to anything to do with the Qur’an as water drunk which the Qur’an has been recited over; abandonment of religious practices. 

Reasons for possession are the following: retaliation for harming the jinn and the patient is then possessed out of revenge; jinn love or lust in that the jinn want to have carnal love relations with the patient; mischief in which evil, non-Muslim jinn possess due to their love of sin; magic where a spell or curse is placed on the patient by other humans. 

Chapter Four: Discussion 

The author states, “Muslims today erroneously attribute the power to expel jinn to the exorcist himself, rather than the mercy of Allah, which is available to any believer” (p. 195). 

The chief and most effective element in Islamic exorcism is the use of the Qur’an. Dr. Philips writes, “Since the time of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) exorcism by Qur’anic recitation became an indisputable part of canonical prophetic tradition (the Sunnah)” (p. 196). He continues, “The practice of blowing over the demonically possessed patients or on the location where the patient complains of pain is unanimously applied by modern exorcists throughout the Muslim world at different points during their exorcising” (p. 196). 

The Qur’an is seen as a magical book, especially in regard to exorcism. This much is made plain in the description of the methods used by Muslim exorcists. An example is the reading over cups of water and/or olive oil, which apparently magically infuses the Qur’an into the liquids, then when drunk expels jinn. Dr. Philips admits that neither Muhammad nor his companions used such a means for exorcism, but such treatment did arise in the Muslim community at a later time. And this practice was based upon Qur’an 17:82 and 10:57, in addition to passages in the Sunnah. He is clear that the use of amulets and talismans is a deviation from standard Islamic practices. The use of occult sciences and numerology is an even greater deviation. As to beating, the opinion is mixed, and Dr. Philips mentions that some patients died as a result of a beating. 

The author states that the methodology of exorcism has changed little over the past fourteen centuries, and that Islam does not have persons cast in the role of exorcists (p. 205). 

Dr. Philips says, “much of the theory and practice of exorcism in Islam agrees with that of Christianity” (p. 204). It is clear that Muslim exorcists are not to employ any techniques that would involve shirk, which would be the association of any other deity with Allah. 

On this point, however, we must disagree, as we have shown in two books on the subject and after decades of active engagement with the actual and literal casting out of demons that only Jesus and those who act in his name actually cast out demons. 

Muslims and Christians both authenticate demon possession and the expelling of demons. The Muslims do so essentially in the name of Allah. Casting out demons in the name of Jesus, however, while proving demon possession, is far different from exorcism in the name of Allah. It is evident that the exorcists from the various countries, whose methodologies are presented in chapter three, rarely, if ever, commanded jinn to leave “in the name of Allah.” Other magical means were used. 

The issue of the effectiveness of Christian deliverance ministry, which employs no magical elements, is problematic for Dr. Philips, who readily admits the following: 

The question which remains to be answered regarding the Islamic view of exorcism is, “How does Islam explain successful exorcisms performed by Christians over the centuries, when it considers Christianity to be a false religion” (p. 210). 

Dr. Philips’ reasoning, and that of other Muslims who consider the issue, is that casting out of demons by Christians “in the name of Jesus” works because jinn react upon the employment of shirk, which the jinn regard as evil and so are motivated to leave the possessed person, but he also confusingly asserts that Christians cast out demons “in the name of God” and not in the name of Jesus, which would be effective. He is aware that Christian exorcism, preferably called deliverance ministry and fashioned after what is seen in the New Testament, is effectual, but only because of shirk. 

Dr. Philips asserts that those who attempt to exorcize demons in the name of Jesus or in the name of Muhammad are in the same category of error as any of the pagan religionists, which he contends is mere sorcery. And when demons do leave, or appear to leave, it reinforces the notion that there is power in such incantations.

Consequently, the jinn leave the diabolically possessed during Christian and pagan exorcisms by their own free will, having accomplished their malevolent goal of misguiding mankind as promised by Satan in the Qur’an.4 

4 Quoted from page 211.

Then Qur’an 7:16–17; 15:39; and 38:82 are quoted as proof. 

A final remark 

Generally, Christians do not consider saying “in the name of Jesus” to be a magical phrase or spell or incantation. We have been part of dozens of situations where demons were cast out without the words, “in the name of Jesus” even being spoken. The phrase simply means that Jesus has defeated Satan and the demonic kingdom by means of His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and being seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. It is that Jesus has defeated all that belongs to Satan and the jinn. “The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). And this Muslims simply cannot accept. 

There are many points where Islam and Christianity connect, and exorcism (deliverance) is one of them. Perhaps it is one of the most significant connectors. Dr. Philips’ book makes abundantly and sadly clear that Islam has no real way of dealing with the demonic kingdom except by various incantations, prayers, and rituals, which seem not to be effective. Indeed, the average Muslim is at the mercy of a most vicious foe. Combating magic with magic is deceptive, ineffectual, and dangerous. 

It is in the realm of spiritual warfare where Bible-based Christians will be able to connect with Muslims and share the love of God with them. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the only One who casts out demons, and this is one ministry Christians will be able to bring to Muslim friends. 

David had disappeared into The Family. Almost immediately, I began receiving letters from him post marked from some little town in Texas. It turned out he was at COG’s Texas Soul Clinic, a ranch-like property owned by Fred Jordan.

David made the best case he could for me to join up with The Family. I learned later that those letters were nearly dictated by his “shepherds” who rode herd on him during the early months. I kept every one of them. Only a few of those “evangelistic” missives arrived in the mail, then nothing. The next communications were different; David began to sound like he was being mistreated. Knowing David, he had discovered the real nature of COG and was beginning to challenge the leadership. (David had grown up in lockups in California and had spent two years in a federal prison; no one would be pushing him around for long.) I reasoned that it would only be a while before he either fled the scene or was booted out.

My Own Cultic Experience

Beginning about 1988, while pastor of Miller Avenue Baptist Church in Mill Valley, I began a workshop on cult recovery; it continued for six years. Each workshop consisted of 26 sessions, and I repeated it twelve times. I placed ads in the Marin Independent Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle inviting people to the workshop and was shocked at the response. There were Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness elders, ex-Catholics, Pentecostals, fundamentalists of various sorts, Baptists, and folks I knew well, drop outs from the Church of the Open Door. 

One of the reasons I started the cult recovery workshop goes back to 1977, when I began a doctoral program at San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, a Presbyterian institution, and my major professor was Dr. Louis Rambo. He happened to be one of America’s foremost experts on cults and conversion. 

In 1978, Lou told me that Church of the Open Door had a pronounced cultic nature to it, and his actual words were blunt: “Church of the Open Door is a cult.” The next week I brought him a copy of our statement of faith, which Lou examined but explained to me that, while our theology was orthodox enough, our ecclesiology or methodology was not. Lou explained what he meant. By the time I finished listening to what he had to say, I was shocked to the core. He actually put into words what I had been feeling for years. Indeed, the cultic nature he observed was what I had seen in the Shepherding Movement, yet I was unable to see that I was mired in something similar. 

Our primary trouble was the use of intimidating and manipulative tactics on people who were vulnerable, people who thought they were hearing from God through us. We had everyone believing that God spoke through the leaders of the church as well as the Bible. This communication came through words of knowledge, words of wisdom,1 

1 See 1 Corinthians 12:7-10. interpretation of tongues, and especially prophecy. He was spot on it, and I knew I was guilty, and more so than anyone else. I was the senior pastor, and everything that happened was essentially on my watch. So I began making attempts to correct our methods, only to run into a brick wall. Other leaders did not see things the way I did, and I couldn’t blame them. I experienced rejection, which effectively further isolated me. 

Back to David 

When David linked up with COG he had no way of knowing how twisted David Berg was becoming. My replies to David’s letters were likely not too helpful to him. Then there was another, much longer, period of silence. 

One day, I think in 1974, I received a letter from David written from Upper Norwood, a suburb of London.2 

2 David will be writing about this period in his life, which will be published. Not being sure of the details, I will skip most of it and relate only what happened to me.He had escaped out of the COG, but his family was still in and staying in an unknown location. My speculation is that David had been traveling in Europe hoping to find them; leaders of The Family were skilled at making people disappear. We exchanged a few letters, and then he sent one requesting that I come to London to help with a group of Jesus People from Wisconsin who were performing music at U.S. military bases across Europe.3 

3 The background for this is long and involved, and David, in his account of the JPM, will detail this far more completely than I am able to do. The band was called Sheep and was performing a rock opera called Lonesome Stone, developed with David’s input. 

Somehow David had met and become friends with Kenneth Frampton.4 

4 This is another long and involved story I don’t remember well. I did have an office in one of Mr. Frampton’s buildings in South Bromley and met numbers of people who were engaged in smuggling Bibles into the countries behind the Iron Curtain. And it was then that I met George Verwer who began Operation Mobilization. On several occasions I was a guest of the Verwers, who lived in a Frampton property in South Bromley, and learned of the incredible missionary work OM was and is engaged in.a big time real estate owner who later helped the Wisconsin youth group come to England. Due to David’s recommendation, Mr. Frampton, who was one of the most wonderful and gracious Christians I have ever known, invited me to come to London and help pastor the Wisconsin folks. 

My first trip to London lasted six weeks, and I never saw the sun once. I was staying in a big old house in Upper Norwood, just a block or so from the gravesite of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, although I did not at the time know who he was. I was in the house’s top floor, the fifth floor, and no light or heat ascended all the way up there. 

David was playing the role of Stone in the rock opera Lonesome Stone. Stone was a young hippie trying to find himself but was finally found by God, and at the Churchill Theatre in London, I saw a live show for the first time. Following that we got on a train to Liverpool and more performances of Lonesome Stone. The theatre was next door to the place where the Beatles started, and it was a popular nightclub at that time. Shepherd played there one evening; the place was jammed with kids, and that excellent band played some of the best Jesus music I had ever heard. 

That six-week period, although I was cold to the bone the whole time, led to several more trips to London and establishing a mission.5 

5 Some of those who led in this mission were Roger and Ava Hoffman, Carol Pohl, and David Philpott—an Englishman and no relation to me, though we are Facebook friends. from Church of the Open Door, Open Door Commission.6 

6 One of the efforts of the Open Door Commission was to establish a church in Mexico City. Jim Smith, a Golden Gate Seminary graduate, and a very fine preacher and teacher, led the way in this. I made several trips to Natividad, a barrio on the eastern edge of Mexico City, where Jim planted the church. The adventures encountered are worthy of a middle length book, but what I remember most was a certain taco stand and preaching a sermon entirely in Spanish.something I had instigated a couple of years before. 

Quickly, we gathered some people and began to do street evangelism all over the city, mostly in the popular tourist locations like Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. To this day I receive communications, mostly by way of Facebook, from some of those Londoners who responded to the Gospel during that period. 

David Hoyt must be considered one of the most significant personages of the Jesus People Movement. While I stayed mostly in San Francisco and Marin counties, he took the awakening to southern California, back up to the East Bay, then to southern states, eventually nine of them. Yes, he fell into the hands of a notorious cult, but he never gave up being a follower of Jesus. And it was David, who more than anyone else that I am aware of, took the JPM to England, many parts of England for that matter. 

As I look back on my Christian life, some fifty years of it now, I have observed that, although Christians stumble, fall, and make a mess of things, still those genuinely converted will, by the grace of God, get back up and continue following Jesus. 

Chapter 11

The new birth, born from above, conversion, salvation, redemption, reconciliation—all are synonyms, and all are brought into being by the Birther, the Creator God. 

It must be so; we simply cannot birth ourselves. 

None of us birthed ourselves physically. And this is the point Jesus makes in the third chapter of John, which we examine below. We know we did not physically birth ourselves and so it is with the new birth. This is perhaps the most difficult fact that humankind has ever been faced with. Why? Because we are convinced we have to save ourselves. 

The greatest story ever told 

Now a look back to the early days of Jesus’ ministry. A distinguished and mature leader of Israel named Nicodemus approached Jesus at night. He said to the young man, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). 

Jesus performed many miracles, and this did not go unnoticed by the religious leaders in Jerusalem. “What does this mean?” must have been on their minds. Could it be that this young fellow from Nazareth is someone to be reckoned with? 

Whether Nicodemus came to Jesus on the sly or as an emissary from other members of the Council of Israel, the Sanhedrin, is unknown. He started with what might be referred to as flattery. Jesus stunned the learned rabbi by stating, “I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). 

Nicodemus said nothing that might have inspired Jesus to say what He did. Though Nicodemus might have been looking for information, Jesus aimed straight at his heart, because He knew his heart. 

Nicodemus immediately stated the impossibility of being born a second time; no going back to the mother’s womb. Jesus followed up with the fact that no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born again, not even an esteemed and righteous man. Jesus cautioned Nicodemus not to be shaken by what He said and further explained that the new birth can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. 

It is necessary to know, if we are to understand the next thing Jesus said, that the Greek word for spirit is the same word used for wind and breath. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes” (v. 3:8).1 The translation “wind” is used due to the idea of wind blowing, a sound that can often be heard, and the same can be said of the Spirit of God (see Acts 2:1–4). 

1 The word in John 3:8 translated “wind” is the Greek word pneuma. It is the same word “spirit” as in Holy Spirit. 2 

What did Nicodemus hear? Jesus told him that all his wonderful righteousness could not open his eyes to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was actually looking at the King of the kingdom of God. No, Nicodemus would have to be birthed into that kingdom. 

At the conclusion of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, as related by the Apostle John, Jesus says to Him: 

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14-16) 

What Nicodemus was looking for was standing right in front of him. His heart’s desire, like that of all people, was to know the Creator God and live for eternity. Nicodemus was at a stage in his life when he knew that all the other enticements his decadent culture meant next to nothing. 

Jesus’ words echoed and affirmed by the Apostle Peter. In the first letter attributed to Peter is this: 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5) 

Peter knew birthing by the Holy Spirit, who alone brings salvation, is a gift of mercy and grace, accomplished by God alone. He is the Birther. 

A new creation 

Those born again, born anew, or born from above (these are synonyms) are, in Paul’s lexicon, a new creation. He said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

A new creation, a new race, a new people—are those birthed through the working of the Holy Spirit who reveals to us our sinful nature and the Savior, all for the purpose of preparing us to be re-birthed. 

Always and forever unimaginable 

Saved by grace reigns as the very most preposterous concept. And why? We simply cannot come to grips with the fact that we cannot earn the favor of God is some manner. In our attempts to do so we must lapse into some form of agnosticism or atheism. I have often said that if I were not a Christian I would certainly be an atheist. 

All the religions of the world save Christianity provides paths, ways, means, or  directions that a human can pursue to obtain some ultimate goal. Herein are the counterfeit means of salvation, which lead to nothing more than deception and hopelessness. To be saved, redeemed, converted, born again—is something only the Holy Spirit of God can do. 

This chapter is taken from the book written by Kent and Katie Philpott titled: The Soul Journey: How Shamanism, Santeria, Wicca, and Charisma are Connected. It was published by Earthen Vessel Publishing in 2014. 

After publishing a rather brief article dealing with Santería, we received a flood of emails regarding it—some pro but most con. This chapter presents a more in-depth look at Santería, in part to satisfy the requests for more information and also to help answer some of the responses that indicated strong disagreement with our views.1 

1.The history of Santería is quite old, and its intertwining with Catholicism in the Western world is partially what has prompted us to cover it in this book also. 

Santería is also referred to as La Regla de Ocha or The Way of the Saints. In Cuba Santería is known as Lucumi, in Brazil it is Candomblé or Macumba, and in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Mexico, and other Latin American countries, it became known as Santería. In Haiti the magical rites are called Voodoo, Vodou, or Voudun. Other names given the religion or systems associated with it are Espiritismo, Curanderism, and Palero.

We are relying on a number of books about the religion, all written by decided proponents, plus personal discussions with a broad spectrum of people. We have consulted the following sources: (1) Santerίa the Religion, by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler; (2) Santerίa: African Spirits in America, by Joseph M. Murphy; (3) Santerίa: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America, by Miguel A. De La Torre; (4) Yoruba-Speaking Peoples, by A. B. Ellis; (5) Kingdoms of the Yoruba, 3rd ed., by Robert S. Smith; (6) The Good The Bad and The Beautiful: Discourse about Values in Yoruba Culture, by Barry Hallen; (7) article from Gay Religion edited by Scott Thumma and Edward R. Gray, titled “Sexuality and Gender in Santería: LGBT Identities at the Crossroads of Santería Religious Practices and Beliefs” by Salvador Vidal-Ortiz; and (8) many articles that 204 

came up in a Google search on the term “Santería,” which represented varying points of view. 

The sub-title for the chapter, “From Slavery to Slavery,” did not come easily. While we attempt to be as accepting and tolerant of other belief systems as possible, the conviction retained after our research was one not likely to be appreciated by those who identify with Santería. The religion promises its adherents freedom but succeeds only in bringing them into spiritual, emotional, and mental bondage comparable in some ways to the devastating slavery that first brought West Africans to the New World. Religion can be healthy and good, but it can also be bad – toxic, cultic, and dangerous. The following description of the basic facts and tenets of this religion may enable readers to make a decision for themselves regarding the nature and value of the religion. 

A brief history of the worship of the orishas 

Some say the roots of what came to be called Santería in the New World lie in Egypt, Greece, Rome, or even medieval Europe. But it certainly goes back to West Africa, primarily in what are now the nations of Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. The Yoruba people, who settled in these regions about A.D. 1000, had a belief system that brought together many strains of animistic concepts and which resulted in a coherent religious world view. Animism is the belief that “spirits” inhabit the earth in its rocks, plants, streams, animals, mountains, and valleys – indeed all that is natural – and that these can be appealed to, interfered with, communicated with, defended against, and manipulated. Animism is the foundation for many of the world’s religions, and this is especially true of Santería. 

Olodumare is the name usually given to the one supreme god or “orisha” of Santería. Olodumare is almighty and the source of life. All things are said to come from him, and to him all things are to return. In a way, the doctrine combines monotheism – a belief in one god – and monism – one supreme being who is the all. Various “Patakis” of the orishas (also known as Santos), which are stories of the gods and goddesses of the Yoruba religion, including Olodumare, remind one of the foibles of the ancient Greek deities who combined both divine and human traits.2

2 A Pataki, of which there are thousands, are tales of the gods of Santería, the orishas.

Olodumare is said to be incarnated into the world through “ashé,” a creative force, energy, or power that may be obtained by worship and sacrifice to the orishas. 

African slaves brought to the New World 

In 1511, the first African slaves were brought to Cuba from Hispaniola, which 205 

is present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and these African slaves brought the orishas with them. Starting in 1521, African slaves were transported directly to Cuba where they worked producing primarily sugar and coffee. 

Practitioners of Santería who arrived in Cuba were under pressure to hide their Yoruba religious concepts, so they learned to mask or merge their faith with that of the Roman Catholic Church. Already in place in that church was the concept of the immortality of the soul, which led to prayers and offerings made to the dead. The churches were full of carved and painted images of departed people who had been declared saints, but who could, if handled rightly, grant requests. Masking the Yoruba deities with the Catholic saints was a means of keeping the old religion alive, even if it meant attaching names of saints to the orishas. Catholicism was the seedbed for the survival of the orishas. 

The Catholic Church allowed ethnic associations – Cabildos – to form and develop, wherein African dancers worshipped before Catholic images, mostly the Virgin and the older saints. This, combined with the blindness of clergymen who did not understand what they were seeing, made certain that the West African slaves could keep their religious and cultural identity intact. 

It was not exactly a form of syncretism, because the belief systems were not combined or inter-twined; rather Spanish Catholicism was a cover to continue worshipping the old gods and goddesses without upsetting or alarming the Catholic hierarchy. 

The Yoruba practitioners identified each orisha or Santo with a Catholic saint. Obatala became known as Our Lady of Ransom (the virgin Mary); Eleggua with Anthony of Padua, Martin of Porres, Benito, the Holy Infant of Prague, and the Holy Child of Atocha; Orunla with Francis of Assisi, St. Phillip, and St. Joseph; Chango with St. Barbara, St. Mark, St. Jerome, St. Elijah, St. Expeditus, and St. Bartholomew; Ochosi with St. Norbert, St. Albert, St. Hubert, St. James; Oggun with St. Peter, St. James (in Santiago), St. John the Baptist, St. Paul, the Archangel Michael; Babalu-Aye with Lazarus; Yemaya with Our Lady of Regla; Oshun with Our Lady of Charity; Oya with Our Lady of Candelaria, St. Teresita; Osain with St. Sylvester, St. John, St. Ambrose, St. Anthony Abad, St. Joseph, St. Benito; Aganyu with St. Christopher, Archangel Michael (in Santiago), St. Joseph; Oko with St. Isidro; Inle with Angel Raphael; Obba with St. Rita of Casia, St. Catalina of Siena, the Virgin of Carmen; Ibeyi with Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Sts. Crispin and Crispinian, Sts. Justa and Rufina – the heavenly twins.3 

3 The orisha Ibeyi was connected with twins and thus the saints so identified with Ibeyi would be twins as well.Devotion to and worship of the orishas was carried out beneath the images of the Catholic saints, despite the fact that the Church did not endorse or embrace the Yoruba orishas. Sometimes the African religion was opposed; at other times, it was simply ignored. 

The numbers of the orishas are variously reported. In West Africa it is probable the number was in the thousands. In the New World that number shrank considerably to 401 according to some and two or more dozen by others. The list above at least names the most popular of the orishas. 

The Yoruba people became known as the Lucumi in Cuba, and then as the religion was folded into Spanish Catholicism, the new identity was Santería – loosely translated as “that saint thing.” (In Cuba the orisha religion is still known as Lucumi.) 

Even Jesus was brought into the Old World religion, given new definitions, roles, and personhood, and became known as Olofi. The orisha worshippers cleverly, necessarily, adapted to a strange and hostile environment and succeeded in preserving their gods and forms of worship. In this way they were able to resist being completely subsumed by the European majority. 

To survive, then, the Yoruba slaves created a seeming alliance with the dominant religion. The Spanish Catholic Church did not demand doctrinal adherence to or an understanding of its doctrines. Usually the “converts” became so under duress, with hundreds merely sprinkled with holy water – sometimes while still wearing their chains.4 

4 The Church at the time and for a long period afterward did require the slaves to be baptized; but now that Jews, Muslims, and people of other faiths are joining Santería, the requirement to receive Catholic baptism is being abandoned. 

African slaves were dispersed throughout the region – Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti,5 

5 Due to French influences it is known there as Voodoo or Voudun.and to other nations of South America, most notably Brazil (which has a high concentration of those who belong to the orisha religion), Venezuela, and other countries. 

In 1959 and the revolution under Fidel Castro, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled from Cuba to the United States, principally to Miami and New York. In 1980, another flood of orisha worshippers was pushed off the island. Now most American cities with any sizable Hispanic population are host to those who keep the worship of the ancient African deities alive. 

Compared to the Catholics, the Protestants were not as welcoming to the Yoruba orishas. Membership in Protestant churches was more clearly defined and regulated. Mere baptism was not enough. Doctrine mattered, as did a commitment to Scripture, which had a decidedly negative view of idol worship and occult practices. The Protestant denominations presented a narrow gate rather than the wide gate of Catholicism. Catholicism required little of the slaves beyond attendance at the sacraments. Indeed, “the Catholicism of colonial Cuba was perhaps not so terribly unlike the religion of the Yoruba homeland.”6 

6 Joseph M. Murphy, Santería: African Spirits in America, 114. 

The three “ways” of SanterÍa 

Santería has three basic approaches to the world of the spirits: One, the way of values – by honoring ancestors or the “egun;” Two, the way of power – direct relationship with spiritual beings, the orishas; Three, the way of order – by way of fortune telling or divination. 

First is the way of values. Here the spirits of the dead are sought to provide ashé. Ashé gives the worshipper power to accomplish and attain things – health, wealth, and power over circumstances and enemies. The ancestors called egun, the people of heaven, provide moral ashé or right behavior. By speaking to the living through one mounted or possessed by the egun, advice and counsel are given. However, the information communicated from the dead to the living is not moral in the traditional sense in terms of right and wrong behavior. Ashé from ancestors, or orishas for that matter, may be sought for protection in criminal activity – protection from harm from enemies or the police, or for acquittals in criminal court cases. The egun may prescribe means by which opponents or enemies may be overcome or harmed.7 

7 La Santa Muerte – A Spanish phrase used for a subset of Santeríans notably the Hispanic drug cartels – means the holy dead and the rites and rituals are employed to prosper criminal activity. 

Dead ancestors are said to reincarnate and be born into their original families after two generations minimum. For instance, grandparents’ souls might be reincarnated into their grandchildren. 

The concept of the immortality of the soul and its transmigration is central to Santería. The doctrine of humans having an immortal soul, but not the idea of a transmigration of that soul, was borrowed from Spanish Catholicism, a doctrine which entered the Church in the fourth and fifth centuries through the writings of Augustine of Hippo, who was deeply influenced by Greek dualistic philosophy that posited the concept of the pre-existent soul and its transmigration.8 

8 Augustine rejected, however, the pre-existence of the soul and did not embrace reincarnation, but he did retain the idea of an immortal soul, which has remained a core doctrine for many Christians from that day to this. Biblically speaking, people are soul, in that they are created in the image of God and thus have a relationship with Him. Thus, humans are soul rather than having a separate entity identified as the soul.

Second is the way of power through orishas who are personifications of ashé that people who honor them can use. In West Africa the lists of the orishas, or gods and goddesses, number about 1700. In the New World the number shrank to either 400 or 401, depending on one’s source of information, but in practical reality in contemporary Santería there are seventeen orishas that are worshipped:9 

9 Some lists have sixteen orishas, others have eighteen. Obatalá, Elegguá, Orúnla, Changó, Ochosi, Oggún, Babalú-Ayé, Yemayá, Oshún, Oyá, Osain, Ósun, Aganyú, Oko, Inle, Obba, and Ibeyί. The religion teaches that priests and priestesses of Santería learn how to make the orisha’s ashé available for those who consult them, thus helping them with their lives, or so they understand. In a celebration known as “bembe,” the orishas will mount or possess dancers; it is when the dancer is possessed that the power of the orishas is present and may be dispensed to other worshippers. 

Also, the worshipper can obtain ashé by sacrificing to the orisha; the sacrifice is known as an “ebbó.” The proper sacrifice is determined by divination, performed by the priests, priestesses, and high priests of Santería, respectively the santero, santera, or “babalawo.” An orisha may demand an animal sacrifice to obtain the animal’s blood, which when sprinkled or poured on an object – usually a sacred stone called the “otane” – it “feeds” the orisha, who then bestows ashé for performing the wishes of the worshipper. 

Third is the way of order, which has to do with “ifá,” or the oracle, the means of divining the future. This may be done by casting, throwing, or dropping palm nuts, cowrie shells, or pieces of coconut on a special flat surface. The babalawo, a higher level of priest, may use a special necklace-like chain that is thrown and then interpreted. For most of the history of Santería, only the babalawo could perform this pinnacle of divination, but in more recent times this is done more and more by the santeros and santeras.10 

10 The Babalawos, the most respected of all the Santería priests, were called the “fathers of the mysteries.” It is said that it took ten to fifteen years for a babalawo to learn the art of divination.The diviner, through whatever means of divination, receives communication from the orisha that “mounted” or possessed him or her at their initiation ceremony, or “asiento,” then passes on whatever prescription is the necessary action or remedy to be taken by the worshipper. Nearly all the sacrifices of Santería that are offered to the orishas are a result of divination. 

SanterÍa and the cultural anthropologist 

Cultural anthropologists study ethnic groups in order to understand the dynamics of that people group. These scientists do not make value judgments on the political and religious institutions they find. The beliefs and practices of a tribe or culture are merely interesting with no moral evaluation involved; anthropologists do not make a point of assessing the truth or fiction or moral correctness of a religious system.  

The African slaves courageously and ingeniously kept their community intact by various mechanisms, not least of which was their belief and worship of the orishas. We are not cultural anthropologists; thus our evaluation of Santería will not be so sanitized, which should come as no surprise. However, one can admire the history of this religion and its people for their survivability, resistance to extinction, and courage to struggle against the crushing impact of slavery and poverty experienced in the New World. 

Spiritism 

Spiritism or Espiritismo, which is primarily the concept that the dead live on and may be contacted, impacted Santería in the nineteenth century through the writings of Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail, better known by his pen name, Allan Kardec. Born in 1804 in Lyon, France, he became interested in a strange quasi-scientific phenomenon that was sweeping the upper classes of America and Europe called “spirit-tapping.” In 1848, the Fox sisters of Hydesville, New York, began experiencing what they thought were the sounds and sights of spirits of the dead attempting to communicate with the living. A quest to explain such phenomena ensued, and it later resulted in something akin to séances led by mediums – those with special talent for contacting the dead. 

Santería was ripe to be captured by spiritism. The main tenets of spiritist doctrine are the following: 

There is a God, defined as “The Supreme Intelligence and Primary Cause of everything.” (Easily fits the God concept of Santería.) 

There are spirits, all of whom are created simple and ignorant, but owning the power to gradually perfect themselves. 

The natural method of this perfection process is reincarnation, through which the spirit faces countless different situations, problems, and obstacles, and needs to learn how to deal with them. (The egun of Santería visit the living and pass on knowledge of how to learn and perfect themselves. The living are thought to be able to help the egun to learn, grow, and advance in spiritual knowledge and ability.) 

As part of nature, spirits can naturally communicate with living people, as well as interfere in their lives. Many planets in the universe are inhabited. 

To accomplish contact with spirits, Allan Kardec’s movement, often called Mesa Blanca, began using small groups of mediums to assist in the communicating. This worked perfectly into the thought system of Santerían people. The egun could be contacted by their own mediums, the initiated santeros and santeras, who would be mounted by the orishas. Over time, the old practices from Africa used to contact the egun have been set aside, and the common practices of contemporary mediums have been substituted. The spiritualistic séances, at minimum, have supplemented the way of the orishas. 

Thus, all fell into place: The orisha worship of Africa folded into a Catholic setting and was then impacted by American and European spiritism. 

STRUCTURE, RITUALS, and CEREMONIES of SANTERÍA 

Santeros and Santeras, The Padrinos and Madrinas – and the Ilé 

More and more women, probably now numbering more than men, act as priestesses of Santería. The santeros and santeras are the ones who conduct the asiento or initiation into the religion. All those who are initiated become a member of that santero’s or santera’s house or “ilé.” The egun, the dead belonging to the members of the ilé, are also a part of that household. 

The priests and priestesses of Santería live for the orishas and help those who seek the aid of the orishas. Santeros, male priests, may be known as Padrinos (godfather) and santeras, female priests, may be known as Madrinas (godmother). 

Some long-standing members of Santería complain about how ill-equipped or uneducated many santeros and santeras are. In times past, the time spent in learning the mysteries was long and complex. Now, some are initiated after only a few months. 

People in need of help come to the santero priests and santera priestesses to seek a solution to a problem – maybe involving health, money, or love – the top three categories. The price or fee is the “derecho,” meaning “right” in Spanish,11 

11 As in English, this Spanish word allows several meanings: straight and upright, right side as opposed to left side, human right, and a right determined by law. Perhaps more than one of these meanings is incorporated in Santería but usually refers to the right price asked by the santero or santera.supposedly limited to covering the price of procuring the items essential for whatever sacrifice might be required by the orisha so that the ashé of the orisha can be secured to resolve the problem. However, apparently prices are going up, and there is a fear that the priests and priestesses are taking advantage of their very powerful place in the life of their ilé. 

There is no actual hierarchy in Santería, no actual organization beyond the ilé. The leader is the santero(a), though the head of all Santería is known as the “Ooni,” who is the spiritual head of the Yoruba of Nigeria and of all who worship the orishas in the Americas. The Ooni is said to be a direct descendant of the original persons who founded the Yoruba nation.  

Increasingly there is talk of abuses of various sorts being perpetrated on the houses by the “oriate,” masters of Santerían ceremonies, the babalawos, and priests and priestesses. These abuses fall into the financial and sexual category. Members of a patrino’s or madrina’s house become dependent on them to perform certain functions, mostly to secure health, wealth, and romantic issues. And these cost money, often considerable amounts of money. 

As a result of the dozens of emails we have personally received from babalawos in particular, in response to YouTube videos we have made or articles on Santería that are published in earthenvesseljournal.com, we are accused of upsetting their business and costing them money. This is increasingly coming to the attention of the ranks of faithful Santeríans. Initiation into the religion may cost tens of thousands of dollars. 

Sexuality plays no small part in Santería and its offshoots. There is virtually no moral ethic articulated in any literature produced in Santería, with only the values of a particular culture in which Santería may be found informing the conscience. From what we have read and understood by direct contact, homosexuality and other illicit forms of sexuality are practiced but out of sight of the non-believing world. Between the financial and sexual irregularities, the houses and temples of Santería are being tarnished. 

How one enters Santería 

An initiate is referred to as an “iyawo.” The padrinos and madrinas oversee the initiation process. The beginning stage requires one year and seven days, during which time the iyawo wears white clothing, refrains from sexual activity, and learns the way of the saints. The end process is the asiento, when the orisha determined by a babalawo.12 

12 The function of diviner is in more recent times carried out by the padrino (santero) and madrina (santera).by means of divination mounts the head, or possesses, the iyawo. The asiento, or initiation ceremony, is conducted by a babalawo or an oriate, those who are knowledgeable about Santerían ceremonies. (A further description of the initiation follows.) 

There are four requisite roles or steps for a person entering Santería. Each step requires a separate ritual be conducted and results in increasing degrees of protection, power, and knowledge. Full entrance requires reaching all four levels, but a person can stop at any one. The steps or roles are: 

Receiving “elekes” – the beaded necklaces 

Receiving the “elegguá” 

Receiving the “warriors” 

Making saint or “asiento” 212 

Elekes 

Elekes are beaded necklaces made of different colors and patterns that correspond to the preferences of the orisha of the santero or santera who conducts the initiation. 

A babalawo, by the use of a divination ritual called the “bajar a Orunla” determines which orisha(s) will be the initiate’s, or “iyawo’s” ruling head.13 

13 Iyawo means “bride of an orisha.” A spiritual kind of marriage occurs when an initiate goes through the initiation process and is “mounted” by an orisha at the Asiento. The iyawo is usually given four to six necklaces, and removes them only in certain circumstances – bathing, sexual activities, sleeping, and during a woman’s menstruation. Breaking a necklace for any reason is a serious problem, and further rituals must be conducted to ward off evil consequences falling upon the owner of the necklace. 

The necklaces are given by a “madrina,” a santera who officiates or orchestrates the initiation. A derecho or fee is required for this ritual, and it is usually substantial. 

The main purpose of the elekes is for protection against all manner of evil, from curses to illnesses. The ashé of the orishas Eleggua, Obatala, Oshun, Yemaya, Chango, and Oya is in the necklaces and is the means of the protection. 

Receiving or making Eleggua 

Eleggua is a “warrior” orisha and is responsible for determining the destinies of people.14 

14 Santería is fatalistic in the sense that a person’s future is already determined. However, modifications can be made through magical rituals.

A babalawo is consulted, and by using a divining tool like seashells, the initiate’s past, present, and future are revealed. From such divining the babalawo prescribes both the building materials and the method for how an image of the head of the orisha Eleggua is to be constructed. The image, mostly made of stones, is then placed somewhere in the house of the iyawo, as close to the front door of the dwelling as possible, in order to protect the house and those living in it from evil forces. 

If, for example, a particular person is causing trouble, that person’s name is written down on a slip of paper and placed under the image. This assures that the orisha Eleggua will suppress that person from causing evil effects. 

The stone image of Eleggua must then be “fed” periodically to assure that there is enough ashé available. This feeding requires blood from a sacrificed animal be sprinkled on the image. In addition to the blood, the image can be fed with the orisha’s favorite offerings: rum, cigars, coconut, toasted corn, smoked fish, opossum meat, and candy.  

Receiving the Warriors 

The “warriors,” or guerreros in Spanish, are given by a babalawo or padrino.15 

15 The santero and santera, the priest and priestess heads of the ilé, are often now replacing the more honored babalawo’s function. – the santero or priest who officiates and orchestrates the initiations. The warrior orishas are Eleggua, Oggun, Osun, and Oshosi. 

The iyawo now has the protection of Eleggua at this stage, but the protection of the other orishas named above is needed. This overall protection is for battle with enemies, both physical and spiritual. 

A distinction in function and power is made between the elekes and the warriors. The elekes are for defensive protection, while the warriors are offensive and attack any who try to do harm. 

Making saint or Asiento 

Members of Santería will have a pot, a crock, or other receptacle in their house containing the otane stones, collected by means of hearing the voices of the ruling orishas. The stones are, in a sense, the orishas and have within them the ashé of the orishas. The orishas are fed through the stones – they are washed and oiled, and the blood of sacrificed animals is sprinkled on them. The ashé stored in the stones is available for the orishas to then use in assisting those living in the house. 

In the asiento – the “ascending the throne” or “making orisha” – the orisha, the identity of which is determined by the babalawo by means of divination, is seated or mounted on or in the head of the iyawo. When this occurs, after a many days-long elaborate ritual, the iyawo may be said to be “born again” into the faith of Santería. 

Miguel A. De La Torre has this interesting description of what happens in the asiento: 

Prior to the ritual, the individual is considered impure and is therefore required to “die” to their old self. The ritual is a process of purification and divination whereby the convert becomes like a newborn, even to the point of having to be bathed and fed like a baby. They are taught the secrets and rites of their god, they learn how to speak through the oracles, and they are “resurrected” to a new life in which they can unite their consciousness with their god. From the moment of the asiento, the convert begins a new life of deeper growth within the faith. 16 

16 Miguel A. De La Torre, Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America, 112.

A person’s head is thought to be like a stone, and it is in the otane stones where the orishas live and their ashé is stored. A metaphor may be helpful: the stones are like a bank where deposits and withdrawals are made. 

It is said that the iyawo is crowned with the orisha, meaning that the orisha lives in the actual head of the initiate. What happens as a result of the asiento comes close to the idea of possession, since the orisha is said to be inside the head of the iyawo. 

Again a quote from De La Torre is helpful in making it clear what the asiento is:

The purpose of this ritual is to condition the person’s mind and body so that all of the supernatural powers of their orisha can be invested on the one being ordained, allowing him or her literally to become the orisha. This ceremony, which requires at least sixteen santeros or santeras as witnesses, is also known as an asiento. Asiento, the Spanish word for seat, refers to the way in which an orisha “mounts” the one being ordained. To be mounted by an orisha means to be spiritually possessed.17 

17 Joseph M. Murphy, Santería: African Spirits in America, 89. 

The iyawo or ordained one must observe special conditions for a period of one year, one of which is to abstain from sexual activity for that period. The relationship between human and orisha can be seen as a sexual one – a mystical union in which the orishas are “inside” their brides. They “descend” and “mount” their devotees.18 

18 Though we have not seen it spelled out clearly, we have found scattered references, in our opinion deliberately obscured, to incubi and succubae – demons that assume human form and have sexual intercourse with humans. It is not clear from the literature if this is what is meant by an orisha mounting the iyawo. 

The orisha is said to take over the consciousness of the iyawo, and anything said by the person is now considered to be the direct revelation of the orisha. It is thought that “male orishas spiritually possess female bodies and vice versa.”19 

19 De La Torre, 114. And, “While mounted, the possessed person can predict the future, provide advice, see activities occurring elsewhere, or do anything else capricious gods feel like doing.”20 

20 Ibid., 115.

In addition to the orisha, the iyawo is also said to be inhabited in the head by an “eleda,” said to be a guardian angel. 

Making the saint is neither simple nor inexpensive. The ordination process may require as many as three years, though a more contemporary dumbed down version is far shorter. The fee, or derecho, may be as much as $5,000, and some have paid as much as $45,000.  

During the feast that follows the asiento, the iyawo is said to be possessed for the first time by their orisha, and at that point a guinea hen’s head is removed and the blood is drunk by the iyawo. 

For a year following the ordination or asiento, the iyawo learns from their padrino and madrina the fine points of Santería, including the means of fortune telling and how to communicate with the dead. 

Bembe 

A bembe is a party. 21 

21 Santería has been described as a “dance religion.” sometimes held out of doors for the public to view, but is most often held at the home, house church, or temple of the santero and/or santera. It is a party filled with African style drumming and dancing. 

This is where the heart of the religion takes place. Special dancers and drummers participate. The drums are said to have ashé in them, and that ashé and the praise of the participants – often derisive things said in order to stir up the orishas – make the orishas join the party. The drumming is referred to as “tambor.” 

It is evident when the orishas show up, as the dancers appear to become possessed and take on the individual orishas’ character traits, through styles of dance that are attributed to them. Joseph M. Murphy calls this “a harmony of the human and the divine in dance and joy.”22 

22 Murphy, 99.The drumming assists in calling the orishas to the party to possess the dancers, who will go into a trance when so possessed. 

Ebbos 

“Ebbos” are food offerings to the orishas. These may be herbal baths, animal sacrifices, or whatever else may be requested by the orishas through divination. 

Ebbos are not bribes, though some are offered to secure the goodwill of an orisha. Ebbos are predominantly for the creation of ashé, that power of the orishas necessary to “help” the petitioner. There are nine different kinds of ebbos, from food offerings to offerings made to make holy the various objects set aside for offerings. 

Candles are lit and various plants are burned, like tobacco in the form of cigars. These offerings are said to release large quantities of ashé. But the amount of ashé released by these is small in comparison to the ashé obtained by means of the blood from animal sacrifices. 

According to the religion, the orishas themselves will determine what animals are to be sacrificed and what parts of the animal are to be offered, communicated by way of the priests and priestesses using divination. Some of the animals typically offered are rooster, opossum, pigeon, female goat, white dove, white canary, white chicken, male goat, monkey, sheep, oxen, deer, bull, turtle, rabbit, quail, horse, guinea hen, pig, snake, duck, ram, fish, turkey, owl, and more. The orishas have their favorite animals, which are spelled out in charts but always memorized by the santeros and santeras. 

Blood sacrifices are necessary, because the orishas are said to be alive and must therefore eat. The blood of the animals is sprinkled or poured on the stones or otanes, which are the most tangible representation of the orishas on earth. The orishas must be fed, which happens when the blood strikes the stones, thus creating ashé to be used in magic. 

There is increasingly less of this kind of ritual in western countries, because people are offended by the animal sacrifices, especially when dead animal carcasses turn up in neighborhoods and other public places. This is part of the effort by Santería to become more acceptable. 

Spells 

Spells and curses are common with Voodoo, but are found in Santería as well. The religion is power-based, controlling and using power for the benefit of practitioners of the faith. For example, for those involved in criminal court cases, a special powder is used to obtain the help of an orisha that specializes in such things. The use of the powder is said to either win a not-guilty verdict or to simply have the subject released from custody. This is why those involved in criminal activity are attracted to La Santa Muerte, “The Holy Dead,” a subset of Santería. 

An interesting example of a common spell for women in Santería is the following: 

If a woman wishes to seduce a man, she can take seven earthworms, some of her menstrual blood, a dash of her feces, hair from her head and pubic hair, and place them in the sun to dry. When they are dried, she can grind them into a fine powder and place the powder in the man’s food or drink.23 

23 De La Torre, 128.

Adura 

“Adura” is the Yoruba word for prayer, but with a twist. Since some orishas have certain powers which others do not, the proper selection of an orisha to pray to is important. For instance, the orisha Babalu-Aye is best for healing, so those wishing to be healed address the adura to Babalu-Aye. 217 

Ewe 

“Ewe” are herbs, and they may be a more important component of offerings than an animal sacrifice. Those who deal with herbs, the herb masters, fill the religion’s most vital office. 

To animists like Santeríans, shamans, Wiccans, and other neo-pagans, plants are alive and have characteristics of personhood, are guarded by certain spiritual entities, and most importantly are loaded with ashé. Herbs are often used as offerings to obtain healing. 

Before an herb is used, prayers must be offered that basically ask permission to “take the life of the plant.”24 

24 Ibid., 131. Once permission is given, the herb can be used in a variety of ways for medicine or casting a spell or a curse, depending on what the santero or santera desires. An interesting spell used for causing someone to fall in love with another person is the following: A person swallows a few kernels of hard, dry corn. That kernel is retrieved from the feces, washed, roasted, and then ground up into a powder. Then the powder is slipped into the food or drink of the intended love target. 

Another fascinating use of ewe, and often employed by practitioners of La Santa Muerte, is the hanging of crabgrass at the four corners of the house where someone wanted by the police is staying. The magic is that the crabgrass somehow disorients the police and no one is found. Our favorite is this one: “Washing one’s eyes with bog onion is meant to promote clairvoyance.”25 

25 Ibid., 133.

Since many of the objects necessary for the rituals of Santería are usually obtained in tropical and jungle lands, they are not common in the large cities of the Americas. But specialty stores exist to meet this need. The main place to find all kinds of articles necessary to life in Santería is the “botánica.” If one types “botánicas,” “pet stores,” or “religious goods” into a search engine or consults the yellow pages using these terms, what is revealed is the presence of Santerían retail outlets. These stores will likely incorporate a saint’s or orisha’s name for easy identification by Santeríans. 

Otanes 

Otanes are stones that are said to carry within them the actual presence of an orisha and are thus full of ashé. Otanes are carefully selected on beaches, in valleys, on mountains, and so on, and “call out” in some mysterious way to the faithful to be collected. 

The stones are kept in crockery, or a jar of some kind, called a “sopera.” The otanes must be fed on a regular basis – with blood at least once a year, periodically refreshed in herbal baths, and oiled with substances as well. 

Ifa 

“Ifa” is the orisha of the oracle, the centerpiece of Santería fortune telling. The babalawo, or more recently the santeros and santeras, “read” the ifa to those who come seeking counsel, healing, and other forms of help. By ifa the priest or priestess of Santería deals with the problems of the community. 

Cowrie shells, coconut pieces (four), and palm nuts are thrown, or a chain called the “opele” is laid down and interpreted. Using a strict formula these are “read,” and the reading will determine what is to be done about the problem. Doing ifa is the most common of Santería’s practices. Essentially, the ifa will reveal if a person is in harmony with his or her destiny, and if not, prescribe what can be done or what offering must be made to bring things back into balance. 

Magic and fortune telling 

What we see when looking at many of the rituals and practices of Santería is simply known as magic. Some of it is fortune telling, and these two, combined with spiritism, make up the three essential branches of the occult. The occult arts are all about acquiring power and knowledge, and knowledge is really power. Some Santeríans will acknowledge this. Others want to disguise it, wanting to give their rituals an identity other than magic and fortune telling, since they are aware that Christianity, including the Catholic Church, declares that occult practices are both non-biblical and dangerous. Christians have always been aware of the power of the occult but ascribe that power to demonic forces. 

It is vital to understand the magical, occult nature of Santería, since the religion must stand as it really is and not on what Santería insiders wish outsiders would not see or know. 

Palo Monte and Palo Mayombe 

The Palo sects of Santería originated in the Congo, and developed primarily, but not exclusively, in Cuba. In Spanish it is known as Las Reglas de Congo. In several Caribbean islands, the Congo based system is known as Kumina. Palo means “stick” and is derived from the materials out of which altars were made. 

The priests of Palo are called “paleros,” and as in the parent body, Santería, they head up houses or temples, which are known as Palo Cristiano. This identification is meant to hide the real nature of the houses and work of the paleros from the dominant Catholicism. 

Kardecian spiritism, or Espiritismo, has center stage in Palo Monte. The paleros become possessed by deities and provide advice for members of the Palo Cristiano. This sect is the “dark side” of Santería and is closely tied to black magic and sorcery. 

On what authority? 

The cultural anthropologist, as previously stated, is not concerned about the authority or truthfulness of a religious system, but many others are, since our interests and concerns go beyond simply describing cultural mores and traits. When one purports to know the will of the supreme deity, others are bound to raise questions and make certain evaluations. 

Religions are in competition with one another; they all cannot be correct, since there are significantly different theological and doctrinal views among them. Some are monotheistic, others are monistic, and some are atheistic. The anthropologist need not, as a professional, be concerned about the differences other than to record them. 

The question of authority must be raised in regard to Santería and the Yoruba religion of the orishas: What is the authority for the veracity of their religious teachings? How is it that the orisha system is the true paradigm and others are not? Is Santería the truth because a large block of people embrace it? Or, is it truth for only those who are their adherents, which makes each and every religious system nothing more than a culturally unique fantasy devised to explain the human dilemma and ease pain and suffering? 

In the Christian Scriptures Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Santería teaches that Olofi, an orisha, is Jesus, and that those who worship Olofi are worshipping Jesus. This notion is adverse to true followers of Jesus and is clearly an inauthentic gimmick meant to deceive the unwary. 

Christianity has a definite and substantial authority base found in the Bible. The ultimate author of the Book is the Creator God who has revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ. Christianity is a revealed faith; it is either right or wrong, true or false. Christianity and Santería are antithetical – they will not stand together, and any attempt to make them do so is fraudulent. 

Who exactly are the orishas and the egun? 

According to Yoruba traditions the orishas are spirits that have a mysterious power called ashé that must be obtained by the use of praise, sacrifices, and other magical means. Egun are said to be spirits of the dead. 

How can we be sure this is all true? 

The orishas’ behavior reminds us of the antics of the Greek gods and goddesses of antiquity who were capricious, unpredictable, often immoral, even murderous. Many ancient Greeks believed in them but most did not. Greek mythology served people by explaining, in the most crude and unscientific ways, how and why the world existed. The Greek gods were part of fables only and had no actual being. Our contention is that this is the same for the orishas and the egun. 

The egun, reincarnating from generation to generation, served to comfort people in the face of the reality of death. Death had some of its sting removed through the concept of the immortal nature of the “soul” and its continuous life and contact with the living. While providing comfort and hope is laudable, living with a fictitious world view is not helpful or desirable. 

Could the orishas and egun be evil spirits? Many major world religions accept the existence of evil spiritual beings, including Christianity. Christianity posits an evil presence called Satan, who has with him an innumerable number of fallen angels called demons. Satan wanted to be worshipped as God was; this was his undoing and the reason for his ejection from God’s presence. Satan craves worship; what a perfect mechanism Santería is for this idol worship! 

Conclusions and Thoughts 

As we studied Santería, the superstitious nature of it jumped out at us. The magical processes that stand at the center of the rituals cannot be ignored by simply taking the cultural anthropologist’s way of observing something interesting without attaching moral value to it. To so many, religion is nothing more than a form of theater with no good or bad labels applied. 

Beyond the magic, even further to the core of the religion of the orishas is possession, the mounting of the iyawo at asiento, a straight-forward acknowledgment, even goal, of the god or goddess to invade the individual and take that person over. The priests and priestesses of Santería are possessed by gods and goddesses and thus direct other people how to live. 

Any slavery is brutal, barbaric, and evil. Evil – the dimensions of evil, the monstrousness of it – will likely only be known to us in some far distant future when its hideous presence has been unmasked and abolished, and the goodness of the Creator God is fully revealed. 

This essay is entitled, “From Slavery to Slavery.” What began with a tribal religion among the West Africans who were transported to the New World and terribly enslaved, morphed into slavery of a different kind, a religion of magic and demonic possession. 

Has Santería been beneficial to its adherents? Santería is the means by which the Yoruba culture survived in the New World, but is maintaining ties to that ancient tribal culture worth the cost of trading one kind of slavery for another? 

Now, in this present era, Santería is changing to meet the challenges of the post-modern world. The ilés are becoming churches. Men’s drumming groups are becoming a means for evangelizing Santería on American college and university campuses. Animal sacrifices are far less common, and the carcasses of dead animals are rarely left for a skeptical public to discover. The wild and implausible stories of the orishas or the patakis are heard and written about much less often. And as De La Torre writes, “The African influences within the religion are minimized as the religion advocates more broadly ‘Christian’ ethical perspectives and principles.”26 

26 Ibid., 223. 

Santería, due to the fact the religion found itself immersed in a Spanish Catholic world, had to go underground; it had to keep its secrets secret. Understood. But now in a different time and place, Santería means to capture its share of all strata of those hungry for a fuller spiritual life. Indeed, as Miguel de La Torre has so well said, “What was once the religion of the uneducated black lower economic class is becoming the religion of educated middle-class whites.”27 

27 Ibid., 224. 

Santería and shamanism are closely linked, as both depend upon the trance state or ecstasy. That the same is found in Wicca was made clear in the chapter of that name. All are also connected by various occult arts, such as fortune telling and numerous forms of magic. In many of the most crucial ways, shamanism, Santería, and Wicca are virtually identical. 

Well-known musical groups today adapt the beautiful and captivating African and Latin drum rhythms and thus open up doors through which new potential converts, largely unsuspecting, are entering. One interesting statistic is that in Brazil, with a population around 190 million people, Santería adherents of various levels may run as high as 90%. 

The future will see the institutionalizing of Santería, which will become immediately apparent by typing Santería into a Google search. Right now, Santería has more people devoted to it than many Christian denominations. In fact, it is being viewed now as a world religion alongside Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Wicca. Murphy sees the emergence of Santería and speculates, “We must wait to see where and when the orishas may emerge to mount America at large.”28 

28 Murphy, 115.

Murphy is confident in Santería’s ability to win acceptance in America. He looks to the religion’s history and sees a story of survival, a miracle in light of the enslavement and removal of a people from the Old to the New World. It is often said that the human tragedy of slavery of the body did not become slavery of the spirit. It is this that we question. Will continued acceptance of Santería bring freedom or another kind of slavery? 

A look at the teachings and practices of the religion lead us to think that slavery is the answer. Santería, for those who faithfully practice it, will dominate and control most every aspect of their lives. This might seem like a virtue, if the religion was not steeped in magic, fortune telling, spiritism, superstition, and idolatry. 

What slavery do we have in mind? Here is a partial list: slavery to a paranoid mindset where spells and curses are cast and need to be protected against; slavery to the spirits of the dead; slavery to the necessity of placating the orishas and meeting their demands; slavery to a class of priests and priestesses whose very words are to be considered the words of a deity; slavery to the spirits, the saints called orishas, those entities who are in fact nothing more than unclean or demonic spirits. 

Finally, practitioners of Santería are determined to display their opposition toward those Christians who challenge their belief systems; we have dozens of emails to substantiate this. Why would this be so? We see their responses to biblically-oriented challenges as fearful, which is because Jesus, and only Jesus Christ of Nazareth, has power and authority over demonic spirits. 

During the earthly ministry of Jesus, He cast out demons, and this troubled and amazed the people of His day, including the religious leaders.29 

29 Reading through the Gospel of Matthew will make this abundantly clear.He also gave His disciples authority to do the same, and they have indeed done so over the centuries. The Apostle John even said, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). And then James said, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). 

Ultimately the reason for this chapter is to speak a word of grace, peace, and mercy to those entangled in Santería. Our intent is also to caution those drawn to Santería: There is more to it than meets the eye. 

Chapter 44 from Memoirs of a Jesus Freak

The year that marked the ending of the Jesus People Movement in my view, at least in Marin County, was 1972, the same year Church of the Open Door was founded in San Rafael. It may be that the JPM had not reached some places in America yet, and based on what I have seen and read, it did not impact England until the mid 1970s. More about that later.¹ 

1 In my book, Awakenings in America and the Jesus People Movement, published in 2012, I make an argument for the JPM meeting the qualifications for being a genuine American awakening. 

The flood of awakening converts who came into newly established churches like the Church of the Open Door in San Rafael, reached its pinnacle in the early 1970s. It was now time for mopping-up operations. Yes, this a military term used for what happens after a major battle has been concluded. 

I did not know at that time that awakenings began and ended. Many of us had assumed that, in the years prior to the JPM, the visible church had withered and died, even becoming resistant to the moving of the Holy Spirit. We expected revival would continue as a matter of course. When the “deadness” we knew from before and had witnessed in many denominational churches crept into our own meetings, it was worrisome and fostered the idea that it was due to “sin in the camp.” In 1990, as I started to look back and re-evaluate, I had to admit that the charismatic gifts, especially speaking in tongues, had begun to fade away in and around 1972. Even prophecy, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, healings, and miracles, ministry of casting out of demons, which was really a part of the mopping-up operation. 

I began speaking in tongues in 1968 and continued to do so until about 1975. This was not a conscious decision of mine, it simply happened. For a time I still tried to do it, but it was forced and no longer had a spiritual nature to it. Over the years, there is nothing I have so much examined as my speaking in tongues, almost to the point of obsession. I have concluded that the gift was genuine, as were the others—miracles, healing, words of wisdom and knowledge, and yes, even prophecy. I remain of this opinion, although most people who embrace a Reformed theology like I do are cessationist, meaning that the gifts of the Spirit, particularly the so-called power gifts, have ceased to be given to us now that we have the fullness of Christ and the New Testament.

Our Use of Prophecy 

Prophecy is a subject that needs a little more attention here. The charismatic gifts practiced among the Jesus People principally were speaking in tongues, healing, and prophecy. Prophecy turned out to be much more problematic than speaking in tongues, at least for those of us who rejected the idea that tongue speaking was the chief evidence of true conversion. Opportunities for healing via having hands laid on by the elders continued and proceeded fairly smoothly. In our ministry in Marin, tongues were fine, no big deal. But prophecy had its own brand of usefulness. 

By useful, I mean we could get people to do what we wanted. “Thus saith the Lord,” or, “God gave me a word for you,” or something similar, were the words or formulae we used. I must admit I misused prophecy and that it was commonly done among us. The elders would circle a person who desired direction from God, and direction he or she surely got. At some point, I began to record and track some of the more directional “words” and discovered they failed to materialize. Hmmm. False prophets in our midst! Should they be stoned? 

By around 1977, I made a serious attempt to understand what prophecy should look like and how it should be undertaken for a New Testament church. My conclusion was that, having the fullness of God’s revelation in Christ, each Christian being a priest with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and having the actual written Word in hand, prophecy was for us a declaring of the Word of God already revealed in Scripture and Scripture alone. I came to that conclusion then and am still firmly holding to that understanding. 

Signs of the End 

Now, back to the ending of the JPM. Surprisingly, even conversions tapered off. Baptisms of large numbers of new converts at a time were seldom held, and Joyful Noise disbanded. My personal focus was on counseling, writing books, getting more education, helping build up Love in Action (the ex-gay ministry), and pastoring a very demanding church. The reader will notice I did not mention my family, and this because the press of people and events meant that the family got lost in the shuffle, to some degree. Oh, to be able to revisit those years! 

The early years of the Church of the Open Door were marked by power struggles in the leadership, which was one of the lesser reasons that the single San Rafael congregation was divided into five in 1975. The roaring fire to reach the lost was reduced to a flicker, and now the concerns were money and positions of power. It almost seems sacrilegious to bring this up, but however much we would like to avoid such thinking, that is what happened. Over the years I have had many a conversation with those who had been outside the power structure yet witnessed it directly. It was painful to hear the things that were said about me. Yes, I am guilty of engaging in the political battles to maintain prestige and authority. And the striving for money! We who had been Jesus freaks living on next to nothing, were now marrying, having children, and wanting to buy such fleshly things as cars, clothes, and homes. How ungodly! 

The deck was reshuffled a number of times, and attempts were made to bring back the glory and the excitement. Mostly this was done through prayer, fasting, exercising church discipline, and a renewed emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Courses on discovering one’s spiritual gifts were coming out by any number of Christian publishers, but they did not seem to help. In fact, those courses usually created more confusion and disagreements than they helped people get into active ministry. 

The so-called praise bands formed, new worship music was written, and the volume was turned up. And this was years before the church growth movement got under way. The dark sides of the awakening were about to emerge. 

 Chapter Ten 

Jesus told His disciples on several occasions that He would die and then be raised. Matthew 16:21 recounts one such incident: 

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 

“Killed” and “raised” both sounded impossible to Jesus’ followers. Not surprisingly, Peter took Jesus aside and, Matthew tells us, “began to rebuke him saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you’” (v. 22). 

Which would have been more stunning—the killing or the raising? To Peter and the rest of the apostles, it would have been the killing, since they believed Jesus was the long-promised Messiah. As Messiah, Jesus would be king overall and invulnerable. Regarding the raising, this was secondary, since there could not be any killing. 

The Gospel accounts show the disciples were completely shocked to see Jesus alive again, since His dying had so shattered their concept of who He was. They were Jews, and like most of Israel, were hoping to have the nation restored under a coming king, the Messiah. However, the nation thought of the Messiah as a military and political savior from Roman domination. Defeat of the enemy and rise of a kingdom was uppermost in their minds. 

Indeed, hints of resurrection in the Hebrew Bible received little attention from the rabbis in that era. 

Corruption 

In Psalm 16:10, attributed to King David, is a reference that does not seem to fit David’s circumstances. Many prophetic assertions in the Hebrew Bible are the same; in the midst of a text, suddenly an incongruency appears. At some point in history such stange passages, are recognized as a prophecy. Psalm 16:10 is an excellent example. “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption,” is what David wrote. 

“Soul” is from the Hebrew word nephesh and means a human being or person, not an ethereal spiritual entity. Neither would David refer to himself as “holy,” and the concept of resurrection, or surviving being killed, would not be something in his awareness. 

Jesus, however, did not see corruption, despite His actual death and burial. Crucified on Friday and dead at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon, He was absent from the grave early Sunday morning. Exactly when he was raised is unknown. The Apostle Peter explains: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.” (1 Peter 3:18–19) 

When this proclamation by Jesus took place is not cited. Historically, the resurrection is celebrated as taking place on Sunday morning, either while it was yet dark or shortly thereafter. In any case, Jesus was raised from the dead. 

Jesus was raised; He did not raise Himself. The Father raised the Son. Paul’s words to the Corinthian congregation explains: 

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ dies for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of who are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:3–7) 

Knowing God is preposterous 

A Creator God who could not raise the dead would be no God at all. If the Being who is responsible for all the matter and energy that exists could not raise a dead person to life, this would be completely absurd. 

Jesus did die, was raised, did ascend to the right hand of the Father,1 and will return at the end of the age. 

1 To be at the right hand means to be in the position of power and authority, at minimum. It also means that the one so seated is finished with the work so designed. We speak of the “finished work of Christ.”  

This chapter on the Enneagram is a summary of the book, Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret, by Don & Joy Veinot and Marcia Montenegro, published by MCOI Publishing LLC in 2022, followed by material from Wikipedia. 

The word Enneagram is pronounced like “any-a-gram.” The symbol for it is a geometric design that can be seen on a page or two ahead. I will not speak much to the meaning of the design but will leave that to Wikipedia. There are any number of websites that present the Enneagram in detail. 

The Enneagram has garnered a lot of attention in recent times. There are many who have found atheism unattractive and empty, agnosticism also empty, mainline Christianity unappealing, evangelical Christianity political and divisive, Pentecostal Christianity a bit too much, but the psychic and the occult spiritually interesting, even exciting. The Enneagram is not necessarily spiritual, but has strong spiritual, even, psychic connections. 

The Origins of the Enneagram 

As to the origins of Enneagram, and more will be presented about this, those who promote it say it is an ancient practice thousands of years old and only recently becoming popular and attractive. Some say it goes back to the Desert Fathers, Evagrius Ponticus, or Ramon Llull, but this is considered to be a fictional claim. It is likely that attention to the Enneagram began with George I. Gurdjieff (1866–1949), and his followers claimed he learned it from a secret Sufi brotherhood, but this idea is likely false, though he did have a drawing of a circle with lines drawn within it, like the modern-day Enneagrams but without numbers. 

P. D. Ouspensky (1878–1947) accepted Gurdjieff’s ideas, expanded on them, and the result was his “The Fourth Way.” 1 

1 See Don and Joy Veinot & Maria Montenegro’s book, Richard Rohr and The Enneagram Secret, pages 24–25. Also Gurdjieff’s work was  continued or adopted by Oscar Ichazo (1931–2020), who operated an occult-oriented school in Arica, Chile. Ichazo expanded on both Gurdjieff’s and Ouspensky’s work. 

Then more recently, Claudio Naranjo, a new age psychiatrist, learned the Enneagram from Ichazo, and it was he who added the personality types and this via automatic writing, which is experienced while in a trance. So who then is the real author of the writing? My position, based on many accounts from those who experienced automatic writing, is that it was a demonic spirit who “wrote” while they were in a trance state. And this is the whole of it: the Enneagram is essential from Satan, though it is far different from the obvious magical and mystical. 

Things went south however when Naranjo brought the Enneagram, as it was then, to Esalen, a kind of New Age think tank in Big Sur, California in the 1960s, and this is where the Enneagram developed into a pseudo-psychotherapeutic-psychic event, with the promise that it would uncover one’s true divine self. 

At Esalen was a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest named Bob Ochs (1930-2018) who learned the Enneagram from Naranjo. It was Ochs then who introduced it to the Roman Catholic Church where it was adopted by other Catholic priests. The Roman Catholic Church however, never endorsed it. 

Now enters Richard Rohr, a Catholic priest, Franciscan Order, who wrote a book about the Enneagram, and in it he mentions Helen Palmer, a psychic/ intuitive who was involved with the Enneagram. 

Another Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest, Mitch Pacwa (1949- ), wrote the book, Catholics and the New Age: How Good People are Being Drawn into Jungian Psychology, the Enneagram and the Age of Aquarius, and he did this in order to make others aware of the spiritual danger of it all. 

In the years to come, two books would be written by students and followers of Richard Rohr. One by Ian Cron, an Episcopal priest and Suzanne Stabile, both of whom were mentored by Rohr. They authored The Road Back to You, published by InterVarsity Press in 2016. Two, Christopher Heuertz (1971- ) wrote the book The Sacred Enneagram, and this was published by Zondervan in 2017. Richard Rohr wrote the foreword for this book. 

It is a shame that two established Christian publishers, InterVarsity Press and Zondervan, would present these books to the Christian public. In 1973, Zondervan published my first book, A Manual of Demonology and the Occult, but Zondervan today is far different from the Zondervan of the 1970s. And InterVarsity, up to the publication of the Cron and Stabile book, disappointed a host of Christians. 

Richard Rohr, despite being a Catholic priest, denies the biblical doctrines about human beings, sin, creation, salvation, and of God. Rohr even says the Enneagram diagram is called “the face of God.”174 Pathways to Darkness The Enneagram is similar to numerology, astrology, and other forms of for- tune telling that rely on mystical, occultic forms of thinking. What is the Enneagram? It is said to be “sacred” by Christopher Heuertz and is able to give people their own unique spiritual path. It is said to be “The Road Back to You.” The supposition underlying the Enneagram is that people act as they do because they are living their “false self,” and the goal is to get people back to the “sacred” path – the road that leads to our true self, and the Enneagram is the way to this true self. (Figure 1 below) Above is the essential Enneagram, with its nine points. The numbers are treated differently by “spiritual directors.” Below is a chart explaining the nine points. Point 1 Reformer The Perfectionist The Need to be Perfect Point 2 Helper The Giver The Need to be Needed Point 3 Achiever The Performer The Need to Succeed Point 4 Individualist The Romantic The Need to be Special Point 5 Investigator The Observer The Need to Perceive Point 6 Loyalist The Loyal Sceptic The Need to be Sure Point 7 Enthusiast The Epicure The Need to Avoid Pain Point 8 Challenger The Protector The Need to be Against Point 9 Peacemaker The Mediator The Need to Avoid The person working with a “patient” will use the Enneagram by analyz- ing the numbers and combinations thereof to come up with how a person can experience a trnsformation of consciousness and thus get back toe their true self. And unhappily, some evangelical Christians are looking to the Enneagram for this.

2 Christopher L. Heuertz. The Sacred Enneagram (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). 3 Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile. The Road back to You. An Emmeagram Journey to Self-Discovery (Downers Grove IL; InterVarsity Press. 22016)175 

This quote from Wikipedia, on July 22, 3-2022, 4:50pm, speaks to how a practitioner goes about it: 

As a typology, the Enneagram defines nine personality types (sometimes called “enneatypes”), which are represented by the points of a geometric figure called an enneagram, which indicate connections between the types. There are some different schools of thought among Enneagram teachers and their understandings are not always in agreement. 

Practitioners use various means to determine if a person is a point 1, 2, and so on, and then connect the various points, and a chart develops, which describes how it is that a person can come back to their true self, and these vary widely. And it all depends upon spiritual, mystical truths long hidden. 

My opinion, after a little more than 50 years in the pastorate, is that unknown numbers of people sitting in the pews of Christian churches, everything from moderate to evangelical to Pentecostal, have unwittingly and unknowingly experienced false conversion and are thus open to new spiritualities, something to fill in the dead, empty space inside. 

The authors, Don and Joy Veinot and Marcia Montenegro, note that those who promote and teach the Enneagram to Christians have a sincere desire to help them. But the real issue is directing others to the Enneagram really helpful? Or is it, in fact, dangerous? 

My opinion again is that the Enneagram opens a person up to a spirituality that is not at all biblical, that is not something revealed by our Creator, but is a turning to something entirely different. 

There is in fact another spirituality present in the universe and that is the kingdom of Satan, which presents a false spirituality, and at the same time, a very real spirituality. Indeed, the channelers, the mediums, the psychics, and much more, have tapped into a powerful and alluring reality. 

That which Emerges from Within 

Richard Rohr and many others identify with some form of Christianity and thus have a broad audience before them. Our authors point out that such was the case in 1st century Ephesus. Paul, in Acts 20:30, said “from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” And this is the case with the Enneagram. Rohr himself, perhaps the most significant presenter of the Enneagram, is a Franciscan priest in the Roman Catholic Church, who played a key role in introducing the Enneagram to Christian churches, including evangelical ones. 

The same can be said for many others, including InterVarsity Press, Zondervan, and others, publishing books that promote the Enneagram. 

Dating the Enneagram 

Some like to claim that the Enneagram pre-dated Christianity, some say it emerged out of Christianity. It is suggested it originated in Egypt, or that it was known prior to Homer and his Odyssey. Some point to a Evagrius of Pontus, 345-399 A.D. But the Veinots and Montenegro state it can be shown that the Enneagram did not exist prior to 1916, but that the “link between the symbol and the text can be fairly confidently dated as occurring for the first time in c. 1969.” 

That the Enneagram did not emerge out of any form of Christianity is quite clear. 

Christopher Heuertz writes, “Regardless of whether the Enneagram has its roots in Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, we do know that it wasn’t until the early 1900s that an Eastern Orthodox man, G. I. Gurdjieff, introduced the modern form of the Enneagram to the Western World.” 

4 Christopher L. Heuertz. The Sacred Enneagram (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 2017), pg. 43, Kindle Edition. 

What Rohr Says about the origin of the Enneagram 

Richard Rohr teamed with Andreas Ebert, in 1990, to write the book Discovering the Enneagram: An Ancient Tool for a New Spiritual Journey. It was published by Crossroad Publishing Company, New York. In the preface to that book Rohr calls the Enneagram “a very ancient Christian tool for the discernment of spirits, for the struggle with our capital sin, our ‘False Self’ and the encounter with our ‘True Self’ in God.”5 

5 Page 71 in Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret.

Rohr is convinced that the Enneagram is another “sword of the Holy Spirit,” and so this has greatly impacted significant bodies of Christians and opened them up to working with Enneagram. 

It is well established that Rohr is panentheistic in his theological views, that is, one who believes that God is in all, or that Christ is actually in everything, even plants, animals, and every person regardless of what the people believe. Rohr does not hide the fact he is a panentheist, but he claims it, and that by working with the Enneagram, this can be realized. And a big part of that elucidation is that the only real sin is thinking we are separated from God: the truth is that everyone is in Christ, Christian or not. 

Necessarily then Rohr teaches that there is a difference between Jesus and The Christ, and he began saying this in 2009. There is the historical Jesus, which is the subject of the Gospels, but Paul speaks of the Christ. Jesus is the microcosm while Christ is the macrocosm. So then, Jesus is limited, he is born in time, while The Christ is eternal. 

Richard Rohr, besides being a panentheist is also a perennialist, meaning that there is one Divine Reality at the center of all religions. This means that no one needs any kind of salvation since all are “in Christ.” Indeed, all the world’s religions have the same truth and all that is needed is for people to realize this. And the Enneagram can move one toward this ultimate concept. 

A group of Catholic apologists called Catholic Answers says the following about Richard Rohr: 

The Christ whom Rohr preaches is not the authentic Jesus, and his related proclamation of the gospel is not the one that the Church has proclaimed and safeguarded for 2,000 years with the power of Holy Spirit. As a result, Rohr remains an unreliable and spiritually dangerous guide for Catholic and non-Catholic alike.6 

6 Tom Nash. “A Primer on Richard Rohr” Catholic Answers website; https:// www.catholic.com/qu/a-primer-on-richard-rohr.

Conclusionary statement 

The primary reason for the inclusion of this chapter on the Enneagram, featuring Richard Rohr, is due to his popularity in what may be called Progressive Christianity and which is now spreading into evangelical Christianity. 

It is not a simple thing to criticize, debunk, and accuse persons and organizations that are within the broad Christian family. Yet we find both Jesus and other writers of Scripture, mostly Paul, and other great followers of Jesus down through the ages, finding it necessary to stand against error. This entire book you are reading is engaged with this task, because so many well-meaning and loving people have fallen prey to strange belief systems— thus warnings must be sounded, and this out of love and concern. 

Before moving on to material found on Wikipedia, Richard Rohr is also hoping to connect with 12 Step Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. There is a spiritual dimension to these programs that is not truly Christian, but adopting what Rohr is offering will, in my opinion, spiral participants into a dangerous, albeit spiritual, dimension, even further from Biblical truth. 

Excerpts from Wikipedia 

Wikipedia, July 17, 2022 

The Enneagram of Personality, or simply the Enneagram (from the 178 

Greek words ἐννέα [ennéa, meaning “nine”] and γράμμα [grámma, meaning something “written” or “drawn”]), is a model of the human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types. 

Although the origins and history of many of the ideas and theories associated with the Enneagram of Personality are a matter of dispute, contemporary Enneagram theories are principally derived from the teachings of the Bolivian psycho-spiritual teacher Oscar Ichazo from the 1950s and the Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo from the 1970s. Naranjo’s theories were also influenced by some earlier teachings about personality by George Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way tradition. 

As a typology, the Enneagram defines nine personality types (sometimes called “enneatypes”), which are represented by the points of a geometric figure called an enneagram, which indicate connections between the types. There are some different schools of thought among Enneagram teachers and their understandings are not always in agreement. 

The Enneagram of Personality has been widely promoted in both business management and spirituality contexts through seminars, conferences, books, magazines, and DVDs. In business contexts it is generally used as a typology to gain insights into workplace interpersonal dynamics; in spirituality it is more commonly presented as a path to higher states of being, essence, and enlightenment. Both contexts say it can aid in self-awareness, self-understanding, and self-development. 

There has been limited formal psychometric analysis of the Enneagram, and the peer-reviewed research that has been done has not been widely accepted within the relevant academic communities. Though the Enneagram integrates concepts generally accepted in a theory of personality, it has been dismissed by some personality assessment experts as pseudoscience. 

The Enneagram has also received criticism from some religious perspectives. In 2000, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine produced a draft report on the origins of the Enneagram to aid bishops in their evaluation of its use in their dioceses. The report identified aspects of the intersection between the Enneagram and Roman Catholicism which, in their opinion, warranted scrutiny with potential areas of concern, stating, “While the enneagram system shares little with traditional Christian doctrine or spirituality, it also shares little with the methods and criteria of modern science… The burden of proof is on proponents of the enneagram to furnish scientific evidence for their claims.” Partly in response to some Jesuits and members of other religious orders teaching a Christian understanding of the Enneagram of Personality, a 2003 Vatican document called Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life. A Christian Reflection on the ‘New Age’ said that the 179 

Enneagram “when used as a means of spiritual growth introduces an ambiguity in the doctrine and the life of the Christian faith”. However, on July 1, 2022, Pope Francis expressed enthusiastic support for the work of Catholic Enneagram author Richard Rohr. 

To find out how the Enneagram works, go to the following website: 

How The Enneagram System Works

It is a complex progress and too lengthy to be included here. 

Wikipedia, July 15, 2022 

Richard Rohr, OFM (born 1943) is an American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970. In 2011, PBS called him “one of the most popular spirituality authors and speakers in the world”. 

According to Douglas Groothuis, professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary, Rohr is basing his teachings on Eastern mysticism rather than biblical Christianity by preaching to find our “true self” instead of knowing a savior distinct from the self. Groothuis argues that Rohr’s fundamental claims about the “universal Christ” and Pantheistic worldview subvert the “biblical worldview with most egregious errors”, he adds, Rohr manipulates the scriptures to support his pantheistic or panentheistic worldviews, rather than monotheism i.e. creation and creator or God are different entities with infinite separation according to Christian theology, however Rohr contradicts this doctrine, states Groothuis. Groothuis further says that the writings of Rohr parallel New Age christologies which, he says, misread the biblical texts. Rohr’s reference to creation as the first incarnation of “the universal Christ” was highly criticized by Groothuis who argues that this contradicts the biblical doctrine. Groothuis says that Rohr distorts the gospel since his emanational metaphysics is based on perennial tradition. 

Erwin Lutzer, an evangelical pastor, has criticized Rohr for promoting universalism and a New Age spirituality which eschews specific doctrines and basic biblical teaching. Regarding Rohr’s book, The Divine Dance, Lutzer says the book “is not about the Trinity, but rather Rohr imaginatively uses Trinitarian language in order to give a backdrop to his own eclectic spiritual teaching”. 

William P. Young, a Christian author, has commented on Rohr’s ideas, saying that people who are frustrated with their churches might misread Rohr’s works as advocating a vague spirituality which is disconnected from the orthodox and scriptural understanding of Christ. According to Young, “The danger of universalism is nothing matters, especially Jesus”. He adds that “Some of Rohr’s followers can read it that way”. Furthermore, Rohr shares an incident where a group of local Catholics secretly recorded his sermons to have him excommunicated. They delivered the tapes to the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, then Archbishop of Cincinnati, who reviewed them and determined that they were within the bounds of the Church’s teachings. 

According to Rohr’s teachings, a person does not have to follow Jesus or practices of tenets of any formal religion to come by salvation, rather just have to “fall in love with the divine presence, under whatever name” which, he says, is welcomed by people who are disillusioned with the conservative churches which preaches that nonbelievers would go to Hell. The Perennial Tradition, or Perennial Philosophy, forms the basis of much of Rohr’s teaching; the essential message of his work focuses on the union of divine reality with all things and the human potential and longing for this union. Rohr and other 21st-century spiritual leaders explore the Perennial Tradition in the Center for Action and Contemplation’s issue of the publication Oneing. 

Influences on Rohr outside of Christian sources include Buddhism and Hinduism, Gandhi, Carl Jung, Spiral Dynamics, the Enneagram of Personality, and Integral Theory. 

If you, the reader, are interested in learning more technical details about the Enneagram of Personality, they are readily available on the internet at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality