Spellbound by Marcia Montenegro.

Guest Article.

Marcia Montenegro, an online friend of mine founded Christian Answers for the New Age, and has been in full time ministry since 1998. A writer and speaker, she has served the Lord in education, outreach and radio programs.

Details about her book Spellbound, are found at the end of this article.

Marcia is a former professional astrologer of 8 years and former teacher of astrology; a former practitioner for many years of Eastern-type meditation and beliefs, and engaged in various occult practices such as having a spirit guide and doing astral travel.

CANA , her website features her testimony and many articles you may find useful.

On Facebook – CANA

Last year, she kindly gave me permission to share a post from her Facebook page written in April 2013. Excuse me, I forgot to share it! It’s now my honour to share it below.

Christian Answers for the New Age.

NEW AGE TERMS AND LANGUAGE by Marcia Montenegro.

Most New Age ideas are not expressed with the term “New Age,” nor do most people involved in these ideas use the term “New Age” or “New Ager” of themselves. In fact, many sympathetic to or actively involved in New Age thinking will deny they are New Age because the term is seen as pejorative. Therefore, other words are used. Also, many people who claim certain faiths also dabble in the New Age and may hold some New Age beliefs. So the person may not technically be a New Ager but is still participating in the New Age.

The terms below by themselves do not always indicate New Age beliefs. However, if they are repeated or are a theme, it is a good sign of New Age thinking. This is not an exhaustive list but lists some of the most common terms. They are listed in no special order.

‘Consciousness’

Consciousness, New consciousness, Higher consciousness, Christ consciousness, God consciousness, Higher Self, The Self, Spirit, Spiritual, Spirituality, The Universe, One, Energy, Balance, Holistic, Body-mind-spirit, Inter-spiritual, Inter-faith, Integral Spirituality, A new reality, Co-creation, co-creator, Self-realization, Planetary awakening, Planetary evolution, Conscious evolution, Evolutionary, Paradigm shift, New paradigm, Global shift, Global awakening, Global consciousness, The Shift, The Self, Divine, Sacred, The Absolute, Futurist, Visionary.

A Few Prominent New Age Philosophers/Spokespeople in Public Eye

Ken Wilber
Andrew Harvey
Andrew Cohen
Marianne Williamson
Deepak Chopra
Dr. Oz
Jean Houston
Barbara Marx Hubbard
Gary Zukav
Wayne Dyer
Louise Hay
Jack Canfield
Norm Shealy, M.D., founder of the American Holistic Medical Association
Michael Beckwith
Debbie Ford
Carolyn Myss
Christiane Northrup

Many of those involved in a new wave of New Age philosophy today are called futurists, visionaries, or “agents of conscious evolution.” Below is a statement by “futurist” Barbara Marx Hubbard. This statement is a very good example of more a recent type of New Age expression :

“Conscious Evolution is at the core a spiritually-motivated endeavor. Its precepts reside at the heart of every great faith, affirming that humans have the potential of being co-creators with Spirit, with the deeper patterns of nature and universal design. The promise of Conscious Evolution is nothing less than the emergence of a universal humanity capable of guiding its own evolution into a future of unimaginable co-creativity.”
http://www.barbaramarxhubbard.com/site/node/8

Here is a list of goals for “conscious evolution.” By itself, it would not necessarily appear to be New Age, but this is from a group of New Age collaborators. It may look to be simply a politically liberal agenda; however, it is much more complex and spiritually dangerous than that. One should not make the mistake of categorizing New Agers as political or social liberals, even if their goals overlap with those of political or social liberals. Moreover, there are numerous New Agers who are not social or political liberals.

Building a global community and creating a culture of peace.
Restoring ecological balance to nourish all life, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Engaging in social and political transformation by calling for a more conscious democracy.
Promoting health and healing by acknowledging the profound mind-body-spirit connection.
Supporting research and education that optimize human capacities.
Encouraging integrity in business and conscious media.

http://evolutionaryleaders.net/acalltoconsciousevolution/

A “daily message” from Carolyn Myss, a medical intuitive and alternative healer:
“We can achieve a genuine sense of peace about life only by releasing our need to know why things happen in terms of human reasoning and by embracing Divine reasoning.”

http://www.myss.com/http://www.myss.com/

Some extra comments between Maria and readers :

It might help to think of the New Age as a network of beliefs rather than one belief system… Christ Consciousness is the term for becoming aware of your inherent inner divinity or divine nature. Supposedly, Jesus was a man who understood this and reached this state. It comes mostly from a movement called New Thought, which the New Age adapted.

A reader : ‘Marcia, do you think that New Age and New Thought will be part of the One World Religion. It seems that a lot of what’s being taught today is based on “self”?’

Marcia replied, ‘I am not sure there will be a one world religion – don’t see that in scripture specifically. I think there might be a leader who unites religious leaders or something like that, which is not quite the same thing. However, I do think the huge wave of Eastern based meditation going on is preparing people for getting into suggestible states.’

On well known people : ‘Betty J Eadie is a Mormon with a lot of New Age influence. I was not a believer when her book came out and didn’t find out about it until a few years after I was a Christian. I had a copy of the book and read through parts of it … Btw, Mormons are very open to the New Age and many are what one could call Mormon New Agers. Glenn Beck and Stephen Covey are examples. Had to add Dr. Oz to the list

Theresa : ‘Is Dr. Oz’s wife a Reiki Master?’
April 2, 2013 at 12:50am · Like

Marcia : ‘Yes, she is. From what I’ve read about her, she may be more New Age than Dr. Oz. She’s also a member of Emanuel Swedenborg’s church (and Dr. Oz admits he is a follower of Swedenborg’s teachings).

Marcia : ‘Here’s a good article on Betty Eadie’s best-selling book, Theresa: http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/eadie.html
Embraced by the Light of Deception
http://www.leaderu.com

‘Could you expound a bit on how ‘encouraging integrity in business’ is a ‘symptom’ of new age involvement?’

Marcia : ‘The point of this is that New Agers use language that seems normal but the context is what counts. Look at the rest of that sentence — “conscious media.’ Please note that that whole section is from an extreme New Age website.

Laura : ‘I’ve noticed that over the past 25+ years, that New Agers use language that seems normal. We were told to do that, to encourage the public into classes, so we could then teach them NA, and expand their consciousness! Quite rude really, to aim to do that without folks informed consent!’

Marcia : ‘This is one point I’m trying to publicize so Christians can be aware – one aspect of the New Age movement is always morphing and it is morphing now into a more inter-spiritual form using more traditional Christian terms. I have something I will post today … See More

Christine : ‘Hey Marcia, what about Oprah? Do you not have her on the list because she’s more New Thought?

Marcia : ‘Hi, Christine, I thought about her but was focusing more on philosophical types and writers. She’s basically an entertainer and although she has a lot of influence, she doesn’t really fit the list.

Marcia : Hi, Ryan, I didn’t put Oprah there because 1) I was listing philosophers and writers; and 2) I wanted to post names not as well known. Oprah is an entertainer and influential, but she does not fit what I was posting about, which is a new wave of New Age philosophy based mostly on Ken Wilber’s teachings.

Richard : ‘One last thing, two names I missed were Benjamin Creme and David Spangler.’
April 6, 2013

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Spellbound by Marcia Montenegro.

Have you ever wished there was a book on the occult written from a Christian viewpoint, with suggestions on how to talk about this to your kids or teens? Well, such a book now exists, SpellBound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today’s Kids.

This book is for:
-Parents
-Sunday School teachers
-Pastors
-Youth Pastors
-Youth Leaders and workers
-Schoolteachers
-Grandparents
….And anyone who would like to know how to recognize the occult in our culture, as well as a solid biblical view of and response to the occult

Marcia Montenegro was asked by Cook to write this book as a guide for parents and other interested adults. The book covers what exactly the occult is, how it’s being packaged and marketed in our culture, and how to talk to children and teens about the occult. It can now be pre-ordered on some book sites.

The book’s information comes from Marcia’s many years of participation in New Age, Eastern, and occult beliefs; her practice as a professional astrologer for 8 of those years, including teaching astrology; extensive reading and research of New Age and occult materials; and experiences and contacts she had in the New Age/occult community for over 15 years.

Additionally, since becoming a Christian, Marcia’s knowledge in these areas has been supplemented by her contacts, reading, and research through her ministry, CANA/Christian Answers for the New Age. Since 1994, she has written on these topics for Christian periodicals, has been interviewed on radio shows and for publications, and has lectured on these areas around the country.

**From the Foreword by Norman Geisler:

“The time for discernment is upon us. Marcia Montenegro has written a biblically based, culturally relevant, and very insightful book to help us in this discernment. Every Christian home needs it. I highly recommend SpellBound.” ~ Norman Geisler

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CANA – Christian Answers for the New Age, Marcia’s website features her testimony and many articles you may find useful.