Ex New Ager, Spiritualist & Professional Astrologer, participated in past life regression, astral travel, spirit contact, tarot cards and had spirit guides… Marcia Montenegro is a woman who I highly admire and have loved her resources for years!!!

She’s been a guest on my radio show The Supernatural with Laura Maxwell and her articles have featured on my blog. I HIGHLY recommend you check out her blog and Facebook page. (Details at foot of her article below).

Laura Maxwell: “My own comment… When I was a new ager, I too was taught Homeopathy was a very spiritual healing modality, involving spirit energies of the herbs, plants, universe, etc. I too was influenced by Swedenborg and the many herbalists who dabbled in new age or occult practises.

My mother and I used, for example, the Bach Flower Remedies, essential oils and so on, usually only available in health food or occult stores but then selling in mainstream outlets and widely prescribed by health professionals.

I’m not against plants, herbs, etc, but like anything, if used in conjunction with occult beliefs, they will become accursed. In much the same way that we wouldn’t want to ingest herbs that a dark occultist has deliberately placed spells on or cursed, or eat meat that was sacrificed to satan or idols (a practise that still occurs today and is even documented throughout the bible), neither would we want to open ourselves to homeopathic remedies that are unknowingly cursed.

Neither am I claiming Homeopaths or homeopathic users are evil people! I once used such remedies myself before I knew the demonic attachments involved.

After I became a Christian, in 1996, I underwent deliverance ministry, where demons were cast out of me, curses broken from such practises. Since 1996, I’ve saw others be set free from such demonic practises too.

Jesus still heals today, hallelujah!”

Marcia Montenegro, author and speaker.

HOMEOPATHY, THE OCCULT, AND BEYOND

By Marcia Montenegro, June, 2012

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What do Dr. Oz and the founder of Homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, have in common? Both are/were followers of the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg – scientist turned mystic, angel-whisperer, founder of a “new Christianity,” and often called the father of the New Thought Movement.

Samuel Hahnemann

New Thought, though claiming to be Christianity, is based on beliefs that man has an innate divine nature, God is impersonal, Jesus was a man who discovered his divinity and thereby attained a “Christ consciousness” or was able to receive a “Christ spirit” (in New Thought, Jesus and the Christ are not one and the same). Jesus came to correct wrong thinking, because the faulty perception that man is sinful and separated from God had kept men from knowing the truth about themselves and the world.

Swedenborg

Swedenborg believed that illness resulted from evil thoughts, an idea that matured in New Thought as the belief that illness is a result of incorrect perceptions, a cornerstone of Mary Baker Eddy’s Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science). Much of Swedenborg’s data came, according to him, from angels who communicated with him.

From these teachings arose beliefs that man, as a divine being, has the ability to manipulate invisible powers which can be used for healing, as well as the ability to conquer illness by changing one’s thinking since illness exists only within the mind.

The idea of controlling invisible forces took shape in a popular 18th century metaphysical philosophy called Vitalism. Vitalism persisted into the 20th century and today forms the basis of most pseudo-science (especially in the healing arts) and New Age thinking, though terms other than Vitalism are used. But channeling and manipulating energy has always been an element of occult practice and is essentially occultic.

Energy and Vitalism

Vitalism was the name given to the belief in an invisible and unquantifiable energy in the universe and in the body that can be channeled or directed for healing.  This idea is not new — it goes back to ancient times and is found in all cultures. As a universal force permeating all, it may be called chi (Taoism; also qi, ki), prana (Hinduism), life energy, vital energy, universal force, or other names. Sometimes this force is considered intelligent and viewed as an impersonal Divine Intelligence pervading all.

The belief in this energy undergirds New Age energy healing and occult healing practices such as psychic healing, Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Qi-gong, energy balancing, aura cleansing, and others.  Channeling, unblocking, balancing, and/or manipulating this energy or force is the crux of much alternative healing and the dark heart of all energy healing.

Mesmer the Hypnotist

Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) was a German physician who turned away from medicine – an echo of Swedenborg who turned away from science to metaphysics. Hahnemann not only was influenced by Swedenborg’s views, but called the alleged healing practices of New Thought pioneer and hypnotist Franz Anton Mesmer “a marvelous, priceless gift of God’ (http://wayoflife.org/files/1fb1348d18e422edab502e0649a8f3a8-471.html).

Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) believed that “the planets of our solar system exude invisible rays that affect our bodies. Mesmer called this effect ‘animal magnetism,’ and the rays ‘magnetic fluid’” (http://www.anton-mesmer.com/). Mesmer practiced a healing method which, he claimed, harnessed this “magnetic fluid” via iron and other metals, which he then placed on the bodies of his patients. This had a hypnotic effect on patients, which is why the term “mesmerize” comes from Mesmer’s name. Mesmer became famous for people falling into trances when he merely walked into the room.

Mesmerism is considered a form of Vitalism, and continued to be a cornerstone of New Thought and pseudo-scientific healing before morphing into more sophisticated sounding processes.

Homeopathy

Energy and Dilutions

Homeopathic remedies are made by using a small quantity of original substance and shaking it in a liquid, then diluting that and shaking some more, followed by further dilutions and vigorous shakings, called succussions in Homeopathy, until barely any or none of the original substance is left. This was the invention of Hahnemann. Supposedly, the liquid holds the “memory” of the substance.

(Another basic but false belief of Homeopathy is that “like cures like” but time and space limit this writer from going into that; see links given below for more information on this and on Homeopathy and New Thought). This belief is not surprising in light of Hahnemann’s occult-based views.

Quote==“The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, promoted an immaterial, vitalistic view of disease:  ‘…they are solely spirit-like (dynamic) derangements of the spirit-like power (the vital principle) that animates the human body.’ As practised by some homeopaths today, homeopathy simply rests on the premise of treating sick persons with extremely diluted agents that – in undiluted doses – are deemed to produce similar symptoms in a healthy individual. Nevertheless, it remains equally true that the view of disease as a dynamic disturbance of the immaterial and dynamic vital force is taught in many homeopathic colleges and constitutes a fundamental principle for many contemporary practising homeopaths.”==end quote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitalism

To believe that a solution emptied of the original substance is actually effective, and maybe even more so, due to the shaking and “memory of water” is contrary to reason. The principle in this is a reliance on a supernatural force and esoteric methods that have no basis in objective data. Such thinking is emblematic of the occult, which proposes unseen, unknown forces and arcane practices.

Hahnemann and Christianity

Though raised a Lutheran (which would be true of almost everyone in Germany at that time), Hahnemann was a Deist, according to one source, and according to other sources, including a biographer, rejected the Jesus of the Bible.

Quote==”He took offense at the arch-enthusiast Jesus of Nazareth, who did not lead the enlightened on the straight way to wisdom but who wanted to struggle with publicans and sinners on a difficult path toward the establishment of the kingdom of God. . . . The man of sorrows who took the darkness of the world on Himself was an offense to the lover of etheric [highly refined, heavenly] wisdom”

(Source: Samuel Pfeifer, M.D., Healing at Any Price?, Milton Keynes, England: Word Limited, 1988, as quoted at

http://logosresourcepages.org/NewAge/na-med.htm)

In light of Hahnemann’s devotion to Swedenborg and other New Thought beliefs, it is reasonable to conclude that Hahnemann adopted, at least in part, Swedenborgian New Thought views, which are definitely not Christian.

That Hahnemann was probably not an adherent of Christianity does not by itself render his views on healing invalid. However, in the context of his teachings and the influence on him from Swedenborg, Mesmer, and Vitalism, this information is further evidence of his occult beliefs, which is consistent with his teachings.

If it works?

Any warning on something as popular as homeopathy always brings responses that homeopathic remedies work. However, this should not be the criteria for a Christian. Homeopathy and other  pseudo-scientific or occult practices may seem to work due to many factors: coincidence; other treatments have been given; the patient would have recovered with no treatment; the power of suggestion; and the placebo effect.

God has created a real world (including our bodies) that operates on laws he designed and has given us a brain to discover and understand these laws. The proliferation today of pseudo-scientific healing modalities based on occult principles of energy – even among Christians — is astonishing. Let us not pay homage to such treatments by using them.

“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thess. 5:21

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  1 Cor. 3:16

Laura Maxwell’s Comment:

Sources Marcia used are listed below these Facebook comments on Marcia’s wall. I feel they added extra insight to this article.

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Marcia Montenegro Most Christians decry astrology and other aspects of the occult, but many embrace Homeopathy, which is just as occultic. “To believe that a solution emptied of the original substance is actually effective, and maybe even more so, due to the shaking and “memory of water” is contrary to reason. The principle in this is a reliance on a supernatural force and esoteric methods that have no basis in objective data. Such thinking is emblematic of the occult, which proposes unseen, unknown forces and arcane practices.” — From article

Cecil Andrews A very helpful little book that looks at the claims of Homoeopathy and a number of other holistic healing therapies is “Healing: At any price?” by Samuel Pfeifer. I have checke Amazon and a number of used copies at virtually give-away prices are available for purchase at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Healing-Any-Price-Samuel-Pfeifer/dp/0850091535

Susan Moore I know many are saying homeopathy doesn’t work and is useless and I am not arguing it’s suspect origins, but I have first hand experience in fact that it can and does work…I will continue to seek God on the matter, but I have been seriously ill for a very long time and pharmaceuticals make me very ill…in a crippling matter. My body cannot detox those chemicals. I understand they have their place and help others, but I’m not one of them. I only use one homeopathic remedy currently and it works…there is no placebo effect in my case. I am not arguing that anyone should use homeopathics, but they have worked for me and others I know. It’s hard to believe they could continue to sell them if they had no effect at all. When I look at traditional medicine it is ever evolving and changing…I am not smart enough to speak to all the various methods of treatment, but they use to be very barbaric and doctors/pharmaceuticals kill a fair share of people…certainly we do not know each doctor’s, scientist’s, researcher’s spiritual origins…how everything is developed and formed…which spirit is leading each of them in their processes…again, please know that I am not challenging anything said here and I am not trying to argue anything…we certainly need to be wise about who we allow to treat us and we should examine their methods, etc. I just don’t know if people are doing that with traditional doctors and medicine….traditional doctors and medicine have repeatedly failed me and in fact I suffer with lingering effects of prescription drugs that have since been pulled from the market. I see problems and issues on both sides…traditional medicine and alternative medicine. And it gets really confusing when professing Christian doctors are using alternative methods…I’ve been to a couple of those, too. When a person is disabled by illness like I have been for many years…the answers aren’t always so clear….one instinctively seeks relief and it’s easy for those on the sidelines to criticize. I will state again that I am seeking God (like I have been doing for the past 23 years)…I do not want to do anything contrary to His will.

Marcia Montenegro Of course, if you are using homeopathy and it helps you, I won’t argue. But it could be placebo and/or could be coincidence or other factors. At any rate, we can’t recommend things based solely on anecdotal stories. And yes, they can sell them with nothing in them because they are not regulated.

Marcia Montenegro Most people don’t realize that supplements, herbal “remedies”, and homeopathy are NOT regulated, and that is the choice of the supplement industry and alleged alternative treatments.

 

Susan Moore I am specifically speaking of homeopathic remedies…I do know the difference. I use to work in a health food store years ago. I also use herbs, essential oils, enzymes, probiotics, minerals, etc. I am not arguing for homeopathics…I just am left in a quandary…if I follow your counsel I will then have to deal with a troublesome and at times painful condition that I have had under control for the last four years by using a pellet homeopathic remedy. I suppose what I was speaking to was the statements that it’s all hogwash and doesn’t work…I can only speak to my experience. I do know it’s a crazy climate with new age people/methods out there when you start to pursue alternative methods…but there are a set of people who are very sick and either traditional medicine/doctors caused the problem (iotragenic treatment…when a doctor actually causes harm to his/her patient by their choice of treatment) or they cause more harm by using wrong or unhelpful methods of treatment. I have been able to trace back to the origin of my ill health and it began with one doctor and was perpetuated by another….it wasn’t until I stopped going to traditional doctors and sought alternative treatments and solutions that I started to see some relief. My condition is not curable, so I am only able to manage symptoms/pain. I have worked with several doctors, 2 of which are Christian and they all are beginning to turn to other methods besides pharmaceuticals and surgery (which do have their place, but there are other methods as well). So I am just left to continue to seek God on the matter. I appreciate your concern for the Body of Christ and we do need to be very discerning and we do need to test every spirit. Thanks.

Susan Moore I am acutely aware of what you are saying and people do need to be careful and they need to do their homework. I would never buy my supplements, etc. from Walmart or CVS or even most health food stores. I only use high grade (actually considered pharmaceutical grade) herbs & supplements. I work with a wonderful compounding pharmacist who handles my treatment under the umbrella of my current family doctor. So I would agree with you that there are a lot of useless supplements, etc. being sold out there, but it’s not all or nothing. When a person can find a reputable source and if they have time to educate themselves like I did there are other good alternative treatments out there and I would hate for someone to miss that because they think it’s all just bad. There is bad and good to most everything in this world…anything can be abused and manipulated for harm instead of good.

Jamie McMullan I knew if I kept reading the comments my question would be answered. We use “natural” things like making our own cleaners (vinegar, baking soda) and I have been looking at essential oils for cleaning like lavender and tea tree oil. The only other thing we have used is Gripe Water and Mylicon with our son’s colic…I’m guessing those are different than what you are talking about? It seems in general people consider natural remedies and “homeopathic” as the same thing… But from what I am gathering from your post they are completely different things…

Marcia Montenegro I am sorry for your situation but cannot agree that anyone should use homeopathy and most other non-medical treatments. This is the major way the New Age has entered the church.

Marcia Montenegro Right, Jamie McMullan, they are not the same. But I also urge caution on essential oils. Those with proven physical effects may help, but many claims are false. The main purveyors are New Age companies or those who have bought into New Age.

Diane Moss Overstreet Marcia, Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. My daughter is steeped in New Age and I need to learn so I can expose the truth to her. Do you have some books I can purchase on the subject? Also, What are your speaking fees; many people in the church are blinded and I think you would help! Thank you!

Marcia Montenegro Hi, Diane! Thanks for your comments. What areas of the New Age is your daughter in or what kind of books do you want to read about it? There are not very many but I can come up with a few if I know more. I don’t have speaking fees but I need expenses paid and an honorarium (and a place to stay if out of town). You can PM me about that and it would easier to discuss there.

Marcia Montenegro Diane Moss Overstreet, one of the better books on how the New Age infiltrated the culture is Peter Jones‘ book, “The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back.” I recommend that one to anyone interested in a broad view of the New Age – it’s roots and how it enters society. But what specific areas of the New Age is your daughter in, if you know?

Gnostic Empire Strikes Back by Peter Jones

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Gnostic-Empire-Strikes-Back-Heresy/0875522858/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495471061&sr=1-1&keywords=Peter+Jones%27+book%2C+%22The+Gnostic+Empire+Strikes+Back.%22

 

Grannie Brazier Constance Butler Cumbey, her book THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF THE RAINBOW helped me to understand what I had been in, and helped me to get out of the stinking thinking… Of course, I always recommend, on you tube, THE BEAUTIFUL SIDE OF EVIL… found out her book is now $25 dollars, used… glad I have one! I recommend one prays first… deep…. Oh, Warren B. Smiths books, excellent, esp. the one of his travels out of the new age… www.swrc.com has them.. blessings. 

 

Sarah Beazley Cunnington Thanks for this well written article. I am living in France, and sadly, homeopathy was generally embraced by many French Protestants from the 1970’s, when the government introduced state regulation of alternative medicines, for fiscal reasons. Since then, many Christians mistakenly assume that this means that homeopathy (among other therapies) is safe both medically and spiritually !!! It is always a sign that people are hooked on something that is wrong (I believe, at least) when they get totally freaked if you dare suggest their pet therapy is not “godly”. I almost got thrown out of our church for daring to run a series of conferences on alternative medicine and citing homeopathy in the accompanying booklet I’d written as one of several dubious practices. It’s effect, when it has one, is only as a placebo, but spiritually I am convinced that using homeopathy and other “energy” medicines, compromises our faith, and dulls our ability to discern other deceptive practices by which Satan is infiltrating the body of Christ. Instead of “wasting” their faith on homeopathy, Christians need to believe that God still heals today!

Marcia Montenegro Sarah Beazley Cunnington, I can’t thank you enough for your comment! I am on the same page as you. I believe that when something based on occult and New Age beliefs is so accepted in the church (and with hostility towards any info or expose of its true nature) that it does “dull” discernment and response to other things even more New Age or occultic. I have seen this happening in the church here since the 90s and now it’s at the point that even more New Age concepts in healing are accepted than before. I commend you for having a conference to expose these false forms of healing and their spiritual basis which opposes the biblical worldview. Thank you again and may the Lord grant you encouragement and strength as you serve Him.

Sarah Beazley Cunnington My current ‘journey’ is studying primarily nutritional health and follows on from a year of major health problems, including 2 heart attacks and 4 other emergency hospital admissions. Even in this area its not a Sunday afternoon stroll, more like trying to pick my way through a minefield, as I try to discover what is both physically and spirituality safe amongst the plethora of information available. The internet abounds with purveyors of snake oil, or worse. Scratch the surface and the spiritual roots become apparent, a veritable nest of vipers… We need such discernment, it’s a sobering thought to realise that yes, even the elect can be deceived. However, at the same time Christians do need to address issues like toxic diet and environmental and not leave it all to the shamans. When Jesus said that we are not defiled by what goes into our mouths, but by the words that come out of our mouths, (Matthew 15:11) this was a spiritual illustration, given at a time when pollution was not really an issue, no pesticides and herbicides poisoning the planet and all it’s resources…

Marcia Montenegro Pub Med publications are not to be taken as valid scientific conclusions.

Marilie Fouche Marcia thank you for the article. I myself have turned to homeopathy in search of medicine that is not so chemical especially for my little girl who suffers from gastro-intestinal problems. I would like to ask specifically to what type of remedies a Christian should turn if one wants to steer away from chemical drugs. Whenever we go to a doctor Antibiotics are prescribed 99% of the time. My daughter and I do not respond well to antibiotics and are often ill from the antibiotics weeks after the original problem is solved. Also on the subject of vaccines. My daughter had a bad reaction to vaccines which led me to read up on all the bad ingredients in vaccines. I am not willing to risk a bad reaction again by taking her for the rest of her vaccines…the only other alternative are homeopathic vaccines (to ensure school acceptance). What would you advise. Thank you kindly

Marcia Montenegro Marilie Fouche, thanks for your comment. Homeopathy is not valid in any way, shape, or form. Also, all things you ingest are chemicals, even herbs, because everything reacts chemically with the body. There is no such thing as natural. Many people have bad reactions to antibiotics, including myself, but that does not validate homeopathy, which is occultic and invalid. When I have had to take antibiotics, I have asked for the mildest ones possible. Fortunately, it has been seldom that I need any, so far. I never heard of homeopathic vaccines; it’s actually an oxymoron. Did you understand that the article I wrote is revealing that there is basically nothing in homeopathic remedies of the original substance? Homeopathic remedies are mostly sugar pills.

Marilie Fouche I totally understand the article, what I’m asking is what would you biblically recommend instead of homeopathy or drugs. What I mean by chemical is all the additives in drugs that have known side-effects and often build up in your system especially as I mentioned with my 2 year old who has stomach problems (which means that most ‘drugs’irritate her stomach). I have to disagree that all chemicals are equal though. Obviously a drug that is not natural would be more negative for instance for your liver. Whilst using a herb does not have a negative effect on your liver. I understand that bad reactions to antibiotics according to your article does not validate using homeopathy, I’m asking what other options are out there that are not New Age. Concerning the vaccines: for school acceptance you need an up-to-date vaccines card. My child reacts badly, very badly, to vaccines, the only other vaccines schools accept are homeopathic…in other words I would not be considering the homeopathic vaccines as an actual vaccine, but only to gain school acceptance for my daughter.

Marcia Montenegro Marilie, actually, many supplements and herbs cause liver damage. In fact, this is one of the biggest dangers from them that few know about. You are wrong to think they cannot cause liver damage.
==Herbal and dietary supplements now are responsible for about 20 percent of liver injuries. Check out the safety of herbal products before taking them to learn whether they’ve caused liver damage in others. Herbs that can be dangerous for your liver include green tea extract, kava, and comfrey, among others.==http://www.everydayhealth.com/…/toxic-not-healthy…/

Toxic, Not Healthy: Surprising Liver Dangers of Herbal Products

Seemingly healthy herbal teas and supplements can carry the risk of…

EVERYDAYHEALTH.COM

Marcia Montenegro http://www.today.com/…/five-surprising-herbs-can-damage…

‘Natural’ warning: Five surprising herbs that can damage your liver

Green tea might be might be tasty and refreshing, and it might seem…

TODAY.COM

Marcia Montenegro http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp…

Liver Damage and Dietary Supplements by MedicineNet.com

Read about dietary supplements (herbs, OTC products) and how they…

MEDICINENET.COM

***

RESOURCES

Christian Ministry Watchman Fellowship’s article on Homeopathy:

http://www.watchman.org/na/homeopth.htm

The occult philosophy of Samuel Hahnemann

http://wayoflife.org/files/1fb1348d18e422edab502e0649a8f3a8-471.html

Christian website with article on Hahnemann and influence from Swedenborg and Mesmer

http://logosresourcepages.org/NewAge/na-med.htm

Marcia’s articles

Chi

http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Chi.html

Hospitals and the New Age

http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Hospitals.html

Alternative Healing

http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_AlternativeHealing.html

http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/

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