Alert: Ancient Occult Practice Sweeping America's Youth

The use of astrology has exploded in popularity in recent years. Fueled by many factors including social media and technological advances that make it more accessible, an alarming number of young people have been pushed into embracing the ancient occult practice as truth.

Belief in traditional religion has declined over the years, particularly among millennials. In a survey of 2,592 respondents, 40 percent of millennials reported having no religious affiliation at all. That data made them the largest share of generational “nones” in the U.S., according to Pew Research data gathered in phone surveys between 2018 and 2019.

At the same time, astrology is becoming more popular, as technological advances have made using astrology more accessible with easily generated astrological charts and a plethora of available information online, according to a piece last year in The New Yorker.

Astro Poets, a Twitter account started by poets Alex Dimitrov and Dorothea Lasky, shares horoscopes, poetry, and humorous takes on different zodiac signs to its over 600,000 followers.

The New York Times even published a piece about the pair last October in advance of their first book together, “Astro Poets: Your Guides to the Zodiac.”

Other soothsayers dole out career or dating advice and attempt to explain the tribulations of the day, large and small, through the zodiac.

The practices have become mainstream, appearing in magazines targeted at teens and young adults, and as some celebrities also tacitly reference New Age ideas or their astrological signs.

Model Kendall Jenner tweeted “surrender to the universe” on New Year’s Day.

Last year, singer Ariana Grande referenced her zodiac sign and lamented, “oooof do cancers have the ability to do anything other than feeeeeeeeel feel feeeeeeeel feel feeeeeel feel.”

The social media platform TikTok which has become especially popular with teens and young adults boasts over 2.1 billion views just for #astrology videos alone.

While celebrity endorsements and technology give those beliefs an attractive new sheen, the occult is the same dangerous, dark temptation it has always been and which the Old Testament warned about.

“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)

With the younger generation unmoored by such a lack of belief, and with tumultuous times that simultaneously include a global pandemic and riots, it’s understandable for young adults to be looking for certainty.

But that certainty comes at a high price as cooperation with the occult is dangerous and opens the door to demonic attack or even possession. With such practices and possible demonic activity on the rise, the Catholic Church has responded by training more exorcists, according to the Star Tribune.

The irony is, of course, that millennials are often the first to level the anti-science charge against anyone who does not believe in global warming, but will also want to burn sage for spiritual cleansing or talk about how the “universe” does or does not want something to happen.

Instead of believing Satan in his lies about easy answers with an astrological chart or a quick fix with crystals or a Reiki healing session, the answer to life’s mysteries, miseries, and hardships is Jesus Christ alone.

Without Christ there is no hope and no salvation, and what He promises is not an easy life but one which we will not endure alone or unaided.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

It is vital that young people hear that message, now more than ever, as they are being drawn further into the darkness, both with occult practices and subversive movements like Black Lives Matter that come cloaked in the language of virtue but are rotten to the core.

Their very souls depend on it.