What Are Occult and New Age Practices According to the Bible?

From Someone Who Lived It

You've probably heard terms like "occult" or "New Age" especially in recent years, sometimes as a warning, sometimes reframed as harmless curiosity or "spiritual exploration."

But you're not 100% certain what are occult and New Age practices according to the Bible. I share all of this as someone who lived it, not as someone lecturing from a pulpit. I spent years in occult practices before walking away and choosing God, so this isn't abstract theology to me. It's from my lived experience and studying what Scripture tells us.

What Counts as Occult or New Age?

Scripture doesn't use one vague catch-all term. It names specific categories: sorcery, divination, mediums, spiritists, necromancy, charmers, astrologers, and magicians. Each one describes a real, specific practice, not just a general "spooky" idea.

In modern terms, this includes the obvious ones, tarot reading, horoscopes, zodiac signs, psychic mediums, séances, fortune tellers, and Ouija boards, but also things people don't always think to flag: fortune cookies, tea leaf readings, runes, palm reading, birth charts, Reiki, spirit boxes, crystals used for energy work, hexes and curses, channeling spirit guides, and meditation aimed at "emptying the mind" or connecting with universal energy.

God's Clear Warning

Leviticus 19:31 says: "Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God."

The Hebrew words used here, ob (Medium, necromancer, spiritist, ghost, familiar spirit) and yiddeoni (Medium, spiritist, wizard), are precise. There's no ambiguity about what's being warned against.

Leviticus 20:6 goes further, describing turning to mediums as spiritual unfaithfulness, using language as strong as "to play the prostitute" That's how seriously God takes divided spiritual loyalty.

Why the Dead Can't Help You

A common thread in New Age and occult practices is seeking guidance from spirits, the dead, or "hidden knowledge" outside of God.

But Ecclesiastes 9:5 tells us plainly: "but the dead don’t know anything" And Isaiah 8:19 asks, "shouldn’t a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?"

If God is living, present, and available, why would anyone need to look elsewhere?

No Middle Ground

Paul reinforces this in Galatians 5, listing sorcery (pharmakeia in Greek) among the "deeds of the flesh are obvious" directly opposed to the fruit of the Spirit. Scripture doesn't present these as a spectrum you can blend.

It presents them as two lists that cannot coexist in the same life. There's no biblical category for "Christian tarot reading" or "spiritually neutral divination."

Trust belongs to God alone. Anything that replaces Him isn't harmless. It's a substitute.

Why This Matters

When someone turns to occult or New Age practices, even out of curiosity, they're often trying to gain control, insight, or guidance apart from God's will. That's not seeking Him.

That's replacing Him.

If you feel drawn to any of this, the way forward is simple: seek God directly through prayer, study Scripture, talk to Godly mentors, and remove anything pulling your trust away from Him.

© 2026 Jane Isley

Recommended Reading:

👁️ That Haunting Documentary & the Spiritual Warfare Nobody Recognized — How media and entertainment normalize what Scripture warns against.

🔥A Biblical Hebrew Deep Dive Into Satan's Counterfeit Power — Why occult practices tap into something real and dangerous, not imaginary.