new paper on dark spiritual encounters
Kristi writes about the hidden dangers of spiritual experience
Reports of spiritual experience are on the rise across the UK and Europe. But what are we to make of these, and how might Christians respond?
Kristi has written an introductory briefing on the topic for the Cambridge Papers, entitled ‘Dark Spiritual Encounters and Hidden Dangers: The Enduring Wisdom of Classical Theology’. You can read or download it for free, here.
Here’s a snippet:
Not long ago, an article in The New Statesman described Gen Z as ‘the witchcraft generation.’ On one social media platform, TikTok, #witchtok has gained over 45 billion views. There are over 8.9 million posts on Instagram under the hashtag ‘#witchcraft’, which range from sharing lessons on how to become a witch, identify familiars, protect one’s home, all the way to ‘lessons from the Devil’. Alternative spiritualities, such as witchcraft, are on the ascendant, and so are their attendant practices: veiling, drying herbs, candle divination, hexes, moon rituals, tarot cards, potions and spells, rituals and sacrifices, charging crystals, and so on. Two women interviewed for the New Statesman article explain how they have not left their religious upbringings behind (one a Protestant home, the other a Catholic one); rather, they are seeking to expand their repertoire of extra-ordinary experiences through witchcraft. Contemporary spiritualities may not provide an exclusive spiritual alternative, but offer the appeal of a melee of seemingly non-competing ‘faith’ commitments. The cauldron continues to bubble.
Across a broader sweep of cultural influences and personal experiences, it is possible to observe an increased interest in spiritual phenomena in the Anglosphere. In the United Kingdom, Uncanny, a BBC podcast hosted by Danny Robbins, relayed real-life experiences of unexplained paranormal events by guests from across the nation, and became the second most popular podcast in 2023. In the United States, a TV series – The Curse of Skinwalker Ranch – is now entering the fifth season of its investigation into unusual events at a ranch in Utah. The Paranormal Files is a YouTube channel with over one million subscribers. The podcast Blurry Creatures provides a space for Christians to share their experiences of unknown, and often uncharted, phenomena: hybrid creatures, so-called abduction accounts, demonic influences, encounters with dark spirits and ritualistic Satanic cult practices, and UAP sightings, to name a few. In the wake of the Netflix series, Lockwood and Co., a paranormal investigation hotline was created to receive accounts of ghostly activity and a survey in the United Kingdom discovered that one-in-five people claim to share their home with a ghost. This increase in documented experiences of spiritual activity is not limited to a particular generation. Some seek portals through which to connect to the currents of spiritual entities and activities; others find themselves unwittingly shaken by spiritual intruders who demand attention. Paranormal experiences are no longer deemed fringe events.
She then goes on to explore this all in conversation with classical Christian theology. It’s freely available for you to read over on the Cambridge Papers website.
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