New Age Deceptions

New Age Deceptions

by Diane Linsley

In this article for Christians, I will talk about some of the ways I was

deceived by people in my life who were following the New Age

instead of God. I'm not going to present an exhaustive list of New

Age deceptions. For that, I suggest reading books on this subject

Deceived in Marriage

At age 19, I made the terrible mistake of marrying someone I barely knew. He actually asked me to marry him just 10 days after we met. Within 15 minutes of our engagement, I began to feel uncomfortable. But I thought it was too late to change my mind because he had already called his mother to announce our engagement, and they had started making plans for the wedding.

I thought I was happy during the time of our engagement because I was infatuated, but the anxiety continued to grow as the wedding approached. I tried to talk to him about my feelings, but he shut me down and told me I couldn't back out because his parents had already invested in the wedding.

I believed that this man was a good Christian because he went to church and appeared to be doing everything right. He had even gone on a mission for the church. The Sunday after we came home from our honeymoon, I asked him if we could read the scriptures together. He said, "I don't believe in God or the church." I was so shocked I thought I would die. I asked him why he had gone on a mission, and he said, "I just wanted a nice girl to marry me."

From the very beginning, our relationship was built on deception. Over 26 years of marriage, he lied to me about so many stupid little things. Whenever I caught him in a lie, he justified it by telling me why he had done it for the greater good. Or he just flat out denied the lie and accused me of not remembering correctly. This type of gaslighting eventually led to me developing cognitive dissonance.

It wasn't until after my divorce that I learned about narcissistic abuse. Finally, I had an explanation for the depression and anxiety that had plagued me since childhood. After going through my own healing process, I became a narcissistic abuse coach. Listening to the horrific experiences of my clients was very painful, but it put my own experiences into perspective.

Deceived in the New Age

My marriage to a hypocrite undermined my own faith. People in the church thought that my husband was a great guy, but they disliked me because I was a quiet introvert. My only friend was my life coach.

I wanted to be a life coach and help other people, so I joined a coaching academy. Unfortunately, it ended up being more like a school of witchcraft and wizardry. I didn't know this at the time because I'd never been taught to recognize witchcraft. I honestly thought that witchcraft was something from the Middle Ages that no longer existed. It wasn't until I read Doreen Virtue's books that I understood some of the history of witchcraft and how it operates today under different names.

Satan's deceptions are pretty much universally accepted as truths in our modern society. Concepts like law of attraction and quantum physics are talked about as if they are proven realities, instead of the pseudoscientific theories that they are. Positive thinking and personal empowerment have replaced rational discernment and faith in God. Man has recreated God in his own image, instead of searching the scriptures to discover who God really is.

People seek to feel good about themselves, instead of desiring to do God's will, which is the only way to have true peace and joy. For the first 10 years of coaching, I tried to help people by using the world's methods. Clients appreciated my listening skills, empathy, and everything I taught them. But I felt like something was missing.

Coming Back to Christ

In early 2024, one of my clients was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. This client had been with me since 2020, and we were very close. She had made tremendous progress in her healing from narcissistic abuse, and we had great plans for the future. Suddenly, all of our work came to a screeching halt as her life was consumed by fighting cancer.

The next 18 months were harrowing as she ran from one cancer therapy to the next, trying everything possible in a hopeless battle against the inevitable. This woman was totally immersed in the New Age, and she believed that if she only thought positively, the cancer would magically disappear. She wouldn't allow anyone in her life to say anything negative, and she enlisted me in helping her uphold her beliefs.

I loved her dearly, so I did the best I could to support her. I had been thoroughly trained in positive thinking in the coaching academy, even though I preferred the more rational and balanced ideas of Jungian psychology and Zen Buddhism.

During this time, I began to look at my own beliefs more closely. As I studied the works of C.S. Lewis, I became aware that my understanding of Christianity was very rudimentary. I spent a year studying C.S. Lewis, which helped me develop rational thinking about religion. I'd never realized how much my rational mind had been suppressed by the New Age emphasis on feelings.

I also learned how to pray correctly. I thought I knew how to pray before, but I didn't. As prayer became my primary spiritual practice, my life began to change. Then I encountered the work of Doreen Virtue, and I learned how important it is to read the Bible every day. I bought the Wiersbe Study Bible, which includes commentary that makes it much easier. I also enjoy the Bible Project videos.

Back to my client. I can't tell you how awful it is to watch a person dying with New Age beliefs. Towards the end, she began to realize her situation, and she started seeking for God. I was able to have a couple of sessions with her in which we talked about God before she died. During the last session, she told me that she had decided to accept God's will. That helped me feel better about her situation, but I still have regrets about opportunities lost during the years of worldly coaching.

Integration and Moving Forward

Even in Christian churches, there is a lot of confusion. It has always been this way, even in the early church. This is why the New Testament is full of warnings about false teachings. By watching videos from Doreen Virtue and Warren B. Smith, I learned about some of the current problems.

Just because someone is a Christian, that doesn't mean you should believe everything they say. We are all fallen human beings. There has never been a perfect man on Earth, except for Jesus Christ. But some teachers are more reliable than others. C.S. Lewis says that when he discovered the works of George MacDonald, he recognized something that he called "holiness." So he chose MacDonald to be his teacher.

Two of my favorite books are George MacDonald by C.S. Lewis and The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. These books increase my faith and courage. Of course, there is no substitute for the Bible, as Bunyan himself said.

With a better understanding of Christianity, I'm starting to see my own life more clearly. I can't blame other people for taking me down wrong paths because all human beings are fallen since Adam and Eve. I take responsibility for my own choices, and I seek to do God's will. I believe that God has a better plan for me than I have for myself. His plan doesn't justify or satisfy my ego. As my client experienced near the end, the ego has to go in order to make room for God. My client let go when she had no other choice. I want to do it now.

A lifetime of wrong teachings and bad examples can't be undone in a day. My map of reality is under construction. As I continue to study good Christian material, I have new realizations each day, and old beliefs have to be deconstructed and replaced with new beliefs. It's an ongoing process that will continue for the rest of my life.

In spite of New Age deceptions, there are some things I learned along the way that are useful. For example, I learned about the importance of self-compassion. Even though I have faith in God's love and forgiveness, I sometimes get down on myself. I recognize this as one of Satan's tricks. He wants us to be discouraged and to blame ourselves and others. You can see this in modern psychology with its emphasis on blaming your parents. Christianity presents a better path for healing.

Whether you call it the devil or the inner critic, it's the same feeling. I continue to do some of the psychological processes that I learned over the years like shadow work, and I keep making guided meditations to help people. But I don't use these things as a substitute for prayer and Bible study.

I think in terms of good, better and best. I use the best parts of modern psychology and the other systems I have studied, and I discard what does not agree with my emerging understanding of Bible-based Christianity.