Witchcraft, Drugs and Yoga pants / A Question for New-Age Spiritualists? 

Yes. Definitely. I just finished an invocation with Lucifer as it happens.

The Happy Lady has warned about these things several times. Yoga, energy healing and stuff like that.

I've always been fascinated by the handshake test in D&C 129. It being included in modern scriptures implies that we're going to need it at some point, doesn't it? Though if something appears inside a summoning circle during a ritual involving drugs, you shouldn't really have to ask it to shake your hand in order to know it's not your friend....

I know a lot of people into Energy work I have seen it bring temporary happiness but long term financial dependence on healings and In several cases experiencing psychosis. With others becoming “mediums” and talking to “angels” most of them have left the church but there are some who cling on and insist that it’s fully compatible with the Gospel. I can’t say for sure some of the were for sure possessed but I do know I’ve seen the light drawn out of them and that they always need a new experience/healing/awakening (all of which cost so much money) to cope with their lives that never seem to actually get better

This video kinda came out of nowhere, but I’m here for it.

There was one time that my relief society President was doing weird things like, turning on and off lights and trying to create an emotional experience. I don’t think she realized what she was doing because I know that she had a testimony, but she had gotten into some of these trainings, and instead of teaching, the gospel started teaching her impact training at relief Society. You could not feel the spirit in the room and I was very concerned with the way that she was going about trying to teach us. I shortly left the ward after that, but could not trust that woman after that experience.

Interestingly enough. Salt Lake does have one of the largest community of wiccans in the US.

I've encountered at least one group of mostly ex-mo women who are into alternative spirituality. There are the various New Age trappings you'd expect. I appreciate color and vitality and creativity, but I note with dismay how easily people can get caught up in actual mind-viruses. When I see, let's say, Tibetan prayer flags, I expect to see Pride Progress flags, at this point Palestinian flags as well. Gad Saad wrote an interesting book (_The Parasitic Mind_) about mind viruses, notably Progressive ideologies. I charge that those who seek "liberation" from the stuffy old confines of our religion tend to get sucked into one form or another of the Progressive cult. I had to work out my own course of action after chafing against the stuffiness of my Mormon upbringing. Thank God I didn't take the easy way out of shallow and unimaginative antagonism. I've found a freedom of expression that is based in my conviction of the truth of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. My covenants don't prevent me from carrying an antler-tipped staff on mountain rambles, or drawing medieval symbols on my instruments. There are other things that I do in my private life, related to my relationship with God, which some people might find weird or spooky (like how some people still don't want to accept Joseph's seer stones or Oliver's rod because they think those are weird). I do not use drugs. I do not engage in practices as an "alternative" to the restored Gospel. I understand that there are keys, and in whatever way I seek personal revelation or training in spiritual perception and strength, I am bound by covenant to operate in a framework of keys and order that was restored by the highest authority. I believe that many people in the Church who go looking for a thrill in the trappings of "the occult" or whatever, they don't think this through enough. Once I heard someone use the metaphor of dialing a random number on the phone and asking to talk to Jesus. Even serious magicians, even practitioners of tribal animist spirituality know that there are misleading spirits. The idea of the "solitary practitioner," the eclectic witch grafting her (or his) own "practice" from here and there, has an alluring glamour (90% of which, I suspect, is mere aesthetics), but indulging in that fantasy is a luxury that a baptized member of the Church can't afford. There's an Englishman named Martin Shaw who recently converted to Christianity after he found Jesus in a forest. Hearing his story is worthwhile. We are beneficiaries of another man who found Jesus in a forest. In our seeking of personal revelation, if we try to reinvent the wheel, we do risk being taken for a ride in the wrong direction. I believe we could all benefit from more curiosity and rigorous thinking about these overlapping and blurry concepts: sorcery, magic, occultism, spirituality, etc. The English word "gospel" is literally "good spell." "Spell" refers to writing words - to language use - as well as to magic, to *enchantments.* To "enchant" is to "sing in." "Grimoire" is a form of "grammar." Speaking, singing, writing: language use is a power that ought not to be underestimated. The way we use words can have tremendous effect for good or evil. We ought to regard gossip, propaganda, and emotional manipulation in personal relationships, as literal magic spells. If we thought of ourselves as all wielding magical power through the words we use, that might help us choose them more carefully.

Can't wait, i know it's gonna be good ..

They're gonna summon a demon, if they haven't already Me: oh baby, this is gonna be good

There is a channel I have watched and enjoyed her content but just the other day she had a woman on who uses tarot cards and even created a set of "Mormon tarot cards" . When I commented about it being in complete opposition to the gospel she said the woman uses them in her therapy. I was shocked. Needless to say I didn't finish watching the video and I unsubscribed from her channel.

Sorcery has to do with tricking people by distracting them

Jesus is the way, the truth & the life, amen.

Ahem. I'm sure there are a few men who delve into this nutso stuff. 😉