Christians: It's time to reclaim crystals and constellations from 'New Age' occultists



If you came to my house, you would see a myriad of crystals. They’re perched atop shelves, tucked into bookcases, and nestled among potted plants. I have tattoos of moons, suns, and stars on my arms.

I know what you’re thinking: You must be into New Age?

What begins as innocent curiosity, a desire for meaning and connection, or just a simple wow, that’s beautiful can set people on a path of consorting with the demonic.

Actually, no.

And I have a follow-up question: When did matters of geology and astronomy become emblems of the occult?

When did we agree that any part of God’s creation belonged to groups that, whether they know it or not, fraternize with the demonic?

I look around and wonder if any Christians are as nettled about this as I am. We already silently surrendered to the hijacking of the rainbow. Are we going to allow another group to lay claim to more aspects of nature that should point us back to God?

That’s not to say that we can stop New Agers, occultists, witches, or anyone for that matter from abusing God’s good creation — we can’t. If they want to infuse stones with dark magic and deduce faulty ideas from the skies, so be it.

But the Christian recoiling from anything involving crystals, astronomical bodies, or other elements of nature is a fundamentally flawed response.

A disclaimer

It’s unwise to purchase crystals or any trinket, no matter how innocuous it appears, from New Age shops and companies. There are telltale signs we should look for: tarot cards, books on modern witchcraft and spellwork, smudge sticks, incense, and anything claiming to “cleanse the energy” in the room.

Some of this merchandise is cursed intentionally. A pretty rock isn’t the only thing you’ll be bringing home with you.

New Age ideas found in books and games beckon the naive down paths of evil masked as “spiritual awakenings” and guides to connecting to the universe and other energy sources, all of which are demonic.

At bare minimum, purchasing products from New Age shops funds groups that practice and champion the dark arts. For the same reasons, Christians should avoid reading horoscopes or purchasing anything in that vein.

Why it matters

Isn’t it interesting that many of the things we associate with occultism and New Ageism, which is just a gateway drug to the occult, are not only part of nature but specifically the most ethereal parts of nature?

Ice tundras, scorching deserts, and mosquito-ridden swamplands do not embody the dark arts. But prismatic crystals, radiant celestial bodies, and deep, mysterious forests — things that are so striking they seem to exude the supernatural, because they do — these specifically we associate with witchcraft.

This is no accident.

Satan uses beauty — the very trait that defined him before his fall — to attract and ensnare. The most sublime elements of nature can be a kind of bait that draws people in. Anyone with an affinity for nature or metaphysics is especially at risk.

That’s why it’s common to see bohemians, naturalists, hippies, and the like gravitate toward the New Age. However, what begins as innocent curiosity, a desire for meaning and connection, or just a simple wow, that’s beautiful can set people on a path of consorting with the demonic. And before they know it, the jaws of dark magic are closing around them.

Further, nature isn’t just the game board on which the story of humanity plays out. Certainly there’s a practical side to oceans, mountains, and the moon, but these elements were also designed to reflect the nature of their Creator, who spoke them into existence, and elicit worship from the spectator.

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them? —Psalm 8:3-4

These words from King David capture a divine purpose of the natural world. He gazes at the sky, bears witness to God’s creativity, His beauty, and His love for mankind, and he responds in worship.

Stealing wonder

But Satan hates the worship of God. It’s fitting that he would steal and pervert the elements of nature likely to stir up that feeling of awestruck wonder: If this exists, there must be a higher power out there. Which, of course, is the point. The complexity and beauty of nature shout the name of the One who created it.

Occultism does indeed leadto a higher power, but not the highest power. Not the power that heals, redeems, and saves but the power that confuses, corrupts, and destroys.

Under Satan’s sinister influence, glittering stones hidden among clay and rock become untapped sources of power instead of reminders of God’s creativity and whimsy. Constellations become pathways to phony insight and introspection instead of evidence of God’s artistry and brilliant design for navigation. The moon becomes an object of worship instead of a great stabilizer in God’s spoken cosmos. The deep woods become a gathering place for witches instead of singers of God’s glory (1 Chronicles 16:33, Psalm 96:12).

Shouldn’t Christians have something to say about this?

Everywhere I see warnings to stay away from New Age ideas and paraphernalia. And that’s good. People need to be educated about this pitfall.

However, I see nothing regarding the flip side of that pitfall — the erroneous belief that certain elements of nature now belong to the occult. They don’t. They were stolen and repurposed for evil, and I, for one, want them back.

Taking back beauty

On the darkest night when no moon can be seen, I know it’s still there in the exact same place it’s always been. I know that as it waxes and wanes, it’s not really changing its form. This is what I mean when I say that God infuses nature with elements of Himself.

Though from my fixed, finite perspective, He may appear to change with the coming and going of seasons, the moon reminds me that God is constant always — fully present, fully perfect, fully God.

And when I look at crystals — their erratic yet somehow ordered structure — I can’t help but think about how the same God who parted seas, sent a great fish to swallow Jonah, and designed both the songbird and the anglerfish is the same logical, pragmatic God who gave Moses the Ten Commandments and invented mathematics. Beautiful, strange, mysterious, and evocative are both crystals and their Creator.

I’m also reminded of the New Jerusalem promised in Revelation 21 — a redeemed and holy city of pure gold surrounded by a wall made of layered stones, some of which are crystals.

“The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst” (Revelation 21:19-20).

Crystals and precious stones are quite literally reminders of God’s promise to create a new heaven and earth where toil, sickness, pain, and sin are forever defeated, but now that the occult has invented “crystal healing,” they’re off-limits to the very people who will inherit God’s redeemed Jerusalem? Now that moon rituals and dating parameters based on your “sign” exist, suddenly it’s taboo for Christians to marvel at certain elements of God’s creation?

I reject that.

I’m embracing my affinity for crystals, moons, and stars even if it means giving the “wrong impression.”

Ask me if I use my crystals for healing, and I’ll say, No, but let me tell you what will heal you. Ask me about my identity as a Libra, and I’ll tell you to Whom my identity is attached. Ask me about the sun and moon tattooed on my left arm, and I’ll point you to the Psalms.

I think it’s high time we stop retreating every time a new group sticks its flag in our territory.

FACT CHECK: No, The Moon Is Not The Same Size As The Sun And It Does Not Affect Reproductive Cycles

A post shared on X claims the Moon is the same size as the Sun and affects reproductive cycles. The moon is f*cking INSANE Exact same size as sun Gives off cold light We never see back of it Rotates like a wheel Inexplicable lunar waves Looks smaller on camera Affects reproductive cycles Has a map […]

How the 'Blaze Star,' some 3,000 light-years from Earth, will give naked-eye stargazers 'once-in-a-lifetime' thermonuclear event



It's not often that there are celestial events that are visible on Earth with the naked eye. However, such a cosmic "once-in-a-lifetime" event will happen very soon despite taking place some 3,000 light-years from Earth.

T Coronae Borealis – otherwise known as the Blaze Star or T CrB – is a binary system situated in the Northern Crown some 3,000 light-years from Earth. The system is comprised of a red giant and a white dwarf – a dead star about the size of Earth. The first recorded sighting of the T CrB nova was in 1217.

Through "relentless gravitational pull," the white dwarf strips hydrogen from the ancient red giant, which causes a buildup of pressure and heat. Once there is a critical level of pressure on the white dwarf, it triggers a massive thermonuclear explosion.

For T CrB, this explosive event reoccurs approximately every 80 years. The last such explosion happened in 1946. Based on observations of T Coronae Borealis, astronomers believe the Blaze Star is getting ready to explode again. The Blaze Star will remain intact after the explosion as opposed to a supernova which is a final explosion that ends a star's lifecycle.

Dr. Koji Mukai – a fellow astrophysics researcher at NASA Goddard – admitted, "Recurrent novae are unpredictable and contrarian. When you think there can’t possibly be a reason they follow a certain set pattern, they do – and as soon as you start to rely on them repeating the same pattern, they deviate from it completely. We’ll see how T CrB behaves."

However, some experts are saying that data is pointing to a possible explosion between now and September 2024.

Dr. Rebekah Hounsell – an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland – stated, "It's a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data. It’ll fuel the next generation of scientists."

The thermonuclear event is expected to be visible by the naked eye, and at about the same brightness as Polaris – better known as the North Star – the 48th-brightest star in the night sky. The celestial event is expected to be visible to the naked eye for less than a week.

NASA advises amateur stargazers to look for the Northern Crown – a horseshoe-shaped curve of stars west of the Hercules constellation.

To find T Coronae Borealis, start by locating two of the brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere: Arcturus and Vega. Draw an imaginary line between these stars, and along this line, you will locate Hercules and Corona Borealis.

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During The Total Solar Eclipse, Consider The Heavens

You can take time away from the chaos of daily life and absorb the majesty of it all, if only briefly.

Scientists make groundbreaking discovery of low-frequency gravitational waves that create ripples in the fabric of space-time, proving Einstein correct 100 years later



Scientists made a groundbreaking discovery of low-frequency gravitational waves that are likely from supermassive black holes that create ripples in the fabric of space-time.

In 1915, Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, in which he determined that the intense gravity of extremely massive objects warps the fabric of space-time. If these gargantuan objects collide with each other, then gravitational waves would be sent into the universe.

Gravitational waves were first discovered in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.

The LIGO defines gravitational waves as "ripples in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the universe.

"The strongest gravitational waves are produced by cataclysmic events such as colliding black holes, supernovae (massive stars exploding at the end of their lifetimes), and colliding neutron stars," the LIGO explains. "Other gravitational waves are predicted to be caused by the rotation of neutron stars that are not perfect spheres, and possibly even the remnants of gravitational radiation created by the Big Bang."

On Wednesday, scientists announced that they had finally discovered these elusive low-frequency gravitational waves – which likely confirms Einstein's theory made over 100 years ago. The discovery was made after 15 years of data collection.

Scientists from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves announced in a news release:

The groundbreaking discovery was made by scientists with the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) who closely observed stars called pulsars that act as celestial metronomes. The newly detected gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space-time — are by far the most powerful ever measured: They carry roughly a million times as much energy as the one-off bursts of gravitational waves from black hole and neutron star mergers detected by experiments such as LIGO and Virgo.

"These are by far the most powerful gravitational waves known to exist," said Maura McLaughlin – the codirector of the NANOgrav Physics Frontiers Center. "Detecting such gargantuan gravitational waves requires a similarly massive detector, and patience."

NEW Discovery of Gravitational Waves | NSF's Discovery Files www.youtube.com

"It's like a choir, with all these supermassive black hole pairs chiming in at different frequencies,” said NANOGrav scientist Chiara Mingarelli. "This is the first-ever evidence for the gravitational wave background. We’ve opened a new window of observation on the universe."

Scientists describe the low-gravitational waves as making a low-pitched "hum."

"Now that we have evidence for gravitational waves, the next step is to use our observations to study the sources producing this hum," said Sarah Vigeland of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, chair of the NANOGrav detection working group.

Scientists believe the source of the low-gravitational waves is supermassive black holes crashing into each other in a death spiral.

"Those black holes are truly colossal, containing billions of suns’ worth of mass," NANOGrav explained. "Nearly all galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have at least one of the behemoths at their core. When two galaxies merge, their supermassive black holes can meet up and begin orbiting one another. Over time, their orbits tighten as gas and stars pass between the black holes and steal energy."

Luke Zoltan Kelley, a theoretical astrophysicist at Northwestern University and NANOGrav, said it is possible that the low-gravitational waves could also be created by cosmic strings, dark matter, and primordial black holes that formed soon after the Big Bang.

Gravitational waves create a 'cosmic symphony' that scientists are tuning into www.youtube.com

The scientists were able to find the low-gravitational waves by data collected from 67 pulsars, basically turning these pulsars into a galaxy-wide telescope.

"They closely observed pulsars, the ultra-dense remnants of massive stars that went supernova," NANOGrav said. "Pulsars act like stellar lighthouses, shooting beams of radio waves from their magnetic poles. As the pulsars rapidly spin (sometimes hundreds of times a second), those beams sweep across the sky, appearing from our vantage point on Earth as rhythmic pulses of radio waves."

"The pulses arrive on Earth like a perfectly timed metronome," the statement read. "The timing is so precise that when Jocelyn Bell measured the first pulsar radio waves in 1967, astronomers thought they might be signals from an alien civilization."

Over the 15 years of analysis, the collision of massive cosmic bodies may have disrupted the arrival of the signals from the pulsars.

"And if that pulse is a little bit late or a little bit early, then we may be able to attribute that to a gravitational wave passing through," said Jeff Hazboun, an astrophysicist at Oregon State University and a member of the NANOGrav team.

"As a gravitational wave passes between us and a pulsar, it throws off the radio wave timing," according to Phys.org. "That’s because, as Albert Einstein predicted, gravitational waves stretch and compress space as they ripple through the cosmos, changing how far the radio waves have to travel."

NPR said, "What they found is a pattern of deviations from the expected pulsar beam arrival timings that suggests gravitational waves are jiggling space-time as though it's a vast serving of Jell-O."

Popular Mechanics noted, "And here’s the key: light travels through space at a finite speed. The flashes from a pulsar at a certain distance from Earth will always hit Earth at the same intervals, because it will always take the light the same amount of time to travel from there to here. But if there’s suddenly, say, more space between the pulsar and Earth, it will take the light longer to travel from there to here, and the clock-like timing will be thrown off."

Mingarelli declared, "What’s next is everything. This is just the beginning."

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Major Discovery of Loud Gravitational Vibrations Across The Entire Universe www.youtube.com

Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Getty Images

I’m breaking up with Barnes and Noble

One day, they stopped selling their cinnamon scones. Then I started noticing an uptick in crystals, tarot cards, and astronomy books.

Scientists believe they may have found a sign of possible life on Venus



A group of international scientists have unexpectedly detected phosphine in Venus' acidic clouds, a discovery that they say raises the possibility that life exists on the planet.

According to a press release by the Royal Astronomical Society, the team of scientists, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, detected the rare molecule using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii before confirming their discovery using 45 high-powered telescopes at a facility in Chile.

"In the end, we found that both observatories had seen the same thing — faint absorption at the right wavelength to be phosphine gas, where the molecules are backlit by the warmer clouds below," Greaves said about the findings, which are detailed in a Nature Astronomy report.

Once the molecule's presence was confirmed, researchers ran calculations to see if it could have been produced from natural processes on Venus, but so far haven't come up with an explanation.

"We've done everything we can, which is go through all the things that it isn't. We've thought of every possible mechanism, plausible or implausible, that could make phosphine and we cannot come up with any," one of the lead researchers, Clara Sousa-Silva of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Axios.

"Everything we can" reportedly wasn't an understatement, either. The Verge noted that researchers "modeled things like lightning strikes and meteors bombarding the planet's surface to see if such phenomena could produce the amount of phosphine they've seen" but that "so far, nothing matches up."

According to the press release, on Earth, phosphine is "only made industrially, or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments." In other words, there is no chemical or physical process that naturally produces phosphine — at least not one that we know of yet.

So, essentially, there is either some unknown geochemistry that is creating the phosphine, or life may actually exist on the planet.

Possible signs of life on Venusyoutu.be

"At some point, you're left with not being able to explain it. Except we do know of a strange way of making phosphine on terrestrial planets — and that is life," Sousa-Silva told the Verge.

The idea that life may exist on Venus seems absurd since the planet is quite literally a barren wasteland covered by thick clouds full of sulfuric acid.

"It is literally billions of times more acidic than the most acidic environment on Earth," Janusz Petkowski, an astrobiologist at MIT, said. The planet's surface temperature can get up to nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yet astronomers have mused for decades over the possibility that life exists there, ever since celebrity astronomer Carl Sagan and biologist Harold Morowitz proposed the idea in 1967. Now there may be more reason to suggest as much.

Though, even with the discovery of phosphine, life on Venus is far from a sure thing. At this point, it's not much more than a "hint," as even the Royal Astronomical Society admits.