“Our technological and secularized world is full of magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of spells and amulets, and unfortunately real satanic sects. Chased out the door, the devil has come back, one might say, through the window. Chased out of faith, he returns with superstition. And if you are superstitious, you are unconsciously dialoguing with the devil.” —Pope Francis

Big Atheism has failed. The three-headed monster of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens published countless tomes mocking the idea of God as their acolytes in the media gleefully predicted a tidal wave of atheism submerging the tallest spires of Christendom. 

The great wave, however, ebbed into nothingness. In 1970, Pew reported that atheists made up 3% of the American population. By 2023, that number was 4%. It turns out that convincing people they are an accidental speck on a desolate rock hurtling through meaningless space is a tough sell. 

In short, the dominance of pure materialism failed to … materialize.

But that doesn’t mean Christianity has won. Around 30% of Americans are now considered “nones,” the vast majority of whom are “spiritual but not religious.” They don’t look to the Church and therefore delve into dark areas.

We have seen moments like this before.

Lies, Larks and Lures

At the dawn of the 20th century, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution loosened the hold of the Christian imagination on the Western mind. All manner of ideologies, visions and creeds rushed to fill that void.

While many embraced atheistic materialism, rationalism and eugenics, others, suspecting there was more to this world than mere survival of the fittest, employed tarot cards, astrology and alchemy. Some, including the great poet William Butler Yeats, spelunked into a dangerous world of mysticism.

Interest in Freemasonry increased. Fringe elements sought knowledge in the Rosicrucians or organizations such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Even G.K. Chesterton admitted to having “dabbled” in Spiritualism around that time, employing a Ouija board. He later warned against spiritualism, writing:

The only thing I will say with complete confidence, about that mystic and invisible power, is that it tells lies. The lies may be larks or they may be lures to the imperiled soul or they may be a thousand other things; but whatever they are, they are not truths about the other world; or for that matter about this world.

Yeats’ involvement stemmed from his rejection of modernity’s reliance on rationalism. He resented that secular philosophies blinded many to beauty, mystery and meaning.

“Descartes, Locke, and Newton took away the world and gave us its excrement instead,” he wrote in his diary.

Aleister Crowley, the Occultist’s Occultist

Yeats once battled the 20th century’s most infamous occultist for control over the Golden Dawn. Aleister Crowley wore a kilt, a cape and a black mask of the god Osiris over his face as he strode onto Blythe Road in Hammersmith, London looking to battle Yeats. A long dagger sheathed in his hip, the odd and dangerous man wore a massive cross of gold or gilt on his chest. Pagan talismans hung from his belt.

Make no mistake, this was no mere fraternal dabbling in the occult or giggling LARPers with wands. Yeats called the organization “his church and his university.” For him, the pursuit of mysticism was a pursuit of eternal truth.

He suspected, however, that Aleister Crowley joined to exploit “magick” for his own dark purposes. Yeats rallied the members of the group against Crowley. The road to this occult encounter had been lengthy and intense. The two swirled around one another as Crowley called out “Demon est Deus Inversus,” which was Yeats’ secret name in the order. It meant, “Demon is an inverse God.”

Crowley’s secret name was “Perturabo,” meaning “the one who will endure.” Yeats implored unseen beings to come to his aid. Crowley threw himself through the door, only to be reportedly kicked down the stairs by Yeats. Some historians argue that the actual kick didn’t occur, but to be sure, an ego-bruised Crowley found himself at the bottom of the stairs, invoking Beelzebub to seek vengeance.

A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing

Yeats may have emerged victorious in the Battle of Blythe Road but Crowley may won a more important war. The man who came to be known by the press as “the wickedest man in the world” bounced about the globe.

After authorities chased him from Italy, he headed across the ocean toward New York City where he gained a dark cadre of followers.

In a project he called “The Amalantrah Working,” Crowley, in April 1904, claimed to encounter a being from another world named Aiwass, which guided him to create a new religion called Thelema. This being dictated a new religion to him with the mantra: “‘Do what thou wilt’ shall be the whole of the law.”

Crowley predicted that Christianity would soon be toppled and discarded. He wrote, “That religion they call Christianity; the devil they honour they call God. I accept these definitions, as a poet must do, if he is to be at all intelligible to his age, and it is their God and their religion that I hate and will destroy.”

Among other notables, Crowley fraternized with author Aldous Huxley; Alfred Adler, one of the fathers of modern psychology; children’s writer Roald Dahl; and L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

Crowley’s work and reputation has not merely endured but grown since his death in 1947. His life and work played a role in the literary work of William S. Burroughs. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Timothy Leary and countless others referenced him.

The occultist’s books continue to sell. A BBC poll in 2002 listed Crowley as the 73rd Greatest Briton of All Time, beating out both Geoffrey Chaucer and JRR Tolkien.

“One thousand years from now,” Crowley once wrote, “the world will be sitting in the sunset of Crowlianity.”

Sheep Without a Shepherd

The argument could be made that Crowley’s perverted mantra dominates our culture today. Thelema’s motto could be the banner under which modern Western civilization marches. Slogans like “Live your truth” and “You do you” offer the same message as Thelema’s “‘Do what thou wilt’ shall be the whole of the law.”

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Crowley’s morals, which were too offensive for a group of occultists in the early 20th century, are now mainstream.

Witchcraft and other New Age practices are growing. The New York Times just last year published a piece touting “6 Terrific Witchy Y.A. Novels.” Yale’s Divinity School recently coerced students to read from a “spell” as part of its Fall Orientation.

The University of Arkansas Honors College recently described their course on witchcraft by saying, “Magic is real … it empowers the marginalized to insist on revolution, and helps to explain the yet unexplained. … We will position magic as a meaningful cultural practice … while working with non-human beings to manage increasing concerns over social inequity, global economic insecurity and distrust.”

“Non-human beings?”

Publications and news outlets have covered this movement without criticism. TikTok’s #WitchTok community currently has 6.8 million posts. Modern celebrities often flash occult symbols at fans. Several celebrities reportedly practice witchcraft. Ghost-hunting shows play on numerous cable stations with people cavalierly interacting with spirits.

These people wander dark paths without the light of the one true faith to guide them. They eschew a loving God who died on the cross for their sins for an “energy” that doesn’t challenge their morals. In short, theirs is a religion that believes “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”

Christians, Be Who You Are

Some of the blame must be leveled at the media, but the Church must accept some blame as well.

English historian Tom Holland recently wrote:

Rather than speaking with the voice of prophecy, rather than explaining to a grieving and anxious people how the dead will rise into the blaze of eternal life, rather than proclaiming the miracles and mysteries that they uniquely exist to proclaim, church leaders seem to have opted instead to talk like middle managers. … People want the supernatural, they want the strange, they want what they don’t get out of a Labour Party manifesto.

Parishioners in the pew today are likely to hear sermons that sound more like college orientation lectures about inclusiveness than wild tales about miracles, resurrection and martyrs.

We explain away miracles like the multiplication of loaves and fishes and treat the Holy Eucharist and the Mass flippantly.

"For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound,” St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:8, “who shall prepare himself to the battle?”

Catholicism, with its mystery and epic battles between good and evil, needs to call wayward souls home with a “certain trumpet.”

As the world confuses us about what a woman is or what human life is, it is the Church’s otherness and steadfast truth-telling that will attract those looking for a firm foundation in the ever-shifting sands.

We are the Catholic Church. We believe in prayer. We ask for intercession from saints long dead. We expect miracles. We call on angels and seek protection from demons. We examine prophecies. We adore and receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. We believe in prodigal sons.

We must remember who we are — and call the world home.