Here you’ll find information about Catholic Occultism as found and promoted on this website. I took the liberty of formatting as a FAQ in hopes of making the information as clear and accessible as possible:
What is Catholicism?
Catholicism is the religion that Jesus of Nazareth founded during his earthly ministry.
What is Occultism?
Occultism comes from the Latin word occultus, -a, -um, meaning “secret” or “hidden.” The word properly refers to knowledge that’s hidden from view. Occultism may be considered “esoteric” (inner, not commonly known) to distinguish from the more familiar “exoteric” aspects of religion (outer, commonly known).
What is Catholic Occultism?
The term “Catholic Occultism,” as used on this website, refers strictly to those spiritual concepts and practices (and foundations for practices) that are found within historic, orthodox Catholicism but are not in view of the average layperson.
What are the Sources of Catholic Occultism?
As one can glean from the book The Magic of Catholicism, the sources of Catholic Occultism are the same as the sources of the Catholic religion: the Bible, the Creeds, the Church Fathers, the Ecumenical Councils, the Writings of Mystics and Saints, the Manuals (seminary textbooks), the Liturgy, Catholic devotions, and Papal Decrees. These sources are read side-by-side with the “scientific paradigm” known and understood by the Medieval Church (four elements, seven planets, twelve signs, herbal and other knowledge available at the time).
Can Catholic Occultism be Separated from Catholic Theology?
No. One cannot properly be a Catholic Occultist unless one has proper Catholic Faith. Theology is “faith seeking understanding,” therefore the possession and understanding of the Catholic faith is the prime requisite of a Catholic Occultist.
Can a Non-Catholic Incorporate Elements of Catholic Occultism?
Yes. While one must be a Catholic in order to be a Catholic Occultist properly speaking, one does not have to be Catholic in order to incorporate specific elements or practices of Catholic Occultism into his or her own system.
Can Catholic Occultism be Separated from Catholic Moral Teaching?
No. While Catholic Occultists may question one or other aspect of the Moral Teaching, the fact remains that the Moral Teaching as a whole is the practical application of the Theological Teaching, from which Catholic Occultism cannot be separated.
Is Catholic Occultism Compatible with Modern Catholicism?
Modern post-Vatican II Catholicism (also called “Novus Ordinarianism”) prefers a more secular and “social” approach to religion, turning its eye away from mysticism, esotericism, and private devotion. This means that while individuals have been able to practice Catholic Occultism while operating within a post-Vatican II framework, the “Spirit of Vatican II” itself is not 100% compatible with Catholic Occultism.
Is Catholic Occultism Compatible with Traditional Catholicism?
Catholic Occultism is a product of pre-Vatican II Catholicism, meaning it is compatible with Traditional Catholicism and most compatible with pre-Tridentine Catholicism.
Is Catholic Occultism Compatible with Protestantism or Eastern Orthodoxy?
Catholic Occultism may be compatible with other Christian traditions (i.e. Protestantism, Orthodoxy, “Ecclesiastical” Gnosticism) in some areas but not in others, determined by those areas in which Catholicism and the other denominations agree, and the extent to which they agree.
Is Catholic Occultism Compatible with Other Forms of Occultism?
Aspects of Catholic Occultism may be compatible with other forms of Occultism when the other stream is not at variance with Catholic theology. The less theological variance, the more compatibility, and vice versa.
Is Catholic Occultism Compatible with Thelema, Chaos Magic, or Neo-Paganism?
Absolutely not. Thelema, Chaos Magic, Neo-Paganism, and their variants assume a worldview that diverges irreconcilably from that of Catholicism, not to mention they draw from different “spiritual currents” (as their language would put it) and reject central doctrines of the Christian faith entirely.
Is Catholic Occultism Conservative or Liberal?
Catholic Occultism is politically agnostic while being theologically conservative. Within the boundaries of this website, we endorse no political party, social position, or platform. As Occultism in general is a process of growth and attaining balance, the serious Catholic Occultist generally seeks to avoid becoming entangled with extremism on either side of the spectrum.
Does Catholic Occultism Accept or Reject Pope Francis?
As with politics, Catholic Occultism is likewise agnostic about the “Sede” question, acknowledging the Sedeplenist, Sedeprivationist, and Sedevacantist positions as probable opinions one may hold in a time of ecclesiastical crisis. The individual Catholic Occultist is free to come to his or her own opinions about Pope Francis I, Benedict XVI, or any other post-Vatican II pontiff in particular or the post-Vatican II “Novus Ordo Church” in general.
Does Catholic Occultism Incorporate Magic?
Yes, with the word magic defined as “Applied theology, in essence the practical use of revealed knowledge – whether revealed through public or private revelation – of the nature of Creator and creature, of the celestial and infernal hierarchies, of the order of nature, and their play upon each several plane of existence, the application being directed towards the manifestation of the operator’s intentions.”
If Magic is “Applied Theology,” Why Does the Church Reject the Word?
Exoteric Catholicism has always defined the word differently, with various textbooks commonly defining magic as “explicit or tacit invocation of demons” or “wonderworking by means of the devil.” Such practices are more properly referred to as Goëtia or Goëtry, and are rejected by the serious Catholic occultist as well.
What is an Example of the Magic Practiced within Catholic Occultism?
The Catholic Occultist commonly prays the Rosary, meditates on the Bible (Lectio Divina), has a devotion to the Blessed Mother, Guardian Angel, and/or a Patron Saint, attends the Mass, and follows a prayer schedule working with either the Raccolta or another traditional prayer book, or prayers of their own design.
How is the Above any Different from Exoteric Catholicism?
Unlike the exoteric Catholic, the Catholic Occultist pursues his or her practice with conscious awareness of the spiritual principles behind each word and action. The Catholic Occultist is also not afraid to engage with spiritual teaching or practice from other periods of Church history (to which the average exoteric Catholic would be either uncomfortable or unaware), or to make a sober analysis of “wheat versus chaff” in non-Catholic systems.
Can a Catholic Occultist Incorporate Non-Catholic Material?
Yes, so long as the material is practical not doctrinal, the material is compatible with Catholic faith and practice, and all theology governing the material is either realigned or rejected before incorporation. This is within the guidelines of then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s 1989 letter covering the reconciliation of Christian and non-Christian methods of spirituality.
What Is the Goal of the Catholic Occultist?
The ultimate goal of the Catholic Occultist is the same as the ultimate goal of the Catholic Mystic: theosis or divinization. Both paths use many of the same fundamentals and methods, while appealing to different types of personalities.
How Would a Person Become a Catholic Occultist?
A person is eligible to become a Catholic Occultist the moment he or she receives the Sacrament of Baptism. The rest is a matter of choosing to walk this path, followed by diligence in study and practice.
What Is the First Thing an Aspiring Catholic Occultist Should Read?
While Catholic Occultists tend to come to their practice differently, the first book we would recommend is The Magic of Catholicism: Real Magic for Devout Catholics (Brother A.D.A., 2015), which lays out the concept of Catholicism as a magical system, discusses its initiations and practices, and gives a clear framework for beginning one’s own practice.
What Is the First Thing an Aspiring Catholic Occultist Should Do?
The aspiring Catholic Occultist should make a habit out of studying his or her faith, reading the Bible, praying the Rosary, and going to Mass, making a conscious effort to understand the spiritual processes involved in all of these to the best of his or her ability, and learning how to interact with these processes for their spiritual benefit. The aspiring Catholic Occultist would also do well to cultivate a devotion to the Blessed Mother, a Patron Saint, and the Guardian Angel, and seek to live a moral life to the best of his or her ability.
What Else Can an Aspiring Catholic Occultist Do to Get Started?
While again, Catholic Occultists tend to get their start from different sources, reading over this website, the THAVMA blog, and the entries in this website’s Free .Pdf Library can only help the aspiring Catholic Occultist begin his or her journey.
THAVMA: Catholic Occultism and Magic in General 
I’m very interested in magic,but very committed to serving Jesus. .would live to learn more
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Hello there!
The very essence of being a “Christian magician” is being one who’s dedicated to serving Jesus, in fact with out this service, the very notion of a Christian magician would be impossible.
I’d like to recommend this short video that addresses some of the key issues Christians are raised to have with magic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJmSx5F9vt0&t=152s
For more information, we discuss these issues fully in Is Magic Wrong? which is available for free on our main page.
If there’s any way I can help, or any questions you’d like me to answer, please let me know,
Agostino
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You are my hero! I recently purchased your _Magic of Catholicism_ book and I love it! I have been looking for and/or working out a magical system that I could use without compromising my devotion to our Faith. I love magic, but I also love the Catholic Church even more. So I wasn’t about to become Wiccan or Pagan in order to do magic; and in comes your book! I have most of your publications and I love them all.
Thank you so much for giving the possibility of working magic and enhancing the orthodoxy of the Catholic faith in the process. You have no idea how much you have helped me!
Brightest Blessings upon you, Father!
Nicholas
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Hey there,
I’ve dabbled with magic and two years later these spirits revealed themselves and were evil. For the past two years I’ve been trying to get rid of them in my home and they still won’t go. Any tips for banishing evil spirits?
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Hi Catherine! There’s a lot that can be done, and for me the first step being diagnosing the type of entity how it’s operating. Without knowing more, I’d recommend getting an exorcist in there to diagnose/clear out the immediate problem and get you some breathing room at the very least.
In the meantime, what kinds of things have the entities been doing and what banishing techniques have you been using? Feel free to shoot me an email at agostino@thavmapub.com if you’d like.
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I have been struggling to get an exorcist have spoken to x3 Priests but they cannot be bothered to take me seriously. x2 of 3 priests did only x1 house blessing and unwilling to follow-up explore options. So kinda stuck. I’ve said deliverance prayers + home cleansing prayers but it comes and goes with the bad spirits. At the end of the day it’s not up to a lay person to handle this. 😦 Thanks for your reply and reaching out. 🙂
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Your site has a lot of interesting information. I love it. I’m also a fan of your YouTube channel. Thank you for all the research and articles you post.
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Thank you!
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CORRECTION FROM LAST REPLY “shouldn’t for should on the last line sorry!!!”
Crowley’s so-called “Gnostic Mass”: since Crowley was into animal sacrifice, discussing using children’s blood in ceremony , let a few of his mountaineer buddies die while on a mountain , and helped ruin peoples life’s through drug addiction for starters why would you even consider his views on anything else, someone that sick? It would have saved life’s if someone took him out while a young man, maybe sacrifice him since he seemed into this so much, would have been fun to do! 🙂 Maybe you should discus how anybody practicing magic shouldn’t do blood sacrifice with Animals of Humans hmmmmm?? Or they might run into people like me who would be the incarnation of Satan him self upon them and well …… wouldn’t be a good day for them if I caught doing any thing that !!!! I had these so called black magicians do bad spells on me before around my area.. I asked them to do it on purpose to show them how it just comes back on them, One man had a heart attack. They have since moved away since recovering, won’t take my calls or emails LOL Nothing bad happened to me only good! I also put challenges out to these frauds called mediums or Psychics in my area for big bucks if they could tell me things about myself that was specific, no takers. You sir should do a blog about how your group of buddies SHOULDN’T do animal sacrifice, mess with kids or harm the earth or some heads could roll!
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Greetings, John!
Rest assured, I have no love for Crowley or the so-called “Gnostic Mass.” You needn’t look far on this blog for evidence of that fact. Rather, I was answering a question put to me about the subject. Last I checked, research is part of giving an intelligent answer.
I’m always on the lookout for new subjects to write about, and am taking your suggestions under advisement. Thanks!
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Didn’t mean to be so aggressive about his. I myself, I’m a Catholic Mystical type into consciousness surviving death and Hindu type mediation, and things of this sort. . i would say I’m not alone with these evil POS who practice and type of sacrifice on any living thing. And lest not forget the baby murders in the abortion industry who i hear sell baby parts to groups in the black occult for ceremony and who knows what else and we know what political party backs this. All of this goes against anything Jesus taught with many other regions , and just isn’t going to be tolerated in this day in time without extreme push back. That’s why i challenged the black magicians with the power of the holy spirit with me.
I listen and read lots by you. You are a good soul and an expert in your discipline . I never heard of anyone more knowledgeable then you on the occult, spiritualism , the catholic church, and history in general. Your delivery and intelligence is unmatched. I would love to have a person like you here in Maryland who had an independent Catholic Church. I would be your first member. You’re a good egg lol That’s why IMO you have an obligation to point out the evils of Mr. Crowley and people like him. This is not an individual anyone IMO would want to follow. By the way, i emailed Skeptico web site and asked that they might interview you on Skeptico. You would be great! I heard you on Glitch Bottle and you blew my mind. I always knew since a kid that the Catholic Mass was a special good magical ceremony. I love it! Keep up your great work!
john
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Oh sorry, I fat finger everything! Maybe have an edit option on the messages?
john
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By the way ,great book based on science, with regards to life after death spirits ghosts etc …. excellent! I think the author has it ! That and the Holographic Universe .
Ghost Physics: Compelling Evidence for a New Theory
by J C Knight
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John, if we go by my inbox and the like/share ratio of my social media posts, I’m 99.9% certain there’s a massive backlash coming against the poison coming from the “Crowley side” of modern occultism’s family tree. I’ve encountered a lot of frustration, and a lot of people who went through that “phase” and then grew out of it. All I need to do is drop a post about Crowley or the OTO every now and then, because they’re more or less doing a good job of discrediting themselves in the eyes of anyone who isn’t a 14-year old rebelling against their parents.
Funny thing is that when I was coming up, Crowley was a laughing stock and certainly not someone held up as an example to emulate. When I came back to the occult community after leaving active ministry, it seems his face is everywhere now. I still don’t understand what happened, but can hope that the fact his followers are more out in the open will help sunlight be the best disinfectant (sooner or later).
Thank you for your kind words, though I’m afraid I’ve never heard of Skeptico. Will have a look at them and see if they send an email about interviewing.
FWIW I’m currently training a candidate for the priesthood in Maryland, may be awhile before he’s ready though. Will keep you posted.
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OH GREAT WITH MARYLAND!!!!! I live very close to Annapolis on the Severn River. LOL talk about haunted locations; with all the history here its loaded!!!! I would love to talk with him! You should take a trip out and stay in downtown Annapolis great spot! Best food and beer and the world. The have a very old Catholic Church there and college St Johns and St Marys; you wouldn’t know it by how people vote here but Maryland was more or less the first Catholic State in the union. I love much of the faith but the pope needs to go! A commie IMO. My email listed in not my main one. I can give it out to you if needed, don’t worry I;m not as nutty as my posts lol
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Here is the web site, some nice stuff on it, way below. The guy who runs it is a good person but a bit of an anti-christian to an extent, but he’s more or less equates that with fundamentalism Christianity which is a bit nutty in some aspects. Nice stuff on NDE research and consciousness which is what i believe Christ taped into just like a Hindu Yogi to an extent. By the way, been reading a lot on the gospel of Thomas and his church in India and how Christ might have visited it, neat stuff. I love how they combined Yogi Meditation and ancient Christianity which was pure magic IMO.
Oh Crowley ,yea the OTO is full of the faint residue types and off spring from the 60’s I believe , lost souls!! Golden Dawn a little better;anyway, you are the man IMO with regards to what your into and your knowledge. I still listen to you podcasts, mind blowing. My aunts and family from Pittsburgh were very mystical Catholics like you. They lived to be over 100 oldest steelers fans at one time in the USA. Anyway, one time my grandad had some issue and if kept coughing he would have died for some reason. My aunts went to his hospital room and did some mystical type Catholic chant or prayers and it stopped the coughing. The doctors couldn’t explain it. I had the same type thing happen to me with Hepatitis C ten plus years ago. I had a blessed gold crucifix my wife gave me ; i still have it on. My Hep C went away with min treatment. The doctors couldn’t explain it. I had a few supernatural experiences myself, psychic dreams that came true experiences with ghosts i would call it, same with my wife. I still do with perfume smells. My uncle Walt too; direct blood to Jim Thorpe was a true Psychic back in the day as my dad said. He never made a dime off of it. His eyes actually sparkled when I looked at him as a kid. I loved him so much, still do. Again , sorry i came across ruff and ready but blood sacrifice stuff and late term abortion is just something i feel so strong about and its plain sick and evil. Got to say love Harry Potter too lol !
You’re a true GEM , great human!!! inspirational to me. Oh Oh , I have an alter set up in my room. A rock cross from stone out of Israel, two crystal angles beside it which came from a wiccan shop in Lewes DE, Mandy’s Mystical Store love her! A Mother Mary statue besides that at one end from Ireland, and on the other a small statue of Christ with a Lion and a lamb, laying down together, wow! I’m Irish Catholic , been there a bunch of times very magical place Ireland is. Forgive my fat fingers , i can’t type worth a crap. Keep in touch! Try the Skptico site , check it out ;you can email Alex from it . He’s out of south CA. My sister lives in south Ohio by the way, born again types;you should hear the arguments I have with her WOW!
https://skeptiko.com/
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This section of quick answers to long questions is fantastic, thank you!
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May a non-baptized person use catholic blessings to for example, make Holy Water or to bless a Rosary?
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Greetings! I’ve never been asked this question before, so everything I’m saying is a semi-educated guess; please don’t take this as a hard-and-fast assertion. A non-baptized person can read the book and say the words, but baptism is the required initiation into the Catholic “current” that makes the blessing work.
A non-baptized person may hope the blessing works in spite of their lack of baptism, because God’s energies are not limited by the Sacraments (God answers the prayers of the unbaptized, for example), but since a non-baptized person is not a member of the Church by definition, there’s no expectation of assistance from the channel of “praesertim operante ecclesia,” and the result would likely be the operator’s piety/sincerity paired with a question of rolling the dice and taking one’s chances.
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Oh. Well, I’m currently 13 and my parents hate Catholicism and idk what to do.
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I bought a combat Rosary on Amazon but I can’t buy your book
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Hi Frater Djeser,
I am not sure if I am allowed to post a reply to you in this website area, so I apologize in advance if this is not allowed. I was touched by your remark that you are !3, unbaptized, and that your parents hate Catholicism. I have helped many young people who are in similar circumstances. God is merciful and knows your deepest heart. You will not be 13 forever. Spend the next few years going deeper into your prayer life. I know a young man who is secretly making his own Holy Water at home as he is not allowed to go to the Church. He derives great comfort from using this Holy Water every day. You have bought a rosary and can now pray with it. Why are you not able to get the book by Agostino Taumaturgo that you want from Amazon? Is it that you do not have the money, or is it that your parents will not allow the book to be in the house? Please let us know and we will try to help you.
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