In our times it is absolutely necessary for Orthodox Christians to acquaint themselves with various contemporary manifestations, in order to clearly determine their hostile nature and to protect themselves. Many science fiction books and films have appeared nowadays, which entice people with stories about the “war of the worlds” – about earth being invaded by aliens, who are usually depicted as being more intelligent and powerful than humans, who are hostile towards mankind, and are attempting to assimilate it. But… truth is stranger than fiction. Such a war of the worlds has existed for a very long time on a most realistic level, while the aliens – who appear not from other planets but from another world – are not Martians or travelers from other galaxies, but travelers from the closest unseen world that surrounds us, and they are called… demons. As portrayed in science fiction, these demons are truly of superior intelligence and powers in comparison to humans; they are hostile towards mankind and are attempting to conquer it.

These days we hear a lot about how man has polluted the environment with his technology, how mercilessly he is destroying the beauty and the harmony of the earth which God had created. Behind man stand the forces of evil, which passionately hate all of God’s creation and do their utmost to destroy it. But if the forces of evil show such great endeavor in destroying the physical world, one can imagine how much greater is their effort to spiritually destroy the crown of God’s creation – man himself!

All around us we see this terrible war of the worlds. In our times, together with the physical pollution of the environment, there has occurred an identical pollution of our spiritual environment. Modern music, art, fashion, mores – all are openly demonic. As the Holy Fathers had predicted – the demons are now openly living among people. To the same degree that the world has become infected with all sorts of viruses and microbes, which cause many illnesses and suffering among people, so people now suffer and perish from all sorts of spiritual viruses and microbes – the microbes of apostasy, neo-paganism, virulent anti-Christianity, and perversion far worse than in Sodom and Gomorrah.

But let us not despair, because all of this has been predicted 2,000 years ago in the Apocalypse; instead, let us try to uncover the enemy’s machinations in accordance with the saying: “Forewarned is forearmed.” Below we present excerpts from an article entitled “Reasons for young people’s interest in Satanism,” published in the “Orthodox newspaper for common people,” No. 2, 1999.

The philosophy of the “New Age,” whose symbol will be the Antichrist, – the philosophy of liberating one’s conscience for the purpose of sinning – is forcibly being imposed upon the mind of modern man. There is constant talk about a “new consciousness,” about “outdated moral values”; children in school are being continuously brainwashed into believing that their parents, as carriers of the old Christian morality, hinder them in promoting their own identity and “freedom of self-expression.” The massive campaign for “family planning” has been caused not by concern for the health of mankind, but to lure young people into the sin of sexual promiscuity as the most powerful means of demonizing individuals. And it is precisely such a “new person” – free from the pangs of conscience and totally subservient to the demons – who will be needed in the era of the Antichrist. The true agents of Satan are those who, in one way or another, promote the corruption of children – be it through sex education programs or by means of the newly fashionable occultism, which teaches children direct communion with the fallen spirits. It is for this reason that occult programs are now often populated by “bioenergetics specialists” (or sorcerers, to put it more simply and honestly). Demons, bold demons are roaming all over Russia, looking to see whom they can devour. (Note: The same can equally be said about America and other “enlightened” countries of the world.)

Utter corruption of morals has always been the result of falling away from God and becoming immersed in paganism (devil-worship), which was not only a refusal to obey the higher spiritual power and authority of the Creator (as was the case with Cain, for example), but also meant a complete liberation from all moral laws. However, in refusing to accept the moral norms that had been established by God and thus, to a certain degree, freeing itself from His guardianship, mankind invariably fell into bondage to other, completely opposing and antagonistic powers. These powers, as explained in the Holy Scriptures, are intelligent, but hostile to man, creatures from a parallel spiritual world – known as demons, who push men to commit the most heinous crimes.

The devil permitted everything, gave freedom to the basest passions; moreover, he passed himself off as the Architect of the universe, allowed all kinds of abominations, but for this he demanded to be honored and worshipped. And how could one not worship this great fighter for “human rights” to commit all manner of vile things, this liberator of the conscience from all the restraints that had been instilled into it by God? This philosophy of the liberation of the conscience for sinning, this philosophy of living only for the satisfaction of the flesh, was inculcated by the demons into social consciousness via two methods: first, by directly influencing every individual through the creation of a specific environment conducive to spiritual infection; and second, through their agents (mediums, healers, clairvoyants, and other sorcerers), i.e. people who are most open to demonic influence and who throughout the ages have performed the role of high priests in various demonic cults.

In our apocalyptic times, as in former times, interest on the part of today’s youth in occultism and Satanism is growing as a result of increasing alienation from God. The great majority of young people today, almost completely lacking in grace and infected by the spiritually poisonous environment, have become the demons’ victims. By exerting influence through social pressure and the video-screen, and with the help of various legal and secret organizations which finance the propaganda of godlessness, sex, violence, drugs, and rock music, the demons are attempting to destroy the final vestiges of moral barriers in the young generation. Lucifer and his cohorts know well that only by immersing young people in the abyss of sin can they take control over their minds and bodies. In this kind of situation, parents must engage in an exceptional spiritual labor of praying for their children.

Methods of the demonization (or zombification) of the individual

In modern society our children are targeted by an entire armada of satanic forces whose primary goal is to achieve total control over the consciousness and the body of the child, by depriving the child of spiritual grace and instilling in him a demonic influence. Let us attempt to indicate at least the major contemporary methods of the demonization, i.e. the zombification, of children.

(1) A widely used method of the inculcation of demonic influence is the so-called “healing” by a clairvoyant or healer, because the latter do all their manipulations exclusively with the power of the demons. Even those healers who operate under the guise of Orthodox symbolism and prayers are, nevertheless, conscious or unconscious sorcerers. When appealing to a healer for help, the grace of God leaves the one who has turned for healing to an enemy of God, while demons enter the patient through the “healer’s” efforts. Unfortunately many parents, failing to acquaint themselves with the position of the Church on this matter, make a fatal mistake by subjecting their child to the influence of a “popular healer,” sorcerer, or clairvoyant.

(2) Another method of zombification is the so-called “technetronic magic,” which makes use of computer and video games and television programs. The results of its effects on children can be seen quite readily, and much is currently being said and written about it by doctors and psychiatrists. Children become psychologically and spiritually ill as a result of extreme exposure to computer and video games, or movies containing violence and horror, and sometimes even after watching animated films. A foremost example of this is the sudden illness of over one thousand Japanese children as a result of watching the newest animated film “Pokemon” in 1998. The epileptic fits to which such a great number of children succumbed on the same day all over the land after watching the ill-starred movie clearly indicate the power of exerting influence by this method. Almost all of the children were later hospitalized in psychiatric clinics.

(3) The most powerful method of demonizing youth is so-called “sex education,” i.e. the spurring on of children to commit the mortal sins of fornication from a tender age. The governments of “enlightened” nations earmark huge sums of money for this purpose. The forces of evil that are trying to destroy Christian nations, and primarily Slavic nations as the carriers of Orthodoxy, know well that the sin of fornication deprives the individual of the grace of God and leads to some form of demonic possession. It is for this reason that the sins of fornication were always known as mortal sins. Children are corrupted by means of the best instrument of brainwashing – television, which shows erotic films that are geared to intensify sexual arousal and to spur people towards fornication. For this reason sexual contact between teenagers and subsequent abortions have today become the norm. The entire mass media is used today to persistently instill into social consciousness the idea that all sexual contacts (including sodomy) at any age and with any partner (including incest, pedophilia, and bestiality) are absolutely natural and normal. The only thing to be feared, – the corrupters assure us, – is AIDS, and in order for young people not to be afraid of AIDS and to engage freely in sin – various means of contraception are taught and made readily available. Moreover, there is a constant psychological brainwashing of young people in terms of trying to destroy their conscience and the natural feeling of modesty which God has given to every person as an aid in the difficult struggle against sin. It is with this goal in mind that schools are including “sex education” as part of their curriculum.

(4) A very successful method used in demonizing young people is contemporary (occult) music. It is well-known that all shamans – whether they live in Africa, Asia, or Siberia, – who establish contact with the fallen angels, and also all the Satanists who live in “civilized” countries, make use of special dances during the rites of sacrifice or in summoning the evil spirits. The music, the rhythms, and the vibrations of these magical dances provide the demons with easier access into a person, “hook up” the person to satanic energy, so-to-speak. The behavior of young people during rock concerts and, most importantly, after the concerts shows quite clearly the important role played by rock music in the demonization of the individual. Many researchers note that all the types of rock music which our young people are so crazy about are based on the rhythms of African shamans – Satanists.

(5) Another useful method in providing access for the demons is the active narcotization of young people, which is condoned by the power structures of our and the Western governments. It has been established that sorcerers all over the world go into a trance with the aid of narcotics, which facilitate considerably their contact with the world of the fallen angels.

(6) Yet another method of zombification of the youth, which has been well-tested in America and in the West, is the use of occult Eastern doctrines and practices based upon the Vedanta and the Cabbala. Into this category also fall the methods of American Indian devil-worshippers, which have become known in Russia through the translation of the works of the notorious Satanist Carlos Castaneda. These methods are successfully used to catch the souls of intellectuals who are intuitively searching for the meaning of existence. However, instead of discovering divinely-revealed Truth, they are being entrapped with occult knowledge, which lures them with the promise of attaining paranormal abilities and becoming, if not completely god-like, then at least superhuman. This method, tested on our forebears by the tempter Satan, continues to work successfully throughout the millennia.

The source of the ancient occult knowledge contained in the mystical works of Vedanta and Cabbala are the demons, who in all the ages have found within the human environment appropriate mediums for transmitting pseudo-spiritual knowledge to mankind. That same foul source (the demons) also fed the esoteric books of the American Indians and of all the teachers of Hindu mysticism and occultism. With the aid of occult initiations and various meditative practices and yoga exercises (for example: pranayama, mantra-yoga, and others), the demons implant themselves into a person and take control over him, and then use him to ensnare other people.

(7) For those who seek God, the demons have come up with a successful trap in the form of various charismatic sects. “Do you wish to be a true Christian?” they ask. “Do you wish to be filled with the Holy Spirit like the apostles? Then welcome to our charismatic ‘church’! No sooner will we place our hands on your head and read appropriate prayers, than the Holy Spirit will descend upon you, and you will begin speaking in an unknown tongue, or you will weep, falling down on the floor, or perhaps, on the contrary, you will burst into uncontrollable laughter, or you will roll on the floor in convulsions. All of these are visible signs of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon you,” – thus teach the charismatics. Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned manifestations clearly indicate the moment when one or several demons enter into a person. A person who becomes possessed will never again, for the most part, be able to accept true Christian teaching, since his powers of reasoning will be securely blocked by the demons.