John 4:23 says that "true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him."

Why do we worship? God instills in each of us a desire to worship Him.

However, since the beginning of history Satan has been working to taint our view of worship and take our eyes away from God and toward idols.

The most blatant example of idolatry in Scripture is in Daniel 3, where we read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The king of the nation where these three Jews were in exile had a giant gold statue of himself built. He decreed that everyone had to worship the statue or face a death sentence. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to turn their back on the true God, and were thrown in a furnace as a consequence. Only through God's mighty power were they not harmed.

Can we see examples of such idolatry today?

At the 2006 Emmy Awards, comedian Stephen Colbert called Hollywood the “belly of the beast” and all people involved “godless Sodomites.” Colbert was speaking in jest, but his words ring with frightening truths:

Most false worship we see today is not as blatant as bowing to a golden statue, but it may be even more prevalent than in Babylonian times:

We've all heard of ancient sorcery—witches and spirits, spells and demonic possession. But could it be true that sorcery is alive and well in our society today, and that we ourselves are being brought under its spell?

Just as the ancient Israelites were tricked into following the religions of the nations around them, so we are being tricked into compromising our faith.

In 1 Timothy 4:1, the apostle Paul warns Timothy and the Church that such sorcery and idolatry would happen:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

As we will see, the history of Hollywood's biggest stars is rife with accounts of such "seducing spirits." Even Socrates makes the connection between actors and possession:

In like manner, the Muse first of all inspires men herself...because they are inspired and possessed. They are simply inspired to utter that which the Muse impels them. For not by art or knowledge...do you say what you say, but by possession.ⁱ

A Brief Timeline of the Occult in Hollywood

1920s: Known as "the great lover," actor Robert Valentino and his wife Natasha were both involved in the occult. Natasha wrote many of the scripts that Robert acted in:

Every night Natasha would hold a séance, calling forth help from the spirit world in her creative undertaking. Then, pencil and paper in hand, she would go into a trance and start writing. After her outpourings were typed up they were bought to the set the next day and given to the director.ⁱⁱ

1930s: Actress Mae West, called a one-woman sexual revolution, the Queen of Sex, and even the Statue of Libido, once said this:

When I’m good, I’m very good. When I’m bad, I’m better.ⁱⁱⁱ

Her work helped topple the Biblical values of North America. West’s contact with the spirit world was responsible for producing the scripts that catapulted her into the movie scene. She let herself be used as a medium for spirits and would hold evenings of psychic readings.

West's psychic, Kenny Kingston, tells us that “When she was upset that no one had been able to come up with a script idea, she had walked about her room, saying, Forces, Forces, come to me and help me write a script. She would begin to hear voices and images, as the plot was revealed to her. Mae would summon stenographers to work with her around the clock, as she would lie in bed in a trance-like state, dictating as the spirits entered.”^iv

Peter Sellers.
Public Domain....

1950s: Lucille Ball was a famous film star in the 1940s, but chose to go back to TV acting in 1951 when a spirit spoke to her:

It was the spirit of actress Carole Lombard who guided Lucille Ball into taking a chance and accepting the offer to star in I Love Lucy. The glamorous comedian, who had died in an airplane crash in 1942, appeared to Lucy in 1951. Because Lucille Ball accepted the spirit’s urging to “take a chance, honey,” she made television history.^v

The greatest sexual icon of the 20^th century, Marilyn Monroe, was known for entering into deep trances. Kenny Kingston tells us that she would “draw attention from the spirit world, asking for their guidance,”^vi and Monroe herself said, “Jekyll and Hyde...more than two. I’m so many people. They shock me sometimes. I wish it was just me!”^vii

1960s: Peter Sellers, best known for his role in the Pink Panther film series, says this about acting:

It’s rather like being a medium and laying yourself wide open and saying, I want a character to inhabit my body or I want a character to take charge of me so that I can produce what I hope to produce.^viii

Recent Stars and the Occult

Occultism not only shaped early Hollywood, but continues as a common theme and practice today, as Robin Williams tells US Weekly:

Robin Williams in 2007.
Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Williams,_Robin_(USGov)_crop.jpg...

Yeah! Literally, it’s like possession—all of the sudden you’re in...you just get this energy that starts going. But there’s also that thing—it is possession...it is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where you really can become this other force.^ix

In the same article, author James Caplan says this:

With a gift for mimicry and improvisation that verged on demonic possession, Williams could even approach the artistry of his idol Jonathan Winters—a man whose genius took him, once or twice, over the edge into mental illness.^x

The Devil's Advocate director Taylor Hackford says this about actor Keanu Reeves:

Keanu is a very complex guy with lots of demons in him, and I was trying to tap and utilize that.^xi

Leo’s like a medium. He opens his body and his mind to receive messages coming from another person’s life.^xii

If these actors are this involved in the occult, what is coming out of the TV? What kinds of messages are these demons trying to portray to us?

One major attack Satan wants to wage is on our sexuality. Godly sexuality is an example of Christ and his Bride—the Church—and if our view of sex is distorted, our understanding of God’s love for us will be distorted as well.

Rekindle your understanding of Christ's love for you today by studying God's promises to you in Scripture.

Read about the Gnostic side of Hollywood in our next article

This article is adapted from False System of Worship. To find out more about the occult and Hollywood, get your copy of False System of Worship from our webstore.