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Role-Playing Games Gateway to Occult?
For years, I’ve railed against people who claim that role-playing games are a gateway to the occult. I mean, if you read articles by these pent-up Christians, you’ll see what I mean. Check out these articles as examples: Role-Playing Games & Popular Occultism.
The lynchpin of their arguments seems to ALWAYS go like this (almost word-for-word):
“These kids are easily drawn into occult groups through [role-playing] tournaments,” said Peter. “When kids transition from simulation — when they actually experience the POWER that is available to them through the rituals they are learning to perform under the guise of ‘fantasy’ — that power becomes like an addiction and they get hooked. But they don’t see that.”
“I could walk up to any of these teens who showed promise,” he continued, “and I could put my hand on their shoulder, look them in the eye and say, ‘If you get a rush from this, how would like to do it for real?’ No one has ever answered no.”
Anyway, I always thought this was the most tremendous crock of shit. That is, until I started reading sites like Barbelith, where people talk about using RPG’s as “hypersigils” and to do magickal workings. I’m curious as to how that type of thing got started: when did ritual magick actually start finding it’s way into role-playing games? It seems to me like a very recent development, although hysterical Christians would have us believe it was there all along.
I guess my other question is, for people who played RPG’s growing up, is that how you got into the occult? Did you ever find your self at some kind of convention when a mysterious stranger walked up to you and asked you if you’d like to “try the real thing”? It just seems totally goofy to me, but maybe it really does happen. I don’t know.
Just for the record, I never actually played role-playing games. Unless they were video games. I always thought it was kinda weird to sit around with a bunch of people and be like,
“My half-elf just chopped off your paladin’s nutsack!”
“You can’t do that, I just rolled a saving throw!”
Or some such shit. You get what I’m saying. It always just weirded me out. Never because I though the devil was gonna come swoop down or anything. I did always like to read the rule books and monster manuals though, even if I never actually played the game myself. In a way, I guess it’s exactly the same as I am today with occult stuff. I like to read the manuals, but it’s unlikely you’re going to find me running around casting spells.
While we’re on that website, may as well also take a look at this hilariously ironic Christian chart about how to resist brainwashing.
June 24th, 2005 at 3:18 pm
I did always like to read the rule books and monster manuals though, even if I never actually played the game myself.
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I still have those books. They were wonderfully imaginative and an aboluste blast to read even though I never played thegame.
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While we’re on that website, may as well also take a look at this hilariously ironic Christian chart about how to resist brainwashing.
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You might also enjoy Hugh Ross’ exhaustive guide to the Characteristics of a Blasphemer (scroll down from link - sample text follows):
1. Consistently displays insubordination; refuses to submit to authority.(1 Sam 15:23)
1. Mocks God’s messengers. (2 Chron. 36:16)
1. Scoffs at God’s prophets (those who expose sin). (2 Chron. 36:16)
1. Despises God’s Word. (2 Chron. 36:16)
1. Claims that God does not see sin. (Ps. 10:3-11)
1. Has lost all fear of God. (Ps. 36:1)
1. Is controlled by his desire to sin. (Ps. 36:1)
1. Insults those who attempt to restore him from disobedience. (Prov. 9:7)
1. Insists that his own way is the right way. (Prov. 12:15-16)
1. Refuses to go to wise people for counsel. (Prov. 15:12)
1. Knowingly justifies wicked men and knowingly condemns righteous men. (Prov. 17:15)
1. Vigorously propounds worldly philosophies. (Prov. 18:2 & Eccl. 10:12-15)
1. Thinks he is pure (rejects the truth about himself). (Prov. 30:12)
1. Intentionally calls evil good and good evil. (Isa. 5:20)
1. Consistently ignores God’s call to repentance.(Isa. 22:12-15)
Sounds good - sign me up!
June 24th, 2005 at 3:43 pm
or try The Advanced Bonewits’Cult Danger Evaluation Frame 2.0.i don`t know how to provide it as an active link,but if you google it you`ll find it.similar giggle factor to the above.it is frightening how gordian a knot this type of thinking is.i grew up with this logic flying at the dinner table.it`s not mentally healthy.
June 24th, 2005 at 3:48 pm
alistair, to link something, just copy and paste the URL in, thats the easiest way. or you could highlight some text you type and hit “link” in the toolbox above. it will open a box for you paste in your URL. and thats it!
June 24th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
I began playing Dungeons & Dragons when I was 11. At the time I was already interested in fantasy and the weird, particualruy UFOs, bigfoot, loch ness, etc. I would say that ROPGs did lead me to develop some interest in the occult - I found that occult literature was full of interesting tidbits that I could use to improve my game! But I think it would be ridiculous to say that RPGs caused my interest in the occult. I think instead it was combination of natural curiosity and parents who encouraged honest intellectual exploration of all that interested me that did that.
I have been gaming consistently for almost twenty years now, and have met many, many gamers. I have been interested in the occult for about the same amount fo time, and have met many, many occultists. There is definitely overlap between the two, but I have never seena cause and effect relationship. The vast majority of gamers I know have no interest or belief in the occult, and the vast majority of occultists I know have no time or interest in playing games about elves and dragons.
June 24th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
RPG definitly prepared me for studying the things i study.
on many levels.
the concepts were there. i played more “futuristic” rpgs… not really Dungeons & Dragons, wizards and such.. i was more into aliens & beings with superpower..
i can easily see how somebody could think RPGs “evil” , i dont think they are evil, but they have strong occult themes & can be misused IMO..
personally, i dont play any games of “chance” anymore… no dice, no cards..
one
human?
June 24th, 2005 at 4:51 pm
Course the guys over on Barbelith can make ANYTHING all magical and hypersigil-ly. Never played them myself, but a buddy of mine was deep in RPG’s for a long while, past college, and he never got into occultic stuff… he’s about as straight laced as you can get… not that that means anything… just an observation.
June 24th, 2005 at 5:30 pm
Here’s another ridiculous essay about RPGs as Satanism.
I gamed a lot when I was younger and I do see superficial links. But correlation is not causation; what drew me to fantasy fiction and RPGs and what draws me to the occult is an underlying interest in the mysterious and the fantastical. Fanatics would have us channel all of that “wild” energy into preformatted constructs. Of course they put that shit down. Yuck.
June 24th, 2005 at 5:32 pm
I think that’s really the ticket here: correlation is not causation. nice summation.
June 24th, 2005 at 6:05 pm
I played lots of D&D and would still play it if I didn’t have better stuff to do, but I’m not sure whether the games do more harm or good. The big harm I see is that they reinforce cultural myths of domination — it’s all about increasing your killing power so you can exterminate “monsters” and steal their money so you can further increase your killing power. On the good side, they train us to imagine worlds that are much more alive than this hellscape. If I hadn’t read Tolkien and played D&D and certain computer games, I’d probably just wither away. It’s the vision of worlds like that, and the possibility of making them real, that keeps me going.
June 24th, 2005 at 9:51 pm
I think of it as participating in a group storytelling session, only the story just gets made up as you go along. And different people or groups tell different kinds of stories depending on what they need to express. So yeah, adolescent boys tend to tell hack-and-slash stories. In some ways it’s therapeutic, it’s each person casting him/herself in a hero role. Now that I’m older, my outlook has matured, and I participate in other forms of group storytelling … like commenting on blogs.
June 25th, 2005 at 1:10 am
Here’s a funny story… a few years ago we were at the Berkeley OTO lodge, around Christmas. There were a good thirty people in the lounge area, and this discussion came up, people arguing. So we took a poll- who here became interested in the occult through role-play games. I swear to god, almost every hand in the room went up (including a few of the lodge ‘intellectuals.’) So in an ironic way, they’re kinda right.
June 25th, 2005 at 1:14 am
BTW, I think it was “Mage” that started the whole magick as rpg shit. I played “Champions” for a bit, and paranoia, but could never stand the elf and fairy crap. Just couldn’t figure waiting for a zillion hours while everyone rolled dice to take a hit at some monster- over, and over, and over, and over…
June 25th, 2005 at 1:48 am
I also started playing D&D when I was eleven and it was much more than the model Ran suggests for me and my little gang of felons.
This initial lure of ego enhancement was certainly strong but it became more than that; D&D for us was a complex social interaction that lasted well over sixteen years. One particular campaign went on for seven years. The game met many needs of our social group and formed strong and enduring friendships. It fostered creativity and served as an outlet for stress and many other things.
It encouraged our minds and imagination. It even gave some of our little group the chance to think and problem solve outside their usual box. D and D was much more than just killing and dominating and growing more powerful.
In short, it became what we made it and it also became more than the sum of its parts. Now, I too have better things to do but it was great for the time and dont regret a drop of it.
As far as a connection to the occult? Hmm. I couldnt agree more with Tim. How simple and limited. The game is no more a gateway to the occult than say, learning gardening is a gateway to shamanism. The game is what you make. If there is a tendency to make it “occultish” now it is unknown to me but I certainly wouldn’t doubt it.
But to answer Tim’s question - I had always been interested in the odd since before I was in grammar school. UFO’s, ghosts, etc. Dungeons and Dragons was sidepath off the main trail I was already traveling.
June 27th, 2005 at 12:44 pm
yeah i was a HUGE role-playing game fan. in the small town i grew up in, the only other option for the under 18 set was young life (most kids i knew actually did both). loved it. i’d prolly still do it if i had the time/inclination. as to whether it got me into the occult, it waws probably vice-versa.
i agree w/ran on the domination thing, tho’. lots of times it’s all about walking around and killing things. but, that depends on who ran the games! i was the ‘dm’ for our little group, and i absolutely frickin’ loved it, ’cause i got to create these vast worlds and stock them with critters and made-up languages and political scenarios and gods. hell, now that i think about it, i’m surprised that the anti-d&d xians don’t address that whole ‘god like power’ thing of the average dm.
i likes some of the non-d&d games better, though, as i grew older. my fave of all times was ‘call of cthulhu,’ the lovecraft rpg. we always played it like a mix between lovecraft and indiana jones– fighting nazis on moving trains, learning to translate freaky arabic texts, etc. if i was ever to return to the world of rpgs, it’d be this one.
December 8th, 2005 at 6:17 pm
[…] o something though. We already independently established that the old Christian myth about role-playing games leading people to the occult actually does h […]