Ritual Magic Seen in The Circle Maker Promo Video

The following post was originally posted at www.pilgrimslight.org on December 2, 2011. This is by far the most viewed and controversial things on the website. I suppose the title is a bit sensational, but I was so shocked about what I saw on the video. Now I would probably title the article “Mark Batterson is Unknowingly Promoting Ritual Magic.” I don’t think he is doing it on purpose. However, I believe that he should pull the video and seriously reevaluate his entire book especially his use of Honi the Circle Maker as a model of prayer. I am close to completing a video on this subject as well. I still get hits to this article every day. One last thing, I found out about this on www.alittleleaven.com it is a site that catalogs apostasy in the church. Here is the article:

Mark Batterson is Promoting Ritual Magic

This is the most shocking things that I have ever seen come out of Zondervan. Their new small group series titled “The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson actually promotes ritual magic. The curiculum is being released this month and may even be available now. This article is in reaction to the promo video that Zondervan released to promote the study. View the video and then I will explain what the issues are:

The video starts out with Mark drawing a circle around himself with chalk. He traces the circle three times in a clockwise fashion. This is not something anyone should emulate. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

“A magic circle is circle or sphere of space marked out by practitioners of many branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be marked physically, drawn in salt or chalk, for example, or merely visualized.”

and later on:

“Some witchcraft traditions say that one must trace around the circle deosil (that is clockwise) three times.”

I mention this from Wikipedia because it looks like whoever made the video or maybe even Mark himself did a little research as to how to draw a magic circle. If so, they may have gotten it from here.

Another more legitimate source confirms the use of chalk for the circle.

“It was the usual practice to draw or inscribe a magic circle on the floor of the chamber of practice prior to beginning the ritual, using charcoal or chalk.” -Donald Tyson. The Magic Circle.

More from him later.

Honi the Circle Maker

At the 0:20 second mark we are introduced to Honi the Circle Maker. This is the story that changed Mark’s prayer life. So was Honi a biblical disciple? Was he following some biblical practice? No. He was a Jewish miracle-worker in the first century BC. He is mentioned by Josephus (Antiquities 14.2.1 21) and in the Mishnah (Taanit 3:8). He prayed for rain and it rained. Later he was stoned to death because he refused to pronounce a curse on his fellow Jews. He seems innocuous enough other than the fact that he was known for drawing circles and praying in them. There is no precedent in the Bible for drawing circles and praying in them. If a prayer request is granted while you are using a circle it is not proof that this is an acceptable practice especially considering the occultic practices surounding this ritual. “Praying circles” around things is not a biblical practice either.

Walking the Circle

At the 0:38 second mark a map is shown with a pathway being marked out. This is also being done in a clockwise fashion. This is the same way that the circle was being drawn. Is it just a coincidence or might it have something to do with this:

“This is descriptive of the ceremony observed by the druids, of walking round their temples by the south, in the course of their directions, always keeping their temples on their right. This course (deiseal) was deemed propitious…”

What this is saying is that traveling around an area clockwise (like following the path of the sun) is deemed to bring good fortune. Buddist monks also do this around their temples. A prayer to the LORD is not made any more effective when made in a circle. This is a means of invoking a ritual, or some external means to invoke a diety.

Visualizing the Circle

Circles need not be physical drawings on the ground. At 0:48 We hear Mark say, “You can’t just read the Bible. You need to start circling the promises.” He talks about praying circles around your family members. This visualization of circles is not something taught among Christians, but it is taught in another group:

“To empower and bring the circle to life, it must be projected or cast on the astral level. This is done in the imagination, by a process of successive visualization, at the start of your rituals.”  -Donald Tyson. The Magic Circle.

The circle is a dead thing until you bring it to life with your visualization. It is not a stretch to see that what Mark is saying is that the Bible is a dead thing until you visualize it around yourself, your family, and your friends.

Circles Concentrate Power

At 1:02 Mark says:

“Your job is not to crunch numbers and make sure the will of God adds up. Your job is to draw circles in the sand, and if you draw the circle God will multiply the miracles in your life.”

So praying circles will multiply miracles? It will concentrate God’s power in your life? Sounds like something modern practitioners of magic believe:

“In modern times, practitioners generally cast magic circles to contain and concentrate the energy they believe to raise during a ritual.”

At 1:51 once more we see the chalk drawn circle being completed three times. I am shocked that this is in the promo video, I can only pray that this is not taught in the books or videos.

At 2:07 Mark is praying inside the circle he has drawn, and the circuitous path in the city is completed.

This is one of the most insidious videos I have seen. The amount of deception and false teaching is unbelievable, but there it is. This is the most basic form of ritual magic. How come this video has more in common with Wiccan practice than following the Bible? How many Bible verses did you hear referenced or quoted? Go back through the video, there are none. Just because someone invokes God’s name does not make it right. Here is one more quote from Mr. Tyson:

“There is no aspect of ritual occultism more ancient or more essential than the magic circle. Indeed, it is difficult to find systems of magic that do not use the circle in some form, and when they are found, they seem incomplete and naked. The magic circle is older than Solomon, older than Moses, and occurs throughout the world in all religions and systems of witchcraft and thaumaturgy. It divides, excludes, protects, attracts, focuses, and concentrates, as these functions are needed by the magician. It is used not merely for evocations, but for invocations, for charging of talismans, for scrying, for projecting accumulated occult energy, and even for meditation. A correct understanding of the circle, not only how to project it, but what it signifies symbolically, is the most basic knowledge any magician can possess, and no magician can be said to know anything of importance about magic who has not mastered the use of the circle.” -The Magic Circle.

One last note. Mark Batterson may be decieved himself. As hard as it is to imagine he may not know what he is asking people to do. He may not have even heard of any of the things I have written here. If that is the case then I would encourage anyone who reads this to contact his church and bring this to his attention. Contact Zondervan and bring it to their attention as I have with this article, and I will through e-mails and phone calls. “The Circle Maker” should be pulled off the shelves. If you see it at a Christian bookstore or on a Christian site, warn them and inform them that this is not something anyone should be doing. Reference this article if you wish, but please do not buy “The Circle Maker”. Not unless you want to have more in common with your local coven than the word of God.

Contact Info:

Write to Zondervan authors or their estates in care of Zondervan. Your mail will be forwarded as soon as possible, but please note that the author might not be able to respond personally. Email zauthor@zondervan.com or send postal mail to:

Mark Batterson
c/o Zondervan
ATTN: Author Care
5300 Patterson SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49530

Mark Batterson
National Community Church
205 F Street NE
Washington, DC 20002

202/544-0414 TEL
202/715-1870 FAX

info@theaterchurch.com

UPDATE: 6/23/2012

This post has gotten a lot of attention, more than I ever thought it would. At first it looked as if someone knew that the visual cues in the video were related to wichcraft, it fits so perfectly with what ritual magic does. However, it is a premise that cannot be proven, but intentional or not it looks like the beginning of a self-styled circle casting ritual and for that reason alone it should be exposed. If a pastor and a Christian publishing company are so naive as to include such visual images in thier teachings and publications then can you really trust them to be a spiritual light?

I still feel that the root of it is witchcraft. There are Jews that practice witchcraft in the form of Kabbalism. (Actually I think many of the traditions of witchcraft can be traced back to Kabbalism) I have read where some Jews accepted the practice of practical Kabbalism (practical magic) as long as it was used for good. So if Honi was using a form of practical magic and it yielded positive results then it would been seen as something that was acceptable to a lot of Jews at the time and even now. The evidence is the circle he drew in the sand. It is the same type of thing some Jewish mystics would use to cast out demons and do other things such as draw amulets. Needless to say if you are using Honi the Circle Maker as a foundation to write a book on prayer it is inevitable that you will have a lot of crossover into the world of ritual magic.

The book even gives the form of drawing circles (walking around buildings or property, drawing figurative circles, praying circles around things). Since it invokes good positive things from the Bible people find it acceptable, even profitable. I would say it is akin to ‘white magic’ and it is much more subtle then a hag over a boiling cauldrin. In my opinion it is not acceptable to take a questionable legendary figure in Jewish history and use that figure as a model of prayer. Not when the Bible has so many better models of prayer such as Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Abraham, Jesus, Paul, David, and others. Pick one of those people to model your life after, not Honi the Circle Maker!

I have now completed a video dealing with this you can view it here

I have posted a very long response to one of the comments from the old blog you can read it here