The Elemental Spirits of Colossae and New Age Deception

By Doreen Virtue, author of “How to Avoid New Age & New Thought Deception”

In the first century, the Apostle Paul confronted teachings that eerily resemble what we now call the New Age movement. These early heresies combined Jewish mysticism, Greek philosophy, Gnostic angel worship, and pagan spiritualism into a seductive system promising hidden knowledge and spiritual enlightenment. The apostle’s warnings in Colossians 2:8-23 and 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 expose the same deception that reappears today under new names.

Apostle Paul’s concern were belief systems that claimed to deepen one’s faith while actually undermining the sufficiency of Christ. His letters call believers to reject all counterfeit spirituality and cling to the supremacy of Christ as the only true source of wisdom and power.

The New Age’s fascination with “energies,” “ascended masters,” “elemental spirits,” and “hidden truths” mirrors precisely what Paul’s denouncement of spirituality that uses Christian vocabulary while operating in demonic power.

The church at Colossae faced heresy that theologians often call the “Colossian Syncretism.” It mixed aspects of Jewish legalism, Greek philosophy, and pagan mysticism. Teachers promoted rituals, dietary restrictions, and supposed visions of and messages from angels, claiming these would elevate believers into higher spiritual realms. This mixture is eerily similar to what I was involved in with the New Age, showing there’s nothing new under the sun.

The Apostle warned the church to steer clear of this deception: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

The Greek term translated “elemental spirits of the world” (στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου, transliterated stoicheia tou kosmou) can refer to both the basic principles of worldly religion and the spiritual entities believed to govern the cosmos.

In paganism, these were often associated with the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. In the New Age, the elemental spirits also refer to “the four directions” and the four elements, and also to the belief in nature spirits assigned to each element such as gnomes for earth; sylphs for air; undines for water; and salamanders for fire.

The Apostle Paul’s God-breathed use of the term “elemental spirits” exposes the intellectual pridefulness behind human philosophy and the spiritual bondage of demonic influence. These false teachers promised higher consciousness but delivered spiritual captivity.

In the Greco-Roman world, people believed the universe was filled with intermediary beings such as lesser spirits or cosmic powers that connected the divine and human realms. Astrology, magic, and ritual purification were thought to appease or manipulate these beings.

Even some Jewish mystics, especially those influenced by Hellenistic thought, speculated about angelic hierarchies and cosmic intermediaries. They claimed to enter visionary states through asceticism or trances to access heavenly knowledge.

Paul recognized the danger of systems which ascribe spiritual authority to angels, planetary rulers, or “elemental spirits,” instead of the sovereignty of Christ.

This same deception fuels the New Age. What ancient pagans called daimones or elemental spirits, modern practitioners call fairies, power animals, or nature spirits. Behind the innocent language of “energies” or “frequencies” lurks the same demonic reality Paul warned against. In the New Age, we were obsessed with these elemental beings and would go out into nature to search for fairies, and engage in shamanic-inspired “journeying” meditations to discover our power animal.

Paul’s God-breathed verb choice is striking: “See to it that no one takes you captive” (Colossians 2:8). The Koine Greek σulatαγωγéω tansliterated sulagōgeō means to carry off as plunder, like taking captives or spoils, or kidnapping through deceit. False spirituality deceives and enslaves like evil traffickers.

The false teachers in Colossae promised “fullness,” mystical experience, and secret wisdom. Yet God’s Word declares that “in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). They sought initiation into cosmic mysteries, yet Scripture points them to the true mystery of Christ Himself (Colossians 1:26-27).

The same contrast applies to the New Age. It offers enlightenment through “Christ consciousness, channeling, and energy work. It encourages people to awaken their “divine self” and connect with the spiritual realm through visualization, crystals, or invocation of nature spirits. Yet all of this is deception disguised as enlightenment.

When people attempt to communicate with fairies, angels, or spirit guides, they enter the same spiritual bondage that enslaved ancient idolaters. Paul calls these entities “the rulers and authorities” disarmed by Christ at the cross (Colossians 2:15). Their false light conceals the same rebellion that first deceived Eve.

The New Age, like ancient Colossae, has an obsession with finding spiritual meaning within nature. While God is the Creator of nature, New Agers and the Colossians would serve and worship the creation instead of the Creator as warned about in Romans 1:25. The idea that nature is alive with spiritual beings leads to the New Agers appropriating indigenous practices such as believing they’re receiving messages from “plant spirit medicine,” or engaging in “journeying” to meet their power animal.

In the New Age, “elemental spirits” are portrayed as friendly intermediaries between humanity and nature, guardians of the earth or manifestations of divine energy. Wiccans also believe they’re receiving help from elementals to fuel their witchcraft spells.

When people seek to connect with or “honor” these elemental beings, they’re engaging in the very idolatry Paul warned against. The demonic world delights in taking names that sound harmless such as fairy, ancestor, goddess, or angel of light, because these names conceal rebellion.

Worshiping elemental spirits also involves the heretical beliefs in pantheism (the belief that God and nature are the same and that there’s no distinction between Creator and creation) and panentheism (the belief that God indwells everything, which leads people to believe that they themselves are divine since God is within them). Pantheism and Panentheism are central to nature worship, so it’s not surprising that Wiccan ceremonies are held in oak groves and other outdoor settings. This is serving the creation instead of the Creator as the Apostle Paul warned about in Romans 1:25.

God’s Word warned the Colossian believers not to be impressed by spiritual experiences that appeared elevated, mystical, or elite, because such experiences often produce pride rather than truth Colossians 2:18:

“Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.”

This passage reveals that some were claiming spiritual authority based on claiming they had visions of angelic encounters. They pridefully presented themselves as possessing secret insight beyond ordinary believers.

This deception was closely connected to early Gnostic thought, which taught that hidden knowledge was mediated through angelic beings and layered spiritual realms, and that salvation or enlightenment came through accessing this secret knowledge rather than through Christ alone.

Gnosticism tried to diminish Christ’s sufficiency by inserting angels as intermediaries, yet God’s Word makes it clear that Jesus is the only intercessor (1 Timothy 2:5). The Gnostic’s fascination with angels bypassed the Head, who is Christ (Colossians 2:19). Instead of drawing people closer to God, angel fixation severed them from Christ, even while appearing spiritual.

The same deception appears today in New Age angel channeling, where individuals claim to receive messages from angels, guides, or ascended beings. This was something that I was regrettably involved in prior to God saving my soul out of the New Age.

New Age and the Gnostic beliefs in angels as intercessors are what the Apostle Paul was warning the Colossians about. We continue to see the worship, veneration, and belief in angels as intercessors in the Roman Catholic church, with some Catholic “saints” claiming to have visions and messages from angels.

Whether in the Gnosticism of the Colossae church, or in Roman Catholic or New Age modern beliefs about angels, personal visions are elevated above Scripture, subjective experience replaces revealed truth, and the recipient becomes spiritually puffed up, believing they possess special access that others lack. I was tragically prideful and puffed-up as an “angel channeler” in the New Age prior to my salvation. The fascination with angelic messages is a counterfeit spirituality that feeds the flesh and undermines dependence on Christ.

God consistently directs His people away from angels and toward the Son. Angels are created servants, not sources of revelation, and God never instructs believers to seek them, consult them, or receive guidance from them. Instead, God declares that He has spoken fully and finally through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Any spiritual message that shifts attention away from Christ, minimizes sin, or flatters human pride, regardless of how loving or luminous it appears, must be rejected. The Gospel doesn’t come through angelic intermediaries or secret visions; it comes through Christ crucified and risen. So, God’s warning to the Colossians remains a clear and timely guardrail against both ancient Gnosticism and modern New Age deception.

The Apostle Paul’s concern for the Corinthians echoed the same theme in 2 Corinthians 11:3-4:

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”

Here Paul identifies the serpent’s cunning appeal to curiosity, pride, and hidden wisdom. The Corinthians faced false apostles who preached “another Jesus,” inspired by “a different spirit.” This “different spirit” is the same counterfeit spirituality behind New Age practices by offering false connection, peace, and revelation without repentance or submission to Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul’s comparison to Eve is crucial, as the serpent promised knowledge that would make her like God. The New Age promises the same enlightenment through awakening “divine consciousness.” Both appeals bypass the need for obedience and therefore invite spiritual deception.

This counterfeit Jesus that Paul warned about aligns with the demonic “angel of light” described in 2 Corinthians 11:14. False light is still darkness when it denies the truth of Christ’s person and work.

In ancient times, the Colossian heresy reduced Christ to one mediator among many cosmic beings. In modern times, the New Age reduces Him to one avatar among many spiritual guides. Both reject His supremacy.

Paul’s response to these deceptions is to exalt Christ. His letter to the Colossians contains one of the most glorious declarations of Christ’s supremacy in all Scripture:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible – whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17

God’s Word dismantles every New Age claim to hidden wisdom by declaring that “in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). There’s no need for spiritual intermediaries because the fullness of God dwells in Him.

The cross of Christ is the decisive answer to every elemental power. Through His death and resurrection, Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities and triumphed over them (Colossians 2:15).

In Him there’s no need for signs, intermediaries, or cosmic secrets. In Him we find the Living Water that cleanses us from false worship and fills our soul with true light that no darkness can imitate.

Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” 

For more from Doreen please visit her page at Servants of Grace or at our YouTube.