JS writes: “I was wondering if you could explain to me what ties if any the game bakugan has to the occult.  My son, who is in kindergarten, came home begging for bakugan items that he had seen other kids had at school.  I thought that I had heard it had ties to the occult but not familiar enough with the game/video and could not find any occult information on it from the internet.  We would not allow the game, figures or cards into our house but I have had a hard time explaining exactly why he could not have the items. Do you have an easy way to explain occult to children?  I am also wondering if StarWars The Clone Wars” has occult ties.”

Bakugan is another one of those wildly popular games that give our children a new set of skills that don’t belong in a Christian toolbox – such as learning how to summon creatures from another dimension and playing with cards that feature occult symbols and pagan references.

For those who don’t know, Bakugan is a game that consists of small plastic balls that pop open and transform into fighting figures when they roll onto special metal playing cards known as Gate cards. (A magnetic clasp inside the ball is responsible for this action.) Players lay out their cards and take turns shooting their Bakugan onto the cards. When a Bakugan opens on someone’s card, the two players do battle. Each Bakugan has an attack strength called a “G-Power” which can be modified by the Gate card it landed on. Whichever Bakugan ends up with the highest total G-Power wins the battle and captures the Gate card, with the object of the game being to capture three of these special cards.

It all sounds as harmless as rolling dice, but the story line behind the game is troubling.

As the Bakugan website explains, “One day, cards began to fall from the sky and were picked up by kids all over the world. The cards featured different characters, different environments, and different powers. Kids created a popular battle game not knowing that these cards actually corresponded to an alternate world called Vestroia. Kids from all over the world played with the cards, yet 6 kids stood out: Dan, Marucho, Runo, Shun, Julie and Alice. They named the monsters Bakugans and their elite team the Bakugan Battle Brawlers.

“Vestroia is a vast dimension comprised of 6 attribute worlds: Fire, Earth, Light, Darkness, Water and Wind. At the very centre of this universe there are two opposing energy cores; THE INFINITY CORE, the source of all positive energy and¦ THE SILENT CORE, the source of all negative energy. Throughout history, these two opposing forces had maintained the balance of equilibrium in Vestroia.”

An evil bakugan named Naga succeeds in penetrating the silent core and absorbing all of its negative energy, which causes him to explode and create such an imbalance that Vestroia begins to disintegrate. It is the Battle Brawlers job to find the Infinity Core and reunite it with the silent core and restore balance to the universe.

Another creature, called the black Bakugan named Darkus is described as being “evil but fun.”

This is a perfect description of the Taoist principle of yin and yang – two opposing energy forces that must be kept in balance. For those who might not be aware, this is a pantheistic belief that is not compatible with Christianity.

Berit Kjos, author of How to Protect Your Child From the New Age and Spiritual Deception, explains what’s wrong with all this:

“The Bible tells us that ‘the weapons of our warfare are… mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.’ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) Our main weapon, of course, is the ’Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.’ Our children need to know His Word, then exercise faith in His timeless guidelines. . .

”The weapons used by Bakugan warriors are totally contrary to God’s ways. Based on the ancient Chinese force called Ch’i, they flow from the same source as every other occult weapon. Ch’i (or Ki, Prana, etc.) is merely the Eastern label for the spiritual forces once commanded by Canaanite sorcerers, Babylonian magicians, mediaeval alchemists, and secret societies throughout history.”

As for the question of whether or not Star Wars and The Clone Wars have occult/New Age ties, the answer is yes.

According to his biographer, Dale Pollock, Star Wars’ creator George Lucas was heavily influenced by New Age books such as Tales of Power by Carlos Castaneda and The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.

This could explain why there are so many pantheistic elements in the movies, such as how Luke Skywalker prays to a “force” rather than to a person. You’ll also notice that many of the episodes contain the occult practice of communicating with the dead, such as in the 1977 film when Luke is told by the deceased Obi-Wan-Kenobi “Use the Force, Luke.”

The Christian MovieGuide lists the Star Wars films as having a “strong pagan worldview where mystical soldiers have special occult powers to move objects, leap and jump great distances, and sense the presence of other mystical soldiers . . .”

In summary, many parents see nothing wrong with these games and movies and think we’re making too much of them. However, that doesn’t give nearly enough credit to the intelligence of our children who easily pick up on the concept of gaining power by calling on forces other than God.

Allowing them to see occult symbols on games is also a bad idea because it teaches them not to be on their guard should they encounter these symbols elsewhere, say on the cover of books and videos they ought not to view.

JS, I hope this information inspires you to continue keeping Bakugan out of your home!

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