Last updated on May 17, 2021  by 
Jaimie Eckert

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Have you ever wondered if God is trying to tell you something in various signs and “fleeces?” Have you intuited mysterious connections between certain numbers and divine providence? Do you wonder if God’s will is communicated through certain symbols, colors, or events? You might be dealing with the “magical thinking” of scrupulosity.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, in general, is associated with a thought fallacy called “magical thinking,” and this pops up in religious OCD (scrupulosity), as well.

Yes, magical thinking can happen to believers. You might be the staunchest, most conservative Christian in the world. You might be decidedly against magic of any kind, even restricting your children from reading Harry Potter or watching Disney.

And yet, you might be the most magical thinker of all.

What is this fallacy called “magical thinking,” and how does it pop up in the minds of those of us with religious OCD? Let’s talk a bit about magical thinking and scrupulosity.

A Definition of Magical Thinking

Magical thinking is a thought fallacy that connects two objects or events without supporting evidence. It’s a common symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder and some other anxiety disorders. Simply put, magical thinking is a causal fallacy because it produces faulty understandings of the true cause of things.

Here’s a common example of magical thinking:

“Why is my bus late? Let me light a cigarette, because every time I light a cigarette, the bus always comes.” Or, “I need to tap on the hood of my car three times before leaving, otherwise I’ll get in an accident.”

Can you see how the brain creates a causal link out of thin air? There simply isn’t any connection between lighting up a cigarette and the bus arriving. But maybe it happened once or twice, and so it becomes a superstitious little thought in the back of your mind.

So what does magical thinking look like when it’s expressed in the realm of obsessive-compulsive religion? Let’s look at a few examples of magical thinking and scrupulosity in action.

  • “I need to avoid seeing the number 666, because every time I see that number, something bad always happens to me.”
  • “I better keep my hands in my pockets at church, because if I extend my hands, I might be giving the middle finger towards the cross/pulpit/pastor and God will be angry at me.”
  • “If I don’t envision God correctly in my mind as I pray, my child might die on the way to school.”
  • “I need to touch the doorknob ten times on my way out…because of the Ten Commandments.”
  • “If I purchase a shirt while I’m having lustful thoughts, the shirt will be morally contaminated, and if I wear it, I’ll be sinning.”
  • “If I’m thinking a thought at the same time that someone else verbalizes the same thing, it must be God sending me a message.”
  • “I really need to make a decision about _______. Green is the color indicating that we should go forward, and I saw a lot of green today. God must be telling me to go forward.”

confused about magical thinking

The fallacy of magical thinking is particularly important to overcome in our journey with OCD. As long as we continue to consult our feelings and un-truthful mental connections, God’s Word cannot take root deeply in our minds. Thankfully, magical thinking is relatively easy to uproot.

What Is Behind Magical Thinking and Scrupulosity?

Magical thinking isn’t a very complex phenomenon. It’s mostly made up of three ingredients:

  • OCD’s intense creativity
  • Ritualistic reinforcement
  • Too much self-trust

Our magical thinking fallacies begin with something quite good: our intense creativity. People with OCD are often VERY creative–not only from the artistic and innovative quality of our thoughts, but also from the sheer magnitude of how many thoughts we have on a given day! With our OCD brains on constant overdrive, we tend to analyze literally everything that happens in the world around us.

Let’s go back to the magical thinking fallacy that lighting a cigarette will cause the bus to come. Someone might have this fallacy because it did happen a time or two, and their minds were analytical enough to notice it! But while someone else might turn it into a good comedy line, our minds turn it into a real, bonafide causal link.

If I light a cigarette, the bus WILL come.

This is creative analysis + reinforcement. There must be some amount of “apparent” reinforcement to give muscle to the belief. It has turned out in some measure the way we expected often enough to reinforce the fallacy. Maybe you smoked ten cigarettes while waiting for the bus and it never came, but if you lit one cigarette one time and the bus came immediately, the brain will zero in on that one example, to the complete disregard of the others.

So we know there’s creative analysis and there’s a measure of reinforcement (though the reinforcement would never pass the statistical significance test!) and there’s one more ingredient: too much trust in self. The Bible says,

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord…The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:5, 9

Trusting in our own thoughts and feelings has never been a very good idea. Our hearts are prone to error, but oh how we trust in them! This is the foundational ingredient to magical thinking and scrupulosity: too much trust in self. Let’s dive in a little deeper.

scrupulosity and too much trust in self

Too Much Trust in Self

Before we discuss this phenomenon of having too much trust in ourselves, let’s briefly compare “worldly psychology” with “Biblical psychology.”

Worldly PsychologyBiblical Psychology
Status of the Human HeartAlways right; follow your heartProne to error; guide your heart
Source of SolutionsSolutions are within: self-care, self-esteem, self-loveSolutions are outside of myself: look to God for healing; self takes a healthy place, not too high or too low
Method of Determining TruthFeelings: whatever “feels” right is your truthGod’s Word: whatever He declared is truth

As you can see, worldly psychology leads us to look inward for healing, love, truth, self-esteem, and fulfillment. What is within is “always right,” as we are told to follow our hearts and look within to find “our truth.” So when magical thinking comes along and starts to suggest weird connections, not letting us get in the car until we’ve rapped on the hood a certain number of times, we don’t question whether we ought to be listening to these inner thoughts and feelings.

Everything in the secular worldview tells us that whatever’s inside must be right.

This is why we need a complete and total shift towards a Biblically-informed worldview. We need to begin seeing psychology in terms of what Scripture tells us is true and healthy. It is in the Bible that we find a balanced view of the human self. We are simultaneously a mess and yet a treasure; we are helpless and yet beloved; we are blind and yet connected with the Guide of the universe.

In Biblical psychology, the human self is not placed so high that it becomes the arbiter of truth (for self is frequently wrong) yet it is not placed so low as to become masochistic and self-loathing. The self can finally take a balanced position as it relates to God’s Word as the ultimate authority.

Verses About Too Much Trust in Self

The Bible speaks about our human tendency to trust in self too much. Ultimately, this tendency leads us to take ourselves (and our magical thinking) too seriously. Here are a few verses that remind us to trust ourselves less and trust God more.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Isaiah 5:21

“Woe” is an old word that means, “something’s about to hit the fan.” When we trust our own instincts too much, we get into all kinds of literal–and psychological–trouble.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Proverbs 14:12

Yes, our magical thinking seems right. It feels right. But it isn’t right at all!

In fact, obeying our magical thoughts leads us in “the way of death,” because it ultimately traps us in compulsive, ritualistic behavior. And that’s never a good thing.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

What does it mean to “lean not on your own understanding?” It means that we’ll have our own private thoughts and interpretations of reality, but we ought not give too much weight to them. It’s not self-demeriting to remind yourself that you are prone to making mistakes; that’s just common sense. It looks like this:

“Whenever I see the number 666, I feel really nervous, like God is trying to send me a warning. Now I’m on my way to my sister’s wedding (where I’m supposed to be a bridesmaid), and I just saw the number 666 on someone’s license plate. My magical thoughts tell me that God is trying to send me a warning that something bad will happen if I continue driving to her wedding. I feel really horrible and anxious right now and I just want to turn around and go home. But I’m going to remind myself that my brain is wrong sometimes, and I know that particularly in the area of ‘magical thinking,’ I can always ignore these little signs and omens.”

Remember, after all, what Romans 3:4 tells us: “Let God be true but every man a liar.” At some level, we all lie to ourselves and should, in general, learn to take our own thoughts less seriously.

Allowing God’s Word to Reshape Our Magical Thinking and Scrupulosity

None of us enjoy the anxious rituals of magical thinking. They are time-consuming, they make us look weird, and they steal the joy from life.

At some level, the majority of us know that these magic rituals don’t make sense (although some people don’t; the technical psychological term is that these people have “poor insight” into their OCD–and don’t worry, it’s something that can be improved)!

At the end of the day, we all want to get rid of these magical thoughts, dependence on superstitious omens, and oppressive rituals.

Yesterday in our group coaching session, one of our members shared a beautiful testimony of how God has been giving her the courage to move beyond this magical thinking fallacy. She told us how, in the past, she had been involved in the occult. She had used tarot cards, read her horoscope, and engaged in other behaviors that she now rejects as a Christian. But in her struggle with OCD, she continued to obsessively look for “signs” from God to guide her decision-making process.

Then, one day, she became convicted of the sin of “divination.” Confused, she decided to look up the word to find out what it meant. To her surprise, “divination” meant “the use of signs to foretell future events.”

She was astonished! Could it be that she was committing the sin of divination by looking for signs–numbers, colors, and unrelated events–to guide her life? She repented of her magical thinking and is now on a path where she’s learning to trust God rather than random events.

magical thinking and learning to trust God

Each one of us can have her experience. It all begins when we stop taking self (and our random observations) so seriously and begin taking God and His Word more seriously. It is further strengthened when we let go of our control addictions, trust our most valued life treasures in God’s hands, and stop trying to ritually protect ourselves.

Conclusion

Are you tired of magical thinking and scrupulosity?

Me, too.

Let’s kick this fallacious habit to the curb by determining to power through the magical associations that urge themselves so strongly upon our minds. Let’s face our fears by faith. Let’s stop trying so hard to “protect” that we end up putting ourselves in God’s position.

It all comes down to trusting God instead of trusting self. It’s a tough leap, but you can make it.

Here’s the baby step you can start with right now, today: the next time your brain throws you a really creative association and then hammers you with anxiety to follow it, step back. Remind yourself that God’s protection has never been contingent upon us fulfilling manmade little rituals like tapping the hood of the car a certain number of times or envisioning God in a specific way while praying. God’s protection is given freely when we choose to let go of our manmade solutions.

God’s got you in the palm of His hand. He’s taking care of you. You can trust Him.

And when we have that reality uppermost in our minds, we can let go of the magical rituals that we thought were protecting us.

Best wishes on the journey,

jaimie-eckert-signature


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  1. Hi!
    I was a writer, I like and love to write stories but one day I questions about my motives and notice that that I'm starting to become prideful and I thought that I should stop writing. But then one day I share my testimony and I mentioned there about the thoughts that popping in my head and how I feel like that I'm do not know myself already and a pastor said that she also experience that when she was still writing stories also in her junior highschool, her mind was very active and thoughts are also popping in her mind. Then I came across of the story of David and how he wants to build something for the Lord, but the Lord let Solomon do it because of a reason, I forgot the exact reason. Then I decided to stop writing and there is also a thought that if I continue writing someone will die, so I stop writing. Few months past, I ask a friend about it then he told me that I should continue writing if it's glorifying the Lord and I should not base my experience in someone else's experience, so the next day I ask the Lord if writing is for me and after praying I open my phone to watch a YouTube video about a Christian that is studying the Bible and she is studying about the story of David, that David wants to do something for the Lord, but the Lord let Solomon do it, soooo I did not continue writing until now, even though I miss writing I think I can't even write a story now or I forgot how to write but I still not tried to write but if it a school project I write. Sorry for my bad english.

    1. I think your friend is right and you shouldn't apply other's experiences to yourself, especially if they are only vaguely related.

  2. Hi jamie, i really appreciate your post as magical thinking has been the main source of my OCD and scrupulosity.

    The issues however I've been going through is whenever i see red and orange a lot ive been perceiving it as omen’s that I'm either going to hell or the devil is coming. And whenever i try to pray to god i always have intrusive thoughts of satan barging in every time i pray to god or jesus or praise them. I really am trying to fight my scrupulosity but i just can’t seem to fully let go of my magical thinking beliefs; what can i do to get rid of my old ways magical thinking and be free of my scrupulosity?

  3. Hi, Jamie. I've started systematically going through your post, but this is my first time commenting. Thank you so much for what you do.
    I had a question, how do you square magical thinking with the fact that God handles and plans out all the details of our lives?

    1. Hi Katie,
      Thanks for your first comment! I will welcome many more. 🙂
      It’s a great question that you ask, and the short answer is that Scripture offers us a balanced picture of God’s sovereignty + humanity’s volition. We have lots of verses about how God determines and fulfills what is being done in our lives (Job 23:14, Isaiah 46:10, Daniel 4:35, etc) but also there are verses about how God has bestowed upon human beings a role on this earth that includes power, responsibility, dignity, and stewardship (see Genesis 1-2, Psalm 8, etc). This has been a long theological debate for hundreds of years, as if one has to choose either God’s sovereignty OR man’s free will, and I think it’s one of those questions that has a very nuanced answer.

      My personal take on the matter is that God does direct the broad strokes of my life as a believer. Who I marry, the career I choose, the place I live, the people I encounter, even the everyday trials–all come to me from God’s hand, because I trust Him to direct my steps. But there are also a great deal of smaller details in life that God doesn’t necessarily have an opinion about. Now, I wouldn’t say this in the same way to a person who does not have a clinical mental health disorder like OCD, because they would probably not understand what I’m talking about. But I don’t think God has an opinion on whether I wear the orange shirt or the blue shirt. I don’t think He minds if I walk on the left path or the right path, both of which go to the same destination. I don’t think He cares about the order in which I dress every day (right leg and right arm always first). (These are all real examples of how I’ve struggled with “magical thinking” compulsions in my own OCD story.) It isn’t healthy to get so caught up trying to “discern” God’s will in things that He hasn’t revealed in Scripture. It’s ultimately compulsive and leads us to more and more anxiety.

      Hope this helps a little bit? I have a workshop on my YT channel that might be relevant to this topic.

      Best wishes,

      Jaimie

      1. I know I've already posted a question on this before, but I had another one that might be relevant to this entry. (Maybe, I'm not sure.) Would the sin "divination" mean dreams, too. Because, I know that the main way God communicates with us now is Scripture, but I heard these stories of Muslims being brought to Christ through dreams (which now that I think of it are kind of specific incidents), and I know there's precedent for this kind of thing in the Bible. I guess my question is, is it wrong or unwise to consider or seek out God-dreams?

  4. Hello Jaimie, thanks for the blogs, I do tend to have a question about 2 quick things. 1. Is watching disney okay? And 2. is playing minecraft okay? Minecraft does have a witch, potions, some stuff etc, but if I stay away from that stuff, is it okay?

    1. The Whatsoevers! See Philippians 4:1-8 for a list of good qualities to follow, and it comes after a list of bad ones to avoid.
      Harry Potter does give lots of attractive training in how to be a witch/wizard, d1sn3y has become very dark over the years, and Minecraft, as you mention, has demonic stuff, so why put that in front of a child and rob them of safe time, innocence before being tempted by that? These things are not for us, but are attractive.

      There is another danger here, that we say everything is just scrupulously mind set and seeking freedom from it may lead us to embrace what a ‘normal’ truth seeking Christian would want to avoid.
      I was in the new age and did dowsing, God forgive me (he has). I was learning from someone who dispersed ghosts, reversed bad energy manifestations and saved people who’d got lost astral planing! She said she was a Christian so I wanted to learn from her, but this was extraordinarily dangerous. So I recognise the subtle things now plainly on display in entertainment (this stuff isn’t make believe and it is attractive in the worldly sense. Satan would love us to be interested) and I believe we should protect our children from them. Or at least teach them why we don’t do them even if their friend next door has it on their computer.
      Jesus tells us about the millstone around the necks of those who hurt the children and hinder their coming to Christ. Of course Satan would want our children. Have you felt the resistance now from the kids when you try to restrict their access to these products and stories? The manipulation they’re capable of, embarrassing you in the supermarket with tantrums, and destroying peace at home? It’s powerfully attractive.

      I am strongly OCD but this I do know with certainty. In a way I thank God for the good he’s extracted from my sinful interest in the occult because I KNOW this is a real danger.

  5. Hi Jaimie, it's been a long time since I don't comment here.

    This one was excellent, and I have a funny story involving seeing "signs".

    As I have mentioned in other posts, my OCD involved the fear of making promises to God. I would have intrusive thoughts telling me to make promises, would be unsure wether or not it was God ordering me that, and would end up unsure wether or not I had made them.
    When I was getting better, I would sometimes be afraid if I had actually made a real promise during those days or if God really wanted some of those and if I could be punished for not keeping them.
    One day, I passed by a church and it was written there: "Don't exchange your salvation for something transitory here on Earth. Jesus died for you." I became afraid that could be a sign from God, but at the same time it didn't make sense. I knew I had OCD and those intrusive thoughts were identical to some described by other people.
    Later, in the same day, I went to a bookstore and one of the first books I saw had a title like "Goodbye Promises".

    In other words, in case I was looking for signs, I had seen two completely opposite to each other.

    God bless you, Jaimie!

  6. Hey Jaimie, thanks for another great post! I think sometimes I might be magically thinking at times such as when I watch something on TV or see a brand that's on TV I start thinking oh no, I might be pirating and I have this big fear now that I actually committed blasphemy against The Holy Spirit because 2 weeks ago, I had bad blasphemous thoughts that came with numbness, no anxiety, and they felt like urges and they actually came from me and I felt so horrible because I kept getting a thought that told me they are from me because I don't like myself or something and I was super scared because I felt so much apathy and anxiety and I was so certain I committed the unforgivable sin. So the day after, I was compulsively reading and I saw the unforgivable sin passage and I don't know if it was because I thought I committed the unforgivable sin or if it was just intrusive thoughts but it said "I'm already unforgivable so let's just read what it says" which is the blasphemy in the passage and I now I'm really scared because that happened like 3 times and I'm really, really scared. The worst part about OCD is how messy the events feel when you feel apathetic and numb. Do you have any advice on what to do? Peace and Love!

  7. This post came just in the right time! This is my current problem. When I try to cut down doing my compulsions, I often start thinking if God is trying to send me a sign to continue doing them. For example, if I stop reading the same Bible passage over and over again, I start noticing "signs" that God is trying to tell me to go on, things like "the page moved a little bit by itself". And if I hit my toe, I start thinking "Did I think something wrong? Is God punishing me?" Once I was thinking: "Perhaps I should try to update my blog tomorrow", when I hit my hand against the side of the table by accident. I immediately thought: "This must be a sign that I am not allowed to update my blog tomorrow." And so I didn't. This is getting really stressful sometimes.

    1. Hi Aino, you’re right. These little “signs” are not really signs. They are our brain’s way of trying to find certainty about what we ought to do. But see, God doesn’t give us His opinion on every little thing in life like when to update your blog. He gives us space, as autonomous beings, to use common sense. Imagine a mother who micromanaged every single aspect of her child’s life: what he wears, what he eats, what time he’s allowed to play, how he should play, what direction he should brush his teeth…we would look at this mother as if she’s crazy. She needs to give the child space to be a “person!” Parents give a mixture of guidance and freedom, and this is what helps us develop into responsible, self-governing beings.

      The best evidences from Scripture indicate that God does the same for us. He gives us guidance, but at the same time, He puts us in situations where self-government will develop. Remember, He made Adam the caretaker of the Garden of Eden, but He did not tell him what the names of the animals were. Adam was supposed to use his own brain and come up with that for himself. We, also, need to be confident in our God-given autonomy to make decisions for ourselves. Yes, we seek God’s guidance in His Word, in the counsel of wise people, and in the workings of providence. But those of us with scrupulosity need to be reminded that sometimes, God doesn’t mind whether we update our blog today or tomorrow. He doesn’t mind if we wear pink or purple. He doesn’t mind if we eat pasta or potatoes. We need to just CHOOSE something and act. Failing to do so means we have not yet embraced our God-given autonomy, which is an important aspect of how we relate to Him.

      Anyways, here I am rambling. 🙂 Glad you found this post timely. Always glad you’re here, Aino!

      Jaimie

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