Esoteric Christianity Puns

I need in-person friends to read, learn, and grow with!

I was raised in a Christian home and have not been satisfied with the culture that Christianity tends to support/breed. Yet as much I so resent Christians and Christianity, I find that I can’t fully reject it - the ideologies and philosophies, however poorly demonstrated by those in the church (at least the ones I’m around), are rock solid, or at least have the potential to be if you’re willing to look at the Bible more imaginatively and not so literally (which is a whole other topic, believe me I know how hairy the topic of interpretation can get. That’s beside the point of this post). As I started branching out into other forms of ideology and spirituality (Buddhism, the broader occult, etc) I read about esoteric Christianity, as well as a period of history when the church was practicing magic. I’ve also read that astrology is heavily referenced and used throughout the Bible, even as blatantly as the three wise men (who were astrologers) knowing the signs to follow that lead them to where Jesus had been born. I’m wondering if anybody knows about the overlap between Christianity and the occult. I’m certainly open enough at this point that I don’t see why, in certain forms, the two couldn’t be compatible. I’m just not sure what those forms are exactly.

I just wanna know the differences.