The Study of Witchcraft

[stryper36]

Text: 1 Timothy 4:1-6

Notice that the Scriptures say that in the later times, many will depart from the faith.
And what are they going to do?
They are going to give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
You would be surprised at who is involved in witchcraft
And you would be surprised at how many people don’t know what the Bible teaches about witchcraft.
How important is this subject.
There are over 10,000 astrologers in the United States.
That was in 1970
How many do you think there are today?
32 million Americans are interested in astrology
And that was in 1970
22% of Americans believe in astrology

In Miami Florida, there is a hospital there that specializes in casting out devils.
They have 600-700 patients a month
In 1970 2 million Ouija Boards were sold.
1998 at Christmas time, the most popular toy in America today that has sold more than any other toy.
Was the Ouija Board.
Now they have come with some new way of divination that is suppose to surpass even the Ouija Board.
That is why people call the Ouija Board the “Gate Way” to the Occults.
Because the Ouija Boards are usually the first means of getting into the Occults.
Now you may believe that the Ouija Board is just a piece of wood.
And they make that thing work one way or another.
But the Bible says that in the later times many will depart from the faith and give in to seducing spirits.
It is not called even by witchcraft the “Gate Way” to the Occults for nothing.
When a person plays with this board, they put their mind in neutral, then the devil moves in on them.
When they put their self in neutral, they have opened thereself for demonic power to seduce them.
A boy in Michigan bought the Ouija Board and when he played with it
It told him that he was going to die on a certain day.
So when that day came around, the boy stayed home from school.
He thought he would out smart it by staying home.
He was afraid to go out and he stayed home.
And on TV there was a program on witchcraft
And he wrote a suicide note and killed himself.

These things are evil and wicked and will harm you even if you think it is just fun or just a piece of board.
In Leviticus 19, the Bible forbids witchcraft.
Lev. 19:26
“You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination {enchantment} or soothsaying {horoscope}.”

These people though that by eating blood they would receive the power of the animal that possessed it.
American Indians believe this.
That is why cannibals first started eating people.
They thought that if they killed a man and ate him, and drank his blood, that all his power came into them.
Verse 31
“Do not turn to mediums or spiritists {wizards} do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.”

The Bible forbids us to communicate with the dead.
It is wrong to go to a witch
It is sinful to go to a medium
It is wrong to go to one who communicates with the dead.

Lev. 20:6
“As for the person who turns to mediums and to wizards, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.”
Lev. 20:27
“Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them.”
That was the penalty for practicing witchcraft.

These magazines that they have when you go through the check out counter in a grocery store
And you have to admit that they are better than funny papers.
Some of these magazines have at least 3 pages of advertisements for astrologists.
In case you don’t know this, but ENGLAND has gone to witchcraft and AMERICA is going to witchcraft
And the reason is that when people turn away from the Word of God, they go to something else.
And has a result, they go to astrology or some such thing as that.
In Galatians 5:20 and one of the works of the flesh is witchcraft
Revelation 21:8 says that sorcerers will have their part in the Lake of Fire
Revelation 22:15
“Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

That word “sorcerer” means “Pharmakia”
This has to do with drugs, secret potions.
So the Bible does warns us very clearly about witchcraft.

Deuteronomy 18:10,11
“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
Or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer.”

Notice that he makes a difference between a medium, a wizard, and a necromancer.
“Necromancer” is one who communicates with the dead.
How do you know if a man is a prophet from the Lord?
If he speaks something that came to pass, then he was a prophet from the Lord.
Also in the 18th Chapter in Deuteronomy it tells us that if everything that he prophesy does not come true, then he was to be killed.

You remember when Saul went to the witch of Endor.
And the witch of Endor pulled up Samuel.
And it plainly says that it was Samuel
And that Samuel spoke
And Samuel tells Saul that him and his sons will be with him there tomorrow.
And then we read that Saul and his sons died.
This story really happened.
Samuel was pulled up from the grave

Even after the cross, this still went on
Acts 16:16
There was a girl who was possessed with a spirit of divination
And Paul healed that girl

Acts 19:13
Talks about these Jews who were exorcists and they cast out evil spirits.
Read verses 15-19

Don’t let anybody tell you that after the cross there is no such thing as demon possession.
It does exist and when you go to witchcraft, you are going to something that the Bible warns us against.
From these examples in the Book of Acts, it tells us plainly that it is wrong for Christians to get involved.
This stuff still continues today and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

What are some of the NO-No’s
1) Pintalium – that is when a girl uses a needle to find out what kind of baby they are going to have.
2) Divining Rods - why do they call it witching for water
3) Astrology – these are not the Words of God and they may be the words of a demon.
A woman may have just sat there at her typewriter and made it up and then again, she may not have
She may have been a witch.
Some words do have power because of who spoke them

4) Reading the palm, cards, crystal balls,
5) Ouija Board, curses and charms and hexes
6) Table tapping, nercomancing, automatic writing
7) Mediums, healings and potions

These are all involved in witchcraft
And the Christians are forbid to be engaged in that
It is real and don’t mess with it
Leave it alone and take heed to God’s Word

There are 3 ways that Satan works on you
1) demon oppression – hunchback woman
2) demon subjection – that when you subject yourself to him {Judas}
3) demon possession – where you are actually possessed with a demon and you are out of control.

These things still exists today.

Demon possession is real
Witchcraft is real
There are seducing spirits in these last days
The affects are real
Christians are suppose to avoid anything with Occult value
If you try to get knowledge in a secret way
Pertaining to the future
Pertaining to the dead
Pertaining to the unknown
Pertaining to the spirit world

You are involved in witchcraft and the Bible forbids it
“Poltergeists” means houseguest.
This is so strong out in New England that people make their living by removing Poltergeists from people homes.
They believe that if a person died a violent death and the murder wasn’t solved, that the spirit of the dead did not leave until the crime was settled
The Bible teaches that this is very real
We are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.

 

[Nom De Guerre]

Just thought I'd add something...


1 Samuel 15: 22-24


22And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.


23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
24And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.


The context of this scripture, as many may or may not already know, is in reference to when King Saul had to destroy some specific people and their possessions but refused to and took the spoils of that land... disobeying God, not only to that effect but also performed an offering by himself.


Grace and peace be upon you.

 

[Pilgrim1951]

23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

The Lord has been dealing with me in past months regarding rebellion and stubbornness. It sounds like things I would be aware of, doesn't it? Sometimes the ways we rebel against God's will and how we are stubborn in letting go of some idols in our lives can be very subtle.

 

[Nom De Guerre]

Absolutely,

darkness will not let go of you so easily... that is precisely when we need our intercessor; the Holy Ghost from Y'shua Maschiach(Jesus Christ).

John 10:27-30

27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30I and my Father are one.

 

[LynnMcG]

Thank you for this very detailed post. I was VERY involved with the occult - Wicca, ouji boards, tarot cards, fortune tellers, gypsies, etc just before I was saved. As I look back now it's amazing to see how naive I was. Oh, the stories I can tell!! Ouji boards, demon apparitions... I am so grateful for my salvation. To think that I could have spent eternity with the very demons who surrounded me on a daily basis is frightening.

 

[day2day]

Hey! we gotta be on the same wave lenght. I was just talk to my child about this very subject. You are on point with this post. I hope many others will read this.

 

[stryper36]

I hope it will help others stay close to Christ and encourage others to flee from it. Thanks for the encouragement.
Will be posting more on this subject later today.

 

[angelwind]

This is a great post...I have know of this kind of teaching and truth for quite a while...can you bring up a teaching about the sublties of witchcraft in the church...sometimes I think there is a darkness lurking in our midst. We may have covered some of it in these posts.

 

[stryper36]

I can do that...I will post it tonight

 

[angelwind]

Thanks stryper36...

 

[vinc]

Excellent Post Stryper!

 

[stryper36]

We are going to be looking at the tools of the occults.
What they are, how they operate, what they can tell us.
Most important of all, how to evangelize…
Because the name of the game is evangelism.
The name of the game is to bring the men and women who are in the kingdoms of the occults and the cults to a redemptive knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We are in this world to bring men to Christ.
Therefore it is important for us to see these things in there proper respective.
We are not powerless or helpless.
But God has not given us the Spirit of bondage again to fear.
God has given us power to overcome the forces of darkness.
We can see that something which is normally good can be easily perverted to gross evil.
It is very important to understand the nature of the things and what it is precisely that we are dealing with.
Christians must be made aware of it and learn to deal with it.
The tools of the occults are not new, that these things are very ancient.
They go back to the roots of the Babylonian religion, Egyptian religion.
It is no accident that the Jews themselves we’re warned by God in Deuteronomy 18.
Let’s look closer at what these tools are and how they are used by the cults.
We need to grasp the seriousness of what the occult really is.
We are dealing with forces from another dimension that is very real. Satan’s power tricks don’t match the power of God. Satan is not in the business of doing things the right way; he opposes everything that God does. Satan can imitate things that look good and pleasant to the eye. People are selling their soul for a one ticket to Hell when they go out to eternity. Satan is feeding lies to those who wish to serve him and do things for him. He is the father of lies, and he is just using those people to mislead others. People need to realize that this is real. Dealing with the devil is not an easy task. You will find reality in the Living God and you won’t find reality in Satan. Let’s look at some of the tools.

Athame​

The ATHAME represents the power of the mind. A black handled knife double sided blade. They are not for use for cutting as it is never used to cut anything on the physical plane therefore the blade is usually dull. The knife also represents the God and male energy. Ah-THAM-ee ATH-ah-may ah-THAW-may.

Automatic Writing​

Form of divination where the chandler uses a pen, paper and an altered state of consciousness to receive messages.

Bells​

Often used as ritual tools. They can be used to invoke directional energies, to ring in the sunrise on a Sabbat, or to frighten away faeries and baneful spirits. Can also represents the Vault of other realms, and the chime suggests purity.

Besom​

A bundle of twigs attached to a handle used to cleanse and purify sacred space. Essentially a witch's broomstick. The besom is used to sweep the circle, to keep places clean. Also a symbol of the union of the Goddess and God as the Her yoni (the brush) and his Lingam (the rod). Represents spirit flight. Traditionally was placed over threshold or across a window to ward of mischievous spirits.

Book of Shadows
A term coined by Aleister Crowley for a book of rituals, recipes, journal entries, laws/rules, and other documents important to a witch or coven. Each Book of Shadows is different as the individual decides what is necessary for their book. Also known as a BoS.

Bolline​

A white handled knife, used in magic and ritual for purposes such as cutting herbs or piercing fruit.

Cauldron​

- Linked to witchcraft in the popular mind, it is feminine symbol of the goddess, as well as life, death, and rebirth. As a combination of all the elements, the cauldron also represents spirit, as the place from which the elements are formed and to which they eventually return. It is the source of wisdom. Usually made of black cast iron. Can be used for herbs, cooking, holding the candle as to represent fire in center of circle or square. Candles do melt in them and I have found hurt the cast iron.

Censer​

A heatproof container in which incense is burned. It is associated with the element air. Often a censer is used during ritual to "cleanse" an area, generally by moving the censer around the area and especially around the circle as a means of purification.

Chalice/Horn​

A ritual tool. A feminine symbol of the element water. This is used during ritual to be passed around, so that everyone in the coven may bring the Goddess "into" himself or herself. Holds the wine, water or appropriate sacrament. Symbolic of the womb of the mother, and of the receptive principal.

Chaplet​

A crown for the head usually made of flowers and worn at Beltane.

Charms​

Either an amulet or talisman that has been charmed by saying an incantation over it and instilling it with energy for a specific task.

Incense​

Ritual burning of herbs, oils, or other aromatic items to scent the air during acts of magick and ritual and to better help the witch attune to the goal of the working. Many use incenses according to the magic they would like to perform. Such as a Green incense like Pine, as green represents money.

Pendulum​

A divinatory device consisting of a string attached to a heavy object, such as a quartz crystal, root, or ring. The free end of the string is held in the hand, the elbows steadied against a flat surface, and a question is asked. The movement of the heavy object's swings determines the answer. It is a tool that contacts the psychic mind.

Pentacle​

A circle surrounding a five pointed, upright star (pentagram). Worn as a symbol of a Witch's beliefs.

​

Pentagram ​

The basic interlaces five pointed star, often with one point up. It represents the five elements - Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. It is a symbol of power and protection. The point of spirit is placed above others to symbolize that the spirit resides above the body. Many traditions hold that the inverted pentagram, the physical above the spiritual, symbolizes the second degree of learning

Poppets ​

Anthropomorphic dolls used to represent certain human beings in magic spells.

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Runes ​

A set of symbols used both in divination and magical work. There are several types with different origins- Scandinavian, Norse, Germanic, Wiccan. All are a form of alphabet.

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Scrying ​

A method of divination. To gaze at or into an object (a quartz crystal sphere, a pool of water, reflections, a candle flame) to still the conscious mind in order to contact the psychic mind. Scrying allows the scryer to become aware of events prior to their actual occurrence, as well as to perceive past or present events through other than the normal five senses.

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Sword ​

Associated with the element fire, it is sometime used for casting the circle.

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Staff ​

Ritual tool that corresponds to the wand or athame.

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Talisman ​

A magically charged object used to attract or repel a specific type of energy or thing.

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Tarot Cards ​

Set of cards (usually 78) which feature pictures and symbols used to connect the diviner with the collective unconscious. Comes in many sizes and styles. These cards are used to

Tell the future of a person.

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Wand ​

A tool in magic that resembles a rod and is used to direct energy towards a goal, was brought to the craft from the workings of ritual magic. Wands of various woods have different magical qualities Main source of Definitions on Definitions page and tools page is from The Occult Glossary, and my own knowledge.

​

Divination Tools ​

How does the Tarot deck work?
Using the power of Synchronicity, Tarot taps both in the subconscious and the super conscious Mind, the center of our psychic abilities. Tarot decks usually consists of 78 cards that you can lay out in any one of a number of spreads. Each card is symbolic of an energy or spiritual truth, its relevance is based on its position in the spread. Such as Upright or Reversed. If you are shuffling the deck and a card pops out use it. It popped out for a reason. There are many possible outcomes. Tarot readers can spend years mastering the meanings of all the cards in all the different combinations. Books are one resource, but can only help so much. The more readings you do the better. Practice is what helps the most. Keep in mind some people find they are good at Tarot while some may be better at Runes and so on. Tarot Can be used for:
Receiving clarity on problems or issues such as relationships, work , office politics, family matters, spiritual well-being, ancestral answers.

​

Crystal Balls ​

Nostradamus used to scry his information from a piece of tourmaline crystal.
The ancient art of crystal scrying is a form of divination popular amongst many modern Witches & Neo-Pagans. Crystal Balls come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. For scrying, clear or black balls are highly recommended.
You can use other homemade magic mirrors, glass fishing floats, a bowl filled with water [Moon Water] is best used or spring water, with a drop of black ink or oil.
Consecrate your crystal ball first with salt and water; and then, using your athame, dedicate it as a tool of divination in the name of the Goddess and God. Now cup your crystal ball into your hands and charge or magnetize it with your own psychic energies. This can be easily done by simply visualizing a white beam of light flowing from your body into your hands and though your hands and fingertips into the crystal ball. This should be done often, Important note: keep the crystal ball free of dust and fingerprints!!! Use a solution of equal parts lukewarm water and white vinegar and use a extremely soft cloth so it does not get scratched and polish it with a chamois cloth. Keep it covered with a soft black cloth that is not a dust collector. Make sure it is in a stand unless you have a flat bottomed one. If you ever feel the psychic energies were disturbed then charge it again. Crystal Balls are used to gaze into to bring yourself into your intuition. It helps to bring phrases or words into your mind and images. It is not like watching the telly. It is more of wispy visions from the thoughts of your mind and intuition. It is so very important that you are completely relaxed when you do this and that your mind is free from negative or distracting thoughts that may interfere with your powers of concentration. Usually it has been said that the crystal ball will show clouds and a direction the clouds are moving in. Both these things are important to the scrying.

These colors are just a guide. They are not set in stone.

White are favorable omens that may be indicating Good Luck, Good Health, Purity, and Goddess Energy.

Black or Dark Colors are unfavorable or bad omens. It is wise to exercise extreme caution in all that you do whenever they appear in a crystal ball.

Red Colors usually indicate impending dangers such as accidents, fires, or grave illness. Sometimes clouds of this color represent passion and sexuality mainly lust. In order to make an accurate interpretation, you must take into consideration any other symbols or visions that may appear, and use your own intuitive feelings.

Blue is an indication that honor or praise may lie ahead for you. Also peace and tranquility may be symbolized.

Green: Represents money or good luck, and can also mean fertility.

Yellow: Usually indicates betrayal by a friend, loved one or co-employee

Orange: Indicates a loss.

Pink: Indicates a friendship, love, romance

Violet: Indicates psychic and spiritual growth.

If the clouds move to the left it mean the spirits are not able to help guide the scryer at this time. Right means they are able to guide scryer. If they move up then the answer to the question is YES and down is NO. Clouds may appear in images both symbolic and actual may also appear as you gaze into the crystal ball. Images of a symbolic nature, usually combined with a significant color, tend to manifest at the right side of the crystal ball, while actual images of people, places, and things usually appear at the left side.

​

Scrying ​

The most famous scryer was probably Edward Kelly, a professional scryer who was hired and worked for Dr. John Dee. A form of divination in which one gazes into a luminous reflective surface In the dark use black mirrors if you can, they work the best with a black candle. There are also scrying balls. They are very black. Or you can use a dark bowl or a small cauldron filled with water and a black candle, in the dark. The different forms of scrying have one thing in common, the use of symbolism. The stones, the mirror, the water itself symbolizes the watery world of psychism, of water which is a psychic intuitive element.
The objective of scrying is to use one of the scrying methods to help you make contact with your psychic mind and communicate with it and your conscious awareness
Again don't think you will be seeing clear movie like images. As it does not work that way. The real magic is within yourself and you need to listen to yourself. Try to find out how the things you hear and the wisps of visions you have relate to the question. Since you will be working with your subconscious mind there may be symbols etc. and it is up to you to determine what these represent to you.
If mirror scrying here is one method. Make the room as dark as possible, burn incense and light the black candle. Gaze into the mirror at yourself, but look directly at your middle forehead, where your middle eye is.( or some call it the third eye) Keep a constant gaze there and train your mind to think of nothing else. Nothing else at all or you will influence the outcome and what you may see will not be the true sight needed. Lose your EGO and try very hard to remain blank, open and receptive. You may have to try this several times at different times before getting a response, but keep trying it works and it just takes time.

Note: Silver helps with psychic awareness so by all means wear your finest sterling silver when working with any Divination tools please refer to the colors and movements above as you would with the crystal ball.

Runes ​

I love the Runes I guess one reason being I have a long line of ancestors that I can date back to our first known as Smerger Drought from 430 A.D. He was a Dane and went to Ireland. He was given land there for fighting well and serving the Irish and Danes. There is a place in Ireland that is of the ancient Ash Trees one of the last standing forests in Ireland. It carries our family name. That is Droughtville. Before Smerger went ot Ireland our family was the Drugoths aka the Fierce Clans Chieftains of Denmark. So when it comes to Runes well besides the Tarot they are my favorite Divination tool.
Runes are an Ancient Germanic alphabet, used for writing, divination and magick. They were used throughout Northern Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles, Denmark and Iceland from approximately 100 B.C.E. to 1600 C.E. Runic inscriptions of great age have even been found in North America, supporting stories that the Vikings arrived in the Americas long before Columbus.
Tacitus, in Chapter X of his Germania, describes a form of divination used by Germanic tribes: "To divination and casting of lots, they pay attention beyond any other people. Their method of casting lots is a simple one: they cut a branch from a fruit bearing tree and divide it into small pieces which they mark with certain distinctive signs and scatter at random onto a white cloth. Then, the priest of the community if the lots are consulted publicly, or the father of the family if it is done privately, after invoking the gods and with eyes raised to heaven, picks up three pieces, one at a time, and interprets them according to the signs previously marked upon them."
Runes are an oracle from which one seeks advice. The word "Rune" is said to mean mystery, secret or whisper. Each rune has a story attached to it and a relationship to a Norse God and or Goddess. Odin, the Norse High God of the Aesir, hung from the world tree, called Yggdrasil, impaled on his own spear, for nine days and nights in order to gain the knowledge of runes. When the runes appeared below him, he reached down and took them up. The runic knowledge gave him powers . He then later passed on this new knowledge to the Vanir Goddess Freyja. She, in turn, taught him the magick of Seidr. Heimdall, the God who guarded the Rainbow Bridge, taught the runes to humankind. Runic alphabets first appeared among German tribes in central and eastern Europe. The runes were made of straight lines to make the characters suitable for cutting into wood or stone. The Runes are divided into three Aettir or aett. Runes could be read from left to right or from right to left, even on the same artifact. Translation of runic inscriptions is therefore extremely difficult and complicated because of the fact that rune masters sometimes wrote cryptic puzzles or in secret script.
Runic divination or "rune casting" is not "fortune telling" meaning that one actually does not see the future. Instead, runes give one a means of analyzing the path that one is on and a possible likely outcome.
Remember the future is not fixed and those who ordain their mind ordain their destiny. Should a Rune casting tell you an outcome you don't like well you know what you have to do to change it. After all it is not set in stone. Unfortunately I know people who believe they must act exactly as their horoscopes say rather than working on the personality traits they need to. Worst yet the horoscope tells them to work on these traits but they don't. Same goes for a reading I have known people to wait for a non positive outcome rather than take the advice of the runes or tarot and actually try to stop the negative. I have however learned that some people just like to have something to gripe about.


RUNE POUCH: Runes are always kept in a pouch. This is for the obvious reason of keeping them together (you should always have 25 runes), and it is also a handy way to carry them around. unes, along with many other forms of divination can be valuable allies. In preparing to do a rune cast you are preparing to ask your higher self for answers and assistance.

 

[stryper36]

Witchcraft:

From the Old English wiccian (meaning to practice sorcery), it is sorcery as practiced by witch or witches.

Sorcery denotes the pursuit of a certain end through magic, which might be harnessed through such varied means as simple herbalism, the use of waxen images or more elaborate spell-making. Common to all folklore traditions and to virtually all eras, sorcery relies upon the intervention of good and bad spirits but does not necessarily involve any deeper specifically anti-Christian purpose. A sorcerer might call on the assistance of demons, but in so doing there is no automatic presumption that he or she thereby denies the supremacy of God.

In the modern world witchcraft is a form of nature religion, also called 'wicca', that emphasizes the healing arts. The term is also applied to various kinds of magic practiced in Asian, African, and Latin American communities.

Witchcraft can be defined as the performance of magic forbidden by God for non-biblical ends. It was during the Middle Ages that witchcraft experienced a great revival. It was an age where everyone believed in the supernatural and superstition abounded.

Witches were supposed to have a variety of different powers, which kept the people in fear of them. They supposedly could cast spells, which would raise storms, magically destroy crops and turn themselves into werewolves and vampires. However, the most feared power thought to be held by the witches was that of bewitchment, the ability to cause sickness and death.

Although witch-hunting and witch trials no longer occur, the practice of witchcraft continues. The modern witch does not fit the stereotype of the old hag, for many people who are practicing this art are in the mainstream of society. Modern witchcraft bears little resemblance to the witchcraft of the Middle Ages or to witchcraft in still primitive, preliterate societies. Modern witchcraft is a relatively recent development (the last 200 years), embraces hundreds of beliefs and practices and has hundreds of thousands of adherents. The one common theme running through modern witchcraft is the practice of and belief in things forbidden by God in the Bible as occultic.

When a person became a witch, he or she entered into a pact with Satan to worship him. In making this covenant with the devil, the initiate promised to serve him as Christians promise to serve Christ. Moreover, Satanists had their own liturgy, which was a parody of the liturgy said by Roman Catholics. Here are some ancient requirements for becoming a witch.

• Denial of the Christian Faith.
• Rebaptism by the devil with a new name.
• Symbolic removal of the baptismal chrism {the consecrated oil mingled with balm}
• Denial of godparents and assigning of new sponsors.
• Token surrender to the devil of a piece of clothing.
• Swearing allegiance to the devil while standing within a magic circle on the ground.
• Request to the devil for their name to be written in the Book of Death.
• Promise to sacrifice children to the devil, a step which led to the stories of witches murdering children.
• Promise to pay annual tribute to the assigned demon. Only black colored gifts were valid.
• Marking with the devil’s mark in various parts of the body, so that the area marked became insensitive. The mark might vary in shape, or a rabbit’s foot, a toad, or a spider.
• Vows of service to the devil: never to adore the sacrament; to smash holy relics; never to use water or candles; and keep silence on their traffic with Satan.

{Francesco – Maria Guazzo, Compendium Maleficarum, 1608, translated by Dr. R.H. Robbins}



America did not escape the great witch-hunt. Salem witch trials attracted so much attention as that which took place at Salem in New England in the year 1692. All in all, the toll of Salem, a township of hundred-odd households, was enormous. During the hysteria, almost 150 people were arrested. A search of all the court records would no doubt add to this number. Because of the time taken to convict each prisoner, only 31 were tried in 1692, not including Sarah Churchill and Mary Warren, two accusers who briefly recanted. The court of Oyer and Terminer (hear and determine) sentences to death all 31 of whom 6 were men. 19 were hanged. Of the remaining 22 (Sarah Osborne and Anne Foster) died in jail; 1 (Giles Cory) was pressed to death; 1 (Tituba) was held indefinitely in jail without trial. 2 (Abigail Faulkner and Elizabeth Proctor) postponed execution by pleading pregnancy and lived long enough to be reprieved. 1 (Mary Bradbury) escaped from jail after sentencing; and 5 made confessions, which secured reprieves for them. {R. H. Robbins, The Encyclopedia of W itchcraft and Demonology, New York; Crown Publishing., 1959}



Both the Old and New Testaments make repeated references to the practice of witchcraft and sorcery, and whenever these practices are referred to they are always condemned by God. The Bible condemns all forms of witchcraft, including sorcery, astrology and reading human and animal entrails. In 1692 an event took place that would change the lives for many and be a reminder for those of the cost of being a witch or being accused of being a witch. The Salem Witch Hunt.

 

[LiberatedChick]

Thank you for these posts. I drifted away from the Lord for several years and got caught up in paganism and witchcraft. I had and used many of the tools you listed above though the majority were placed in the bin a while ago. I say "majority" because I know there's still some of them lurking in one of my cupboards. I haven't used them and I've been meaning to chuck them but kept forgetting or once I'd remembered couldn't bring myself to do it. So these posts have been like a kick up the backside to me lol. The rest of that junk is heading for the bin!