Witchcraft (sorcery/magic arts, drugs, voodoo, enchanters) Witchcraft refers to the practice of magic arts using evil, “black magic” powers, drugs, casting of spells, causing sickness and death, etc. The root Greek NT word translated sorcery relates to drugs(“pharmakia”). It takes many different forms. Historically and traditionally witches attribute their “powers” to Satan and often pledge their allegiances to him. Witchcraft involves mind and will control. That they seem to exercise mysterious, evil power is beyond question. Many tribal people have a witchdoctor or medicine man. There is a certain fascination with witches and it is almost “fashionable” in some parts of the world today to be called a witch. Witchcraft is Satan inspired, demonic activity which the Bible consistently condemns and warns against. For one can easily come under the sinister influence of Satan by “playing around” with witchcraft. Deut.18:9-16 and Gal.5:19-21.

SORCERY

There is a close relationship between Satan’s plan, sorcery, Eastern mysticism, psychology and its impact on the Church today.  Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3). Many will accept the doctrines of demons (1Tim 4:1), Satan will disguise himself as an angel of light (2Cor 11:14). Be not deceived by the philosophy, traditions and self-made religions of the world (Col 2:8, 23). Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For the rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry (1sam 15:22-23). Your wisdom and knowledge have perverted you (Isa 47:8-10). It is a time of widespread and subtle sorcery. To ignore or compromise with error is to be unfaithful to God, and deceiving the perishing souls. The word sorcery is used here to encompass all the occult practices in which attempt is made to manipulate any aspect of reality through mind power techniques.

MEANING AND SCOPE OF SORCERY

Desire to become like God and acting like God is the heart of sorcery. Rebellion is equal to sorcery and idolatry (1Sam 15:22-23).  Obedience to God is true worship. Rebellion and disobedience to God is equal to sorcery and idolatry. The most serious case of rebellion and disobedience, sorcery and idolatry are seen in Gen 3. There man disbelieved what God said and disobeyed God; and believed what devil said and obeyed devil. Man acted like God. This is the essence of sorcery.

In sorcery attempt is made to manipulate the law of God through the illegitimate use of mind and spirit of man. E.g. car vs levitation; telephone vs telepathy. False Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders. (Mt 24:24, 25). The basic premises of sorcery are the opposites of the basic premises of True worship of God. Hence all those who practice the basic premises of sorcery practice sorcery. The basic assumptions of sorcery are similar or one even in places disconnected by distant continents and cultures. This is because of the common source of inspiration which is satanic. Believing in the great lie is alliance with devil. Alliance with devil is sorcery. Sin is service to devil. Sorcery is service of devil

History in the Bible

Bible denounces witchcraft as Satan worship. But the Bible acknowledges the reality of power behind witchcraft. Magicians of Egypt duplicated the miracles of God done through Moses. (Jannes and Jambres duplicated some of the plagues of Moses; In NT, Simon Magnus, Elymas the magician, medium at Philippi). But the power of witchcraft is limited. Death penalty was due for all sorcerers (Ex 22:18; Lev 20:27). King Manasseh’s fall was due to delving into spiritism (2king 21:6; 2Chron 33:6). Prophet Daniel speaks of magicians etc. Bible instructs us not to believe every spirit (1Jn 4:1-3). The spiritists prefer spirits of the dead to God. They have a low view of God or no God. The fact is that the lying demonic spirits pretend to be spirits of the dead.

SORCERY IN THE WORLD TODAY

Some men oppose truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses (2Tim 3:8). People thought that Simon the sorcerer had the great power of God (Acts 8:9-10). ...the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils (1Cor 10:20). Aaron was performing miracles, while his Egyptian rivals were doing magic.

Sorcery or witchcraft predate Christianity. In some form or another they are practiced in almost all the cultures - cultures which are even wholly disconnected from each other. Witchcraft is human harnessing of supernatural powers for evil purposes. Female practitioner is witch and the male counterpart is warlocks. But for our purposes we use the term witch for both male and female practitioners of witchcraft. The thin difference between a witch and a Satanist is that while a witch is uncertain about the source of the power and influence received, the Satanist is quite sure of the source. Satanism is a direct perversion of Christianity.

“Serious students of witchcraft are often people who feel man is out of control, unaligned with the cycles of nature. They turn to witchcraft for healing and to become one with their environment. They believe knowledge is power through which they can control their lives, destinies and the world...witches claim they seek to understand the connection between man and his environment…to obtain knowledge. To have the power and use it to achieve balance. To discover truths… possibly unleash the gods and goddesses within us all. Reincarnation is crucial to the witchcraft idea that good and evil are returned through karma” (Larson’s New Book on Cults, Bob Larson, Tyndale House Publishers, 1989. p. 467).

“witches identify themselves as pagans, druids, and wiccans. Such terminology as earth or nature religion, positive magick, the craft, the craft of the wise, wise craft, goddess worship, wimmin religion, and shamanism is also associated with the witchcraft groups. Resurgence of neopagan witchcraft is partially traceable to the 1960s feminist and environmental protection movements” (Larson’s New Book on Cults, Bob Larson, Tyndale House Publishers, 1989. p. 465).

Some assume a relationship between witchcraft and modern feminist movement. Mother goddess worship has become the focus of modern witches. “Throughout history she has been manifested in numerous forms: Artemis, Ashtarte, Aphrodite, Diana, Kore, Hecate, etc. The consort Pan (the Horned God) is the male principal of WICCA. He too possesses a varied nomenclature, including such names as Adonis, Apolls, Baphomet, Cernunnos, Dionysius, Lucifer, Osiris, Thor, etc. The symbolism is rich” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, George A Mather and Larry A Nichols, Zondervan, 1992. p.315). “Witchcraft rituals have been traced to worship of the Greek goddess Artemis, Diana of the Romans. The Egyptian moon goddess, and the fertility goddess of the Cannanites. Modern witches believe in two primary deities: Hecate, the Greek goddess of ghosts, and Pan (Lucifer), the god of the woods and shepherds. Witches insist their Pan, even though horned and cloven-hoofed, is not the same Lucifer condemned in Scripture” (Larson’s New Book on Cults, Bob Larson, Tyndale House Publishers, 1989. p. 464)

Modern witchcraft is commonly called WICCA. The advocates of feminist spirituality emerged from this WICCA movement. Among them are Alexander Sanders, Sybil Leek, Raymond and Rosemary Buckland, Starhawk, Margot Adler, Jim Alan, Jessie Wicker Bell, Gavin and Yvonne Frost, Doreen Valiente, Zsuanna Budapest, donna Cole, Ed Fitch, Janet and Stewart Ferrar, Gerald Gardner, etc. They are all highly admired among the Christian feminist circles.

Major beliefs

1. Mother goddess worship has become the focus of modern witches. They practice rites which are believed to harmonize the participants to the rhythm of nature.
2. “witches and pagans practice various kinds of magic. This includes clairvoyance, divination, astral projection, spells etc. High magic includes practicing the art of healing. Witches are drawn to the principle that healing is a natural process of mother earth. Nature provides medicines in the form of herbs. Knowing which ones to apply to which ailments of the body is an area of expertise in which many witches specialize. Spells are also employed to effect healing” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p. 316).
3. “witches follow a principle of ethics known as WICCAN REDE.: ‘that ye harm none, do what ye will’. Implied within this principle is the notion held among witches that to be a witch means to seek to effect harmony with the world, nature and other human beings” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p.316)
4. “religion is generally viewed as being synonymous with the practice of magic. Magic is able to develop and nurture the inner planes of the mind, ‘the collective unconscious’, the spirit world, etc. The term collective unconsciousness was employed by psychologist Carl Jung, who taught that individuals draw on a deep memory pool from the past. This pool holds experiences common to each race or humanity in general. Modern witches according to one theory, believe that the gods and goddesses are simply these Jungian archetypes symbolizing the capabilities and potentialities that are part of every human being. The most commonly held view among witches and pagans, however, is that gods and goddesses are ‘personifications of the MONISTIC, genderless, universal, and eternal Life Force – the divine primal energy or principle” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p. 316).
5. “the very belief in gods (plural) and goddesses (plural) whether symbolic or not, advances the point that wiccan groups embrace a polytheistic conceptualization of the universe. For modern witches this does not mean so much that they believe in a pantheon of male and female deities, but that reality itself is understood in many different ways. Truth is not a matter of correspondence between language, the world, or any one conceptual model. Put differently there is no singular expression of truth. Truths that are contradictory are held to simultaneously” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p 316).
6. They believe in reincarnation, Karma etc.
7. “many symbols accompany wicca lore. Most of them have a standing tradition within the history of the occult. The amulet, talisman, ankh, athame, circle, pentagram, cup or chalice, pentacle, rune, sigil, tarot, wand, cauldron, altar, witches’ ladder, etc. all play a role in wicca” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p. 317).
8. “For wiccan groups the concept of sin and the subsequent need for salvation are archaic notions at best. If sin is anything at all, it is alienation from one’s own divine potential” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p. 317).
9. “many witches are willing to live the blatant contradiction because of either naïve intellectual dishonesty, or convenience” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p. 317).
10. Witches’ ladder is a string of forty beads or a rope with forty knots in it used for ceremonial worship (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p. 318).
11. “Their basic message is that any suppression of the body’s desires is unnatural and unwise. The Frosts also promote the Gardnerian concept of astral sex with spirit partners (incubus or succubus)” (Larson’s New Book on Cults, Bob Larson, Tyndale House Publishers, 1989. p. 466)

Conclusion

1.  “like all other non-Christian religions of the world, witchcraft obliterates the distinction between the creator and creation. Wiccans deify nature in such a way that both God and nature are identified as synonymous. Further since divinity lies in nature and in the cosmos, it also resides within each person. Here it can be observed that wiccan thoughts closely parallels Hinduism and other Eastern paradigms” (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p.317).
2. “The elemental forces conjured are demons, and the horned deity revered is the devil” (Larson’s New Book on Cults, Bob Larson, Tyndale House Publishers, 1989. P. 467).
3. There is the possibility of witchcraft gaining legitimacy at mass basis. “today’s witches are physicians, policemen, secretaries, merchants, mechanics – even ministers. Their credo is, ‘if it harms none, do as you will’ (Larson’s new book on cults, Bob Larson, Tyndale house publishers, 1989. P. 465). But we should remember that simply because an evil is widely recognized as good, it does not become good and right. E.g. NAM.

Solution to sorcery (Gen 3:15)

1. Desire of the creature to become like the creator was = creator becoming like the creation
2. Desire of the creature to be proud and selfish = creator be humble and self-giving
3. Believe it and obey the meaning of it = saved.
4. Attitude of devil is that of pride, self glory, revenge, etc.
5. But the attitude of Christ is that of humility, love, glory to God, forgiveness etc. We are asked to have the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5).

The basic sickness shall remain the same and solution also shall remain same. Only the true Christian faith can preserve freedom and progress against occultism. If Christian faith is not revived barbarianism will rule us. Follow Jesus and not men. Ability to distinguish the voice of the good shepherd is the key to survival (See Jn 10). Good shepherd leads by example. But false leaders drive the people to destruction by the force of false promises and signs. Using the mind power for wealth and prosperity is not Christian. We are asked to seek the mind of Christ which is not materialistic. Jesus is the complete solution.

Common features of witchcraft

1. Desire for power over other people
2. Desire for material things,
3. Desire for secret knowledge,
4. Desire for mysterious adventure
5. Desire for controlling opposing forces
6. Desire for prosperity and pleasure
7. Knowledge, wealth, power, honor, pleasure and vengeance are promised.
8. Appeal to an external source of power
9. Pride and intellectual arrogance
10. Preference is given to what they receive in séances than to word of God.
11. Rebellion against the restraints of society
12. Some specific methods of rituals for desired results
13. Miraculous power to manipulate people and situations to their advantage.
14. Thinks he is controlling the forces, but is actually controlled by them