I write this as a housewife and mother, not with any agenda to scare or condemn, but with a genuine concern for our young people in this ‘anything goes’ society, which we live in today.
The idea we can all choose what to believe and practice (within the realms of law and order) is something we should applaud in many ways, however not all things out there are helpful or beneficial for us.
To allow people to walk into danger, without sounding any kind of call, would be cruel and inhumane. We all have a responsibility to each other, to seek to protect and help each other. If one has knowledge that will help the other, we should share it. I am thankful to anyone along my path in life, who has given me some knowledge or wisdom that has protected me from making potentially destructive decisions. Unfortunately, many people sit back and allow people to ‘make their own mistakes’ or ‘learn for themselves’. They are fearful of appearing bigoted or old fashioned. Yet love will cause someone to speak, to warn and to advise. Whether a person listens is out of your control. Another quote says this: ‘Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you…Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.’
I say all this as an introduction. My message today is about one of my concerns for society and young people today. The concern is the rise of the practice of ‘Wicca’.
Kathy was raised in the church but rejected its teaching in her teens. She lived in Salem, Mass., a place with a history of witchcraft and many practicing Wiccans. “I was always kind of artsy, different and non-conformist,” she says, “Wicca attracted my interest because it appealed to those facets of my personality. It was certainly non-conformist, and I liked the mystery surrounding it.” So Kathy found a Wiccan high priestess who took her under her wing and taught her how to be a witch. “She told me it was all white magic, and that’s all I was interested in.”
But after a few years, things turned sour. “The more I learned, the more things started to spiral downward, deeper and deeper into darkness and black magic. I became very good at what I was being taught. My teacher never acknowledged Satan but did say there was something called ‘the abyss’ that we should avoid.”
For Kathy, however, that proved to be difficult. “One hot summer night I was lying awake in my bedroom when all of a sudden the room became very cold. I started to shiver and broke out into a cold sweat, although it was the height of summer. A cold wind blew in through my windows, startling me. Now I was terrified. I hugged my knees to my chest and gasped as a legion of what can only be described as black demons encircled my head, all laughing at me. I started screaming out my Wiccan spells to rebuke them, hoping they would disappear. That only made things worse. The laughter escalated with each spell I tried.
“Then all of a sudden I remembered my days in Sunday school as a child and the teachings of Jesus. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time. In a loud voice I called upon Jesus Christ to rid the room of this dark presence. Instantly they were gone, and my bedroom was once again calm and warm. My life was never the same after that.”
The next day on the way to school Kathy told herself, You have some serious personal inventory to do. She walked into a church that afternoon and has never looked back. Kathy is a Christian now and warns women who think Wicca is harmless. “A lot of women think that by practicing Wicca, worshiping this so-called goddess, that they are celebrating their womanhood. I am here to tell them there is a lot more to it than that. Lots of them haven’t had the experiences I have. But they can and will if they stick with it. It’s like the warning on a pack of cigarettes: ‘Wicca is dangerous and could be hazardous to your health.’”
The Bible says this interesting thing:
‘Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.’
We love and care for you who are reading this and for every person searching for meaning, purpose, power and freedom in Wicca. We can confidently affirm all these things and more can be found in a loving relationship with your Heavenly Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hannah McConnell