Spiders, Webs & Witchcraft
Caught in a Web
Naughty little fly.
Why does he cry?
Caught in a web.
Soon you'll be...EATEN!
(Gollum, LOTR: Return of the King)
Last night, I was downstairs, going back and forth between the kitchen and the family room, trying to watch Ten Commandments and do some dishes. There was a REALLY annoying bug plaguing me in the kitchen. He kept flying to the light. At one point, he landed on the kitchen floor and I was tempted to kill him. But I decided texting was more important. This gave the bug a chance to fly away during my preoccupation and thus, continue his plague upon my sanity.
I finished my dishes (and texting) and sat down to actually watch the movie classic. But the bug followed me, much to my chagrin. The utter angst! But then he went back to the kitchen. And then I didn't hear him anymore.
I wondered if he landed and I had a shoe, ready to smack him down! But nothing. I turned on the main kitchen light, still couldn't hear anything. And then I looked down... There he was, caught in a web in the corner of the wall. I crouched down to look at him and smiled in glee! But only for a moment. I looked closer and saw that a minuscule spider was also on the web, many times smaller than the bug so much so that you almost couldn't see it, and he's working feverishly. He'd had one of the legs tied up and was now working on a second. This was no cobweb, but an active web. And my mushy heart went out to the bug. Where once I was ready to kill him, I was now ready to free him.
So I grabbed a paper towel, folded it into a rectangular shape, and swiped the spider and the bug down to the floor. The spider spazed. Then I got a slightly damp tissue square, killed the spider, and sent him to a watery grave. But the bug was still in the power of the web. It had been destroyed, but his poor spindly legs were still caught. I folded over the edge of the paper towel the bug was on, and used it to "wipe" away the web. I even had to use my bare finger nail to hold down the webby strand and free the bug.
FREE AT LAST!!
But the freedom was short-lived. Don't you know that bug, flew DIRECTLY into the web he'd just left?? Now he was completely caught! I'm sure he was just trying to get away from me; he didn't realise that I was there to help him. So again, I had to get another paper towel, swipe him down from the web, "loose him, and let him go."
While washing my hands and getting a snack, I made sure to not step on him. He made his way, very slowly, across the floor, and then--you guessed it--flew directly into yet another web on the opposite side of the kitchen. Now besides telling me, I really needed to sweep out the edges and corners of the floor (which I did a few minutes later), I realised that this is how witchcraft works.
Webs of Deception
Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When first we practise to deceive! (Sir Walter Scott)
Spiders are like witches, webs are like witchcraft.
They weave circumstances and even fates for people to be caught in. Sometimes, they think they're honestly serving God in their weaving efforts. Other times, they know exactly what they are doing (even if they don't know the full impact or repercussions) and try their darnedest to bring their will into existence.
Think about it, that spider was so tiny compared to the bug. Probably the equivalent of a dabbling, petty, solitary witch. But the implications are great! First, the witch themself is caught in a web much greater than their understanding because they don't realise that in dabbling in witchcraft and the Occult, they are caught in a vast Satanic web tied to Hell itself that only Christ can free them from. Second, witches weave webs for others to be caught in, tying them to the same Satanic web they themselves are caught in.
And let's not forget that spiders, in addition to trapping victims, often have venomous fangs (however large or small), they hide in the dark or some other hidden place, and they ultimately consume their victims. Even if the victims are freed from the spider's web, they may be damaged like my little bug.
After he flew into the last web (and I swept out the corners and crevices of the kitchen), I finally coaxed him onto another paper towel, cupped him under my hand, opened the front door, and placed him outside. I was sure he would live happily for however long whatever those kinds of bugs are live. Not so. When I went to take the recycling out this afternoon, there he was, in the place I left him, dead on the doormat. Smashing him with a shoe would have been more merciful. At least it would have been quick and he wouldn't have seen it coming.
Closing the Doors
Like the bug, many of us don't realise the lasting effects of witchcraft and the Occult. I honestly don't even know what they all are, but I do know this: any door you leave open is just that: left open. If you play with knowledge from the soulish realm (the second heaven, where the Prince of the Power of the Air rules) your "third eye" is open and must be closed in the name of Jesus and covered by the blood of Jesus. If you have dabbled in the Occult at all, then you must authentically repent and change your ways and ask Jesus to close those doors and seal them with the blood of Jesus. And you can't stop there. If you have children--and even if you don't--you must break the generational ties to witchcraft that have been formed. It can and will come back to haunt your children, your children's children, and your children's children's children.
[Prophet] John Paul Jackson once told a story about a secular call-in radio station he was listening to. They were having a secular dream interpreter on and a dear lady called in to tell of a troubled dream she'd had. The dream was this.
She was in the kitchen cleaning up and she looked outside to see her son and her daughter playing outside on a playground. But to her horror, a vast army of black spiders was there and crawling up the play equipment toward the children.
The false interpreter told the woman her dream meant this:
There are some issues from your childhood affecting you. But once you get in touch with your inner-child, then everything will be fine!
LIES!!
John Paul Jackson said he almost crashed the car for anger at the ungodly, soulish interpretation. This was the true interpretation.
There are ties to the Occult/witchcraft in your past and if you don't deal with those and close those doors to them in the name and by the blood of Jesus, then they will begin to affect your children shortly.
What a difference in interpretations!
Witchcraft in the bloodline can also and often manifest as drug addiction. Drugs are an ungodly influence that controls you and thus, they are an extension of witchcraft. (See Spirit of Pharmakeia.)
What "Witchcraft" Includes
There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. (Deuteronomy 10:11)
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. (I Samuel 15:23)
The late deliverance minister, Derek Prince, once stated that he believed at least 90% of all those living in the U.K. had some tie(s) to the Occult. 90%!! And while the percentage may not be as high in America (and these days, I think we're pretty darn even), we ALL must be on guard against the Occult. Why?? Because like fornication, like adultery, like homosexuality and related sexual deviant practices, etc., the Occult, through media, is being "normalized." And when a society normalizes a thing, the people generally become numb to it and its effects, bar the grace of God. So with that in mind, here are some different branches and forms of the Occult:
New Age
Masons & other secret societies
Illuminati
Santeria
Sorcery
Spiritism
Wicca, Druidry, Paganism & Neo-Paganism
Solitary witchcraft
Traditional Witchcraft (in a coven)
The Occult/Satanism
White Magic a.k.a. Light Magic
Black Magic
Some Occultic practices include:
White Magic a.k.a. Light Magic
Black Magic
Water Magic
Abortion (child sacrifice)
Yoga
Acupuncture
Energy "Healings"
Hypnotism
Reading Horoscopes
Celebrating Halloween (Samhain) & May Day (Beltane)
Secret Oaths (Secret Societies & Cults)
Manifesting ("Name It & Claim It," not referring to casting out demons)
Using Scripture (out of context) to pray your will or curse a person
Astrology (not to be confused with Astronomy)
Ouija board games
Interpreting Omens
Tarot Card Readings
Tea Leaf Readings
Automatic Writing
Soothsaying
Psychic Consultations
Secular Dream interpretation
Paying people to prophesy (usually on hotlines)
Conjuring Spells
Divination (any kind; see the "calling" of Joseph Smith & the start of Mormonism)
Seances
Astral-Projection (any type of out-of-body experience that God Himself does not initiate)
Any other kind of readings (water, entrails, dirt, etc.)
Tantra Sex
Using Sex to Control People & Traditional Sex Magic
Blood Magic
Consuming Bloody Food & Drinking Blood
Animal & Human Sacrifices (not to be confused with Old Testament animal sacrifices)
Black Masses, etc.
I'm positive there are others I've failed to mention here (feel free to list them below in the comments section!), however, this is a good way to figure out if what you're doing/dabbling with/consulting is Occultic in nature:
Any attempt to gain knowledge, power, healing, or anything else through your own will and or outside of the Word of God--and the godly practices outlined therein--is witchcraft. Period.
Note: It doesn't matter if these people say they serve "Jesus" or don't serve the devil or even don't believe in him. They are just as deceived as the people they are deceiving. All of these works point back to Satan.
To God, sorcerers and brujas, yogis and psychics, mediums and energy healers, shamans, witch doctors, and magic men are all the same = witches. And yes, you "prophet of God," pastor, and minister who manipulates and controls people, you are just the same. You are a witch and I have known my fair share of evangelical witches and seen my fair share of evangelical witchcraft! (For more on this subject, check out my Kingdom Mandates & Faith and the Imagination books.)
God Understands & Forgives--If You Ask Him To
Years ago, my mom shared with me that when she was a child, she and her siblings didn't know any better (and probably, neither did her parents), so they played with a Ouija board. The other day, another "mom," shared with me the same thing. I'm sure many people read their horoscopes and consult their stars without knowing it's wrong. Many people join and make oaths to secret societies such as the Masons and fraternities/sororities without knowing it's wrong. God understands this and gives us grace for that. But now after reading this, you will NEVER be able to stand before God and say, "I didn't know." You can either choose to ask for forgiveness, STOP DOING/ASSOCIATING WITH THOSE THINGS, and pray to Jesus to close those doors in your life and the life of your family, or you can go on acting as you choose. If you choose the latter, the blood is now on your hands. I've done my part in warning you.
But grace has an expiration date.
God looks on the person who accidentally falls into sin and repents differently than He looks at the person who intentionally keeps sinning and asking for forgiveness afterwards. And He looks at the person who keeps intentionally sinning and repenting differently than He looks at the person who doesn't even bother repenting.
The condition of your heart is everything.
If we go on acting as if we don't know sin is sin or we fail to cover our sinful pasts with the blood of Jesus, then we--or our descendants--will wind up like that poor bug on my doormat: dead, dead, dead.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
Jesus wants YOU to be free from witchcraft. He already came 2,000+ years ago and won the victory through His death on the cross (in our stead), burial, and resurrection three days later. His blood purchased our freedom. BUT if we choose to not take that sacrifice personally and live according to His purpose and not according to the flesh (for witchcraft is a work of the flesh, see Galatians 5:19-21), then the redemption means nothing in our individual lives. After all, Jesus said,
If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:16)
We are called to crucify the flesh and deny ourselves, not to work our own wills through witchcraft. God wants us to be free and stay free--not caught in the web of Satan's deception. Trust Him or choose to wind up like my little bug-friend.
