Produced by TheMediaDesk, ©2021 and 2020
Posted on CCPC's website 2022
A Revelation Study special in depth feature: Witchcraft and the Apocalypse
"Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble."
'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare
Over the years, The Media Desk has done Mystery Series / non-fiction articles on all sorts of subjects that play around the edges of this topic. Everything from Magic itself on through various aspects that at times have come into this arena, and then slipped out again, such as Astrology. There's a list below of those. So as we go through this one, we'll save some time by hitting the high points and then referring to those if the reader wants to go into more depth on them.
One of the things we will do, eventually, is look at the historical and traditional difference between witchcraft and sorcery. There is a difference, and it makes a difference. We're just going to take the scenic route to get to it.
And, we've got to say this: "this is a sensitive topic." There are those today, and the Desk has been friends with several, that will definitively say that they are “A Witch.” In most cases, the individuals were practicing members of the Wiccan religion, a couple belonged to local groups that, in one case, was an organized Coven that even had an ad in the local newspaper with gathering dates and a phone number in case somebody wanted more information, another was a 'solo practitioner'. On any given typical day they looked like everybody else in the office, or at the store, or even in the kitchen where they worked.
That's not the overall concept most people have of a witch. We'll skip down a road later and check in with a couple of famous examples.
On the other hand, on a couple of occasions, the Desk attended various rituals and ceremonies, once in a forest clearing with the Coven with the newspaper ad that a friend belonged to. One may have been a “Drawing Down the Moon” spring ritual. We'll 'fictionalize' the description to include several different interactions with the group and its priestesses and various members as follows, to generalize things, protect those that need protected, and just to keep everybody happy. OK? Onward:
On one occasion, the members looked more like what you would expect with the robes and ornate necklaces with symbolic talismans on them. The priestess who was the “Mistress of Ceremonies” was even wearing flowers in her hair.
The Desk was told, yes, Told! to stand at the edge of the clearing around the circle, stay out of the way, and stay quiet, and then forbidden to take pictures. It Complied.
The only light was two “tiki torches” on either side of the pathway into the clearing, and the full moon just peeking over the trees. No bonfire, no candles, no mysterious luminous vapors manifesting from a fissure in the ground. Other than the distant sounds of traffic on the highway, it was quiet.
The High Priestess entered the established circle and stood somewhat reverently in the center. There were six or seven others that entered in a moment and took their positions around the outside of the circle.
They all just stood there. Then in a few moments the priestess at the center turned to face the Moon and raised her hands to the sky, then she began to chant somewhat softly. As she finished the 'first verse' of what she was saying, the others then joined in softly while she repeated it with a bit more volume. Then, they did it again. Later they chanted something else with the circle leading and the priestess echoing.
The entire service took maybe half an hour or so.
Later, back in the Priestess's garage there were snacks and drinks and conversation. End 'fictionalization', thank you for your understanding.
The ceremony was nice. Surprisingly serene. And even, in a way, magical.
But that was it.
Just on the surface of it, when you have several people, mostly women (there was at least one man in the circle, but the Desk doesn't remember exactly), standing around a clearing in the moonlight, chanting a somewhat poetic verse, there is something ethereal to it.
But did anything else happen? Did the Priestess become a vessel for the goddess who then bestowed some special wisdom or prophecy on those in attendance?
Not that the Desk noticed then, or remembers now. It was just a nice ceremony, an evening out, a shared experience for people with a common interest.
“Do I believe in Witchcraft? I'm the result of it.”
- Phyllis Diller (1917 - 2012)
Another of the Desk's Wiccan connections was more into the commercial side of things. She sold everything from candles in the appropriate colors and scents for the various seasons or occasions and the powers or deities so involved, to the books and accessories practitioners would need for those events. She even had CDs of the various chants and songs they used.
Some of those supplies she made from raw materials and ingredients others she grew or gathered, and others items she ordered from whatever wholesaler your practicing retail witch would use.
One of the things she said numerous times was that just in that local area there were several different traditions being actively practiced, and she was trying to stay as 'non-denominational' as she could to not alienate the others. With decidedly mixed results, as you see with bookstores of more mainstream religions as well.
As you can see from the links below to websites on The Craft, there is very little agreement between traditions. Even the largest and oldest umbrella group, the Covenant of the Goddess, has been unable to keep these groups on speaking terms, even on issues that it would benefit them all to cooperate on. Such as the credentials needed to perform handfastings (marriages) in various jurisdictions and the prospect of keeping the group a non-profit for the IRS.
And that is the way it has always been when dealing with this subject. On ANY side of the larger subject: religion.
Such disagreements appear to be part of human nature.
We'll stay on topic and go this way. Among those who were the practitioners of 'the Craft' as some call it. There were some who claimed to be “White Witches” and those who were somewhat darker. For the most part, nobody agreed as to just what was, and more importantly what wasn't Witchcraft, let alone what was 'white'. Or is it Sorcery? Magic (Magik)? Voodoo? (we'll come back to that one) Perhaps even prestidigitation could qualify.
And it is still true.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
- Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008)
There are those that claim that anything from the quite extensive list toward the end of this article is some sort of nefarious art. And if you go through something like the infamous “Malleus Maleficarum”, you'll find most of them.
That book, also called “The Hammer of the Witches”, first published in Latin in Germany in 1486, became one of the best known manuals for the hunting of witches, and went through over thirty editions. However, there were issues with the book, including exactly who had written it. As it turns out, the listed author, Heinrich Kramer's name wasn't attached to the manuscript until some twenty years after his death, and thirty years after the book was first issued by the Roman Church under the authority of a Papal Bull against witchcraft. It is more likely that Herr Kramer was the chief editor and the work was produced by something of a committee of local enthusiasts.
There is no accurate count of how many people were murdered based on evidence procured though the methods described in the book, and other sorts of interrogation authorized by both the Catholic and Protestant churches as well as the secular authorities. This was the one issue which all of the powers in Central Europe could agree: that witches were ruining their world.
That the global climate was going through a series of cold spells we now call the Little Ice Age didn't matter. It had to be the result of witchcraft. When any of the various plagues came through, witches were often blamed. When the local authorities were faced with a situation that they didn't know how to handle, guess what came up? For an example on this side of the Atlantic we needn't do more than get off US 1 and Interstate 95 at the Lowell Street interchange and head southeast until it turns into Main Street, and just keep going. Just keep going, until the street changes names again, and you find yourself in....
"It's just that I don't like to talk very much."
- Charles Bronson (1921 - 2003)
That quote from one of those legendary movie tough guys has very little to do with the topic, but you've got to love it all the same.
Let's drop back to the beginning of that last bit and look at “white magic”. And even “green magic” in what may be about half effort by the witches to be “politically correct” although it has its roots (pun intended) in traditional medicines, remember what we said about the 'healers' in the villages?
When you come right down to it, the only difference was the intent of the practitioner or the client. In some cases in the old books the basic ingredients needed and the incantation used were often very similar, if not identical. And in many instances, the practitioner was also the same. Some writers on the topic recruit others to the lifestyle by proclaiming that they can solely practice “white witchcraft” and give away beginner's guidebooks to do it.
Some of the websites seriously dedicated to The Craft make no bones about it, those who use their talents to harm others can look forward to the witchcraft form of Karma with the “Threefold Law Of Return" and variations thereof, in which any energy sent out into the world by the practitioner comes back to them multiplied by three.
The image of the 'bad witch' getting what's coming to her in the long run is part of the underlying theme of popular media ranging from various old stories that reach their zenith in "The Wizard of OZ" where the 'good witch' was fantastically beautiful and spoke in song while the 'wicked witch' was ... somewhat less attractive ... and cackled like a wicked witch should cackle. Remember the scene in the 1939 movie where Billie Burke in a sparkling outfit explained that Judy Garland had done the locals a favor when she dropped in (ignore pun, keep moving) and illegally parked her house on the side of the 'yellow brick road'? That and the memorable threat made by the unfortunate park-ee's sister, wonderfully played by Margaret Hamilton, which we quote below with a link to a good page that focuses on that classic film.
Sidenote: when the movie was made, the 'good witch' actress was a good twenty years older than lady that was the 'wicked witch'. Good makeup, eh?
The theme that 'good' is rewarded and evil is punished is as much at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition as anything else, but it is not exclusive to that world view. Even the Native American traditions, such as the stories of Trickster and his various adventures, maintain that if you do evil, and sometimes Trickster caused harm and did bad things just to do them, watch out, because it will come back to haunt you, just as he would have unpleasant repercussions himself.
And there is always that Karma thing we mentioned in passing earlier, that comes from ancient India, and is so well known we were able to reference it earlier without mentioning the source and very nearly everybody would understand the term. So we did. A link is below to that and the Trickster if you wish to know more about those.
However, the movie did a disservice when it convinced everybody that Good is always Beautiful and Evil is ... not. The book started it, but it was the movie that put wings to the idea. This idea goes WAY back as well. Think back to our opening quote from MacBeth, the witches in the opening scene of the play, and movies, are usually, well, they look more like the resident of the West than the North of OZ. We can see it in the statues of Apollo as well as in the tombs of Egypt and even Central America where the Hero Twins, the ultimate 'good guys' to the Maya, were handsome and decked out in jewels and feathers and, usually, the 'bad guy' was ugly and somewhat scary. Which isn't always the case. We're told in scripture that evil can be very attractive, as when Satan “metaschematizetai” (masquerades) as an angel of light, as in 2 Corinthians 11: 14. Another, more recent, and just as pretty example comes at the beginning of our resource links section below with a quote from a TV witch.
“A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”
- Jeremy Clarkson (born 1960)
Stand by for VooDoo, as the tourist shops in New Orleans call it. We'll explain why that's nonsense, then we'll get into the meat of it. That's not a pun, that's where we end up.
Yes, in some of the odder traditions that those that observe the multitude of practices of the Vodun religion from the central Atlantic coastal region of Africa, and elsewhere on the Continent, as well as in the Caribbean, most notably in Jamaica and Haiti, you do see some of the Hollywood aspects of the “Voodoo” practices. But most of what most people know about most of the ancient native religion is based on what they've seen in everything from prime time TV shows all the way back to the 1934 movie with Fay Wray (yes, she was King Kong's friend the year before) called “Black Moon”, see below for a link if you want to see it.
While most people have never heard of the movie, and there is a good reason why, it went a long way to set the mood, such as the incessant drumming, for the way the American, and to some degree the world's, media presented the religion.
Yes, some of the 'nature spirits' worshiped, some of the 'old gods' served, and some of the mysteries related to both of those go back into the mists of time, or at least into precolonial Africa. But things like the Vodun animal sacrifices that they show in the movies are not that unusual in the other religions of the world, such as the massive Gadhimai festival in Nepal, where hundreds of thousands of animals, including huge numbers of water buffaloes, are killed in a few days to observe a local Hindu tradition.
There are also certain Christian sects that ritually kill the Easter lamb before it it roasted for dinner, making it a type of sacrifice. This is seen in some more traditional Eastern Orthodox branches of Catholicism as well as a few Protestant groups in Europe. Some are even known for killing a rooster on the Friday of Holy Week, evidently to pay it back for telling Saint Peter that he had messed up. Again.
When you come right down to it, A Lot of the rituals practiced by those who observe the old traditions and aren't worried about what the entertainment directors from a cruise line suggest, look a lot like many of the rituals you find in the Roman Catholic, and other denominational churches. Such as various feasts, chants, candle lighting, and altars with images of the being being worshiped which may even include some Catholic Saints that have local significance.
“Giving up witchcraft is, in effect, giving up the Bible.”
- John Wesley (1703 - 1971)
OK, we've taken that scenic route through several layers of mythology and popular culture, but we've established that the core ideas are part of the world. Every ancient culture and anything you could reasonably call a civilization has had somebody in the neighborhood that would fall under our umbrella of "witch" and/or "sorcerer", whether you called them a "shaman" or something else. Some worked for the "dark side", some the "light" and a few may have wandered back and forth as the job required.
The opposing forces of Good and Evil, and those that play for each team, are simply endemic to the human condition and the way the Universe works, and if you intentionally upset things, you may well find out the hard way that it wasn't a good idea.
OK, way before our trip to OZ and France and the Congo and wherever else we've been, we mentioned the traditional difference between witchcraft and sorcery. And we went so far as to say that the difference was important.
In the old traditions, going back even further than the first century and the run in with Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8, the practice was seen as different, and it wasn't based solely on the sex of the practitioner, although most of those mentioned as being a Sorcerer were male, and the majority of Witches were female, neither was one hundred percent. The difference was power, and who had it, and who didn't, and how they worked their magic.
Witches were traditionally born into a 'magical family'. You were a witch because your parent or grandparent was a witch. You had the power with a familiar spirit (a spirit attached to a bloodline) from birth (as referenced in Leviticus 19: 31), or at least grew into using it, usually at puberty, or you didn't. The "Witch of Endor" that called up the ghost/spirit/essence of the Prophet Samuel for King Saul was most likely in her vocation because her family had been doing it as far back as anybody could remember. That's the 'spirit of the family' mentioned in the text. As we see in 1 Samuel 28, she had the power and ability to bring the Prophet back from where ever he had been cooling his heels. And, not only did he show up, he was rather upset to have been disturbed. And things went badly for the king because of it. It is interesting to note that we don't know what happened to the witch!
OK, let's look at that instance as a breed standard.
She called up Samuel. End of discussion. She didn't have to burn any frog innards to bring him back. Her 'special friend' was right there and ready and willing to do as requested.
That's different from the working definition of Sorcerer. They have to go through a series of rituals, and light a fire, and cook some bat wings, and do a dance while in a trance, and whatever else to get the spirit to work for them, and sometimes the demon won't cooperate. They do not have the power within them, but they know the magic words and where to get reptile parts at a discount. It worked for Micky Mouse, why not everybody else?
Some, such as appears to be the case of Simon in Acts, are more playing the part of the "man behind the curtain" that we saw in the Emerald City. They may have a bag of tricks, and are very clever with elixirs and herbs, and have the power of their words to convince the regular people that they're more than they are. They were, in short, frauds.
In the world of classic era Alchemists, they would have been called a 'puffer', because they 'puffed themselves up', and pretended to have more knowledge of chemistry and medicine and magic and astrology and so on, than they actually did. The ones that were actually practicing what we would now call Organic Chemistry, Medicine, and even Metallurgy refining existing metals to a high degree instead of just trying to produce gold from lead, documented their work and developed new procedures. It was those that simply worked to bilk money out of everybody else that gave Alchemy a bad name.
"All that man needs for health and healing has been provided by God in nature, the Challenge of science is to find it."
- Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, also known as Paracelsus, (1493 - 1541)
And so it has always been. If Simon Magus had been able to work actual magic, he wouldn't have had to try to buy the power from the Apostles. That he had a change of heart is enough from some to consider him the founder of the Gnostic sect of Christianity. The historical documentation of that is somewhat sketchy at best, most of what we know about him is based on three hundred words in Acts. The idea that he traveled to Rome is essentially based on wishful thinking and a couple of less than reliable reports of a statue. There's more on that at New Advent as linked below, as well as some more about an alchemist who founded the modern practice of medicine.
One of the biggest problems God seems to have with people is those that lie to others for their own benefit, or with the intent to lead others into harm. Such as what the Pharisees were doing. Not to mention the warning by Paul in Galatians against those who would preach another gospel and then in Colossians 2 where he mentions “empty deceit”. And then there was what John himself wrote about “testing the spirits” chapter four of his first letter.
What about the Old Testament? Well, there's one verse that says all that needs said that way: Jeremiah 23: 16
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.'”
And we're not just talking about inside the walls of the church in this article. Think about it, what is the False Prophet of Revelation doing if not selling the spiritual equivalent of a product that has significant toxic properties or a business opportunity that is simply a fancy scam?
Back to Sorcery vs Witchcraft.
Deep in Deuteronomy there is something of a greatest hits list of the dark arts, and even there, those two terms are separate in the original Hebrew. We'll go through the words as listed in the Hebrew in Deuteronomy 18 : 10 and 11, and then we'll look at the whole section.
First off we'll deal with a specific abomination in verse ten. Those who make their children 'pass through a fire'. The reference is to the pagan cult of (the) Moloch / Malik / etc. The actual identity of who, or what, that was is murky at best. The usual depiction was that the idol was an humanoid bull, such as the Minotaur of legend, with outstretched hands over a fire to accept the body of a child or other offering. Archaeological evidence of such an idol is lacking.
There are reasonable arguments that the name referred to the regional god Baal, the Phoenician Melkart (Malku) who was an adaption of Babylonian deity Nergal / Mot, or was perhaps a local figure who is otherwise unknown. It is also possible that it was an adaptation of the Apis bull worshiped in Egypt, or the Minoan fascination with bulls. Or perhaps a cheerful combination of the above.
Next is “qe·sa·mim” which is the Hebrew word for witchcraft. Then we have “me·‘o·w·ne” (soothsayer), then is.... OK, as that's not a word you see every day, we'll define some of these other ones as we go.
A Soothsayer is another word for 'prophet', one who foretells the future. But instead of divine inspiration, such as some old man with a beard walking around dooming everybody with “Thus, Sayth The Lord”, they instead get their information through trances or magical means. There's two that come to mind, the French seer, Nostradamus (Michel de Nostredame, 1503 - 1566), and Edgar Cayce (1877 - 1945). One of them is a bit more fascinating than the other, and it wasn't just his means of coming up with his ideas, while sleeping.
The Frenchman wrote four line poems, called quatrains, which supposedly have predicted the future. There are 945 known quatrains. Some of these predictions, such as those that anticipate aspects of World War Two, have been remarkably on target, others, such as his odd prediction involving somebody, or something named “Angolmois” in 1999 causing a calamity on par with what we've been studying in Revelation. It comes down to proof that if your predictions are vague enough, and there are enough of them, you'll get some right.
Cayce, on the other hand, answered specific question including giving medical advice, as well as predicting a series of events he called “Earth Changes”, which included the melting of the polar ice caps, as well as events from Revelation. It is worth noting that Mr. Cayce was a devout Bible reader. Of course, he had a few famous misses, such as the finding of the lost civilization of Atlantis, which as yet, is still lost. See below for a link to TheMediaDesk's search for it.
The next word in Deuteronomy 18 : 10 is translated as “one who interprets omens” (u·me·na·es).
These are the people who assign meaning to things like when a two headed calf is born or there's an unusual formation of lichen on a tree. Omens are different than signs in the stars, such as what the Eastern Astrologers saw that led them on a cross country trek to see a baby. The signs in the stars were created by God on the fourth day per Genesis 1: 14 - 16, and they were given to humans for signs and seasons, and somebody has to recognize them and know what they mean and tell others about them. Omens are usually natural events, a synchronicity or happenstance, and there is no deeper meaning to it. To say there is is another act of human hubris.
The next word is “u·me·kas·sep” (sorcerer). As we stated earlier, they had no natural power but instead attempted to influence the world, and those in it, through the use of spells and potions, and the occasional wandering freelance spirit, and, as we've said, later goes on to include those who are pretending that way, such as our old friend Simon Magus.
Verse Eleven begins with “wehober haber” (one who conjures spells) and then states "we·so·’el owb" (one who consults a medium) or one that - calls up the dead.
That's an interesting selection of words, and brings us back to the lady that called up the spirit of Samuel for King Saul, and to make it crystal clear, Ol' Sam had been 'sleeping with his fathers' for some time. The usage here is to use magic rituals to call up spirits. However, in the text we mentioned earlier, instead of being called a conjurer, she was identified as a witch, one who has a spirit that is attached to an individual or a family. The conjurer focused on rituals to influence the spirits and cast a spell. Rituals such as standing in a clearing in the moonlight chanting for instance.
Verse twelve goes on to call these things an Abomination to Yahweh.
Now we need to look at the instances around the borders of that list from Deuteronomy, such as doing a horoscope or wearing a 'good luck' charm. Are those an abomination?
There is no good answer to that one. Yes, they count if such things become more important to you than your relationship to the Lord. And we all know people who read their horoscope in the newspaper more than they read the Bible, or refused to ride the subway unless they had their guardian angel medallion around their neck.
And yes, superstitions about spilling salt on a black cats while breaking a mirror on Friday the thirteenth counts.
“As in the instances of alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and other such popular creeds, political economy, has a plausible idea at the root of it.”
- John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
We'll close by looking at a recent real world example of such accusations. No, we are not taking political sides here, but the best bad example we can come up with involves some who claimed to be in the 'conservative' camp of American politics, pointing an accusatory finger at one of the leaders of the 'liberal' side of things and doing the old Stage Whisper of "witch, Witch! They'll burn ye".
There's even 'news' footage, the veracity of which is somewhat in question, but suffice it to say there were those who believed the accusations and repeated them. Once in a conversation with this writer who was unable to keep a straight face when he heard what was said.
Here's the gist of it: Mrs. Clinton, and an array of other usual suspects in her orbit, it was being said, attended black masses and drank the blood of young children in her worship of Satan and quest for power. Later in the talk they tried to drag Adrenochrome and even the Freemasons into it, without, we should add, having any real idea what one was and how the Masonic group could even remotely tie into it.
The accusation of drinking the blood of infants comes right out of the "Hammer of the Witches", and was used as a charge in the Inquisition. See link below. As for the rest of it, well, there's links to some of that below as well.
One outlet even mentioned how certain players in that game are Reptilians. Another cited a semi-fictional (stolen or mis-attributed footage edited together) 'snuff film' with the ludicrous name of "Frazzledrip". Do we need to go any further?
And, of course, the statements, and the film, are total hogwash.
But, it does prove that NOTHING has changed since the 1480s and that everything that was old, is new.
Revelation 21:8:
“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.””
We'll start with those final references first, then move on to the other stuff: (all links working as of date of original posting)
Hillary Clinton directly appeals to QAnon to stop claiming she drinks children’s blood
www.independent.co.uk
Believers Tell Borat That Hillary and Bill Clinton Drink Blood
"...Mostly they torture these kids, it gets their adrenaline flowing in their body, then they take that out of their adrenal glands, and then they drink their blood and that."
www.newsweek.com
"The Hammer of the Witches" released 1487:
Malleus Maleficarum Part 1. Question XI
"That Witches who are Midwives in Various Ways Kill the Child Conceived in the Womb, and Procure an Abortion; or if they do not this Offer New-born Children to Devils." Also see below for another reference.
And now: the rest of the references:
"I am a witch. A real house-haunting, broom-riding, cauldron-stirring witch."
Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery, 1933 - 1995), 'Bewitched' TV show, Screen Gems Productions for ABC TV, 1964 - 1972
"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too."
- The Wicked Witch of the West: Wizard of Oz 1939 movie page https://oz.fandom.com
SATAN IN EXTRA-BIBLICAL APOCALYPTICAL LITERATURE
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/474708 A printable PDF.
The Religion of the Ancient Celts:
CHAPTER XVI. SACRIFICE, PRAYER, AND DIVINATION.
"...Pausanias describes the eating the flesh and drinking the blood of children among the Galatian Celts."
www.sacred-texts.com
The largest (by some accounts) Wiccan organization, is also a lobbying group for pagan (and other) rights:
The Covenant of the Goddess: https://cog.org/
“... As we will mention several times on this website, Witches are not Satanists.”
https://wicca.org/
Another site related to that brand of religion: https://sacredwicca.com/
And to prove even the witches have disagreements over stuff:
Coven Oldenwilde: "a Traditional Wiccan Coven: ...one of the original, most extensive sites for Witchcraft spirituality information." http://www.oldenwilde.org/
Actual witchcraft you can try at home": www.makeitgrateful.com
And the https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Rule_of_Three_(Wicca)
A “green” witch course https://spells8.com/courses/green-witchcraft-course/
Then to the "real world" with:
And a fact sheet from: Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute: www.defenseculture.mil
Historical information:
A short page on the German witch trials http://www.lukemastin.com/witchcraft/trials_wurzburg.html
Background pages about:
Trickster http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.fol.044
Karma https://www.healthline.com/health/laws-of-karma?c=207856932452
the Mayan Hero Twins:https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hunahpu-and-xbalanque
Yin-Yang https://www.britannica.com/topic/yinyang
“Voodoo” or rather, the VoDun religions. https://www.religioustolerance.org/voodoo.htm
Black Moon:
Internet Movie Database's page https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024895/
The entire movie is available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHINFkRGtJ8
Simon Magus, The Sorcerer from Acts 9 https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13797b.htm
Paracelsus from ScienceHistory.com https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/paracelsus-the-alchemist-who-wed-medicine-to-magic
An Ancient Cult https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-cult-of-moloch
Nostradamus https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nostradamus
Edgar Cayce biography from the center that bears his name. https://www.edgarcayce.org/edgar-cayce/his-life/
Related articles on TheMediaDesk.com
“... can you really sell your soul to the Devil?”
ASTROLOGY, and all that goes with it.
Ghosts and Spirits “are they real?”
Blood History, Legend, and the "five W's"
(this article may upset sensitive readers)
The Great Work: Alchemy
Another work that was 'Great', Great Zimbabwe
And perhaps the “grandmother” of all Witches: “Whitherist Thou Lilith”
The Desk's Other Non-Fiction Articles http://themediadesk.com/nonfiction.htm
NOTE: The Bible Study Lesson presented above is posted as a reference document to begin a conversation of the topic. And that's it. Please accept it at such.
http://centralparkchurchofchrist.org
With the assistance and cooperation of The Media Desk.