by Joyce Beckman

Created on: August 09, 2008

The topic is, "Do you believe in witchcraft?" This obviously calls for a personal opinion - not just a definition. My opinion is, "Yes! I believe in witchcraft."

Many, but not all, organized religions have a provision for belief in witchcraft. I do mean that organized religions (speaking mainly of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) allow or encourage witchcraft. Instead, these faiths all admit the existence of witchcraft and condemn it as an evil practice. All three faiths believe in good and evil.

Yin-yang, the incorporation of good and evil, originated in China. Good and evil are equally mixed in this world, and one cannot exist without the other. Yin-yang, however, is another topic altogether and best not addressed here. Perhaps a more scholarly person than I should address that issue.

Back to the subject of witchcraft and my belief in it, though, as a Christian I believe that God is good and Satan is evil. Now some people believe in "good" witchcraft versus using the practice for evil. All three of the faiths mentioned above discourage their members from having anything to do with this evil practice; it is a product of the devil himself.

In the old testament, God told man to stay away from Satanic practices. He did not say witchcraft does not exist; he commanded, instead, that His people not tamper with Satanic practices. In one passage in the Old Testament, King Saul disobeyed this order from God. He was pursuing his enemy, David, God's servant. Saul dressed in disguise and visited a known witch. He promised her money to summon the spirit of a deceased prophet, I believe Samuel. Now Samuel appeared and asked Saul disturbed him and called him back from the grave!

Oh yes, I believe the witch spoken about here had the power to summon spirits, both demonic spirits and calling spirits of the holy prophets up from the grave. That power had demonic origins. She was terribly frightened for her life, as it was Israel's king who sought her out and used her powers; furhermore, she realized it was against Israel's laws to practice witchcraft. The penalty she faced was death. Yet, as Saul sinned by visiting her and his purposes were also evil, she was given a reprieve. She also was in a tough position in that she could not disobey an order of the King; so she called the prophet's spirit back from the grave.

There are many people now and were in ages past that profess a difference between good witches and bad witches; some wiccans use their powers for healing, worshipping Mother Earth or Mother Nature, and being environmentally responsible. There are some who also believe that witches can only be female. I see no basis in either of these schools of thought. The power used definitely comes from evil.

God tells us Jews and Christians alike to stay away from it. Mohammed in the 7th century AD wrote in the Koran to stay away from such evil practices, also. He claims it was a revelation from Allah. I believe it was. All three of these faiths are monotheistic. I believe that God told all of these people to avoid any evil practices. Yes, I believe witchcraft exists, whether I like it or agree with it or not. In its true form it is a pagan practice, and God defines this as evil.

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