“There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord:” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
It’s sensible to attend a church where one is known, wanted, and accepted in this way, one may certainly benefit from the association through the social interaction process of giving and receiving moral support from members.
It’s equally foolish to linger in a Christian congregation that disregards one for an association that wouldn’t be a blessing would invariably be a burden. Make this a rule of thumb and steer yourself out of the way of harmful church affiliations that tend to ensnare the simple with the bait of obligatory church attendance as a prerequisite for Christianity.
However, this rule applies more to the laity than the clergy for when one is clergy, opinions necessarily expressed in the course of preaching or sermonizing may occasionally result in a disenchantment with one, and rejecting a congregation on this wise may amount to irresponsibility.
Clergy must necessarily accommodate more excesses from the congregation than the laity.
In the course of my ministerial career, I have preached several sermons in churches that have resulted in congregations becoming besotted with me and requesting regular guest ministrations much to my delight.
Unfortunately, I’m yet to preach a message that has engendered equal disenchantment with me as when I teach on the subject of witchcraft; a subject that tends to curiously elicit more displeasure from the clergy than the laity.
While I’m resolute about not using this platform as a medium for issuing diatribes against clergy, truth must be continuously expressed on a platform such as this considering the rare opportunity it offers to communicate to the larger Christian community.
Interestingly, following a rare sermon centralizing witchcraft, many questions are proffered both from clergy and laity but I find most interesting among these questions the request to define witchcraft or a witch.
While being a Christian and certainly not a witch, my definition can only be derived from a Biblical perspective and intriguingly, there is a concurrence among witches around the world (except probably in my nation) with the Biblical definition.
A cursory glance at the Bible text above clearly and comprehensively reveals the mind of God as to the constitution of witchcraft, a sin abhorred by the creator. It is equally noble, respectable, and commendable that our nation Nigeria, presents boldly her definition of witchcraft in the Nigerian Criminal Code (section 215), totalling the definition as a crime.
Condensation of these laws indicates that ‘Whoever makes or sells or uses or has in his possession or represents himself to own any juju, drug or charm to harm others or cause any natural phenomenon or disease or epidemic is guilty of witchcraft’.
While the national definition of witchcraft necessarily includes physical evidence of operation, the Biblical definition includes operations that may not be physically proven but tangible by including necromancy and consultations with familiar spirits in its list thereby extensively including Astral projections (spiritual travelling), Shape-shifting (changing forms between human and animals), Energy vampires (suckers of human life energy) and Raven markers (takers of innocent lives to either prolong or improve the quality of their own lives) as constituting witchcraft for all these phenomena are expressions of familiar spirits.
Nevertheless, there are many Christians who are involved in witchcraft as defined by the Bible, who can neither explain how the transition occurred nor how to withdraw from the system. In this category are those who are completely stoical and resigned to fate and those who are disenchanted, disillusioned, and confused about God and the daily realities being experienced.
While it is fairly possible to withdraw from some witchcraft types being practised in certain parts of the world (considering that witchcraft in countries of Europe and North America is public; a personal choice, not criminalised except when atrocious activities are perpetrated, and the annual celebration of Halloween; a popular witchcraft festival publicly accommodated), same cannot be said of our native African witchcraft Hoodoo, which is a completely closed practise and from which adherents could hardly safely withdraw.
For instance, a couple of years ago, a close and godly friend of mine was transitioned into the Hoodoo system by sheer error of poor judgement, and after months of this transition, I had a dream. In this dream, the Lord called for my friend and spoke to her in my presence saying, ‘Now that you’ve left the land of Mesopotamia for the land of Canaan, should you adopt the behaviour of the Canaanites?’ Then I woke up.
This instructive counsel of the Lord indicates that God expects righteousness from the victim despite the degenerate condition of the soul and this has proved helpful to me when counselling Christians who ignorantly transition into Hoodoo.
Be advised that even though withdrawal from the system may be impossible, there are necessary steps a Christian must take to manage the hideous situation while it lasts.
Firstly, avoid imbibing the common notion that the witchcraft system is a normal way of life dealing with the issues of life which Christianity presents no provisions to address, or that God created all things including world systems, and as such would ceaselessly forgive all acts of wickedness perpetrated in the course of a witchcraft journey. Nothing could be further from the truth than this evil notion that encourages victims to shamelessly settle into a life of conscious and perpetual wickedness while the mind becomes dark, reprobate, and alienated from Christ.
Secondly, be assured that the solution to this evil situation probably lies in nature and unfortunately many Christians are uninstructed in this wise. While fasting and prayer may be necessary, it would lead none out of a witchcraft coven but may lead to a release of valuable godly wisdom possessing the potential to set a victim free.
Thirdly, gardening is of utmost importance once transitioned into a witchcraft system, especially with witchcraft types such as ‘Hoodoo’ which encourages victims to live contrary to nature. The planting and nurturing of ornamental plants serve to keep life in a proper perspective while attracting the loving-kindness of God to the gardener.
Fourthly, regular taking of ceremonial baths, and in this case, salt baths become essential to prevent the mind from being overtaken by uncontrollable evil thoughts and inclinations that lead to making regrettably poor judgements on this journey.
Fifthly, regular smudging or smoke-cleansing of the home with frankincense becomes critical as portals are now opened to the spirit realm causing evil spirits to visit the victim uninvited and creating chaos in lives.
Finally, be advised that the Lord is mindful of the transition and desires genuine penitence rather than a sad resignation to an entire lifetime of wickedness that would assuredly lead to an eventual damnation of the soul.
Dare Oduwole is a Nouthetic Christian Counsellor and founder of Godly Counsel Christian Foundation, Abuja. She can be contacted via 08027291632.
