The Truth about Witchcraft

Witchcraft is not only being currently revived in a new fashion, it has attained a level of respectability in many civilized nations of the world.

“In the past two to three decades, America and much of Western Europe have seen a resurgence of paganism and witchcraft,” writes Craig Hawkins in the Christian Research Journal. “Indeed, with increasing vigor, witchcraft is ‘coming out of the broom closet.'”

Since 2005, for instance, prisons in Britain now allow witches to practice their craft and celebrate their festivals behind bars.

A 2011 report from the Dyfed-Powys Police in the UK revealed that over the last 5 years, there have been 26 reports of sightings of ghosts, 11 of witches and 2 of vampires and zombies in an area.

A 2012 census in England suggests that “Wales is ‘the witch capital’ of the United Kingdom, revealing it is home to 83 self-described witches and 93 Satanists.” This estimate is conservative, because Wales has been a home of witchcraft right from the pre-Roman days of the Celtic Druids.

“I have been told that a coven of witches still meets in the Trelench area,” says Dr Felix Aubel, a Church minister who has seen dozens of cases of witchcraft in the area. “Witchcraft has grown in a spiritual vacuum – the latest figures show the number of Christians in this country has dropped from 72 percent to 59 percent,” he added (Daily Mail, Jan. 2013).

Germany reportedly now turns to witchcraft for direction in its energy policies.

In Poland, a group of witches (aged between 30-80) showed up publicly to be photographed, displaying their talisman – flowers, daggers and feathers during their “Women of Power” gathering in 2013. The summit was to affirm the return to the old religion of witchcraft. More staggering examples from other Western countries abound.

Anyone who still thinks witchcraft is limited to Africa needs to get out of his bubble universe.

A Google search on “witchcraft” will list out no less than 350,000 websites dedicated to it. A Barna Research once showed that 86% of children are regularly exposed to TV shows with witchcraft or supernatural themes. And don’t tell me these TV shows are not yielding results.

In the US Chaplain’s Manual, the American Council of Witches wrote: “Witches do not proselytize, but welcome inquiries from those who hear about the craft by either word-of-mouth or the media.”

Since witchcraft is being marketed more than any other time in history, we need to understand its posturings.

A dictionary defines witchcraft as the art or exercise of magical powers, the effect or influence of magical powers, or an alluring or seductive charm. Simply put, it’s the practice of dealing with evil spirits.

Every witch works with demons no matter what name or form they take. One witch wrote on a website: “In the years since then I have had time – and again had cause to call on the energy of the Dark One; She has never failed to give me strength and the will to fight. I will always praise and honor Her.”

Catch them Young!

In the past 3 decades, witchcraft has been primarily aimed at recruiting children and youths using entertainment and the printing press. This is because “the glory of the young is their strength” (Prov. 20:29) and Satan wants that strength used for his own kingdom. The strategies used are:

1. Presenting “Good vs Bad” witches story lines.

This is used to brainwash viewers to think that witchcraft can be used for the good of mankind. This is the plot of movies like Practical Magic, Charmed, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the Harry Potter series, Legend of the Seeker, Merlin, Nanny McPhee, The Initiation of Sarah and many others.

As more youths and children are exposed to such movies, their perception of witchcraft changes. They begin to lust after the power to do what they want and when they want it. They start to think and talk like witches until the door to witchcraft opens to them.

Famous wizard, Oberon Zell Ravenheart, admits that his purpose for writing his book, Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard (2004) is “to catch the rising tide of youthful interest in benevolent magic … a trend reflected in the interest in Harry Potter…” (p. i)

An ex-witch sheds light on the strategies involved in luring youths:

“Offer new realms of mystery and excitement. Make witchcraft look less sinister. Make it look like natural, innocent adventure (Everyone is attracted by adventure and mystery). Cover up evil with appealing wrappings.”

2. Presenting skewed ideas about witches

The stereotypical imagery presented about witches as ugly hags with warts on their noses, wearing a peaked hat and flying on a broomstick or boiling newts in a pot – persists in many minds, whereas, Satan has gone ahead to create upgraded versions of witchcraft for our time which are being glamourised through books and the media.

For example, the cover of a book on witchcraft has an attractive female witch dressed in a fashionable, well-tailored business suit – as if she were walking down Madison Avenue in New York City.

Now, when people meet a young, beautiful and intellectual witch, they realize they have been fed with lies about witches and let down their guards to become more willing to agree with the witch’s philosophy.

3. Presenting a distorted view of Christianity.

It loves to portray Christianity as a boring, wicked and dangerously fanatical jive. Witchcraft-controlled media portray the God of the Bible as a cosmic killjoy; depict Christians as zombies and all church leaders as wild-eyed, money-grabbing cult leaders holding a bloody axe in one hand and a King James Bible in the other.

These are tactics used to seal the hearts of many people to what Christians say. Witchcraft is aggressively opposed to true Christianity and the Bible.

Niki, a former witch, recalled her initiation, “I was required to bring a copy of the Bible which was burned as I renounced the Christian faith and baptism pledging a vow of fidelity to Satan and the coven.”

“We met regularly to praise Satan, Baal and Astarte and all other opponents of the God of the Bible,” said Keziah, who was initiated into witchcraft in London. “We hated Christians and tried hard of ways to destroy them for good,” she said.

The word “witchcraft” or “witch” evokes different images to different people, depending on their culture or level of exposure. Actually, there are different forms of witchcraft but I broadly classify them into:

1. “White”/ Respectable witchcraft

This is the most visible form of witchcraft suited for the 21st century. It attracts youths, scholars, idealists and elites. The most popular is Wicca and other Neo-Pagan movements.

Wicca is a nature religion that worships the earth and sky, with an emphasis on a mother goddess and her consort, the horned god, and other deities. Wicca has a wide variety of “denominations:”

Alexandrian, Gardnerian, Dianic, Welsh, Druidic/Celtic, Georgian, Eriscian, Tameran, Discordian, Huna, Church and School of Wicca, Algard, Covenant of the Goddess, Witches International Craft Association and other eclectic traditions and Neo-pagan groups such as Odinism, Asatru, Norse etc.

Barbara Lee, a Wiccan high priestess, gave a fairly accurate description:

“Wicca is a kind of religion, but it’s also a craft – it encompasses the practices and creation of magic. We practice sympathetic magic, using items like candles, crystals or herbs to create spells. We celebrate the cycle of the year [8 times in a year] … Wicca ritual is about celebrating the Earth, channeling positive energies and creating healing. There’s no dogma or written creed in Wicca: it’s very free and it allows for difference in experience, in practice and perception” (The Irish Times, October 1, 2011).

The Wicca religion was started by a British anthropologist, Gerald Gardner (1884-1964), and it boomed in England when the British Witchcraft Act was repealed in 1951. It’s not an “old religion” as it purports to be.

Today, there are different associations, centres, festivals, gatherings, media, books and shops all dedicated to disseminating “white” witchcraft.

Wicca attracts many people because it adapts well to the humanistic and relativistic values of Western civilization. It also claims to be an “Old Path” offering ancient wisdom and denies the existence of Satan.

Wiccans and Neo-Pagans claim to do only good magic to help people and protect the earth; they allow a free morality (“do your own thing”); approve of different expressions of sexuality (whether gay or lesbian) as well as wild partying and dancing; prohibit sacrifice of animals and uphold feminism and abortion.

A report by the National Public Radio noted that a growing number of teens in the West are setting up witchcraft altars in their bedrooms, offering prayers to the Goddess, and invoking the aid of spirits.

“Wicca is believed to be one of the fastest growing religions among high school and college students. This form of witchcraft with its reference for the earth and nature, appeals to young environmentalists,” says the report.

Biblically, there is no such thing as “white” witchcraft or “white” demon worship. The pagan deities being invoked in Wiccan circles are the same demons being invoked in Satanism (Dt. 32:16-17, Ps. 106:36-38, 1Cor. 10:19-21).

Doreen Valiente, a Wiccan high priestess, said: “The distinction between white and black magic has no validity” (An ABC of Witchcraft, St. Martins Press, 1973, 271). Wiccans claim to worship a benign goddess, but historically, goddess worship is drenched with evil and gore.

Even Anton LaVey wrote in his Satanic Bible that: “There is no difference between ‘White’ and ‘Black’ magic, except in the smug hypocrisy, guilt-ridden righteousness, and self-deceit of the ‘White’ magician himself”.

It matters not where Wiccans claim to be deriving their powers from, it’s certainly not coming from the Lord Jesus Christ; it’s from Satan.

2. Black/”Underground” witchcraft

This is more “underground” and secretive unlike “white” witchcraft. It can be continental i.e. adapted to a continent or universal.

For instance, in the Western hemisphere, it’s affiliated with vampire cults, hardcore or eclectic Satanism, and many other underground covens of witchcraft.

“The major themes of initiation into Black Witchcraft are suffering, death and rebirth,” says Niki, mentioned earlier. “This being true for me, I underwent a ritual which was symbolic of physically dying, and I was then symbolically reborn as a new person possessing new knowledge.”

“Black witches and Satanists believe in the ultimate battle between good and evil, evil will triumph,” wrote Doreen Irvine, in her autobiography, From Witchcraft to Christ. “They believe that Lucifer will one day conquer Christ and will retrieve what they call his rightful place … The more evil, the better, is the motto of the black witch and Satanist.”

Unlike “white” witches, black witches readily acknowledge the existence of Satan and operate with more powerful demons. They frequently perform animal and human sacrifices and initiates need not be literate.

This has been the real face of witchcraft in many cultures of the world until the visible, “respectable” form began to mask it.

In Africa and some other continents, witchcraft operates primarily from the spirit realm. In this case, witches meet in their spiritual circle e.g. trees, rocks, rivers, houses or schools. They attend meetings in their spiritual bodies and also shape-shift into different animals.

This form of witchcraft is more intricate, because it’s a vast empire that encompasses different calibres of people from all parts of the world. A person can also be a philanthropist, celebrity or even “Christian” clergy here on earth yet be a deadly witch in the spirit realm.

Some themes common to these categories include:

a) Witches organize themselves into covens – derived from the word “covenant.” There is an occult covenant, “astral number” or ties (supernatural control over one another’s spirit) that bind witches together.

Unless these are broken, a renegade witch can be easily summoned back to the coven.

b) They have a leader that assigns roles and acts as mouthpiece. The mantle of leadership can also be passed to a qualifying member.

c) They go on astral journeys for various assignments or meetings, especially at nights.

d) Every witch has physical and/or spiritual working tools e.g. the athame (witch’s dagger), chalice, cauldron, cords (red, white and blue), wand, sword, censer and the pentacle.

Some have invisible padlocks, stones, pins, mirrors, guns, demonic regalia etc.

e) They all have a commission or assignment within the coven. This is like a “job description.”

Some are mainly assigned to destroy churches while some are mainly assigned to fill the “blood bank.”

f) Many witches have a “working name” or a “craft name.”

g) Those whose parents are in the craft are often dedicated to specific deities or demons. But they generally invoke and work with directional spirits and elemental spirits .

h) They have certain animals they work with (familiars) which are used for assignments such as spying or serving as bodyguards.

i) They offer blood sacrifices as part of their rituals. Cannibalism and vampirism give them demonic strength.

j) In the West, many coven meetings and rituals are regulated by the moon. When the moon is waxing (crescent moon), many witches cast new spells.

When the moon is full, these spells usually come to pass. This is also the period demons seem to give them maximum power. More dangerous spells are sent out during the waning moon.

k) Their powers are very limited. Their spells do fail; their demons get paralyzed, and their evil works backfire. This usually happens when they operate against a true Christian who is abiding in Christ. As Christians, we need to:

Submit to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Accept His Lordship over your life and walk according to His Word. We can’t win against witchcraft while walking in rebellion against God.

Obey the Word of God which forbids any involvement in all forms of the occult (Deut. 18:1-3). These are not suggestions from God; they are commands that must be obeyed. We are not to be entertained by games, books, or movies that glorify witchcraft.

Walk in discernment. Witchcraft has infiltrated many sectors of the society and the church, and its goal is to control and destroy people.

Beware of false churches, false prophets and strange ‘gatherings’ people invite you to.

Learn to pray and walk in the Spirit; test what people teach with the Bible. The answer to witchcraft and all other forms of the occult, is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Reflections on Calvinism

Calvinism (Reformed theology) was a viewpoint I wasn’t quite familiar with – until I began to interact online with Christians from other countries. I met a group of Christians who though were good at apologetics, adhered to a theology that ostensibly placed them on a higher pedestal than other Christians. They were Calvinists, as I later found out.

It’s my understanding that if a doctrine or theological view makes a group of Christians feel “superior” to others outside that little circle, it should be scrutinized. This made me research on Calvinism.

Calvinism is a theological system developed by the French Reformer, John Calvin (1509-1564). Calvin being an intelligent theologian, wrote Bible commentaries on many books of the Bible and expounded on some key Christian doctrines.

His major four-volume work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion was the main source of the doctrines of Calvinism.

Though John Calvin has been unduly overrated by ardent Calvinists, the fact still remains that his work was influential on the Protestant movement, particularly in Geneva where he ruled.

Calvinism is also called Reformed theology, which I argue, is a misnomer, because the Protestant Reformation started when Luther nailed his 95 thesis at the door of the church of Wittenburg. Calvin was 8 years old (and still a Catholic) then.

Since there were also other Reformers who differed with Calvin on some issues, the term “Reformation” can’t be accurately reserved for Calvin’s theological system.

Calvinism emphasizes God’s sovereignty – that God is providentially in control of all things that happens, including evil things. The “doctrines of Grace” (as they are called) can be summed up as 5 points with the acronyms: TULIP.

T – Total Depravity: that man’s fall has resulted in man’s total inability to choose God or do good.

U – Unconditional Election: that God has from eternity past chosen His elect whom He wants to save while leaving the rest (reprobates) to perish.

L – Limited Atonement: that Christ died for only the elect, not the whole world.

I – Irresistible Grace: that those whom God has called (i.e. the elect) cannot resist His grace, but must always respond.

P – Perseverance of the Saints: that the elect of God will always persevere and never fall away.

It’s not my intention to debate on the 5 points of Calvinism here. From experience, most Calvinists are quick to cut off contact with fellow Christians on that basis. The command to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” is not much familiar to many of them (Eph. 4:3). However, I find such attitudes to be unreasonable and immature.

There is no harm in Believers discussing and laying out their disagreements. And the fact that one disagrees with Calvinism doesn’t mean one is “anti-Calvinist.” I don’t have a problem with theological systems as much as when they are used as criteria of true Christianity, that its adherents are more busy defending it than the Gospel of Christ.

I have fine Calvinist friends and mentors, and I believe a number of them are true Christians, but there are some alarming claims leading Calvinist authors have made:

“Calvinism stands today as the great citadel of historic orthodoxy” (Singer G. John Calvin: His Roots and Fruits, 28)

“[Calvinism is] firmly based … upon the Word of God” (Seaton W. The Five Points of Calvinism, 17)

“[Calvinism] is the only system which is true to the Word of God” (Kenneth and Crampton, Calvinism, Hyper Calvinism and Arminianism, iv)

If these claims are true, it means unless one is a Calvinist, one is outside the sphere of historic orthodoxy and opposed to God’s Word. Calvinists also assert that their system is not easy to understand. R. C. Sproul in his foreword to The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism wrote:

“Calvinism is certainly no easy system to master. But in addition to being difficult to understand, Calvinism is often the subject of grave misunderstanding...”

On the one hand, we are told that Calvinism is “firmly based upon the Word of God” and on the other, it’s not an “easy system to master” and quite “difficult to understand.” This is a contradiction. The Word of God is not difficult to understand or learn.

A “young man” can understand the Bible and thereby “cleanse his ways” (Ps. 119:9). The unfolding of God’s Word “gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (vs. 130). Timothy, as a child learnt the Scriptures at home from his mother and grandmother (2Tim. 1:5). Therefore, if Calvinism is difficult to understand or master, the logical conclusion is that it’s not firmly based on God’s Word.

Charles Spurgeon in his Defense of Calvinism said: “Unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel and nothing else.”

Arthur Constance in The Sovereignty of Grace (p. 302) wrote: “Calvinism is the Gospel and to teach Calvinism is in fact to preach the Gospel.”

Allan Sell: “[Calvinism is] the sum and substance of what is represented in Scripture as done for the salvation of sinners by the three Persons of the Trinity” (The Great Debate, 1982, 4)

The implications of these assertions are:

1. If Calvinism is the Gospel and it contains the sum and substance of what is represented in Scripture, that means for 1500 years until John Calvin came on the scene, there was no Gospel and no sinners were saved.

This is tragic, except that Calvinism is a theological system and it’s biblically unacceptable to make a philosophical theological system an equivalent of the biblical Gospel that saves.

2. If Calvinism is the Gospel yet it is so “difficult to understand,” it implies that the Gospel is so complicated and difficult that only intellectuals can comprehend it and thereby become saved. A system that is so esoteric for ordinary Christians can’t be based on God’s Word. If the Gospel can only be grasped by the elites, where does that leave the common people?

A Calvinist author bragged: “Among the past and present advocates of this doctrine are to be found some of the world’s greatest and wisest men” (The Reformed Faith, 1).

Does this mean unless one is a Calvinist, one can’t be part of the greatest and wisest? Sounds like a system that attracts the arrogant at heart. If God “has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty,” then we don’t have to be an intellectual to understand the Gospel (Rom. 1:27).

The disciples of Jesus were simple men and women – fishermen, tax collectors and housewives – yet they understood the Gospel and could teach it clearly to others.

3. What is the Gospel? Apostle Paul defined it as: “how Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Nowhere in the New Testament is TULIP taught as the Gospel.

At no point did the apostles present the Calvinist “doctrines of Grace” to unbelievers (Acts 2:6-11; 3:13-15; 18-21, 26; 4:8-12). When the Philippian jailer asked how he can be saved, Paul didn’t reply, “Do you believe in the five points of Calvinism?” No, he said “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:16). It wasn’t complicated.

Greek scholar, E. W. Vine defined the Gospel as: “The good tidings of the Kingdom of God and of salvation through Christ, to be received by faith, on the basis of His expiatory death, His burial, resurrection, and ascension e.g. Acts 15:17, 20:24, 1 Peter 4:17” (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, 1949, “Gospel”).

The Gospel is based on Christ and Him alone – not Calvin’s schema of philosophical theology. The Reformers stood for sola Christus (Christ alone). None of them ever cried “Sola TULIP!” We are saved by Christ alone, not a 4-step law or a 5-point doctrine. It’s inconsistent for us to hold on to Sola Scriptura but then allow someone to redefine the Gospel which has been clearly defined by Scripture.

4. If Calvinism is the Gospel, it means the major segments of the church and whole denominations like the Methodists, Lutherans, majority of Anglicans, Free Will Baptists, most Pentecostals and many other Bible believers who are non-Calvinists are not Christians or vile heretics. Unfortunately, many Calvinists have this intolerable view.

A staunch Calvinist recently posted this on Facebook:

“Look we cannot have unity with everybody and denomination who claims to be Christians and claim to be the true church of our Lord and Savior. To do so means the body of Christ contains Mormons, Roman Catholics, Coptics, Eastern Orthodox and most who belong to the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, S[eventh] D[ay] A[dventists] as well as most Protestant, denominational and non-denominational churches.”

This is the typical “we vs them” mentality I observed in Calvinism. If everybody and denomination that believe in “our Lord and Saviour” as the only basis of salvation are Christians as we are, why can’t we have unity with them?

Of course, Mormons, Catholics, SDAs and Eastern Orthodoxy hold on to a false Christ and a false gospel, but to read out most Pentecostals, Charismatics and most Protestants including denominational and non-denominational believers out of the body of Christ, is to me, the acme of bigotry. That is a fanatical, cult-like spirit.

I wonder what his criteria of true Christianity really are. If most of the Bible believing Christians at all times and all through history are “out” by the Calvinist definition, where then are the real Christians?

During Christ’s earthly ministry. The apostles said to Him: “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he is not one of us” (Lk. 9:49). They asked him to shut up just because he wasn’t part of their “little group,” even though he was calling the same Jesus as they. Talk about a sectarian spirit! But Jesus corrected them: “Do not stop him… for whoever is not against you is for you” (v. 50).

It matters little to me what denomination (or theological system) a person adheres to, if he believes in salvation by Christ by grace through faith alone; if he believes in the Bible as the final authority, he is my brother or sister in Christ.

Paul asked: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1Cor. 1:13). I need to ask my Calvinist friends: Was Calvin crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Calvin? Is Christ divided? Then why do you regard other believers in Christ as “heretics” because they don’t hold to the 5 points of Calvinism?

5. Calvinism introduces a staggering complexity that undercuts the simplicity of the Christian faith. It has an affinity for labels. You can be a 5-point Calvinist or a 4-pointer. Then there are Neo-Calvinists, Crypto-Calvinists, Hyper-Calvinists or Moderate Calvinists. Under this sub-division, there are those who hold to infralapsarianism or supralapsarianism.

Then you have cessasionist Calvinists, continuationist Calvinists or dispensationalist Calvinists. Under this you still have the pre-millennial, post-tribulational or amillennial Calvinists (And these in-groups also point fingers at one another too!) Instead of these complex labels, can’t we just simply be Bible believing Christians?

Calvinism is not the Gospel. It never has been. Many Calvinists are going to be surprised when they get to heaven and find that there are many there who came from outside their mould. The real issue is to be saved and have a real relationship with God.

Exposing the Cult of Mary

Yes, we’re familiar with the hoary canard: “We are honouring Mary, not worshipping her!” This is by no means new.

Every false religion has its public defensive cliche.

The Muslims will say: “Islam is peace!”

Mormons would say “We are not polytheists!”

Even Satanists would say “We don’t worship Satan!”

Once you peel off the surface, however, you will see that these claims are empty. What Catholics say to non-Catholics about Mary and what they actually offer to her are miles apart.

Personally, I’ll have to chuckle a bit whenever a Catholic tells me they don’t really worship Mary.

You see, it’s possible for one to master the art of deception to the point that one is not only deceiving others, but also oneself.

Catholic “saint” Alphonsos Liguori, wrote a Marian book, “The Glories of Mary” (fully authorized by the Catholic church) a compendium of all the tributes to Mary going back to the 5th century. Here are some quotes from it:

“So that recourse to Mary is a most secure means to conquer all the assaults of hell; for She, says St. Bernadine of Sienna, is even the Queen of Hell, and the Sovereign Mistress of the devils since She it is who tames and crushes them” (p. 143)

“At the command of Mary, all obey, even God” (p. 566)

“O Mary, sweet refuge of poor sinners. Assist me with thy mercy. Banish me from the infernal enemies and come thou to take my soul and present it to the eternal judge. My Queen, do not abandon me. I give you my heart and soul” (p. 670)

Technically, the Catholic Mary is the ‘most secured means’ of having victory over demons, since she is their queen and perhaps, also speaks their language.

She commands God, replaces Christ and is also the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. In essence, their Mary has stolen away the glory from the Trinity.

If Mary is not being worshipped, why the prayer: “I give you my heart and soul?” Why not give your soul to Jesus? Why to anyone else? Only God demands and deserves one’s “heart and soul.”

How can Catholics give their hearts and souls to Mary and then come out to say they are not worshipping her? Can we get real here?

Some Catholics respond that “Liguori was extreme in some views. But it’s the Church that determines what we believe.” Really? Then why did this “infallible” Church endorse his writings and make him a doctor of the Church?

Maybe these Catholics need to be silent and let their “infallible” Magisterium do the talking on this issue.

On one hand, Catholics deny worshipping Mary, but in reality, the facts indicate that Mary is the chief deity of Catholicism.

I. The emphasis on “Mary”

You can travel the world over to every Catholic church you know. Whether it’s in a massive cathedral or a wayside village chapel, the statue of “Mary” always occupies a prominent place.

I read about an exquisite Catholic cathedral named “Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.” It has depictions of the different forms of “Mary” on each of its bronze doors.

On one is the Virgin of Pomata. On another, the Virgin of Guadulupe, then you have the Virgin of the Cave, the black Virgin, the Virgin of Mercy, the Virgin of the Candlestick, the Virgin of the Rosary of Chinquinqura and a host of them.

Are we to believe one deceased Jewish woman has mutated into a thousand different nationalistic Marys? Of course not. What we see there is a repackaging of ancient goddesses of different cultures to fit into the cult of Mary.

Some apologists of Rome resort to word games. They argue that they offer Mary hyperdulia (special veneration), while other saints are given dulia (veneration) and Christ is offered latria (worship). This is untrue:

(a) According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Terms (p. 141), the Greek root of the word Douleia from which the word “dulia” is formed, means “bondage” or “condition of being a slave.”

When Catholics say they offer Mary hyperdulia, what it actually means is that they are in super bondage or super slavery to “Mary.” If this is not goddess worship, I don’t know what it is.

(b) The Greek words dulia and latria are synonyms. They do not distinguish worship. Rome’s distinctions are artificial.

They would say “But we venerate our parents.” That may be true, but since Catholics don’t venerate their parents the way they venerate their Mary, this is a false equivocation.

The same gestures Catholics offer Mary are the same pagans offer their mother goddesses, so what’s the difference?

II. Attached divine attributes

a) One of the hymns to Mary in the Baltimore catechism (No. 1, 63) reads:

Daily, daily, sing to Mary
Sing, sing, my soul, her prayers due
All her feasts, her actions worship
With the heart’s devotion true
She is mighty to deliver
Call her, trust her lovingly
When the tempest rages round thee
She will calm the troubled sea

You can see that the Catholic Mary receives the very worship that an angel of God rejected from John in Revelation 19:10.

God is the only One who is mighty to deliver. He says “Call unto me, and I will answer thee…” (Jer. 33:3).

In Psalm 89:10 God is the One who “rules the raging sea; [He] stills its swelling waves.”

So from this hymn it’s clear that the Catholic goddess has replaced God.

b) A Catholic publication dedicated to ‘Our Lady of Fatima’ declares:

“Mary is so perfectly united with the Holy Spirit that He acts only through [her] His spouse … all our life, every thought, word, and deed is in Her hands…at every moment, She Herself must instruct, guide, and transform each one of us into Herself, so that not we but She lives in us, as Jesus lives in Her, and the Father in the Son” (Soul Magazine, November-December, 1984, 4).

Why will the Holy Spirit be acting only through Mary? He has been acting from eternity past before Mary was even born.

Our lives are in God’s hands, not Mary. And we are being transformed into the image of Christ, not of Mary.

It is Christ who lives in Christians, not Mary (Col. 1:27) and we also live in Christ (Rom. 8:1). For Mary to be able to live in every Catholic, she would have to be omnipresent like God.

Obviously, the Mary of Catholicism is not the Mary of the Bible, but a diabolical counterfeit.

III. Marian Devotion

One of the prayers to Mary reads: “Hail Mary … My Queen! My Mother! I give myself, and to show my devotion to thee, I consecrate to thee my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my entire self. Wherefore, O loving Mother, as I am thine own, keep me, defend me as thy property and possession.”

Nothing here glorifies God or Jesus Christ. Nowhere in Scripture would you find the apostle Paul or Peter teaching people to pray to anyone other than to God.

It doesn’t matter how Catholics slice the cake, they pray more to this “goddess” Mary than God.

Why would God redirect millions of daily prayers to Mary? Or how can a finite mind process millions of prayers in different languages per day? It’s absolutely impossible.

In a publication by the Legion of Mary group which had received “apostolic blessings” from two popes, we read:

“Put thy feet into her fetters, and thy neck into her chains.
Bow down thy shoulder and bear her and be not grieved with her bonds.
Come to her with all thy mind; and keep her ways with all thy power…” (The Legion of Mary, 1975, p. 225)

Though popes have affinity for particular Madonnas as well, Catholics are still far more devoted to Mary than to the pope.

When Mary speaks, Rome must listen. Who is even the pope compared to Mary? When Lucia, (one of the 3 children of Fatima) received three “secrets” from their Lady in 1929, she sent them to the Vatican in sealed envelopes and instructed that they must not be opened until 1960. The pope dared not disobey.

She told Pope Pius XII that “Mary” demands that the whole world – especially Russia – be consecrated to her. He instantly obeyed.

Yet Lucia was just a nun, and was technically subordinate to the pope. But when a nun or even a lay person becomes Mary’s mouthpiece and is channelling directives from the Queen of heaven, who cares about holy ranks?

Once a visionary of Rome has messages from the Queen Mother herself, which he/she can dangle about like the sword of Damocles, the Magisterium must surrender.

For example, if Lucia had said Mary told her Pope Benedict XVI was an anti-pope, who are the Catholics going to side with – a pope or Mary’s mouthpiece?

The entire cult of Mary emanated from ancient paganism. This is why even pagans today see no difference between their goddess and the Catholic Mary.

Many Witches/New Agers believe that their goddess has had many names and forms all through history but has now emerged as the Catholic Mary. A New Ager, Peter LeMesurier, described her saying:

“It was none than the rounded form of the Great Mother, Earth herself, clad in the same flowering robes of the shimmering blue and white that had been those of mother goddesses of earth and sky throughout history and not least his most recent mother goddess, the Virgin Mary herself…” (The Armageddon Script, Element Books, 1981, pp. 245-6).

Further evidence of this amalgam can be seen in some titles used for the Catholic Mary. She is called “stella maris” or “beautiful star of the sea.” This has been the title of the Egyptian Isis.

She is also called “pelagris” which means “star of the ocean.” The Canaanite goddess Asherah was also called ‘Lady of the Sea.’ According to a work:

“Ashera was called ‘the Lady of the Sea’, which links her to the Sumerian Nammu, and to the Egyptian Isis, ‘born in the all-wetness’ … Her other title was the ‘Mother of the Gods’, as was the Sumerian Ninhursag’s, and among her seventy children were her sons Baal and Mot and her daughter Anath. Kings were nourished from her breasts, as they had been by the goddess in Sumeria and Egypt” (Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image, Penguin books, 1991, p. 454).

There is no connection between the Mary of the Bible and the sea. Catholics who sing “Ave Maria, O beautiful mother … beautiful star of the sea,” are singing to a big demon, not Mary.

The Bible talks about demonic principalities in the sea (see Ezk. 29:3-4, Is. 27:1, Job 3-8). In Africa, virtually all cultures pay homage to or worship water deities.

It’s not a coincidence that there are references to Mary’s “virginal breasts” in Catholic hymnals. The goddess Diana of Ephesus was pictured as having many breasts as well. It has been an emblem of fertility.

In Catholic art, Mary is often represented as being surrounded by a halo or nimbus. According to a 33 degree Mason, Manly P. Hall, “the oval or nimbus in which the figure stands represents the glorification of the Creative Power as exemplified in motherhood” (The Secret Teachings of All Ages, p. 17).

The same terms Catholics use to address their Mary goddess in prayer sounds just like those used by Witches. Here is an example of a chant in some covens:

Queen of Heaven; Queen of Hell
Horned Hunter of the night
Lend thy power unto the spell
And work my will by magic rite

Some covens invoke her saying:

“Diana, Queen of the night;
In all your beauty; shine on us here
And with your silver beam; Unlock the gates of dream…
I invoke and call upon thee, Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfulness … Hail Aradia! From the Amalthean Horn; Pour forth thy store of love; I lowly bend…”

Compare these chants with those prayed to Catholic goddess and you can see that though the names are different, the entity being contacted is the same.

It was this same goddess that ensnared the people of God in Scripture and took their hearts away from Him.

“And they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth” (Jud. 2:13). And God’s response? “And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers…” (vs. 14)

When Solomon’s heart was turned away from God he “went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians…” (1Kings 11:5).

This was God’s response: “I will surely rend the kingdom from thee…And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon” (vs. 11, 14).

The same continues today. God’s response to those who worship this mistress of the devils and queen of hell has not changed.

Dear friends, renounce her worship and escape from her clutches before it’s too late.