Faith Filled Family Magazine October 2016 | Page 14

“ The Great Work .” This work took these ways of the past and implemented them into the churches disguised as something else . How does this happen ? Let ’ s dive in ! What do you know about witches ? They dress in black , ride around on broomsticks , chase girls , and dogs , have a team full of flying monkeys at their disposal ? No , of course not . Witches have warts on their noses and casts spells using brews made in a cauldron out of people ? Stories , all stories , we have gathered from things we have heard or seen . If we recall the time of the Salem Witch trials , then we know some of the women were burned at the stake were average women , or women with mental health problems . People didn ’ t understand depression , post-partum or hormonal deficiencies , and other imbalances . Therefore , when a woman was not quite herself , she immediately was considered possessed , and she became demonized in the eyes of others .
HOW DID CHRISTIANITY GET INVOLVED ?
In the Middle Ages , witchcraft was at work . It was a religion practiced and performed . The Middle Ages was also the time of the Reformation of the Roman Catholic Church and the resulting Protestant churches developed through it . A Reformation where the witch hunts became a priority . The Black Plague outbreaks and other epidemics became widespread . Since no one knew how these things started , witches were to blame .
Over the years , many religions have developed , and the advent of more Pagan religions has increased . Paganism accounts for all faiths who worship multiple deities rather than a single God , such as the Hindu , Buddhist , Taoist , Confucian and American Indian religions , as well as all other nature-oriented religions . This religion is one of the oldest religions . When speaking of the occult , we are actually referring to significant aspects of the occult which have grown over the years , and have become widely accepted . Why ? Media , of course : books , magazines , stores , games , music , movies , education , satanic rituals , Halloween as Holy , and the Women ’ s Liberation Movement . In some way , all of these have opened our minds , our homes , our lives , and our fears to sorcery , witchcraft , magic , Wicca , Satanism , wizards , mediums , fortune-tellers , spiritualism , psychics , and paganism . The New Age Movement took what used to be modern tales and beliefs and has popularized them into an attack This became known as “ The Great Work ”. This work took these ways of the past and implemented them into the churches disguised as something else . How does this happen ?
Let ’ s dive in ! What do you know about witches ? They dress in black , ride around on broomsticks , chase girls and dogs , have a team full of flying monkeys at their disposal ? No , of course not . Witches have warts on their noses and casts spells using brews made in a cauldron out of people . Stories , all stories we have gathered from things we have heard or seen . If we recall the time of the Salem Witch trials , then we know some of the women who were burned at the stake were normal women , or women with mental health problems . People didn ’ t understand depression , post-partum or hormonal deficiencies and other imbalances . Therefore , when a woman was not quite herself , she immediately was considered possessed , and she became demonized in the eyes of others .
Over the years , many religions have developed and the advent of more Pagan religions have increased . Paganism accounts for all religions who worship multiple deities rather than a single God , such as the Hindu , Buddhist , Taoist , Confucian and American Indian religions , as well as all other nature-oriented religions . This religion is actually one of the oldest religions . According to a 1998 Cambridge study , Pagan religions account for more than 50 percent of all religions .
GROWTH AND REACH OF THE OCCULT
As a result of paganism growing , any large , aberrant group developed during this time and throughout the years , were and sill are viewed as cults . Every group from the Mormons , the Jehovah ’ s Witness , the Roman Catholics , the Church of Christ , the Christian Science Group or Scientology , and the Freemasonry have all fell under the microscope because of their practices and how related they are to what is considered occult . Although many occult type practices were associated more with the New Age Movement their origin was clearly described in the Bible in times past . Keeping in mind “ occult ” refers to demonic