Title
Spiritual Warfare
In the past few years there has been a lot written and talked about on the topic of spiritual warfare. This has primarily been by Christians of the Evangelical and Fundamentalist denominations who believe that Satan and demons are out to attack and oppress them. Many churches have formed prayer ministry teams and encourage their members to seek a deliverance so they can be set free. Christians want to believe that everything that is wrong in their lives and in the world is Satan's fault and according to them, there is a demon for every sin. If a person has a problem controlling their temper, they must have a demon of anger; if a person looks at pornography, they must have a demon of lust; yet most of what Christians call sin is just human nature and has nothing to do with Satan at all. The truth, whether they want to believe it or not is that people are responsible for what they do, whether they are Christian or not and yes, this includes Christian children; though many parents want to blame the enemy for their children's actions. Yet by doing so, they are raising their children not to be responsible and they will grow up to believe that whenever they do something wrong, they have Satan to point the finger at.
So, if this is not spiritual warfare, what is it and does it really exist? I would define spiritual warfare as war between deities in the spiritual realm and their attacks on humans spiritually, emotionally and even physically. It can affect people of any religion and those who don't have one, yet those who have a deep relationship with their deity or those who are returning to a deity after having left, they would be more susceptible to attack. The reason for this is because the enemy of the deity that a person worships might very well try to separate them or stop the person from doing the deity's work. Now are there some deities that are more apt to attack people? The answer is yes, as deities have different personalities. Yet the followers of certain religions; Christians primarily, believe that their god is not capable of hurting or deceiving anyone, as supposedly he is all loving, yet their own holy book says different. Let's take a look:
Quotes from the Holy Bible:
He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility- a band of destroying angels. He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague. Psalm 78: 49-50 (NIV)
For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NIV)
On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness, declares the Lord. Zechariah 12:4a (NIV)
And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there? One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. By what means? The Lord asked. I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets, he said. You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord, 'Go and do it. So now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you. 2 Chronicles 18:19-22 (NIV)
Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. Saul's attendants said to him, See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 1 Samuel 16:14-15 (NIV)
Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning-there were all the dead bodies! Isaiah 37:36 (NIV)
These verses clearly demonstrate that the god the Jews and Christians worship is NOT what they make him look out to be in their sermons, books and in their cheery gospel songs. Instead, he deceives, murders, entices, causes panic and madness in both man and beast, and when he doesn't feel like doing it himself, he sends his evil angels to torment those he feels deserve it; often just because of where the people happen to live. What kind of god does these things? A god that admits to his jealousy and who believes that his terrible actions give him glory. He is the only being who would possibly think this; yet much of the human race play right into his hands. He is guilty of everything that the Bible blames Satan for and everything that Christians say they are against. So, we can say with certainty that he is more than capable of attacking people who worship other gods; he has given us the evidence himself.
Now you may be familiar with the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are represented by clean cut young men in black suits with an identification pin on their jacket and you might have seen them at your door, street corners and/or your local shopping mall, doing their best to entice people into their religion. In addition to the Holy Bible, they believe in the 'Book Of Mormon' which also contains many verses that show this god in the same light as the Bible- a murderer who commands his followers to be murderers as well. For example:
Quotes from the Book of Mormon
Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword. 1 Nephi 4:18
And now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites: If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them, saith the Lord, because of their unbelief. Helaman15:17a
If these things are not horrible, I don't know what is. This god, Jehovah, commands that his follower behead someone and threatens to kill an entire race of people because they don't believe in him. Well, I don't say I blame them. Yet, now we see why people today blame God for things like 9/11, war, famine, and natural disasters. He is evil, and deep down people know it.
Now even though the Muslims believe in Allah, it is evident through his actions that he is the same god that the Jews and Christians worship. Their holy book 'The Quran' gives many more examples of this gods murderous temper and hatred. Here are a few:
Quotes from the Quran
Ye (Muslims) slew them not, but Allah slew them. And thou (Muhammad) threwest not when thou didst throw, but Allah threw, that He might test the believers by a fair test from Him. The Spoils of War 8:17
That (is the case); and (know) that Allah (it is) Who maketh weak the plan of disbelievers. The Spoils of War 8:18
And Allah's is the direction of the way, and some (roads) go not straight. And had He willed He would have led you all aright. The Bee 16:9
Those whom the angels cause to die (when they are good). The Bee 16 :32a
On that day we shall present hell to the disbelievers, plain to view. The Cave 18:101
He who crieth unto any god along with Allah hath no proof thereof. His reckoning is only with his Lord. Lo! Disbelievers will not be successful. The Believers 23:117
Then seized I those who disbelieved, and how intense was My abhorrence! The Angels 35:26
So, once again we see this tyrant god at work, repeatedly boasting for the tons of murders he has committed and commanded to be done in his name. One thing he is not is humble. He kills and says it is a FAIR test from him, yet how often are we told that this god does not test people? He proclaims to make weak the plans of those who don't believe in him; clear evidence of spiritual warfare if there was one. Not only that, he causes his angels to kill good people, purposely leads people down the wrong path, and is happy to show the people who do not believe in him the place of torment he created where he plans to throw them all one day. What is this god's problem? What is he threatened by? Being overthrown? It is evident by his actions that he will do everything he can to make sure the people who do not believe in him will not succeed. But why? And if he did these things hundreds and thousands of years ago, what makes people so sure he is not doing them today? And what does this mean for Satanists?
Well, as Satanists we need to spend as much time with Satan as we can. This means regular prayer, ritual, meditation, spending time in his presence while contemplating him and learning from him. This will keep our relationship with him strong and make us strong spiritually. Also, we must never stop studying, researching, and bettering ourselves emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and magically. Being emotionally and mentally strong will help against attacks and in discerning if one is indeed being attacked, not to mention the benefits to ones daily life. If one is spiritually strong and close to Satan, there is less chance that an attack will succeed but if it does it will be lessened quite a bit. And being strong intellectually, one will have a better chance at discerning if in fact they are being attacked and won't be as quick to assume they are, when they aren't. Many things go wrong in life and we know all too well that there is going to be hard times; so don't think that every time something bad happens, you are being attacked. Chances are you aren't, but it is good to know the signs and be prepared. A Satanist should be aware that attacks are more likely to happen when they are getting closer to Satan, doing something important for him or when they are thinking of going back to him after having left for awhile. For as we see in the verses above, Jehovah does not want anyone worshiping anyone but him and he will try to thwart the actions of those who believe in another. So, what are some signs that a person is experiencing spiritual warfare? Well, that can depend on where the entity is attacking. He/she may focus on one area or might go after the person through different avenues. Here are some examples:
Emotional- despair, hopelessness, sadness, severe depression, thoughts of suicide, anxiety
Spiritual- loss of interest in prayer and ritual, decreased interest in studying one's path, unable to concentrate on writing, painting, etc, in regards to one's deity, feeling drawn away from your deity, intense fear, doubt about one's path/deity
Physical- sickness, tiredness, manifestations, nightmares
Now, if you experience one or more of these things, always look on the mundane level first before coming to the conclusion that it is an attack. If for example, you have been experiencing depression, talk to your doctor and he might conclude that you have a chemical imbalance and need medication. If you have thoughts that you might want to kill yourself; talk to someone you trust and your doctor who can help you. Know that there is hope and that the pain you are feeling won't last forever and that there is help. Now if you normally don't suffer from these things and you all of a sudden feel hopeless or extremely sad for no apparent reason, you might very well be under attack. This is when you start to meditate on Satan and use whatever psychic defense you have learned. Don't let whatever is going on overwhelm you; have faith in Satan and in yourself and know that you can beat any attack.
My Experiences
I have had quite a few experiences throughout the years that I would consider to be spiritual warfare. Many of these experiences came when I was most devoted to Satan and the reason for them I believe was to scare me away from him. One of the things that happened occurred 20 years ago when a person who I was close to at the time, became taken over by what seemed to be a very sinister and hostile entity. He kissed his symbol of Baphomet, turned and looked at me, then in a sinister sounding voice said, Go back to heaven where you belong. He then tried to strangle me. At the time, I thought I must have did something wrong and that Satan was mad at me, yet I did not have any knowledge back then of spiritual warfare. I had only seen entities pretending to be other entities on the ouija board. For a very long time I was worried that I would not be able to fix what I might have done wrong and I constantly thought about what happened. I didn't want there to be anything standing in the way between me and Satan and since my relationship with him was most important to me, I wanted everything to be okay. Since there were no other Satanists to talk to and nothing written about these kinds of struggles, there was no where for me to turn.
A couple of years later, I was enticed to buy a bible while in a mall one day and even though I didn't read it till a year later, chances are it was the beginning attempt by an entity, most likely an angel of Jehovah; to draw me away from Satan. As I have said in other writings, I was very devoted to him, and had many plans to do things for him and most likely someone on the other side, wanted to stop me. Well, a few months after I bought the bible, I had a horrible experience with the coven I was a member of that affected me profoundly and changed how I viewed everything. Soon after the shock and sadness dissipated, I experienced what could be described as a tug-of-war for my soul. It resulted in me leaving Satanism and returning to the old familiar Catholic church. After a few years of prayer groups and Mass every Sunday, I felt a pull towards Satanism again, but just when I was about to return, I was invited to an Evangelical church meeting by a woman I knew, and unfortunately it led to a 4 year involvement in that particular church. The people there were adamant that I was to have nothing to do with the occult or with anyone who was into the occult, as they believed that Satan would use anything he could to bring me back to him. I guess they knew deep down that I am his, but being Christians they were determined to not to let that happen. I was never totally welcomed in the church, as most likely the members felt Satan's presence with me, and I had a couple of odd experiences with a couple of the people who were considered the most spiritual. I was told that it was demonic influence. Both these experiences involved an angry, hateful, presence in the people's eyes and I knew from past experience that it was someone looking through these people at me. An evil spirit sent from Jehovah? Most likely. The first time occurred when I was in a discussion group at the church; the person looked at me and I saw this thing through her eyes as if it wanted to attack me. The other time I was in a car with a person from the church and all of a sudden he looked at me and the same kind of presence showed itself; then I got a strong feeling that it wanted to kill me. The man started speeding which showed that what I had felt was true. When I started to scream at him to slow down, it was like he came to his senses and everything was back to normal. The Christians did not want to believe that their fellow Christians could be taken over by someone; yet they believe that they are filled or possessed by the Holy Spirit and have angels who minister to them. Could it have been one of the two showing their true colours? Certainly, since angels know full well with whom I belong, and the verses above are evidence that they are often sent by Jehovah to cause death and misery.
When I returned to Satanism back in 2003, it certainly was not an easy time and I went through some fierce opposition. A couple of months before I began calling myself a Satanist, I began to go into Satanist chat rooms as I was feeling a pull towards Satan; then one night I heard a sinister voice telling me to thank a particular person in my life for bringing me to him on a platter. I must say that I was taken aback at the language used and thought, who could it be but Satan, as that is who I was feeling drawn towards. Yet why would Satan have done something that could have driven me away, as this experience was anything but pleasant. The day after this, when I was out, I felt a presence with me, and as I sat on the bus, a child would not stop glaring at me and it was as if she had been trying to get me to look into her eyes. As I got off the bus, a woman with a dog walked by and the dog began to bark at me ferociously and the woman told me how surprised she was as her dog never barks at people. A couple of hours later on the way home, the exact same thing happened with another dog and its owner was also very shocked at the way it acted towards me. What I gathered from all of this was that I did indeed have a presence with me, but I have never found out who it was.
The next few months were a struggle as not only did I have to deal with leaving Christianity behind and its affects, but as I became closer to Satan and as I got to know fellow Satanists, it was as if something was trying to scare me away. One morning in particular, as I was about to go into the shower, I felt tremendous fear, and sensed there was a presence in the room with me. Then in my mind I heard, If you continue on with Satan, you will burn in hell. I cannot describe how horrible it was to hear those words; but it was done to scare me away from Satan, that is for sure. It was without success, as I continued to get closer to him and more involved in the Satanist scene on the internet.
The next three years showed to be extremely hard for me as I continually dealt with Christian programming and as a result I ended up returning to Christianity, not once, but twice. Not only was the programming reason for my return, but also because the tyrant god did not want me to follow Satan and used it to his advantage. This was evident when I wanted to listen to a song that reminded me of the relationship I had with Satan, as deep down I missed him, but as soon as I got out the CD, I noticed ants and cockroaches crawling out from my kitchen cupboards. I then got a strong feeling that I should not listen to the CD. I did anyway and the amount of bugs continued to increase. When I relented and put the CD away, the bugs eventually went away. Now if you know me real well, you will know that one of my worst fears is bugs and obviously that was used against me in order to keep me from returning to my Father Satan. I did return, yet it wasn't without struggle.
Throughout the years as a Satanist, I have had many experiences that I believe have been attacks in attempt to scare me, cause me doubt, entice me away from Satan and my beliefs and to make me feel down and unable to do what I was meant to do, especially spiritually. Even in writing this article, there has been opposition where I have felt down not only emotionally but physically, but with Satan by my side, I know that everything will be as they should be.
In conclusion, I hope that this article has helped you be aware of what a spiritual attack might look like and what it might mean for you as a Satanist. There is no reason to fear, as fear is not of Satan, but instead be knowledgeable about yourself and what is going on around you and that can be key when determining the cause of something. One thing to always remember is who Satan truly is and the things he has done. This should strengthen you as you deal with the struggles you may have spiritually and in your daily life. If you feel sadness or anxiety or feel that you may be in the midst of spiritual warfare; vision Satan in your mind the way you like to imagine him, such as a big red dragon, serpent, a beautiful angel, peacock, a figure in a dark robe, and imagine him embracing you. Then ask the question, who would dare to mess with this god of mine? Then feel Satan's majestic power and energy.
Yes, some deities are powerful but have faith in Satan and in yourself and you will be a WARRIOR to be reckoned with.
Copyright © 2007 Marie RavenSoul
