With horoscopes, witchcraft and the occult seemingly increasing in their presence and prevalence, some might wonder why these practices—traditions the Bible condemns—are ever-present.
Jareb and Petra Knott, coauthors of the book “The Science of Deliverance: How Spiritual Freedom Brings Physical Healing,” operate a deliverance ministry to help set people free from demonic influence. Petra explained why she believes so many people today are turning to the occult.
“The fascination with evil in society right now—we have a huge interest in the supernatural and people don’t know where to turn to learn about that,” she said. “So, they’re turning to the wrong side.”
Petra said fear is another factor that leads people toward these practices.
“Witchcraft gives people the illusion of control in their life, and so there’s a huge pull to witchcraft because people feel like they can do the right things and cause their life to be better,” she said. “And then the church … has been reticent to talk about these things, so we’ve left a void, and now we’ve got people who go to the church and ask questions, and they’re not getting answers.”
Petra said she sees it in her ministry with clients who come for deliverance and proclaim they’ve never engaged in witchcraft.
“[They’ll say], ‘I’ve done horoscopes, I’ve done seances, I’ve done Ouija boards, I’ve done, you know everything under the sun … but I’ve never done any witchcraft,'” she said. “It’s because they don’t have the understanding that all of those things aren’t fun and games; they are witchcraft.”
Jareb added his belief that “this is the enemy’s design” to see culture inundated with these themes, and he warned about the “desensitization of the children” in modern society.
“Many facets of our society and our media culture are just putting in little tidbits of friendly witchcraft,” he said,” referencing “Harry Potter” and some of the vampire shows and films that have gained prominence. “It’s making the demonic a friendly face. And it’s making it so that it’s palatable—that it’s fun and everybody can have a wand, and we can do little abracadabra and fun things.”
Listen to the full discussion for more on this fascinating topic. {eoa|
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Abby Trivett 
Phil Hotsenpiller 
Stephen Strang 
