Witchcraft – A Sad Reality of Our Times

The Athonite monk Theologos, a resident of the Cell of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple, reveals in this interview the terrible traps into which people can fall when they turn to witches or take part in magical rituals.

C.B: Welcome, dear friends! We are once again alongside Fr. Theologos at the Cell of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, Lacu Skete, Holy Mount Athos. I make this clarification again because new viewers and friends are constantly appearing, and rather than being asked through messages, I prefer to make this presentation now. Father, the topic I would like us to address today is a historical one. Historical and painful, especially because it proves a certain infantilism of ours passed down somehow from generation to generation, and I will ask you to help us understand how current witchcraft is, unfortunately. Before we get into the subject, I’m going to ask you to describe what witchcraft actually means and especially what its effects are, so that we can later understand the essence of this discussion.

Fr. T: Witchcraft, well… There are several forms here, but mainly it is about the fact that the enemy, the devil, who is a type of mind, as I have often said on our website chilieathonita.ro, has no right to intervene, or rather has limited rights, and these rights are given by man. These rights are given by man or by the man himself the moment he commits a sin, then he gives the devil the right to act, and a special case is when someone who has already given rights to the enemy asks the enemy, by paying him, to attack another person. That is, the devil acquires rights over another person due to the malevolent action of the first person who is called the sorcerer.

C.B: The effect being…?

Fr. T: The effect is always… so the devil always aims for the death of the soul.

C.B: For our discussion, I have identified three main categories, if there are others, I’m really going to ask you to mention them. The first would be – starting with the classic one – beginning with the inoffensive coffee reading, which for some people represents a permanent activity and a lifestyle. Then, “Mama Omida” (a witch) representing an unfortunately very common typology of especially those people who self-declare that they practice white magic which is something different from black magic. And I would also ask you to say a few words about those who somehow engage with courage in the area of parapsychology – a somewhat invented word…

Fr. T: I don’t know what it means either. I mean, I imagine…

C.B: It’s a forced, invented word meant to justify a bunch of practices that are certainly not in man’s favor.

Fr. T: Yes. Regarding coffee reading and fortune-telling in general, a person has very strong desires, certain very strong desires for gain, a social position, to be with someone, and so on. Usually, these fall into three major categories: pleasure, power, and wealth. And so, a person wishes to achieve these very strong desires of theirs, which are sinful desires, not with God’s help because they know that God won’t help them as much as where their passion wants them to get, that’s obvious. Therefore, they resort to diabolical, devilish means.

Of course, these methods are not overtly malevolent in most cases, but they manifest through practices like coffee reading or cartomancy. A person wants to know the future or wants to elevate themselves, to step out of the humility they should have, to pose as a pseudo-omniscient, and then they go, of course, as I said, for a price – which cost is not only in money but also in their soul. That is, they are filled with a great deal of demonic energy on this subject and they will have to suffer, to be clear, even if possibly, not always, their desires might sometimes be fulfilled. They charge themselves with very high demonic energy and they will suffer very badly in this regard. This is regarding the theme of the future and so on.

You must know that a person will never find joy in what they gain through magic or by means not validated by God. Never. And they shouldn’t say, “Let me have this, and I’ll figure it out later.” First of all, let’s not forget that God is all-loving and all-wise, so if God does not give something, we should not insist because it will not turn out well, it will lead to nothing good at all. This is regarding the theme of the future and this also includes the zodiac, the theme of fortune-telling and of… That’s about it.

C.B: …Of finding ourselves in I don’t know what zodiac sign, and every morning we make it a habit to see what’s happening today.

“White magic,” obviously putting it in quotes. A lot of celebrities, a lot of public figures have stumbled and have obviously failed somewhere they shouldn’t have and complained that they had spent tens or hundreds of thousands of euros. There are famous cases that, with a little effort, viewers can surely recall. We are talking about accredited witches who astonishingly manage to twist the minds of some people whom we at least suspect of having above-average intelligence. How does this happen? Obviously, it comes down to a weakness.

Fr. T: Yes, because man is unprotected, that is, he is not in the Church. If the man is not in Church… that means he is not confessing regularly. By regularly, I mean at least once a month, not just four times a year or once a year… So if a man has confessed and Communed, then magic does not touch him, it does not cling to him, but otherwise, he can be a Nobel Prize winner. The devil has an experience of thousands and thousands of years, he obviously twists his mind and especially if he plants the idea of a woman, or in the opposite case, a man, or money, or power and so on; well, in that case, the man being a slave to that idol will do anything. He does anything and of course, witchcraft evolves over time. I mean, if at the beginning it might have involved riding broomsticks and wearing those hats and I don’t know what… Yes, you laugh now, forgive me for saying this, but flying on a broomstick was a reality. So let’s get this straight – magicians and witches could teleport; they could fly, it still happens today.

C.B: Now I understand why movies like Harry Potter are fantastically popular.

Fr. T: Yes, yes.

C.B: And we like the idea of a good wizard.

Fr. T: Yes, and right there, in Harry Potter… don’t ever watch Harry Potter because it includes spells and diabolical prayers from a book, I won’t mention its name, a famous book of spells. So it’s a super-toxic movie. We once had a serious discussion about Harry Potter on the Holy Mountain—about the franchise, the films, the books and so on. White magic, to clarify some things, all forms of magic are destructive, but white magic cloaks itself in the guise of goodness—I mean, self-fulfillment. Whereas black magic is to kill the person.

C.B: [White magic] has nicer packaging.

Fr. T: Yes, but as I said, the devil always aims for the human soul, both that of the wizard and that of the target of their spells…

C.B: The sorcerer at some point becomes a tool, losing ownership of himself at least at the level of conscience, he may believe he is doing something good, yet I speculate he will find himself facing the most careful treatment once their work is done.

Fr. T: I know of sorcerers who were beaten bloody. So, they were beaten to a pulp. And there’s more to it than that. Lots of things. So, we actually posted on chilieathonita.ro all sorts of testimonies from former witches who spoke about the torments they went through. And not just beaten…

C.B: Let’s be clear for our viewers. They were beaten by the devil.

Fr. T: By the devil, yes, obviously…

C.B: So not by human beings or…

Fr. T: No, by devils, clearly. There was a ritual to summon the devil and there was a… whatever, they formed a circle—without going into too much detail to avoid giving ideas—and the chief wizard warned his apprentice, “Don’t step outside this circle, or the devil will beat you to death.” The apprentice, not paying attention, stepped out, and they beat him to a literal pulp. So, these things happen, brothers. Don’t think for a moment that he is all-powerful and he gives you limitless powers and everything will be fine and you will be with the love of your dreams and all sorts of things like that. Brothers, it’s not like that! The devil is the devil.

C.B: And he has but one goal: to destroy man by every means we provide.

Fr. T: Yes, and little by little, little by little. Let me tell you a case, it’s not from Romania. There was someone who sought to climb the social ladder, he worked at a bank and got hold of a book of spells. And he started to invoke, to do incantations, and the devil appeared and said:

“What do you want?”

“I want to climb the social ladder.”

And he became branch manager, if I’m not mistaken. Oh, actually the devil told him, “Fine, but you must sacrifice a hen.” And then the man said yes, okay, no problem. He sacrificed a hen, became branch manager, something like that, I can’t remember. After that, he said,

“Ah, I want to go even higher!”

“Alright, you must sacrifice a dog.” Yes, ok, he sacrificed a dog and climbed even higher, I can’t recall his new position.

“Higher, I want to be at the central bank, powerful and respected!”

“Yes, ok, the little girl.”

The man was horrified because he was divorced and the only light in his life was his daughter. And the devil said to him: “You must sacrifice your daughter.” And he said, “I can’t do that!” The devil pressed him very hard, beat him, the man did not give in and he lost everything he had and even went to prison, there he confessed, and that’s how we know the whole story. So, brethren, do not play with such matters, because God forbid [what may happen]! Gradually, the devil ensnares you, he knows what he is doing.

C.B: The second category, let’s say, we enter the realm of the modern period and I believe it can easily be associated with witchcraft even though the terms used do not seem to have many similarities. But when we talk about social anesthesia, when we talk about directing the minds of very large groups of people towards a certain theme that is by no means a good one, we can look at some advertising messages, some social messages, and some scientific discoveries. One, announced officially just a week ago: in half a year’s time, the first person will be presented who will function with that implant designed to restore his motor functions. Probably that will be the case, no details were given – someone who was paralyzed until yesterday, will now be using this device. I don’t want to mention the author’s name even though I’m sure the viewers know who it is, to avoid being accused of a slight disparagement.

But at the moment when, I believe we intervene more than we are allowed by the One who created us, and the One who created us, has done it according to a perfect design, and we attempt to force, to correct God, using a device that indeed, at first glance, is good; anyone wants to get up from the sickbed, but perhaps the sickbed is necessary for his salvation, I think. Advertising creators, among whom there are enlightened minds, seem to lack the discernment necessary to realize that what they create as advertising messages, in certain situations not all the time, does nothing but enslave people to certain passions.

Fr. T: Yes, well, but here we step out of the realm of witchcraft and enter other spheres. We’re talking about some very subtle things. These have always existed in the medical field, they have always been present in history in the medical field, but you see that the Holy Fathers had discernment. They always said – certain people in the Church – not to take medications because God knows what is best for us and we heal through faith. So, this thread has always existed. But you see that the Church tells you with discernment – I mean yes, alright, in the case of an implant like this, which restores motor functions, it’s very delicate because you don’t know what the future holds for you and you don’t know how this implant may be used. Do you understand? Because it’s something very… how should I put it, very intrusive, if you will. It can’t be because people are confused with these vaccines. It is a large device, it requires a battery.

C.B: It has nothing to do with the chip.

Fr. T: Yes, with the chip used for vaccination… so, through the vaccine. There are chip implants in Sweden, but that’s dragging on because there are now far better tracking methods: facial recognition and the like. Far better from their perspective, to be clear.

C.B: The speculation is precisely the same – that the human becomes an interface, and we don’t know who is in control.

Fr. T: Who controls his limbs. Yes. Well, that’s what I’m saying, but this is not related to… it’s a very, very sensitive issue, but it’s not related to witchcraft. Witchcraft involves all those matters concerning crystals, energies, astral integrations and so on. This whole thing that in the past involved plants, herbs, and I don’t know what. Today, it revolves around themes of extraterrestrials, alpha beings, and so on. This, indeed, is connected to witchcraft. The moment you have to open up to the extraterrestrials. In the case of extraterrestrials, there are certainly confusions; in their case, there are or rather, there were military projects, but in most cases of aliens, it is about demonic phenomena. That’s a different story.

C.B: It is another topic that, perhaps, we will address on another occasion to understand once and for all what is this alien civilization that some are so providentially expecting.

Fr. T: Yes, obviously. What is evident in the case of witchcraft is the fact that they are very mimetic, meaning they adapt in such a way that they are not head-on, you know. Indeed, there are certain witchcraft practices, as I said, that require you to sacrifice a frog and so on, which provoke disgust, but there are others that come with the Bible, come with an icon, or rather, with a religious painting because they don’t come with a Byzantine icon. Let’s say a painting of the Savior, if you like, or so, and the Psalter. Always from the Old Testament. Never from the New Testament.

I actually remember a case of a theology student who was found to be possessed. Why? Because he would sweat and faint only during New Testament classes. In every other subject, including the Old Testament, dogmatics and so on, he showed no signs of distress. While in the New Testament he would turn yellow, he would experience dizziness and collapse. They read him some exorcisms and what came out of there, God forbid! So, such things exist, and they must always be approached with great discernment by the priest.

What is even more important in this case, if I may add, is knowing how to protect ourselves if someone attempts to cast spells on us. First of all, confession. Everyone in the family, or, well, those targeted. First and foremost, frequent confession—at least once a month. I say once a week if possible or every two weeks. Communion if good God wills, meaning if the priest blesses. If there are cursed objects in the house, meaning strange objects and so on that are found – they should be burned or buried. And the blessing of the water in the home. Blessed water in the home.

Folks, do not play with such things! I know cases – “Oh, it doesn’t matter and so forth” and after that, God forbid, what can happen! So, this must be known that there is no other remedy, there are no other solutions, like: We’ll see, this and that, that [if] there’s a headache, pills and all that. I remember a huge drama that happened in Scotland I think, I don’t recall exactly where. There was a woman, her husband was into tarot, so into fortune-telling and so on with some very strong demonic energies, and the lady, the wife was screaming about, and her husband thought she was epileptic and was filling her with pills, locking her in the house. He thought she was just suffering from a nervous disorder and she wasn’t getting better. [But] there was no way for her to get better because it was the demonic energy that he himself had… and there was a whole epic, I still remember how the community from all over the world, in fact – on a forum – wanted to send that lady a prayer rope so she could say the Jesus Prayer and heal.

Brethren, yes, we say that the devil is the abstract embodiment of evil. The devil is not the abstract embodiment of evil; the devil is a very concrete type of mind, very active, very experienced. And we actually posted, you can search on chilietonita.ro, I can’t recall the exact title, “Evidence of the Devil’s Existence.” We did a half-hour podcast discussing very tangible evidence of the devil’s presence.

C.B: And merciless.

Fr. T: Merciless, yes.

C.B: Can something unclean, perhaps witchcraft, sometimes hide within the advertising message?

Fr. T: Yes, of course. Now I keep thinking of something on the site. We actually have a translation from a former witch who says, “Yes, at Hollywood, spells are cast on movies.” So, beyond the fact that evil messages are embedded in the movie, spells are put on the movie.

C.B: And in some commercials, too.

Fr. T: Yes, obviously. Why? Because it is about that very strong desire to… but here we need to make a slight distinction. So, one is the satanic message, which exists, which is placed there malevolently, because I know it does harm, meaning I know what happens, and another thing is that it’s put there by a young person – it’s not good – but by an enthusiastic young person who is learning this in college, you know. They learn in college that key performance indicators – the basic indicators of an advertisement’s performance – are these, and they are obtained if you put a beautiful woman or whatever. Well, and that is malevolent. Why? Because it awakens certain passions in people regarding this subject. Yes, but this is done somewhat without… whereas someone else can actually cast spells. And first of all, the main target is children, you should know. The main target.

C.B: Yes, that can be seen.

Fr. T: Cartoons, computer games.

C.B: You can see it very well in their behavior: they become utterly transfixed by advertisements, frozen in front of the television, and any parent can attest to this.

Father, the third category identified by me. If, at the end of our dialog, you would like to add something, please do. Let’s talk a little bit about a phenomenon that may seem so slightly new, but I believe is not: the witchcraft in politics. Not the deceptive talk in politics, but the witchcraft in politics.

Fr. T: Yes, I said that a person engages in such actions when driven by strong desires, a relentless need to attain a certain position…

C.B: …at any price!

Fr. T: …at any cost, therefore they could be paying this price. However, you should always know that there are people who do and people who do not. And here, the famous case often lies not in politics but in music. People often associate rock music with satanism. I once presented an extensive documentary—its title escapes me, it was something like “The Dark Side of Rock Music.” You might find it by searching for Led Zeppelin on chilieathonita.ro. It’s a thirty-minute documentary talking about one of the most renowned guitarists in the history of the world, Jimmy Page, from Led Zeppelin, who supposedly sold his soul to the devil. And it should be understood that there was a miracle of the Mother of God, why? Because I had prepared this material and I couldn’t find the right time to post it, as the editorial schedule was full. And I posted it on some random day, it happened to be one evening, and I was flooded with messages: “Father, you did extraordinarily well because Untold just started, you are very well informed” and so on. I didn’t know. And I said, “Mother of God, this is from you.” And I posted this documentary regarding witchcraft in music, starting from rhythm and blues (R&B) from the black people in Africa who brought voodoo and so on, to Led Zeppelin and their connections to satanists and so on.

But in addition, this documentary alone would have generated a repulsion, a negative position against the Church, especially of the youth because those within the Church think – and this is not good – that everyone is like that, especially in rock music, heavy metal and so on. And because of this, I found another documentary in which a famous and brilliant (although I don’t like the way he sings) Dave Mustaine from Megadeth – he is very famous – says, “Yes, I have cast spells.” And he tells how and what, recounting the fact that he seduced a girl through spells, that the bus hit someone else, but when he saw what was happening, he was horrified and got out. And especially he narrates and says, of course now he is a Christian, well, the man is a heretic because that’s how it is in the United States, yes – but I want to say that with all his heresy and despite the fact that I am not a fan, first of all I am a monk, I don’t like Megadeth and Mustaine – he talks about the devil like the Holy Fathers do. He says, “Do not think for a moment that the devil has horns and a tail and so on; the devil is a very beautiful, very attractive angel of light, he does anything you want…” It must be listened to – the interview is about four minutes long. And he says, “He knows everything, he can help you, but only if you give him your soul.”

C. B: Just the soul, just the soul, nothing more…

Fr. T: Yes, and he says, “He can be anywhere.” And then, the ABC reporter who is interviewing him widens his eyes and says, “He could even be here in the room, in the studio?” And Dave Mustaine says, “Of course.” And the reporter says, “It is a little bit scary!” “Of course.” Meaning it’s a bit frightening.

Yes, of course, it is frightening. And then, to show that there are also musicians who haven’t messed with the devil and manage to maintain some balance, I finally found Steve Vai, but I think he was the hardest to find, the hardest part to find of all the music. And I believe it’s the same in politics. I mean, the good God knows.

C.B: The analogy you made is extremely suggestive.

Fr. T: Do you understand? In the case of Steve Vai, it was about a little girl who plays bass, about seven years old. The video is very beautiful. It’s made by her father. As she walks and enters a grassy courtyard and she goes to the back and there is a cabin about the size of our cell, so not very big, it was small, but it didn’t have two stories. And she walks in and there’s a hallway like this and there’s an old man about 60 years old, “Hello, how are you?” He talks to her and opens a closet full of guitars. Then he takes her to another room. “Come, let me give you something! I’ll give you a pedal.” Electric guitars need a pedal. He gives her a pedal and lowers himself to her level. And Steve Vai is one of the top 10 guitarists in the history of mankind. And look at the humility of this man who came down to talk to a girl and showed her how he makes his videos and how he sings and so on, and the little girl was talking to him. So, he was very, very accessible.

Once again, brethren, I’m not saying you have to listen to his music. That’s up to each person and their preferences. And beyond that, I’m not saying that Steve Vai is an abba, a spiritual father in the Church, but I want to say that there are also people who manage to maintain their balance.

C.B: And he bears witness; he is one of the people with very high visibility worldwide that you cannot contest…

Fr. T: Yes, and how can I tell you? So, they entered the house nicely, and there was no security, no bodyguards, nothing.

And I think the same goes for all the areas where there are very big desires.

C.B: Especially in politics, why? Because that’s where the greatest desires of man come together.

Fr. T: Yes, it’s the desire for deification, for self-deification turned towards this world.

C.B: Yes, this can explain without justification how certain – some politicians – seem to be sold to the devil through what they do, but especially through what they don’t do.

Fr. T: Only the good God knows that. So we don’t judge people!

C.B.: We do not judge. We look at the facts.

Fr. T: Yes, I don’t know, I really don’t follow politics. I know one or two politicians who are very good people, the ones that I know. I even did an interview with one of them – Ciprian Bucur, the Deputy President of the Senate who is a very faithful and very good man. I do not know his political activity, what he does and so on, but as a person, he is a very good man. From there on, God’s mercy.

C. B: Father, this is where my momentary curiosities stop. If you would like to add anything further, please do!

Fr. T: Yes, to conclude the musical picture. You should know that at this point – I don’t validate trash and death metal and so on – but due to what those in rock (who are rebels and there’s a whole story here), have gone through and know about Led Zeppelin and so on, it is observed that there are much more negative examples in mainstream music, let’s say: pop, Michael Jackson, for example, Lady Gaga, who were doing… and I’ve seen clips, people have sent me. And I will actually post soon, I don’t know when your clip will go up, but we have scheduled on chilietonita.ro a clip of Nicki Minaj talking about the fact that she is demonized and has a demon inside her and what happens.

C.B: And she’s very happy…

Fr. T: No. She actually says she would like it to come out of her, but it is very difficult. It’s a whole story. So, young people, I am addressing you now – don’t ever think that only rock music is like that and because they have noises and so on and are more rebellious than the others, that it only exists there and that all those ones are satanists and these are not. It’s not true, brethren, things are much more complex, as I said, you can watch the clips on chilietonita.ro, with Mustaine, who says that yes, a part of us is involved, but others are not involved because it’s terrible. So, it’s one thing when you just talk and it’s another when you enter and have experience.

C.B: Dear friends, that’s all for today. There is no such thing as good witchcraft. If you want to achieve a complete resolution of problems, go along this axis: God – Church – priest. There is no other option.

Fr. T: Exactly.

C.B: Thank you very much, father!

Fr. T: May the Lord help us! Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.

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