Op-Ed: Witchcraft, Sorcery, Ghosts – How Are We Being Indoctrinated?

PORTSMOUTH, OH – When the Reality TV entertainment industry released ghost-related and paranormal shows, as a child therapist, I found more and more children experienced fear, anxiety, and terror, especially around bedtime and throughout the night. Kids became afraid to be alone in other rooms of homes as well. And most of the parents were not aware of the underlying reason kids were afraid.  

As a result, I added questions to my mental health assessment to learn whether parents/guardians allowed kids to watch these shows and their personal beliefs about the paranormal, witchcraft, and sorcery if this became part of the issue. Ethically, a therapist working in secular society, does not share her/his personal opinions about ghosts, demons, angles, or spirts of the death communicating with the living.   

Moreover, many teens believed “The Blair Witch Project” to be authentic – it wasn’t. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers who hike into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland, in 1994 to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. 

Is witchcraft paranormal propaganda, puffery, or something else? And how do parents protect their children from influences inside and outside the home?  

Parental limits on television or the Internet in certain families are monitored, but parents do not know what kids watch at friend’s homes unless they ask other parents. And like any and technology device – it depends on what it is used for. 

Specific animated cartoons and movies, featuring characters of witchery, frightened some children as well. However, shows based on real life happenings (supposedly) influenced nightmares and meltdowns to sleep in the parent’s bedroom. 

As a result of reality TV, groups that specialize in investigating paranormal claims popped up all over, and more shows were spawned. Investigators may use occult methods: psychics, mediums, and channelers. 

Disney and the Demonic 

I remember when Disney was family friendly and watching fairies perform magic in movies was entertaining and not demonic. “Cinderella” in the animated form is a well-loved film.  

However, Disney Channel’s controversial series “The Owl House” was canceled after One Million Moms, a division of the American Family Association, garnered and submitted a petition of signatures.

“Warning for parents! Disney has taken yet another dangerous step into the darkness with its new animated horror-comedy series titled The Owl House. Following the Disney films about the evil Maleficent and the animated Disney XD series Star vs. the Forces of Evil, this new kid-targeted series is also set in a spiritually demonic realm. In The Owl House, Disney introduces kids to a world of demons, witches, and sorcery while inundating their young minds with secular worldviews that reflect the current culture,” declared One Million Moms.  

Should parents just turn the channel and remain silent about shows that target younger children with the intention of indoctrination? Repetition is a way to desensitize kids into a false reality that witchcraft is fun. 

“Pop culture has a growing fascination with the occult. From zombies and vampires, to Hogwarts and horoscopes, and even witches and Ouija boards — the mystical, unknown and undead seem to dominate TV and movie screens. While many celebrate this phenomenon, is it appropriate for Christians to get caught up in the zombie zeitgeist?” asks a 2016 article in the Christian Post.

Tarot Cards for Kids 

Go to Amazon or Etsy and you can find beginning tarot cards for children with pictures of animals. Younger children are being targeted with occult symbolism and witchcraft. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a law suit against Porter County Education Services on behalf of a teacher’s aide who was fired for bring tarot cards on public school property and exposing the practice to students. 

It appears the indoctrination of children into witchcraft is prevalent in modern-day society. All the more reason for parents to run for school board positions and to become involved in knowing the chosen curriculum. Other options include the consideration of home-schooling or private schools for younger children. 

As a teen, my friends and I piled into someone’s car, drove downtown, and had our fortune’s told for ten dollars by a lady with tarot cards. At the end of the evening we stopped for pizza, compared notes and laughed. At a few slumber parties we lit candles and tried to communicate with deceased rockstars. That was the extent of my experiences into the supernatural side of darkness. Mind you, these were the days before the home computers, the Internet and cell phones. And most homes had only one television – kept in the living room. 

Witchcraft  

The U.S. government first officially recognized Wicca as a religion in 1985. The appeals court ruled that, “the Church of Wicca occupies a place in the lives of its members parallel to that of more conventional religions. Consequently, its doctrine must be considered a religion.” 

As Jone Salomonsen  

“Witches perceive of themselves as having left the Father’s House (Jewish and Christian religion) and returned ‘home’ to the Self (Goddess religion) with a call to heal western women’s (and men’s) alienation from community and spirituality and to become benders of human and societal developments.”  

Witchcraft on social media. Many parents allow adolescents to access TikTok without supervision and kids checkout popular trends. For example, #witchtok a hashtag on TikTok with over 21.1 billion views. Many of the videos teach viewers how to perform spells and recharge crystals, among other topics. And #witchesofinstagram has more than 9.1 million posts. 

Mainstream Media Touts Witchcraft 

The following lefty liberal-leaning media sources composed by adult journalists are cheerfully heralding witchcraft.  

“9 Things You Never Knew About Real-Life American Witches,” a 2022 article in Cosmopolitan, appears to be an extensive witchcraft manifesto for recruitment. “When Did Everybody Become a Witch?” is the title of a 2021article in the New York Times. Interesting. So, is everybody at the New York Times a witch? Or just the journalist who penned the article? 

“We’re in the middle of a witch moment: Hip witchcraft is on the rise in the US” is the title of a 2021 article in USA Today. “But now, on the heels of the wildly successful Harry Potter series and Twilight films, and with an array of witches showing up on social media, witchcraft isn’t considered spooky anymore. It’s gone mainstream.”  

“Why Witchcraft Is on the Rise,” a 2020 article in The Atlantic interviews a woman witch. 

Psychics 

According to a 2022 article in the Daily Mail, “The highest concentration of psychics is in Florida, where 14.4 percent of the entire industry works. California came in second (12.5 percent), followed by New York (7.2 percent) and Texas (6.9 percent).” 

Many psychics believe they are providing comfort to grieving people by channeling deceased loved ones. Long Island Medium is a popular reality TV series where a self-professed medium claims she communicates with the dead. 

Magic 

Humans are fascinated by mystery and magic. From the early and famous magician like Harry Houdini to modern magicians like Chris Angel and David Copperfield, people are mesmerized by magic tricks and illusions.  

However, the magic used by self-proclaimed witches is quite different. “The first time I called myself a ‘Witch’ was the most magical moment of my life.”― Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America 

Is Witchcraft Counterfeit Comfort, Demonic Deception, or Fearful Fanfare? Some individuals involved with sorcery and witchcraft and believe “white magic” is good and “black magic” is evil. In the Wizard of Oz movie, there was a good witch and a bad witch. But, is all witchcraft a work of Lucifer, the fallen angel? Depends on who you ask. 

What Do Christians Believe? 

Nonetheless, the religious crowd consisting of Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe that witchcraft (i.e., psychics, mediums, channelers) is demonic. 

Satan Is on a Mission: Pastor’s Pointed Message to Vanessa Hudgens Over Witchcraft Film. Watch on YouTube.

Actress Vanessa Hudgens is reportedly planning to take her “spiritual witchcraft journey” to viewers via a new, unscripted feature film. Faithwire reported, Hudgens is teaming up with Bunim-Murray Productions for “Dead Hot: Season of the Witch,” a 90-minute voyage into the supposed “supernatural.”

Pastor Mike Signorelli told CBN’s Faithwire, “Satan is on a mission to normalize the demonic, because the more influencers and people that he can get to normalize the demonic, the easier it is to get the masses to receive it in their lives.”  

“The allure of witchcraft isn’t hard to grasp: the promise of power and freedom from moral constraints. Entertainment has glamorized witches in recent decades via films and shows such as American Horror Story: Coven, Charmed, and Bell Book and Candle, whose portrayal of women possessing great supernatural “power” is seductive to many girls,” surmised a 2021 article in New American.

Christians that adhere to the Bible believe in angels and demons and are aware that “Satan masquerades as an angel of light” as written in 2 Corinthians 11:14. Moreover, there are no examples of good witches in the scriptures.