I sat across the desk from a man who had served in Christian ministry for more than fifty years. As I listened, what I learned about the dark spirituality that’s present and growing here in Wisconsin was shocking. He told of seeing firsthand a huge pentagram — the symbol associated with satanic worship — carved in a hay field in southern Wisconsin. The site was far off the beaten track on the outskirts of a seemingly small-town Christian community. But it was apparent that occult rituals were secretly taking place here on a regular basis.
He also shared with me about the time he was in a small aircraft, flying over another remote part of Wisconsin, seeing a similar satanic symbol far out in the woods. Nearby were rows of LP gas tanks which powered a huge furnace. “What was the purpose of those things?” I asked innocently. His reply: “Seemingly to destroy the evidence of animal — and possibly even human — sacrifices.”
He even told of the sacrifice of a newborn baby in the northwoods, near the border of Upper Michigan. An informant had come forward with specific details of the crime, all of which checked out with the state and local police — but no evidence of a body could be found, and therefore, no charges could be filed. The infant had allegedly been ritualistically killed and offered up to Satan, then the body incinerated.
If stories like these sound preposterous, it doesn’t take much investigation to confirm them — and to find even more examples of the occult, paganism, witchcraft, “new age” and demonic influence right here in my home state…and all across our nation. On the shores of Lake Michigan, the city of Manitowoc was named “The Devil’s Doorway” by ancient Indians. Spiritually discerning people have confirmed this area remains a hotbed of demonic influence today. A little southwest of there, Waupun, Wisconsin, boasted the nation’s first State Prison Chaplain system led by a Wiccan, and the first public Wiccan church. The chaplain, Jamyi Witch, was fired in 2013 after allegations of sexual assault and providing drugs to inmates.
The town of Black River Falls has its own dark history. In the late 1890s, the area was plagued by a diphtheria epidemic, a lingering economic depression, and then the residents began to go collectively insane. A documentary, entitled “Wisconsin Death Trip,” was released in 2001, which details, through re-creations, old photographs, and vintage newspaper clippings, the evil that took place there. To this day, the Black River Falls area remains one of the most challenging areas of Wisconsin in which to do Christian ministry.
In December 2006, in Barneveld, midway between Madison and Dodgeville, Selena Fox, a Wiccan priestess, won a ten-year battle to have their Wiccan symbol added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on government-issued headstones of fallen soldiers. According to the Associated Press story, the agreement was reached between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans who sued to include the pentagram on veteran grave markers. The settlement called for the symbol to be placed on grave markers within 14 days for the eleven families nationwide who had pending requests with the VA.
Fox is also the founder of the “Circle Sanctuary” near Barneveld, which hosts such activities as “Pagan Spirit Gatherings,” “Sacred Fire Circles,” Divination, Honoring of the dead, as well as more secretive events known only to Circle Sanctuary members. Here, they worship and serve the environment, the creation, rather than the Creator, just as Paul warned the Romans about.
Need more examples? At Christmas time, a nativity scene on the roof of Green Bay’s City Hall building shares the spotlight with the Wiccan pentacle. And now, we have stores springing up everywhere, advertising occult supplies for your every need. Healing arts and divinations, Ouija Boards, Crystals, Tarot Cards, Private Room Sessions, Reiki, Fortune telling, Quantum Touch, Channeled Drumming and Guided Meditations. The list goes on. Take a drive through nearly any city or town in our state, and you’ll find practitioners of astrology, psychic readings, fortune telling, witchcraft and magick. This isn’t just in Wisconsin. The occult is big business nationwide now.
Besides the obvious fact that these things are based on false, pagan religions, drawing ignorant, lost souls to their destruction, God’s Word, the Bible, specifically forbids such practices. Deuteronomy 18 warns, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord…” Read this list of abominations again, and then consider what our culture promotes today. These things are everywhere, and are accepted and embraced more and more. Occult-oriented businesses can be found in even the smallest of towns, along with worship of false gods and incredible fascination with such things as sorcery, “shape shifting,” and vampirism.
Even those who consider themselves Christians dabble in the forbidden. Christians on Facebook post their daily horoscopes, ignorant of the fact that astrology is an ancient, heathen practice, which the Bible warns against repeatedly: (Jeremiah 10:2; 27:9-10; Daniel 2:1-4; 4:7; and 5:7-9). The ancient Israelites were warned not to follow the false religions of the heathen, those who worshiped the sun, moon, and stars. Yet today, we do it just for fun. Even Christians, because no one ever told them it was contrary to God’s Word.
Our adversary is extremely deceitful, and dabbling in things like this opens a door to demonic delusion that will affect all areas of one’s life. Even those who simply play around with such “innocent” things as a daily horoscope can see evidence of this. Chances are very high that those who dabble in astrology and paganism will find that their lives are characterized by disorder and confusion. They live lives marked by disappointment and poor choices, because (even if they claim it’s all just for fun) they’re placing their trust and faith in demonic deception, as they’re led away from God.
Many practitioners of these occult practices are fraudulent, taking advantage of the poor, desperate, and ignorant. Others, through “spirit guides” (demons) are able to perform false miracles, seemingly able to call up the dead and allow loved ones to speak to their family members who are deceased. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, the deception of speaking with a deceased loved one is becoming commonplace now. AI even offers spiritual advice and guidance from an “artificial Jesus.” These are all counterfeit “miracles” and the result of Satan and his demons masquerading as familiar spirits, which God’s Word repeatedly warns against.
Some of today’s most popular television programs deal with mediums and spirit guides calling up the dead or investigating hauntings. One absurd program on satellite radio even purports to “channel” one’s pets. Callers to the program ask the psychic host how their pet is feeling, what their pet’s concerns are, and even how a deceased pet is doing in the afterlife. The host can tell the caller specific information about their pet — (even if the pet is dead) — simply by talking to the human owner (and asking some probing questions). This show is extremely popular. And also extremely ridiculous, yet many buy into it and tune in daily.
Let’s go to 2 Timothy 3: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Friends, the occult is everywhere today, and it’s nothing to play around with. In the 1990s, Pokémon cards were all the rage among young children, and Pokémon is making a big comeback today. Kids are mesmerized, and they want to collect and trade them, each card featuring a different character. Discerning Christians raised red flags about these cards when they first came out, and they were never allowed in our home when our kids were young. I still remember hearing the story of Chief Shoefoot from the Yanomamo tribe of the Amazon forest. Chief Shoefoot was a former witch doctor who had become a Christian. He visited the United States with Wisconsin missionary Don Shire. Shoefoot was shown the Pokémon cards, and without the ability to read English, was able to call each Pokémon character by name — because, he said, he knew these characters. You see, these Pokémon characters are demons which Shoefoot consulted and consorted with daily as a witch doctor. He was well familiar with them.
Satan worms his way into homes, into hearts, masquerading as an angel of light. Things that seem harmless, even “spiritual,” “good,” or “beautiful,” are often insidious and evil. There’s a lot of new so-called “Christian” music on the market today that I believe is straight from the enemy, luring our young people away from the truth of God’s Word. Just because something uses the label “Christian” does not make it so. On the contrary, in my experience, that’s all the more reason to investigate, see if it is truly God-honoring and lines up with Scripture. We must be discerning over the things we allow into our homes, our hearts, and minds. 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
We live in a deceitful world. The Scripture from 2nd Timothy which I quoted above should be studied and taken to heart. In America today, most of us are idle and burdened down with sins. Most of us are led along by a variety of lusts, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. What wisdom in these words to Timothy! And what a warning for all of us today.
Spiritual warfare is absolutely real, and it’s a subject we must study, as we guard our hearts and minds. Because today, even our churches are compromised with things like the “interfaith” movement, “social justice,” sexual perversion endorsed and affirmed by the pastors, while rainbow flags obliterate the crosses or fly from the steeples of our once-sound houses of worship all year ‘round.
While I can see the ground that the pagan, “new age,” Wiccan and demonic realm has conquered here in Wisconsin, these things are an insidious cancer on our entire nation. If you love your family, friends, and neighbors, learn to discern, put on the whole armor of God, and in Jesus’ name, rescue those who are blind and deceived. This is nothing to play around with. A lot of things are called “spiritual” these days, but not all “spirituality” is of God, even if it’s presented as something “progressive” or “beautiful.” Satan masquerades as an angel of light, you know. Jude 1:4: “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” The “new age” is nothing new. It’s as old as Satan himself.
