Halloween is past, but it reminded me of a time in my life where I did something I would not normally have done, and would not recommend. Believe me, I would never sit still while anyone else did this that I hold dear to me. I dated a witch.

Now I'm not talking a gal who has a bad temper, I mean a witch. You know, wicca and all that mumbo stuff. She had a lot of problems besides being a witch that I won't go into, but they go hand and hand with her lifestyle. Witches and Christians do NOT belong together, no two ways about it!!! There is quite a sinister side to a witch. However, I learned a lot about witches from her, and after we broke up I was curious enough to learn even more. I wanted to draw on that experience, hopefully in a positive way. You know, witches are not what I expected. This gal didn't have a broom, or a familiar (that would be a demon in the form of a black cat or something similar, for those who are "unfamiliar" with what a familiar is). She didn't make evil potions, although I did have several home cooked meals with her that didn't turn out so great. I didn't see any warts on her nose, in fact she was quite pretty. She also didn't have a long pointy hat covering her black, matted hair (her hair was blonde anyway, as I recall). She couldn't do any cool things like turn invisible or levitate a broom or turn people into toads.

She DID have some wands, and some crystals, lots of herbs, and incense. She spent a lot of time trying to charge them up. She was a "good witch" by her own description, but she was a witch nonetheless. Her wands were wands of healing, or of warding off evil spirits, which she adamantly believed in, or other such benevolent tasks. Her crystals the same, collected and arranged to enhance positive energy. The crystals were kind of like battery charges for the wands. You gathered all the energy of several stones into one, and that stone became the wand stone. A good wand stone could be recharged over and over, perhaps the "nicad" of crystals?

The herbs were for healing, or for making people fall in love, or other such things. Maybe a bit mischievous but never malicious. (Well, that falling in love stuff, you could debate that one.) The whole idea here with the herbs and crystals and stuff was that "the earth" had great power and that witches are just channels for it. Witches don't do any "magic" at all, according to her. At the time, I was a construction worker and often my shoulder would flare up in pain. She would try to heal it with her wands, which never worked. What did work was her doing her chanting while rubbing on the sore spot.

When this gal pointed a wand at someone and they felt better, it was her energy she gave the credit to. When they didn't get better, she blamed the wand for not being charged up. When my shoulder stopped hurting, she gave chanting the credit, not the rubbing. If my shoulder was just overworked and no amount of rubbing would help, she said there were evil spirits she needed to push away before she could heal me. She put a lot of stock into being "in tune" with the earth's energy. Does this sound silly to you? Are you sure? When things go well in our lives, do we give God the credit? When things go poorly, do we blame the devil? When things go bad, but then it turns out it was the best for us, do we flip flop around blaming or crediting God or the devil as things progress?

This misguided girl ultimately put her faith in herself. We put ours in God. How different is that? When we knuckle down and simply do what is right, even when things are going crazy around us, things always work out. God helps us all the time, and never needs "recharge". We can be "in tune" with God. We need to stop worrying about who to blame in life, and just keep living it as we should!

Deuteronomy 18:10-13 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, orthat useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.

I Samuel 15:22-23 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

II Kings 9:22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

II Chronicles 33:1,6 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Galatians 5:19-23 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.