Witchcraft is making a comeback in America, but probably not in the way you think.  Studies show that the dark arts are finding greater levels of appeal among Millennials as more and more people reject Christianity for pagan religious practices. As a Presbyterian pastor, I found this particular fact to be extremely interesting, “…with 1.5 million potential practicing witches across the U.S., witchcraft has more followers than the 1.4 million mainline members of the Presbyterian church.”  

Some Presbyterians, such as Charlene Dzielak have even left the church to become witches themselves.  When asked why she became a witch, Dzielak said, 

“This is an experiential religion where you connect directly with the deities without the help of an intermediary. That makes it very powerful and personal. We need to reclaim the word witch,” Dzielak said. “Witches are not evil and we don’t worship the devil. We work on manipulating energy toward a beneficial end.”

From this account, the appeal of witchcraft and its growth in popularity is due, in part, because it allows for a direct connection with the numinous and metaphysical.  In addition, witchcraft offers a way for someone to manipulate energy for their particular goals.  

The manipulation of energy and the power to control are attractive.  Who wouldn’t want the power to change the world, or change one’s circumstances if they could?  What would you do if you could simply say a spell and see the world bend to your desire?

It is the promise of powerful words to build one’s world that goes to the heart of what witchcraft is.  Charles Williams was a friend of C.S. Lewis and a member of the Inklings who had a keen interest in the supernatural.  In his book, Witchcraft, Williams notes that in antiquity, the common person believed that witchcraft was connected to the power of words,

…a magician was one who by ‘communion of speech’ with the immortals, had power to do such marvels as he would. The ‘communion of speech’ is noteworthy. It is the sense which is at the bottom of all incantation, of all ‘words of power’, the power which powers acknowledge, the right utterance of sounds whose energy drives supernatural things to obedience. 

Charles Williams, Witchcraft

According to Williams, a magician speaks with those in power (immortals) and uses the power of words to drive supernatural beings to obedience, who in turn help shape (manipulate) the world according to the magician’s desire.  People pursue magic and witchcraft because they want to change the world.  Its popularity, then and now, is due to its effectiveness in making the change happen.  But if something else were to come along that was more effective in producing the desired change, then magic could easily be set aside for the more effective means.  And that’s exactly what happened. 

The Other Powerful Twin

Alan Jacobs’ magisterial biography, The Narnian, offers a unique contribution to the anthology of C.S. Lewis biographies.  In it, Jacobs notes Lewis’ exploration of an arms race between magic and science in the history of Europe.  Science wins the race and goes on to dominate history because it proves more effective in producing the kind of change the practitioner desires.  Jacobs begins by sharing Lewis’ distinction between white and dark magic, 

In this passage Lewis is writing about magia—high magic, that is, or what we might call white magic, as opposed to the dark magic that the Renaissance called goetia: 

The new magia…falls into place among the other dreams of power which then haunted the European mind. Most obviously it falls into place beside the thought of [Sir Francis] Bacon. His endeavour is no doubt contrasted in our minds with that of the magicians: but contrasted only in light of the event, only because we know that science succeeded and magic failed. That event was then still uncertain. Stripping off our knowledge of it, we see at once that Bacon and the magicians have the closest possible affinity. Both seek knowledge for the sake of power (in Bacon’s words, as a ‘spouse for fruit’ not a ‘curtesan for pleasure’), both move in a grandiose dream of days when Man shall have been raised to the performance of ‘all things possible.’…Nor would Bacon have denied the affinity: he thought the aim of the magicians was ‘noble.’    

Alan Jacobs, The Narnian

Both magic and science are united in the common desire for control over nature, they are both interested in power and the ability to change the world.  Jacobs shows that Lewis makes the same point in the Abolition of Man, 

“The serious magical endeavour and the serious scientific endeavour are twins: one was sickly and died, the other was strong and throve. But they were twins. They were born of the same impulse.”

C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

Lewis goes on to describe the essence of the impulse, 

There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the “wisdom” of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious.  

C.S. Lewis, The Abolituion of Man

Jacobs concludes that for Lewis both magic and science desire control.  Practitioners of science seek control over nature by use of the scientific method, while magicians use language in the form of incantation.  Jacobs reminds us that the title of the Green Book, which Lewis is critiquing in The Abolition of Man was originally titled The Control of Language.  According to the Green Book, language must be subverted and made subservient, otherwise language might gain control over you.  The goal is to be free from the “old words” and gain control over “new words,” which help you manipulate the world around you.  Jacobs writes, 

Though they are educators, they do not believe that they are in the business of “conforming the soul to reality” through “knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue”; instead, they want to liberate young people from the control that language has over them. For them language is but an instrument by which some people control and others are controlled. As Humpty Dumpty once said, in a very similar context, “The question is which is to be master, that’s all.” As Lewis emphasized with great force in The Abolition of Man, Humpty Dumpty’s view of things is deeply embedded in all the projects and hopes of modernity, even (or especially) when we talk about achieving human power over Nature: “What we call Man’s power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument.” 

Alan Jacobs, The Narnian

For Lewis, humanity’s quest is for Man’s control over nature, which inevitably gives way to Man’s desire to control mankind.  In this quest, either science or magic will do, and sometimes it takes a little of both.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1843 short story The Birthmark is a brilliant blurring of the lines between the power of magic and the power of science and is a salient warning against the temptation to wield such powers.  In the story, Hawthorne introduces us to the character Aylmer.  Aylmer is a scientist who is captivated by the mysteries of nature but whose methods in the laboratory mimic more closely those of a wizard at his cauldron.  Aylmer is married to the beautiful Georgiana.  Her beauty is unsurpassed except for a crimson hand-shaped birthmark on her left cheek.  Aylmer becomes obsessed with the birthmark, and he believes that he can remove it and complete Georgiana’s beauty.  

Aylmer applies all his knowledge to create a purifying elixir for his wife.  After perfecting the potion, he administers it to Georgiana, and kneels by his wife’s side, “watching her earnestly, but without alarm; for he was confident in his science and felt that he could draw a magic circle round her within which no evil might intrude.”  The potion is indeed powerful and drives the birthmark from her cheek, but only by driving away “an angelic spirit that kept itself in union with a mortal frame. As the last crimson tint of the birthmark—that sole token of human imperfection—faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight.”  Aylmer’s powers indeed achieved mastery over the nature of his wife, only to kill the very thing he loved.  

The desire of modernity is the same as the ancient world, it is to control.  Aylmer is a transitional figure who stands between two worlds and whose magical impulse gives way to applied science.  His impulse is to master nature and to make it perfect, according to his desire.  In this way, he was a forerunner for the many doctors today who promote “gender-affirming care” and apply their dark arts to reshape human nature according to personal desire.  It will not be long before we see that these doctors have ultimately driven away the angelic spirits that are in union with the mortal frame of these young men and women.   

In the ancient world, control was gained by magic, which gave way to control through science and technique, but now in a post-modern world, people are going back to words again in an attempt to control and change the world.

Emotional Sabotage is Witchcraft

Joe Rigney has written a forthcoming book entitled Leadership and Emotional Sabotage that explores, from a Christian perspective, some of the concepts developed by Edwin Freidman in his book A Failure of Nerve.  Freidman writes (and Rigney agrees) that sabotage is a change agent introduced in the form of resistance and is usually a response to effective leadership.  Sabotage is a countervailing power used to try and rebalance the power dynamics in relationships and communities.

Often such sabotage is found in what Freidman called emotional triangulation as the saboteur works through a third party to affect the leader.  The saboteur transmits stress to the leader who is exercising power effectively.   The transmission of stress is itself an exercise of power and an attempt to wrest control away from the leader.  Often the stress is transmitted by the use of heavily emotional language in an attempt to elicit an emotional response.  Language like, “I’m really concerned about what I hear your brother is doing” is a form of incantation.  The response by a leader without nerve (and the reason why triangulation is so effective) is a change in direction and the rebalancing of power in favor of the demands, wants, or needs of the saboteur.  

I think that Friedman and Rigney are fundamentally right in their analysis of leadership and emotional sabotage, however, I think there might be more to the equation than just leadership dynamics or psychology.  I believe that emotional sabotage is also manipulation and a form of witchcraft.  Let’s consider a biblical example.

In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel confronts Saul for his disobedience to the Lord and his failure to devote to destruction both Agag the King of Amalek and the spoils of war.  Saul makes excuses for his behavior and Samuel responds by saying,  

“Has 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 listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” 

1 Samual 15:22-23

Later, when Samuel is dead and Saul is distressed by the Philistines gathered for war against him, Saul resorts to witchcraft to triangulate Samuel and try and shift the balance of power.  The witch of En-dor uses her dark arts to bring up Samuel’s spirit and once he appears, Saul launches into his witchcraft by trying to emotionally sabotage Samuel.  Saul complains and uses emotional language saying,

“I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.”

1 Samuel 28:15

Saul is unsuccessful in triangulating Samuel who holds fast to the word of the Lord and repeats to Saul that the Kingdom has been torn from him because of his disobedience.  Saul, like the witch of En-dor, is using witchcraft to manipulate Samuel and bend reality toward ends Saul desires and believes is most beneficial to him. Despite the lack of success, Saul’s method of emotional sabotage as witchcraft is clearly seen in the text. 

Today, science gives modern man the opportunity to seek mastery over nature by use of technique, but its the social sciences that give post-modern man the opportunity to seek mastery over his fellow man by the use of witchcraft in the form of emotional sabotage.  In our world of gender-affirming care, how many social workers or school counselors have altered the future of a young girl’s life (and body) by speaking the incantation “better to have a living transgendered son than a dead daughter.”  

And as in Hawthorne’s short story, today we see the blending of the two powers.  How many children have been driven to transgenderism through the technology of social media?  When we consider social media, we have to wonder if the power of the influence is a result of the algorithm or witchcraft, as the influencer speaks “the right utterance of words,” to drive children, adults, and even nations to obedience.  

Most of our public and political discourse today is emotional and incantatory in an attempt to shift power and reshape the world according to the desire of the one who casts the spell.  Politicians no longer make reasoned arguments, they make emotional appeals.  Remember, a magician is one who by communion of speech with the powerful, has the power to do marvels and to bend nature to one’s will.

The Word of His Power

Aaron Renn, in his book Life in the Negative World, has written what may be one of the best works on Christianity and culture in the last twenty years.  There is much to commend in his evaluations of evangelicalism, cultural trends, and the adjustments the church must make as we seek to be effective in a new cultural landscape that is antithetical and increasingly hostile to Christianity.  I have learned much from Renn’s analysis, and from his encouragement to pastoral leaders, but I wonder if he adopts too much of the prevailing culture when he discusses leadership and power.  Renn writes,

“The word leadership accurately captures today’s reality that [leaders] must operate in an influence model in a negative world culture.  They can’t just order people around and lead through power and positional authority.” 

Aaron Renn, Life in the Negative World, p. 183

Ordering people around is not effective leadership, but we must recognize that influence is also a form of power.  It might be a good method of leadership, and it might also be an emotional game and a subtle form of manipulation to lead people where you want them to go.  Online influencers never issue commands, but they do tap into your feelings to get you to do what they want.  Christians cannot follow this method.  If we do, it will lead us to pietism, revivalism, and right back to the seeker sensitivity that Renn finds so ineffective in the negative world.

So, how do we effectively lead people today without manipulation, and how do we avoid becoming a victim of witchcraft ourselves?  We need to speak words of power that are sourced in the one who is the power and the glory.

The writer of Hebrews is a leader who considers the arch of history and frames his epistle to the church by appealing to the one who has power over nature and upholds that nature by the word of his power.  

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Hebrews 1:1–3

Christians receive the word of God and in doing so they receive a word of power.  Christ is the word and his word has the power to build worlds, to conform the soul to reality, and to bring this world into conformity with the will of God.  Witches, scientists, and triangulists can never tap into this power because it is a power received by grace.  It cannot be forced by incantation, coercion, or influence.  In a world of incantation, manipulation, and emotional sabotage, we must proclaim the word and call the world to obedience to Christ.  Now is the time to speak the truth boldly against adversaries and the rulers, against the authorities and the cosmic powers, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places that seek to control and manipulate our lives.  Now is the time for a word that can bring peace to a world that has been, in the words of C.S. Lewis, disenchanted by an evil enchanter.  

Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash