"Therefore, be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour"
1 Peter 5:8
Evil will attack the mind and attempt to weaken a person's resolve and moral clarity. Evil knows how destructive feelings of fear, guilt and shame can be to a person's psychological outlook so they are it's primary weapons. Destroy someone's self-esteem and confidence and you take their strength and vitality with it. Evil wants nothing more than to create misery and suffering in the world. It's effects are being felt almost everywhere on the earth to a greater or lesser degree, either directly or indirectly. Even the happiest most contented person must contend with evil from time to time. None of us are immune or untouched by it's effects. Death, sickness, war, crime, poverty and the destruction and desecration of the earth are it's hallmarks.
Evil is also a contagion. It feeds off negativity and bounces back and forth gaining power and momentum as it does so, spreading as fast and far as mankind's spiritual and moral "hygiene" will allow. This may explain why there are so-called haunting hotspots like the Naval Ship USS Hornet, as dark energy tends to clump together like soap bubbles in a bath compelled by surface tension to merge and form larger bubbles as it does so. The following story revolves around a fellow I knew a long time ago and illustrates why it is not wise to dip so much as a toe in the devil's bath water...
D. was bought up in poverty, abuse and a broken family. An inevitable product of the "welfare state" but nonetheless not a bad bloke really. We drank together and had some real fun times but eventually his negative side got the better of me and we parted ways beneath somewhat of a cloud unfortunately. I was about 23 and he about 19 when we met, so there was a slight age gap but his tough upbringing made him older than his years. I had on the other hand come from a relatively fortunate and spoilt background, although not without it's problems, so we were kind of yin and yang. I got along well with his girlfriend too and we often partied into the wee hours back at their place.
Anyway, I got to know him fairly well over the years and he was one of those people who had many interesting tales to tell and who told them pretty well too. Made my life look quite dull, really. But I lapped them up eagerly, absorbing every word with great relish, in particular the story of his mother who had haplessly wandered into the Dark Forest - the dark forest of Black Magic and Devil Worship; a world that allows free entry but only lets you leave at a price. Sometimes that price is your life and/or your soul. Luckily in this instance the cost was minimal, but traumatic and far reaching nevertheless. For every cause there is an effect. For every disturbance there is a ripple. Sometimes that ripple can return to it's source in the form of a giant rogue wave multiplied a thousand-fold in it's destructive capabilities...
Like many directionless lost souls, D.'s mother, who began innocently enough with tarot cards and astrology, decided to take things up a notch with seances and magic, and other things, believing all the while she was in control and could quit any time if she wanted to - ha ha. Her self-delusion, however, was soon to be found wanting after some very frightening experiences, which I cannot in detail recall, but frightening enough for her to attempt to suddenly sever all ties with her black magic past, destroy all her paraphernalia and seek the assistance of a church in a state of mortal terror and on the cold rusty razor's edge of a complete nervous breakdown - not a good way to be. Especially when you have just seen the devil's face appear and hang motionless, just staring at you, in the flames of the fire you had just lit to destroy your charms, trinkets and spell books in the backyard on a sunny afternoon in suburbia - and then to return to the kitchen only to find that one of those particular trinkets had been carefully placed, perfectly intact and brand-gleaming-new on the counter next to the fridge, as if to say, "Surprise !"
So she had the people from whatever church she went to for help come and bless and exorcise the evil from her home and life and thenceforth became a fervent church-goer herself, dragging her poor kids, each one with a different dad, behind her. I would like to hope this ended up having a positive influence on the children in some way and maybe it did - going to church that is - but I think the emotional damage these kids carried occurred long before witchcraft came onto the scene. Like I said, you don't need direct contact with the devil to suffer the effects of evil. Evil is alive and well in the hearts and minds of ordinary everyday people who for whatever reason have allowed it to reside and grow within them to the point where they can no longer control it or even desire to. I think we have enough on our plates already without adding fuel to the fire so to speak, by attempting to harness or control these forces or "Principalities" that are beyond even our ability to imagine let alone comprehend.
