40 Signs of Witchcraft, Controlling Leaders & Occult Organizations

By: Dr. Matthew L. Stevenson | 2015

Hebrews 13:17

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Jeremiah 3:15

And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

What leaders lack in the spirit they will make up for though psychological, mental and/or emotional and doctrinal manipulation.

Some leaders misuse their spiritual authority to get people to do what they want them to do.

Controlling leaders and occult organizations rely on the spirit of witchcraft to bring their followers under their influence and under their words.

Those leaders have to rely on that power because otherwise they cannot achieve, or accomplish much. They do not move in much power, provision or resources for their vision and so they have to rely on witchcraft to get whatever their ministry ambition or goal accomplished.

Witchcraft is a soulish and a spiritual power that brings up, in the individual, the logic, the conviction and the spirit of a believer under the control of another. Not just the influence but under the control of another.

There are people who operate in witchcraft knowingly and some unknowingly. Those who unknowingly operate in witchcraft as a byproduct of their character having gone unchecked. No one has ever dealt with these people so they truly believe that their approach towards leadership and leading people is right.

Operating either way does not mean that there isn’t a potency, or a strength in the release of that spirit and then the influence in that spirit of witchcraft as in utilized by leaders.

Leaders / organizations who are going to control you will have to be able to play with your emotions because it is your convictions that ultimately decide where you go, what you do, and what you want. But these people want to bring you under their demand and under their control.

The most common way that people experience witchcraft is through lovers and sexual and romantic relationships. You can also experience witchcraft from family members and parents.

Witchcraft is not just paranoia or hysteria, it is real.

Galatians 5:19-21

19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21) 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.

Galatians 5:19-21 tells us about the works of the flesh, notice that #6 is witchcraft.

You cannot say, authentically, rightfully and truthfully that you pastor a new testament church and not expect to, in some degree, or in some way, come up against witchcraft.

In the book of Acts, they were dealing with occult sources.

Witchcraft is strengthened, it is energized, it is made strong by a person’s ability to rely on your soulish self and your soulish ability to control you and to persuade you.

Witchcraft is not just a superstition, it is not something that is specific to the African American church, nor is it something that is specific to churches that believe in spiritual warfare.

One of the ways that God confronts the power of witchcraft activity in the earth is thought the local church.

If you are pastoring, or if you leading a new testament church, you will face the spirit of Jezebel, Absalom, Cora and other devils that rely on witchcraft that work against vision.

An effective witch has to be unnoticed; has to be the house of some service that you need. And they have to be able to persuade you to get in positions of influence to be effective. A person that is working witchcraft in your congregation without influence, without favor, without the ability to sway people and without having a talent, a gift, a skillset that you need they were not necessarily be effective. But an effective witch is going to show up, or somebody that the spirit of witchcraft is going to work though; is going to show up as an answer to prayer. Somebody who is very gifted and very talented. They are going to aim for things like intercession, new members. Anything new, any open door, or open window in your church. A place where people, gates go in and out, you can look for the spirit of witchcraft.

Most of them are going to pretend that they are prophetic; Some of them really believe that they are. And then there are other prophetic people who legitimately need deliverance from the spirit of witchcraft because it is something that comes against them.

If you have a person in your church that relies on gathering people against that authority that relies on a wire and a common thread is someone who uses emotional manipulation.

These witches will look for individuals in the church who feel marginalized and gather them to become their leader. These people are usually very nice, everyone loves them, and this is how most people who move in witchcraft go undetected.

These people will be very nice, they will be sweethearts, some of them are going to be skilled but you have to be very careful about leaders and people in your church that work to turn people away from their loyalty to you as the leader and to coerce people against your authority because you will find that there is a spirit of witchcraft present.

1 Samuel 15:23

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.

Wherever you see consistent bouts of rebellion, which may, or may not, be an attitude. Rebellion may not be disobedience. Sometimes rebellion is often a heart posture. Some people will comply with what you ask them to do, or agree with your teaching, yet they are still rebellious.

Before rebellion can become an act it is first a posture of the heart. It is a defiance from the inside out. Rebellion and defiance is a manifestation of the spirit of witchcraft. And a person’s desire to oppose authority; not from the outside in but from the inside out.

Wherever you see rebellion you will ultimately see witchcraft, and whenever you see witchcraft you will ultimately see rebellion.

~Curses~

A lot of people in the hyper grace / hyper faith movements don’t believe that curses are real. They believe that because Jesus hung on the cross and became a curse for us that we cannot be cursed.

They believe, that, because the bible says, “cursed is he that hung on a tree,” that it exempts them from the power of curses and the working of devils (demons) in their life just because Jesus became a curse for them. But, Jesus becoming a curse was a curse for iniquity, it has absolutely nothing to do with the consequences you may incur as a result of their own disobedience or your own agreement.

By dismissing the old testament, it is scriptural irresponsibility and its theological abuse. In fact, you cannot understand the new testament without ta complete grasp of the old testament.

James 3:9-10

9) Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

10) Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Many people are claiming generational blessings but they do not believe in generational curses. They don’t believe that you can inherit devils and propensities and proclivities (tendencies) that may or may not be the result of your own personal decision making.

The bible speaks of the spiritual abilities of the tongue. Why does the tongue contain so much spiritual power?

If the tongue can be used by God and by the Word to manifest things out of the intangible world to physicalize them on the planet then they can never once realize that satan has also tapped into the genius of the tongue and he can use people’s mouths and words to frame things and deal things on you.

Proverbs 18:21 states that life and death are in the power of the tongue. – There are certain powers that operate though, and on, the tongue.

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

There are powers that are summoned by the things that people say. Your tongue has the ability to summon spiritual forces that can either create life or create things that lead to death.

Where there is a curse there are certain demonic powers that are obligated to make sure that those curses remain and stay intact.

You can’t really study the casting out of devils and spiritual warfare and demons and not have an understanding of curses. Because where there are curses there are going to be devils because demons are like the guards that make sure that those curses remain intact.

Where there is witchcraft there will be curses because the two operate together.

Proverbs 26:2 (KJV) 

As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless (freely, for nothing, without cause) shall not come.

Proverbs 26:2 (NKJV) 

Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight (burning).

 – A curse without a cause or merit

 – An undeserved curse will not land on it’s intended victim.

If people try to curse you without merit or without a reason it will not land.

Every new testament church is going to have to learn how to deal with witchcraft and a lot of leaders are operating in this.

Certain traditions can be witchcraft. Certain, various cultures have their own witchcraft as well as certain states and cities as well. Certain families can operate in levels of witchcraft. The strings of witchcraft vary from person to person.

Parents who live vicariously through their children, they control their child’s life through their own personal fears and their own personal decision making. They try to get into all of your personal decisions (marriage, etc) – all of that can be a form of, and a manifestation of, the spirit of witchcraft. A lot of people that are bound by familiar witchcraft and don’t even know it.

There is a profound spirit of witchcraft that operates in certain media outlets. Many of them seem to be a form of charismatic KKK. They have radical racial undertones to everything they seem to do and say.

The slavery movement worked so well because of the spirit of witchcraft. Wherever you see slaves you will see the psychological oppression of certain types of people because of the operation of the mind, the logic and the thinking processes of people.

The spirits operate on different levels institutionally. They operate over governments, but they also operate in organizations and though certain outlets.

What can also be witchcraft?

·        Certain traditions

·        Various cultures

40 Signs of Witchcraft, Controlling Leaders & Occult Organizations

How do I know if I’m under a controlling leader?

How to know if my denomination, or organization, is moving in the power of the occult.

1) The leaders demand of the followers what they themselves are unwilling to do.

·        A real Godly leader will never require of his people what he is unwilling to do or do first.  

2) Leaders do not encourage you to think but they encourage you to follow them blindly. They also discourage thinking and individual research.

·        They are not going to build you to be a thinker, they’re going to build you to be a blind follower.

·        People simply follow without logic and if it’s without their logic then it is also without their will.

People who are in these churches or organizations don’t usually know, or realize, they are in them. It’s not until they come out of them that they begin to see the dysfunction and the witchcraft.

3) The leaders will imply that God will speak to them first before speaking to you about your life. This is control and manipulation.

It is heretical for people to teach that God will speak to them, and confirm to them, and show them first what you need to do next in your life. It is the spirit of witchcraft.

4) They are financially abusive and they are manipulative.

·        A lot of people believe they hear God say something based upon the doctrine they’ve been taught.

People have experiences and revelations and hear voices that unveil the stuff that they’ve been taught.

If a leader puts you in a situation where you are buying their undergarments and paying their bills and buying their food. And if they are demanding that, or they are manipulating with that stuff. And they are putting those things upon you that is financial abuse and that is financial manipulation.

5) They are theologically extreme.

·        They are only going to emphasize a few scriptures and they are not going to have the skill in helping to reconcile the rest of the bible.

A lot of mainline Pentecostal denominations are occult. They are theologically extreme, they are theologically abusive and they are biblically inept. – They do not have the ability to use scripture to interpret the scripture. They don’t know how to put things in context to interpret the scriptures properly.

6) You have to ask permission to visit other churches.

7) You are discouraged from reading and studying books. Particularly if these are not the things your leader is teaching you.

8) You are deathly afraid, deathly afraid, of missing church for any circumstance.

·        A witchcraft church will demonize you for missing church.

9) Your relationships are controlled and invaded.

10) You are called rebellious for asking questions.

·        A leader who is operating in witchcraft does not want you to ask questions.

11) You are cursed for leaving or outgrowing a church.

12) You are threatened with curses for questioning character or judgement.

·        If you, as a leader, cannot handle with your overly, hormonal, emotional, rejected self, having people question your character or judgement should you really be pastoring?

Anybody that believes that them being talked about is a national crisis, or a spiritual emergency should be vacated from the pulpits and have their credentials exposed and they should never be allowed to preach again in the name of the Lord. If they can’t handle being talking about then they are not ready to preach the gospel.

13) If you notice that there is a flirtatious behavior, very regularly, between members of the same or opposite sex there will be witchcraft involved.

·        Whenever you have a flirtatious leader who has no boundaries, who have overly flirtatious behavior.

·        Wherever you have people with overtly flirtatious behavior where they rely on sensual conversation or they rely on not having boundaries with the opposite sex then they are probably using witchcraft.

14) You’re going to notice that it’s an extremely secretive culture. Very little is done in the light.

·        Whenever you find a spirit of witchcraft you will find secrecy.

15) The leader needs to have confirmation for all of your personal decisions.

16) If you are told that the only way to fulfill your purpose or your destiny is through them.

·        Your destiny is not in the hands of one man. If you have a leader that’s telling you that your future is only with them and that you can’t make it without them then they are using a spirit of witchcraft.

17) Rebuke is utilized and emphasized more than affirmation.

·        When you find that a culture, or a leader, when you find that a person emphasizes rebuke over affirmation you’re going to find out that there is witchcraft in operation.

·        They only rebuke you, they never build you up.

·        What makes rebuke effective and what makes affirmation effective is the power of rebuke.

You will never see a real leader give more rebuke than they do affirmation.

18) You will find that there is organizational elitism.

·        I.E. – We are the only ones, everyone else is doing it wrong.

·        We are the true, or real, church

·        No one has the way but us.

19) There is no authentic, provable accountability structures.

·        Some of these leaders have a lot of people under them but can’t say, or prove, who is over them. Who are those leaders accountable to?

·        What is their system of accountability?

·        If your pastor does not have a pastor, or some system of accountability then you’re probably going to run into witchcraft at some point.

20) You will notice that the pastor has a lying, deceptive and dishonest spirit.

·        Why is there an attempt to deceive?

·        You will notice that a lying tongue is in the mouth of most leaders that are moving in the spirit of witchcraft and the occult.

·        You will notice dishonesty, double tongueness, a lying spirit.

21) Turning members against each other. They will call their armor bearers and they will turn you against each other like pawns.

·        No mature shepherd is going to be involved with turning his sheep against each other.

·        You will notice that a strong attempt to turn people against each other operates under controlling leaders, or a spirit of witchcraft.

22) Forbidding contact with former members.

·        If you are forbidden to interact with or talk to, to love, to still remain in relationship with somebody just because they left the church you are under a leader that is controlling. You are under a controlling organization.

23) A witchcraft church and controlling organizations will go to bat over controlling your clothes, controlling your attire and controlling your appearance.

Jesus is not that worried about what you wear to church. For example, women some people think women can only wear skirts to church and never pants. You should dress modestly so that you’re not body parts are not hanging out or visible for everyone to see.

24) Witchcraft churches will have a very strong influence on how the home is ran.

·        A pastor has no business determining what is going on in your house.

·        A woman should not have more loyalty to her pastor than to her husband because the husband is the head of the household.

Pastors can teach you how to have a Godly marriage and how to be Godly spouses but whenever your marriage policies and marriage starts to be determined by what’s in the pulpit then you are in a spirit of witchcraft, a spirit of control, and a spirit of manipulation.

25) Schooling and education is mocked.

·        Most people in witchcraft churches and occult organizations discourage higher education because ultimately you will get smart. – They don’t want you to be smarter than they are.

·        Every real Godly leader should encourage higher education and should encourage entrepreneurs. They will encourage you to grow up in your logic and in your intelligence.

26) Candles, rituals, incense at dead ceremonies that are not justified or exemplified in scripture.; throwing “holy dust” is also included.

·        Most of these churches are called “spiritual churches.”

27) You are taught to sow (tithe) up but you never see your leaders sow into things.

·        The leaders don’t help with projects that require a financial commitment.

·        The leaders expect the congregation to give to a project, or to provide for them, but they never give into that project financially themselves.

28) Your personal live is invaded.

·        Example: They are spying on your social media accounts and contacting you about them.

If these people have enough time to study their congregation’s social media pages then they have too much time on their hands.

29) There is a very low academic environment.

·        There is a lot of hyper belief but no real curriculums, or real training. It has to be that way because those leaders don’t have it in them to be able to give out.

30) There are mystical, ethereal and experiences are emphasized over doctrine.

·        There isn’t a lot of doctrine so they emphasize “feeling” everything instead of standing on the Word.

31) There are regular instances of public humiliation

·        They deliberately embarrass people on a regular basis.

32) Feasts, festivals, washings, and holy days are emphasized over the cross and over Christ.

·        They over exalt the Jewish calendar.

·        Some Jewish groups think that just because they are God’s chosen people that they will automatically go to heaven.

33) People are ordained, they are licensed and they are authorized suddenly, randomly and / or without training.

·        The reason these leaders treat authority so randomly is because they are not legitimized authority themselves. They hand out licenses and ordinations like Halloween candy.

34) You will notice that poverty, lack and financial distress is all over the congregation.

·        Seldom do wealthy people stay in environments like that.

·        People, leaders, know that they can control people who don’t have money.

35) You will see consistent sickness, disease and disaster in the church, they are very common.

·        Very regularly everybody’s dead, dying, out of their minds etc. This will be very common.

36) You are coerced into paying your tithes and giving in the offering.

·        Example: Your giving is recorded publicly for all to see; it is no longer an issue between you and God because now everyone knows what you gave. This puts pressure on people to give.

·        Your financial status, your financial pay grade should never be a prerequisite for you to join and be a part of or be an active member of somebody’s church; it’s witchcraft.

37) Their strongest attacks tend to be against women. The women are brutalized.

·        You can find a lot out about a church by how they treat their women.

·        Some of these men are sleeping with the women of the congregation but still treat the women like they are lower than they are.

·        The women are stuck in the kitchen but they are not allowed to preach or fulfill their calling in God.

·        Sometimes the women will attack the other women in the church. They get all their friends together to attack another woman in the church.

38) There is an absence of provable discipleship.

·        No one is raising anybody up.

39) Generally speaking, most of these churches do not grow, they do not have a strong growth rate.

·        They do not grow normally, regularly or with new people.

You can have soul ties with controlling leaders and occult organizations and with certain experiences.

40) They will use positions, roles, job descriptions, ordinations, etc, to bait people, to convince and to bribe people to stay in their church.