If Only Christians Knew what the Witches Knew… (by Pastor Poster)
Posted on 09. Sep, 2008 by admin in HMH Articles
The following is from a thread, authored by by Pastor Poster, at Apostolic Friends Forum on 06-20-2007.
Quote:
“I decided to go directly to the public library to look in the witchcraft section. As I approached the occult section you could just feel the demonic spirits. First I prayed against the wickedness I sensed and anointed the area with oil where the occult books were so that I could think clearly to start my search. To my surprise, I found many references concerning hair. I was amazed; and at times dumbfounded!”
I thought to myself, “If only Christians knew what the witches knew.”
Those are the words of Juli Jasinski; a popular writer within our movement. They are lifted from page five of her book My Hair, My Glory under the Heading “Spiritual Findings in Pagan Significance”.
Juli provides forty references scattered across seven pages of the book detailing the spiritual emphasis pagan religions place on the power of uncut hair. Here is an abridged sampling.
| “Hair has always been considered strong magic; witches casting an evil spell needed a piece of hair from their victims to make it truly efficacious.” The Power of Magic Secrets and Mysteries Ancient and Modern “hair has physical powers that act as a protection from evil entities of the etheric world; cutting of the hair was done in a ritual to discontinue this protection; it is symbolic of strength.” “so widespread was the faith in the power of hair…that in Scotland it was ominous even to meet a woman with her hair uncovered…if a woman shook her hair at you, they believed anything could happen.” “St. Paul, Barbara Walker writes, greatly feared the ‘angels’ (spirits) that a woman could command by letting their hair flow loose, he insisted that women’s heads be covered in church lest the draw demons into the building.” In referring to 1 Corinthians 11:10, Walker interprets “because of the angels,” to mean the spirits were supposed to be attracted or controlled by unbound female hair.” Jasinski goes on to say that “These are only forty of the many examples that show that hair holds great significance in the world of spiritualism, occultism, and paganism. I was surprised that almost all of these pagan references refer to Bible verses includingg the story of Samson and the verses in 1 Corinthians 11 concerning hair. This leads me to believe that the devil knows exactly what God intended for the woman and her hair. The devil, however, wanted to use it for his evil purposes but God wanted it to be used for our good.” |
I (Pastor Poster) remember attending church with Ruth Rieder Harvey’s sister in the late eighties and early nineties. Even then the wheels were turning toward a new codified doctrine regarding the power of a woman’s uncut hair. While many Apostolics have long believed that women should leave their hair uncut, the idea of a special “power” that accompanied this belief and practice is a fairly new teaching.
Harvey’s sister frequently warned the younger ladies in our church that they would lose spiritual power if they trimmed their hair, that they would invite rebellion and evil spirits in their homes if 1 Corinthians 11 wasn’t followed in the traditional Oneness Pentecostal understanding, and that the “special protection” that came with uncut hair would be lost forever if the hair was touched with scissors.
This idea was visualized on the cover of Jasinski’s book, which has a picture of what appears to be a demon hovering close to a woman with long hair, and also in the title of Rieder Harvey’s book, “Power Before the Throne” which became the handbook for this emerging doctrine.
It has taken almost two decades for this new teaching to infiltrate our ranks fully. The forward to “Power Before the Throne” is written by none other than Gwynn Oakes, the most powerful woman in Oneness Pentecostalism. The teaching is rapidly gaining acceptance in many corners within the movement.
The most troubling aspect regarding this teaching is its continuing evolution. Recently stories of ladies laying their hair over the sick have reached online forums, online websites, and most recently, the Pentecostal Herald. The Herald, as the official organ of the UPCI, seems to endorse the healing power of uncut hair.
This is dangerous. Jasinski herself intimates that much of her views concerning special “powers” stemming from uncut hair were verified at the library while in an occult section. Rieder Harvey’s divorce has led to a dilution of her conference speaking popularity, but as of this date she has sold almost 65,000 copies of “Power Before the Throne”.
Those of us that believe in the traditional Oneness Pentecostal application of 1 Corinthians 11 are drifting close to doctrinal quicksand. How long before a conference speaker asks all of the ladies to “lay their hair” on someone so that they may be healed? How long before a resolution that codifies a “power” benefit emanating from obedience to 1 Corinthians 11 is brought to a conference floor?
Let me show you two examples of written testimonials from ladies who have fallen hook, line and sinker for this doctrine. The first is from an article on ninetyandnine.com dated November 21, 2005 and submitted by Angela Martin.
| “That Monday night at the hospital as they ran more tests to find the Listeria and Meningitis, what they found was that these problems had disappeared somewhere between that Saturday and the Monday that she was admitted to the hospital. They did many other tests on her because she still had a kidney infection and was in a lot of pain. They also found cysts on her kidneys which would require surgery and we were told that we’d have to keep a close eye on her blood pressure. The next day after our pastor prayed over Lily in the hospital, the doctors mysteriously found no cysts. One night Lily’s IV came out and between 10:00 P.M.-4:00 A.M. they poked my baby 13 times. That night I lay over Lily crying and said, “God, if the sacrifice of my uncut hair accounts for anything, let it be for my children. I command that You place Your healing hands upon her and free her.” God allowed her veins to close so they couldn’t poke her anymore, but Lily was healed.” |
The second is from the July 2007 issue of the Pentecostal Herald
| “An entire hour had passed, but Andrew would not go back to sleep. We could not figure this out because we thought we had him on a reasonable schedule. Finally, Leslie suggested that I turn off all the lights in the house and go to bed. Ten minutes later, Andrew finally fell fast asleep and Leslie came to bed. When I asked her what she did to make him fall asleep, she said that the Lord told her to put her hair over Andrew’s head and pray in the Spirit. We believe that Leslie’s obedience in placing her long hair (her “glory” and her “covering”) over our son was rewarded that night.” |
And so the evolution and acceptance of this teaching has reached a new pinnacle. It is now promoted in the official organ of our movement.
And no one is saying anything.
TWeber
Apr 29th, 2009
This is truly sickening and worrisome. Where is the sense of discernment in these people? The degree to which this doctrine has been embraced reveals the cult of personality which exists among us. It would seem that if one is well-known and well-connected enough, they can preach and teach with impunity and unquestioned acceptance. What ever happened to 1Corinthians 14:29?
Thanks for your blog. I hope more and more people will see the light on this issue. –Todd Weber, author of “Refuting Ruth Rieder”
July 8, 2008 1:39 PM
MissBrattified
Apr 29th, 2009
Excellent thoughts, Pastor Poster.
July 8, 2008 5:16 PM
Anonymous
Apr 29th, 2009
I am a UPC member and this really is very overwhelming, I have never conformed to the standards and never will, as for this it just confirms to me that this is not of God. The power is not in the hair it comes from God, will this come to people believing that it is not the Holy Spirit that gives power but the hair? We really need to pray and stand firm in what the Bible says not what man wants to feed us.
August 26, 2008 9:02 PM