Have you ever heard a song that made you feel a certain way? I mean, a song that messed with your emotions? How about something that just wouldn’t leave your mind?
Well, that happened to me yesterday, and I’d like to share it with you.
There’s a trend on YouTube, Facebook, and TicToc where people take a portion of a song and remix it into their video. As I was scrolling yesterday, I happened upon one of those videos. I really don’t want to promote this song or even mention it, but for the sake of this teaching, I need to. Some of you may be familiar with the band Fleetwood Mac. One of their female singers is Stevie Nicks.
In one of their songs titled Silver Springs, there’s a lyric that goes, “Time cast a spell on you, so you won’t forget me…”.
When I heard that bit of the song, I wanted to hear more. So, I went to YouTube, and as I listened to that song, I noticed a shift in the atmosphere of my house, mind, and emotions that I can only describe as spiritual—which made me curious.
Before I go any further, I need to mention a spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit gave me years ago. The gift is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:4-10.
verse 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;…
verse 7 …to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
verse 10 …to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
Throughout the years, I’ve operated in a number of these gifts, but the most common has been the discernment of spirits. I have several testimonies of how GOD has used me and how this gift operates, but for today, I need to stay focused.
Before I get to the rest of my story, I need to tell you what happened a few weeks back. Once again, I was scrolling and came across a guy who doing drum solos to some popular songs. I won’t name the songs, but I can say that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Don’t listen to that.” He warned me several times, and I can say that I had a hard time not listening.
Since I can recall, I’ve loved music. As I mentioned above, music, or the powers behind those songs can make you feel a certain kind of way. When people want to express sadness, it’s not uncommon to put on a sad song. After a breakup, they’ll listen to those sad love songs. Before a sports game, they’ll put something on to get them hyped up…and the list goes on.
Disclaimer: I’m not saying that every song is inspired by something other than the musician, but I can say without a doubt that some are, and that brings me back to Fleetwood Mac or, more specifically, Stevie Nicks.
It may benefit you to have a little history on Nicks in order to better understand what I’ll be sharing with you at the end of this blog.
According to Wikipedia, Stevie Nicks’s mother “fostered in her daughter a love of fairy tales.” As she grew up, “She spent her adolescence playing records constantly and lived in her “own little musical world.””
Nicks joined several music bands and played through high school and college, “With her father’s blessing, Nicks dropped out of college to pursue a musical career with [Lyndsey] Buckingham.”
Father’s be careful what you endorse.
Now, here comes the interesting part. Around 1972 Nicks wrote a song titled, ““Rhiannon,” “after seeing the name in the novel Triad by Mary Leader. Five years later, a fan sent her,” another novel dealing with the same topic. What was that topic, you ask?
The character in the book, Branwen, is possessed by a witch named Rhiannon.
I found this particularly interesting. “After writing the song, Nicks learned that Rhiannon originated from a Welsh goddess…”
Here’s a statement by Mick Fleetwood about a performance Stevie Nicks did of the song Rhiannon during a live performance. “…her Rhiannon in those days was like an exorcism.”
From what I read, Nicks became obsessed with the story, and we can see that her fascination for such things originated during her formative years.
Here’s what Billboard, the American music and entertainment magazine, said about the song, “Rhiannon” is a “haunting song” with an “infectious melody.”
Before we circle back to what happened to me last night and this morning, I think you might find it interesting that in 1962, the Supreme Court declared Bible readings in school unconstitutional.
Let’s look at a few things that happened afterward.
The Woodstock music festival started in 1969.
Lavey’s Satanic Bible was published in 1969.
“Carlos Castaneda was considered a father of the New Age movement for his series of books based on the mystical secrets of a Yaqui Indian shaman; his book The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge was published in 1968 and quickly became a best-seller.” Britannica.com
A best-seller!
“In 1970, American theosophist David Spangler…developed the fundamental idea of the New Age movement. He presented his ideas in a set of popular books beginning with Revelation: The Birth of a New Age (1976) and attracted many leaders from older occult and metaphysical organizations to the growing movement.”
The Cult, the People’s Temple, led by Jim Jones, ended with 900+ members killed by suicide in 1979.
The Heaven’s Gate cult was founded in 1972 by Marshall Applewhite.
In 1973, Abortion was legalized.
Helter Skelter, the book inspired by the events of the Manson family, was written in 1974.
Let’s have a quick look at the ’70s movies.
- 73’ The Exorcist
- 73’ The Wicker Man
- 76’ The Omen
- 76’ Carrie
The Amityville horror book was released in 1977 and made into a movie in 1979.
Steven King wrote the book Carrie, and in 1976, it was turned into a film. King also wrote The Shining in 77’ which was made into a film in 1980.
According to IMDB, “The ’60s & 70s were the golden-age of Satanic, Witchcult, Horror B-movies.”
By the way, many of the things I’ve mentioned happened in California, including Stevie Nicks’s writing and release of the song Rhiannon.
I would like to mention that Nicks was in Daly City, which is connected to San Francisco when she wrote her song, Rhiannon. Well, another notable name from the San Francisco area was Anton Lavey, who was the founder of the Church of Satan.
Now, let’s circle back to what happened to me last night and this morning. Last night, I searched for the song Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac, and listened to it. I can understand why the song was called a “haunting song” and that it had an “infectious melody,” but is the melody really why the song has power?
This morning, no matter what I did, I simply couldn’t get the song lyrics out of my head. I also couldn’t shake a depressive-type feeling. Unwelcomed thoughts entered my mind and attacked my emotions.
Finally, I got down to business and started fighting back. You might call it spiritual warfare if you like. I started praying for the soul of Stevie Nicks. I asked GOD to free her from the demonic influence of that spirit she welcomed into her life back in the ’70s.
You see, she didn’t know this, but she wasn’t channeling a Welsh goddess or the spirit of a witch, but she was deceived by an evil spirit or what we might call a demon.
If you recall the story from Matthew 4, the tempter, or devil as he’s better known, came to Christ to offer him the kingdoms of the world. We know that Jesus fought back against Satan’s schemes by the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6), which is the word of GOD. Jesus slashed through Satan’s lies.
Sadly, Stevie Nicks very likely didn’t have the Sword of the Spirit from what I read. She didn’t have a way to defend herself from Satan’s lies. Instead, she seems to have embarrassed the spirit.
Before I wrap this up, I want to tell you the purpose of the gift of discerning spirits, which is found in 1 Corinthians 12:7.
verse 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
You’ll notice that the spiritual gifts are given for the common good. Therefore, the gift which GOD uses me in, is for your benefit.
Since there’s only one reason I can find for the encounter I had last night and this morning, I want to make sure I sound the warning about music.
Be careful what you allow to play with your emotions. Be careful what you allow into your heart and mind. Some of these songs truly have a power, but it’s not a power from GOD but from the devil. As Children of GOD we must be careful what we permit to enter our minds and hearts through the gates of our eyes and ears.
Depression isn’t the portion for God’s children; joy is. If you’re depressed, it isn’t from GOD.