Witchcraft in Hiding: How Ancient Demons Rule Our Modern World

“The gods now dwell among us. They inhabit our institutions, walk the halls of our governments, cast votes in our legislatures, guide our corporations, gaze out from our skyscrapers, perform on our stages, and teach in our universities. They saturate our media, direct our news cycles, inspire our entertainments, and give voices to our songs. They perform on our stages, in our theaters and stadiums; they light up our television sets and computer screens. They incite new movements and ideologies and convert others to their ends. They instruct our children and initiate them into their ways. They incite the multitudes. They drive otherwise rational people into irrationality and some into frenzies, just as they had done in ancient times. They demand our worship, our veneration, our submission, and our sacrifices. The gods are everywhere. They have permeated our culture. They have mastered our civilization. The gods are here.”

Jonathan Cahn, The Return of the Gods

This begs of the question, who are the gods?

And why do we need to be aware of them? If you were a professional boxer, would you enter the ring to fight without first examining your opponent? You are not analyzing him to become better acquainted with him, but to understand his tactics, to know his weaknesses. This is not to become infatuated with the enemy; rather to simply set our cross- hairs upon him (or her) only long enough to aim for the heart—to take him out in one clean shot. So, who are they then, these ancient gods now invading our space and culture?

I recommend reading Jonathan Cahn’s entire book, Return of the Gods, to gain a deeper understanding; but for now, we are going to focus on just one god. This one god of ancient history has slithered her way, like a snake undetected, into our modern world and permeated our culture and civilization with her deceptive speech. She is behind the blood sacrifice of abortion, alongside another principality that you may be familiar with, Jezebel. Yet, this specific goddess we are aiming our crosshairs on is by far the most versatile, having taken on many forms.

In the Bible, her name is Ashtoreth, also Innana and Ishtar. She is known as the “supreme female deity.” Interesting. Particularly when you consider the pervasive ideologies of modern feminism invading culture today. Ishtar, as we will refer to her, was known to draw worship to herself through the forms of love and fertility. Once more, intriguing characteristics considering today. Our world has become obsessed with love and fertility or in modern-speak: lgbt rights, love is love, and reproductive rights. Love is preached from the high places of civilization as an all-inclusive, all-consuming overtone. Abortion is announced as a human right. That is, unless of course, you disagree, then you are a hateful bigot. Do you see the irony? If you deny this god’s demands of worship, you are not bowing to her in adoration, and therefore you are viciously and vehemently harassed and berated. Her worshippers have become her army. She sends them out into the realms of culture today, beating their drums to the summons of her blood-thirsty exhortations.

There may not be audible chants and calls to prayer being sent out through the airwaves of temple loudspeakers in much of the Western world, but make no mistake, Ishtar has loudspeakers of her own, demanding prayer and adoration through the high places of our world today. She is called the goddess of war. Have you noticed how her chants have infiltrated social media? Her loud- speakers are her subjects, and they fill the airwaves with chants of “Free Palestine,” a declaration that in fact is calling for the complete destruction of the Jews. Pay attention to her noise, for Haman is her subject. Haman—violence, a multitude of noise and chaos—is nothing more than a slave to her.

Ishtar’s calls to prayer are conjured through government; she requires blood sacrifice through abortion in law and policy. She screeches for devotion from her servants through sexuality, for Ishtar is the goddess of love and sexuality. She has transformed a generation to believe they are no longer made in the image of God, as male and female, for she petitions the desecration of all that resembles the Lord—dismantling His image into the perversion of her own.

She enchants for her devotion through music and lyrics, through movies and television. She is known as the “mother goddess,” speaking to her slaves through the forms of subservient influencers. Fan bases of celebrities just so happen to declare their idols as “mother,” for they too have fallen whim to her surrender. Yes, the likes of Taylor Swift, artists taking the world and particularly the younger generation by storm, are mere slaves to Ishtar. Don’t believe me? Just closely read the lyrics and titles to some of their songs. Swift’s song entitled, “False god” for example. Look closely at the witchcraft imagery of this and other popular music videos.

Taylor Swift is not alone—there are many other enchantresses like her. Are your eyes opened?

Many wonder why they are facing ongoing anxiety and depression, look no further than the open door of witchcraft in hiding, singing enchanting lullabies into your hearts and homes. This is no time for fun and games, this is spiritual warfare on full display—and many are unknowingly leading their children right into the enticement of Ishtar’s worship.

Like the pied piper, Ishtar’s slaves are leading a generation to the summons of her calls. Playing their music, singing sweet melodies through the flutes of their throats, making fun and whimsical movies with demonic undertones—children, teens, and adults alike are marching to the beat of Ishtar’s drums.

For the record, no, I’m not demonizing these celebrities, we need to pray they have true encounters with Jesus and become true shining lights for Him in these last days, rather than spokesmen and women for evil principalities. Make no mistake though, Ishtar has hidden herself, made herself unrecognizable, and allured a generation. They don’t know it, but they are bowing to her every fanciful desire. As the goddess of war, take note how wars are on the rise, how World War III is being spoken of, how battle lines are being drawn worldwide. Ishtar is behind it all. Her name means “morning star.” Remember satan’s name in Isaiah 14:12 (NIV):

How you are fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

Yes, Ishtar is the work of satan.

So you must be begging the question, “Where does Esther fit into all of this?” Esther’s name is of Persian descent, which was peculiarly drawn from the name, Ishtar. Esther’s name means “star.” She is God’s war-time piece of opposition and annihilation to Ishtar. Ishtar is the counterfeit of Esther. Wherever you see Ishtar today is where God is leading His Esthers, as cataclysmic ammunition against her every defense.

God is sending His daughters—you—mantled with the anointing of Esther into every realm of society in this hour. Do you see Ishtar’s decaying fruit in education? God is sending His daughters into education, robed with the mantle of Esther. Do you see Ishtar’s deceptive lies in government? God is sending His daughters right into the very halls where policy is written, anointed with Esther’s mantle. Do you see chaos abounding in media and the arts? The Lord is sending His warring daughters right into the heart of Hollywood to overturn Ishtar’s influence.

Where Ishtar has set up her myriad of temples and thrones, God is releasing these places to Esther to dismantle from the top down. Ishtar will be exposed. Ishtar will be subjugated and thrown upon the hanging pole, with her decaying body left for all to see. Where Ishtar has raided the minds and hearts of men and women, boys and girls with open wounds of deception, the mantle of Esther will be released upon God’s daughters as a healing fragrance to the nations.