As we enter the end times, we know that Satan wants to move out from the shadows and openly demand worship from people (Revelation 13:4).

For this to happen, satanic worship and practices have to become more mainstream in society.

We are starting to see indications of this as there have been several reports of increased interest in the occult and witchcraft even among Americans.

According to a Newsweek article published in 2018, studies suggest that the number of self-proclaimed witches in the US has increased from about 9,000 in 1990 to over 1.5 million in 2018.

• READ: Number Of Witches Rises Dramatically Across U.S. As Millennials Reject Christianity

Perhaps as part of this trend, there is also a report of an increased number of ‘witch bottles’ washing up on the American beaches along the Gulf of Mexico, the Daily Mail reports.

According to researcher Jace Tunnell, these bottles associated with the occult started showing up along the 60-mile beach near Corpus Christi, Texas in 2017.

Since then, he has found eight such bottles, the latest find taking place on Nov. 15, 2023. While Tunnell’s wife does not mind her husband bringing these bottles home, she will not allow them into the house forcing him to display them outside.

Tunnell also recommends that we not open these bottles if you do find one washed up on a beach.

According to Tunnell, these sealed ‘witch bottles’ are part of occultic practices intended to trap evil spirits. They are typically filled with various items such as hair, herbs, bodily fluids, and nails that are specially prepared with the belief that they will negate any spells that have been cast on an individual by a witch.

The bottles which sometimes have smoke funneled into them during ritual ceremonies before sealing can also be used to cast spells.

It is not believed these witches’ bottles originated in the US but probably came from nearby Caribbean islands and South America.

The use of witch bottles can be traced back hundreds of years, but their recent emergence suggests a renewed interest in them.

It may be part of a growing interest in the occult and may reflect an intensification of the spiritual warfare taking place around the world.

If this is true, believers need to embrace the authority that we have in Christ.

We have an interesting story early in the gospels when Jesus encountered a demon-possessed man during a service at a Capernaum synagogue.

When the demon inside the man began shouting at Christ to go away, Jesus ordered the evil spirit to come out of the man.

But what strikes us is the reaction we have from people in attendance:

“What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!,” the people said (Luke 4:36).

Jesus’ words had authority. The Lord not only understood His authority but spoke with authority when it came to dealing with the demonic.

As Christ’s disciples, we have been given similar authority and power to deal with the demonic:

9 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1-2)

We not only need to embrace our authority in Christ, but we need to speak with authority as we pray.

READ: Mysterious ‘witch bottles’ appear along the Gulf of Mexico – and researchers are avoiding opening them AND Mysterious ‘Witch Bottles’ Wash Ashore: Spiritual Hazard or Harmless Artifact?