Part 1: Mothers of the Church

Mothers of the Church: Finding True Power Beyond Spooky Season

Disclaimer

For the record, we fully affirm that therapy can be life-changing and even life-saving. It works in a wide variety of ways precisely because each person is unique, and we wholeheartedly endorse it as a valuable tool for healing and growth. If you are currently in therapy, please understand: nothing in this article is suggesting you should stop.

The focus here is not to replace therapy, but to supplement it with spiritual guidance. The issues discussed are meant to offer perspective and encouragement, not direct medical or clinical instruction. While therapy provides a safe space to process and heal, it is also important to consider who you are entrusting with your growth and what direction their guidance will ultimately lead you.

If at any point while reading you feel a righteous, unadulterated rage in defense of therapy and your therapist, please return to the beginning of this section and read from the beginning.

Autumn and the Allure of “Spooky Season”

It is fall again, and the air has shifted. For many, autumn carries a deep sense of nostalgia, cooler air, shorter days, leaves crunching underfoot, and the cozy familiarity of seasonal traditions. For much of our culture, this nostalgia culminates in Halloween. What was once a simple evening of costumes and candy has grown into a cultural phenomenon often labeled “spooky season.” For some, it is a little more than fun. For others, it is a guilty pleasure, tied to mystery, escape, and rebellion. But beneath the costumes and decorations, something deeper and older is at work.

Halloween has always carried an air of the supernatural. Yet in recent years, it has taken on a more spiritual weight, especially among women. For many young women today, this season has become more than entertainment. It is a ritual, a personal Easter of sorts, a time when they align with like-minded peers and embrace identities tied to light or darkness, to the occult or to New Age practices.

This is not accidental. For countless women, especially those who grew up in abusive homes or endured trauma, autumn’s mystery and magic feel like home. The idea of reclaiming power through witchcraft, manifestation, or New Age rituals appeals because it promises identity, control, and even healing. Costumes become symbols of transformation. The darker the persona, the more powerful the relief.

And yet, as quickly as the season comes, the comfort fades. Once the costumes are put away, many women experience an unspoken crash, a collective preparation for depression. They resent the coming “joy and cheer” of Christmas. To them, the holidays are a mask, torturous isolation hidden behind a fake display of happiness they are told they must display. This sharpens the pain of their own hidden suffering, because they believe they suffer alone.

As a society, we have allowed this cycle to fester. Women are encouraged to embrace their pain as their identity, to build community around brokenness, and to seek power in darkness. In doing so, we have lost something ancient and true: the role of women as living witnesses to Christ’s healing power.

A Counterfeit Promise of Power

Why are so many women drawn to the occult? The answer lies in trauma. When women endure abuse, rejection, or betrayal, they are left with deep wounds. Evil forces exploit those wounds, whispering lies: You are powerless. You are worthless. You must take control. You must never be hurt again.

Witchcraft and New Age practices offer a counterfeit solution. They promise power, control, and validation. They invite women to embrace their darkness, to call it strength, and to shape their own destiny through spells, crystals, or manifestations. In short, they repackage bondage as empowerment. But here is the deception: the very forces that caused the trauma now offer themselves as healers. It is as if the abuser shows up dressed as a savior. The demonic game is brilliant in its cruelty. Like a rigged chess match, the opponent plays both sides and claims to be helping, while planning your eventual destruction.

This explains why covens are often depicted in groups of three. It is no coincidence. Satan has always counterfeited God’s patterns. The “three witches” of popular culture are a shadow of three far more powerful women in Scripture, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, women healed by Christ, women who witnessed His resurrection, and women who used their resources to build His Church.

The Mothers of the Church: True Role Models

Outside of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, there were other women who played irreplaceable roles in Christ’s ministry. They were not known for power in the worldly sense. Like Joseph, they made themselves small. They contributed financially, supported the disciples, and proclaimed the resurrection. These women became the first female saints of the Church.

Mary Magdalene, delivered from seven demons, became the first witness of the empty tomb and the risen Christ. She is proof that even the most tormented soul can become the most trusted herald of the Gospel.

Joanna , the Wife of Herod’s steward, Chuza, left her privileged position to follow Jesus. She supported His ministry financially and stood as a witness at His passion. Though less detailed in Scripture, she is named among the women who were both healed by Christ and provided for His ministry.

Susanna, the demonic realm despises saints whose lives are permanent rebuttals of their strategies. For women who feel afflicted by depression, shame, or the scars of trauma, Susanna’s life becomes a direct weapon. Her healing testifies: you are not beyond redemption. Her financial giving testifies: your resources are powerful when surrendered to God. Her discipleship testifies: you are not invisible in God’s kingdom. This is why she is dangerous. Evil spirits thrive on despair, secrecy, and scarcity. Susanna embodies healing, testimony, and abundance, everything they cannot stand.

These three women are the spiritual counterpoint to the counterfeit covens of culture. They remind us that women are not defined by trauma, but by healing. They were not pawns of darkness; they were pillars of light. Alongside them stand heroines like Ruth, who chose loyalty and faith over despair, and Esther, who risked her life to save her people. These women were not defined by wounds or worldly power, but by obedience and trust in God.

For modern women who feel lost, spiritually attacked, or financially burdened, these saints remain powerful intercessors. Their lives proclaim that Christ heals, restores, and empowers women for His kingdom.

Modern Therapy vs. Christ’s Healing

In our modern world, therapy has become the default response to pain. And there is truth in it, confession, validation, and honest dialogue can bring temporary relief. But therapy is often incomplete. It can become addictive, a cycle that replaces one authority with another, or one dependence with another.

• First, therapy often leaves women searching for the next “fix,” chasing the emotional high of a breakthrough session.

• Second, authority shifts from God to the therapist. The need for approval transfers from the original abuser to the counselor.

• Third, when the therapist is unavailable, women are left abandoned, panicked, and retraumatized. The illusion of healing collapses, leading to self-hatred, doubt, and despair.

The real problem is not therapy itself, but its limits. It cannot offer permanent healing because it does not deal with the soul. Only Christ can. Jesus’ compassion does not require an appointment. His healing is not contingent on availability. His authority does not shift or fail. Where therapy says “keep coming back,” Jesus says, “It is finished.”

A Beginning Guide: Daily Practices of Healing

So how does one walk in the healing Christ offers? Here is a simple, pastoral outline.

Daily Invitation to Christ

Each morning, ask Jesus to fill your heart with His love, peace, and healing. Speak aloud or silently: “Lord Jesus, I invite You to take responsibility for my happiness today. Be my peace.”

Practice Silence

Begin with one minute of silence. Rebuke any distracting thoughts. Listen for God’s quiet voice. When one minute becomes natural, move to two. Then three. This discipline creates space for God’s healing presence.

Trust in God’s Healing Power

Pray in Jesus’ name for healing, just as the woman who touched His garment believed: “Lord, if I touch You, I will be healed.” Choose to believe. With God’s reinforcement, your will becomes stronger than the lies of despair.

Reject False Guilt

If you have convinced yourself the trauma is your fault, repeat the truth: “I can be forgiven. I am forgiven.” Release the crushing weight of guilt into Christ’s hands.

Forgive Others as Christ Forgave You.

The anti-venom to lingering wounds is forgiveness. Ask God for the grace to release the debts of those who wronged you. This is not weakness; it is victory.

Seek Intercession of the Saints

Remember Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. Pray with them. Ask their intercession. They know your pain, and their prayers rise before God with power.

The Cultural Crisis and Our Response

Our culture glamorizes brokenness. Women are told that their pain is their identity, their trauma their uniqueness. Social media celebrates victimhood while mocking virtue. Films and shows glorify witchcraft and occult practices, presenting them as empowering alternatives to faith.

But Christ offers more. He offers healing that does not fade the morning after Halloween. He offers joy that does not collapse at Christmas. He offers freedom that cannot be revoked by the absence of a therapist.

The Church must rise to meet this moment. We cannot afford to offer women shallow platitudes or empty slogans. We must offer them Christ, His healing, His authority, His freedom.

Freedom and Revival

True freedom is not found in spells, in therapy, or in temporary empowerment. It is found in Christ. The women of the Gospel prove this. Once afflicted, they became free. Once powerless, they became pillars of the early Church.And so it can be today. For every woman struggling under trauma, there is hope. For every young girl seduced by the lies of witchcraft, there is deliverance. For every soul trapped in therapy’s endless cycle, there is rest. Jesus’ freedom is not temporary; it is permanent. It is not fragile; it is eternal. And it is not reserved for the strong; it is offered first to the broken. As a nation, we must recover the example of these mothers of the Church. We must teach our daughters to turn not to covens, but to Christ. We must remember that our identity is not in pain, but in healing.

Like Mary Magdalene at the tomb, we must proclaim: “I have seen the Lord!”

This is not just a personal revival. It is the seed of a national one. For when women walk in freedom, families are restored. When families are restored, communities are rebuilt. And when communities are rebuilt, a nation can be reborn. This fall, as the world drapes itself in costumes and calls it power, let us remember the truth. Real power is not in darkness. Real healing is not in witchcraft. Real freedom is not in therapy.

It is in Christ. Always in Christ.

We have a three-part series on these three women coming out in the next week. Please Click the Link Below.

Our First Article is on Susanna, She's a Bad AXE immovable Woman in the Bible, and you’re going to love reading about HERE when we publish Pt 2/4 to kick this week off tomorrow morning.

Written By: Gabriel Merigian & AD FAITH

AD news Editorial Team collaborates on stories in-house and with external reporters to bring you exclusive pieces, like this one.