You're heard that we attract what we are. The assumption then is that if you're living in the light, darkness won't come for you. But that's not my experience. When you are light, and you follow Jesus, you can know for sure that darkness will come.
In this story, I had two encounters. One being met me with curiosity and playfulness, while another group came to trap me. This is a story about spiritual warfare and how knowing your identity protects you from the darkness.
Attracting a gentle giant
3:18pm, Saturday, May 9, Forest Park Nature Preserve in Peoria, IL. My husband sits on the wooden bench on the side of the path, while I stand facing the forest in front of me. I’ve come to visit the spirit world here and see what story it has to tell.
Normally, I see the guardian of a space first. But today, I see a very large human hiding behind a tree about 50 feet in front of me. He is 25 or 30 feet tall. He doesn’t speak, and he’s hiding behind the tree because he’s shy.
He’s broad, and quickly peeks out from behind the tree to steal a glance at me, and then tries to hid again. Even though he’s in human form, his shape is less defined, and he has a light blue color to him.
I tell him that I won’t hurt him. I’m just here to gather, and I’m happy to chat. It only takes him two steps to cover the distance between us, and he’s right in front of me. I can tell he’s curious. I like to touch things and I can tell he wants to do the same, so I tell him it’s okay. Gently, he extends his finger and touches my head to see what I feel like.
Chuckling, I say, “We’re both human, we’re really not that different.”
He plops downs into a cross-legged position and picks me up and puts me on his lap, and I’m surprised at what I feel. I instantly soften and then relax. He’s very soft, life a nice fluffy pillow. I lean against him, and imagine that this would be the perfect place to rest.
Suddenly, I pop up into the air and land on the ground. My new friend has disappeared, by popping himself into dozens of what seem to be big, blue droplets of water. Each droplet sparkles with white light. He disappears and he’s gone.
Attracting warriors on the hunt
I stand up and look around, and to my right, there’s a small cavalry of men who are coming up, fierce looking, in armor. Two rows of four. Japanese warriors, dressed in red and black.
The black top and pants are cloth, tighter at the wrists and ankles. Over the cloth, they wear a red tunic that comes to mid thigh, and they’re carrying staffs. On their heads sit black triangular hats, low profile, that make it difficult to see their eyes. (I think the hats are ichimonji gasa, a specific type of jingasa. A jingasa is a lightweight military hat.)
These military men come to a stop, and we stand, facing each other. From the back comes a man on a horse. He is carrying a big rectangular flag on a staff, that someone would carry who’s indicating a kingdom. He rides up and stops in front of me.
I was anticipating he was going to attack me, but he dismounts his horse, and pauses. He comes up to me, takes his hat off and takes a half knee and bows. I extend my hand and say, “Arise. Who are you? I am not one to be bowed for.”
He has a small knife that’s on the end of a short wooden handle. (The knife is called a rochin. It is usually paired with a tinbe. A tinbe is a shield made of tortoise shell or metal.) Moving very distinctly, he stomps forward on his right foot and jabs the knife as if to stab me in the stomach. I simply side step, because the move is so obvious and slow. He steps back with that right foot and puts the knife back. He’s very machine like in his movements.
“We are here to gather as well, and you are infringing upon our space.”
"Are you the guardians?" I inquire.
“No. We are here to gather.”
"Who or what are you here together?"
“You.”
What you attract when you are light
Next, he throws a rope trap around me over my head, but I shrink and come out one of the squares on the bottom. I take it and wrap it around him and trap him in it.
“I am not here to be gathered. I am here to gather stories. You are now part of the story that I have gathered, and to share these stories, so that people may know the truth of all things. Apparently, your truth is that you want to prevent people from knowing truth. Because it would seem to me that you are here to attack and destroy.”
I take him out and put him on his horse. I give him his trap back, but he tries to trap me again, so I keep it. I direct his horse and turn his horse around, and I smack him on his backside and they all leave.
A playful friend
This large 30 foot tall boy who I encountered before reappears at my side.
“That was close!” he says in a whisper. “How did you know what to do to defend yourself and to escape?”
“I don’t know. I assume it is from my years of experience having fought in the spiritual realm.”
“Wait,” he says as he steps back to look at me, “you’re not in the spiritual realm?”
“I’m actually in human form upon the earth right now, and I come to the spirit realm to gather stories and share them with people so they know truth and learn of Jesus.”
“Wow! That’s so cool. I didn’t realize that it worked that way.”
“Yes. I am a gatherer. I don’t know how many more there are. I know there are more who come into the spirit realm, I just don’t know how many. I know there aren’t a lot.”
“That’s an amazing gift. You’d better be careful. Be wise in what you gather and where you go and what you do.”
“Thank you for your concerns. Are you a guardian?”
“Oh no,” he chuckles. “I am simply here to play.”
“You must be with your family then somewhere.”
“Yes, they are all around here too.”
Up on the hill, I see a much bigger version of him, I assume his father, looking angry. He reaches out and grabs him and they disappear.
You attract what you are, but darkness will come
We may attract those like us who are similarity light, but when darkness comes, it comes to attack or to destroy. It’s not about beings who are like us, because one saw me as a threat, while the other was curious about me. They had different intents.
The large spirit was there to play - and he was curious and unafraid. The warriors were there to gather me - they were scary looking. Our purpose or our intent determines what we see and how we see others. What is your purpose right now, and what lens is it giving you?
This ties into your identity. When I go to the spirit realm to gather stories, I know who I am and what my purpose is. Identity gives us purpose and strength. The most important identity we have is that we are children of God, made in his image, and for a purpose.
Our challenge, and our opportunity, is to remember and live that identity while we are here on earth. Then, when the darkness comes, we realize that we haven’t attracted it. There’s nothing to change or heal or fix. It’s simply there because it finds the light threatening.
Jesus was the perfect example of this. He always knew who he was, and wasn’t swayed. He even asked his father to forgive those who crucified him, because they knew not what they were doing.
Remember who you are. Stand fast in your true identity as a child of God, and let that be your power.
