King James Version (KJV)
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Evil Beads
Babatunmishe Oke, Pennsylvania November 6, 2012 8.00-930pm
I have used research from different sources for this sermon. I cannot lay claim to some aspects of this sermon being originally mine. This is solely for the edification of the Body of Christ. I desire no gain or fame in sharing this but for the knowledge of the brethren to be increased.
Tonight, we look at a piece of jewelry that would otherwise be harmless to the average human being. But as we always do on this prayer line, the whole idea is to bring us to the point of new revelations. I spoke to a sister from somewhere on the East Coast tonight who said and I quote, “Hello, I want to take this time today and say thank you. I have had some troubles in my life and tried to get some answers somehow after much trying the Lord led me to you and I now have answers to things most pastors have not been able to help with.”
That is the essence of the Believer’s Evangelical Fellowship International. Bringing folks up to speed on the wiles of the kingdom of darkness and equipping them with biblical tools to fight back successfully.
The piece of jewelry in question is the beads. Beads have been used throughout the ages and in virtually every culture, not simply as adornment but to express social circumstances, political occurrences, and religious beliefs; as a form of currency; or as symbolic embodiments of curative powers.
Beads are some of the most stunningly attractive and varied items of jewelry. These are small, round objects made of wood, shell, bone, seed, metal, stone, glass or plastic. It is usually pierced for stringing so that it can be worn for decorative, or in some cultures, for magical purposes. From the breath taking gold designs of ancient Egypt to the exciting renaissance of bead craftsmanship taking place today, beads have been one of the most popular forms of personal adornment. However, they have been much more than jewelry.
Humans create decorative beads for human purposes, while human purposes give rise to beads. Beads have been used throughout the world in countless ways: as talismans in prehistoric and contemporary societies; as status symbols in the ancient world and in modern Africa; as religious artifacts in the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic faiths, and as a standard medium of barter in almost every country.
Beads became an issue spiritually when people began to project spirits into them.
Different religions have what you can call prayer beads, which are beads tied on a string and ostensibly used for focus when meditating. Examples of the religions that use prayer beads are;
Hindu Prayer Beads
A Hindu prayer bead set, also called a "mala" or "Japa mala," is comprised of 108 beads or other numbers divisible by nine. The New Zealand Hare Krishna Spiritual Resource Network states the numbers 108 and 9 are sacred in the Hindu religion as they represent Chakras, God, the servants of Krishna, the "108 feelings," energy intersections, planets and their houses, chandrakalas and other frames of reference.
Sikh Prayer Beads
The Sikh religion uses 108 beads for prayer and meditation. Religion Facts reports Sikhs use prayer beads as a prayer aid as they repeat God's name and meditate. Although this religion rejects many Hindu beliefs, the use of beads among Sikhs originates from Hinduism. Nanak Dev Ji, the first of the 10 Sikh gurus, holds a strand of prayer beads in his right hand in many of his paintings.
Buddhist Prayer Beads
Like their Sikh and Buddhist counterparts, Buddhist prayer beads also use 108 beads that are also called "malas." Some malas, however, only contain 21 or 28 beads for doing prostrations to show reverence to Buddha, his teachings and the spiritual community. The Tibetan Buddhist Altar explains the prayer beads are used to help a user count his recitations and also represent the form and speech of his deity. The large 109th bead represents the deity while the other 108 beads are the deity's followers.
Christian Prayer Beads
Individuals in the Catholic denomination of Christianity use a Rosary that contains 54 beads looped together with an additional five beads where a cross, one invitatory bead and four Cruciform beads hang. The "Catholic Encyclopedia" states The Rosary is a form of prayer where 10 of the beads represent 10 "Hail Mary" prayers, another 10 represent The Lord's Prayer and the final 10 beads represent the prayer "Glory Be to the Father." The prayers represented in the rest of the beads in a Catholic Rosary are the joyful, sorrowful, glorious and luminous mysteries. According to the "Catholic Encyclopedia," monks in the Eastern Orthodox religions refer to their prayer beads as "spiritual swords."
The Anglican Rosary uses 33 beads divided into four groups of seven beads. The number 33 represents the number of years Jesus Christ lived on Earth.
Islamic Prayer Beads
In the Islamic religion, prayer beads are also called "Misbah" or "Tasbih." The strand contains 99 beads, which represent the 99 names of Allah. However, it is common to find strands of prayer beads that contain only 33 beads, which a user would cycle through three times. Many followers of Islam use prayer beads as "worry" beads, according to "Saudi Aramco World," to help relieve stress.
Numbers 31:50
And we have brought the LORD's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”
Tonight we talk about beads that are decidedly used for evil.
Beads have been used in places like Africa for centuries as initiation tools, and for transmitting spirits from one generation to another.
The Zulu Nation: The Zulu created a symbolic language with There beads and beadworks using bone Stones, wood, seeds, horn, metals, shells, nuts and European Glass beads.
The beadworks worn today are a continuation of this beadwork, started over two hundred years ago. In the rural area the split between families and the communities is where Christianity is the dominant form of worship, beadworks has all but died out. The reason for this is historical beadworks was associated by the Europeans with heathen and ideal worshiping and converts were encouraged to stop wear or making beadworks. It is important to emphasize that at the height of the Zulu empire beads had Considerable economic value.
The Congo: Young girls wear beaded head band as part of their initiation into a secret societies, the spiral design on the bands represent the eye of an earth Nyama, the triangles designs are doors for other Nyama to enter. The beads colors are yellow, orange, white, red and black.
The Baluba People: The diviner’s possession society wears a similar head band. They are best known for their beaded sculpture board called Lakasa, a rectangular board often with an African head carved on the top with beads fixed in a random pattern on the flat surface.
It serves as an initiation tool for the Mbudya society and as a reminder about their past. The Baluba also made female torsos often of hippo and wart hog ivory; they measure about five to six inches long. and traditional women’s clothing included one or more string of beads round the hips, which might include a fetish to ensure fertility and easy childbirth.
The Penda People: Of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Chiefs wear a crowns with two lateral horns embellish with beads .for protection.
The Bayaka people: Have a similar crown in the eastern Congo Region and necklaces made with ten so-called eye beads, for protection agency Nyama or ten chevron beads for status and good luck, worn by chief, separately or together with leopard or African teeth.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Beads are often strung in a ticklish ralphia cord, they tend to be rather large beads with big perforated holds, the beads are round or oval shape, white opalescent and blue annular beads, mostly blue short drawn beads, in shades of blue.
Beads are often strung in a ticklish ralphia cord, they tend to be rather large beads with large holds, the beads are round or oval shape, white and shades of blue. They may come strung on ralphia in bunches for currency. Beads may be on a long multiple string as a woman’s waistband, white, turquoise, light-blue and royal or navy blue were the favorite colors
The Fali, Adamawa and Dowayo: Of Northern Nigeria and Cameroon, a man will make a doll for his bride to ensure her fecundity; The doll is put in a corner of the house after the first child’s birth. The dolls were made of corn cob and adorner with beads others are more naturalistic. Beads corsets and back skirts were worn by women during festival; the people went out to the bush to cut grass for their chief’s horses and held the dance on their return only local people could take part in the festivals.
Basis Use of Beads in Ghana
Beads play a very important roles in the social and culture lifestyle of our people, when beads are used attention is paid to their shape, size, designs, color and material. In everyday life women men and children wear beads, made from stones,
bone, wood, ivory, iron, glass etc. Beads are visibly displayed around the neck, wrist, waist, ankles, arms, finagles, head and clothing.
Female may wear beads on one part of the body for a lifetime example female begins to use waist beads from early childhood. The Ghanaian myth said that a bead was put in water and giving to the accused to swallow should he or she tell a lie the bead would choke and kill him or her. Some
believed that magic could be transferred from strangers usually from an older woman to a younger one in the form of a bead as a gift. Female knew that waist beads help form their body into a particular shape and adult women wear beads to sexually stimulate the male.
Puberty
For females to be initiated into adulthood among certain ethnic group they must go thought puberty rituals, these series of initiations comprise of instructions and games. culminating with the adornment of beads, worn around the wrist, neck, waist, arms and legs. These beads represent new status of girl’s families.
Pregnancy
The Ghanaian was aware of the power or danger of Nyama before birth. Therefore beads and fetishes were used to protect against the powder of Nyama doing pregnancy charms and amulets are worn on the wrist, ankle, neck and waist. The
pregnant woman wear colorful beads until the baby is borne the babies are adorn with armlet and legless made from ralphia, for protection, before the child is a brought outside of the house, on the day of the naming celebration, beads mixed with other charms, replace the armlets and legless.
Mother ties beads at the major joints of the child, their waist, wrist, leg and neck she is particular about this especially when the child is a girl. One other reason why babies are adorn with beads at the waist is to enable mom to monitor the growth rate of the child. If the string of beads are Loose mom will know that all is not well with her child. This technique was practiced thru out Africa
Asante of Ghana: Beadwork was restricted to an elite minority, but beads as charm, talisman and fetishes on the body and clothing was worn by other members of the community.
Northern Nigeria and the Cameroon: Men made dolls for their brides to ensure her fidelity, the doll s are place in a corner of the house, after the first child is born. The dolls were made from corn cobs and adorned with beads. Beads used in the Cameroon fall into two group, one is that of the long cylinder beads which are usually dark blue, dull terra cotta red or white and the Chevron beads.
The cowry shell were used as sign of wealth and prestige especially on thrones and stools, because of there magical powder.
Yoruba Beadwork: Beads are associated with royalty and Nyama which are often integrated Yoruba chiefs, have a selection of titles to represent. The beaded crowns are the major component of his regalia the 18th century crowns were simple in design, embellished with cowries shell, jasper stone or coral beads made locally.
Beadwork is not only used on royal crowns and regalia, it played an important part in adoring special items, diviner tools, necklaces, dance panels, ritual staffs, fan and clothing for the Ibeji twine. The Ibeji are wooden figures about 10 inches high, carved to represent one of both of the twines The Yoruba have an exceptional incidence of twin birth( 45 per 1000) with perhaps half of those the hereditary fraternal twin birth. These fetishes were carved upon the transformation of one or a pair of twines or both of the twines who have made his or her transformation in infancy.
The mother and surviving twine look after this carving by feeding it, rubbing it and dressing it in beads, a round the waist, neck and wrist, if the Ibeji came from a chiefly family the beads will not be just strung around the neck or waist but a densely beaded all enveloping coat would be provided.
Since the beads colors and the twins are associated with Shango the God of thunder; Zigzag patterns in red and white beads are common certain colors belonging to certain Nyama, such as yellow and green with Ife divination.
Kalabari of Nigeria: Used imported glass beads and coral beads which are feature in the costume that women wear during the Iria Bo rituals, these cover the period from puberty to the birth of the first child and the sequence of ceremonies are acompus by different sets of glass and coral beads, ornaments and clothing.
In the Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria:
Where traditional practices survived the beaded apron is an item found over much of this area. Seed beads of various colors are used to make the Catch-Sex or public aprons; they are made and worn by the Tiv and Kirdi women. The men wear iron, copper, brass and bronze tongue-like pendants; they are worn together with round beads made from brass, copper or iron, for good luck and protection in Chad and the Cameroon. iron is revered for it magical powders and ability to compete with Nyama
Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Beads are often strung in a ticklish ralphia cord, they tend to be rather large beads with large holds, the beads are round or
oval shape, in white and shades of blue colors They may come strung on ralphia in bunches for currency. Beads may
be on a long multiple string as a woman’s waistband, white, turquoise, light-blue and royal or navy blue were the favorite colors of the beads
The Congo; Young girls wear beaded head band as part of their initiation
The basis for evil beads stems from their use for extreme forms of idolatry.
Exodus 20:1-6 20 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.
3 “There shall be for you no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a divine image with any form that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth below or that is in the water below the earth. 5 You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I am Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing the guilt of the parents on the children on the third and on the fourth generations[a] of those hating me, 6 and showing loyal love to thousands of generations[b] of those loving me and of those keeping my commandments.
Isaiah 59:19
19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Acts 10:38
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
The thing with these African beads is that they’re used for pregnancy, puberty and sexual attraction of men. These beads are called bembe in Yoruba land where I come from and some have been said to have the dubious character of mysteriously multiplying as the girl child increases in girth around the waist.
Pregnancies have been inadvertently seized and terminated because the victim mother to be was wearing these beads.
Idolatry is the basis for the use of evil beads.
There is a longstanding practice that has been translated to the new world and the Caribbean called the Santeria. The other day we spoke about the great Slave ship curse. Santeria is a Spanish term roughly translated as the worship of the saints. It is a syncretic religion which is basically a combination of the old worship of African deities and the worship of catholic saints.
The ships that sailed across the Atlantic with the slaves "… did not only carry men, women and children, but also their gods, beliefs and traditional folklore". Apart from knowledge and beliefs, the slaves were stripped of everything. The beliefs and the knowledge they brought with them had to be adapted to the new social and climatic surroundings in the Caribbean areas. How this adaptation to a new environment occurred has been explained in different ways, ranging from submission to opposition, from assimilation to integration. The Cuban culture is often considered to be the result of a "marriage" between the African and the Spanish cultures, or as the result of a more deliberate process in which aspects from different cultures best suited to the current situation were selected.
Rituals and myths which the slaves brought across the sea from Africa were gradually syncretised into a new belief system that has been called Santería. "La Santería es cubanisada por completa" (Santería is totally Cubanised), said the santera (a woman initiated into the religion) Teresa when asked about the roots and history of this religion. This "Cubanisation" occurred in the encounter between the different ethnic groups from Africa and the Catholic faith of the Spaniards. The gods that had been worshipped individually in Africa were gathered into a pantheon in Cuba. Adjustment to Spanish culture can be rediscovered in a number of Catholic features in Santería. The African santos are, for example, compared to the Catholic saints.
"The slaves were brought into the churches to be Christianized. The Spaniards hoped they would depart from their old beliefs. But things did not go quite as the slave-owners and clergy had envisioned. Instead of rejecting their own gods, the slaves continued worshipping them inside the church itself, disguised inside the Catholic cult of saints. The slaves found out that each of their African santos could be concealed behind a corresponding Catholic saint. Changó [the santo of lightning and thunder] could thus be concealed behind Saint Barbara, and Oshún [the santo of love] behind Caridad de Cobre. The slaves could thereby continue their own beliefs and cults within the walls and countenance of the church, but still concealed from the clergy."
The veneration of ancestors is a crucial aspect of this religion. Its roots are founded in the belief that the Orishas have lived and died, and now exist as supernatural forces. The dead are fundamental because they open the doors that lead to the Orishas. It is necessary to honor the dead by paying their dues, calling upon them, praying to them, and feeding them. For this reason, santeros will make sacrifices and adorn sticks with ribbons and bells. The dead depend upon the living to keep them strong and energetic.
So these santos or catholic saints were morphed with the African deities which are incidentally from my part of Africa. In fact my tribe. They are called orishas or deities. The interesting thing about them is that there re different ways in which each orisha or deity is worshipped and this worship involves the use of beads of different colors.
What many of those who serve this religion do not know is that these oritshas are actually heavily occultic deities back in Africa, and what they are actually perpetuating is the continuous influence of the demons that govern these deities.
We are not here to venerate the deities tonight or any night, but for you to know that these kinds of beads exist and they are used to promote supernatural forces in the kingdom of the darkness.
So when you go and purchase beads of funny colors or decorations you need to understand that these beads have meanings. Those beads and beadlets placed on your necks in New Orleans and other places like the Brazilian carnivals have supernatural meanings depending on their colorations; 9I know one sister who came back to Nigeria after visiting the Rio Carnival and began to manifest centuries old orisha tendencies. She had picked up the Santeria spirit. Via the beads on her.
These beads are called Ilekes in Nigeria till today and are called so here in the Caribbean and the Americans and like I said there colorations have different meanings.
Like I said each orisha has own Ileke based on color, numbers. These ilekes or beads are the first level of initiation into the religion and it is believed that these beads give some form of supernatural protection and permit magic to be done by the wearer, or for doors of control to be opened upon the wearer.
People who are members of this sect have what are called jerking spirits that make them have terrible movements when they are praying the drums of the rituals. Usually these beads are on them worn around their necks or tied to their waists.
Prayers;
Repent of any kind of idol worship by yourself and your bloodline.
1. Ancestral beads that have venerated my idol serving ancestors be consumed by fire now in Jesus name.
2. Any invisible bead that has been projected into my life to control any aspect of me, be burnt off in Jesus name
3. Any bead worn on me as a child that has curtailed my destiny I reverse your power in Jesus name.
4. I use the Blood of Jesus to wash off the effects of any contact I have ever had with white garment religions in Jesus name.
5. If you are from the south of the USA, S America or the Caribbean and your family has ever been catholic, then pray, I reverse the effect of the catholick spirit of the Santeria over me in Jesus name.
6. Any rituals performed over me at puberty using beads be reversed by the Blood of Jesus.
7. I reject and renounce any evil protection with repercussions placed upon me because of evil beads and corals I have ever worn or my mother has ever worn.
8. Let the Blood of Jesus without condemnation rise as a standard against any flood from the enemy of my soul in Jesus name.
