Toward a Mystical Military

By: Carl Teichrib; ©2000

Carl Teichrib explores the influence of the New Age upon our military, and how it has influenced the military’s relationship with various allies.

Towards A Mystical Military

“I Saluted A Witch.” So read the title of an article in the July 5th, 1999 edition of Time magazine. What followed was a disturbing expose of a new trend within the United States Army—the official sanctioning of witchcraft. While the Army has traditionally been viewed as a conservative institution, it is now grappling with the issue of religious “tolerance,” including the recognition of New Age and pagan beliefs.

Recently, Fort Hood, the largest military base in the U.S., gave official recognition to Wicca—a religious belief system better known under its self-proclaimed banner of “witch­craft.” According to Time, “Few people outside the base knew the Army had approved such a group until a couple of months ago, when a photo of a torchlight ritual appeared in a local paper.” Since then numerous other bases have given the green light to wiccan practices.

Understandably, there has been a backlash. Congressman Bob Barr, in a May 18, 1999 press release, called for “an end to the taxpayer-supported practice of witchcraft on military bases.” In a letter to congressional and military leaders Barr exclaimed,

This move sets a dangerous precedent that could easily result in the practice of all sorts of bizarre practices being supported by the military under the rubric of ‘religion.’ What’s next? Will armored divisions be forced to travel with sacrificial animals for Satanic rituals? Will Rastifarians demand the inclusion of ritualistic marijuana cigarettes in their rations?

The U.S. Army is considering more “ritual” allowances. In his May 21, 1999 column, Congressman Barr explained that “the military is now drafting regulations allowing soldiers to use the powerful hallucinogenic drug peyote as part of a ‘religious’ ritual…What happens if a pilot hallucinates while flying, or if an artillery officer experiences a flashback while calculating coordinates?”

Rice Beer, Sacrificial Chickens, and the Special Forces

One of the most unusual examples of the U.S. military linking with pagan spirituality took place during the Vietnam war. In 1964 U.S. Special Forces employed a 10,000-strong montagnard strike force in the Vietnamese high country. The montagnards were native highlanders who were trained by certain elements of the U.S. Army to fight against the North Vietnamese regular army (NVA). Besides combating the NVA, the montagnards were also at odds with the U.S. backed South Vietnamese government in the hopes of establish­ing an independent highland nation. As can well be imagined, tension existed within the montagnard/U.S. alliance (see National Geographic, January 1965).

On September 19, 1964, more than 3,000 armed mountain tribesman located within five US Special Forces camps openly revolted against the South Vietnam government, which subsequently put American forces in serious danger. In Buon Brieng, a U.S. Special Forces facility containing a 700-man battalion of montagnards, tension rose to dangerous levels. In order to calm the situation, U.S. Army Special Forces Captain Vernon W. Gillespie agreed to participate in a pagan ritual designed to summon the spirits and bring peace back to the base. Montagnard battalion leader, Y Jhon Nie explained, “We will make a sacrifice, and the sorcerer will invoke the spirits to help us.”

Captain Gillespie (the U.S. commander of Buon Brieng), Y Jhon Nie, and Captain Truong of the South Vietnamese Special Forces donned the traditional ceremonial garb—a black and red long sleeved top and a similarly colored loin-cloth. Howard Sochurek, a writer for National Geographic witnessed the event and explained what happened next:

Shortly after 10 a.m. we walked to the ceremonial hut. Huge brass gongs announced the arrival of the sorcerer, a sunken-faced man with watery eyes. A delegation of camp and village dignitaries faced a row of seven jars, each brimful of fermented rice mash and water—a potent concoction. Food offerings lay beside the jars: one pig and a chicken as an offering for Gillespie; a chicken each for Y Jhon, Captain Truong, and the sorcerer. Chanting, the sorcerer communicated with the spirits. After each communication the participants sipped rice beer.

The climax of the ceremony came when the sorcerer, after one particularly long drought of brew, crouched alongside Captain Gillespie and fastened a brass ring to his right wrist. This—joining a twin ring from [a] previous ritual that had united Gillespie and Y Jhon – would give notice to the spirits that a suitable offering had been made. Captain Truong, too, received a like bracelet, as did Y Jhon. Now all three were bound in alliance. The spirits having been appeased, the ceremony ended. The rice liquor that remained in the seven jars was distributed to the soldiers in the strike force, as were the sacrificial chickens. The tension in the camp eased considerably (for details, see National Geographic, January 1965, pp. 38-42).

After a week of negotiations, the rebel montagnards capitulated to U.S. ultimatums. And while it is likely that Captain Gillespie’s participation within the pagan ritual helped set the tribal soldiers at ease, the fact remains that occult forces were summoned.

Transcending Time and Space

Considered to have gone beyond the “experimental” stage, the U.S. military intelligence industry has set up programs to gather information via supernatural means. How? By employing psychic spies to engage in an activity known as “remote viewing”. David Morehouse’s controversial book, Psychic Warrior, uncovers the bizarre activities of the military’s experimentation and use of remote viewing—the ability to supernaturally tran­scend time and space using occult methods.

According to Morehouse and other remote viewer advocates, once the “gift” of viewing is cultivated, it allows the individual to psychically jump into different time/space dimen­sions. Upon “spiritually” entering the desired “reality,” the observer views the intended events and returns to his physical existence with the sought after information. Morehouse, a decorated Army officer, Airborne Ranger Company Commander, and invited speaker at Mikhail Gorbachev’s 1995 State of the World Forum, admits that he was involved in psychic espionage. He also admits that the U.S. military has been utilizing remote viewing “technology” for decades, as has numerous others within the intelligence industry.

The web page for Paranormal Management Systems, a U.K. based organization offering courses on remote viewing, affirms that, “The US military has been experimenting with paranormal warfare techniques since the nineteen-sixties, whilst the Russians have been world leaders in the field since the fifties.”

Consider the Words of the Lord

Disturbing as these three examples are, they only scratch the surface of New Age/pagan linkages within the military complex. And while I am not against the military, I am against sanctioning and using occult techniques, whatever the motives may be.

God has a simple, yet ignored command regarding involvement in occultism and the supernatural. Consider the words of Deuteronomy chapter 18, written to the nation of Israel, but pertinent to us today.

When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 18:4 (NKJV)

When a nation sins against the Lord God, it is condemning itself. In the book of Ezekiel, God makes it clear what happens when a country turns its back on the one true God—inescapable judgment.

Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD. Ezekiel 14:13,14 (NIV)

The Living God will not tolerate a nation or people who willfully turn away from the author of truth and follow forbidden practices. Scripture also makes it clear that if we re­pent, turn from our wicked ways, and follow the Lord in obedience, He is quick to forgive. Before any country can change its ways, its individual citizens must humble themselves before the Lord and seek His forgiveness.

Will America turn back to the author of Truth?

Carl Teichrib is Director of Research at Hope For The World. Some of his research can be found in Gary Kah’s latest book, The New World Religion, which can be ordered through this website. For more articles and information by Carl Teichrib, subscribe to Hope For The World Update. Information on this, and other products, can be found at www.garykah.org.