As some of you might recall, at the beginning of April I shared “Jack the Giant Killer,” a stack on the theological and cultural history of giants. Over the ensuing weeks, I really haven’t stopped thinking about them. And this interest was all the more whetted this week when I caught a clip of an interview Shawn Ryan (I had never heard of him) recently did with Tucker Carlson in which Carlson talks about how he thinks the “aliens” the US government has been dropping hints about over the past few years (remember that? nobody cared) are really spiritual beings, possibly remnants of the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6, The Book of Enoch, and The Book of Giants, among other places. The Nephilim, in case you don’t know, were/are giants generated by fallen angels mating with human women in antediluvian times. Carlson points out that all cultures, mythologies, and religions have stories of spiritual beings copulating with humans and creating either giants, or heroes, or other exceptional beings—and there is really no contesting that observation. He suggests that these beings (or beings like them) are working with or through governments across the globe and inflicting suffering and evil upon the humans. And we could add that their wicked project includes altering the DNA of human beings; disfiguring the human image; destroying the fertility of plants, animals, and humans; and vanquishing Christianity, which historically has been the biggest obstacle in their way to securing world domination. (You can see Ryan’s complete interview with Carlson here; or, if you just want the clip I saw, this is it.)
Now, I have no problem with any of Carlson’s speculations. Indeed, over the past four or more years, I have habitually been referring to the real rulers of the world (not presidents and prime ministers, who are essentially their lackeys) by the proper term of Archons, which is the name by which the Gnostic scriptures call them, not to mention St. Paul in Ephesians 6:
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities [Archons], against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Paul is not using metaphorical language here. His isn’t an exercise in rhetoric. His is as concrete a description as one might give. Indeed, it has been more than clear to me that what we have been seeing out in the open over the past four years is a spiritual battle, not a political one. And you can’t vote yourself out of a spiritual battle.
But here’s the thing: I or people I know—and not just a few of them—have had direct experiences of faeries and other nature beings, of demons, and even of ghosts. But no one I know has had direct experience of giants—at least not recognizable as such. I’ve never had to banish faeries, mischievous as they are (and they’re lots of help in the garden), but I have had to remove demons and ghosts upon occasion. That doesn’t make me an exorcist or anything, and I would describe my experience as pretty limited. Nevertheless, there are a number of tools available to us—and which I have used—that I know work.
First of all is prayer. The Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary are particularly powerful; and when united as they are in the rosary, these prayers become, in Valentin Tomberg’s words, “a powerful means—sometimes almost all-powerful—in sacred magic.” Demons hate God—and they really hate Sophia.
In addition, Tomberg also offers these options:
“Tradition, centuries of experience, teaches us what is necessary in order to protect oneself from the approach of demons—or, if one senses them approaching, what to do in order to drive them away—and gives the following practical advice: make the sign of the Cross towards the north, south, east and west, each time saying the first two verses of Psalm 68:
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who fear him flee before him! As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before fire, let the wicked perish before God!
“And here is further advice, as simple and as effective as the preceding: if one senses depression or any other sign of approach of a demon or demons, one spits three times to the left and crosses oneself.”
I know these work from experience.
I also know that sacramentals—holy water, holy chrism, relics, icons and the like—work. At least on demons. Whether they work on giants or Archons is another question.
The interesting thing about giants, at least to me, is that the accounts of them before the Flood describe a race large, powerful, intelligent, and learned in the ways of dark magic. That’s definitely the story in Enoch and in the Gnostic scriptures. But after the Flood, not only were giants smaller (down from 400 feet or so to somewhere ranging between 9 and 20 feet), but they were also depicted as very dull-witted, though still evil (as in the case of the Grimms’ fairy-tale, “The Valiant Little Tailor”). They also are depicted as completely lacking in compassion and altogether indifferent to human suffering. In fact, they eat people—whole and alive. In some of the stories, they demand human sacrifice. They may be dumb, but they’re powerful and they often know magic. A horrible combination.
Now, as I’ve mentioned, I have personal, practical experience of faeries, ghosts, and demons—but I don’t seem to have had any experience of giants. Or have I?
As you probably know, I am convinced that the Archons running the planet are evil and working either in or through entities (note the metaphor) such as The World Economic Forum, The World Health Organization, The United Nations, The European Union, and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (for the moment I will pass over particular governments and BigPharma—but you get the picture). I mostly ignored these entities until four years ago: it was only then that I realized how truly evil they are, for:
1) They seem indifferent to human suffering (e.g., people who lost businesses, homes, health, and loved ones either directly or indirectly due to the bio-engineered virus and its equally bio-engineered “vaccines” and the “safety measures” that accompanied them); 2) They are hell-bent on making World War III a reality (talk about human sacrifice); 3) Though powerful, they’re incredibly stupid (only an idiot would propose eating insects and “You’ll Own Nothing and Be Happy” as good ideas); 4) They are hostile to Christianity and all things holy; 5) They hate God—and they really hate Sophia (as you can see via the myriad attacks on the feminine over the past four years); 6) They hate fertility and see it as a disease or a problem to be solved; 7) They know magic (not just through propaganda—but that’s a good place to start); 8) They’re greedy and want more (read: everything) for themselves, and less for everybody else (as George Carlin so accurately described it) to the point that they actively promote “population reduction” (and rest assured that you, dear reader, are included in the population they want to reduce). Classic giant vibes.
So, our possibilities come down to two things (or a combination of them):
1) The Archons, the enemies of God described by the Gnostics and St. Paul, are working directly with or through the figureheads and members of the various NGO entities mentioned above. The entities may be doing this consciously (as Carlson seems to suggest) or unconsciously via a kind of possession or mind-control. Or it could be a combination of these.
Or:
2) The figureheads/entities (at least some of them) may actually be the Archons/giants, though shrunken down to normal human height. Hear me out: if giants were 400 feet tall prior to the Flood and 9-20 feet tall after, one would assume that they had continued to diminish in size as their DNA more and more became diluted with that of actual humans.
I know this all might sound crazy, but it is nevertheless very rational. While I’m more inclined to go with theory 1, after the past four years, I’m not ruling anything out.
The one thing I do know is that St. Paul wasn’t using figurative language when he described who and what the real nature of the beings with which we contend is. And it’s not with a bunch of meat-headed politicians.
But how do we fight them? That’s my question. Well, according to St. Paul (now intentionally turning to metaphor):
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (13-18)
But I would suggest that this is preliminary, but a sine qua non, not unlike the vigil a squire would undertake the night before he was raised to knighthood “In the name of God, St. Michael, and St. George.” What follow are acts of courage and the distribution of justice. And never forget, the boy David vanquished the giant Goliath with nothing but a stone—but he was armed by much more.
Psalm 20/21, according to some, offers a description of God’s vanquishing not of ancient Israel’s enemies, but of the Nephilim remnants still roaming the earth (here in an English translation from the Septuagint):
“Let thy hand be found by all thine enemies: let thy right hand find all that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven at the time of thy presence: the Lord shall trouble them in his anger, and fire shall devour them. Thou shalt destroy their fruit from the earth, and their seed from [among] the sons of men. For they intended evils against thee; they imagined a device which they shall by no means be able to perform.”
I must admit, in relation to the past four years, I find the words “they intended evils against thee; they imagined a device which they shall by no means be able to perform” absolutely chilling.
The thing, dear friends—and don’t forget this—is that we chose to be born during this time. We were given a mission. You’ve probably known this all of your lives. It’s why we’re here.
You should check out that works of Dr. Michael Heiser. He talks about these giants and what we normal understand as a bloody conquest by the ancient Hebrews leaving Egypt being actually a battle against the giant clans that remained in the land after the flood. The giants were the Anakim, Rephaim, Og king of Bashan, and Goliath. These beings were bad news for humans and hell bent on our destruction. Dr. Heiser also shows how that in the time of Christ demons were not understood as fallen angles. Demons were the disembodied spirits of the giants that seek to return to the flesh. So, according to Dr. Heiser these giants are still around.
The psalms are very good counsels (as Evagrius knew in his Antirrhêtikos). I also employ Psalm 91, which begins ““He that dwelleth in the shelter of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
However, using this psalm has proved challenging for me, once I picked up reciting the Office a few years ago, since (as it turned out) the Devil sometimes precedes. As I unfortunately have a good memory, there was a film I saw in my youth (I won’t mention its name to prevent others from looking it up). Late film by a well-known director, who knew exactly what he was doing: as if intending to forever stain the use of that psalm. Pure evil. Those who’ve seen the film may guess which one it is.
In the scene in question, someone being murdered desperately recites certain lines from this psalm for comfort, but which doesn’t help. The first time I had to recite this psalm, often found in Compline, the images from the film came up immediately, and fighting my way going forward I’ve had to whittle memory away by investing my utmost will into the images the words themselves convey instead. I’ve had to imagine myself in the desert. I sometimes use 68 to clear the way (and then 51) before going onto 91. It’s pretty secure as a refuge now, but that was a battle (with pale shadows still flitting at the edge now and again).
“Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered!
Let those who hate Him flee from before His face!”