Have you ever had an encounter with an other-worldly being during the witching hour? Have you encountered a ghost, demons or spirits in the night? It can be very frightening especially when you wake up out of a deep sleep and there spirit is hovering before you. These encounters usually happen late in the night around 3:00am which is known as the Fourth Watch. In the Book of Mark chapter 6 we read about an instance where the disciples were on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. While they were at sea they turned and saw Jesus walking on the water. This frightened them and they thought that it may have been a spirit or ghost. This is interesting to note because this experience was during the fourth watch. In Jewish mysticism it is believed that during this watch of the night the veil between the spirit realm and our world is very thin. Many awaken during this forth watch to get into intercessory prayer as the Jewish mystics believed that there was a special blessing upon those who were up praying during this watch. This is about 2-3 hour before the sun rises. In the Bible we see King David waking up and praying towards the east in the morning and Jews praying towards the East as well. It is believed that this is because they are praying towards the Holy city of Jerusalem but my studies have shown that this is a much older practice of Sun gazing and praying towards the rising Sun. There are sects of Buddhist and Hindus who awake during this time for meditation as they believe that there is less chatter in the athers because the majority of the world is still asleep. From my personal experiences I’ve seen more angelic activity in the morning sky during the hours between 3-5am. Many who are into witchcraft honor this time as the witching hour and use it specifically as for incantations and summoning spirits. In folklore, the witching hour or devil’s hour is a time of night associated with supernatural events. Creatures such as witches, demons and ghosts are thought to appear and to be at their most powerful. Black magic is thought to be most effective at this time.
