Wiccans might find it interesting that many Christian theologians also believe the physical earth contains spiritual forces.
In the Book of Revelation, chapter nine and verse fourteen, we read of "the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates." Likewise, in Job 26:5, we find "Dead things are formed from under the waters."
The literal Hebrew translation says, "The Rafa (fallen angels) are made to writhe from beneath the waters."
Job 26
5 The Rephaim are formed, Beneath the waters, also their inhabitants. YLT
5 The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them. NIV
Additional biblical references indicate that the earth is a kind of holding tank, or prison, where God has bound certain fallen entities. (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6) That such fallen spirits seek to communicate with,
or participate in the affairs of humanity, is defined in Scripture. The Hebrew people were warned that earth spirits pretending to be gods might seek communion with men, and, when the witch of Endor communicated with the same,
they ascended up from "out of the earth" (1 Sam. 28:13). It would seem, based on such Scriptures, that the dynamic or energy behind the earth-goddess-spirits of Halloween is indeed real,
and, according to the Christian doctrine, identical with the legions of fallen spiritual forces bound within the earth.
Sadly, as in antiquity, those who practice modern paganism worship "devils" (Rev. 9:20). The dogma once embraced (and still is through Wicca) as the wisdom of the goddesses,
is defined in the scriptures as the "doctrines of devils." The Apostle Paul said, "the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils" (1 Cor. 10:20).
In Acts 7:41-42 (Jerusalem Bible), we find those who worship idols joined to the "army of heaven" [stratos, the "fallen angel army"], and Psalm 96:5 concludes, "all the gods of the nations are idols" (elilim, LXX daimonia [demons]).
Thus, pagan images, such as represented the ancient gods and goddesses, were "elilim" (empty, nothing, vanity), but behind the empty idols were the living dynamics of idolatry, and spiritual objects of heathen adoration: demons.
Because the Bible clearly defines earth-centered goddess worship as the homage of demons, and since demons are eternal personalities that desire the worship of humans, it is fair to characterize Wiccan deities, including the god, goddess, and Horned god of the Hunt, as neo-pagan titles attributed to demon spirits.
http://www.prophecyupdate.com/can_you_say_nephilim.htm nephilim rapha underwater
I just remember reading this view in some article I read. I think the Rephaim were also involved in some way with the spirits of dead people. The root Rafa can mean "spirit", "ghost" as well.
As far as water "beneath the earth" goes, I've heard that the ancient view of the earth was that it floated on the seas, or that the seas extended beneath it. In Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, the fish that swallows Jonah takes Jonah on a tour of the underworld. Jonah is shown the foundation stone upon which the temple rests (beneath Jerusalem). He sees the sons of Korah worshipping God in the murky depths beneath the temple. In Jonah's prayer in Jonah 2, Jonah describes the underworld: "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars closed upon me for ever; yet hast Thou brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God." (Jonah 2:7).
I would understand the "sea" beneath the earth as a metaphor for Hades, the "pit", the place where the souls of the dead wait. I think the fish in Jonah represents death. He may have been dead for three days, or preserved alive in Hades.
