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The witching hour, or the devil’s hour, is a term that gained popularity in 1835 to describe the late-night time when the forces of darkness are believed to be the strongest. According to the lore, it is during the witching hour that a magician, demon, or witch reaches the peak of their powers and supernatural beings are most active. While the origin of the idea of a witching hour is uncertain, Shakespeare hinted at the concept in his play Hamlet: “ˈTis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world” (III:ii). Although most people consider the hours between 2:00 and 4:00 AM as the witching hour, Hamlet’s specified “witching time of night” was midnight.
Psychological literature notes that the hours between midnight and 4:00 AM are the peak times for reports of supernatural occurrences, with the hour between 3:00 and 4:00 being the most intense. At one point, the Catholic Church prohibited women from being out between 3:00 and 4:00 AM. Women who ignored this rule were regarded with suspicion by the religious authorities. The early belief in the witching hour implied that the early morning hours were when the least amount of prayers were being offered, thus allowing the spirits of darkness to carry out their work without divine intervention. More recently, the hours between midnight and 2:00 AM are considered the witching hour.
Despite the common—and often extravagant—speculation about the witching hour or the devil’s hour, there is no biblical support for the concept. When Jesus was arrested, He said to the crowd, “This is your hour—when darkness reigns” «When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. », (Luke 22:53), but this is unrelated to the idea of a witching hour.
Witching hour. Jesus was not speaking of an actual time of day; He was simply stating that the forces of darkness had been allowed to arrest Him. Had they not been granted divine permission to act, the temple leaders would have been powerless to harm the Son of God.
Whether or not there is indeed a witching hour is not a real concern for Christians. When we surrender our lives to the lordship of Jesus, we overcome whatever powers of darkness held us captive. The power of the blood of Christ breaks any chains that Satan used to bind us. Whether the clock says it’s 3:00 AM or 3:00 PM, evil forces have no hold on us. We have the same access to God in the middle of the night as we do in the daytime. Psalm 139:12 is a good prayer for those who wake up afraid: “Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”
We must also remember that the “witching hour” in our time zone is broad daylight somewhere else. God does not sleep or get distracted simply because in our part of the world it is 3:00 AM (Psalm 121:3-4;Daniel 2:22). Even when we are asleep, the Lord is awake and on guard «I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. », (Isaiah 27:3).
One reason people tend to believe in the idea of a witching hour is that so much evil goes on during the darkness of night. We wake up in the morning to learn of rapes, robberies, drug deals, and murders that happened while we slept. It seems to us that Satan must have been more active during that time. But we should remember that every evil act had a human choice behind it. Jesus said, “This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:19-20). As much as we’d like to blame Satan for all the world’s ills, the fact is that human beings choose their own evil. Much of what is done during the “witching hour” is done from human hearts dedicated to the goals of Satan (see Matthew 15:18-19; John 8:44).
Sometimes, the Lord may wake us up in the night to intercede for something we do not yet know about. Rather than lie in bed frightened of an imaginary witching hour, we can use our wakeful times to voice praise to God. We can pray for people who come to mind, knowing that the Lord of the universe is as active in the middle of the night as He is at any other time. We should see the early morning hours not as a “witching hour,” but as a “watching hour,” as Jesus asked His disciples to do. The night before He went to the cross, Jesus asked them to “watch with me” (Mark 14:37-38). He asks us to do the same. If we happen to be awake in the middle of the night, we can use that time to purify our hearts before Him and pray for the coming day that we will not “enter into temptation” «And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? », (Mark 14:37). In that way, we can redeem what Satan may have intended for evil and let God use it for good see Genesis 50:20.
