Halloween and the occult: my experience - 31 Oct 2005

My tarot card reading had confirmed that this would be a good night to invoke the spirits, and so a small group of students gathered around eager to uncover the secrets of our future.
the ouija game	As the glass began to move across the table, a ghostly message from beyond the grave was spelled out before us: “You are mine” the message read, “You will die in Chichester.”
This seemed a strange piece of information at the time, because we were a bunch of student nurses living in London, miles from the small town of Chichester. But years later, looking back on the events of that night, I can see the significance of the words exactly. HI! Let me introduce myself. My name is Andrea and I am the resident ‘Agony Aunt’ for 24-7. You’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve come a long way since my days in the occult. But with Halloween fever upon us, how should we, as Christians, view this spooky time of year?
- Is Halloween really dangerous?   - If so, how scared should we be?   - Is it just harmless fun for kids?   - Is it a plot for global domination by pumpkin growers?   - How do we pray on Halloween?	Pumpkin farmers: plotting global domination? Hmmmm...
My story “I was interested in the supernatural since I was a kid. I did a project at school about ghosts and supernatural phenomena. In my spare time I read books about divination and learned to read Tarot & Osiris cards. I was fascinated with the idea that I might be able to learn about the future and soon became quite popular reading palms and practicing numerology.   Once I left home and went to college I became involved with friends who were into ouija and spiritism and I quickly developed the ability to contact spirits and became a medium. I guess I was spurred on in these things by a lack of self esteem.
"The more answers I received, the more questions I asked.  It was a spiral of uncertainty."	I was not very confident and the occult seemed to provide a way for me to gain popularity and at the same time give me some direction and confidence in my future. Unfortunately as I became more and more dependent on the information fed to me by spirits and through occult techniques I developed some paranoid tendencies.
I was hooked on occult, like a growing addiction. The more answers I received the more questions I asked. It was a spiral of uncertainty. My family began to notice changes in my attitude and my behaviour. With the occult, people either say that there is nothing in it, dismissing it all as mind games or they are so frightened they say, “don’t do it!” but fail to give you any real reasons why not. I had experienced powers and phenomena that lead me to believe that there was a supernatural realm outside this physical life - and I was not satisfied with the “don’t touch” approach, because I am no chicken!
Control When I was involved in occult, I thought that I was in control - that I could develop spiritual gifts that would ultimately help me and others...but I was wrong. This was not a game or a harmless self-improvement plan. I was playing with fire and very nearly got badly burnt. Finally the spirits that I had been contacting began to turn from benevolent friendly guides to angry, scheming, manipulating voices I could no longer trust.   What I didn’t know back then was that my cousin had become a Christian and with friends from a church in Chichester was praying like crazy for me!
Fear Having been told that I would die in Chichester, you can imagine my reaction when my cousin asked if I would like to visit her there. But finally I made up my mind to “follow my destiny”, got on a train and arrived in Chichester expecting the worst to happen. I knew that there was a supernatural realm but I also knew that all the things that I was into were screwing me up.

So what do I think about Halloween?

While it is fairly harmless to dress up in a black pointy hat or to hang a white sheet over your head and pretend to be a ghost, this can just reinforce the false belief that there is no harm in the occult. I know from experience that there is real power in the supernatural. But the good news is that, as Christians, we have a greater power in the Holy Spirit. We can know our future and I have seen miracles and healings in the name of Jesus. Celebrating occultic practices at Halloween just gives them higher profile than they deserve.