As a former spiritualist, I was dismayed to read Poundland had introduced Spirit boards (their version of Hasbro's Ouija boards) to their Halloween section. The consequences of using such boards are often bad and at worst can be catastrophic.
It was worrying to read the boards, which are marketed at children, had been very popular. It seems the company had nearly sold out before finally removing them from sale in the past few days.
It's not just Poundland. Other companies including Amazon have sold such boards in recent years. In the recent past, such action would have been unheard of. But our society is increasingly embracing all things paranormal, and it's a worrying trend that should concern all Christians.
My story
During the 1980s and 90s, I was a spiritualist and my mother was a psychic medium. We were acutely aware of the horrific dangers of spirit contact. We knew of numerous accounts of unwanted evil paranormal incidents and violent spirit attacks, suffered by those who sought spirits. Such harassment often led victims to depression and suicide attempts. My own mother killed herself having been relentlessly attacked by spirits for years. There are an abundance of reports in psychiatric journals highlighting correlations between occult activity with mental illnesses and suicides.
As members of The Spiritualist Association of Great Britain, my mother and I attended spiritualist churches in Glasgow, Scotland. We participated in séances and other forms of spirit communication, as well as psychic spiritual healing and divination. Yet, along with all the other mediums there, we respected Ouija Boards as being out of bounds. We all avoided them, warning others to do likewise.
Most don’t realise that many mediums who channel spirits endure attacks. They don’t mention this to the public, to their clients or their students. When my mother and I were spiritualists we knew this only too well.
Ever since I started sharing my testimony publicly in 2009 (read my story here), many people from across the world, including mediums, have contacted me. Upon receiving Christ as their Saviour, they have experienced freedom from hellish spirit attacks, praise God!
Deliverance
The late Mark Constantino was a well known medium who appeared on the world famous TV show Ghost Adventures. In 2018 I interviewed his sister Laura, who told me her brother Mark and wife Debby experienced demonic attacks for years. Laura herself was still being attacked after going to a séance years before. On my show, I told Laura that myself and a friend could cast those spirits from her home, in Jesus name, just as the disciples did in the Bible.
After that show, a few of us were overjoyed to pray for Laura over Skype, where she experienced a dramatic deliverance from those evil spirits. They immediately left her presence. Two years later, she still happily reports they have never returned. Hallelujah!
In recent years, there has been a global explosion of people joining local ghost hunting teams, tarot card or psychic development classes. Representation of such occult phenomena has rocketed through the media, especially through magazines and highly successful TV shows. Leading up to each Halloween this increases with popular ‘haunted editions’ and horror films. Even online, people can now learn how to contact spirits. More disturbingly, they can learn how to evoke a ‘spirit boyfriend or girlfriend’.
It’s no coincidence there has followed an explosion in the numbers of people requesting help from Christian ministers because their homes have become demonised or ‘possessed’ after such paranormal involvement. Although very easy to open the doors to the supernatural, they’re almost impossible to close, unless the victims turn to Christ for salvation and deliverance.
My friend, Dana Emanuel, a former Ghost Hunter, knew of paranormal investigators who were harmed during spirit communications. Now a Christian in media, like myself, she warns that Ouija or Angel boards, Ghost boxes, EVP equipment and other spirit communication tools, may look innocent, but all open doors to deceptive demons.
What the Bible says
Mediums, also known as necromancers, are mentioned throughout the Bible. Deuteronomy 18:10-11 states, "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." It says such things are abominations to the Lord. God, our loving heavenly father, knows these are actually evil spirits, deceiving precious people and pretending to be good.
Dana, myself and countless others discovered the spirits we spoke to who eventually attacked us, were demons disguised as the dead. 2 Corinthians 11:14 states, "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."
Due to Covid-19, many Halloween events have been cancelled worldwide. More people will party at home. With purchases from Poundland and other outlets, many will use Ouija boards in their own homes, perhaps for the first time. Merely bringing one into your home attracts spirits.
There is hope! If you own a Ouija board or any occult tool or book, I strongly advise you do what I did in 1996. Destroy them and renounce them as you turn to Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts, many brought their tools of witchcraft to be burned. They repented to the Lord, receiving his loving, cleansing forgiveness and healing. You can experience the same today.
Laura Maxwell is an author, radio host and frequent TV and radio guest. She blogs at ourspiritualquest.com.
Click here to read Laura's testimony in full
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