“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” – Rev. 6:12

The Truth About Witch Doctors

One of satan’s most effective ways to infest a person with his demons is through witch doctors. Sometimes they are called a traditional healer, shaman, or a medicine man but I would prefer that they are called witch doctors because they are essentially using witchcraft or occult methods for their supernatural works (“occult” means “hidden” – I use the term in the sense of direct or indirect involvement with demonic supernaturalism).

The impetus for me to expose the dangers of getting involved with witch doctors was a man from Africa who recently contacted me for deliverance prayer. He went to witch doctors which resulted in him picking up a lot of demons.  He’s not the first person from Africa who had visited a witch doctor that I expelled demons out of by the authority of Jesus and he probably won’t be the last. He told me something was always moving in his body and his body had burning sensations for several years – he was always in pain. He told me he went to the doctor but the doctor found nothing wrong with him. I thought he could very well have demons since some infirmities can be caused by demons.

Indeed, Job had boils and it was by the affliction of satan. Jesus cast out a demon – a mute and deaf spirit out of a man (Mark 9:25-26). Jesus also expelled an unclean spirit out of a boy who had epilepsy or the symptoms of epilepsy. The boy’s symptoms included sudden screaming, foaming at the mouth, lack of speech, falling, rigidity, and self-harm (Matt. 17:14-18;  Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:38-42).

This man said he visited witch doctors for healing. They gave him potions and did scarification on his body. He also related to me that his sister went to a witch doctor to seek help for him and that night while the man I had been praying for was sleeping his wife saw somebody on top of him smiling at her. He said that the witch doctor saw his wife and he smiled at her. So it seems like the witch doctor astral projected or soul traveled, which occultists can do but it is by the power of demons they have that ability.

Witch Doctors Curse!

We also believe demons may have entered him because someone went to a witch doctor to send curses to him. All of this happened before he was a Christian. Sending curses to someone doesn’t work on a true born-again Christian who is walking with the Lord. All of this happened before he turned his life over to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And curses are real! Balaam was about to put a curse on the Israelites but God stopped him (Numbers ch. 22). God never denied what he was doing was real. Ex-witch turned Christian Doreen Irvine stated: “I tried to put curses on the preacher, but they did not work. There was a barrier between my power and the preacher, who was a man of great faith and courage. I was puzzled. My powers had never before failed. I had no idea that far greater power than of Satan was protecting this man – the mighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Freed From Witchcraft, pg. 98). Death magic has a long tradition where occultists attempt to command spirits to kill other people. It is among the most common forms of magic.

The Supernatural Powers Behind Witch Doctors

Witch doctors believe the ancestors must be shown respect through ritual and animal sacrifice. They perform summoning rituals by burning plants, dancing, chanting, channeling demons, or playing drums. A lot of witch doctors usually claim they get their power or directions from the spirits of the dead or their dead ancestors. A lot of times they will get initiated into it by those spirits and usually, the spirits will choose a person because their parents or grandparents were witch doctors. Direct choice by the spirits may occur as a result of a history of occultism in the family, even to four generations. It has been demonstrated that one person’s active occult involvement may condemn his children, and his children’s children, to the special attention of the spirit world as if they are specially marked in some way. However, being chosen is not required to become a witch doctor. These spirits can be very aggressive when they take the initiative in choosing a person.

Source

One Australian aborigine called a ngankari relates her story:

I was only a teenager when I received the gift, which initially scared me! This power just came to me alone. I’d wander around at night with my powers, and return to my camp early in the morning. All I could think was that I must have become a ngangkari [traditional healer] for some reason. I asked my mother, “Mother, why do I drift around at night so much?” and she replied, “You must be a ngangkari then.” My reaction was, “What?” and she said, “Yes, it seems that you have become a ngangkari all by yourself!

The touch of my hands has a healing effect. I give a firm, strong touch, and remove the pain and sickness, and throw it away from the sufferer. After their treatment they will stand up and tell me how they feel and, of course, there is always an improvement.

At night I see spirits. The kurunpa spirits talk to me. Spirits separate from the body when someone is unwell or suffering and I see them. This is how I find out they are not well. I have dog friends that help me, as well. These dogs are my friends. At night I travel around by myself to make sure the women are all right. I see everyone at night, how they are, if they are all right. Sometimes it scares me but it is my work, I have to do it. I travel alone and that is what I do.

When I was growing up I had three grandfathers who were all ngangkari: my mother’s father, my father’s father and my grandfather’s brother. So I lived with these three ngangkari. Well, actually there were four, because my father was a ngangkari as well. One day my grandfather asked me, “Do you want us to give you ngangkari power, so that you can live your life as a ngangkari? You’ll have to help sick people, and heal them, whether they are men, women or children. If you do become a ngangkari, the power will stay with you all your life and you’ll never lose it, or be able to throw it away.”

My father was observing all of this. He told me that the way I would have to heal people would be to pull the sickness out of their bodies in the form of pieces of wood, or sticks, or stones, things like that. This is so that people can actually see with their own eyes the sickness that is removed from their bodies. This is the commonly accepted way we ngangkari do our work. It is so that people can see us taking their sickness away from their bodies, which gives them a sense of removal. My father told me I’d have to make sure I showed them what I took out, so they could see it, before I disposed of it.

Source

But it is impossible for those spirits to be their ancestors who have passed because the Bible reads that it is appointed a man to die once and after that is judgment (Heb. 9:27). Once a person dies that person is either in heaven or hades (Phil. 1:23; Luke 16:19-31). There is no biblical support that our dead ancestors can come back to assist the living. 

The truth is all those spirits are just demons masquerading or impersonating their ancestors. Whether witch doctors know it or not they use the power of satan to “heal” people of physical, emotional, and spiritual illnesses (and I am talking about the real, genuine witch doctors because I know there are quacks out there who fool people). These are the same spirits that people contact during a seance or via an Ouija board. The enemy will give a person a false identity as part of his deception. Satan is a liar and a deceiver (John 8:44; Rev. 12:9). Satan and his demons are not going to present themselves as they really are otherwise most people would never get involved with a witch doctor or use an Ouija board. Satan likes to operate in the dark and in camouflage because it is much more effective for him for strategic purposes. Camouflage has been a key ingredient of military tacticians for ages. Satan is very crafty, a lot more crafty than Christians give him credit for. He makes what’s evil look good. He presents to people poison but wraps it up in a nice-looking veneer and multitudes fall for his snare hook, line, and sinker. If witch doctors knew demonic spirits were working behind them they would probably quit their occupation. I say most because there are still some people who are stupid enough to willingly and knowingly get help from satan’s kingdom.

The devil will likely not walk up to someone and say, “I am Satan. I wish to damn your soul.” On the contrary:

“The devil is a many-sided and versatile demagogue. To the psychologist he says, “I will give you new knowledge and understanding.” To the occultist, he will say, ‘I will give you the keys to the last secrets of creation.’ He confronts the religionist and the moralist with a mask of integrity and promises them the very help of heaven. And finally to the rationalist and the liberalist he says, ‘I am not there. I do not even exist.’

The devil is a skillful strategist. He is the master of every tactic of the battlefield. He befogs the front. He hides behind a camouflage of empty religious talk. He operates through the use of the latest scientific method. He successfully fires and launches his arguments on the social and humane place. And his sole aim is to deceive, to entice, and to ensnare his victims” (Koch, The Devil’s Alphabet, pg. 7).

For the witch doctors to contact or get possessed by these demons sometimes they will work themselves up into a trance state usually through ritualistic music or hallucinogenic drugs. One can actually see the demon(s) manifest through them. By the abilities of the demons inside of them, they can clairvoyantly detect physical disabilities apart from normal medical means. Nobel scientist, Sir John Eccles once commented that the human brain “was a machine that a ghost can operate.” That’s why I believe satan salivates when people induce an altered state of consciousness or trance because it leaves a person susceptible to demon possession.

Source

When you strip away the whole veneer the witch doctors are essentially channelers or mediums for demons to carry out their agenda. Just as God has His vessels for His use, who are born again, Holy Spirit-filled Christians, satan also has his vessels for his use. It would be an understatement to say these witch doctors are loaded with demons. I say would anyone who channels spirits no matter who those spirits claim to be is a walking vessel of demons.

Consider this testimony:

“A woman missionary in New Guinea, on arriving at a village she had never visited before, called at the large house at the entrance of the village, little realizing it was the house of the chief witchdoctor. As she entered, she saw a man crouch down on the floor and give her a terrible look. The missionary sensed at once there were evil powers emanating from the man. She immediately started to pray that Christ would protect her. A spiritual duel developed. In the end she was able to call out, “Jesus saves.” The witchdoctor jerked, and then collapsed on the floor The battle was over” (Occult Bondage and Deliverance, Kurt E. Koch, pg. 86)

Naturally, if you get involved with demons whether, via channelers, psychics, witches, or the like, you will get spiritually defiled. That is one of the goals of satan which is to defile people spiritually and ultimately destroy the person. You go to a witch doctor you are opening up a floodgate of demons to come inside of you. I would say it is perhaps one of the easiest ways to infest yourself with demons along with using drugs, playing with an Ouija board, or opening up the third eye along with other occult or New Age practices. Not only you have opened yourself to demons but you have potentially subjected your descendants to those demons.

Source

The Affinity and Trust For Witch Doctors in Africa

Now, witch doctors or just plain witchcraft are ubiquitous in Africa (more specifically sub-Saharan Africa). Witchcraft is an integral part of many African cultures. One popular football player (we call the sport Soccer here in the U.S.) from Zimbabwe wrote a book exposing how witchcraft is a common practice there. Teams would use witchcraft on the other team to help win games. He said witchcraft was so integral to their game that it would modify their gameplay strategy to accommodate it [Source]. The gentleman who I prayed for deliverance over is from Benin in West Africa and he told me it is common for people there to visit witch doctors and it’s the same with other African countries. I just had someone from Nigeria email me and she said a lot of people there go to witch doctors too. In South Africa, a reported 80% of all indigenous people there go to witch doctors (called Sangomas). In fact, there are more practicing witch doctors there than professionally trained medical doctors. There are 200,000 witch doctors compared to 25,000  medical doctors [Source]. It is so much an accepted part of their culture that the government has legitimized it by proposing to allow witch doctors to receive a medical certificate to regulate their craft. Other African countries have a very high percentage that is involved with doctors such as Cameroon. A reported 80% of people there are involved with them [source]. In Mozambique, there are over 70,000 witch doctors who far outnumber the 15,000 professional medical doctors there [Source].

A lot of Africans will visit a witch doctor before they would even visit a Western-trained doctor. Many will also claim to be Christian and still visit witch doctors which is utterly insane to me. That’s like going to a satanic high priest to be prayed over for healing. I believe most of them are merely nominal Christians because I believe the Holy Spirit in a person would check a person from getting involved with a witch doctor. In this article, one female witch doctor in South Africa said “We are Christians at home and we go to church like everyone else. We pray to God as the source of everything. I believe that being a sangoma is simply a gift that God has given me through my ancestors”. The Bible, however, reads to test the spirits yet I seriously doubt these self-identified Christians don’t bother to see if they are really of the God of the Bible (1 John 4:1).

Moreover, the Bible reads, “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils’ ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we strong than?” (1 Cor. 10:21-22).

Source

There are reports that there are humans sacrificed in several African countries by witch doctors. In Uganda, there has been child sacrifice where the wealthy pay witch doctors to perform sacrifices in an effort to expand their fortunes [sources 1, 2]. In countries such as Malawi and Tanzania, albinos are sacrificed for their body parts to be used by witch doctors [source].

Is it not obvious that the spirit working behind the witch doctors is satan? This level of wickedness and depravity can only be orchestrated by satan for he comes to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). They will also sacrifice animals to appease or contact these demons. All of this is nothing new. The pagan nations around the ancient Israelites were performing sacrifices to their false gods (Lev. 18:21). Even the ancient Israelites themselves succumbed to the practice of such atrocities (Jer. 7:30-32; 19:5).

Christian author, Craig Hawkins, observes some of the inherently religious, pagan motivations behind human and animal sacrifice. It is in the context of satanism but it could easily apply to witch doctors since the same being is behind both:

“… the slaughtering of the victim is literally a sacrifice to the demons, who in return will grant or cause to be brought about whatever is desired. The greater the request, the “greater” the sacrifice must be…. The younger and healthier the animal, and more so with humans, the worthier the sacrifice. Also, since this type of Satanist operates on the principle of completely perverting and reversing Christianity, he believes that he will increase his power by performing more and more heinous acts. The most precious and innocent thing for a Christian is a little child: Conversely, the sacrificing of a child would be the most efficacious (supreme sacrifice) for a Satanist. It is plainly one of the greatest perversions of Christian principles possible, and for this reason it is considered the more magically potent.”(Craig Hawkins, Forward magazine, Fall 1986, pg. 21).

Indeed, it is true what they are sacrificing to are devils. “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” 1 Cor. 10:20

The Two Sources of Supernatural Powers In The World

Some may think going to witch doctors and witchcraft is just superstitious nonsense that has no real effect on the physical world but there is a reason why people continue to go to witch doctors and have been going to them for thousands of years. It is because it can actually work. Satan has and can do supernatural acts or miracles. When Pharaoh’s magicians did miracles such as turning their staff into a snake that was not a sleight of hand. That was real demon power working behind it. The Bible says the Antichrist will come with all kinds of signs and lying wonders (2 Thess. 2:9). The Antichrist will have a mortal injury in the head and it will be miraculously healed (Rev. 13:3). In the future demonic spirits, like frogs, will come out of the mouths of satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet to perform miracles before the whole work to deceive kings or rules to fight against Jesus when He returns at a place called Armageddon. Jesus Christ said Himself that “…false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect” (Mark 13:22).

I like to emphasize there are only two sources of supernatural power in the world: One is from the living God of the Bible and the other is from satan. Spiritual healing can either be legitimate or illegitimate – that is, either divine or demonic. We see that there is a divine gift of healing that God may give to some of His people (1 Cor. 12:9,28,30) but there is a demonic counterfeit. To those who are skeptical about demonic miracles, who do you think helps to move the planchette when one plays with an Ouija board or when someone uses divining rods? That in itself is a miracle as it violates the laws of physics as we know it. In the book of Acts, how did the girl in Philippi have the supernatural power of divination for fortune-telling? It was by the power of a demon (called a Python spirit) that the apostle Paul expelled a demon from her rendering her without the supernatural ability (Acts 16:16-18).

But does satan really heal people? I would say yes and no. When satan “heals” a person he curses the person in another way. He can heal an illness or ailment but then the person will have another kind of illness or ailment. Satan can have a person running in circles never really receiving complete healing. Everything from him requires a cost to a person’s detriment. But with the Lord Jesus Christ, on the other hand, He heals for free granted if He chooses to and if the person has faith.

Kurt E. Koch, about demonic healing, stated “In all cases I have observed over a long period of time, it was only a matter of apparent cure. Either the ailment appeared again after a considerable pause, or there was only a shift, a transfer from the organic to the psychological… A change from bodily ailment to psychological disturbances” (Koch, Christian Counseling and Occultism pg. 139).

Author Merril Unger said something similar: “…when demons help heal physical diseases, they exact a price either in some type of occult oppression or psychic disturbance in their victim or by causing him to fall prey to error and false doctrine.

Physical healing, when not according to God’s will and for his glory in answer to prayer but effected through demonic spirits, always has Satan’s costly price tag attached to it. Satan merely shifts the malady from the physical to the mental or emotional. The victim often falls into doctrinal errors of the cult in which the healing occurred. When black magic is used with demonic help, the practice of healing and causing diseases merely fosters satanic cunning and effects no real deliverance.” (Merrill Unger, Demons in the World Today, pgs. 155-156)

The effects of the curse can’t be reversed unless one turns to Jesus.

Are Africans Allowing Their Countries To Be Cursed?

I want to make it really clear that not all of Africa is like what the media makes out it to be. They are not all living in mud huts and in caves as a lot of Westerners assume. Many large cities in sub-Saharan Africa are modern or are in the process of modernizing and the economies of many of the countries are growing. However, as far as I know, there is still a lot of political corruption, social unrest, and extreme poverty in many African countries. If God blesses a country that keeps His commandments (Ps. 33:12; 2 Chron. 7:14) then what about countries that have given themselves over to the devil via witchcraft? I believe if a country turns away from God then satan will come right in to fill up the vacuum. And nothing ever good, at least in the long run, comes from satan.

John Weldon and Zola Levitt wrote: “Any culture that turns from God, no matter how literate or technologically advanced, will sooner or later become perverse. If that culture sinks into the abyss of occultism, the cost will be particularly severe. India, where wretched disease and starvation are a norm of daily life, is a classic example of the debilitating effect of occult practices on the national character. Attempts to get real help to such backward cultures have failed in a variety of ways, but for one common reason. Men mistakenly assume that there must be something material that will cause cultures to evolve, or advance. The culture in question is merely “historically prior,” it is believed and something can be done to bring it up to date. Then it will function as well as the “developed” cultures. That assumption is false. Although there are many variables, we could generally say that, at least in part, primitive cultures are primitive because of their rejection of God and their acceptance of the occult. Material help or material goods fail since the problem is fundamentally spiritual.“

“Societies dominated by the occult, be they Hinduist Indian or animist African, will not substantially improve their social, economic, and cultural conditions apart from repudiating the occult and returning to valid spirituality” (Psychic Healing: An Exposé of an occult phenomenon, pg. 23-25).

Dr. Gary North said “... The reason why these cultures are primitive is that magic, which involves a definite world-and-life view, dominates all of them. The cultures are the product of the religion of magic, not the other way around. It is not what men possess externally that counts in the long run. What is crucial is the attitude toward God and the world that permeates the culture…. Primitivism is a state of mind, a set of attitudes. All attempts to overcome cultural backwardness, apart from a prior change of mind by the members of the culture in question, are doomed to failure.” (Quoted in Psychic Healing: An Exposé of an occult phenomenon, pg. 24-25)

I think Westerners take Christianity and the Bible for granted. Perhaps the greatest blessings bestowed upon the Western world were the influence of Christianity and the Bible.  The Western world would be a much darker, regressive place if it wasn’t for

Christianity. Without Christians, there would be no buffer against the gates of hell. Who knows, the Western world would probably look something like what goes on at the Burning Man Festival.

If Africans want God to bless their countries they should seriously ditch the witchcraft and the witch doctors. Africa needs some serious renunciation and repentance in that area.

I’m not just picking on Africa when it comes to witch doctors but it is just so widely practiced and embraced there, and considering the population, there is close to 1 billion and growing rapidly[source], I think it is very critical this issue must be addressed. We basically have almost a whole continent actively involved with demon power and a lot more people are going to be involved with it as its population grows.

Shamanistic Healing Or Witch Doctors Exist In Just About Every Country

But there are many other cultures (especially animist cultures) or other places in the world that go to witch doctors. For example, there are the Hmongs from Asia. Even when they immigrate to the U.S. they still practice their shamanism or traditional healing. In Mexico, they call their traditional healer a curandero (or curandera if female). The Australian aborigines have their traditional healers called ngankari. The Philippines have witch doctors called the albularyos. The Indonesians call their shamans or traditional healers Dukuns or Bomohs. Hawaii has the Kahunas. There is the South American shaman whose essential function is healing. Just like witch doctors they always diagnose with the help of their familiar spirits. Villages in the Himalayas or in central and, North Asia have their traditional healers. Throughout the world, shamanistic practices (which can include cure illnesses), and experiences are highly uniform. In North and South America, Australia, Africa, and Asia, the shaman functions in a similar fashion, using the same techniques, and achieving the same results. Anthropologists have long recognized this “remarkable” worldwide consistency of shamanism. All the more reason to conclude it all comes from the same source, namely satan.

Some witch doctors will say they are utilizing white magic for healing but the source of the supernatural power is the same. Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, admitted: “White magic is supposedly utilized only for good or unselfish purposes, and black magic, we are told, is used only for selfish or evil reasons. Satanism draws no such dividing line…..There is no difference between ‘White’ and ‘Black’ magic, except in the smug hypocrisy, guilt-ridden righteousness, and self-deceit of the ‘White’ magician himself” Source

Koch would have agreed: “Black magic is distinguished from white magic by its form. In the worldwide literature of magic, it is maintained that black magic is done by the help of the devil and white magic with the help of God. This definition is false. White magic is just as dependent on the powers from below as is black magic. The evidence is not difficult to find. The effects of white magic are the same as those of black magic…” (Koch, Occult ABC, Pg. 135)

There is a different kind of demonic healing called psychic surgery. Psychic surgery is really a 21st-century medical form of Shamanistic healing. The majority of psychic surgeons come from the spiritist centers of Brazil and the Philippines. Typically, the “surgeon” has no medical background and often acknowledges his dependence on trance states through which his “spirit doctors” work. There may be fraud involved but some really use the power of demons.

There is John of God from Brazil who is a psychic healer or more specifically a psychic surgeon. The guy has no medical training. From his website, he admits he is a medium and claims God permits the “Entities” to heal people through him. Those entities are supposed spirits of past doctors and saints. Of course, these spirits he refers to as Entities are nothing but satan’s demons.

From what I have gathered, John of God was accused of sexual assault by several women. I wouldn’t put it past him because that’s the rotten fruits of satan’s kingdom.

Satan rarely shows his true face, and he effectively operates under the good name of “true spirituality”. Hence that’s why the majority of occult healers claim their gift of “spiritual healing” comes from God.

Satanic Healing In The West

Satan has different modes of supernatural healing depending on the culture – any way for satan to get people to bite on his bait. In the West, we have psychic healers, which is a mediumistic or occult ability of healing. One psychic healer was Edgar Cayce. He was probably the most renowned medium of the last century in the U.S.

How did diagnosis and healing take place? When a sick person came to him for help, Cayce would go into a trance and then he was able to tell the patient the nature of the disease. In some cases, he would transmit healing impulses to the patient by means of mental suggestion.

Aside from spiritually defiling people through his so-called healing, Edgar taught a false Jesus and other unbiblical ideas. He even suspected the devil was using him. He said, “the devil might be tempting me to do his work by operating through me when I was conceited enough to think God had given me special power.” Apparently, satan was using him for that purpose.

There was Harry Edwards, Britain’s most famous healer. He was probably one of the most dangerous healers in the Western world. Harry Edwards became involved in healing by attending seances. He eventually received spirit guides and did all of his healing, as he admitted, by their power. He had no power apart from them.

What is interesting is that Edwards was not able to perform cures when faced with born-again Christians who had committed themselves to the protection of Christ (Koch, Occult ABC, p. 235).

It’s evident their powers are not of their own but from some external source.

George Meek wrote: “Any study of healers immediately brings the investigator face to face with the concept that spirit intelligences (variously referred to as guides, controls, or protectors) are working through the minds of healers to supply information of which the healer himself has no conscious knowledge.”(George W. Meek, “The Healers, “ in George Meek, ed., Healers and the Healing Process, p. 32)

Charles Panati, in his Supersenses, refers to the research of Lawrence Le shan who “has gone out into the field and observed Eastern and Western healers firsthand.” Panati states: “But if the healers he studied had one thing in common, it was that they all felt they did not perform the healing themselves; a ‘spirit’ did it working through them. They felt they were merely passive agents….“(Charles Panati, Supersenses, p. 102)

More telltale signs demons are working behind psychic healers are not of God is that the spirits will coerce or threaten them.

Gary K. North stated of Cayce:

“His biographers seldom refer to the fact that throughout the remainder of his life – forty-five years – Cayce had recurring voice failures. He was completely dependent upon his trance state and its circulation stimulation to return his waking voice to normal. No one could give a physiological reason for the loss of his voice. Those familiar with demon possession would immediately recognize the cause: occult bondage. Cayce could not abandon the physical ‘readings’ once they had begun. He was trapped” (Gary K. North, None Dare Call It Witchcraft, p. 167).

These deceptive, evil spirits will even threaten them if they turn to the Lord Jesus Christ:

“…occultists who are converted to faith in Jesus Christ, be they witches, mediums, psychics, gurus, spiritists of all stripes, UFO “contactees,” etc, always seem to discover that their once-friendly “familiars,” spirit helpers,” “ascended masters,” “devas and gods,” “space contacts,” etc, now turn against them” (Ankerberg & Weldon, The Coming Darkness, pg. 296).

Kurt explained “... people with occult subjection will often suffer their first attacks after they seek to follow Christ and serve Him. In other words, the battle often does not begin until a person receives Christ” (Koch, Demonology Past and Present, p. 105).

Another mode of supernatural healing is Reiki or energy healing which is common in the New Age. I know Reiki or energy healing is becoming popular as it is being promoted in the media such as found on the Dr. Oz show. Reiki is a system of energy healing based on the theory that an universal healing energy or life force permeates and infuses the universe or ki, hence the name “ReiKI“. Reiki’s recent origins are in the 19th century when Mikao Usui, a Buddhist monk, and teacher in Kyoto, Japan, searched for an understanding of healing. He was involved with divination. He was a member of a metaphysical group dedicated to developing psychic abilities. As the story goes, he went to a mountain north of Kyoto to fast and meditate. How it is described what he experienced is that a miraculous type of high-frequency spiritual energy had displaced his normal consciousness and replaced it with an amazing new level of awareness. On his way down he stubbed his toe. And then he placed his hands over the toe, which was in pain. As he did this, healing energy began flowing from his hands all by itself. The pain in his toe went away and the toe was healed. He realized he received the gift of healing. He also understood that this was his life purpose; to be a healer and to train others. So basically he got a demonic anointing. Yes, the devil can anoint his people for his purposes.

Satan knows he can’t get most Westerners to go to witch doctors so he uses other means of supernatural healing. In African cultures, the spirits claim they are dead ancestors, whereas, in the New Age, they usually claim they are spirit guides. People use real supernatural power that comes from the demonic realm when they practice Reiki.

Therapeutic Touch is another form of occult healing similar to Reiki and it claims to work by channeling psychic energies from nurse to patient. The technique was developed by Dora Kunz who was a spiritist who looked to “invisible intelligences,” “angels,” and Theosophy’s “Ascended Masters” for inspiration and guidance. That alone should raise red flags. Don’t be fooled. Therapeutic Touch is really an occult practice however its occult nature is usually hidden by scientific associations and used in respected medical facilities. The techniques for teaching Therapeutic Touch involve the same methods used traditionally for the training of psychic healers – using meditation, altered states of consciousness, and other means to sensitize a person to the psychic realm.  Altered states of consciousness are notorious for fostering demonic spirit contact. The practice of Therapeutic Touch is similar to that carried out by mediums and spiritists in both its method and results.

I believe chi, ki, prana, psychic energy, or whatever name one wants to label it are simply just demons masquerading. These mystical energies are indistinguishable from the occult power that occultists claim is given by demons in magic rituals. This “energy” can act independently, display intelligences, enter a person, and cause the development of psychic powers, radical occultic personality transformation, and spirit possession further proving they are demons.

Healers using the power of demons is nothing new. This has been going on for thousands of years: “The world in which the early Christians lived was full of demons and demon- energized healers and magic workers (Acts 8:9-11; 13:7-10). In the temple of Serapis at Alexanderia Egypt, multitudes of pagans were remarkably healed. Pilgrimages to Epidaurus in Greece became world famous, and a night’s sleep in the sacred temple cured thousands” (Albert Henry Newman, A Manual of Church History, 1: 32, 161.)

I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt you are getting serious, heavy demonic infestation if you go to a psychic surgeon, psychic healer, Reiki healer, etc. just as you will if you get involved with a witch doctor.

Discerning What Is From What Is Of God and What Is From The Devil

How do I know all of this demonic? Because it doesn’t glorify the God of the Bible. That could be the litmus test if a supernatural act is of God or of the devil. You have to ask yourself who is getting the glory if someone is getting supernaturally healed? Biblically, Godly miracles were performed through the power of God to glorify Him, edify the church, and validate the Gospel (Read Acts 14:3; Heb. 2:4; 1 Cor. 12:7, 14:12-13). Jesus’ healing magnified the glory of God. For instance, after the blind man by the side of the road was healed in Luke 18:35-43, he followed Jesus, “and immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God” (verse 43). This same glorifying and praising of God happened after Jesus healed the paralytic (Matthew 9:2-8, Mark 2:10-12, Luke 5:22-26), when He healed the “…lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others…insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15:30, 31). Other examples where glory was given to God when supernatural healing occurred was when Jesus raised the dead man in Nain (Luke 7:11-16), made the woman bent doubled stand straight (Luke 13:13), and when one of the ten lepers healed by Jesus turned back “glorifying God in a loud voice” and falling on his face at Jesus’ feet (Luke 17:15, 16). One of satan’s job descriptions is to try to rob the living and true God of the Bible of His glory and he will try any means to try to do it.

Aside from opening doorways to demonic infestation and usurping God’s glory, the devil is in the business of “healing” because individuals who get involved in it usually adopt doctrines of demons or an unbiblical worldview. These psychic or faith healers may engage in fortune-telling and a wide variety of other occult powers along with healing. Their philosophy is consistently anti-biblical. Even though their worldview is almost universally religious, and many claim to be Christians, their philosophy incorporates reincarnation, pantheism, animism, monism, or syncretism. A lot of these psychic healers believe in God, but a God of their own making – an impersonal or pantheist god – never the Biblical God.

Moreover, it is a form of idolatry when one seeks supernatural help such as from a witch doctor or psychic healer instead of the living God, just as it is idolatry to seek counsel from an astrologer, necromancer, or fortune teller instead of the living God. The Bible reads it is God who heals (Ex. 15:26) and it is God who we should seek for counsel (Isaiah 8:19; 9:6 Ps. 32:8). One is essentially putting people who are puppets of the enemy in the place where God should be by getting involved with them. That is sin.

The author and missionary Thomas Hale once warned, “We must not so much as taste of the devil’s broth, lest at last he bring us to eat of his beef.“

I believe satan counterfeits most, if not all, of God’s “spiritual gifts”. The word “counterfeit” necessarily means that somewhere there is a genuine as well. Demonic practices do not mean there are no genuine “spiritual gifts.” But we should be aware that there are satanic counterfeits. Kurt Koch points out “over the years it has become quite obvious to me through my counseling work that all these mediumistic abilities are really a diabolical counterpart to the spiritual gifts bestowed on us by God. The devil is ever trying to imitate God. One can justify this conclusion by the fact that mediumistic forces and powers can always be overcome and halted through the prayers of a believing Christian. Similarly the actual possession of mediumistic abilities is always a hinderance to the development of a sound and healthy Christian life. Therefore, as we have mentioned already, there is nothing worse than when mediumistic powers are ignorantly accepted and labelled as evidences of the workings of the Holy Spirit. And yet this is exactly what is happening among certain extreme Christian groups today” (Psychic Healing, pg. 198).

Does God Really Still Supernaturally Heal Today?

With satan in the “healing” business does the living God of the Bible supernaturally heal today? I will say yes, absolutely! It doesn’t mean He will always supernaturally heal but if God chooses to He can. In my opinion, Christians who say God doesn’t supernaturally heal today are doing a great disservice to both Christians and non-Christians (I am looking at you, John MacArthur!). Do you mean to really say to me satan can do all these supernatural works but the Creator of the universe doesn’t? We give Jesus a bad name if we act as if the devil can heal but Jesus cannot. Who knows how many Christians out there who have ailments that can be supernaturally healed by the power of God if someone had the faith to pray for that person. Non-Christians are experiencing all kinds of supernatural “powers” in the occult and New Age but many churches make the Christian God out to be dead or powerless.  I can attest the supernatural power of healing is for today. I prayed for another person for healing when I placed my hand over his hurting knee. To tell the truth, I didn’t even expect his knee to be healed but when he told me his knee was no longer hurting I was pleasantly surprised. The most important thing about that experience is that we were thankful to God.

The Bible is clear “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)

“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:“ (James 5:4)

Cessationists will somehow try to explain such passages away but if they are going to argue that the supernatural gifts have ceased then how do they explain the gifts were still operating long far after the apostolic age?

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons: (2nd century AD – c. 202) studied under bishop Polycarp, who in turn had been a disciple of Apostle John, wrote:

“For some [Christians] do certainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have thus been cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe [in Christ], and join themselves to the Church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come: they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole.” – Irenaeus Against Heresies, Book II, 32:4 (190 A.D.)

Origen wrote in Against Celsus, Book I, 46 (230-254 A.D.):

“And there are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove. The Christians expel evil spirits, and perform many cures, and foresee certain events, according to the will of the Logos.”

Against Celsus, Book I, 67, “And the Name of Jesus can still remove distractions from the minds of men, and expel demons, and also take away diseases and produce a complete change of character …. “

Consider this testimony:

“A woman came to see me once when I was in South Africa. She told me that she was suffering from cancer and advanced metastasis and had only a short time to live. Because of this she wanted to make a full confession of her sins before she died. In spite of the fact that her visit to me had no connection with any desire for healing on her own part, I felt constrained to pray that the Lord would in fact heal her body as well as forgive her sins. For this reason I asked another Christian brother to join me and together we prayed for her under the laying on of hands according to James 5:14. Having to leave the country shortly after this, I heard nothing more about the woman until a year and a half later. It was then that the brother with whom I had prayed wrote and told me that instead of dying the woman had been cured by the Lord and was now better. This was another case in which healing had followed the forgiveness of sins. Let me say very quickly though, that I personally do not possess the gift of healing. That I am privileged to experience events of this nature in the course of my Christian service, is only the result of the Lord’s desire to glorify his own name in the life of some suffering person” (Koch, Occult Bondage and Deliverance, pg. 76).

God Is Not A Genie – Precautions About “Ministries” That Emphasize Healing

Another thing that needs to be addressed is that some so-called ministries emphasize God’s miracles such as healing but neglect to preach sound Biblical doctrine and against sin. Popular “evangelist” Benny Hinn is one example. “Pastor” Bill Johnson of Bethel in Redding, California, is another example. Bill Johnson’s church has a tremendous influence over the Christian community. I live about 500 miles from where his church is located and I have people from where I live – mostly very young people – who are fascinated with their ministry because of their eagerness to experience some supernatural thrills. I don’t believe the living God is working behind that church. Instead, I believe there is a counterfeit spirit working behind that church. I communicated with another deliverance minister to confirm if counterfeit spirits are going around in Bethel and he related to me that he has expelled demons from many people that are associated with their ministry.

I believe God cares far more about the state of a person’s soul than the state of someone’s physical health. Is it better for God to heal a crippled man or for that man to have his sins forgiven (read Matt. 9:4-7)? I believe God would rather have a person’s whole heart and devotion to Him and His Kingdom than heal the person. Didn’t Jesus say a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Luke 11:29; Matt. 16:4)? We should repent and seek God’s will for our lives first and foremost than seek supernatural thrills from God. Such aforementioned “teachers” make out God to be some sort of genie who should grant us our every desire rather than preach and live out the Biblical mandate that we should be slaves to Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22), deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34). Biblical healing is done through the power of God; it cannot be taught, and it depends ultimately on God’s will. God cannot be cajoled to heal, as some “miracle healing services” would have us suppose.

The Strong Biblical Condemnation of Spiritism

God hates witchcraft or spiritism. I remember when I was a teenager I used to watch this show called Charmed starring three actresses who played witches. I very distinctly remember the Holy Spirit was grieved by me watching it and I couldn’t understand at that time why He was. I thought it was just a silly TV show. I didn’t know until many years later how much God finds witchcraft to be an abomination! To tell you the truth I didn’t even believe witchcraft was real until I started praying for deliverance for people. Then I find out demons are coming out of people because of witchcraft. I always knew practicing witchcraft was idolatry but I didn’t know until many years later that it can actually work and satan is the power behind it. Now it makes a lot of sense to me how in the world the Harry Potter series became so popular. I remember I had to read one of the books for a literature class when I was at a University and I thought it was garbage just from a literary standpoint. I could never grasp how The Harry Potter series took the world by storm. Now I know without a shadow of a doubt that Satan was trying to condition children into accepting witchcraft because witchcraft is one of the most effective ways to open doors to demons.

In their numerous forms, these basic categories (magic, spiritism, divination, and sorcery) cover almost the entire gamut of occult activity. But the irreducible reality of occultism is spiritism.

Thus: “[Spiritism]… is one of the oldest known forms of religious expression. It is also one of the deadliest where the certainty of divine judgment is concerned… It is terminal error, since it demonstrates not only an active rejection of God, but an active embrace of his replacement. It is, as the prophets put it, “spiritual adultery,” carried to completion. It is faithlessness fulfilled.

All sin provokes God’s judgment. Advanced or developed sin provokes it more directly and immediately. As a social symptom, spiritism represents the final state of a long process of spiritual decay. It is the terminal phase of our flight from God. It is terminal because God’s judgment on spiritism is not meant to admonish or correct, but to cleanse and extirpate.

On an individual scale, the practice of spiritism is terminal because it represents an ultimate confusion of values. It trades humanity’s privilege of intimacy with God for sheer fascination with a liar who secretly hates all that is human and that humans hold”  (Brooks Alexander, “What is Spiritism…and Why Are They Saying Those Awful Things About It?”, pg. 3).

The Bible is clear in the condemnation of spiritism. I believe when God said one will be defiled is that when the person gets involved with a spiritist he will be spiritually defiled or infested with unclean spirits.

“Regard not them that have familiar spirits [mediums], neither seek after wizards [spiritists], to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 19:31)

“And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits [mediums], and after wizards [spiritists], to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.” (Lev. 20:6)

Under the Old Covenant, those who were involved with spiritism were to be put to death:

“A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit [mediums], or that is a wizard [spiritists], shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.” (Lev. 20:27)

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch [sorceress] to live.” (Ex. 22:18)

Those who get involved with witchcraft are in danger of hellfire.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery [witchcraft], hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21)

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8)

The scripture reveals that God is a jealous God. His love for His people is zealous and pure and requires that they cling to Him alone, and we shouldn’t be double-minded when it comes to spiritual matters (James 1:6-8). Considering the following scriptures:

“Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?” (James 4:5)

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)

“…thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” (Exodus 34:14; cf. Deuteronomy 4:24; Joshua 24:19: Zechariah 8:2)

“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3)

“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:” (Revelation 9:20)

Closing Commentary

If you have been to a witch doctor I would renounce and repent of involvement with one. I would discard everything you have received from witch doctors. Objects can be demonically charged or have demonic attachments. That is why it is recommended for people who turn to Jesus to get rid of all objects related to pagan practices.

“Destroy all occult objects like amulets, talismans, fetishes, mascots, letters from heaven, lucky charms, threatening letters, figures of gods and cultic objects belonging to non-christian religions are crystallization points for demonic powers.” (Occult ABC A comprehensive examination of 71 forms of occult activity, their effect, and deliverance from them.  Kurt E. Koch) [More Information]

If I were you I wouldn’t have anything to do with a “spiritual cleansing” or any kind of ritual from a shaman or witch doctor. You are possibly opening up to yourself to demons doing that. And I would cut all ties with any witch or witch doctor if you are associating with one.

And if any witch doctor just so happens to read this, as of today you are probably on the way to hellfire. You have no hope and no future unless you repent and turn to the Lord and God Jesus Christ. He’s the only one who can deliver you from the grips of satan. And you probably don’t think you are under the grips of satan, but I guarantee, once you repent and turn to Jesus those spirits you believed to be your ancestor spirits, or whoever will turn against you because are not complying with them, or because you have jump ship and turn to the kingdom of Light.

My hope for the world, especially Africans, is that they truly renounce and repent of going to witch doctors and the practice of all forms of witchcraft in general. Any individual getting involved with such darkness is seriously getting spiritually defiled and possibly putting his/her descendants at risk of demonization. 

Please feel free to share your thoughts or ask any questions in the comment section. If you have been to a witch doctor and are getting serious demonic attacks, then feel free to reach out to me for prayer.

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If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you can receive Him into your heart and He can deliver you from darkness and sin and have your name written in His Book of Life.

If you are sincere you can say this simple prayer to the Father (it doesn’t have to be word for word):

“God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for You up until now. I have been living for myself and that is wrong. Please forgive me of all of my sins just as I forgive others. I need You in my life; I want You in my life. I acknowledge the completed work of Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ in giving His life for me on the cross, I believe in my heart Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead and I long to receive the forgiveness you have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, Lord. Take up residence in my heart and be my king, my Lord, and my Savior. From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow You all the days of my life. Those days are in Your hands. I ask this in the Lord and GOD Jesus’ precious and holy name. Amen.”