My dealings with the dark side

Adoro Te Devote has an incredible story of her dealing with demonic possession and Tarot cards, followed by dozens of testimonies in the comments section. Another post is at The Recovering Dissident Catholic.

I have decided to share my youthful dabbling in the occult to help enlighten those of who think it is harmless. It's NOT. I was raised in a good Catholic home, never missing nightly prayers or Mass on Sunday. My parents were exemplary, comfortable college-educated professionals, therefore there is no reason I should have needed to dabble in the occult, right?
When I was nine years old in public school, we were shocked to hear of the Kasso murder of a classmate from Northport Junior High, in which he mutilated the victim's body, and emblazoned the words "Satin rules"(sic) and "666" all over the local playground. I'm not sure why, but it heightened already keen interest in the occult in a town, Northport, which already had a coven and a local New Age store in the village. Short stories from Poe and other masters of the occult were quite popular in my English classes in public school, and my recreation class showed a creepy video of Poe's "The Telltale Heart" repeatedly.
I had a best friend Noelle, a wealthy, well-loved daughter of a commodities trader, with an unhealthy interest in witchcraft. At my 10th birthday party, she made us close our eyes while she levitated items on the table(a hoax). But Noelle had incited my curiousity.

On a visit to my home, we dressed up in my mother's 1950's bridesmaid gowns for fun, and Noelle told me "I can make you a witch like me". I couldn't resist, since I had already followed occult practices such as horoscopes, Ouija boards, levitation, and seances, mostly at girls' sleepover parties. I was mostly curious, and anxious to see if I could perform any magic.
We began to say the Lord's Prayer backwards. I have no idea if we were doing it correctly, but our intention was to say it backwards to make something spiritual happen. Then, out of the blue, the glass top to a tea cart by the window was split right down the middle!
We ran screaming out of there, and didn't try any more witchcraft until. . .we performed levitation of one of our classmates on the 8th grade field trip in Salem Massachusetts' House of Seven Gables with six girls using two fingers each. It worked. We raised her over our heads.
Later, I had my Tarot cards read twice. Both times a horrible death was predicted for a family member. Both predictions came true. My great uncle died painfully of a heart attack in a hospital corridor in Haiti, completely unattended by doctors. My Dad's cousin, a saxophone player and high school music teacher, was shot by an unstable next door neighbor after he tried to wash off some eggs th children had thrown at his home. He died in front of them.
I was never corrected for any of these practices, in fact our Girl Scout leaders watched us do a seance at camp. My aunts went to fortune tellers and bought me Jean Dixon horoscope books. We were victims of 1970's ignorance of our Catholic faith, and fascination with ESP and the occult. I was always a practicing Catholic, but struggled with the same sins which all singles in this society struggle with, without realizing how my involvement with the occult had weakened my resistance to temptation
In 1983, while still in college, I was 'Baptized in the Holy Spirit' after a Life in the Spirit Seminar at St. Anthony's Church. The week before the 'Baptism' a long prayer of exorcism was prayed over me by laymen, who asked me which occult practices I had been involved in. I was 21, and this was the first time I had heard from anyone that they were dangerous. I gladly renounced them, received the 'Baptism' and a warning that Satan would be angry at the change in me. I was given a binding prayer which I still use, "Satan, I bind you away from me, to the foot of the cross for Jesus to deal with , and I plead the precious blood of Jesus over me to protect me. "
That night, as I slept, I had the most terrifying nightmare of my life, where abnormal long-legged black spiders were closing in on me to kill me. I ran downstairs, still asleep, and somehow fell over the bannister into the living room. My parents, terrified, wondered why this had happened, as I have never been a sleepwalker.
I share all this not to titilate, but to inform. If a good girl from a devout Catholic home could get this involved with the occult, anyone can. Don't let well-meaning ignorant friends, or clergy convince you that they do Reiki while praying to Jesus and Mary, or that Yoga isn't rooted in worhip of Hindu gods, or that the Ouija Board and Tarot are just parlor games. Don't wear crystals or any kind good luck charms like the Greek evil eye, or Italian horn. These are portals which Satan uses to infiltrate your eternal soul.
Don't let your children read books like Harry Potter, which arouse the curiousity about the occult. Is is a coincidence that those books are surrounded by books on witchcraft at Barnes and Nobles? That's why when police see kids involved in violent crime, the first place they look is the kids' library card activity to find these kinds of books.
Read this excerpt from an article in the British paper The Independant,

Record numbers of young women are dabbling in witchcraft, fuelling a boom in
sales of spell books and other pagan paraphernalia, according to new research.
A study of teenagers and their consumption of books, magazines, kits, film
and other media found that there are some 700,000 internet sites for teenage
witches. The Pagan Federation claims to have several hundred inquiries a week
from young people, and has set up a network for those under 18.
"There has
been a noticeable rise in the number of young people identifying themselves as
witches," saidDenise Cush, professor of religious studies at Bath Spa
University.

Read experts like Fr. Gabriel Amworth's book An Exorcist Tells His Story, The Vatican Exorcists or watch shows like The Abundant Life which has just run several shows on New Age and the Occult. Buy Johnette's book, The New Age Counterfeit.
Pray with me:
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle,
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God,
Cast into hell, Satan, and all evil spirits who prowl about the world,
Seeking the ruin of souls. Amen