Holy Fathers about witchcraft. To Orthodox people about witchcraft How I quit witchcraft and became Orthodox

Sorrow and suffering (natural or arising with the “help” of sorcerers) are allowed by God precisely for our sins and are a powerful educational tool, thanks to which a person is able to realize his weakness, feel the need for God’s help, repent and change his life. The Church does not deny that it is indeed possible to influence a person through witchcraft and cause him sorrow and illness. The Church has been fighting witchcraft and divination for many centuries and has an extremely negative attitude towards magic in general.

According to the priests, turning to magicians and fortune-tellers is unacceptable for Christians. Since these appeals do not end with anything good, since in this case people turn to the forces of evil. And indeed, if a person makes a request to cause damage, he will inevitably be punished, or, even worse, his entire family in this life or after death. Many people who want to do evil end up in psychiatric hospitals, they are possessed by demons... The Old Testament says: “Do not cast spells or tell fortunes... do not turn to those who call the dead, and do not go to wizards... And if the soul turns to those who call the dead and to wizards, then I will turn my face against that soul and destroy him from among his people” (Lev. 19:26, 19:31, 20:6). The Orthodox Church teaches us that the main weapon of a Christian is the Cross of Christ, in particular the body cross, which is never removed, and the sign of the cross, performed consciously, correctly and accurately. Weapons against the devil also include: fasting (observed consciously and voluntarily), prayer, especially the Jesus prayer, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

People need to fight church ignorance, because people who consider themselves Orthodox do not know even the simplest things. Recently I saw a woman who sincerely believes that she knows everything about Orthodoxy, but at the same time cannot cross herself correctly... Nowadays a lot of inexpensive publications on doctrinal topics are being published, and only laziness can explain one’s ignorance in spiritual matters. You can also contact any priest, and he will certainly answer your questions. We hope we have written clearly about the Church’s attitude towards witchcraft.

If a person is sincerely devoted to God and lives without violating his commandments, he is not afraid of anything, even the most powerful witchcraft of this world. There is another danger besides witchcraft - this is false religion. Currently, a huge number of sects and movements have appeared that, apart from harm to the human soul, do nothing. There is a real hunt for the souls of people in order to tear them away from God. Glory to our Lord forever and ever.

edited news Eric Cartman - 21-06-2012, 22:41

Venerable Ephraim the Syrian:

Beware of making potions, casting spells, telling fortunes, making vaults (talismans) or wearing those made by others: these are not vaults, but bonds.

Saint John Chrysostom:

“Even if we are sick, it is better to remain sick than to fall into wickedness (resorting to conspiracies) to free ourselves from illness. The demon, even if he heals, will do more harm than good. It will benefit the body, which after a little while will certainly die and rot, and harm the immortal soul. If sometimes, by God’s permission, demons heal (through divination), then such healing happens to test the faithful, not because God does not know them, but so that they learn not to accept even healing from demons.”

“The demoniacs cry out: “I am the soul of such and such a person!” But this is also the trick and deception of the devil. It is not the soul of some dead person who cries out, but a demon pretending to do so to deceive the listeners.”

“Just as slave traders, offering small children pies, sweet fruits and the like, often ensnare them with such bait and deprive them of freedom and even life itself, so sorcerers, promising to cure a disease, deprive a person of the salvation of his soul.”

“Do not voluntarily resort to fortune-telling, but if you are attracted to this by others, then do not agree... A person always wants to know the invisible, especially wants to know in advance about his misfortunes, so as not to fall into confusion due to surprise... But if you listen to fortune telling, you will be unworthy of God’s favor and mercy, and by doing this you will prepare for yourself numerous disasters.”

“The fortuneteller is an evil demon who speaks from the wombs of ventriloquist women and with this strange action tries to make the false credible; “He speaks not naturally, but from the stomach, and by this he plunges ignorant people into amazement, forcing them to believe that he speaks the truth.”

“What, for example, does star divination mean? Nothing more than lies and confusion, in which everything happens at random and not only by eye, but also senselessly.”

Saint Basil the Great:

Don't be curious about the future, but make good use of the present. For what benefit is there for you to anticipate the command? If the future brings you something good, it will come, although you did not know it in advance. And if it is sorrowful, why languish in sorrow until the end? Do you want to make sure of the future? Fulfill what is prescribed by the Gospel Law and expect to enjoy blessings.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa:

A carnivorous person in real life has a desire to look into the future in order to avoid troubles or achieve what they want. Therefore, so that people do not turn their gaze to God, the demonic nature, full of deception, has invented many ways to find out the future: for example, fortune telling, interpretation of signs, divination, calling the dead, frenzy, influxes of deities, inspiration, cards and much more. And if any kind of foresight, as a result of some deception, is recognized as true, the demon presents it to the deceived as justification for the false proposal. And the demonic trick points out every false sign to those who are being deceived, so that people, having departed from God, turn to serving the demons. One of the types of deception was the deception of ventriloquists, who believed that their sorcery could attract the souls of the dead again into this life.

In the memoirs of V.I. Popov about the journey with St. John of Kronstadt from Arkhangelsk to Moscow in 1890, he tells how St. Righteous John of Kronstadt exorcised a demon from a possessed woman and quotes their subsequent conversation:

“Upon leaving the station, during the journey, I entered into a conversation with Fr. John about this miraculous healing.

Father said that the peasant woman’s illness is “from the evil one”, that she is “spoiled”, for indeed there can and are people who are so morally corrupt, so angry, proud, haters and vindictive that they, so to speak, have given themselves over completely to the devil and, undoubtedly, with his assistance, can inflict attacks on people whom they passionately desire to harm evil (or, in general, any misfortune, for example, illness), to induce a malicious devilish force.

Thus, according to the conviction of Fr. John, a similar popular view is not just superstition, but has a completely real, factual basis.

Of course, this happens where, on the other hand, favorable soil is prepared for the influence of the devilish force - mental and physical relaxation, as a result of a vicious life».

Athonite Patericon:

“One monk accidentally saw a fortune-telling book and, out of curiosity, examining the secrets of satanic fortune-telling, involuntarily became fascinated by them. One night a black man of gigantic stature stood in front of him and said: “You called me, here I am. Whatever you want, I will do it, just bow to me.” “I worship the Lord my God and Him alone do I serve!” - answered the monk. “Why did you call me, learning my secrets?” With these words, Satan hit the monk hard on the cheek and disappeared. The monk woke up from pain and fear. His cheek was swollen and blackened so much that it was scary to look at. Every day the pain intensified, and the tumor completely disfigured the monk. The Monk Dionysius found out about this and immediately came to the unfortunate man. Having prayed to the Lord and the Mother of God, Saint Dionysius anointed the monk with oil. He was healed and glorified God.”

Lavsaik:

“One Egyptian indulged in passion for a noble woman who was married. Unable to seduce her, the Egyptian came to the sorcerer and said to him: “Either make her love me, or make her husband leave her.” The sorcerer took a good payment from him and used all his charms and spells. But, failing to arouse love in her heart, he made it so that to everyone who looked at her, she seemed like a horse. Her husband, coming home, was horrified and took his wife to Saint Macarius of Egypt. Abba Macarius blessed the water, poured it over the woman from head to toe, and the spell was immediately broken. Saint Macarius told her: “Never shy away from communion of the Mysteries of Christ. The misfortune happened to you because you have not begun the most pure Mysteries of our Savior for five weeks.”

Prologue in the teachings:

“There lived a nobleman in Constantinople who had an only daughter, whom he wanted to devote to the service of God. The devil aroused passion for her in one of the servants. The servant, wanting to marry her, came to the sorcerer to ask for advice. The sorcerer brought him together with Satan, who asked: “Do you believe in me, do you renounce the Lord Christ?” And having received a positive answer, he ordered the young man to write a renunciation on paper. The young man fulfilled the command. And Satan aroused in the girl a passion for the young man. The girl forced her father to marry her to this servant. When the reason for her passion became known to her, she was horrified and convinced her husband to go to Saint Basil the Great. The saint, having received full recognition from the young man, removed him to one of his cells and commanded him to pray and fast. And he himself began to pray for the young man. Several days passed. Saint Basil asked him how he felt. “I’m in great trouble, father,” the young man answered, “the demons give me absolutely no peace!” The saint encouraged the unfortunate man, crossed him and left him alone. Forty days passed, the young man said: “Glory to God, father, now I saw myself defeating the devil.” After this, Saint Basil gathered the entire church clergy and many Christians and spent the whole night in prayer with them. The next day the young man was brought to church while psalms were sung. Then the devil attacked him with terrible force, and he began to shout: “Saint of Christ, help me!” The saint said to the devil: “Isn’t your destruction enough for you, you also torture others!” The devil replied: “You offend me, Vasily! It was not I who came to him, but he who came to me. And his renunciation, which is in my hand, I will show to the common Judge!” Saint Basil said: “Blessed be my Lord! All these people will not bring their hands outstretched to heaven to the ground until you return the young man’s manuscripts to me!” And, turning to the people, he commanded them to raise their hands to heaven and pray with tears: “Lord, have mercy!” The people fulfilled the command of the Saint. And suddenly, to the amazement of everyone, the handwriting of the young man’s sins flew out from under the church dome. Saint Basil took it and asked the young man whether this was his renunciation. And, convinced of this, he tore up the handwriting, led the young man into the church and gave him communion.”

Volokolamsk Patericon:

“The brother of St. Joseph of Volokolamsk, Father Vassian (later Archbishop of Rostov) relayed the story of one peasant: “For a long time I was seriously ill, I always prayed and called on the Holy Great Martyr Nikita for help. My relatives advised me to invite a sorcerer. But I refused and continued to earnestly ask Saint Nikita for help. One night I hear the doors of the house open and a bright husband enters, addressing me with the words: “Get up and come out to me.” “I can’t, my lord, I’m relaxed,” I answered. He repeated: “Get up!” And suddenly I felt healthy, jumped out of bed and bowed to the Alien. When I got up from the ground, I saw a black man with a fiery sword in his hand. He wanted to hit me, but the luminous husband stopped him: “Not him, but those who went to the sorcerer.” The black man disappeared. I asked the Alien: “Who are you?” And I heard in response: “I am the martyr of Christ Nikita and was sent by Christ to heal you because you did not agree to call a sorcerer, but placed your hope in God. And now God is adding another 25 years to your life.” After these words, the martyr became invisible. A misfortune happened to the same people who visited the sorcerer: at night they were killed by that black man with a fiery sword.”

Rules of the VI Ecumenical Council

with interpretations of Bishop Nikodim (Milos):

61 rules

« Those who give themselves over to wizards, or others like them, in order to learn from them that discoveries ascend to them, in accordance with the previous paternal decrees about them, are subject to the rule of six years of penance. Subject to the same penance those who pronounce fortune-telling about happiness, about fate, as well as the so-called charmers, practitioners of protective talismans and sorcerers. Those who are stubborn in this and do not reject such destructive pagan inventions are determined to be completely thrown out of the Church, as the sacred rules command».

Witchcraft, fortune telling and similar matters are condemned by this rule as a satanic work and punishes with 6 years of penance anyone who engages in these matters; if such a person does not repent, but persists in sin, he is subject to complete expulsion from the church. This is about the laity. If the priest is caught in these matters, if he believes in fortune-telling, or does he himself indulge in witchcraft and fortune-telling? The 36th rule of Laodice speaks about this. Cathedral; Balsamon, in his interpretation of this (61) rule, notes that such a priest is subject to immediate defrocking. And since this is a betrayal of faith, such a priest must be expelled from the church, for by engaging in such matters, he has turned from a servant of the Eternal God into a servant of the devil.

Rule 65

“In the new moon, the lighting of bonfires by some in front of their shops or houses, through which, according to some ancient custom, they jump madly, we command from now on to be abolished. Therefore, if anyone does anything like that, the cleric will be deposed, and the layman will be excommunicated. For in the fourth book of Kings it is written: And Manasseh made an altar to all the power of heaven, in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and caused his sons to pass through the fire, and made enemies and practiced sorcery, and created ventriloquists, and multiplied sorceresses to do evil in the sight of the Lord, so as to provoke him to anger. (2 Kings 21:5-6)."

And this rule talks about one of the pagan customs, which customs have already been mentioned in several Trullian rules. The pagans, as well as the Jews, had a custom of celebrating the day of the new moon, in order, in their opinion, to be happy throughout the month. This custom among the Jews is spoken of in this rule in the words of Holy Scripture; in particular, about the new moons of the Jews and their celebrations, the Lord says through the mouth of Isaiah that my soul hates them (1:14). This custom consisted of lighting fires in front of shops and houses and jumping over them in the belief that by doing this they would allegedly burn away all the misfortunes that would otherwise befall them, and in return they would receive happiness. This custom was also adhered to by some of the Christians at the time of the Trullo Council, against which this rule was issued, threatening the clergy with eruption, and the laity with excommunication in case of disobedience.

Rules of the Holy Local Council of Ancyra
Rule 24

Those who practice sorcery, and follow pagan customs, or introduce certain people into their homes, for the sake of seeking magic, or for the sake of purification, must be subject to the rule of five years of repentance, according to the degrees established: three years of prostration, and two years of prayers without communion of the Holy Mysteries.

Rules of the Holy Local Council of Laodicea
Rule 36

It is not fitting for the sanctified or the clerics to be magicians, or charmers, or number tellers, or astrologers, or to make the so-called precautions, which are the bonds of their souls. We ordered those who wore them to be thrown out of the church.

We know the decree of the 61st rule of the Trullo Council regarding lay people engaged in fortune-telling. This Laodicean rule speaks on the same subject regarding persons who, belonging to the clergy, believe in fortune-telling or practice it themselves, and condemns this in the most categorical manner under the threat of excommunication. Nikita, a canonist of the early 12th century, when asked about this subject, refers to the 24th Ancyra rule and the given (36) Laodicean one, and calls fortune telling a pagan activity (της εθνικής συνε&είας), unworthy of the Christian world, and even less of the Orthodox Church (ούτε μην της ορθοδόξου εκκλησίας). This rule, in addition, especially condemns the manufacture of “preservatives” (φυλακτήρια), calling these precautions or talismans the shackles of the soul (δεσμωτήρια των ψυχών, animarum vincula) and ordering everyone wearing them to be expelled from the church. The Holy Scriptures mention these guards, used by the Jews during prayer (Matthew 23:5), namely, they had two bands, and on each of them the name of God and 4 verses from the Holy Scriptures were written. They tied one of them on the head, and the other on the left hand, believing that everyone wearing them would thereby ward off evil and receive all good things. It goes without saying that the latter is an obvious superstition, contrary to the teaching that in his life a person must devote himself entirely to God’s Providence and, doing good deeds, expect benefits only from the Provider. As such, the custom of wearing guards had the meaning of fortune-telling, and it is natural, therefore, that it is designated along with fortune-telling by numbers, stars, etc. From the Jews, the custom of wearing guards passed on to some Christians, who always wore them around their necks or in their necks. During illness, they bandaged the sore spot on the body. Given the importance that guards had at that time (in the 4th century), the severity of the punishment that the rule imposes on everyone who makes or wears them is quite understandable.

Rules of St. Basil the Great

65. Repentant of magic or poisoning May he spend the time allotted for a murderer in repentance, with a distribution in accordance with how he convicted himself of each sin.

72. He who betrays himself to sorcerers or the like will be subject to penance for the same amount of time as a murderer.

83. Those who practice sorcery and follow pagan customs or introduce certain people into their houses, for the sake of seeking sorcery and for the sake of purification, shall be subject to the rule of six years: let them mourn for a year, listen for a year, fall down for three years, and stand with the faithful for one year, and so on. yes they will be accepted.

Canonical Epistle of Gregory of Nyssa to Litoius of Melitene

Rule 3

Those who come to sorcerers or soothsayers, or to those who promise to perform some kind of cleansing or aversion of harm through demons, are asked in detail and tested: whether, while remaining in faith in Christ, they are drawn by some need to such sin, according to the direction given to them by what - either through misfortune or intolerable deprivation, or completely despising the confession entrusted to them by us, they resorted to the aid of demons. For if they did this with a rejection of faith, and in order not to believe that God is worshiped by Christians, then without a doubt will be subject to condemnation with the apostates. If unbearable need, having taken possession of their weak soul, brought them to this point, seducing them with some false hope, then let love for mankind be shown to them too, in the likeness of those who, during confession, were unable to resist torment.

13th Rule of Nomocanon:

“A sorcerer, who is also a sorcerer... if by sorcery he makes a husband and wife not copulate [modern term: “lapel”] or by sorcery he creates a storm, Let him not receive communion for 20 years according to the 65th and 72nd rules of Basil the Great.”

14th Rule of Nomocanon:

“A sorcerer and a charmer are one and the same. Enchantment is the name given to spells that call upon demons to perform some act to the detriment of other people, such as: relaxation of the limbs, prolonged illness, as well as chaining one to bed for life, or so that a person begins to live a bad life, or so that he becomes disgusted with life, and so on. … Sorcerers and wizards are called idolaters.”

“The Magi are those who supposedly call upon “beneficial” demons for a good purpose, but they are filth-killers and liars.”

Rule 16 of the Nomocanon:

« Those who bring a sorcerer into their house to a sick person for the sake of healing by sorcery, may not receive communion for five years according to the 24th rule of the Council of Ancyra».

It’s very strange for me to write all this now. At the same time, I realize the clear need to do this, because the cause of occultism is marching victoriously through our world, acquiring truly catastrophic proportions.

Part one

We all come from childhood

It’s very strange for me to write all this now. At the same time, I realize the clear need to do this, because the cause of occultism is marching victoriously through our world, acquiring truly catastrophic proportions. And even though it’s a shame to talk about my own experience of encountering the intangible world (after all, how long have I been hanging on the devil’s hook!), it’s scary to be mistaken for a mentally ill person, something inside is constantly stopping me (yeah, I even know what it is, I saw it with my own eyes these comrades), but we need to talk about it. Maybe someone will think about it and turn away from the disastrous path.

Looking back with horror, I now understand that my whole life was developing like clockwork, one thing clung to another, not a single coincidence was accidental, every smallest detail clung to another, and together they made up a single whole. Not a foregone conclusion, no, by no means, but it was a very subtle and skillful manipulation of my free will, natural curiosity, thirst for knowledge and sinful inclinations.

So, I’ll start from the very, very beginning, from childhood. I was born in a small regional town, into a very poor family, and at the age of 6 I lost my father, so my mother and I ended up living in a corridor-type dormitory. On long winter evenings, we, a flock of children, loved to play in these long, often poorly lit corridors, the boys frightened the girls as if they were about to summon spirits, with scary stories that someone had already summoned them and then something extraordinarily terrible happened to these children . It was all taken lightly, jokingly, and seemed like simple fun. And I myself have always been drawn to all sorts of mysticism, the otherworldly, it aroused a burning interest, I wanted to be magically gifted, special. All this was fueled then by popular cartoons, books about Harry Potter and mother’s fortune telling on cards, small books about conspiracies, damage, and so on. It was the beginning of the 2000s, this stuff was available in abundance. When I was about 10 years old, my mother had her back treated by a local sorcerer and almost prayed to him after that. They were baptized in the Orthodox Church, too, on the advice of this sorcerer, supposedly it was a sin on my mother, and it must be removed in this way, and so, of course, “priests don’t know how to do anything,” sorcerers are naturally gifted and everything in a similar spirit. In general, for us children, it was a common occurrence to “do a little magic” (like asking for a pendulum, a key on a rope, when mom gets home from the store).

The children began to slowly grow up. At that time I was 11-12 years old, and my mother and I successfully moved from the hostel to normal housing, I changed schools. During the same period, as if by chance, I came across the first book of the series about a young sorceress, which I later became very interested in, and where white magic is opposed to dark (now, many years later, I realized perfectly well that there is no white magic, it’s just another demonic deception!). My childhood consciousness was also perfectly shaped by various fiction books about magical adventures and fantasy. The desire to become a witch grew stronger, completely painful, and a real passion developed.

Another new girl entered the new school with me, with whom we became very close friends, read all this fiction and fantasy literature together, often exchanged books, CDs and... began our magical experiments. It all started when I suddenly discovered an attraction to the opposite sex. It was shock, shock, first love, which opens up completely unfamiliar emotions and a whole huge world inside you. And the object of my sympathy seemed to show reciprocal interest, but then truly feminine logic intervened - to bewitch, so that for sure, so that it certainly would not go away. At first I cast a spell on my own, then together with a friend. There was a result, but it didn’t last long. That boy suddenly began to be strongly attracted to me, but in a completely abnormal way: he showed aggression, began to greatly humiliate me, and incited his classmates to do this. I suffered and again resorted to magic. Naturally, this only made the problem worse. At the same time, I was guessing with cards and solitaire, and fell into a strong addiction. If the cards said something bad, she laid them out again, tormented by thoughts about the predicted future troubles and upheavals. Depressive states intensified against the backdrop of ongoing bullying at school (which grew and became stronger day by day). That girl with whom I communicated gradually became the center of my universe and had a strong influence. Together we started listening to different rock bands, somehow unnoticeably we slipped into negativity, and wore black clothes. Each one was fired up with a very strong desire, which must certainly be fulfilled at any cost. And how to do it? Of course, summon Lucifer.

“Visions opened up to us where our cherished desires were already fulfilled, we instilled demons in ourselves with a direct desire to communicate with them.”

And here we are, two teenagers, sitting in front of a mirror with a candle, peering with incredible curiosity to see who will come to the call. But I didn’t have enough courage: they began to actively strangle me by the throat, a severe pain appeared in my head, as if from the inside and outside, the ritual had to be interrupted. This did not stop us, we printed out an agreement on the sale of the soul to the devil and, in the best black magic traditions (they show it in the movies), we pierced our finger until it bled and “signed”. During this period there was active communication with the demonic world. Visions opened up to us where our cherished desires had already been fulfilled, we instilled demons in ourselves with a direct desire to communicate with them, that is, we became bored or just interested in chatting, mentally called upon a demon - and indeed a feeling of someone else’s will appeared inside, someone’s presence, who begins speak on your behalf, sends visions. It’s not like with mediums, when a person doesn’t remember anything after a session, no. Here you are completely sane and healthy, but at the same time you allow a place for the demon in your body, there is a false feeling that all this is completely safe and completely under your control. Once - called, tired - said goodbye. I really liked this feeling of power over the other world; pride bloomed wildly.

During the same period, I began to write stories dictated by demons (my passion for literature turned into a passion for authorship, I wrote my own book in a fantasy style). This is when you simply let go of your hands, and they print on their own, your consciousness is filled with this invisible force, and a state of light trance arises. Then you yourself are surprised that you wrote it. These stories were all entirely on the theme of unrequited love, or rather, unhealthy passion, dependence, which does not create, but destroys and burns a person’s soul. This was generally the main theme of my internal state at that time, it didn’t work out with boys (well, how come all my classmates already have boyfriends, but I don’t?!), they continued to actively bully me in the class, and these stories added a shade of tragic heroism to my soul , have become a kind of drug. In general, continuous suffering inside and outside. The boy whom I bewitched tried harder than anyone else. Communication with demons became more and more dense, they constantly came before bed, bombarded me with their visions, which I watched excitedly. They said that I would become famous, rich and in general everything would be wonderful in my life. Meanwhile, reality became completely unbearable, every day was continuous tears.

By the tenth grade (15-16 years old), the state of being an outcast had become generally familiar to me; hatred for everything that existed rose up in my throat, especially for offenders. That “friend” of mine went over to the side of the majority at that time. I did not stop casting spells, without in any way connecting what was happening in my life with my “hobbies”, I read conspiracies for people’s sympathy, so as not to be offended, for various desires, I hung myself with amulets, I even tried to cast a spell on one girl, in a fit of anger from her statements in my address. As if by chance, I happened to play one of the devils in a school production, and yet I had long imagined myself as a servant of the demonic army. I was even shown visions that after death a personal office in hell awaited me, beautiful horns and wings in the best traditions of popular films about demons (don’t laugh, I really believed in it! They showed me hell as a kind of office, only with its own specifics).

In the last grade, I was already very abstracted from what was happening, moving into the area of ​​additional school activities and living mainly with them. I took a guitar class, tried to practice vocals, wrote poems and songs, and painted. Everywhere, well, just everywhere, troubles awaited me, everything collapsed before it even began, which incredibly upset me, since my creative energy could not find a worthy use. My health began to deteriorate severely at the age of 13-14. Just when my magical experiments gained activity, and the emphasis of my illnesses was on appearance: severe acne, oily seborrhea on the head (this is when the hair turns into one glued lump at the roots, without washing at all), in short, I looked terrible. Of course, this increased the world’s rejection of my person and drove me into the deepest depression. I closed myself off, lived only by books and going to clubs, and in the 11th grade I completely focused on preparing for exams and entering a university.

I entered the university, and for some reason it was the same one where my school “friend” also entered, and not just anywhere, but in neighboring groups, and on my part it happened completely spontaneously, as if someone pulled my hand . We saw each other at lectures, but did not communicate. It was as if she served as a constant reminder for me of my entire magical past, fixing my attention. I often returned my thoughts to that period, replayed situations, wondered about the reasons for our interrupted friendship, and reread stories from demons.

Meanwhile, the new student life, which seemed to have started well, gradually slipped into a new wave of despair. I didn’t get a place in the hostel; I had to travel from the region to the city every day, which took 1 hour and 45 minutes one way. My health gradually became worse, my stomach hurt, and there was a general loss of strength and immunity. By that time, I had been on hormonal drugs for a long time (since I was 15 years old), which restrained the manifestation of my terrible skin problems, which also did not have the best effect on my young body. Hair fell out, infections set in, internal organs became inflamed. By the end of the first year, I could barely move, was constantly hysterical and crying from fatigue and illness, thoughts of suicide, which I had had while still at school, grew stronger every day, an inner voice persistently whispered as if this was the best way to stop suffering and pain. The second year brought some relief, by some miracle I managed to get a place in the hostel, and the traveling stopped. But my health continued to go downhill, I was on hormones and antibiotics, sometimes swallowing pills by the handful. I tried to get creative again, but everything fell out of my hands, I ended up in the wrong places and with the wrong people. By the third course, the hormonal medications stopped helping, the hair began to break out again, something strange was happening to the hair, it became both greasy at the roots and a single dry tangle along the entire length, they had to literally be torn apart, often these tangles remained entirely in the hands. At that time, I was no longer leaving hospitals; I visited all possible doctors in private and free clinics. Of course, no one could understand what was happening to me; a huge number of tests showed no special pathologies at all.

Then my mother and I decided that, probably, my illnesses were of unnatural origin and decided to try to remove the damage from the very sorcerer, on whose advice we were once baptized. The sorcerer confirmed the damage, removed everything, and with a light heart we decided that everything, now everything would definitely work out, we were also happy, they say, we turned in time, the damage was to death! Nothing worked out for me after that, six months later we returned, the sorcerer said that he had overlooked the curse right up to the 7th generation, and removed that too. And again, nothing really changed, although it felt like it was getting easier. Somewhere during this period, my mother and I made a timid attempt to go to church and light a candle for health, but that was all. I never finished the third year, ended up in the hospital with numerous inflammations of internal organs, failed the exam and went back to the third year.

The third course, take 2, was already easier, they bought me an apartment in the city, but even here an otherworldly surprise awaited me. I continued to reserve my place in the hostel because I could not overcome my fear of the dark - I was terribly, hysterically afraid to spend the night alone. When I stayed in this apartment, especially after dark, but also during the day, there was a clear feeling of someone’s presence, absolutely not friendly. Objects moved on their own, the lights turned on and off, they didn’t let me sleep, I felt touches and roared, even begging into the void to leave me alone. I told my mother about this, it was assumed that there was a brownie. I read on the Internet: in order not to touch the brownie, you need to feed him milk and cajole him. I started leaving the saucer with milk - it seemed to become quieter. After some time, I forgot to feed her again, and as a result, in the morning I found circles of milk all over the kitchen, in the refrigerator all the objects were perfectly evenly outlined with milk (even photographs of this masterpiece were preserved).

Here it is necessary to make a reservation that despite all my universal stupidity, the Lord never left me, some kind of support always came from nowhere, people gave the necessary advice, which helped me simply physically survive. Again, the family had enough money for my constant expensive treatment and examinations, training, and buying an apartment, again, which would later turn out to be my lifeline in this life.

Part two

Homeopathy and other esoterics

Having tried a huge number of official medicine, herbs and folk methods and being disappointed in all of this, I came across homeopathy on the Internet. Yeah, that’s where they’ll definitely help me! Homeopathy (of course, it is classical, all other homeopathy is a fake and quackery, experts write) is positioned as a science that no one is simply able to prove, the instruments are imperfect, official science is ossified, medicine is a complete business and all that. When I visited a homeopath for the first time at the age of 20, I was fascinated. After the indifferent, eternally irritated doctors in ordinary hospitals, where the client is given 10-15 minutes, here the first appointment lasts almost 4 hours, the next one to an hour and a half. In the style of a friendly conversation, information is collected about everything in the world about the patient, all of his numerous symptoms, diseases suffered throughout his life, and what his closest relatives are suffering from. Plus, the doctor’s personality itself inspired great trust and sympathy as a specialist. My homeopathic epic has begun.

I didn’t return to magic during that period, I just continued to sluggishly make wishes for the New Year, read horoscopes, and sometimes do a little fortune-telling. But then again, by chance, books on one occult method fell into my hands, which fascinated me extremely, at first I just read them without practicing, but my mother began to practice and from this the subsequent collapse of our lives began. Homeopathy worked, gradually seeming to bring me back to life, as it seemed then. A year later, my immunity more or less returned to normal, I came off hormonal medications and all pills in general, although I had a very hard time experiencing the so-called homeopathic exacerbations. The basic principle of homeopathy is to push the disease outward, that is, onto the skin and mucous membranes, to less important organs according to the prescribed hierarchy. My already diseased skin literally went crazy, but I bravely endured it in the name of health, because I saw the benefits of treatment.

For those who believe that homeopathy is a placebo, my answer is simple. No, it's not a placebo. In total, I was treated with it intermittently for 5 years, the drug is taken once and its further effect on the body seems to last for 2-3 months on average. First of all, energy and vitality should increase (this is the main criterion that the drug is really suitable), the emotional and spiritual sphere should improve. If the drug is chosen incorrectly, black depression suddenly sets in, the course of the disease turns inward and not outward, as it should, it can jump from less important organs to more important ones (that is, for example, you are being treated for a gastrointestinal disease and instead of skin exacerbations it affects the heart , lungs, headache) - this is a sign that the drug needs to be changed urgently; this is impossible to experience with a placebo. In addition, at that time my energy shell had already been burned to some extent, and the homeopathic granules affected me even without ingestion, lying in my bag. It’s difficult to describe, as if elastic energy waves hit the skin, passing right through the body; the best word here is “radiation”. I was generally hypersensitive to this kind of influence, so I was firmly convinced of the effectiveness of the type of medicine I resorted to.

Let's return to that occult technique. After reading this book, my mother left her husband, who provided for us; at that time we lived in my apartment on the “remnants of luxury”, the remaining money in the account and wore out the clothes that we had. I left the institute at the same time due to a persistent dislike for my chosen specialty and for financial reasons. Later, my mother married another man, sold her apartment in the region and bought it here, on the outskirts of the city, deeding half of the property to her chosen one on parole. The trap slammed shut. At first I didn’t want to live with them for a long time, but my health began to put pressure again, homeopathic exacerbations were severe, protracted, skin diseases progressed and drove me into a completely amorphous state, I practically never left the house, there was absolutely no vitality to somehow provide for yourself. In the end, the decision was made to move in with my mother and her new husband, fortunately the location allowed, and the apartment was rented out. From the outside, it seems good in words, but in reality... Having moved to them, I discovered that life in this house revolves around alcohol, which my mother never suffered from, it was a big shock. Each libation was accompanied by terrible swearing. My health gradually began to deteriorate again during these years, I came to a homeopath, he said that the drugs were not working well because of the difficult psychological situation at home, with which I completely agreed and continued to wait for a miraculous healing.

In the first year of treatment with homeopathy, I began to notice strange things about myself. These were the first calls that I stubbornly ignored. Abnormal sensitivity to the full moon began. I didn’t immediately notice that when there is a full moon for 3 days, it’s as if someone is cutting off oxygen, all illnesses become unusually worse and begin to attract various troubles like a magnet, to the point where it’s impossible to leave the house. When I noticed, I attributed everything to my psychic abilities, in which I firmly believed. Similar symptoms were accompanied by homeopathic exacerbations, and this was about a month or two after taking the drug with wave-like frequency. I attributed this to energetic instability, they say, the disease comes out, the aura suffers from this, and that’s why troubles are attracted. My magical thinking and constantly reading articles on esotericism, energy, and other things played a role. Gradually, as I already said, the immune system more or less improved, but the problem began to shift in a different direction. My stomach stopped hurting, my gall bladder started hurting and getting worse. This was attributed to my heredity; in homeopathy there is a theory of miasms, when hereditary diseases can suddenly appear, and you also need to wait them out, they will gradually go away and everything will work out. Okay, we're waiting. The funny thing is that during these very exacerbations, which are so normal in homeopathy and during which for some reason troubles are attracted into life, the prayer “Our Father” helped. The pain in the physical body did not go away, but the troubles immediately receded! I discovered this completely by accident, while still finishing my studies at the university, but I did not attach any importance, because I perceived Orthodoxy as just another energetic practice and repeated the prayer thoughtlessly, simply because it helps. After all, the world is energy, all religions talk about the same thing, just in different words - that’s how it seemed to me at that time. I even coined the term “energy structuring” for these actions.

At the age of 23, I began to actively practice that occult technique in order to somehow improve the deplorable situation at home and with my body. At the same time, new books by the author were published, full of various esoteric health tips, which incredibly captivated me. These were the times of extensive energy practice, I did visualization, energy gymnastics, charged water, in general, I practiced the same magic again, only packaged in a beautiful colored wrapper of “science”, “secret knowledge”. I bought 3 special plates for working with energy - these are small plastic things with metal inside, on which energy channels are registered. I also used them very actively the whole summer and they caused exacerbations that were simply incredible before. But the necessary healing aggravation, cleansing of the body, must be endured, as the manufacturers said on the Internet. And since I was used to homeopathic exacerbations at that time and perceived them as the norm, supposedly without this it was impossible to cleanse and heal, I endured it. Every morning I “pumped” the energy centers, drank charged water, and carried it with me. It took me three months (the whole summer), because all this had a detrimental effect on my already burned soul, I felt that I was exhausted, and returned to homeopathy in September.

“I dreamed of my grandmother in the form of various monsters who stubbornly tried to kill me in every possible way”

It was in September that I began to have absolutely terrible dreams. I dreamed of my grandmother in the form of various monsters who stubbornly tried to kill me in every possible way. That same summer, I had a small conflict with this same grandmother regarding finances, and of course, I thought that she was a witch, casting a spell on me and wanted to kill me. At first there were attempts to attribute everything to banal nerves and mental shock, but over the course of several months of winter, when the dreams stubbornly did not stop, confidence in the magical effect gradually grew stronger, and in the spring I already made an attempt to go to an old familiar sorcerer in my hometown.

All this time, the prayer “Our Father” saved me again. In some unknown way, I began to read it right in my sleep when attacked by monsters, and everything stopped, or I simply shouted: “Lord, help me!”, despite the fact that I had not worn a cross for a long time, and in general had such an incredible occult mess in my mind. head... But the soul, apparently, instinctively reached out to the real Light, to Life, which the brain stubbornly did not want to accept.

Arriving at the sorcerer, I discovered that he had recently passed away, and I was upset. All summer I was thinking about where to find a truly powerful magician who would free me from the spell of my evil grandmother-witch. By that time my health was already dying out, I was on an extremely strict diet, my body temperature was constantly kept at 35 degrees, my blood pressure was 80/50, I had an abnormal sensitivity to literally everything: herbs, vitamins, spices, any more or less chemical additives in food, any strong odors. The body reacted to almost everything in the same way - suffocation and real poisoning began. From the smell. It was as if I had taken this substance internally. Need I say how I felt on public transport, where everyone is sprayed with perfume, smelling of chemical powder, gasoline and so on? At home we had to establish a strict taboo on household chemicals, glue, nail polishes, lotions and perfumes, the list goes on for a long time. Restrictions, of course, were introduced for household members - I myself have not used this for a long time due to the same sensitivity that I associated with the development of my extrasensory abilities. Pride blinds, yes. Every full moon turned into an adventure, I simply could not leave the house - the heavy, depressing state of loss of strength was so overwhelming, everything inside hurt.

And so, at the end of that summer, my mother was advised at work to a healer who was very strong and helped her colleague in serious difficulties. We went to this healer, she confirmed the damage and pointed to an elderly woman who wished me death, set up protection so that in the future no one could cast a spell. My suspicions seemed to be confirmed, I was completely confident in my guesses and for a long time I could not get used to the idea that my own grandmother could do this to me. I began to see enemies and envious people everywhere who were ready to condemn me to death for any reason. For a period of about six months it actually became easier, but not by much; the result was expected to be much better. Almost immediately after removal, I began to have dreams with my grandmother in the leading role again, I attributed this to the imperfection of magical protection and tried to defend myself. I prayed to God for protection, but I prayed according to my own concepts, so that they would protect me from the evil witch.

Here it should also be noted that that same summer, when the damage was removed again, the thought occurred to me that the same agreement about selling the soul to the devil seemed to have not been canceled. This fact horrified me and made me wonder if this was the cause of all my troubles? And so, I wrote a second “document” by hand, where I wrote that my soul belongs not to the devil, but to the Lord. It’s funny to remember now, but then I was really scared, not knowing at all what else could be done here. Although, in essence, she again turned to the Enemy of the human race.

God gave clues then. That summer, I began to “cleanse the apartment of negativity,” that is, run around the house with a candle and holy water, burning off the accumulated bad energy, and there was enough of it in our house due to constant scandals and wine drinking. Having read advice on the Internet on how to enhance the expulsion of bad energy, I once played a recording of bells ringing in a church and did not turn it off, leaving it to listen to what would come on next. An akathist to the Mother of God was turned on, a recording of a church service for about 45 minutes. For me then it became a real discovery how beautiful it was, how pleasant it was to listen to the feeling of light arising in the soul. But within a couple of hours after listening, it became so bad that it cannot be described in words. There was a ringing in the head, a wild pain, as if it had been thoroughly cracked, and other diseases also worsened. I also couldn’t stand holy water for the same reasons; it stood in the hallway, in the farthest corner, and was only taken out for the notorious “cleansings.” From everything it was concluded that Orthodoxy is an energetic practice that simply does not suit me, and I began to avoid any interaction with it due to banal physical pain that I could not bear.

Let's return to breaking the contract with Satan. I then strongly asked God to help me, because I was completely lost in this life. The financial situation also gradually worsened, my mother’s new husband began to openly force us out of the house, using his property rights, which in general were impossible to challenge, because half of the apartment was given away even before marriage. And then it was as if a quiet voice sounded in my head: “Ask for forgiveness,” very persistent. I didn’t understand from whom and for what, I took everything in my own way and just every day I began to remember all the people I had ever offended, before going to bed I remembered, dug through my whole life, forgave myself and asked for forgiveness for everything that only I could remember, from the bottom of my heart. But there was still a year and a half left before the end of my ordeal.

At the end of that year, scandals at home began to turn into something terrible, my mother and I filed a lawsuit against her husband, we wanted to try to get half of the apartment back, and in January a real war began on the scale of a single living space, with constant bullying, alcohol and defiance police. At the end of January, my mother could not stand it and attempted suicide, but with God’s help everything worked out. The spring-summer passed steadily hostile, we lost the trial and, in general, stopped floundering. I continued to slowly go to the homeopath and hope for the miracle of alternative medicine, although the incessant exacerbations were seriously embarrassing. But then I had no time for it at all, with such matters in my own home.

At that time, my creative energy had long since dried up, and I lived like a zombie, with a paralyzed will and a lack of at least some interest in life.

Yes, there was also a case when in winter I was looking for the icon of the Mother of God “Unfading Color” (because I saw the help of Matrona: miracles really appeared when I turned to her, which, well, could not in any way be connected with coincidences, I prayed to her when my mother was lying in the hospital). And “Unfading Color” - precisely because my occult consciousness sincerely believed that if I was literally fading clearly before my eyes, then it was precisely such an icon that I should pray to. And then in the church shop, where I went to buy candles to “clean” the apartment, they sold me an icon with a piece of the Holy Land, from the homeland of the Virgin Mary. I really liked it, and to enhance the effect, I put it under my pillow at night. What started there! I thought I was going to die that night. I was strangled in my sleep, and had some absolutely terrible bloody visions, I woke up every hour. The next morning, blood gushed from the gums, there was deep blue under the eyes, he looked exhausted, his head was bursting with pain. Just like then, after listening to a recording of a church service. At the same time, on the contrary, some kind of living energy was beating in my chest, Joy with a capital letter. This again left me perplexed - how could this be? The center of your head hurts (to put it mildly!), but everything in your chest feels extraordinarily beautiful? But after the second night, the experiments had to be stopped because the pain was simply unbearable.

Even during the period of my “cleansing from negativity”, after each such procedure I became unusually ill, until the next day there was no energy at all. This was classified as an unusual amount of negativity in the apartment that was "sticking" to me, something of a side effect and a necessary evil. And one day it so happened that on the same day I went to the local parish for a new portion of candles for a magical procedure (I then believed that this ritual was exclusively Orthodox!) and stood at the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, asking for support and health. That day was not bad at all, quite the contrary. After that, once a month, when my soul became very heavy, I went to “recharge” from this icon, continuing to perceive the world through the prism of my distorted occult consciousness.

Part three

Demons in person

So, the summer of that memorable year has arrived. In July, SOMETHING came for the first time. At first, I didn’t even understand what happened to me, since it happened at the junction of sleep and reality, it was just as if something lifted me into the air a little and began to blow me with a strong wind from all sides, icy and terrible, of a completely non-physical nature. This caused such torment to the soul that there is nothing to even compare it with, there are no earthly words or analogues to describe it. And somehow, by itself, everything suddenly stopped.

I slept poorly even before this: constant nightmares, plus some strange night hunger, completely disrupted my rhythm of life. And I fell asleep with my back pressed tightly against the wall, my arms and legs crossed, and I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. As usual, all this was attributed to stress and poor psychological conditions at home.

Having appeared once, night insurance began to come again, at first 2-3 times a week, throughout the fall it appeared more often, by December of the same year this thing appeared constantly. I defended myself again by reading “Our Father” right in a dream, asked God for help, and in reality prayed to Saint Matrona. In addition to the icy wind, the demon appeared in the form of a cat that jumped onto the bed (I didn’t see it, I was afraid to open my eyes), they bit me on the back, and it was very painful, in a dream they threw me against the wall so that it knocked me out, the bed shook constantly, but not, of course, so that it could be heard in the next room, just a small vibration. This “wind of horror” almost blew the soul out of me alive.

One night I woke up with some strange clear thought “there is someone here” and saw a very vague black shadow at my feet, looking at me! She just looked, meaningfully and with incredible anger. Seeing this, I immediately switched back off and only the next morning I remembered what had happened, realizing everything in full. This was my discovery. Evil is not an abstract energy, it is a reasonable and well-organized force that lives its own life and has very specific goals in relation to people.

Somewhere from summer to December, terrible metamorphoses occurred with my body. By that time, I had long ago lost most of my hair, all that was left was a short boy’s haircut, my hair became dry, thin, with seborrhea at the roots. The skin on my face was peeling so much that it was impossible to see. The joints were cracking and hurt, especially on the right side. During this six months, my body completely withered from the inside, I was tormented by constant thirst, and I grew old. At one point, all the skin simply dried out and wrinkled, became thinner, like an old woman’s, its very structure changed, in some places it simply tore to the point of bleeding, areas similar to burns appeared on the body! In just six months, all my youth was drained from me. The limbs, which had always been cold before, began to feel dead in the cold, it was painful to bend and straighten the fingers, and the nails began to pull away from the fingers.

“And then, imagining myself with a cross on my chest enchanted by a witch, it seemed to hit me on the head. I have my own normal Orthodox cross!”

In December, when I especially strongly prayed to Heaven, literally the next day, one friend recommended my grandmother to me, the conversation about whom came up by chance. Allegedly, the grandmother is very strong, she heals exclusively with prayers and all that. Without hesitation at all, I went with my mother to this healer to once again remove the terrible generational curse. I must say that there were a lot of people at my grandmother’s, every day there was a line in the morning. At the end of the withdrawal course, which lasted three days in a row, I asked this grandmother how to protect myself from this horror. She answered me: “Buy the cheapest cross in the church, I’ll speak it to you, and everything will be fine.” And then, imagining myself with a cross on my chest enchanted by a witch, it seemed to hit me on the head. I have my own normal Orthodox cross! Arriving home, I put on this cross, began to drink holy water and wipe my entire body, completely copying the witch’s recipe “drink and wash” (these words stuck in my head). Here another discovery awaited me, which became the key to salvation.

About two and a half years before that, I began to feel a certain “cap” of an energetic nature on my head, even when I was engaged in “pumping” energy centers, but I explained this to myself by increased sensitivity. After starting a course of holy water with wearing a cross, this “hat” began to move! The feeling as if many tentacled snakes are flying from your head, hissing and tormenting you with pain, wrapping around your neck and forcing you to take off the cross. As soon as I touched the holy water to the top of my head, the pain became completely wild, I read prayers to the Life-Giving Cross and Psalm 90 - or rather, I tried to do this. As soon as the cross was removed for literally half an hour, the torment instantly stopped. I spent those 10 days practically unconscious, lying flat on January 1, 2018, and, having exhaled a little, on the 3rd I literally crawled, barely alive, to the first confession in my life.

I must say, I had little determination, I was constantly distracted by thoughts of waiting, doing it later, another day, fatigue and doubts set in. But by some miracle I managed to overcome everything. Weeping the Gospel with tears, I told the priest very briefly about my magical adventures and about the evil spirits pursuing me. Despite my fears, they listened to me very warmly and with understanding, no one reproached me. Although I myself sincerely believed that it wouldn’t hurt to give me a proper knock on the head for such tricks. The priest gave me a small prayer book, where he noted prayers from demons, and without fail advised me to take unction the next day and generally go to church more often.

The night before the unction became another nightmare, the demons did not want to let me in there at all, everything inside was spinning, burning, my internal organs ached, an unknown force was squeezing my head. After two hours of fitful sleep, barely moving my legs, I went to the unction. I don’t know how I managed to get there and stand there for 2 hours; I begged God to give me the strength to survive it all.

Having heard enough stories about evil grannies in churches, I went there expecting not the most pleasant company. In fact, it was mostly grandmothers who gathered, but then my stereotypes collapsed again like a house of cards. Everyone was adequate, calm, no one said a bad word, although thoughts were spinning in my head: “What are you doing here, let’s leave!” Immediately after the unction, I really felt better, for the first time in all these many years! A small, but such a warm and real light opened in my soul. That same night, the demon who was shaking the bed and trying to blow my soul out alive was no longer able to get close to me, I woke up with my heart pounding in the middle of the night, because I felt him nearby, about a meter from the bed, a kind of wave of inhuman hatred in the air. A week later he was completely gone, that formidable force that had tormented me for six months and before which my soul trembled so much.

Having slept almost soundly for a whole week after that, I began to go to church regularly. The stage of struggle began, which I had no idea how to wage. I devoured literally tons of information about Orthodoxy on the Internet, read everything I could get my hands on, and gradually a picture began to take shape in my head. It’s impossible to describe the feeling when, like that, in one moment, your world completely collapses, a world that just yesterday was so familiar, harmonious, and understandable. When you suddenly realize that you really knew nothing about him, and you urgently need to replenish the knowledge that believers and churchgoers have carefully packed into their heads throughout their lives.

But one should not assume that the demons just released me right away - not at all. Those unknown tentacles on my head continued to torment me day and night, exhausted me, did not allow me to sleep, and at 4 in the morning my brain passed out simply from fatigue. During attacks, she stood up and read akathists to Matrona, Archangel Michael, and Guardian Angel. The demonic force tried to undermine faith - it prayed to the Apostle Thomas to help overcome unbelief. It must be said that in general, every interaction with an Orthodox shrine was given through a struggle with fear and pain. That is, if you drink water, the demon will punish you, show you nightmares, strangle you, squeeze your head so that it seems as if your bones are about to break apart, you will read a prayer to the Life-Giving Cross - the same thing, and so on all the time. I was not even able to start wearing a cross right away, only when I began to regularly receive communion and confession.

“This is how I carefully, gradually, won back my freedom.”

In general, of course, according to the church charter, witches are not supposed to give communion, but in essence I was never Orthodox, and I simply would not have physically survived. After the first Communion, the demon’s head seemed to have been hit with something: if before that he was moving very actively, then here he was as if paralyzed, only sluggishly trembling with his tentacles, and his head was ringing for a couple of days. Then the torment began again: you start to get ready for work - and then a tentacle sticks through your body and twists your stomach so that sparks come out of your eyes, and digs into your spine. Gradually I became more and more determined. One night, during another demonic attack, I got up, put on the cross and told myself that even if I strangled her to death, I wouldn’t take it off. After suffering for about two weeks, the insurance gradually faded away. I began to regularly drink holy water, read the morning and evening rules (by the way, during prayer at first I was overcome by such yawning that my jaw was twisted). All this happened within two months. So carefully, gradually, I won my freedom, confessed my entire life (this is a whole separate story: seeing ALL your sins at once is not the most pleasant thing), and in March I already passed the rite of renouncing the occult and joining Orthodoxy. With each new Communion, my strength became greater, the wild thirst went away, various minor defects disappeared: my nails stopped turning white and coming away from my fingers, the pain in the gall bladder disappeared, sleep was gradually restored, the nightmares began to go away, I stopped pressing my back into the wall in order to fall asleep, even The home environment has become much calmer. The most important thing is the internal state. I suddenly realized how ossified I had become over the years in melancholy, depression, hopelessness, complete apathy, and in contrast I felt Life in all its fullness, some kind of peace.

Previously, Orthodoxy seemed to me something distant and alien, out of date. There is a church, a little house with a cross, where completely corrupt priests live, who have organized a business for the needs of citizens for spiritual food; grandmothers who are bored in retirement and unemployed housewives go there. How wrong I was! In the temple you really feel at home, you feel the presence of a powerful, infinitely kind and loving force. I finally found answers to most of my questions, the rest remains to be read, understood and sorted out. At the moment, the foundation has not even been laid, I have only grabbed the bare minimum of the most necessary things from the truly incredible abyss of knowledge that has opened up before me.

Describing all this, I myself am surprised how it was possible to spend so much time beating around the bush, honestly. The Lord gave me such obvious hints, all that remained was to draw a huge red arrow over the temple. I still can't believe it's all over. All that remains is to bear the well-deserved penance in the form of a demon snake, which to this day has grown into my body in the literal sense of the word. A line from the evening rule immediately comes to mind: “take me away from the mouth of the destructive serpent, who yawns to devour me and bring me to hell alive.” This is it. The hardest thing is to stop being afraid. If you are afraid, it means you do not believe in God’s help, that the Lord loves you and does everything for your good, turning even obvious evil into good. It is necessary to constantly remind yourself that even if things are bad now, then this is the way it should be, because God desires exclusively the good and is trying to save in the only way known to Him. After all, if you are lying on the operating table in the hands of an experienced surgeon, then jumping up and trying to correct the doctor’s actions with screams is definitely a bad idea. We are accustomed to relying on ourselves, on our pitiful human strength and knowledge, stubbornly ignoring the voice of conscience and our Creator. Various occult teachings advocate becoming a complete master of your life. Well, it's funny! There is a Lord who created the entire visible and invisible world, and then suddenly a person declares that, in general, he does not need support and is generally the smartest. Occult teachings in general all have at their core one big mistake, built on pride - this is the desire to own energy, your life, and everyone around you. The punishments and sorrows that the Lord gives in this bodily life all have a certain meaning, which the human mind is simply unable to understand due to its fallen, imperfect nature. And the fact that you, in principle, were given these punishments now is a great mercy of God, because they brought you to their senses, created a situation so that you would eventually come to true repentance, and not just be thrown into hell at the end of your earthly journey for all your many sins .

What else can I recommend? Order prayers in the church, be sure to mention it at the proskomedia for health, it is better to immediately order for a year, give alms (only to those who really need it, and not encourage business that exists in this niche), perform acts of mercy, donate clothes to charitable organizations or friends in difficult situations. Wipe yourself with holy water, anoint yourself with oil, which is distributed after the unction. And completely change your lifestyle, your way of thinking! Perhaps even stop communicating with those people with whom you were connected by sinful pastimes such as going to nightclubs, evenings drinking alcohol, or breaking off fornication. Even if it’s a long-term habit, if it hurts, say “I can’t.” We must cut down mercilessly, once and for all, even if there is no strength, we must look for them, ask the Lord for help and strengthening, never forget the main thing - God is always there, He loves us, every single one of us! But He also wants mutual love from a person, so that we trust him, do His will, learn humility and abstinence from sins. After all, the reason why man became so weak, mortal and prone to self-destruction is the fall of the first people, Adam and Eve. Therefore, it is so important to change your life completely and completely, to decisively fight passions.

Instead of a conclusion

In my narration, I deliberately emphasized mysticism and everything connected with it. Demons tormented my soul not only with metaphysical phenomena, but also led me into all other possible sins; it was extremely difficult to resist them, but each time, in the end, I managed to overcome it with an effort of will. Of course, I’m not saying that I coped with all my sins, but these were especially big problems in life. To preserve the reader’s psyche, I did not list all my diseases and symptoms; in fact, there are many more of them.

And here is a drawing of a demon snake, my feelings. Many tentacles that dig into the body move in the brain itself. Its centers, “nodes” are located in those organs that are affected by diseases on the material level. Always, in 100 percent of cases, as soon as evil spirits begin to become active, the diseases immediately worsen. At the top of the head is its main center, which can shift slightly downwards, to the neck and back of the head, along the spine and body, as if “subcenters”. This thing is not only outside, on the head, but also inside. At first, while standing at services, I even heard hissing, which was faked as an inner voice; it began when the priests were close.

In contact with

Many of our people, out of ignorance and due to the demonic spirit in the air, turn to fortune-tellers, healers, contactees and other psychics. Many so-called healers pretend to be bioenergy therapists, but their essence is still the same magic or witchcraft. Extrasensory manipulation of energy, biofield, aura or invasion of a person’s soul are witchcraft techniques from black magic. Sorcerers hide behind scientific terms “biofield”, “torsion field”, “fields of weak interactions” and the like. But these terms do not speak of any science, except perhaps esoteric (occult). Don’t be confused by either the terminology or calling yourself Orthodox: Christianity has nothing in common with witchcraft and cannot have it.

Moreover, both the Old Testament and the New Testament are very strict about sorcerers, sorcerers, sorcerers, fortune tellers, spirit conjurers and other occultists. Deuteronomy (18:9-13) says: “When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, then do not learn to do the abominations that these nations have done: you shall not have anyone who leads his son or daughter through fire, a soothsayer, a fortuneteller, a sorcerer, a sorcerer, a charmer, spirits, magician and questioner of the dead; For everyone who does this is an abomination to the Lord, and for these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you; be blameless before the Lord your God.”

“But the prophet who dares to speak in My name what I did not command him to say, and who speaks in the name of other gods, such a prophet shall you put to death.” (18, 20).

“Do not turn to those who summon the dead, and do not go to wizards, and do not bring yourself to the point of being desecrated by them. I am the Lord your God"(Lev. 19:31).

“And if any soul turns to those who call the dead and to magicians to walk after them fornication, then I will turn My face against that soul and will cut it off from among its people. Sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord [your] God.”(Lev. 20:6-7).

“Thus says the Lord, who redeemed you and formed you from your mother’s womb: I am the Lord, who created all things, who alone stretched out the heavens and spread out the earth with His power, who makes the signs of false prophets null and void and reveals the folly of magicians, who drives away the wise and makes their knowledge foolish.”(Isa. 44:24-25).

“And do not listen to your prophets, and your fortune-tellers, and your dreamers, and your wizards, and your astrologers... For they prophesy lies to you...”(Jer. 27:9 - 10).

“...Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to obey is better than the fat of rams; for disobedience is the same sin as witchcraft, and rebellion is the same as idolatry.”(1 Samuel 15:22-23).

“Don’t leave the witches alive”(Ex. 22:18).

“Don’t tell fortunes or tell fortunes”(Lev. 19:26).

“And when they say to you: turn to the summoners of the dead and to the sorcerers, to the whisperers and ventriloquists, then answer: should not the people turn to their God? Do the dead ask about the living? Look to the law and Revelation. If they do not speak like this word, then there is no light in them."(Ex. 8:19-20).

As we see, the Old Testament, or God’s Old Law for the Jews, very firmly and unequivocally prohibits not only engaging in witchcraft, sorcery and other types of occultism, but even turning to them, and it is very definitely stated that the prophecies of fortune-tellers, dreamers, astrologers (astrologers) , the deeds of wizards (magicians and sorcerers) are lies. All believing Orthodox Christians should know this well and not take part in deeds abominable before the Lord, for it is said about those who turn to sorcerers: “I will turn My face against that soul and will destroy it from among its people.” Is this why those who turn to sorcerers, magicians, psychics and other demonic servants suffer in this way, because the Lord God turned His Face on them with anger and a ban on going to magicians, sorcerers, astrologers and others. We must not forget that not a single word of God goes in vain.

The New Testament or the Law of God for all mankind also strictly approaches occultists.

The Holy Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians clearly says that wizards, like adulterers, fornicators, idolaters, heretics and others, “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (5, 21). While there is still time, come to your senses and repent, Orthodox people who communicated with witchcraft and sorcerers themselves, do not deceive yourself. The Orthodox Church of Christ has the opportunity and power to forgive you if you sincerely repent and renounce your demonic activities. Remember this and use your chance of repentance in confession, because who knows, maybe tomorrow or even today it will be too late!

The Acts of the Holy Apostles of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament describes that while staying on the island of Cyprus with Barnabas and preaching the word of God there and passing the entire island to the village of Paphos, the apostles met there with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, who wanted to hear the word of God. “And Elymas the sorcerer (that is, the sorcerer) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, aka Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and fixing his gaze on him, said: O, full of all deceit and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness! will you stop turning aside from the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you: you will be blind and will not see the sun until the time comes. And suddenly darkness and darkness fell upon him, and he, turning here and there, looked for a counselor.”(Acts 13:8-11). So, we see that sorcerers act against God and cannot do anything, they are completely powerless against the power of God, which manifested itself in this case in the words and faith of the holy Apostle Paul.

And the holy Apostle John the Theologian in his revelation denounces sorcerers, servants of demons: “Blessed are they who keep His (God’s) commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter into the city through the gates. And outside are dogs and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters...”(Rev. 22:14-15). Thus, sorcerers (psychics, sorcerers and the like) have no place in the Kingdom of God. Think about this, you who are involved in magic, extrasensory perception, bioenergy, astrology and other devilry. The rules of the Orthodox Church categorically prohibit Christians from engaging in the occult. According to the rules of St. Basil the Great, people who practice magic are subject to the same church punishment as murderers. Because such people do worse: the one who kills the body is not terrible, the one who destroys the soul is terrible. He who kills the body cannot destroy the soul. And sorcerers, as we found out, give their souls to the devil for eternal destruction. At the same time, they destroy the souls of those who turn to them for help out of ignorance, for they act, as we tried to show you, precisely by demonic power.

So, we have found out that Christianity and occultism, that is, witchcraft, extrasensory perception, bioenergy and other demonic ministries have and cannot have anything in common. Witchcraft and magic are repugnant to God and are punished, sometimes very harshly. There is a direct connection between our psychic healers and bioenergeticists, who advertise their services in newspapers, with the devilish world and its power. The Orthodox Church has never had, does not have, and cannot have anything in common with this devilry, no matter how such healing is called, even “Orthodox.” “What does light have in common with darkness? - exclaims the holy Apostle Paul, “What agreement is there between Christ and Belial?”(2 Cor. 6:14-15).

Psychic healers and white magicians often say that by doing good deeds they serve God, but this is a false statement, says the Gospel, “You will know them by their fruits.” And it is by their fruits that we recognize them: thousands and thousands of victims of occultists, destroyed families, distorted destinies, suffering souls, “fools with a stolen aura,” ruined lives of suicides. Let us remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ that “Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Heavenly Father. Many will say to Me on that day: Lord! God! Have we not prophesied in Your name? and was it not in Your name that they cast out demons? and did they not perform many miracles in Your name? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you; Depart from me, you workers of iniquity."(Matt. 7:21-23). The Lord also calls them false prophets, “who come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (7:15).

Letter No. 1

We have been fighting witchcraft for 8 years now. All to no avail. General lectures in Zagorsk from Father Herman and unction did not help. As one clairvoyant said, nothing will help. The plot period is too long. The essence of man has changed. Her life is running out. Besides the fact that she has no path in life, she suddenly began to dislike Russian guys. Makes contact only with the Kyrgyz. Question. Is it possible to organize a personal lecture with Father Germ in Zagorsk? Valentina

Hello, Valentina!

And where did you get such knowledge of occult terminology? Probably from those clairvoyants and psychics whom you listen to with such pleasure. I can tell you only one thing - all this is complete nonsense! And your troubles come precisely from the visits of these “kind” clairvoyants, who dare to say that nothing can help a person. Since when, may I ask, did Orthodox Christians begin to trust so much in people who have nothing in common with God? And moreover, deliberately serving the devil. Yes Yes exactly! And nothing else!

“You shall not have anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, a soothsayer, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, a sorcerer, ...” (Deut. 18:10).

“And when they say to you: turn to the summoners of the dead and to the sorcerers, to the whisperers and ventriloquists, then answer: should not the people turn to their God? Do they ask the dead about the living? (Is8:19)

Fortune tellers, psychics, healers, clairvoyants - all these are ministers of black cults. And no lectures from Fr. will help you. Herman and unction, it will only get worse from them. And all because it is impossible to simultaneously pray to God for help and at the same time run through psychics.

Turning to a clairvoyant is turning to the devil! This is a direct violation of the first commandment: “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex. 20:2-3). And for violating this commandment in the Old Testament the death penalty was imposed. So draw a conclusion why your daughter is melting before your eyes. And if you don’t stop, then everything can end even more sadly, for “I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” "(Exodus 20:5-6).

If you have drawn the appropriate conclusions for yourself, then I will continue further. You need to understand that a person who lives in harmony with God and fulfills His commandments is not afraid of any witchcraft. At the moment, you and your daughter urgently need

Perhaps the priest will assign you penance. With humility, accept all the admonitions of your confessor and follow all his instructions. And get out of your head the idea that Fr. Germana is a panacea for all diseases. Your daughter does not suffer from demonic possession, and the rite of reprimand is the direct expulsion of an evil spirit from a person’s body. She needs to confess, receive communion, and, if necessary, receive unction as often as possible. But remember that all this is incompatible with visits to occultists. You can receive all other instructions from the priest in the temple. God help you!

You just need to understand that in Orthodoxy there is no magic and no sacred act without one’s own repentance (that attitude described by the prophet David “a sacrifice to God, a broken spirit, a broken and humble heart, God will not despise”) will not have the benefit for which it is intended. (Editor’s note) .)

It is worth emphasizing that if a person comes to confession, or to communion, or to baptism not for the sake of union with the Lord Jesus Christ, but for the sake of some completely different goals, especially occult goals, then this is a grave sin. It happens that they say: “Well, we went to the grandmothers, and they said: “You are unbaptized, go get baptized” - or: “Go take communion to church, and then we will tell your fortune, then we will do for you what you want.” " From this, some conclude that they are Orthodox. But the demons do this, because for demons it is more interesting to abuse a baptized Christian than to abuse an unbaptized person. Therefore, I would venture to suggest that in your case this did not bring what you expected, because it was not done for the purpose for which these sacraments were established.

And if your problems are not of a medical nature, but of a spiritual nature, then they must be solved not by a one-time visit to church, but by a full-fledged church life. Make it a rule for yourself to visit church at least once a week, go to confession often, take communion monthly, pray at home in the morning and evening, read spiritual literature and the Gospel daily and your spiritual problems will be resolved.

However, such a lifestyle is necessary for any believer. Perhaps the misfortune that befell you simply reminds you of the need to live as a Christian should.

Even if problems are not resolved instantly by church means, it may be necessary to show patience and constancy in doing good: in fasting and prayer, attending services and participating in the sacraments of the Church? Maybe you need to seriously reconsider your life, work on your soul, remembering that the goal of Christian life is not health, well-being and prosperity, but sanctification, transformation of the soul?It takes time to enlighten, to purify the heart, to become closer to Christ. “...Here the devil and God are fighting, but the battlefield is the hearts of people”...

In addition to God, there are forces that in Christianity are called fallen angels, demons, demons.

These forces, which themselves have long ago made their choice in favor of fighting against God, strive to persuade people to do the same. Those who keep the laws of God, expressed, first of all, in His commandments, are protected by God, but the one who rejects these commandments, first of all, by the way of his life, by the values ​​that form its basis, deprives himself of this protection and becomes an easy prey demons These people reject God's protection, and God, respecting their free will, leaves them alone with their choice. St. John of Damascus writes about demons: “... every vice was invented by them and unclean passions. And they are allowed to attack a person, but they are not able to force anyone, because it depends on us whether to withstand the attack or not.” A person deprived of God's protection, having become the prey of demons who are indifferent to our free will, becomes possessed by demonic forces. The will of such people becomes controlled by demons, and they themselves turn into their puppets. Therefore, one should not be surprised when a certain grandmother “heals” or “predicts”, but understand who the source is and what the consequences may be.

Demons are very cunning and insidious. If they see that you are not listening to them and are shying away from their evil deeds, they will try to influence you through another person who is next to you at that moment (for example, one who does not know anything about demons). They inspire him to suggest, advise you to do such an act (for example, go to your grandmother, bewitch, bewitch, “treat”, have an abortion, kill, etc.), i.e. sin, an act that violates the commandments of God, incline you to sin and further aggravate the sin, thus tearing you away from Christ, depriving you of God’s protection and destroying you. But they cannot force you to do something bad without your decision.

Important: If your problems are not of a medical nature, but of a spiritual nature, then they should be solved not by a one-time visit to church, but by a full-fledged church life, going to services, participating in the sacraments of the church.

Below is a screenshot of requests from Yandex to our website. So do you want to be a bred chicken? Remember wolves in sheep's clothing... (click on image to enlarge)

One of the letters of St. Nicholas of Serbia aboutto the bottom peasant who complains that he is haunted by fear

You are being haunted by an evil spirit, one of many evil spirits trying to destroy a person. You write: when fear attacks you, it seems to you that the whole world is persecuting you, that all people are your sworn enemies, that God hates you too. You went to the experts and they said it was kind of crazy. Yes, this really is madness, they told you right. And the Church will tell you the same. Only the Church will tell you something else, based on Church experience and knowledge. She will explain to you who your madness is coming from and why. It comes from an evil spirit, but is due to some kind of sin of yours. The Church will prescribe medicine for you: confess, repent of your sin, and the evil spirit will leave you. On its own it will never leave you, but the Lord will drive it out of you. I heard how Almighty Christ cast out demons from people, how He had complete power over them, and how the spirits of evil submitted to Him unquestioningly.

However, the Lord's power over the spirits of evil is not limited to driving them out. Sometimes the Lord allows these invisible dogs to attack people. That is why in the Holy Scriptures even the spirits of evil are called God's. Have you seen the phrase in the Old Testament: “an evil spirit from God fell upon Saul, and he went mad in his house” (1 Sam. 18:10)? And the spirit of evil of God is called not because it is akin to God and comes from God (in no case!), but because it is subject to God’s authority. Read the first chapter of the Book of Job and you will be convinced that an evil spirit cannot attack a person unless the Lord God allows it.

Now you know about it, and let despair leave you. The Lord is Almighty and All-Merciful. He can and wants to free you from the evil spirit of fear that at times torments you so cruelly. Only you acknowledge the power and mercy of God, and then confess your sin, repent and pray fervently to the Almighty. Say in prayer: “God, Ruler of spirits and every creature, Almighty and All-Merciful, forgive me, a sinner, have mercy on me and save me in the name of the torments of the cross of Your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ!” Do not doubt, the Lord will have mercy and drive away this insignificant monster from you.

Venerable Paisius the Svyatogorets - How can witchcraft be destroyed

Venerable Paisius the Svyatogorets - In what cases does witchcraft have power?

Father's answers to readers' questions:

I began to feel physically unwell. One thing goes away and another ailment begins. I decided: maybe they’ve jinxed it? And does Orthodoxy have such a concept, the evil eye? What events should I go to at Church? I would like to know in advance how to prepare for them. Catherine

Hello, Ekaterina!

I would advise you to consult a doctor first, because... Physical ailments are usually caused by various diseases. Sometimes they are in a hidden form and do not manifest themselves in any way, so it seems that the malaise occurs for no reason.

Now let's move on to consider your assumption about the evil eye.

I’ll tell you right away that there is no such concept in the Church. Just like there are no concepts of damage, generational curse, love spell and others like them. All this terminology was invented by figures of occult sciences or ordinary charlatans. But the church admits that there are people who practice witchcraft. It would be foolish to deny this fact, especially since the Old Testament repeatedly mentions sorcerers and sorcerers.

Moreover, the Lord gives commandments prohibiting all communication with such people. It goes without saying that all this is from the evil one. So it’s still interesting, why are magical effects on humans possible? The answer is simple: a person who does not live a church life and does not keep God’s commandments is most susceptible to such influences. The fact is that a person who does not resort to the saving church Sacraments is deprived of that grace-filled protection that is abundantly present in the church.

But there is another reason why the Lord can allow a person to become a victim of magicians and sorcerers. These are unrepentant sins. They can also be the cause of illness and sorrow. And it is not at all necessary that someone will cast a spell on you. The sin committed by our first parents in the Garden of Eden left its mark on the entire human race. Moreover, man became mortal. In the same way, every person, by sinning, becomes further and further from God. This is where the emergence of various diseases and ailments is possible.

Now we have come to how we can deal with all this. Of course, only with God's help!

A good, sincere confession to a confessor and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ can instantly destroy all the slander of the evil one and help overcome various sorrows and illnesses. There are many examples when people, after repeated confessions and communion, were healed of incurable diseases.

Apparently the time has come to direct your feet to the temple of God. There you can learn how to prepare for confession and communion. Remember also that the Lord says in the Gospel that all the slander of the evil one will come out through fasting and prayer. So, fast, pray, confess, take communion, in a word, live as an Orthodox Christian should. Then you will not be afraid of any evil eye or damage. And diseases can also have simply physiological causes. God help you!

Letter No. 3

My mother-in-law, in parallel with the Bible, is looking for the truth of life in Feng Shui, believes in reincarnation and past civilizations. And lately I have become interested in conspiracies and omens, feeding the brownie mushrooms, telling fortunes and teaching my daughter to this heresy. Her life is a mess, her children are always sick, she has no money, but she doesn’t give in to any persuasion to stop doing nonsense and turn to a priest: one does not interfere with the other. How to protect yourself and future children? I'm scared... Natalya

Hello, Natalia!

I fully understand and share your fears. The mother-in-law’s behavior can indeed negatively affect not only the spiritual, but also the physical state of those around her. But let's take things in order.

At first, your mother-in-law became interested in Eastern philosophies. In fact, it is a product of pagan cults. It is clear that such beliefs have nothing in common with faith in the Living God. But things went further. Now she is already engaged in outright occultism. Conspiracies are not an appeal to God at all, but a calling on evil spirits, although for cover they can be “furnished” with Christian terminology.

Fortune telling is completely prohibited by the Church and is considered a grave sin. And feeding the brownie is a return to ancient Slavic paganism. It is quite logical to assume that soon your mother-in-law will get into black magic and Satanism. And of course, there is nothing surprising in the fact that family troubles reign in the house, the children are getting sick one after another, and she herself is not in the best shape. All these are the consequences of the confusion that reigns in her head. For it is impossible to mix faith in Christ with faith in Buddha or Krishna, mix Orthodox prayer with a conspiracy, and consider yourself an Orthodox Christian, while practicing fortune telling and magic.

Now let's move on to how to protect yourself from the negative consequences of your mother-in-law's activities. First of all, you need to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ as often as possible and encourage your spouse and, if possible, those loved ones who have not yet come under the influence of your mother-in-law to do so. If you live separately from her, then be sure to consecrate your home. Try to pray more not only at home, but also visit the temple of God more often to pray. Keep the fasts. In a word, try to do everything that the Orthodox Church calls its faithful children to do. Then you will be under the grace-filled protection of the saving church Sacraments. And, of course, try to explain to your mother-in-law about the sinfulness of her errors and the possible consequences of her activities. If it doesn’t work out, then all that remains is to pray for her and hope for God’s great mercy. God help you.

Sincerely, priest Dionisy Svechnikov.

Letter No. 4

– A healer recently helped me a lot. But now in my life everything is going downhill, everything is covered in darkness. Deep down, I feel a clear connection, as if some kind of reckoning is taking place, but I cannot understand: what exactly is my sin? Help me please!

– I can’t understand: what is the danger of doing yoga? For example, they help me in life.

– These two questions are like two siblings, the younger and the older: the second was exactly the same as the first just a couple of years ago!...

The saddest thing, however, is something else: some of us, having received “help” from some occult, anti-Christian source, until the end of our lives will not feel either movement downhill, or the onset of darkness, or a sense of retribution. Therefore, the author of the second question has every reason to rejoice - if, of course, he draws the proper conclusions from his current state.

Here is how the remarkable modern thinker, American, Russian Orthodox priest Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) speaks about this:

“Of course, in addition to Christianity, there are other expressions of universal meaning and order... For example, to a follower of traditional Indian or Chinese philosophy, the truth and the inner world that comes from it are to some extent revealed... He who deviates from this relative truth and partial world loses a lot, but not yet everything is like apostate Christian. That is why unprecedented confusion reigns in our hearts, because we have retreated from the law and truth, which were fully revealed to us in Christ Himself” (“Man Inside Out. Philosophy of the Absurd”).

In conclusion, the answer to this serious question is an illustration that will help you understand the meaning of what was said. In some book for children, the action takes place in the summer of 1941. The boys shout: “Tanks are coming, tanks! Let's run to look!..." The hero is perplexed: the tanks are German... But his best friend drags him by the hand: "Hurry up! Just think, what a difference!”

But there is a difference, and a considerable one. For German children it would not be so significant, but many of us, who in childhood ran after other people’s tanks, unnoticed for ourselves crossed the line beyond which lies a slope, darkness and retribution.

It is impossible to draw any scientific (i.e., experimental and objectively verifiable) conclusions in this area, but centuries-old practice testifies that Christ protects man from threats in the immaterial world. He personally. At the same time, those who reject Him naturally remain outside His protection.

Analogy: a child of two or three years old walks down the street hand in hand with his mother. He knows nothing about the nature of the dangers in the world around him (dirt, puddles, dogs, cars...), but he knows that his mother will protect him from them, that as long as he holds her hand, he is safe. And this is the absolute truth. - But what will happen if he breaks free and runs away from her? He opens himself to all dangers, although she is still his mother.

I would suggest buying (or finding online) a brochure about. Andrey Kuraev, “Why Christians are not afraid of damage.” Actually, the answer is in the title: we are not afraid of corruption (witchcraft) to the extent that we remain Christians - that is, we are in communion with Christ in His Holy Sacraments. And on the contrary: by losing this communication, we open ourselves to all the evil forces of the invisible world.

Hence the simple conclusion: treatment from witchcraft = return to the Church. Yes, we treat witchcraft; however, not we, but Christ Himself, in His Holy Church.

One priest told me about a confession he once had. After the liturgy, a woman approached him and asked him to confess. The time for confession had passed, but the person could not be refused, so the priest and this woman went up to the choir, where confession was usually held in this church.

Please speak,” said the priest.

The woman began her story:

I rarely go to church, I have a big dog at home...

What does the dog have to do with it?

I was told that this was a great sin... Then, when I had problems at work, they took me to some people who help with prayers (!)

She took out a piece of paper from her pocket, on which several more sins were written:

At one time I lived with a married man, I don’t keep fasts, I have a sick stomach, I don’t pray in the morning and evening...

Then the priest turned to the woman:

You know that you named many things that, from the point of view of the Gospel, are a sin, a violation of God’s commandments, but not all of what you named, for example, the dog most likely has nothing to do with it. But you simply made a kind of report on the work done, on a half-lived life. Let me say the same thing, but what should it sound like in confession?

And he continued, looking at the icon of the Mother of God in front of them.

Lord, I want to open my heart to You, I don’t love You, I pray little and rarely, there is no prayer in my life, just as there is no You in this life. Therefore, I have repeatedly betrayed You (the priest spoke as if on behalf of this woman), there is no grace in my life - I do not fast for You, I do not need it, my love is weak and passionate, I have sinned a lot, both fornication and despondency, not knowing I betrayed You and Your help and turned to people who, most likely, do not serve You, but serve the enemy and seduce into this service many weak in spirit, deprived of living faith in You...

There is no Your Word for me, I don’t hear it, I have nothing to answer it with... But now I can’t live without You, everything that I didn’t even dare to recognize as sin and uncleanness greatly interferes with my life, and I can no longer live with it , but my soul doesn’t know how to live differently...

Here the priest interrupted and said to the woman:

You know, I thought that I would say this for you and for you, but it turned out that I feel, I say this for myself, from myself and to God. Can you now simply understand that Christ is now between us, can you at least approximately, but from the bottom of your heart, say the same thing - but from yourself?

The woman began to cry and, confused in her words, repeated not at all exactly what the priest said. “I repent, forgive me, Lord, give me a new life, let this life be with You, but I don’t have the strength for this life, help me, don’t leave me, Lord...”

After this, the priest read a prayer of permission over the woman and hugged her, looked into her eyes - they smiled.

“Christ stands before you invisibly, accepting your confession; Christ is living and active.” Technical Christians, ethnic Christians, help Christ act and live in your hearts, look at everything around with a good thought, through the eyes of Christ, and a lot in your life will change.

⁠ “...Don’t tell fortunes, don’t guess. Do not turn to those who summon the dead, and do not go to wizards, and do not bring yourself to the point of being desecrated by them. I am your Lord. And if any soul turns to those who call the dead and to magicians to walk after them fornication, then I will turn My face against that soul and will destroy it from among its people” (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6).

To protect yourself from dark forces, you must not commit mortal sins and not resort to the servants of Satan: sorcerers, psychics, hypnotists (encoded), various healers, fortune-tellers and other servants of dark forces. Do not keep sinful things in the house, which, like a magnet, attract these servants. You need to be with the church, use shrines and prayer. If you have sinned, read about the sacrament of confession, confess, repent of your sins, leave harmful activities and the enemy will lose power.

God saves and preserves not without the person himself, as the proverb says: “God protects the one who is careful.” Sorcerers act through things, products, etc., because a person does not protect himself with shrines: he does not pray to God and does not call on Him, he does not use shrines , rarely goes to confession and to Communion. (and more often does not go at all)

• White magic is a sin! What is the difference between “black” and “white” magic?

Not a day goes by that the priest in the church does not have to talk with such “insiders”, to whom the “good woman” advised some other utter nonsense... Well, how can you not know the position of the Church in relation to such “advisers”, if that’s not what this is about? that they repeat at every step, but simply trumpet: “