OPINION:
Millions of Americans seek to giggle and quip about the occult, treating Ouija boards, Tarot cards, and other tools of divination as mere parlor tricks — but the reality is much more sobering.
Demonic activity isn’t a mere figment of people’s imaginations; it’s a very real phenomenon, with anthropologists and social scientists documenting its presence in nearly every culture since the dawn of time.
It should come as no surprise that Hollywood horror movies thrive on the natural intrigue these experiences spark, with studios churning out demon-themed movies every October to send chills down audiences’ spines.
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But, in many ways, evil is treated like a figment of people’s imaginations — and some critics believe that’s by design.
“One of the biggest deceptions that the devil has for people is that he doesn’t even exist — that there is no evil, that there are no demons, that the Bible isn’t true, that God isn’t the one true God of the universe,” Jenn Nizza, a former psychic-turned-Christian, recently told me.
And she’s right. For Ms. Nizza, whose new book “Darkness in Disguise: A Biblical Warning about Spiritual Deception in Our Culture” documents her journey out of the occult, these experiences are very real. She was just 13 years old when a Tarot card reader came into her Long Island, NY, home and did a reading that changed everything.
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It sparked something in Ms. Nizza — a voyage that led her from intrigue with the occult to an eventual career as a psychic medium.
“That was truly my gateway into divination,” she told me. “I was completely intrigued by it. … It left me wanting much more. … If she could get these cards and she was a card reader, surely I could do the same thing.”
Eventually, the occult became an obsession, with Ms. Nizza looking for answers and “wisdom” wherever she could. She started doing readings for friends and family and ended up finding herself struggling with anxiety, confusion, and even an eating disorder.
“It was an addiction that was never satisfied,” she said. “It’s kind of like being hungry, eating all the food in the world, and still being hungry because it’s rooted in lies, so it will never fulfill.”
What Ms. Nizza once believed were helpful so-called “spirit guides,” she now believes were demons, using her to perpetuate evil. Among other practices, she partook in something known as automatic writing.
“I would go into a meditative state. … I would go into this trance-like state, which is really emptying yourself, and that’s what allows these entities in,” she said. “And these demons would literally start feeding me information so quickly as I’m pen to paper.”
Ms. Nizza continued, “All this information would start coming out on the page about you, about your family — things that you could validate, facts that these demons know because they’ve observed you and your generations of family.”
At the time, she also practiced mediumship, believing she was helping people connect with their dead loved ones. All the while, Ms. Nizza now believes she was increasingly opening her life up to more demonic evil.
“I really believed I was helping people,” she said. “I felt like this was my purpose, this was my job, this was a gift. I didn’t like the scary aspects that came along with it.”
But for years, Ms. Nizza said she didn’t realize these side effects were tied to her actions.
“I went all that time up until 37 years old, not understanding at all … that there was anything wrong with what I was doing in the New Age and the occult,” she said. “I also believed I had control over the supernatural realm. … I believed I could control the scary spirits.”
Ms. Nizza said the evil kept pressing in, though, until she found herself calling out to Jesus, which sparked a conversion to the Christian faith that vanquished her psychic mediumship and sent her on an important quest.
Suddenly, the pain and chaos she experienced were gone.
“The freedom I felt when I got saved, I always describe it as these imaginary chains loosening off of my ankles, and I cried tears of joy,” Ms. Nizza said. “I did quit my job, I got into a church, I got baptized.”
Through her Ex-Psychic Saved ministry, Ms. Nizza now creates videos and interactive content to warn others about the occult’s dangers.
“I realized that I had been doing something evil and condemned by God,” she said.
Ms. Nizza is hoping “Darkness in Disguise” and her story help inspire people to steer clear of the occult.
“I really hope that it educates believers about New Age practices that are being seen in our culture on a daily basis,” she said. “I argue that everybody will encounter the New Age and the occult, so you need to know what that looks like [and] what the danger is.”
Watch our interview with Ms. Nizza on “God, Country & the American Story.”
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