Are Christians Being Deceived by Wicked Spirits? | A Christian Witch's Perspective

I won't say it's impossible.

Another week means another collection of questions on my FIVE page, and this week's spotlighted question is one that, honestly, is an important question to answer. After all, in spirituality, there's no concrete way in which spirits come through to us—and so it's easy to get caught in the lies and deceptions of spirits trying to siphon our energy if we aren't sure of what we're doing.

There are some ways around this, though—and just as I answered this querent today, so too will I share that answer with you.

The Question:

Have you had any experience encountering spirits that aren't what they seem?

"I thought I was talking to a saint until I realized it was something else in disguise. It scared the shit out of me and made me question if this is really the right path. Have you ever experienced something similar? How do you develop spiritual discernment?" —Anonymous

The Answer:

Hey, there!

I'm sorry that happened to you. It's never fun realizing there's some other spirit out there wearing a mask—but the truth is that it happens sometimes, just like how there are humans who commit identity fraud for whatever their purposes are. But that doesn't mean life itself isn't the "right path" for us: it means we need to be careful so we don't become victims of identity fraud, too. However, in the experiences I've had, it's never been that a spirit wasn't who they said they are, but rather, that I didn't trust them to be who they said they are. Either I was expecting them to look one way, and they shattered my expectations on purpose, or my own mind was getting in the way and grafting things onto them that weren't actually there

Spirits are strange. They're noncorporeal, so they don't have bodies that always stay the same. Even if you might recognize a living person who tried to dye or cut their hair and put contacts in their eyes based off their facial structure, there's no way to do that with spirits, because they can change completely to suit their needs. Hell, one of my dear friends, Mimi, has God appear to her in the form of her late Memaw. Another family friend of ours had God speaking to him as a Black woman driving a bus and, as he stood waiting to get on, asking him what he was going to do with his life. And I see God as a man made of fire, gold hair curling and orange body shivering with licks of flame, dressed in a tight white t-shirt and stone-washed jeans, and with eyes so sharp and blue—burning so bright and white-hot that they make you feel cold. (Though, granted, I've found that to be more a Seraph that God speaks to me through. Still wacky compared to how we'd expect the Seraphim to look.)

In all these cases, the way we know is by the feel of the spirit, not the look of the spirit. I've been challenged many times, and I've doubted many times, because sometimes the way a spirit looks throws me off and makes me think I'm being deceived. It's not until they hit me with their energy—as unique as a thumbprint with spirits, and something that will reveal itself depending on the clair sense you're working with most, like clairvoyance or clairaudience—and show me something I can't deny that I settle down and understand fully who I'm speaking to. Archangel Michael and Raphael have done it. Many Saints have done it. Pagan deities have done it. And while some (like angels) get annoyed with our doubts, it's always worth their frustration to verify the spirit.

One way I do this is by, simply, asking if they really are who they say they are, and explaining why I feel like they aren't. I also ask them to let me feel their energy, or to show me something only they would know about. What I've found is that it is impossible to confuse an angel for a demon, just based on the energy. I see how they appear in my mind's eye, and I feel their energy on my skin. For example, even when Lucifer appeared all golden-haired and white-winged and wrapped in a white cloth like some angel from Renaissance art, it was the pointedness of in his stare, the too-wide smile, and the sense of razor-sharp edges along his bones that tipped me off that he wasn't a normal "angel of light." And every member of the infernal divine I've spoken to afterwards has an energy that hits you right in the base of your spine, as if a poison-tipped dagger is held there, or as if sharp-nailed fingers are curling over one of your shoulders. With angels, it feels more like strong arms wrapped around your shoulders, or a cloak of warmth and peace.

Another thing I do, though—and this is arguably the most important—is that I ask God to guard my space and only allow the entity I'm trying to speak to through. I ask God's thoughts on who I'm about to speak to for my Interview with the Gods series, and I ask that He keep all tricksters, frauds, and egregores out, so that I can speak to the true being I'm trying to get to. When I do this, it becomes a matter of faith and trust that God won't let anything come get me that shouldn't, or that I don't want to come get me. You might also do this, as well as cast a circle. There's a reason that most witch books and guides will tell you to do this: casting a circle is actually a part of ceremonial magic that works to create a bubble between you and whatever comes around, so it stays outside while you stay safely within.

Most common witch books will tell you to invoke the angels in each corner of your circle: north, south, east, west, earth, fire, air, water. However, you might also cast that circle with the four archangels, as they are the angels of the cardinal directions: Uriel (North/Earth), Michael (South/Fire), Raphael (East/Air), and Gabriel (West/Water). Ask God to guard your space, invoke these angels' names to create your circle, and make it clear you only want to see who you're trying to speak to, no one else. Trust God first, and trust your skill as a magician second.

I hope this helps!

---

Sara Raztresen is a Slovene-American writer, screenwriter, and Christian witch. Her fantasy works draw heavily on the wisdom she gathers from her own personal and spiritual experience, and her s

piritual practice borrows much of the whimsy and wonder that modern society has relegated to fairy-and-folktale. Her goal is to help people regain their spiritual footing and discover

God through a new (yet old) lens of mysticism.

Follow Sara on Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, and explore her fiction writing here.