Saturday, October 31, 2009

An Open Halloween Letter from an Ex-Pagan

No I'm fine I can last till Halloween is over
Image by Tattooed JJ via Flickr

I'm delighted to bring you a guest post from my dear friend and prayer partner, Pennie DeWitt. I hope you will read her words carefully and prayerfully. Now I'll let her introduce herself:




Hi. My name is Pennie De Witt and I'm a recovering occultist. A former slave to Satan. Below are just some of the thoughts that have been pouring through my mind today.


Can I do pagan things if I just don't think of them as pagan?


What if I dance naked around the fire for Jesus instead of for Hecate?


What if I get a new deck of Tarot cards, assign each of them a Bible story, and use them to get closer to God?


Why don't I redeem orgies and abortion for Christ while I'm at it?


For that matter, why don't I just open back up for business as a psychic and dedicate it to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?


Isn't it okay to do house cleansings with a rattle? Well, how about if I ditch the rattle and just wear the mask? Would it be better if I put a smile on the mask? And how about, while I'm wearing the mask I go reveling with my friends, but only for candy? How about if I just make a Talisman and put a cute, innocent, funny-face on it?


Of course I would never do such things!


It doesn't matter if you change your intentions. If you read the Bible you'll see, as I have, that the one thing that always ticked God off the most was when His people adopted the customs of the pagans. It was an abomination to Him.


He is the same yesterday, today and always. And it still angers Him today when we adopt pagan customs, even if we try to do them "with different intentions," and "redeem them for Christ."


As I sit and watch many of my Christian brothers and sisters posting on Facebook about their Halloween festivities, my heart breaks. I'm frightened for them, for our nation, and for God's people.


You see, I spent 26 years in the occult. I started out with Wicca as an adolescent, and throughout the years moved on to every corner of alternative spirituality that I could find - Shamanism, New Thought, Rosicrucianism, Eastern Mysticism - you name it.


At age 24 I became a professional psychic. I spent fifteen years serving Satan this way. I made a lot of money, got my own radio show and developed a world-wide following. I thought I was on top of the world.


Slowly, my world started falling apart. Before it was over, I was being evicted from my home, and my daughter was writhing on the floor, growling, hissing and clawing at the carpet on a daily basis.


I sought answers. I tried all my techniques. I reached out to others and, eventually, I started praying. I told God that if He didn't give me some answers soon, I was going to kill myself so I could stand before Him and get them myself.


Then one morning I was hiking behind my house, and I noticed something moving next to my shoe. I took a couple steps past it and turned around. It was a rattler, coiled, and ready to strike. I looked around and realized I was alone on that mountain. If I got bitten, I could definitely die.


Suddenly, as I stood frozen in front of that snake, it was like the sky opened up, and I saw the King of the Universe sitting on His throne. And for the first time in my life I feared Him. He was so perfect.


I thought, "I could never measure up to that perfection. No matter how perfect I made myself, I could never come close to that."


His purity was like a clean fire. It would burn me up in an instant. That's when I started thinking, "Maybe those Christians have a good idea with that redemption thing."


So, you know what I did after that? I went home and did the only thing I knew to do. I looked up "snake" in my power animal dictionaries. In dictionary after dictionary, the message rang loud and clear: "Give yourself over to transformation, let the old die so that the new may be reborn, let go, new life, new spiritual path..." It would have been almost spooky if it hadn't been so precious. He met me right where I was, and he spoke to me in MY language. I wouldn't have listened to anything else.


I knew those terms, "reborn," and "new life." I knew those were from the Bible. I wondered if perhaps the Christians could help me, so I went to church and started investigating Christianity. It took several months of reading and studying, seeking answers to my questions and facing my fears.

Finally, as I sat on my bed one night, reading "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel, it finally hit me! That twisted, tortured figure on the cross was there out of compassion for ME! Jesus died for ME! God cared about me so much that He came to this planet in human form and did this for ME. He saw me, He knew me, He understood my pain and my suffering. He felt it, and He wanted to carry it for me. My whole life culminated in this one moment, and I could see that it had all happened for a reason, that God had been pursuing me through it all. I mattered.


I curled up in a little ball and just sobbed. I was ready to give it all up to Him and let Him take care of me.


That Sunday, Sept 9th, 2007, I got saved. I admitted I was wrong, that I had disobeyed God. I renounced all my occult practices and was set free.


The following Saturday I burned all my occult books and paraphernalia, and eleven decks of Tarot cards, per Acts 19:19-20.


Sunday, Sept 16, 2007, I was baptized.


A few weeks later, my sister got saved and left prostitution and the porn industry.


I sit here watching some of my loved ones turn away from the occult, and yet I see many others still entrapped - people dying in sweat lodges, for example. And then I see the very people who threw me the lifeline now turning toward what nearly destroyed me.


I don't understand. Is Halloween that important? What is so valuable about costumes and Jack-o-Lanterns and candy that it can't be renounced for this God who loves us so much?


I've read articles in which people say things like, "I'm not going to let Satan take away my fun." What is Satan's "fun" compared to the joy of the Lord? He can have Halloween for all I care! There's no fun for me in celebrating Satan's schemes.


My daughter, who was raised from birth in occultism, doesn't miss it at all. She once said, "I can't wait 'til Halloween so we can NOT celebrate it!"

Halloween is pagan, it's based on witchcraft, and it's part of my old life. All things have been made new for me. I don't even feel I need an alternative. I'm not missing anything. In fact, I plan on spending my evening in prayer for those who are still in slavery to Satan. I am eternally grateful to the Lord for the sacrifice He made, and giving up Halloween is the least I can do. I'm free now! Why bother putting my chains back on for one night, in the name of fun, or tradition, or anything else?

33 comments:

Joe Taylor said...

Thank you Avalon. I am with you 100%! I love your writing - keep it up... you will change lives!
~ Kara Taylor

BethL said...

You have an amazing testimony and an important message. Thank you for caring enough to write this.

Anonymous said...

You're so dead on right about Halloween. Are you aware of the other pagan holidays we all think are part of Christianity as well? More power to you, good to hear you have some truth that other's don't, but keep searching for MORE truth, it's out there and it isn't popular either...

Lori said...

Is there a way to contact Avalon? Thanks.

Torah Firma said...

While I agree with this, the only thing I would add is if you are going to apply this thinking of rejecting Halloween because the customs are based on pagan customs, then you must also reject Christmas and Easter for the same things. The Catholic Church has been very open about how they went in and replaced the pagan customs during the times of the year of these celebrations, and inserted Christianity and made it a Christian holiday instead.

Anonymous said...

I'm so proud of you! Praise the Lord that you have been saved from that old life!!! God is Good ALL the time! Praise His Holy Name. Your testimony blessed me!!!

Betsy Markman said...

Lori,
Thanks for your interest in Avalon's ministry. She can be contacted at this email address:

lampoftruthministries@yahoo.com

Avalon said...

Thank you for all the encouraging comments, everyone!

To those who have asked about Christmas and other holidays, yes, I am aware of those things. Most of the pagans I knew celebrated those holidays according to their original traditions. That's what I did. Because of that, I no longer celebrate any of those holidays. My family and I gave them up when we came to Christ, and we only celebrate the Biblical holy days now.

Diana said...

I'm glad to read your testimony and read that you given up all the holidays. We gave them all up too. There is only one thing in the Bible that it says to "keep doing in remembrance of me" and that is the last supper.
Please keep studying the Bible and learn more truths.
Psalm 83:18

Everyday Miracles said...

Thank you so much for this. I was a pagan for sixteen years, and involved in many of the same things that you talk about. I've been told by some that I cannot be saved because of my past doings. I don't believe that for an instant. I can recognize in so many ways the way in which YHVH spoke to you that day. He came into a dream for me and I woke up with a new heart. It is downright impossible to explain the way that happens unless you are speaking to somebody who has experienced the same thing.

Thank you so much for your testimony.

Anonymous said...

Why is it when I Google Avalon I don't find anything that points people to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ?

Daddy's Girls! said...

I so love this post! I agree 100%! My testimony is a bit diff though...funny how God is SO big and meets everyone where they are. I have been 100% bible for many years. I thought I had found the answer, then I wondered why my marriage fell apart. I was doing everything the bible said to do! Then I prayed and got my answer. The scrips concerning submission to ones own husband and following his lead and how that is submission to God and a wife's true role in God's Kingdom spoke so clearly to me and were EVERYWHERE I read and turned. I could not escape them. Sarah obeyed Abraham and we are her daughters if we do likewise. 1 Peter 3:6. I was leading my household. I might have been leading them in a great biblical direction, but was the wrong one leading us! So though God's gentle conviction I now make it my purpose to submit to my husband. Last year my dh wanted to take the children trick or treating. We had NEVER done that with our family. I was (inside) horrified. I submitted. I made no comments and trusted the Lord. I trusted him so fully that I realized that in MY situation, I was going to be blessed by my obedience and submission, but furthermore, my children were out of my hands so to speak but smack dab in the middle of God's, where only Him and the wisdom He has given to me to impart to them by His Spirit and Word would have to do what I so desperately wanted to control. God's grace IS sufficient. There's so much err in teaching these days when preaching/teaching is done to groups, despite what the roles of the listeners are. We have all heard the message about trusting God to protect our children, but never at our own hands letting go for something such as this. And we have all heard the message about how God's grace is sufficient, but not as it applies to making a decision that goes against popular good practices or ones own intuition and beliefs. But God's grace doesn't stop because there is sin in a family. In fact, the bible tells us in Romans 5:20 that where sin abounds grace does that much MORE abound. This scripture is for wives so much! I hope you don't mind this small discourse here and a danger from personal experience: if a wife tries to lead her husband out of practices such as you mention it is OUT of God's order. Much damage can be caused from the disunity of that family unit by a woman taking the lead, and this can only be spoken of to each individual family unit and the wife led by the Holy Spirit will know what she can participate in and what she cannot. Anything not done of faith is sin. I am ONLY speaking to wives committed to 1st Peter 3:1 (see also 1 Cor 7:14)and from personal experience. That's my testimony :) Thank you so much for yours. I so love finding people of like precious faith in these things you have mentioned here!Thank you for writing!

Betsy Markman said...

Dear Anonymous,
Avalon has not been public on the Internet until recently, but here are some links for you:

Here are the links to the interview on JMC Live:
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdPCch0dU3M
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgXhCo7sg48
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84UaMyX9yW0
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knU8jj5oXiI
Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SvCgvZc7iI
Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwx4V5o-i7Q

And here are the video links:
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp7FIjpkEGI
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_N6XgfvPbk
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suGRCZ4jEoQ
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABMdiXoAmq8

Anonymous said...

100% truth thank you, there are a few other holidays heading in that direction. one being Christmas, the celebration sure isn't about Santa............ and I could go on, but lets thing about thanksgiving and where and how it came about, you will have to study for your self but it is to give thanks to an almighty God, what and who are most people thanking today, just food for thought. Keep looking up.

Avalon said...

Anonymous, regarding Google, Did you actually use Google.com or some other search engine? Because when I Googled myself just now, the fifth item in the search listing was my interview with JMC LIVE, in which I share my testimony of how Jesus saved me from the occult.

Daddy's Girls!, thank you for sharing your story! That is beautiful! Yes, a wife is to submit to her husband and trust in God, and this is to be paramount in our lives if we want to obey and honor God. I do believe that when a wife does that, she and her family will be blessed. Yes, I'm sure your family will be blessed for your submission.

Anonymous, regarding Thanksgiving, I'm sorry I didn't think of that one. My family and I do celebrate Thanksgiving. We just don't believe we need a feast to do it.

Jane said...

I, too, appreciat Avalon's testimony so much. And yes, if you see the problem with Halloween, we must also follow the natural progression to Christmas, Easter, etc.

Thanksgiving is the only "traditional" celebration we adhere to, as I understand our forefathers understood more of the Biblical feasts than we do today. The Feast of Tabernacles, the highest Biblical Feast, held in Sept/Oct, is also called the Feast of Ingathering, in which God's people give thanks for the year's food supply. This was foundational for the "pilgrim's" Thanksgiving celebration.
Learning to celebrate the Feasts of God...not as under the law, but as marveling in the Grace and Wisdom f God...has been educational, fascinting, and joyous. There seems to be an awakening to the importance of His feasts, rather than the World's. God instruced His people to celebrate them through all generations, and the last three feasts have yet to be fulfilled...and what an exciting thought that is!
Thanks again for your testimony, Avalon!

Anonymous said...

I am going to put this on my blog with a link back to you.

Anonymous said...

After reading your testimony, and seeing Gods power in your life, has sure blessed me Avalon. There a hope for all the lost of the world, and as many here I stand alone now as I worship Jesus Christ in Spirit and Truth!
I was a lukewarm Christian for many years, and was a member of several churches, that bordered on worldliness, and paganism.
They all celebrated Halloween, or had a replacement parts such as a harvest festival, in place of Halloween each year, and every time I attended to help out, I felt uncomfortable, and out of place, which was the Holy Spirit, telling me to wake up, and follow God, and not the apostate church, who sees nothing wrong celebrating Halloween, and as the matter of fact, Xmas, and Easter either.
All these three main holidays were the highlight of the churches I attended, along with other liberal practices.
After doing a in depth study on the paganism associated with these three pagan holidays, I felt a strong conviction to avoid them like the plague, not because I do not want to honor our Lord Jesus Christ, but to honor Him, by abstaining from all forms of evil!, and mix the Holiness of Christ with the worlds paganism.
Today is Halloween, and soon it will be night, and like many here I will be in deep prayer and have today for the lost world, and for those who are in bondage to the evil forces of satan. But most of all for those who profess to be Christians, who are going to take their children, and celebrate this wicked holiday, despite the warning from God's Holy word.
I pray their eyes and hearts will be opened up, like yours Avalon, to the truth, and what true Biblical Holiness, and separation mean. 2 Corinthians, 6>17-18
God's word if full of hard hitting scriptures that teach us how to be separate from the pagan world, and be a light in our witness for Him, by abstaining from all forms of evil period!
I am not in a organized Church currently, as most here in my city are in great apostasy, and I don't say that to be judgmental, but because they are full of false teachings, and none abstain from their Xmas worship of Christ, and Easter worship, and sunrise services, oblivious to what God's word has to say about those who worship Him along or mixed with pure paganism.
I am praying for strong fellowship with like minded believers, as most people I meet, who I witness to, say they are Christian, then when I share what the word says about paganism, and many other doctrines, they avoid me.
LOve in Christ.
Tommy

Jenni said...

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing testimony. I too, came out of the occult, and have been saved now for almost 18 years. Early in my Christian walk, I was very careful to avoid what were obvious evils, but I didn't discover the pagan connection to Christmas and Easter until much later. For a while our family completely avoided Halloween (and I completely understand the need for caution here), while continuing to observe the traditions of Christmas and Easter in spite of an understanding of their roots, because we never associated those things with Satan before and were not convicted about the use of a Christmas tree or sunrise services because we were honoring Christ with them. When things are done for the glory of God, He, who knows our hearts, does not condemn us. I understand there is a very fine line there; we don't want to actively sin for the sake of spreading the gospel, but I feel under no condemnation for observing non-biblical feasts - even Halloween, because of the liberty we have in Christ, and because we do what we do in order to honor Christ. We declined an invitation to a secular Halloween party; we don't dress up as anything evil or scary; we deliberately do not honor Satan with our decorations; I denied one son his choice for a scary pumpkin carving and explained to him why. One year we carved Jesus is Lord on a pumpkin. We have chosen to tiptoe around the ungodly traditions, and to do so for the glory of God. I say this with a humble spirit - I am not trying to talk you out of your stand against paganism; but please don't judge other Christians too quickly, who feel at greater liberty. Romans 14 deals extensively with this. Many blessings to you!

Dew of Hermon said...

Timely and cautionary testimony Avalon, thanks

Luciana DeVito said...

What a wonderful and inspiring post. Thank you! I feel the same way seeing nominal Christian friends and family celebrate Hallowe'en! I will share your post on Facebook. God bless you.

Anonymous said...

What a powerful testimony! Thank you so much for sharing.

Unknown said...

I'm quite confused by the post and many of the comments. I can see the need and benefit of avoiding demonic influence however, I fail to see the connection that is being made between modern Halloween and worshiping the Devil. The warning also robs God of his power. The first part of the post implies Christians are tricking themselves to think they can redeem anything, but then in the story of God saving the author He does exactly that using the snakes pagan meaning to speak to her. If God can save someone with pagan symbols why can't he redeem Halloween through his people?

Lao Francis said...

You're so dead right about Halloween.
Thanks for the sharing and caring. Hope int will change the lives of many people who come across your testimony. Praise the Lord for he is great. Amen.

Lao Francis said...

Thank you Avalon, I agreed 100% I love your writing, hoping that will change a lot of people lives.
It in touch always.

Tammy said...

I am an ex-wiccan as well. I was in as deeply as you but, I had to hit rock bottom so God could lift me out as well. God bless you!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for such a great post! I am one of the only moms in a fundamentalist church who does not celebrate Halloween, and it is very confusing for me... why would Christians want to participate in a holiday about death and Satan? I am not judging those who find a way to redeem it per se, but most of the Christian families I know are just finding nicer ways to participate in the worldly ideas, rather than really witnessing to it (or better, standing against it). Thanks for your honesty.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for writing this blog! You are so right! Halloween isn't the only holiday that us Christians need to stop celebrating but it is a good place to start!

Ya'akov Lancaster said...

I find it interesting that out of man's/satan's holidays (Halloween, Christmas, Easter, ect) they are rarely questioned in American churches as long as you claim to "worship God" through it. Which He warns NOT to do. "You shall not worship the LORD your God in the same ways (the pagans) do" but YHVH God gives us 7 feasts and if anyone in the modern churches keep these they are titled "Judaisers" and "legalists" ect. Just to note, they are NOT Jewish feasts, they belong to the LORD, the Jews just observe them blindly.

Moira said...

Great Post!! What an amazing testimony you have. Yes, Halloween is bad news and yet people forget that Gods word says not to call evil good and good evil.
(Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!)

What are your thoughts of the origins of Dec 25th? Did you know that they are bad as well?(read Jeremiah 10 to see a tree cut down in the forest and decorated with balls. Ever wonder why a pagan would celebrate CHRISTmas??? Weird, unless it has nothing to do with him ORIGINally. Also why would the Puritans out-law christmas for 22 years if it was all about CHRIST?

And Easter(Ishtar)? This is also a mixture of paganism and the church(please check it out for yourself.

I am a believer in Jesus(although I call HIM by his Hebrew name Yeshua) and I celebrate the Feasts that God Himself prescribes in HIS word Leviticus 23. If you read this for yourself you'll see the words FOREVER or EVERLASTING. I know when I saw these words I wonered why we dont keep them anymore/ Come to find out there are MANY people who keep them, and now I do too :) Check it out!
Thanks again for sharing your story.
Shalom,Moira

Unknown said...

Praise the Lord for this post! For a couple of years it reminds people of the right standing before the Lord! Amen and Amen!
"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
(1 Timothy 1:17)

Unknown said...

Praise the Lord for this post! For a couple of years it reminds people of the right standing before the Lord! Amen and Amen!
"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
(1 Timothy 1:17)

Unknown said...

"Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies — Hallowe’en: A short history" by Pastor Joe Abrahamson.

There is a lot of new mythology about Halloween that has been invented to claim that Halloween is a pagan holiday. It is not, and it never was a pagan holiday.

Halloween is All Hallows’ Eve‘, that is All Saints’ Evening. Halloween is the beginning of All Saints’ Day starting at sundown on October 31st.

http://steadfastlutherans.org/?p=23974

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