About This Episode

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Ransomed From Darkness  

I read Moira Noonan's account of her experience in the New Age in 2018. 

Back then it seemed like everyone who'd ever left the New Age and occult had done so in order to become a born-again Protestant. 

But Noonan had returned to the Catholic Church. Her book, Ransomed From Darkness (affiliate link), was a resource I referred to again and again. It helped me understand that I could come back to the Catholic faith I had left behind some twenty years earlier, if I chose to do so. And finally I did choose, with the help of God's providence.

So when I decided to write my testimony, I hoped that my story might play a part in someone else's return to Catholicism - the way Moira Noonan's had in mine.  

My Testimony

Unfortunately, the closer I got to finishing the book, I now called New Age To Catholic, the more reservations I had about publishing it.  Finally last month I realized why that was.

I'd set out to write a story about New Age and occult deception and where that deception had taken me.  And I'd ended up with a book that was mostly  about intelligent evil.

I'm not saying that story isn’t worth telling because maybe it is.

But it isn't my testimony.

My testimony isn't about demons or darkness or how far I fell. It's about God and God's providence and how I came back to the Catholic Church. 

So I decided to just tell that story - the God and Church story - in its shortest possible form and post it here on the blog. 

I will continue to talk about the dangers of the New Age and occult here, and in the podcast. But, for now at least, I am setting the full length account of my experience aside.

Which leaves me space to do other things - like work on my novel and do media and make things for my Etsy shop. And, for now, that's enough.

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To read my online testimony please see My Story.

Please note, this post contains affiliate links.  This means that if you purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

The Assumption of Mary Novena is started on August 7th and finishes on August 15th. The feast day of the Assumption of Mary, which is a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church, is on August 15th.  

The Memorare. 

Assumption of Mary Prayer Card

My Experience with Light and Dark  

I believe, for example, that I've felt the influence of my guardian angel on several occasions.  And I'm quite sure that I dealt with the demonic directly, and repeatedly, during my time in the occult.

I have tried (on multiple occasions) to write the story of my experience of spiritual light and darkness.  But I've failed to finish that book.

So I decided to put a condensed version up here on the blog.  That may well be the end of that particular story.  But my interest in light and dark persists.  

An Study in Contrast

I've been studying spiritual light and spiritual darkness ever since I came back to the faith.  My reference, right now, is Catholic exorcist, Fr. Chad Ripperger's excellent book Dominion (affiliate link).

In Dominion, Fr. Ripperger breaks down the the teachings of "angel saint" (and flat-out genius) Thomas Aquinas on the topic of angels and demons.  And Ripperger does so in a way that sacrifices nothing.

Or that's my sense of it anyway.  I can't really know for sure because I find the writings of St. Thomas difficult.  Dominion on the other hand is perfectly readable.  Though this does NOT mean the book is a breeze (or at least it isn't for me).

For me, reading Dominion is a little like reading a textbook and, as with many textbooks, the only way I can really be sure I'm not missing anything is by taking notes as I go.  This way of working through a book is slow going, however, and my wrist has been hurting lately  - so I had set Dominion aside.

Then an interesting thing happened. 

Talking About Angels

This week, I received a Facebook message from someone I had done a bit of Internet radio with when I was still in the New Age and occult.   In the message I found a series of questions about my current beliefs. One in particular stood out.

"Do you still work with the angels?"  

So I responded as best I could - basing much of what I said on what I'd learned from Fr. Ripperger's book.

I should get back to that book, I thought, and maybe I would have.  Or maybe not.

Then, as luck or providence would have it, I finished writing out my response and went out for a walk.  I was only a few blocks from the house when I noticed a book lying in the middle of the sidewalk.  It was a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.  

I'm not really a huge a fan of the series but the title did catch my attention.  

"Believe in Angels."

I already do, I thought, though not in a new agey kind of way.  

Later that day I shared a picture of the Chicken Soup angel book with the person who'd sent the questions.  She  told me that she felt I was meant to read it.  But it's my practice, as of late, to stick with books that are true to the faith.

So I went back to Dominion, sore wrist and all, and began to take notes.

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If you want to know more about my time in the New Age and occult, please check out My Story.

Please also note, this post contains Amazon affiliate links.  If you buy a book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.