Mental Illness and The Occult

MENTAL ILLINESS AND INVOLVEMENT IN THE OCCULT

By Francis Fawkes, Th.D.

One overlooked area in secular psychology is occult involvement.  Psychiatrists gloss over this issue thinking that it is fantasy.  In his book,” Occult bondage and Deliverance,” the author states that in his “40 years of counseling, he has come across 20, 000 individuals in which occultism was the root cause of mental and emotional problems.”  Even though the profession of psychiatry is full of skeptics and humanists, from time to time he has met Christian psychiatrists whose spiritual eyes have been opened.  He recounts in one instance that a Christian neurologist once said 60% of the inmates of his psychiatric clinic “are not so much suffering from mental illness as from occult subjection - even demonization.”

Insight into emotional problems also became apparent when a psychiatrist living in Hamilton claimed, “that 50% of the neurotic patients being treated in the clinics in Hamilton are the fruit of Maori sorcery.”

There is also another dimension that Christian counselors are taking into consideration in resolving problems that plague the patient.  Previously, it was thought that they were certain mental problems that were exclusively the domain of the secular psychologist.  Among the disorders were schizophrenia and dyslexia.  It was conceived that since they had an organic or chemical basis, they could only be dealt with by the secular psychiatrist with the use of medication, and other secular approaches.  Now these afflictions are being treated by deliverance ministers using the spiritual and charismatic approach.

It is noteworthy what Jesus did in delivering “The Demonic of Gadara.”  In Mark 5:8 Jesus said: “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit”; in Verse 9, He asked: “What is thy name?  And the demoniac answered saying my name is legion; for we are many.”  We see in this situation that the demonic of Gadara had that multiple personality syndrome which is symphonic of schizophrenic patients.  Jesus was able to cast them out.

Likewise, if the Christian counselor has divine revelation from God there can be healing and deliverance.  In the book, “Pigs in the Parlor” by Frank and Ida Mae Hammond, the Lord showed the author that there is a spiritual component to schizophrenia.  He said that many have come to him for deliverance that had a schizophrenic pattern.  The Lord revealed to him in each case that the person actually had more than one personality.  He indicated that there is a nest of demons that made up the personality.  The author writes that the real self has to fall out of agreement with the demons, and break old habit patterns.  The real self must become strong enough in Christ to carry through on the right decision.

In his book “Evil Spirits of arrested Development” - author Win Worley writes about neurological disabilities that are spirit-induced.  Examples are dyslexia; difficulty in decoding words or letters; dyscalculia – poor memory when working with one or more numbers at a time; dysgraphia - difficulty with the written language - grammar, spelling, and the inability to write legibly”.  Other related disorders are distinguishing left from right, or the inability to follow instructions – especially written instructions.  Another is Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD).  This is a disorder in which “spirits keep victims form focusing on a required task.”  Through a deliverance minister, these spirits can be dispelled.  The patient is therefore, returned to normalcy.

As a matter of fact, there are many people that go to secular psychologists with baffling problems that do not seem to respond to medicine or medical treatment.  They are emotional and mental problems resulting form occult involvement, or other problems of a psychic origin.  These secular counselors are not trained to deal with such matters because they have no knowledge of the spiritual realm, or understanding of the principles that govern God’s Kingdom.  Therefore, their patients are not delivered from their troubles and continue to suffer.  It is then that the discerning and competent Christian counselor can take over with the desired results.

In dealing with any situation, the counselor should also be able to sense whether the counselee is suffering because of spiritual activity or a physical situation.  He should be able to advise the counselee accordingly.  Firstly, he should be able to tell by his Spirit whether they are spirits of confusion, spirits of infirmity, jealously, control, competition, legalism, skepticism.  He should be able to diagnose fears or phobias.  He should also make the believer aware that he has authority in Christ.  After this, the counselor should show his client how to use the weapons of warfare in resolving mental and relationship problems.  Jesus said to his disciples: “And these signs shall follow those who believe; in my name they shall cast out demons” - (Mark 16:17).  Sometimes, it is necessary to teach the counselee self-deliverance.

Many times, the counselee opens himself to spiritual attack (Deuteronomy 28:1).  The counselor might explain to his client that by living in accordance with God’s statutes and ordnances, the enemy from the spiritual realm cannot gain entry into his life.  According to Galatians 5: 22, there are some things that will open a person to spiritual attack.  These works of the flesh are: “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealously, wrath, factions, sedition, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness and reveling …”

A good Christian counselor would also advise the counselee to get rid or destroy any object that would hold him in demonic bondage.  In Acts 19:19, “Many of those who used magical arts bought their books together, and burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.”  Some other things that cause bondage, pain and oppression are books and movies in which there is definitely psychic content.  Obsession with things of that nature does attract demonic entities.  Movies of such nature like “Harry Potter” should not be viewed by children or adults.  Books of an occult nature should be burned not just hidden somewhere.  Any graven image, occult object or toy, such as a doll or soldier should be destroyed.  This is because is some cases pains, curses or demonic attachments result because of the possession of these objects.  The localized pains in people correspond to broken part of the anatomy of the toy.  When the toy or graven image is destroyed the pains or the curse goes.

For this very same reason God told the Israelites not to take anything from the men of Ai.  Achan disobeyed and took a “…Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight…”  For this Achan and his family were stoned and burnt with fire afterwards - (Joshua 7:25).

In summing up, we as Christians have to realize that there are conflicting schools of thought among the secular psychologists.  We see this when we study the works of the early psychologists who were atheists, agnostics, humanists, evolutionists and occultists.  Their ideologies have tricked right down to this generation of psychologists.  The common rationale among them was that man is essentially material and nothing more.  Unfortunately, their premise was wrong and that is why there were so many conflicting conclusions among them.  If their premise was the correct one, they should arrive at one single and correct conclusion.

The common failing among them was not to take into consideration the spiritual component of man and how God factors into the equation.  Man has chosen to ignore God and his absolutes so that he can do exactly what he wants.  He desires to believe that he is a complex animal, and this is the epitome of self–deception.

If the psychiatric patient experienced temporary relief because of psychotherapy or even scientific advances in psychopharmacology, he still encircles the deep abyss of despair, waiting to fall back in.  This is because man was made by God for God.  In scientific studies it was observed that man is neurologically wired to believe in God.  Furthermore, you cannot live a God-transformed life on psychopharmacology alone.

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