The spirits had given me amazing success, and I was living the “good” life in Hollywood. I thought I had reached the pinnacle of spirituality until it all came crashing down and I hit rock bottom. It was then that I made the most surprising discovery of my life.
I was born in Iraq, but in 1990, because of the traumatic war with Iran, my family moved to Sweden. I grew up Muslim, but as I became a teenager in a new country, I felt lost. I did not fit in at school, and the memories of the war haunted me. There was so much evil and injustice in the world that I decided there was no God and stopped practicing Islam altogether.
In 2001, I moved to the United States looking for more opportunities. On arrival in Los Angeles, I made a list of all I wanted to achieve. At the top was becoming rich and successful. I became a real estate agent and did quite well. I had a comfortable life in Hollywood, but I had no peace.
I thought that maybe I should focus more on my inner life, so I started having sessions with a spiritual coach. She told me about spiritual energies, karma, and spirits that would help me get rich. Within two weeks, I got a commission to sell a $5,000,000 house.
At first, the more New Age practices I adopted, the more my fame and fortune grew.
I was initiated into meditation, then yoga and hypnosis. It seemed that the more I went into New Age practices, the more I was rewarded. I had designer clothes and a busy social life; I was flying by private jet, selling multimillion-dollar homes for and to celebrities, and in 2016 I was named the 24th top real estate agent in the nation.
Then, my mother got seriously sick with cancer, and I flew to Sweden to be with her. My mother and I were incredibly close, so when she died in my arms, I was devastated.
After that, I flew to Thailand and trained in more spiritual practices. Then I heard about a spiritual ceremony that’s promoted as something that cleanses you from all childhood trauma and hatred and fills you with positive energy. I thought, This is great! I had an adult niece in Sweden whom I’ve always been very close to. She was struggling with depression, drug addiction, and childhood trauma, so I invited her to come and do the ceremony with me.
Before our first ceremony, everyone was asked, “What would you like the spirits to help you with?” I responded, “I want to get in touch with my mother, and I want to know what happens after death.” My niece said she just wanted to know the truth.
The ceremony started, and people were going into a trance. After about 30 minutes, I started having my first clear communication with the spirits. A spirit said, “Welcome! You, Samuel, are a child of light. What we have planned for you is above and beyond what you can imagine. But your niece is a child of darkness, so in order for us to help you, you need to separate from her.”
Then, my mother appeared to me. She said that when we die, we become spirits. On the other side it’s all peace and happiness. I’ve always been a logical person and a believer in science, but I couldn’t deny what I was experiencing.
During another ceremony, my niece suddenly started resisting the experience and opposing the leader. The spirits said, “Look, what did we tell you? She’s a child of darkness. She causes problems.” So when my niece flew back to Sweden, I broke off all contact with her.
A little while later, something changed. The spirits didn’t communicate with me in the same way anymore. The peace I thought I’d found was gone. I fell into a severe depression and was put on antidepressants. As my life spiraled out of control, I became very sick and battled addiction to drugs and pornography. None of my spiritual practices were of any help, and I felt utterly hopeless.
The spirits told me my niece was a child of darkness, but she had a peace I desperately needed.
I phoned my niece in Sweden to ask how she was. To my great surprise, she sounded like a new person! She was over her depression and addiction and radiated happiness. I asked her what had happened. She said that at that last ceremony, in the midst of her barren darkness, she cried out, “Is there Someone who can help me?” and immediately she felt surrounded by a deep love beyond human words. She knew then that there was a God.
Back in Sweden, she practiced Islam devoutly, hoping to experience more. Nothing happened. One night she kneeled and cried out, “Who are You? I know You have revealed Yourself to me.” Afterwards, she dreamed that Jesus came to her, dressed in white. He stood with open arms and said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. I have already defeated darkness and evil.” She jumped into His arms and hugged Him!
From that moment, her life changed completely. I remembered that at the first ceremony, she had asked for the truth. God had heard her earnest desire and had answered clearly.
When my niece said she’d been praying for me, I realized that was when the spirits went silent. I was in a dark place, but now her life had turned around miraculously. I wanted what she had.
I started watching Christian videos and learning about Jesus. I was attracted to His teachings, and I noticed that gradually a peace came over me that I’d never experienced before. As God was working in my life, I started weaning myself off my antidepressants and eventually stopped taking them completely.
I had some friends who had become Christians, and they took me to church. I listened to the Bible while taking long hikes. My life was being healed and cleansed from the inside.
Soon, it was time for another kind of detox. I packed all my New Age paraphernalia in big trash bags and got rid of everything. I wanted nothing to do with the demons of my past. I learned the hard way that Satan and his demons are real. Today, I know that at those ceremonies, I did not meet my dead mother but a demon impersonating her to gain my trust. The Bible teaches that the dead are not conscious; they’re just resting in the grave.
Through New Age practices and the paranormal, the devil is spreading his lies about life and death to deceive people and lead them to eternal destruction. The spirits are really his demons. They took me to unexpected heights only to drop me into the abyss of despair.
In 2017, I accepted Jesus into my heart and was later baptized. The last four years have been the best of my life. As God opened my eyes to the truths of Scripture, all the material things which were just idols lost their appeal. I was finally able to experience true freedom and the joy that surpasses all other things. I learned that God is real and more powerful than the devil. He has turned my life around and brought me out of spiritual darkness into the light. That is the greatest miracle of all!
Adapted with permission of the author from the Youtube video, “Escape from New Age and the Paranormal: Samuel’s Journey,” by Adverum Productions.
Image credit: © Shutterstock.com
