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'Casting Spells': Man's Occult, Ouija Board Obsession Obliterated After Radical Encounter With God

"I was very involved in the occult, channeling spirits, casting spells, playing with Ouija board six to eight hours a day — all of those things." That's how military veteran and artist Timothy Gagnon described his early years, explaining how he descended into evil practices while he was a young man. Gagnon, artist and author of the "Illuminated Messiah Bible," an artistic look at the Scriptures that depicts Jesus from Genesis to Revelation, told CBN News about how he fell into the occult — and later escaped. "I was raised in a kind of, for lack of a better word, Christmas and Easter Catholic family," he said. "We didn't really attend that much." Gagnon said he lived at the time as though God wasn't an important facet or priority in his life. When he hit the sixth grade, he recalled an oral report assignment he was given that opened the floodgates to spiritual chaos. Unsure of what to do, he went to the school library and stumbled upon books on the occult. That introduction to the topic led him into spell casting, playing with Ouija boards, and channeling spirits, among other similar activities — things he did "all day long" and "all night long" with two of his friends who also descended into the same practices. Gagnon said these spells weren't empty practices — that something happened when he would engage with the occult. He said he and his friends interacted with three entities that claimed to be an angel, a demon, and a "lost spirit in purgatory." In the end, it was a true encounter with the demonic. "When I would cast spells, when we would channel spirits, we would experience supernatural events and things that we couldn't explain," he said. "It's like a drug." One day, though, something happened that stopped him in his tracks. "I was casting spells in my room and channeling spirits and I felt a presence that was greater than anything I had encountered before," Gagnon said. "And I instinctively knew it was God approaching." He continued, "It was the spirit of God that was approaching me, and I was terrified." Hear him tell his story.

Broadcast on:: 01 Mar 2024

Gagnon, artist and author of the "Illuminated Messiah Bible," an artistic look at the Scriptures that depicts Jesus from Genesis to Revelation, told CBN News about how he fell into the occult — and later escaped. "I was raised in a kind of, for lack of a better word, Christmas and Easter Catholic family," he said. "We didn't really attend that much." Gagnon said he lived at the time as though God wasn't an important facet or priority in his life. When he hit the sixth grade, he recalled an oral report assignment he was given that opened the floodgates to spiritual chaos.

Unsure of what to do, he went to the school library and stumbled upon books on the occult. That introduction to the topic led him into spell casting, playing with Ouija boards, and channeling spirits, among other similar activities — things he did "all day long" and "all night long" with two of his friends who also descended into the same practices. Gagnon said these spells weren't empty practices — that something happened when he would engage with the occult. He said he and his friends interacted with three entities that claimed to be an angel, a demon, and a "lost spirit in purgatory." In the end, it was a true encounter with the demonic.

"When I would cast spells, when we would channel spirits, we would experience supernatural events and things that we couldn't explain," he said. "It's like a drug." One day, though, something happened that stopped him in his tracks. "I was casting spells in my room and channeling spirits and I felt a presence that was greater than anything I had encountered before," Gagnon said. "And I instinctively knew it was God approaching." He continued, "It was the spirit of God that was approaching me, and I was terrified." Hear him tell his story.