About 25 years ago I developed an interest in hypnosis. I read many books on it. I have been hypnotised and have hypnotized, and although there are some strange aspects to it, I was not convinced that it opens one up to evil spirits. I was not a believer at the time, so that aspect of it was not in the forefront of my experimentation. Neither me nor other participants ever appeared to be possessed, and none of it ever seemed "evil". I looked at it as just a strange phenomenon of the mind.
I do not dabble in it any more (and haven't since about 1985). I have no reason to. In fact, when I first believed, all of my interests in that type of stuff disappeared. Once I found Christ, I no longer had any reason to seek anything else. Many other beliefs, attitudes, and interests I once held changed almost immediately, too, but that is another topic.
The idea about demonic possession, I think, comes into play because many beleive that being in such an "altered state of consciousness" opens one up to demonic possession. It may open one up, but I think there is a lot more to it than that. I believe that one must be willing and dabbling in the occult, or inviting possession in some way in order for a possession to occur.
I played with a Ouija board, too, when I was a kid. I never saw it move on it's own, but eventually began to think it was a trick to be manipulated, so used to push it around and impress my kid friends. In fact, my original Ouija board is still at my Mother's house. I debated selling it on eBay, but decided not to, because that might invite someone to begin to dabble in the occult.
I also had a magic 8-ball, but never ever thought it gave anything other than random answers, and viewed it as the toy it was.
Hey, what were we being taught in the 60's anyway? My mother bought both of these toys for me (not at my request, but as Christmas or birthday gifts. She thought they were just toys, too, not to be taken seriously. She was a believer, and the organist at church. They just weren't talking about those things in the Methodist church in the 60's.
So, my bottom line is that playing with these toys is not inherently dangerous in itself if used with skepticism. But, if one is trying to use them as devices for truly contacting spirits, they just might get what they want! In fact, a close friend of mine in college (coincidentally, the son of a Lutheran minister), and an agnostic as I was in the 70's, told me a few years after college that he had transitioned from agnostic to Christian as a result of contacting spirits via the Ouija board. Not only is his story of contqacting spirits spooky, but his version of the spirit world was collaborated by a guy I heard on a radio talk show 8 years later (yet another topic for another night).
Wow, not only does this bring back memories, but is almost like telling ghost stories around the campfire (one of my designated jobs when I was a cubscout den leader..."It was a dark and stormy night...").
Perry
From: "ShieldsFamily" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [TruthTalk] hypnotism
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 22:52:58 -0600
Here's a NEW topic: I hope somebody even cares. I saw a program on TV today
about a hypnotist, and it got me to wondering about it. I've read in the
past that hypnotism is a demonic thing and Christians should never do it,
etc. I wonder what really is the truth about it. It is truly spooky. Any
ideas? Izzy
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