June 24, 2026  |  Demonism Series

Demonism – Lesson 2

Some of the more prevalent avenues of demon influence and/or demon possession are idolatry, divination, necromancy, mysticism, and astrology. A believer who engages in these practices becomes increasingly demon-influenced, as the doctrines of demons infiltrate their thinking, influencing and controlling their minds.

Idolatry

Idolatry is the worship of anything other than God, such as trees, animals, statues, etc. Scripture records many instances of idolatry in the Old Testament among the nations surrounding the nation of Israel. For example, the Canaanites worshipped Baal, the god of rain, dew, and lightning and Asherah, the goddess of fertility, motherhood, and the sea. (Deuteronomy 29:17; Judges 2:11–13; 3:7) The Philistines worshipped Dagon, the fish god. (Judges 16:23; 1 Samuel 5:1–7)

Greed is worship of money or material possessions. Idolatry is spiritual adultery, unfaithfulness to God, and contributes to divine judgment when enough people in a nation succumb to its deception.

Divination

Divination is the attempt to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by means of interpreting omens or by the aid of supernatural powers. Clairvoyance, palm reading, dowsing (using divining rods to locate objects like water), and psychometry (knowing something about a person by touching one of their possessions) are the media of the diviner. God expressly forbids participation in such practices.

The fascination with fortune-telling and psychics corroborates the success of divination as a satanic scheme to distract people from the plan of God. Interest may begin as innocent curiosity: reading a horoscope in the daily newspaper, calling a psychic hotline, playing with a Ouija board, or tarot cards. The popularity of Eastern religions and ideas has made divination more acceptable. These and other long-suppressed demon pursuits surface periodically like scum on a pond to spawn a plethora of evil practices condemned in Scripture.

Necromancy

Necromancy is foretelling the future by alleged contact with the dead. Necromancy originates from two Greek words: nekros, meaning “dead,” and manteia, meaning “divination.” Practitioners of necromancy are mediums who attempt to contact the spirit world. Demons often communicate through these practitioners to deceive people into believing they are speaking to a dead loved one.

Traditional forms of necromancy were usually private séances where the medium attempted to contact and communicate with the dead. In contrast, channeling involves a medium or trans-channeler who permits the spirit to possess their body and speak directly to an audience. Often these activities take place before large groups of people who pay vast sums of money for the advice they receive. Demon possession can be involved in these activities.

The practice of necromancy continues to be popular in our generation. The beings contacted by mediums do not always claim to be spirits of the dead. Some present themselves as extraterrestrials, angels, or gods from ancient religions. Those who hold séances and channel spirits are not actually contacting the dead. Most so-called mediums are frauds. However, some actually contact demons or are themselves demon possessed. Contact with the dead cannot be accomplished, so demons often impersonate the dead. The Greek word for these demons is engastrimythos (derived from a Greek word meaning ventriloquist; en = within; gastri = stomach; mythos = speech). (Isaiah 8:19)

Witchcraft

A witch (Hebrew: kashaph) or sorceress (Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10) is a demon-possessed female medium; a wizard (Hebrew: yid’oni) is the male counterpart (Leviticus 19:31; 1 Samuel 28:3, 9). Witchcraft is associated in the Old Testament with demonism (Deuteronomy 18:10; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Nahum 3:4). Those who practice witchcraft rely on demons for information and guidance. In turn, demons use witches to communicate their message.

The New Testament contains one reference to witchcraft in Galatians 5:20. The Greek word pharmakeia, meaning sorcery or witchcraft, describes the use of drugs as a dimension of witchcraft or sorcery. Hallucinogenic drugs are employed in many religious rituals to achieve ecstatic states in which spirits/demons may be contacted. Demons are deceptive; their objectives promote Satan’s evil agenda. Scripture warns that involvement in demonic pursuits can result in demon possession of unbelievers and demon influence of believers.

Mysticism

Mystics, under the delusion of achieving a closer union or personal encounter with God, often claim that God speaks directly to them, or that God, angels, or divine beings have appeared to them. The false spirituality that mysticism promotes hinges on an experience that cannot be verified.

Since the close of the Canon of Scripture, God speaks to mankind only through His written Word. Mysticism is very much part of Eastern religions, such as Hinduism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Buddhism, which promote mysticism as the pathway to God. Even the beginnings of Islam and Mormonism derive their beliefs from a mystical appearance of an angel who claimed to provide new divine revelation. Medieval Judaism has a strain of mysticism called Cabala.

This describes the aforementioned religious practices. Christianity has not been immune to mysticism. In the early Church Age, the mysticism of Catholicism influenced the rise of the monastic movement with emphasis on asceticism. Monks would isolate themselves in the desert and fast for weeks, eat only grass, or sit for years atop pillars in the wilderness awaiting the voice of God. From their hallucinatory revelations come many of the heretical teachings of the Catholic Church.

Astrology

Consulting the stars through astrology and horoscopes is still popular today. Many celebrities, actors, businessmen, and heads of state continue to depend on astrology to predict the future. When the Divine Laws of Establishment are ignored, people seek solutions to their problems through any means, including horoscopes and reading the stars. Personal astrological consultations are as close as the telephone or the internet.

But astrology offers only a false hope. Astrology is strictly forbidden by God in Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10. Using the stars for planning your life or decision-making is contrary to and distracts from the perfect plan of God. When establishment principles and doctrinal teaching are absent, absolute norms and standards of right and wrong are replaced by relative values. Desperate for solutions to problems, meaning for life, and hope for the future, spiritually destitute people rely on the occult for answers. Lacking absolutes, they grasp at any straw which offers hope.

Summary

Idolatry, divination, necromancy, mysticism, and astrology are avenues for communicating the evil doctrines of demons to the human race. Those influenced by such doctrines serve the cause of Satan. Unbelievers influenced by these doctrines are vulnerable to demon possession. However, do not attribute every sin or base behavior to demon influence or demon possession. More often than not, the evil that men do is simply the result of succumbing to the area of weakness in their own sin nature.

God made ample and perfect provision for every contingency in the life of believers. We are in the devil’s world, but we are not part of it (John 15:19). We are surrounded by spiritual darkness, yet we are to walk in the light of the Lord and His Word!!!