The god of Self by Holly D. Sands
But underneath all of it, there's one idol on the throne, and it isn't a spirit or a spell. It's self. Your pain, your will, your need to fix what God hasn't fixed on your timeline. The occult hands you the tools to serve that god.
The Oldest Lie
That's the oldest lie there is. The serpent didn't tempt Eve with a demon. He tempted her with herself: "you will be like God" (Genesis 3:5). Satan fell for the same reason: "I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14). Every road into witchcraft runs through that same door.
Today that lie has a new slogan: "Live your truth." "Speak your truth." "What's true for you might not be true for me."
Years ago, I worked in a college bookstore. One day a chaplain came in and asked me, "What is your truth?" I was confused and asked what he meant. He just repeated the question. I was flustered that a chaplain, of all people, was asking me about my truth. So I told him, "Well, it doesn't really matter what my truth is, because there is only one truth, and that is the Word of God."
I still stand by that answer till my dying day. The moment truth becomes mine, I'm the one on the throne deciding what's real, and that is a very dangerous place to be.
Jesus didn't say He would help us find our truth. He said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) And He told us where to find it: "Your word is truth" (John 17:17).
Scripture even describes a time when everyone lived by their own truth: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25)
Over and over, the book of Judges says, "the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD" (Judges 2:11). What was right in their eyes, was evil in God's.
God had warned them before they ever entered the land: "You shall not at all do as we are doing here today — every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes" (Deuteronomy 12:8). And Proverbs puts it plainly: "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts" (Proverbs 21:2).
My truth can feel right. God's truth is what's real.
Connection, Identity, Control
Jac Marino Chen had a childhood marked by trauma and addiction, which caused her turn to the New Age, tarot, Egyptian magic, and occult practices. She eventually joined an order called The Golden Dawn and performed rituals inside a Freemason lodge, unaware of the danger she was in. Her book Ensnared aims to help readers break free from false promises of connection, identity, and control. Connection, identity, control - think about that. Those are all things that make you your own god.
The original Golden Dawn, founded in the late 1800s, is where Aleister Crowley, maybe the most infamous occultist of the last century, got his start. His creed was: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." If that isn't the god of self, I don't know what is.
(As a side note: Jac's story is a reminder that addiction and the occult often travel together. The word "sorcery" in Galatians 5:20 is pharmakeia, the root of our word "pharmacy." In the ancient world, drugs, potions, and spellwork were all tangled together.)
The Mask Comes Off
Have you ever heard of Luciferianism? It takes the oldest lie and makes it a religion. It teaches that the divine isn't out there somewhere. It's inside you, waiting to be awakened. Follow your "true will." Become your "higher self." Sound familiar?
They even rewrite what happened in the Garden of Eden. In their version, the serpent is the hero. He handed humanity forbidden knowledge and freed us from the shackles of God's authority. Shackles? The serpent didn't free them from anything. What he actually gave them was shame and death: "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked" (Genesis 3:7).
At its core, Luciferianism is about personal sovereignty, not submission. I am my own authority. I decide what's right and wrong for me. That's "my truth". And it isn't freedom at all!
"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16)
Self-Care or Self-Worship?
Let's take a look at today's softer version of personal sovereignty: "Manifest your reality." "Trust your higher self." "The universe is within you." It sounds like self-care, but in reality, it's self-worship.
"Manifest your reality" says your words and thoughts have creative power, that you can speak what you want into existence. That's a power that belongs to God alone. This shows up in Word of Faith churches, dressed up as "speaking it into existence."
"Trust your higher self" says the answers are already inside you. Scripture says the opposite: "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). The wisest thing I can do is not trust myself: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
"The universe is within you" says you're divine. You're not! You are made in the image of God, which is a beautiful thing, but an image is not the original.
Paul described exactly what happens when we cross that line:
"…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:25)
The Flattery Trap
Jenn Nizza spent over two decades as a professional psychic before crying out to Jesus. She explains the hook plainly: demons can see the past but can't tell the future - only God can - though they make good guesses, and that's enough to pull you in.
Accuracy is only half the hook. The other half is just as dangerous: flattery.
Jenn describes herself as a sensitive, compassionate child who wanted to help people, and she believes that's exactly what made her easy prey. When a psychic medium told her she had a gift, she believed it. Clients cried and hugged her after readings. Her parents were proud of her. She even thought of herself as one of the good ones, because she charged less than other psychics so ordinary people could afford her.
Think about what the enemy fed her: You're special. You're gifted. You're helping people. You're one of the good ones. Every one of those messages kept her on the throne and kept her from seeing she needed a Savior.
That's how it works. The spirits show up with compliments. "And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)
They'll feed the god of self all day long, right up until they own you.
"Too Mature" to Be Ensnared
Here's why this matters for grown-ups. We assume we're too mature to be ensnared. That's for teenagers, right? But for adults, the dabbling just looks more respectable: a tarot reading at a bridal shower, a medium after a funeral, or a horoscope check before a big decision.
The enemy of our souls knows exactly what kind of grown-up wounds we carry: grief, fear, and a future we can't see. And he will cater to exactly what you need to lead you as far away from Christ as you can possibly get.
Jenn Nizza said that some of her hardest memories are of parents who came to her after losing a child, believing just as much as she did that their child was speaking through her. It wasn't their child. It was a demon wearing their child's memory, and it kept them coming back for more. That's what catering looks like. The devil gives you exactly what your broken heart is begging for, and in exchange, you never go to the One who can actually heal it.
No Middle Ground
A lot of Christians think they can keep one foot in each world. "I love Jesus, but I still read my horoscope." "I'm a believer, but tarot is just for fun." "My faith is strong, so it won't hurt to be entertained by a movie like Conjuring."
The Corinthians tried the same thing. They figured idols were just carved wood and stone, so what was the harm in joining a meal at a pagan temple? Paul agreed the idol itself was nothing. But he warned them about what was behind it:
"Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons." (1 Corinthians 10:20)
Then he drew the line:
"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons." (1 Corinthians 10:21)
The cards may just be paper/plastic. The crystal may just be a rock. But what's behind them are spirits of darkness ready and able to take whatever door you open and walk right through it.
Some even call themselves "Christian witches." Let me be clear about that one, because it's a growing trend. A "Christian witch" is an oxymoron - the two words contradict each other - like a sober drunk or an honest liar. Some blend prayer with spells, treat the Psalms like incantations, or lay tarot cards next to their Bible. But you can't combine the two, because they aren't two paths to the same God. One submits to God. The other tries to manipulate the spiritual realm to get what they want. That's the god of self again.
Paul asks the questions that settle it: "For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial?" (2 Corinthians 6:14–15)
God never blessed witchcraft in Scripture, not once. He never will.
If You've Been Dabbling
Call it what it is. Not "self-care," not "just for fun." Agree with God about it, and get it ALL out of your house immediately.
Receive His forgiveness. This is what makes repentance possible without despair: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). All unrighteousness.
Tell someone. "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16). Secrets are where the enemy keeps his grip.
Replace the voice you've been listening to. If you've been checking your horoscope every morning, open your Bible instead. If you've been asking the created order for guidance, go to the Creator.
Get under sound teaching. Find a Bible-believing church and a pastor who will tell you the truth, even when it's uncomfortable. You weren't meant to walk out of this alone.
Getting Off the Throne
Here's the irony. The occult promises you power by exalting yourself, and it ends in bondage. Jesus calls you to deny yourself, and it ends in freedom.
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 16:24–25)
If you're in it, or flirting with it, the way out isn't a better technique. It's getting off the throne and letting the rightful King have it.
"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." (Colossians 1:13)
"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)
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Holly D. Sands has walked with Christ since 1983. She writes at He is My Song, helping fellow believers walk faithfully through every season with biblical encouragement, sound doctrine, and honest reflection. She lives in South Carolina, where she and her husband, Shane Sands, are members of a local Baptist church. Shane's been called by God as an evangelist and leads United in Christ Jesus ministry. At home, they're joined by their idiot cat, Mister Bojangles, whose main contribution to the household is sleeping and eating treats.
© 2026 He is My Song. All rights reserved.
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