Ever asked, "How Does a Pendulum Work?" An American woman became possessed by demons after using a pendulum, and tells this cautionary tale. Jesus Christ redeems and saves. All glory be to God who delivers, makes us righteous, and establishes us as children of God!
by LESLIE MCCARTHY
TRIGGER WARNING: This article includes detailed references to sexual and spiritual abuse, and demonic possession.
My Dad, The Weather Witch
My name is Leslie McCarthy. My story starts in a small town in Iowa. I grew up in a family of 5. We were loved and cared for and yet we were poor and had our share of dysfunction. My Dad struggled with undiagnosed mental illness and had difficulty keeping a job.
My Dad was also involved in the occult and thought he could control the weather, which was a constant source of embarrassment and shame for my family and I. In a town of 800, everyone knew who the weather witch was.
The Effects of Abuse
I was sexually abused from the ages of about 4 to 13. Between the abuse, the poverty and the embarrassment of everyone thinking my Dad was crazy I lived in constant shame.
I was extremely shy. I couldn’t look adults in the eye and as a young child I struggled to talk to people.
Due to our situation, and my mom having to take care of everything I quickly learned to take care of myself. I was extremely independent and self-reliant and was determined to take care of my needs all alone. While that may have been a good survival technique for a young child, it is very much something that kept me from surrendering to God later in life.
Attempts at "Goodness" Through Performance
I worked very hard to separate myself from my family. I became very “good.” I was the town babysitter, and was often the teacher’s pet and, considering who my family was, I was well thought of in town. I worked hard to build relationships with teachers, coaches and other adults to get positive attention and my needs fulfilled.
READ MORE: How to Get Out of the Occult
I was a good athlete and spent hours practicing, and would do anything my coaches asked – my focus was on making people think I was worthy – my goal was to appear “normal” and not draw attention to my family situation.
Through all this hard work and performing, I ended up earning a full-ride scholarship to play softball at a division 1 college. At this point, God was not a part of my life.
A Hint of Christian Practices
I had grown up going to church some Sunday’s at a small Disciples of Christ Church. We prayed together as a family before Sunday dinners, but that is about it. My Mom did teach Sunday School when I was young, but we didn’t really practice much Christianity outside of that.
My last year in college I met a Christian who became a good friend. She introduced me to Christ and I began to attend a Baptist Church. I began reading my bible and was baptized again. I was living fervently for God for about 6 months and then I moved to do my internship at a camp and stopped going to church.
I stopped living for God. I met a guy and we became pregnant and got married. About 3 years after my son was born, we added a baby girl to our family and I began to yearn for them to be raised in the church. We found a local Baptist church to attend and were regular attenders. My kids went to Sunday school, church, Awana’s, and youth group. I made sure they attended everything. They were good Christian kids.
Living on the Periphery
However, I lived on the periphery. Growing up the way I did, I had huge trust issues and tended to keep people at an arm’s length away.
Main Trust Issues:
I desperately wanted to be involved and wanted to serve, but the fear of intimacy and feelings of unworthiness kept me away.
I was afraid that we would not be accepted because underneath it all I did not think I was good enough and I certainly did not want to surrender to God.
Even though I thought I had given my life to Jesus, I hadn’t fully.
Strangle Grip on the Idol of "Control"
I was not willing to give up control.
As I look back now, there were times when I felt close to God and then the enemy would attack and convince me to withdraw and go on my own happy way.
If only I had recognized it as an attack from Satan at the time!
Opening up to Healing
Fast forward to right around my 38th birthday when I began to process my sexual abuse history. I found a ministry online and began attending a local group, as well as counseling with a Christian counselor.
I began to experience anxiety and reliving some of my childhood experiences. It was a time of intense healing and a very vulnerable time for me. In some ways I felt closer to God than I had in a long time. I had also matured a great deal, and became healthier in my approach to relationships and people. I was less judgmental and more welcoming.
Post-Modern Cultural Programming Against Christ
All of these things would have been good had I used them for God. However, once again, Satan attacked and instead of using these traits to support the cause of Christ I became prideful and arrogant.
As I looked at all of the injustices in the world and all of the hate, I began to blame Christians as the cause for much of this. I threw out the good with the bad. I forgot that Christians are humans and all I saw was hypocrisy, hate, and what I started to believe were outdated rigid rules and beliefs.
Lukewarmth and Falling Away
I gradually left the church and joined the modern culture of accepting everything, all beliefs and felt that all lifestyles were good.
Some of what I struggle with in my mind:
I had a hard time believing that God would allow someone to have same sex attraction and then call it a sin.
I became very frustrated with politics and what I saw as such hypocrisy among Christians.
I did not understand how Christians could call for charity and then support laws and systems that are designed to promote wealth among those that have it and to keep down those that do not have it.
The enemy had caused me to be confused and I forgot that God is God, and his design is perfect.
Satan's Subversion: Locking Attention on the World
I had no idea that Satan would attack me at this time to try to draw me even further away from God.
Even though I had been a regular church attender for years, I had never learned much about spiritual warfare and the insidious and wicked way that Satan works. Not only was I not aware, I was not prepared and did not have on any armor. I was not grounded in the word and my prayer life was almost non-existent.
I was not ready for the fight, in fact I didn’t fight at all. I left the church willingly and even intentionally slid right into the sins of the flesh. I lived fully in the world.
The Cultural Relief of Falling Away
It was so easy. I had never been comfortable evangelizing or spreading the word of God. I had always struggled with being brave when people challenged my Christian beliefs, and now I didn’t have to do that.
Many of the people I worked with shared my new views and I enjoyed becoming somewhat educated and able to speak intelligently on many topics related to modern culture and social issues. I felt enlightened and proud of my newfound beliefs and felt I had overcome the outdated and rigid beliefs of Christians.
The Pull into the Occult
Pride and arrogance were growing in my life, and I started to believe in more and more worldly ideas and New Age philosophies. My husband and I grew further and further apart and after 20 years of marriage I divorced him and continued on my downward path.
After a few years I met a good man and moved in with him as I continued on my path of self-help and growth, and at the same time I fell into sin in several areas of my life. My pride led me to believe I could heal myself and maybe help others. I didn’t even consider where this power would come from.
I was hoping that we were part of a greater consciousness. My tendency to look to myself for everything as my own God only fed this interest.
Alternative Health: An Occult Doorway
I had always been interested in functional medicine and alternative health. What started as a healthy interest in functional medicine became dangerous when I took it to the next level and started to turn to occult activities for healing.
Without my Christian beliefs as my backbone I no longer believed that some Eastern Medical practices were of the occult and so I ended up swinging the door wide open for Satan.
I invited him right in by purchasing a couple of crystals to clear my chakras.
How Does a Pendulum Work? Possessed!
I ended up buying a pendulum with the chakra crystals on it and began to use that for healing.
After a couple of attempts to clear my chakras I somehow transitioned to communicating with the pendulum. I communicated with “spirits" that said they were my spirit guides, initially on my hand. Then, with their guidance, I printed an ABC chart from the internet and continued communication with them.
READ MORE: "I Opened My Third Eye and I Regret It."
Within about 5 days of communicating with them via the pendulum I became fully possessed by three spirits that said they were my spirit guides. It happened instantaneously without much pomp and circumstance. One minute I was communicating on the chart and the next minute they were in me talking constantly.
Demons Drawing Me In Deeper
As I look back on it now, I was surprised that this could happen but I didn’t really react like that at all. Initially, we visited and talked and they told me things that were supposedly going to happen. They told me that they were my “spirit guides” and there to help me.
I didn’t tell anybody about it and quickly came to know that this was not a good situation. I was being tormented by their constant chatter every minute of the day and they agreed that it wasn’t working. They said they wanted to help by helping me to create a “room” in which we could meet at an appointed time.
To assist in this, I purchased a book that discusses how to meditate to meet with “spirit guides.” I completed these meditations for several days with no results.
Bizarre Events: Disorientation and Losing Time
In fact, things were starting to get worse. Along with the constant chatter I had a couple of tragic incidents.
Trance at the Lake
A couple of weeks into this experience the “spirit guides” put me into a trance and had me go to a lake. They told me I had called into work, but I hadn’t. They led me to an area that I had no idea existed. They took me there turn by turn.
I spent the whole day at the lake being led around by them and “healing the environment.” They told me I was going to be a famous “environmental healer.” I didn’t necessarily believe them and yet I allowed them to lead me around all day without questioning anything.
At some point, the spirit guides had me text my partner Craig a very strange message. It contained lots of spirit guide gibberish. They then had me send another text to him saying I wanted to leave him and wanted him to go to a hotel. I have no memory of those texts and certainly did not want to leave Craig.
My staff ended up calling the police because I had not shown up to work, whom then called Craig, who in turn called my grown children. I did not return any of their calls for hours. This was very unlike me, everyone was scared that something had happened to me. I can’t even explain why I didn’t return their calls for hours.
I finally did talk to Craig, but not my kids or others and told him I was heading home. The “spirit guides,” who had been physically pushing on my back and turning me suddenly stopped directing me and I ended up getting lost in the woods. Once again, for some reason I did not call Craig and spent another 4 hours walking the woods.
When I eventually got home, I was trying to explain to Craig what happened and as soon as I began to say the words “spirit guides” they choked me so that I could not make any sound. My voice came out in barely a squeak. This happened a few times as I tried to explain to Craig what happened. Needless to say he was just a little freaked out, as was I!
Demonic Lies and Imprisonment
After this incident, I very much wanted the “spirit guides” to leave and they agreed, saying that this was a situation out of control and they were communicating with other “spirit guides” trying to get help leaving. All sorts of strange things happened during these faux “leave attempts.” They also kept taking me aside at home and at work to try to leave.
They would say they needed 5 minutes, which would often turn to 30 minutes or more to play out this fake leave scheme. This is one of the many tactics they tried to get me to isolate myself from my family and friends.
My kids were very concerned about me after the incident at the park. I hadn’t told them anything other than I was having a bad day. Not much of an explanation after such an extraordinary event. However, I was terrified that they wouldn’t believe me. I had also backed out of the story with Craig using the same story. Not buying this story, my daughter made a trip out to visit.
One day, My daughter, my mom and I were at an antique shop and they blasted me with energy so hard that I could hardly walk. It was almost like being in a wind tunnel, only I could not feel the wind. The “leave attempts” also continued frequently during my daughter’s visit.
Later, they said they were jealous and that is the reason they have done so much to ruin my relationships. These instances, along with a bunch of things I will get to caused me to lose my job. Every day has been a struggle.
Fighting Demons With Other Demons
At this point I realized that they were not spirit guides, but what I thought were “negative entities” and started to actively pursue their removal. Unfortunately I turned to shaman’s and reiki masters.
For 7 months I met with shaman’s, including an online class that used various types of witchcraft to rid me of these negative entities. We worked on raising my vibrations, meditating to ancient civilizations, ceremonies, and various occult practices to aid in their removal, all to no avail.
In fact, I became further possessed by even more negative entities, or what I eventually came to know as demons. I know of at least 70 demons that are currently possessing me, and that is after many were exorcized. All of this from one swing of a pendulum. Every day since has been a struggle.
I know of at least 70 demons that are currently possessing me, and that is after many were exorcized. All of this from one swing of a pendulum. Every day since has been a struggle.
How Do The Demons Affect Me?
These demons affect my daily life in so many ways. They talk inside my head every waking moment, and at times fight with me as I speak, trying to force me to say something or take over my speech.
I have not had one moment of quiet since the day I became possessed.
The list of things that I experience daily could go on forever, but here we go:
I have weird and extremely uncomfortable “energies” or feelings in my body all of the time. There are so many types I can’t begin to describe all of them.
Sometimes my body is so filled with these energies that I feel like I will float away, other times the energies scream evil or hate.
The demons are able to move my body, head and limbs.
At times my voice can sound so strange and many different sounds come out. There was a time when it was so extreme that I avoided people completely, causing issues when I was supposed to be leading meetings and trainings at work. It didn’t even sound like a voice half of the time.
The demons often affect my hearing and vision. At times I can’t hear to be on the phone and my vision is so impacted that I can not see well enough to read.
My ability to concentrate and listen is very much impacted by all of this as well.
They can create smells and sounds that aren’t there.
On my calendars at work and home, events will disappear, they can block and change what I see as I read or watch TV. This happens repeatedly with words or numbers.
Items are moved and lost.
Computers are turned on and off, or they have turned the volume up or down on my phone and shoot electricity at my phone and computer.
I have tugging and pulling on my throat, neck, head and other parts of my body.
I experience ringing in my ears, painful energy “darts” and air in my ears and head.
I have been raped repeatedly by the demons.
They have encouraged me to hurt myself and even to kill myself.
They have thrown out images of me stabbing myself.
The demons have burnt my neck to the point of open sores.
They have created blisters in my mouth.
They have sent painful electricity through my teeth and other body parts.
They can make me physically sick through their screaming and strange energies.
They keep me awake at night, at times for hours.
They can affect bowels and bladder.
My blood work worsened with the onset of possession.
I suddenly had outrageous levels of estrogen and iron, along with kidney and liver function issues.
Finally Looking to God
Now back to the pendulum and my road into the occult. I always had a desire to heal myself, and that desire led me into multiple New Age beliefs, including that we are all energy and each of us together combine to create God.
READ MORE: 4 Factors of Deliverance
This fit into my self-sufficient lifestyle, in which I thought I could take care of things myself – completely independent from anyone or anything, including the God of the Bible. And now I know in a very real and tactile way that the spiritual world exists and there is a lot of stuff going on out there.
After about 8 months of seeking their removal with no results, I decided to consider the God of my youth as an option. Through common sense I finally realized that these demons came in through the occult and the occult wasn’t the answer. Shaman’s weren’t the answer, reiki wasn’t the answer and finally I knew that I am not the answer.
I decided to return to the God that I had once known as the One True God. I realized that I had been dwelling in darkness, in the shadows of death and then he came into me to guide me into the way of peace.
Seeking Deliverance
Having determined to return to God, initially mainly for the purpose of deliverance. I started to search for help from Christians. I ended up connecting with a priest and his deliverance team. With their counsel I started a half-hearted effort of praying and reading the Bible to try to rekindle my relationship with Christ.
I still had so many questions about Christianity, churches, and who God was that I was not yet able to connect fully with Christ. During this time, I was vetted by the deliverance ministry to make sure that it was a possession issue and not psychological. After determining that it was a possession issue, I traveled to Texas for a full week of exorcisms. It was an intense experience with exorcisms, prayers, and a whole lot of Holy Water!
READ MORE: What is a Sacramental?
The Call into Relationship With Christ
During this week, we had many discussions and I started to realize that even though I may have questions I needed to focus on what is important and that is the sacrifice that Jesus made for me on the cross. I accepted Jesus into my heart and asked him for forgiveness.
An important part of the process is repentance, so I did my first auricular confession, in which I actually fainted as I received absolution of my sins from a priest, and they felt certain that demons left then.
READ MORE: What is Repentance?
By the end of the week I had given my life back to Christ, was baptized and had begun praying and reading the bible with new eyes. I put off the old self and its evil practices and put on the new self as in Ephesians 4. As Christ “thirsted” on the cross, I now began to “thirst” for Jesus.
The veil was starting to lift and just like the children’s Sunday school song I was starting to let my little light shine. I’m not going to hide it under a bush – oh no! I am going to let it shine, let it shine!
Demonic Distraction, Biblical Revelation
As soon as I returned home from and found a church to start attending, the demons really turned up the heat, especially during prayer, worship, church, confession, when taking the Eucharist and in the first round of Clarity Accelerator classes. The Clarity Accelerator is an academy I joined that focuses specifically on helping ex-occultists dismantle occult belief systems and form a Christian worldview and practice.
READ MORE: The "Gig is Up" Moment: Leaving the New Age
I literally could not think or listen during any of my attempts at spiritual formation or building healthy Christian practices because I was smothered with strange energies, screaming, chanting, various opinions and noises, I had difficulty formulating sentences and answering questions because of the intense distraction I experienced. They made me sick several times at church and played with my voice and speech while trying to read the liturgies or sing. It was obvious that the demons were digging their heels in as much as possible. They were doing their best to prevent me from worshiping my God.
Through the academy, I began to get even deeper into the word and my prayer life grew. Over the next several weeks I realized the extent that I had hurt God with my sins, and how far astray I had gone. I had not just dabbled by using the pendulum, I turned to Satan and unknowingly had put him on the throne of my heart.
I had not just dabbled by using the pendulum, I turned to Satan and unknowingly had put him on the throne of my heart.
The academy referred to each occult lie of Satan as a brick, and those bricks together created strongholds of the mind. It was through the truth of the Word and yielding to Christ that we were renewed and made whole.
It all began with the Blood of Christ to obliterate lies. I realized just how many lies I had believed. Just like the Israelites, in my pride and stubbornness I had repeatedly made the decision to turn my back on God.
A Special Community of On-Fire For Christ Believers
My tendency to want to do things myself and not give up control gave Satan all of the ammunition he needed to get his hooks into me. The realization of the depths of my pride hurt my heart and led to repentance. Being part of the Clarity Accelerator group was life changing.
It was invaluable to walk alongside other men and women who were also experiencing spiritual affliction. We prayed together and for each other, we supported each other on tough days, and oh my were there some tough days. Satan attacks those who are leaving the occult and it was absolutely essential to have a group of men and women walking alongside me.
We became a close knit group of men and women who prayed together, worshiped together, studied together and eventually became friends. I highly encourage anyone experiencing spiritual affliction to join the Clarity Accelerator program or a similar program focused deliverance.
Surrendering Fully to God: Jesus, I Trust in You!
During this time, I made the decision to follow Jesus whole-heartedly. I began to reconstruct my broken world view to be one that aligns with Abba, my Heavenly Father. Little by little bricks are being busted, and strongholds are being destroyed and my heart of stone is becoming a heart of flesh, full of love.
At the start of the first academy, I could barely form sentences due to the demonic infiltration, and by a year later after dedicated commitment of advocates, the Lord’s hard work on my heart, and my own leaning into my faith and trust in Him, I was writing entire thesis papers and sharing my testimony with boldness.
While my daily experience was and is still miserable and full of torment, I could all of a sudden listen better at church, during the academy, and I could pray and read the bible with substantially less interference. It is still loud and full of strange energies, but I can listen and that is what is important. God is good.
Deeper Repentance and Healing in Christ
6 months later, I made a second trip to Texas. My faith is stronger now and having grown as a Christian. Through discussion and counseling from the Deliverance team we came to the realization that I was struggling with surrendering fully to Christ. Do I have ever trust issues! Through lots of tears and prayers I was able to repent at an even deeper level and just like the prodigal son, I returned home.
During this week I had many intense experiences. There were so many things that happened that made me know that God was present. I could feel the Holy Spirit, and knew he was working in me through the deliverance team. So many tangible things happened during those sessions that it gave me reassurance that this is the real thing! It was evident that the Holy Spirit was working that week.
I am a Redeemed Saint!
This trip was extremely intense, and difficult while being incredibly powerful and beautiful all at the same time.
Through all of this I was able to lay my sins at the foot of the cross and leave them and even though the enemy constantly tries to create doubt I know Jesus died and rose again.
He has victory over the enemy. I am a redeemed saint.
Demonic Death Throes and Continued Walking with Christ
I have since had several deliverance experiences teams closer to home. During one of these deliverance sessions I could physically feel the demons bracing themselves inside me resisting leaving. Each experiences has been profound and the Holy Spirit is always so present. I know I have been delivered. Similar to the fig tree Jesus cursed, it just takes time for the healing to come up through the roots. I am living FREE and am just waiting for the day that I am feeling fully FREE!
In some ways the possession has been a blessing. I was content. Living a happy, fairly easy life... maybe a little empty, but I had a good job, a good man, and a happy home. Overall a good life. I might have continued on like this until the end, with no thoughts of my need for Jesus. Now, I have the hope and confidence of my eternal inheritance. I am a child of God and I have the security of everlasting life. I am a member of the God’s Kingdom and I am written in his book of life. This alone makes the past 2+ years’ worth all the pain and suffering.
Finding my Identity in Christ
While my daily experience is the same I know deliverance is taking place and I praise God for helping to find my identity in Christ. I am a new creation and know that I am God’s workmanship and created for good have changed in many ways, my heart has become more tender and filled with compassion and love. I attend church and Bible studies every chance I get. I am volunteering at my church and in the community and offering it up to Christ. I am getting to know my church members and am an involved member of my church family this time around.
I have developed a strong intercessory prayer life and am delving deeper into the Word. I am seeking to identify and develop my spiritual gifts, as well as praying for wisdom in order to better serve the Lord. I am truly seeking to be as one who trusts in the Lord, like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream, one who does not fear the heat and always bears fruit. I also want to live this out in a very real way. I have a heart for people and strive to thirst for others just as Jesus thirsts for us.
At times, I struggle to survive in the midst of all these thorns and often feel like I am alone in the desert. However, God shows up in many ways to remind me that he is there. I am so thankful that God led me to a solid deliverance team and the academy and to a church community I love. Through all of this, God has given me a peace and confidence that I will be delivered in time. When, I don’t know, but I do know that God is using my story for his purposes right now, and that is such a blessing. In reality it is a privilege to serve God like this, and I keep in mind that God will keep his promise to deliver me.
WARNING: A Worldly Worldview is a Spiritual Vulnerability
Looking back, I can see clearly how my cultural apathy and worldview led to New Age beliefs and how New Age beliefs led to occult activity, which then led the pendulum and to being possessed.
There is nothing extraordinary about me or my story. I am about as boring and average as you can be and yet this happened.
I am now passionate about informing people about the consequences of using pendulums, Ouija boards and other occult tools.
READ MORE: Are Ouija Boards Real?
I want people to know how easy it is to get into this type of trouble. You do not need to be fully invested in any occult beliefs or practices. You do not need to knowingly be a Satanist. It can happen to anyone and I want people to know that.
I am now passionate about informing people about the consequences of using pendulums, Ouija boards and other occult tools. I want people to know how easy it is to get into this type of trouble. You do not need to be fully invested in any occult beliefs or practices. You do not need to knowingly be a Satanist. It can happen to anyone and I want people to know that.
I am also passionate about educating people on spiritual warfare and to the extent it affects people. I am fairly certain that most people, including many Christians, have no idea of the amount of spiritual warfare that goes on and how it impacts us. My hope is to be involved in a ministry that educates people on this and teaches them to know how to protect themselves.
I feel like I have a front row seat in understanding how demons work. I know firsthand how judgmental and evil they can be. I am very familiar with how they try to instill negative thoughts and beliefs, as well as just how they taunt and bully. They judge literally every thought I have, every word I say or don’t say. They constantly judge every action I take or don’t take, my relationships, my body and face, my weight, what I eat or don’t eat, absolutely everything is judged. They work as hard as they can to destroy my confidence and make me think that I am a bad person, who is incapable of virtually anything.
I am also quite aware of the ways they try to tempt us to sin, which is literally every area of our lives. In some ways, I can actually hear their voices, taunting and bullying and I am fully aware that it is from the enemy. While this is non-stop for me and incredibly irritating and abusive, at least I know it is from the demons. Whereas, for others the taunts and temptations might come as a light nudge or a whisper in the ear. In these cases the recipient may not be aware that the thoughts are from the enemy, making it more insidious and difficult to fight. This certainly doesn’t make my experience easy or worth it, but I am doing my best to allow God to turn something evil into something for good.
My mission is to educate people and make them aware of how Satan works and help them learn how to protect themselves! I want to help them put on their armor so they can fight the enemy! I hope to share this knowledge with the churched, unchurched and those, who like I had, have left the church. Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war!
READ MORE: Real Stories about Occult Deliverance.
About the Author
My name is Leslie McCarthy. I worked in the Human Services Field for over 30 years. Most recently I managed a local State office for Vocational Rehabilitation. I have a Master's degree in Counseling and am the mother of two adult children.
I am a veteran student in the Clarity Accelerator Academy, an incubator of Christians across the world who love the Lord, dismantle occult worldviews, and share the light of Christ with the world. I now have a passion for teaching and educating people about Spiritual Warfare.
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