Saint Christina and the Reptiles of the Magicians

Julian, the governor of the city of Tyre, wanting to defeat the young maiden Christina, the invincible Martyr of Christ, at any cost, called magicians and sorcerers, who knew how to bewitch all kinds of reptiles, and ordered them to use their spells to gather a multitude of snakes, vipers and scorpions, and to hurl them all at the Martyr to tire her out with their poisonous bites. When they released the reptiles on the Saint, not a single one hurt her, even though they crawled around her and wrapped themselves around her body. In the immediate vicinity stood a senior witch doctor who, with his incantations and spells, enticed the reptiles to bite the virgin. However, all the reptiles, according to God's order, attacked that soothsayer, bit him and he died at that moment. And the Saint said to the reptiles: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you reptiles: snakes, adders and scorpions, go each to your place, without hurting anyone!"

Saint Dionysios of Olympus and the Monk Who Summoned a Demon

 

There was a monk at Beroea who was only slightly educated. One day a book on divination came into his hands, and out of curiosity he read a little bit of it, thereby invoking the demons. As he slept that night, he saw in a dream a giant creature, blacker than any Ethiopian, who said to him:

"Because you have called upon me, I have come. If you will make obeisance to me, I will do what you ask!"

Now the monk recognized that this was the devil, and said to him:

Demonizing Others Often Begins With Our Own Unquestioned Thoughts of Suspicion (St. Paisios the Athonite)

 

Saint Paisios once said:

 

We must question our thoughts of suspicion. I will tell you of an incident so you can see what these thoughts do. One day a monk came to the hut and said to me:

"Elder Haralambos is a magician; he did magic."

"What are you saying, you lost fool? You should be ashamed of yourself," I told him.

Holy Martyr Athanasios Who Was a Sorcerer, Converted by Saint George

St. Athanasios the Martyr (Feast Day - April 23)

Verses

Athanasios the sorcerer was beheaded,
The ailing soul found a strange medicine.

During the trials of the Holy Great Martyr George, Dadianus the governor wrote a letter in which he thus said, "I write to the whole world, greetings. Let any sorcerer or magician who can put an end to the magic of this Christian come here to me, and I will give him much wealth and any territory that he shall ask for, and he shall be second in the kingdom."Saint George had miraculously emerged unharmed from his tortures by divine grace, and because of his miracles the stubborn pagans believed he was a magician, and only another magician could defeat him.

The Power of the Cross Against Demons and Magic (St. Athanasius the Great)

By St. Athanasius the Great

(Excerpts from On the Incarnation)

- "Since the Savior has come among us, idolatry not only has no longer increased, but what there was is diminishing and gradually coming to an end: and not only does the wisdom of the Greeks no longer advance, but what there is is now fading away: and demons, so far from cheating any more by illusions and prophecies and magic arts, if they so much as dare to make the attempt, are put to shame by the sign of the Cross."

A Warning to Those Who Abstain from Holy Communion for Five Weeks in a Row

St. Makarios the Great of Egypt (Feast Day - January 19)

By Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis

(Lausiac History, Ch. 17 - Makarios of Egypt)

A certain Egyptian, enamored of a lady married to a husband, and being unable to seduce her, consulted a magician, saying: "Lead her to love me, or contrive that her husband reject her." And the magician having received a sufficient sum, used magic spells and arranged for her to take the form of a horse. The husband having come in and seen her was surprised that a horse lay on his bed. He wept and lamented; he talked to the animal, but received no reply. He called in the priests of the village. He brought them in, showed her to them, but they did not discover what happened.

Holy Martyr Theokletos the Sorcerer

St. Theokletos the Martyr (Feast Day - February 26)

Verses

Theokletos was called towards divine knowledge,
He glorifies that he is called to be an athlete.
Known prior as Lampadios, he was a servant of magic,
As a martyr of Christ, receive Your Theokletos.
On the twenty-sixth the neck of Theokletos was cut by the bronze.

Commemoration of the Holy Martyr Theokletos on February 26th is mentioned in the Parisian Codex 1578. This seems to refer to the sorcerer Lampadios who tried to poison Saint Photini, and being unsuccessful he was in turn baptized with the name Theokletos. Archimandrite John Demetriados of Katounakia composed a Divine Office in his honor (here).

The Holy Water and the Magical Potion

By Manolis Melinos

A priest in Russia, after the Sanctification of the Waters on Theophany, was filling bottles of Holy Water for his parishioners. A middle-aged lady approached him and gave him a beautiful bottle. However, as soon as he put Holy Water in it, the bottle shattered!

A Miracle of Saint Cyprian of Antioch in 1966

By Archimandrite Haralambos Vasilopoulos

In 1966 there was a 29 year old young man, a soccer player from Athens, who was at the brink of death. He was the victim of a magical spell.

The young man had asked for the hand in marriage of a modest and good maiden. But there was another woman who was a rival that gave into satanic envy, so she went to a sorceress in order to drive the young man crazy and kill him.

The spell attached itself to the young man. This is because the young man had no connection with the Mysteries of the Orthodox Church. At first he no longer wanted to go to work and his large store fell to ruin. He also didn't want to see his family and in the end he suffered from horrible headaches. He even reached the point of attempting to commit suicide.

Saints Lucian and Marcian: Two Former Magicians Who Died for their Faith in Christ

Sts. Lucian and Marcian the Martyrs (Feast Day - October 26)

The Holy Martyrs Lucian and Marcian, living in the darkness of idolatry, applied themselves to the vain study of the black arts; but were converted to the faith of Christ by finding their charms lose their power upon a Christian virgin, and the evil spirits defeated by the sign of the cross. Their eyes being thus opened, they burned their magical books in the middle of the city of Nicomedia and, when they had effaced their crimes by baptism, they distributed their possessions among the poor, and retired together into solitude, that by exercising themselves in mortification and prayer, they might subdue their passions, and strengthen in their souls that grace which they had just received, and which could not safely be exposed to dangers, and occasions of temptations in the world till it was fenced by rooted habits of all virtues, and ascetic exercises.

Simon Magus and the Apostle Peter

At the outbreak of the persecution (c. 37 A.D.) of the early Christian community at Jerusalem that began with the martyrdom of St. Stephen, when Philip the Deacon went from Jerusalem to Samaria, Simon lived in the latter city. By his magic arts, because of which he was called "Magus", and by his teachings in which he announced himself as the "great power of God", he had made a name for himself and had won adherents. He listened to Philip's sermons, was impressed by them, and like many of his countrymen was baptized and united with the community of believers in Christ. But, as was evident later, his conversion was not the result of the inner conviction of faith in Christ as the Redeemer, but rather from selfish motives, for he hoped to gain greater magical power and thus to increase his influence. For when the Apostles Peter and John came to Samaria to bestow on the believers baptized by Philip the outpouring of the Spirit which was accompanied by miraculous manifestations, Simon offered them money, desiring them to grant him what he regarded as magical power, so that he also by the laying on of hands could bestow the Holy Spirit, and thereby produce such miraculous results. Full of indignation at such an offer Peter rebuked him sharply, exhorted him to penance and conversion and warned him of the wickedness of his conduct. Under the influence of Peter's rebuke Simon begged the Apostles to pray for him (Acts 8:9-29). However, according to the unanimous report of the authorities of the second century, he persisted in his false views. The ecclesiastical writers of the early Church universally represent him as the first heretic, the "Father of Heresies".

Simon Magus, after passing through diverse provinces, came to Rome, and there gained a high reputation. St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, Tertullian, Eusebius, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and Theodoret, assure us, that divine honors were paid him there, and that a statue was erected to him in the isle of Tiber, by the emperor Claudius and the senate, with this inscription: “Simoni Deo Sancto” (Simon the Holy God).

(Left) Paul, Peter, Simon Magus, Nero;
(Right) Peter and Paul causing the fall of Simon Magus through prayer

When Nero came to the throne, the greatest monster of cruelty and vice that perhaps ever disgraced the human species, Simon Magus found a means to ingratiate himself with this tyrant; for Nero was above all mortals infatuated with the superstitions of the black arts to the last degree of folly and extravagance. To excel in this was one of his greatest passions; and for this purpose he spared no expense, and stuck at no crimes. But all his endeavors were fruitless. When Tiridates, a Parthian prince, who was a magician, came to Rome, and was crowned by Nero king of Armenia, in the forum, the tyrant hoped to learn of him some important secrets of that detestable superstition. The most skillful of the Parthian magicians exhausted all their science to satisfy him; but only gave the world a new proof of the emptiness of that art. Pliny concludes from this want of success in Nero, and Tillemont repeats the same of Julian the Apostate, that seeing the utmost skill of those who have most addicted themselves to this deceitful art, joined with the greatest power and impiety, was never able to effect anything by it, every one must rest convinced, that magic is no less vain and idle, than it is impious and execrable.

Simon Magus, by his vain boastings, and illusions, could not fail to please this tyrant. The fathers assure us that this famous magician had promised the emperor and people to fly in the air, carried by his angels, thus pretending to imitate the ascension of Christ. Accordingly he raised himself in the air by his magical power, in the presence of the emperor. Sts. Peter and Paul, seeing the delusion, betook themselves to their prayers; upon which the impostor fell to the ground, was bruised, broke a leg, and died a few days after in rage and confusion. This wonderful event is related by St. Justin, St. Ambrose, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Austin, St. Philastrius, St. Isidore of Pelusium, Theodoret, and others. Dion Chrysostomus, a heathen, writes that Nero kept a long time in his court a certain magician, who promised to fly. And Suetonius says, that at the public games a man undertook to fly in the presence of Nero, but fell in his first attempt, and his blood even stained the balcony in which the emperor stood. This historians have understood to be Simon Magus.

Demonology in the Life of Saint Dionysios of Olympus

By Monk Agapios Landos

The Young Girl From Katerini

In the spring, Saint Dionysios went to the city of Katerini. On the road, he met a group of young girls and boys, who were singing immodest and inappropriate songs of the type that incites youth to shameful and improper desires. The blessed man was grieved hearing these things, and said to them: "Why do you say these things, being that you are virgins? Such disgraceful and immodest words defile your virginity, exciting and inclining these youths to sensuality. Do you not call death to remembrance?"

The Confession of Saint Cyprian of Antioch

All you who take offence at the mysteries of Christ, take a look at my tears, and take notice of the power of all that is contained in them. All you who delight in the customs that come from demons, learn from me the vanity of the mockeries in them. For neither will any of you be able to be more god-fearing than I was formerly, nor be able to examine the things concerning the so-called gods more than I, nor be able to attain more energy from them. I am Cyprian, who from tender talons was dedicated to Apollo as a valuable gift and still as a child was initiated into the dramaturgy of the dragon. I was not yet seven years old when I entered the mysteries of Mithras, and seeing how I was an Athenian foreigner I was quickly made a citizen by my parents; when I was still ten years old, I carried the torch for Demeter and submitted to the white sorrow of Kore, and I served the serpent of Pallas on the Acropolis as I was promoted to temple servant. Then I arrived on Mount Olympus, the dwelling place, as they say, of the gods, and I was initiated into the communion of sound and the recounting of noises. I saw there trees that produce visions and herbs appearing to operate by divine intervention. I saw there the successions of seasons as the winds changed and the diversity of days brought about by certain opposing energies. I saw there bands of demons chanting, and others making war, and others lying in ambush, deceiving, and confounding, and I beheld there the phalanx of every god and goddess as I waited for forty days in that place from which, from kingdoms so to speak, they send out the winds to activate each of them on the earth and among all nations.

Read the entire text here.

Marilyn Manson Warns Against Black Magic

Marilyn Manson was featured on "Celebrity Ghost Stories" a few days prior to Halloween in 2010. He tells an interesting story of an occult ritual which he participated in when he was in High School and lived in Canton, Ohio. He concludes his story with a warning to those who venture to do something similar.

Saint Leo of Catania and the Sorcerer Heliodoros

By Agapios the Cretan

On the island of Sicily, a diviner and sorcerer, named Heliodoros, wrought signs and marvels by demonic cooperation. His satanic activities and powers surpassed the wickedness of Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim. 3:8) and Simon Magus (Acts 8:9), since he had all diabolical energy working in him. Now he was the son of noble Christian parentage; his mother was the patrician Barbara. All assumed Heliodoros was a Christian. But from his childhood he showed himself to be arrogant, insolent, audacious, rash and proud. In time, he aspired to become prefect of the city [of Catania], not that he might be of service to the people, but rather that he might commit with impunity his shameless misdeeds according to his will and pleasure. It was, however, not the will of God that the unworthy Heliodoros, with his overweening pride, should attain to that high dignity. That vile and perverse man, thereafter, turned his steps in the direction of the occult.

Orthodox Fresco Condeming Witchcraft and Traditional Folk Magic

A fresco of the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria, condemning witchcraft and traditional folk magic.

When St. John the Theologian Faced the Magician Kynops on the Island of Patmos

There was on the island of Patmos, where the Holy Apostle John was exiled to, a certain magician by the name of Kynops, who lived in the wilderness and for many years held converse with unclean spirits. On account of the predictions uttered by him, all the inhabitants of the island considered him a god. The priests of Apollo, who were enraged at John for having destroyed the temple of Apollo and because he had made all the people followers of Jesus Christ, went to Kynops and complained to him of Christ’s apostle, beseeching him to take revenge for the dishonor shown their gods. Kynops, however, did not wish to go to the city himself, since he had lived for many years in that place without leaving. But the citizens all the more often came to him with their request. Then he promised to send a wicked spirit to the house of Myron to seize the soul of John and deliver it to eternal judgment. In the morning he sent to John one of the princes of the evil spirits, commanding him to bring John’s soul to him. Arriving at the house of Myron, the demon stood in the place where John was. But John, perceiving the demon, said unto him: “In the name of Christ I command you not to leave this place until you tell me for what cause you have come here to me.”

Saint Paisios the Athonite on Deluders and the Deluded

"While evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deluding and being deluded."(1)

Regarding the Delusion of the Pentecostals

- Elder, the things that are said by those who go over to the Pentecostals – that is, about seeing visions, speaking in tongues etc. – are those things from their own imagination, or from demonic influences?

- They are energies of demonic influences; because when they go over to the Pentecostals and are re-baptized, they are actually disregarding, denying Holy Baptism: “I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins” as the Creed declares – in which case, they un-baptize themselves and become susceptible to demonic influences and then they jabber-jabber, supposedly in tongues. “It is the Holy Spirit of Pentecost talking” they tell us. But it is not the Holy Spirit; it is a whole mess of unclean spirits. What tongues? They are merely uttering gibberish, which not even they can comprehend. They even record that gibberish and then produce statistics and reach conclusions: “That tongue has so many ‘hallelujahs’ in it, and there are so many in the other tongue.” Well, it’s to be expected, among so much jabber-jabber, you will surely hear something that resembles the word ‘hallelujah’ in one of the languages of the world! And so you can see, while it is something demonic, they actually believe that demonism to be the energy of the Holy Spirit, and that they are supposedly experiencing what the Apostles had experienced on the day of the Pentecost! Blasphemies are the things they believe, which is why they become demon-possessed.

Saint Paisios the Athonite on Sorcery

Having spoken to you many times about Paradise, the Angels and the Saints so that you may be helped, I shall now also say a few words about Hell and the demons, so that you can be aware of who we're fighting against: again, so that you may be helped.

A young sorcerer from Tibet once visited me at my cell and told me a lot of things about his life. This child, no sooner was he weaned from his mother than his father dedicated it - at the age of three - to a group of thirty, high-ranking sorcerers in Tibet, in order to initiate it in their art. He reached the eleventh degree of sorcery - the twelfth being the highest. At the age of sixteen he left Tibet and went to Sweden, to see his father. While there, he happened to meet an Orthodox priest - a very devout one - and invited him to a conversation. In the room where they had sat down to talk, he began to do some of his magic, in order to show the priest his powers. He invoked an initial(1) demon, Menas, and said to it: "I want water". A glass rose up from the kitchen, it went to the tap on its own, the tap came on, it filled the glass with water, then it passed through the glass screen and entered the room they were in. He took the glass and drank the water. Then he "showed" the priest all the universe: the skies, the stars, etc. He used magic of the fourth degree and intended to continue, up to the eleventh degree. He asked the priest what he thought of all those things.

How Do Non-Orthodox Christians Work Miracles and Prophesy?

Questions and Answers

By St. Anastasios of Sinai,

Bishop of Theoupoleos

Question 20:

With what power do those who believe and do the opposite, oftentimes prophesy and work miracles?

Answer:

Various signs and miracles and prophecies oftentimes take place by those who are unworthy, according to some need or condescension, as with Barlaam and the ventriloquism. And elsewhere the Apostles, when they found a certain unbeliever "casting out demons in the name of Christ," and they prevented him and reported him to Christ, Christ told them: "Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you" (Lk. 9:50).