My child is experimenting with spirit boards, satanic rituals, or occult practices — what should I do?

You found strange symbols drawn in your child's notebook. They are watching videos about the Illuminati. Their friends are playing with a spirit board — an "Ouija board" — trying to contact the dead. They are fascinated by satanic imagery, dark rituals, or occult practices they discovered online.

This is not teenage curiosity. This is a door being opened to spiritual darkness.

Many parents dismiss these things as harmless phases — "It's just a game," "They're just experimenting," "It's just entertainment." But Scripture is unambiguous: there is nothing harmless about engaging with the demonic realm, no matter how innocent or fashionable the packaging.

Why children are drawn to this

• Curiosity and thrill-seeking. The occult promises hidden knowledge, secret power, and the thrill of the forbidden. To a bored or restless teenager, this is intoxicating.
• Peer influence. Spirit boards, dark rituals, and occult games spread through friend groups. One child brings a Ouija board; the whole group "plays." Online communities make satanic aesthetics seem cool and rebellious.
• A desire for power or control. Children who feel powerless in their lives — academically, socially, or at home — are especially vulnerable to the occult's promise that they can control spiritual forces.
• Media and entertainment. Movies, music, and social media glorify the occult. Horror films normalise spirit contact. Music artists openly use satanic imagery. Video games involve summoning spirits or casting spells. What enters through entertainment becomes curiosity, and curiosity becomes practice.
• Spiritual hunger misdirected. Every human being was created with a spiritual hunger. When that hunger is not met by a real relationship with God, it will seek fulfilment elsewhere — even in darkness.

What you must do

1. Take it seriously — immediately. Do not laugh it off. Do not wait to see if it is "just a phase." The spiritual realm is real, and doors opened to darkness do not close themselves. Remove occult objects from your home — spirit boards, tarot cards, books on witchcraft, satanic symbols, anything connected to these practices. These are not collectibles; they are entry points.

2. Talk to your child — firmly but without hysteria. Ask them directly: "What have you been involved in? How did this start? Who introduced you to this?" Understand the extent of their involvement. Were they just watching videos, or have they actively participated in rituals, spirit contact, or satanic worship?

3. Pray over your child and your home. This is first and foremost a spiritual battle. Gather your family. Pray in the name of Jesus. Declare the authority of Christ over your household. Ask your pastor or church elders to pray with you.

4. Restrict access to the source. If this came through certain friends, limit contact. If it came through social media or YouTube, monitor and restrict their access. This is not overreaction — this is protection. You would not let your child play with a venomous snake; do not let them play with spiritual poison.

5. Seek pastoral help. This is not a situation for parenting books alone. Speak to your pastor. If your child has been deeply involved in occult practices, they may need spiritual deliverance and sustained prayer ministry.

6. Fill the void with truth. The occult attracts because it offers a counterfeit version of what only God can provide — power, knowledge, purpose, and the supernatural. Introduce your child to the genuine article. Help them experience the power of the Holy Spirit, the wonder of prayer, and the depth of God's Word. A child who encounters the living God does not need a spirit board.

What God says about the occult

Scripture does not treat the occult as a minor issue. God's warnings about engaging with spirits, sorcery, and divination are some of the strongest in the entire Bible.

"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord." — Deuteronomy 18:10–12 (NKJV)

"தன் மகனையாவது தன் மகளையாவது அக்கினியின் வழியாய்க் கடக்கப்பண்ணுகிறவனும், குறிசொல்லுகிறவனும், நாள்பார்க்கிறவனும், அஞ்சனம்பார்க்கிறவனும், சூனியக்காரனும், மந்திரவாதியும், சன்னதக்காரனும், கட்செவியனும், செத்தவர்களிடத்தில் குறிகேட்கிறவனும் உன்னிடத்தில் இருக்கவேண்டாம். இவைகளைச் செய்கிற எவனும் கர்த்தருக்கு அருவருப்பானவன்." — உபாகமம் 18:10–12 (TAOVBSI)

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." — Ephesians 5:11 (NKJV)

"இருளின் அற்பப் பலனுள்ள கிரியைகளுக்கு உடன்படாமல், அவைகளைக் கடிந்துகொள்ளுங்கள்." — எபேசியர் 5:11 (TAOVBSI)

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." — Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)

"ஏனெனில், மாம்சத்தோடும் இரத்தத்தோடுமல்ல, துரைத்தனங்களோடும், அதிகாரங்களோடும், இப்பிரபஞ்சத்தின் அந்தகார லோகாதிபதிகளோடும், வான மண்டலங்களிலுள்ள பொல்லாத ஆவிகளின் சேனைகளோடும் நமக்குப் போராட்டம் உண்டு." — எபேசியர் 6:12 (TAOVBSI)

"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." — 1 John 4:4 (NKJV)

"பிள்ளைகளே, நீங்கள் தேவனாலுண்டாயிருந்து, அவர்களை ஜெயித்தீர்கள்; ஏனெனில் உலகத்திலிருக்கிறவனிலும் உங்களிலிருக்கிறவர் பெரியவர்." — 1 யோவான் 4:4 (TAOVBSI)

There is freedom in Christ

If your child has already been involved in occult practices, do not despair. The name of Jesus is above every name — above every spirit, every power, and every dark force. What the enemy has done can be undone through the blood of Christ.

But you must act. Repentance, renunciation of occult involvement, prayer, and ongoing discipleship are essential. This is not a one-time fix; it is a journey of restoration.

The God who delivered the Israelites from Egypt, who shut the mouths of lions, and who raised the dead — He is able to deliver your child from any darkness they have walked into. Trust Him. Fight for them in prayer. And do not stop until you see breakthrough.

If you need prayer or pastoral support, we are here. Do not wait.