Ex-witch says its OK for Christians celebrate Halloween but should avoid 'web of darkness'
Diving into the occult
Reflecting on her past life as a practicing witch, Tower said she is reminded of her first experiences in early adolescence when she was introduced to the occult through her grandmother's storytelling.
"On my grandmother's side of the family, we had a bishop of a spiritualist church [or an occult house of worship]. My grandma would tell us stories of things that happened and occurrences she had with this person who was a spiritualist, and it used to intrigue me," Tower recalled.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"I was very captivated by some of the stories my grandma told me. But she always got to a certain point in her stories, and she would stop, and she would say: 'Oh, it's not for young ears to hear.' This only made it worse for me because then I was curious about what the end of the stories were. It left me with this hanging curiosity."
As Tower entered her teens, the popularization of hippie culture, people experimenting with heavy drugs and New Age philosophies became a cultural norm on television and among the masses.
"I began somewhat dabbling in paganism without really thinking twice about what I was really doing. I definitely had a curiosity about the occult. As I got older, it became something everybody was doing," she said.
A few years later, Tower lost interest in the occult because she accepted Jesus Christ into her heart at a Jesus rally at age 19, and she married the man of her dreams.
It wasn't long after, however, that Tower said she began having marital issues.
"After the first year, it just went all downhill. We didn't know that my husband at the time had an undiagnosed bipolar disorder. There was no explanation for how he was acting. We walked around the house on eggshells because you never knew what his mood was going to be," Tower recounted.
"My husband spent all of our money and had nothing to show for it. There were times we went without food, without water, without heat. My mom and the church helped us out with food and rent. But he was going down. No matter how hard I prayed and fasted and went for counseling, he went for counseling; it just seemed that nothing was working."
After a few years of marital problems, Tower said she became desperate to save her marriage, and she began to doubt the Word of God around the age of 30.
In a desperate attempt to find peace within her marriage, Tower said she visited a library and borrowed a book on Wicca and witchcraft.
"Based on the whole thing happening with my husband, I felt like I had been betrayed by men. I also saw God as a male figure who betrayed me," Tower recounted.
"The book I took out from the library spoke of the goddess, which was feminine. That was an attraction to me because of how I felt about males. That attraction and interest and curiosity is what actually got me heavily involved in the occult."
Tower continued to read more books on the subject and became captivated.
"I ended up going out underneath the brightest moon I had ever seen one night, and I called upon the goddess, and this energy just kind of flew right through me," Tower said.
"After that, when I went back inside, my kids asked me why my face was glowing. I just knew at that point in time that I had opened up a door to something that was going to change my life forever."
Tower found a school of witchcraft, and she enrolled right away.
"It was through the school that I studied and learned about Wicca and learned the ways of magic. For a couple of years, I was working under them, and I was advancing in the practice of magic," Tower said.
"I eventually found a coven or a group of witches that meet to do rituals and spells regularly that was located in my area. At that point in time, I was initiated into the craft, and that really made me a traditional witch who practiced witchcraft."
After a few months, Tower said she started to "live and breathe witchcraft."
"From the moment I got up in the morning, I would do meditation. I would come in and meet with my spirit guide for guidance through the day. I practiced divination. I had a herb garden that I would tend to and take care of for the things that I would use in my spells," Tower said.
"My whole life revolved around it in every aspect. When I became part of the Coven, I was meeting with them for new and full moons and witches Sabbath. It was really very much a part of my life. It was a lifestyle."
A life-altering encounter
Tower spent many years unsuccessfully seeking answers and peace from witchcraft.
After nearly a decade of practicing witchcraft, she began to question if the occult could give her the peace and answers she desperately desired. Things became progressively worse between her and her husband until their marriage split.
To find clarity amid her confusion, Tower spoke with the pastor from her previous church.
The pastor invited her to attend his church. Despite her hesitation, Tower attended the service.
"I had an awesome encounter. I had been up at a Samhain ritual the night before. It was Halloween. Since I had attended a ritual the night before, the last thing I wanted to do was to go to church in the morning. But at the same time, I just kind of wanted to prove that I was empowered from the night before and that I didn't have anything to worry about going to church," Tower said.
"While I was at church, it was like God's love just completely flew down on me. I just completely, I couldn't say no to Him, and I gave my life back to God right there in the church on Halloween day. It was really awesome. That just proves that God is all-powerful and that Satan and his kingdom are nothing compared to our God, even on Halloween day."
'Tap dancing' with demonic forces
In the same way that Tower gravitated toward the occult as a way to resolve her marital issues, Galvez also turned away from Christianity to "tap dance with demonic forces" as she dabbled in witchcraft as a way to cope with hardship.
"My sister, my grandpa, my grandmother and my nephew all passed away in a car accident during a family trip to Guatemala. Life was really hard for us," Galvez said.
"I started drinking alcohol and partying at age 12, and into my late teens. But when my sister and family members died in Guatemala, when I came back from the trip, it was too hard for me to handle. It was too painful," she continued.
"I ended up starting to use heavy drugs. I ended up numbing my pain with meth because I didn't know how to deal with it. Nobody in my family was going to church anymore. It was isolating. I didn't want to talk to people. I didn't want to be around family members or anyone. I was dealing with my grief in a different way," Galvez said.
Galvez said she became heavily addicted to meth in an attempt to cope with her pain and find peace. She visited a tarot card reader, which was the start of her decadelong journey into witchcraft.
A few years later, Galvez said her mother was murdered, and as a result, she continued to abuse meth. She delved deeper into practicing the occult to try to mask her pain.
"There was a point where I was like, 'OK, I need help.' I can't stop using drugs, and I'm getting in so much trouble. This is not normal," Galvez said.
"The witchcraft didn't seem to be working. Things just kept getting worse the more I kept seeking it. I sought tarot cards, readings and stuff like that. I did cleansings and stuff like that, but things really just got worse afterward," she added.
"When I realized this was not helping me, I said, 'If this stuff is so good, how come things keep on going from worse to worse to worse.'"
Feeling hopeless, Galvez said one day, she got on her knees and cried out to Jesus as a final act of desperation. On that day, she said she felt His presence in a way she had never felt before and accepted Christ into her heart.
"I think that everything that the enemy meant for evil, God can use that for good. I believe that I went through what I went through, and God turned it around so that I'm able to better identify when the enemy is trying to do bad things," Galvez said.
"I'm now able to speak into other people's lives who practice witchcraft. I tell them that they can walk away from this. They think that God is never going to forgive them for being involved in all these things. But the reality is that God is a loving, forgiving Father, and He is very graceful and merciful, and He will use anything for His glory."
Correction: Oct. 31, 2023:
A previous version of this article identified Herminia Galvez as a former witch. While she dabbled into the occult and witchcraft, she never became a full-blown witch.
Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post.
