"I was very involved in the occult, channeling spirits, casting spells, playing with Ouija board six to eight hours a day — all of those things."

That's how military veteran and artist Timothy Gagnon described his early years, explaining how he descended into evil practices while he was a young man. When he hit the sixth grade, Gagnon recalled an oral report assignment he was given. Unsure of what to do, he went to the school library and stumbled upon books on the occult.

That introduction to the topic led him into spell casting, playing with Ouija boards, and channeling spirits, among other similar activities — things he did "all day long" and "all night long" alongside two of his friends who also descended into the same practices.

Gagnon said these spells weren't empty practices — that something happened when he would engage with the occult. He said he and his friends interacted with three entities that claimed to be an angel, a demon, and a "lost spirit in purgatory." 

In the end, it was a true encounter with the demonic. And then God stepped in.

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