I read books by Tolkien, Terry Brooks and many, many others, including my favorite author of all, Marilyn Zimmer Bradley. I hit the jackpot with her books. There must have been 50 or more to choose from. I could read to my heart's content - to the tune of 3-5 a week. Her characters inhabited a planet very similar to Earth. However, some had psychic powers. The characters that had no powers were afraid of those that did - even though their powers were used to help others for the most part. Sound familiar? Those that had the most power could call up "beings" that increased their power further.

These books were fiction, fantasy, completely removed from my real world. Yet I found them very compelling. I couldn't wait to read the next book in the series. I found myself thinking about them even when I wasn't reading. After a while, I started dreaming about them. The dreams started changing, and the characters from my dreams started talking to me. After a couple of days of that, I didn't need to be asleep to hear them.

That was my very first clue that something was wrong. I had been reading "magic" books for over a decade with absolutely no ill effects. If someone had asked me whether there was a conflict between reading fantasy and my Christian faith, I would have said, "Of course not! This is fiction, not reality!"

I cried out to God to help me, and He did. The voices stopped. Like I said, I was no Bible scholar, but I recognized that the voices were from Satan. Some people have said that I became delusional because I couldn't separate fantasy from reality. That was not the problem. The problem was that I COULD, and that I had no idea that reading something obviously fictional could put me in contact with REAL evil.

I can't prove that it was really a demon talking to me, but I never read that kind of book for fun again. On the contrary, I began reading God's Word and dedicated myself to knowing HIM better. I had always considered myself a Christian, but I realize that I was a spiritual infant at best. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had not gotten off the path I was on.

I read the Harry Potter books - not for enjoyment, but so that I could talk intelligently to people who loved them. As I did, I could feel a "tug" on my spirit. I can recognize that "tug" for what it is - Satan tempting me to immerse myself in the story, to go back to the way I was.