The Psychic Girl of Acts 16

The Psychic Girl of Acts 16

By Doreen Virtue | Excerpted from Biblical Truth About Psychics

People often ask me, as a former psychic before God saved me, how psychics are able to get seemingly accurate messages for their clients. As always, the Bible gives us clear, answers and warnings.

Let’s examine the Bible’s description of a girl who was a slave to masters who made her give psychic readings. We learn from this Biblical story that she was psychic because of a serpent spirit that dwelled inside of her. Her managers made money from her readings, so they became angry when the Apostle Paul cast the spirit out of her, which made her lose her psychic abilities.

The Slave Girl and the Spirit of Divination

“As we were going to a place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.” — Acts 16:16

Remember that the Bible doesn’t condone slavery or the way that this girl was exploited by her “owners.” This poor girl was enslaved by human captors and also by a demonic spirit. The Bible is reporting a historical event to show the reality of sin, spiritual warfare, and our need for Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The men who exploited this girl are described in a way that shows they are reprehensible.

The phrase “spirit of divination” in the Biblical Koine Greek original language is πνεῦμα Πύθωνα which is transliterated as pneuma Pythōna. Notice how Pythōna looks similar to the English word, python – those big scary snakes? Well, it’s because the words are related.

In Biblical Koine Greek, the word Πύθων (Pythōn) refers to a mythological serpent associated with the Oracle of Delphi woman. The term is now associated with psychics, false prophets, fortune-telling, divination, and soothsaying.

In Hellenistic Greco-Roman culture, the “Python spirit” was considered to be the “spirit of divination” that caused some people to be a seer, an oracle, a medium or a mediator between the spirit world, similar to a ventriloquist. In the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), the term engastrimythos meant “ventriloquist” or “spirit medium.”

This spirit is considered to be a demon or unclean spirit and a demonic counterfeit to the Holy Spirit. The woman who was the Oracle of Delphi was also known as Pythia for this reason.

The Devil as Serpent

The Bible describes the devil as a serpent in Genesis 3 and in Revelation 12:9 and 20:2. The devil is the father of lies (John 8:44) and the author of confusion (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:33). Just as he deceived Eve in the Garden, he continues to deceive through psychics and mediums.

The early “church father” Origen wrote in his book Contra Celsum that the spirit of Python was a demonic force that possessed people who became a ventriloquist for the spirit, who then led people astray like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Another church father, Tertullian, wrote that he observed women being ventriloquists to unseen spirits. Tertullian said the voices of these spirit-possessed women could predict the future and were deceitful.

Both Origen and Tertullian highlighted an early Christian interpretation that the spirit of Python in the psychic slave girl in Acts 16:16 wasn’t just a myth, but was an actual demonic possession. The serpent deceives through false prophecy and divination.

Mixing Truth with Lies

The psychic slave girl of Acts 16 was typical of those possessed by this unclean spirit, in that she mixed in some truth with lies. Acts 16:17 said that she followed the Apostle Paul and others (most likely Silas, Timothy, and Luke when they were in Philippi). As she saw Paul and the others, she announced:

“These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.”

What the psychic girl said was true. Paul and the others were servants of God. However, what she said next is an example of how the devil introduces doubt and a false gospel through psychics: “A way of salvation” — as if “one of many ways” — when we know that Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. There is no other way, as the psychic girl’s pluralistic statement implied.

To be fair, the ESV translation shows her saying “the way of salvation.” The original Koine Greek phrase is literally “a way of salvation.” However, it lacks a definite article in the Greek, so it could be interpreted as “the way of salvation” depending upon how the context is interpreted. We do know that the source of her proclamation was demonic, so it wasn’t confessing Jesus as the only way to salvation.

The psychic girl kept proclaiming this aloud whenever she saw Paul and the others, until Paul finally became annoyed and commanded the spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ. The spirit came out of her that hour (cf. Acts 16:18). Paul cast out the spirit because he recognized that it was a demon using flattery and confusion to try to seduce the apostles. Demons always stroke people’s egos, to attempt to ingratiate them.

When the Spirit Left

After the spirit was cast out, the girl immediately lost her psychic abilities. This is the Bible showing you the demonic basis of psychic readings. The psychics who are accurate and who aren’t doing parlor tricks, are getting their information from demonic spirits who keep the psychic in bondage. Their goal is to trick the psychic’s clients into bondage also.

The girl’s slave masters (in some translations, they’re called her “owners”) are enraged that Paul had cost them their income. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned as a result (Acts 16:19–24).

We see a parallel to this economic backlash in Acts 19 when the silversmiths led by Demetrius were upset that people who heard Paul proclaim the Gospel were no longer buying Artemis goddess statues. They wanted to kill Paul so that their customers would stay enslaved to goddess worship (I discuss this topic in my book, Biblical Truth about Goddesses). Similarly, my biggest critics are those who make money in the new age industry because my proclaiming the Gospel and calling out new age deception threatens their income.

Personal Testimony

The story of the psychic girl in Acts 16 makes me weep because I can relate to her since my publishers and event producers made lucrative money from me giving stage readings. They were very upset when I told them that I was a Christian and could no longer do readings or teach New Age materials. My publisher of 23 years fired me with an email right before Christmas of 2017. Yet, he did me a favor as I could no longer in good conscience work for a New Age publisher.

Genesis 3 on Repeat

The devil is not very creative. He is crafty and cunning (which means sneaky, deceitful, and manipulative). Mostly, he’s a counterfeiter who mimics God’s work through lesser means. For example, in the book of Exodus we see Pharaoh’s demonic sorcerers mimicking God’s miracles that were coming through Moses and Aaron.

The devil’s schemes were first apparent in the Garden of Eden, where he appeared as a serpent who deceived Eve. Here’s where we first see the devil’s scheme of mixing in truth with distortions and lies when the serpent said to Eve:

“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” — Genesis 3:1

This was a distorted partial truth, because God did prohibit one tree. Yet the devil tried to manipulate Eve by saying, “any tree.”

“You will not surely die”

“Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The devil’s strategy is distorting, twisting, adding to, and denying God’s Word. He continues to repeat the same lies today by promising people access to “secret hidden wisdom” if they’ll go and see a psychic or read the psychic’s channeled book. It’s Genesis 3 on a continuous repeat loop.

We need to be on guard and compare everything to Scripture. The only way to do this is to study the Bible daily. Even reading a chapter a day can equip us to recognize and avoid the devil’s counterfeits.

📚 Source: Excerpted from Biblical Truth About Psychics by Doreen Virtue