Beware of psychic mediums: Spirit guides are demonic and evil

Spirit guides, known as "familiar" spirits, are almost always demonic in nature

"Uncle Ponto"- the familiar spirit who almost led a despairing man to suicide
The exorcist, Fr. Malachi Martin, in his popular book “Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans" (which can be read for free here) relates a true story of a "spirit guide"--often called a "familiar spirit"---known as "Uncle Ponto", who attached himself to a young California man in the 1970's named Jamsie.

This "Uncle Ponto" as this demon called himself, was a deformed looking person who began appearing to Jamsie during a troubled period in his teens. “All I’m asking for, all I ever asked for,” Jamsie remembers Uncle Ponto saying softly as he drove onto Highway 101,“is that you let me come and live with you. I won’t be in the way. You need a friend like me.”

Uncle Ponto would often appear out of nowhere, suddenly sitting in the back seat of Jamsie's car for example, showing himself through Jamsie's rear view mirror. At first, Jamsie was quite startled upon first seeing Uncle Ponto, for Ponto's appearance was a strange looking caricature of a man, and he had always thought in the back of his mind that Uncle Ponto might be an evil spirit, yet as time went on there were times he appreciated and even relished the eerie company of Ponto, and often he got a kick out of their encounters.

As time went on, little by little the familiar spirit Uncle Ponto began to appear more and more to Jamsie, often giving him day to day suggestions on what he should do in different areas of his life. In fact, he often became overbearing, and did not like it if Jamsie did not take his advice. And as the years continued to pass, Ponto became more and more of a pestering nuisance. Ponto continually sought to isolate Jamsie, saying that he was his only true friend and that nobody else understood him like he did.

Fortunately through a friend Jamsie met a Catholic priest named Fr. Mark. On that evening Jamsie had visited with the priest, Fr. Mark had treated him to mushroom soup made from his own recipe. Afterward, Jamsie had talked with him into the small hours of the morning, telling him of his early life, of Ponto’s harassment, and of his own growing deep despair and continual anger against life.

But several times during that conversation, Jamsie had found himself incapable of going along with what Mark proposed: to get rid of Uncle Ponto. Always, at that point, Jamsie felt an unaccountable fear. If Ponto no longer existed in his life, what would happen? It was just as if Ponto represented some form of security.

Spirit guides\Familiar spirits will never say the holy name of Jesus with devotion
Yet, two very important lessons came out of  Jamsie's meeting with Fr. Mark:
1) Uncle Ponto did not like Fr. Mark at all, and interestingly he was not present at all during Jamsie's visit with Fr. Mark, but afterwards Ponto told him never to speak with Fr. Mark again, and Ponto derisively nicknamed Fr Mark “Mushroom-Souper,”

2)  One of Fr. Mark's suggestions to Jamsie to rid himself of "Uncle Ponto" was to say the holy name of Jesus in his presence, and if he somehow could not, then to spell it out the Name of Jesus one letter at a time. On one occasion soon afterwards, Ponto was being more overbearing than usual, and Jamsie had had enough. In an attempt to silence Ponto, Jamsie said“You’re the son of the Father of Lies!” he shouted poisonously at Ponto. “That’s what Mark said Jesus called him . .”---at the word "Jesus" Jamsie’s ears were split by a high-pitched scream from Ponto.“DON’T!” Ponto shouted. “Don’t mention that person’s name in my presence. Don’t mention THAT!”

Sr. Josefa Menendez

We see this hatred from the demons for the holy Name of Jesus revealed through the lives of numerous mystics. In fact, it is the easiest and simplest way to "test the spirits", as John the apostle advises in (1 John 4:1). With this in mind we can see for example how in her journal Sr. Josefa Menendez writes:
"On the night of the 13th or 14th of January, 1922  the devil began once more to torture me. He tried to force me to abandon my vocation. In his increasing fury he even tried to deceive me by taking on the appearance of Jesus."

And since in the following days and weeks the demon continued to try to appear to her as Jesus, and as various Angels and Saints, eventually to remedy this problem her spiritual director, Father Boyer O.P. at first had her renew her profession vows [as a nun] whenever a "heavenly" visitor would appear, which would naturally repel and fill an evil spirit  with disgust, but after consulting the lives of the Saints and their experiences in this area, he then advised her that immediately upon the appearance of any "visitor", he told her to recite the 'Divine Praises' of which she was to ask the visitors to immediately repeat after her. In their great pride and hatred for God the demons could never utter any of the "Blessings" of the Divine Praises [ie- the "Blessed be God" and "Blessed be Jesus Christ" etc..]

Josefa's spiritual director likely discovered this powerful weapon in discerning the heavenly vs. demonic visitors from the life of St Gemma Galgani (1878-1903), for it was precisely through the reciting of the "Divine Praises" that Gemma was finally able to thwart the devil who was frequently appearing to her under different disguises in an effort to deceive her. For as Gemma learned (thanks to her spiritual director, Venerable Fr. Germanus C.P.) that the devil with his polluted lips is never able to utter such words of praise and benediction. In Gemma's case, when a visitor would appear, she would simply say "Blessed be Jesus and Mary!"  If the spirit was sent from God, the spirit would always reply back to her with the same exclamation"Blessed be Jesus and Mary!"

If however the spirit was not of God, it would either not reply to her exclamation, or it would say simply "Blessed be!", the simple reason being that demons will never utter the holy Names of Jesus and Mary with devotion, however the heavenly visitors were more than happy to oblige in their response with great love and devotion. With this testing of the spirits, both Josefa Menendez and St Gemma were then always able to immediately identify the authenticity of her "visitors."

One very important thing to note here is the significant difference between the authentic mystics of the Church, and psychic mediums is that the heavenly visitors of the mystic-Saints come on their own accord by the divine will and permission of God, whereas the visitors of the psychic mediums are channeled and called upon by the mediums themselves. And this latter action of channeling spirits is the biblical sin of necromancy.

Unfortunately for Jamsie and many others, by the time they realize the truth concerning their familiar spirits, the spirits already have quite a hold on their whole life, and will influence and control much of what they do, or don't do. These "spirit guide" entities have no intentions of letting go, and their unfortunate victims will become trusting and eventually dependent upon these spirits. And as long as they're oppressed and obsessed with these spirits, they typically feel little or no need to pray to God, or to seek Him in any way. In other words, demons wean people away from a close personal relationship with Jesus with beliefs and ideas that are contrary to the Gospel.

The demonic deception of mediums and psychics--Why bother with all of this "Jesus stuff" if all of my deceased relatives are happy and in the light?
The 'modus operandi' or primary purpose of the demons is to very discreetly deceive and to tempt---for sure they do not come to us with horns on their head and a pitchfork! At first they gladly seek to deceive us and lead us away from God through pleasant thoughts and ideas, which on the surface seem innocuous, such as encouraging the idea that all of our deceased relatives are "in the light" and are very happy in the next life, without of course any specific mention of heaven though, because this would bring God into the picture.

Yet, if all of our deceased relatives are in the light of heaven as the channeled dead spirits of the psychic mediums would have us believe, then what need is there of the Gospel message of repentance for sin? Why then bother with going to Church to worship God and all of the "Jesus stuff" and the need for forgiveness of sins? What need is there then of even loving and praying to God, if even your deceased "Uncle Fester", the blasphemous domestic abuser, is now happy and in the light? -There we have the primary nature of the demons seduction when it comes to psychics and mediums. And in their deceptions the demons do not counterfeit copper, but only gold.