How does a familiar spirit—a demonic entity—an evil imp—gain entrance into a family line and remain there for centuries?
How does such a dark power transfer from one generation to the next—refusing to yield its turf? What compromises reinforce its control? What rituals does it relish? What deepening deceptions attract its fiendish companions, that the stronghold might be strengthened all the more?
Do these ‘spirit-beings’ function under the authority of superior shadowy forces, a spiritual hierarchy whose primary focus is to attack the vulnerable to steal what is good, maim what is whole, pervert what is pure, sicken what is healthy, and destroy anything of lasting value?
How do you win a war of words against an invisible enemy whose chief weapon is deception, who constantly forges lies to keep victims in a state of spiritual stupor?
There is a way out, often maligned, that brings security. There are weapons, often overlooked, that strike terror in the heart of the adversary. The Son rises over those who have faith—and when the Son radiates His light, the darkness must flee.
Ivani Greppi was born in Brazil. Her ancestors were spiritist mediums. Throughout her childhood, Ivani experienced seeing spirits. At the age of 14, in Brazil, she was indoctrinated into Umbanda, a spiritual practice derived from the African Yoruba, Ifá faith, syncretized with spiritism and Roman Catholicism. In 1997, she met a Brazilian missionary pastor in Florida who led Ivani and her family to salvation in Jesus Christ. This fictional story is based on Ivani’s and her ancestors’ spiritual and immigration journey across three continents, spanning one hundred years.
While cleaning, I dropped a little vase that held a plastic plant. It was an inexpensive decoration that I used in my bathroom. But I liked the whiteness of the ceramic vase, the pebbles glued on top, and the realistic-looking green spikey leaves of the imitation lace aloe.
Frustrated, I picked up the shattered ceramic and the plant attached to Styrofoam from the tile floor, mumbling to myself about my carelessness.
Just as I was about to throw it all away in the trash, I remembered something I read a while back about Kintsugi. Kintsugi is a Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by using a lacquer with gold or other metals such as silver or platinum to mend the areas of breakage.
I remembered how the article explained that the breakage repair embraced the defect instead of hiding it. This art form celebrates imperfections. By highlighting the cracks with gold, the piece became more aesthetically pleasing and more valuable.
What a beautiful metaphor this artform is in relation to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Throughout the gospels, He takes the most broken, useless, lost, and discarded outcasts of society and puts them back together through His mercy and grace, sealing their imperfections with His precious blood.
Even today, every single day, Christ’s love shines like gold through our brokenness, fears, and pain. He uses our imperfections like an artist of Kintsugi.
In these trying times, we may feel the same adversity King David experienced when he wrote in Psalm 31:12, “I have become like broken pottery.”
At first, I thought it was a silly idea—a waste of time. But while at the store, I bought some glue and gold glitter. Later, when I brushed the substance over the cracks and connected the pieces back like a puzzle, a sense of joy overwhelmed me. The little ceramic vase looked beautiful. The defects highlighted in gold created a unique design.
There are many beautiful biblical passages about how God will use the broken for His honor and glory. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
Here’s a picture of my dollar-store attempt at Kintsugi:
Yes, it looks like glue and gold glitter on a cracked vase.
But I will never look at it again without remembering how God puts our broken pieces together, one by one with the loving hands of a potter, and seals it with His golden touch of grace, forgiveness, and peace.
“The fear was overwhelming.” This is just one of the ways in which ex-medium Ivani Greppi described her childhood — a Brazilian upbringing that was deeply steeped in the occult.
Greppi, an ex-medium who once believed her spiritual abilities were a gift from God, is now sharing how her harrowing 38-year journey — which included regular possessions — led to a dramatic deliverance (known as exorcism in some circles) that transformed her entire family.
Greppi’s spiritual issues were multigenerational, as she said her great-grandparents and grandparents were mediums and healers. Despite calling themselves Catholics, she said the family’s real religion was spiritism.
“We didn’t even have a Bible. We didn’t own a Bible. We didn’t believe in the Bible,” she said on the premiere episode of “The Playing With Fire Podcast,” a four-part docu-series produced by Edifi. “Spiritism is where a medium becomes possessed by a spirit who can either bring healing, bring counseling or a message from a relative that has passed.”
Greppi’s experiences with what she called “shadow people” started early on as a child, and she revealed how these apparitions left her absolutely terrified.
“From early on in my childhood, I was able to see what we believed to be spirits, but now I know were demons,” she said. “The fear was overwhelming.”
By the time Greppi was an adult, she said it was normal to see these shadowy figures moving in and out between walls and doors throughout the day. Having been raised to believe that seeing these spirits was a gift, she pushed fear to the side and continued on in her spiritism journey.
Then, as a teenager, Greppi was introduced to Umbanda, a Brazilian religion that engages in the occult and spirit worship — and as the years wore on she involved herself in elements of temple worship, possession and other related practices.
“You call on [spirits] to come and take possession of you,” she said of the rituals she took part in. “For two years … at least once a week I was becoming possessed.”
Greppi eventually moved with her family from her native Brazil to the United States, got married, had kids and became a nurse, but she never left behind these religious practices — something that left her trapped in a “very dark space.”
In 1997, though, something profound happened. Her family had opened a print shop in Florida and a pastor walked in one day and began speaking with her sister, Marli Souto.
Like Greppi, Souto was raised around spiritism, but had never actively participated in Umbanda. Something the pastor said that day truly resonated with Souto.
“He introduced her to Christ,” Greppi said, explaining that her sister instantly became a Christian. It was a conversion that greatly troubled Greppi. “We were afraid of Christians. We thought they were evil.”
At Souto’s request, Greppi reluctantly agreed to meet with the pastor at her sister’s home one day. During the encounter, the preacher clashed with Greppi over faith and religion, as Greppi doubled down on her spiritism and scoffed at the idea that Christianity had legitimacy.
At the end of their conversation, though, something strange unfolded.
“At the end, he said, ‘Can I at least pray before we leave?’” Greppi recalled. “As soon as he started praying, I became possessed. … it was something that took over. … I became distorted and I was dancing … backwards. And I did lose consciousness off and on.”
Souto, who also appeared on “The Playing With Fire Podcast,” backed up this account and noted that this was the first of a number of dramatic spiritual interactions with the pastor.
In the moment, Greppi was angry and believed that the pastor was manifesting the experience, though she soon learned that something else far more sinister was afoot: her more than three decades engaging in the occult had brought her to the end of herself.
“They started praying and that entity got a hold of Ivani’s body,” Souto said, revealing some of the dramatic moments that followed. “It looked up at my son and my nephew and it said, ‘Help me.’”
All of this culminated in a third and final deliverance. Greppi, her son, nephew and Souto all appeared on the podcast to verify the details of what unraveled, but one of the more startling moments took place when the pastor placed two crosses near Greppi’s forehead.
The first cross, which had Jesus pinned to it, sparked a sinister reaction.
“He pointed it at Ivani’s head and the entity that was in her started laughing and laughing and laughing,” Souto said, adding that an empty cross sparked a starkly different reaction. “As soon as he put it on Ivani’s forehead, the entity started screaming and I started crying because it was so horrible to hear.”
After many hours, Greppi was healed and never again experienced any sort of possession. Today, she’s a committed Christian — and she shares all of the details on “Playing With Fire.”
“I was born again. That day I was born again and it was beautiful,” she said. “My heart goes out to these people who are deceived, [who] are in this darkness. It’s deadly and it kills you and that’s what these spirits want to do.”
The impact of Greppi’s healing was deep and profound on her family, with many of her loved ones later converting to Christianity.
Her son, Andre, said he knows some will be skeptical of the story, but he said what his mother and the family experienced was “undeniable.”
“I know out there there’s a lot of doubt about this,” he said. “The truth is the truth, and once you’re faced with it you have to decide.”
From a terrifying childhood of seeing “shadow people” to a 38-year stretch as a medium who lived in the grips of evil without even knowing it, Ivani found herself on a troubling journey that ended in a dramatic deliverance that changed absolutely everything.
Listen to Ivani and her family share the unsettling, stunning and powerful moments that led to her healing.
And for more on this topic, be sure to read Billy Hallowell’s book, “Playing with Fire: A Modern Investigation into Demons, Exorcism, and Ghosts.”
LISTEN HERE FOR MY TESTIMONY INTERVIEW WITH BILLY HALLOWELL:
C. S. Lewis wrote: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
In his book, Playing with Fire, Billy Hallowell explores the biblical reality of demon possession and spiritual warfare. Using testimonies of people who experienced demonic possession, including interviews with pastors, mental health providers, and published theologians, the author shines a light on a much-ignored spiritual topic affecting all areas of present-day society.
In Mark 16:17, Jesus said, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons.” This book is a wake-up call to many pastors and Christians who are not taking this topic seriously but should.
Billy Hallowell is the author of “Playing With Fire,” “Armageddon Code,” “Fault Line” and “Left Standing.” Each books offers a unique look at faith and culture. In “Playing With Fire,” Hallowell explores the demonic realm — from a journalistic perspective.
In “Fault Line,” he skillfully explores how society’s main educational realms fail to deliver fair-minded content and how their biases reinforce negative. And “Armageddon Code,” he provides objective, one-on-one interviews with leading voices in Christian ministry to explain what they believe the Bible teaches us about the end times. Find out more about Billy’s books.
When news broke of the coronavirus spreading in China, we had just returned from a trip of a lifetime. It was in December 2019.
Our daughter was pregnant with her second child—a boy, this time.
The trip didn’t start off as well as we hoped. Due to a snowstorm in Philadelphia, my husband and I missed our connecting flight to Rome.
Thankfully, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law were booked on a different flight. So, they made it to Rome in time. And other family members who flew in from Boston boarded the cruise ship with them to Naples.
Along with hundreds of stranded passengers, we desperately tried to make arrangements for another flight to Italy. It was chaos.
After many hours, we were booked on a flight to Amsterdam with a connection to Rome. It would give us just enough time to make it to the port in Civitavecchia and board the ship.
Approximately a half-hour into the flight filled with weary passengers, all hoping to make their European destinations, the captain announced that an instrument problem was detected. The plane returned to the airport in Philadelphia. The landing was so rough that emergency responders surrounded the vessel in case a fire broke out.
After several hours back at the airport, standing in line for yet another booking, it was announced that the flight was canceled as well. Vouchers for a dingy hotel were distributed. Like zombies, we waited in another endless line to check-in. There was no food in sight since it was 3:00 AM.
Finally, the next evening, we boarded our flight to Rome. When we arrived, we hired a van for the three-hour-long trip to Naples. Miraculously we made it to the port of Naples just before the ship set sail for the next port-of-call.
Our persistence paid off: visiting the ancient Greek ruins in Athens and Rhodes; shopping in quaint shops in Kusadasi, Turkey; stepping in the awe-aspiring streets of Ephesus; and sipping aromatic coffee in a bright café in Limassol, Cyprus was amazing.
The highlight of our trip, however, was Israel. The Promised Land. The Holy Land. Drenched by heavy rain at the Mount of Olives, we made our way to Jerusalem. Touching the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter was the most surreal experience of our lives. The Old City, home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians, burst in vibrant colors and exquisite sounds. The aroma of fresh-baked bread wafting in the breeze was tantalizing and impossible to resist.
In Cana, we walked cobblestone streets and bought wine and menorahs sold in tiny, ancient shops.
We sloshed through the mud at the Dead Sea and touched the salty water, too cold for a swim. We even climbed a camel’s back for photos.
At Mount Carmel, we entered a cave where it is believed that Elijah hid from Jezebel’s wrath.
The Sea of Galilee was the most peaceful place we visited. Barefooted, we stepped in the crystalline waters where Jesus Christ walked and his disciples fished.
In Capernaum, a breeze caressed our faces as we sat in the ruins of the synagogue where Jesus taught the masses. What a gift this was—to look around and picture Jesus Christ healing the sick, delivering the demon-possessed, and worshiping the Father with his disciples.
Yet, nothing could have prepared us for the blessing of our baptism in the Jordan River. My uncle’s profession of faith, giving his life to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was the ultimate gift of joy in our lives.
Our trip ended back in Rome. At the Vatican, we were accosted by gypsies begging for food who stole my mother’s wallet. Even though this event was upsetting, we continued to explore the “Eternal City” in the cool night air that smelled of roasted chestnuts. Feeling exhausted, we walked around the Colosseum several times until finding our way back to our hotel shuttle.
A few months after our return to Florida from our wonderful trip, my husband and I attended The Art of Romance, a Valentine’s Getaway, here in St. Augustine. Even though this was a photo-shoot assignment for my husband, we enjoyed every single minute of this unexpected treat.
We stayed at The Collector Luxury Inn & Gardens, a gorgeous historical establishment.
There was a scrumptious multi-course Farm-to-Table dinner at Chandler Oaks Farm on the first night.
The second day after breakfast, we explored George Street with new eyes, seeing hidden treasures gone unnoticed during prior visits.
Later that afternoon, we visited the Lightner Museum with its fascinating late 1800’s history of Henry Flagler’s Hotel Alcazar. The staff treated us to a behind the scene tour of the staff’s quarters, an area not opened to the public. Champagne and handmade chocolates were offered at the end of our tour.
On Friday, February 14th, we enjoyed brunch at Cellar 6 on Aviles Street. Later, we explored the art scene with a personal guide, meeting local artists.
The experience ended that afternoon at Carrera Wine Cellar with a one-of-a-kind wine tasting hosted by the establishment’s owners.
When we arrived home, I chatted with our pregnant daughter and told her about our wonderful experience. Only a few minutes after we spoke, she called me back. Her water had broken.
Because this was a high-risk pregnancy, we immediately left for the hospital. My grandson was on his way. Three weeks early. Nico was born on February 15th, 2020.
Two days after our grandson’s birth, he had open-heart surgery to repair a congenital heart defect, coarctation of the aorta. He remained in the hospital for one month.
When he was finally discharged home, the world went into darkness, into lock-down.
My grandson’s recovery was lengthy. He returned to the hospital for a heart catheterization not long after surgery. Then, a few months later, he had spinal surgery.
During this time, my husband and I became very ill with the virus. My parents, my sister, and her husband had symptoms as well. Thank God, none of us were admitted, and we all healed completely.
Three family members in Massachusetts became severely ill, and all were admitted due to low oxygen levels. Again, we praise the Lord for their healing.
Sadly, two family members in Brazil succumbed to the virus. Some friends lost loved ones.
During these darkest hours, many things changed in our lives. We realized how fragile life is. How precious our freedoms. How much we take for granted. How now is the time to spend with our loved ones—not later. How blessed we are. How thankful we should always be.
It connected us to people whom we have been distanced from. It distanced us from people we were never truly connected to.
In the end, it gave us the desire to reach goals we have put off for much too long.
And in August of 2020, amid the pandemic, while we healed from the virus and our grandson from his surgeries, while packing for our move to St. Augustine, God enabled me to finish my novel.
This story had haunted me for decades, but now I finally had the privilege of writing the two most awaited words in my entire life: The End.
A contract with Deeper Revelation Books was signed in September.
I am so thrilled that soon my book CAST OUT: Chronicles of a Familiar Spirit will be launched.
This is an answer to prayer. Finally, a long-awaited, dream come true.
Mike Shreve era um novato na universidade quando uma experiência de quase-morte mudou dramaticamente suas prioridades. Não mais satisfeito com coisas meramente temporais, ele embarcou em uma busca para descobrir a verdade suprema—convertendo-se em um devoto de um guru índio e finalmente ensinando Kundalini Yoga em quatro universidades de Tampa, Flórida. Então um encontro poderoso com o verdadeiro Deus mudou tudo!
Desde 1971, Mike Shreve tem viajado mundialmente compartilhando conhecimentos transformadores que trazem cura para a pessoa completa. Ele é autor de quinze livros, mais conhecido por uma comparação profunda de mais de 20 religiões intituladas In Search of the True Light (Disponível apenas em inglês).
Excerto de: A MAIOR AVENTURA: ENCONTRANDO DEUS
Uma das minhas citações favoritas resume o foco da minha vida há mais de quatro décadas:
“A religião viva…chama a alma para a maior aventura que pode realizar.”
Isto está falando de muito mais do que meras cerimônias, rituais, tradições e doutrinas. A “Religião viva” é a verdadeira espiritualidade: algo que ultrapassa o intelecto, transcende o âmbito natural, e impulsiona o buscador a uma consciência da realidade sobrenatural e da verdade suprema. Então eu concordo plenamente. A aventura mais emocionante, gratificante, e intensa da minha vida foi a busca da verdade absoluta e um relacionamento real e dinâmico com Deus. Muitos caminhos diferentes levavam minhas pegadas antes que entrei em uma trilha antiga, muitas vezes despercebida, que me conduziu a Verdadeira Luz; mas o Espírito de Deus me guiou, e por isso sou eternamente grato.
Faça o download grátis deste livreto sobre a história da jornada espiritual de Mike Shreve da yoga, misticismo do Extremo Oriente, e espiritualidade da Nova Era para o regozijo de ser um seguidor de Jesus. Compartilhe com seus amigos que estão buscando a verdade.
Some of our readers will remember our blog “The Occult Religion of #Black Lives Matter” from September of last year which delves into, Ifá Yoruba, the spiritual practices of #BLM according to the #BLM founders and leaders are the foundation on which the movement is built. A former practitioner of Ifá Yoruba, Ivani Greppi, weighed in this week with, “The spiritual foundation of Black Lives Matter and Umbanda Spiritism” Umbanda Spiritism is one of several of the African Diaspora Religions such as:
Vodou (Voodoo) developed primarily in Haiti and New Orleans; Santeria also known as Lacumi or Regla de Ocha, developed primarily in Cuba; Candomblé, Umbanda, and Quimbanda developed in Brazil. These spiritual systems all worship Yoruba deities called orisas (orishas, or orixás).
Ivani Greppi gives a short overview of her testimony but at the time of this writing I spent about an hour on the phone with her and found someone who is in love with the Lord and desires to reach others who are as deeply involved in the occult as she and her ancestors have been. The article is quite well done and adds information as to the rituals of #BLM:
During this protest, Abdullah, who led a group of demonstrators, poured libation on the ground while the group chanted “Asé” after names of the deceased were called. The ritual of pouring libation, common in many religions, is an offering to deities or spirits of the dead.
While politicians are calling for the elimination of religious influence in government, it appears that only refers to Christian influence not spiritistic occultic religions.
Many thanks to Don Veinot of Midwest Christian Outreach for sharing the link to my article “The Spiritual Foundation of Black Lives Matter and Umbanda Spiritism.”
Don and Joy Veinot’s article, “The Occult Religion of #Black Lives Matter,” was a source of reference for my own article and is also linked above.
“Many of us attend church to learn about God, to learn about ourselves, and to connect with God and others. Along with that is a general belief that the church is spiritually safe. After all, the best source of knowledge about God comes from His self-revelation, which is contained in His inspired, inerrant word: the Bible. We rely on church leaders to interpret the Bible, to carefully teach and guide the church family while keeping false teaching on the other side of the doors. But like a virus on a physical level, false teaching can operate on a spiritual level. A church leader may be introduced to new concept or spiritual tool by what is believed to be a reliable source. It may be embraced as a path to a better understanding of God and self. Even with the best intentions and efforts of spiritual leaders, they may themselves become spiritually infected and pass their infection on to their flock. In Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret, we explore the spiritual infection of those who have embraced Richard Rohr and the Enneagram he has delivered into the church through his disciples.
The claims for the Enneagram are simple. Supposedly it is an ancient tool used by some of the Early Church Fathers. It is claimed to be the “face of God” and each Enneagram number is an individual spiritual path to deeper spiritual understanding and fuller self-awareness. But what if this seemingly harmless tool is in fact one of the largest deceptions perpetrated upon the Christian church in recent history?”
On Revealing the True Light podcast with Mike Shreve, Ivani Greppi—a former Umbanda spiritist medium who had an encounter with Jesus that changed everything—shares her testimony. We, as believers, should pray for all of those mentioned in this article that they will encounter the love of Jesus and the life-changing power of the truth.
Umbanda is a religion originating from Brazil in the early 1900s. Umbanda combines African beliefs (known as Ifa’, a Yoruba religion), spiritism and Catholicism, similar to Santeria, which is primarily found in Cuba, and Voodoo in Haiti.
Twelve main deities called Orixas are worshipped. They are connected to Catholic saints (primarily because Catholicism was imposed on the African slaves resulting in the religious syncretism).
Umbanda practitioners are psychics who “channel” or become possessed by spirits and “deities.” Those attending their meetings seek counsel from these “entities.”
What Is the Connection to Black Lives Matter?
The leaders of BLM claim theirs is a “spiritual movement.” Patrisse Cullors, co-founder, and Melina Abdulah, BLM-LA co-founder, are Ifa’ practitioners. During the protests, reciting the names of victims killed by police brutality is intended to call up the dead. “Say the name” is the cry, followed up by chanting the word “Ase'” that means “the power to make things happen, or so let it be.” It is believed to affect a release of divine force.
All riots are preceded by rituals including pouring out libations, which opens the door to demonic manifestations and violence. In no uncertain terms, God forbids this:
“There must not be found among you … one who casts spells, or a spiritualist, or an occultist, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God will drive them out from before you”(Deut. 18:10-12).
Where Is the Connection to Beyonce’ and Jay-Z?
In the 2017 Grammy Awards, Beyonce’ channeled the Yoruba Ifa’ goddess Oshun. She also paid homage toward Yemaya—an Umbanda orisha. Jay-Z raps about Xango, the father of fire, lightning and thunder. Their music is a contaminating influence.
We, as believers, should pray for all of those mentioned in this article that they will encounter the love of Jesus and the life-changing power of the truth.
Mike Shrevehas been involved in evangelism (outreach to the world and ministry to the church) since 1971. His passion is to offer a faith-filled, grace-founded, Jesus-focused, power-imparting presentation of the gospel. The motto of the ministry concisely communicates his mission statement: “Speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15)
Discover Umbanda Spiritism’s connection to Black Lives Matter and Beyonce in this interview with Ivani Greppi, a former Umbanda Spiritist medium. Discover why BLM rioters cry “Say the name!” and the Umbanda deities highlighted in Beyonce’s and Jay-Z’s music.
Please check out his The True Light Project website for many more transformative stories of people saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. https://www.thetruelight.net/wp/
Ivani Greppi - In gods we trusted. 