Iliana Soltani practiced witchcraft from the time she was a young girl, but she stepped out from the darkness after having a terrifying vision. This is her testimony of how she ran to Jesus for deliverance.
Finding Acceptance
Iliana wasn’t even born yet when her parents divorced. This impacted her greatly causing her to feel abandoned and not worthy of love. That’s why she found an identity in the occult at the age of 12 because it made her feel accepted.
She started with a Ouija board where she discovered she had a gift of foretelling the future. Some started calling her a witch, an identity which she lovingly embraced. She thought that’s who she really was, and making others feel good made her feel empowered.
She also started reading tarot cards for people, still clueless that she was operating in darkness. At this point, she had already distanced herself from the things she learned from going to church with her grandmother as a child.
The terrifying vision
In search for “higher enlightenment,” Iliana ventured into another occult religion called Santeria, an African diasporic religion that began in Cuba. They claim to follow God while practicing dark rituals, magic, and animal sacrifices.
She even dove deeper into the religion after becoming an accountant. After three years, she earned the title “bruha” or little witch, not realizing who she had become in the process. Until one night, during her sleep, she experienced a terrifying vision.
“My eyes were on fire in the mirror, like red on fire. And I knew there was a power and I didn’t want to go into practice in dark magic,” Iliana said. “Now you’re talking about voodoo, now you’re talking about raising the dead.”
The spiritual battle
After having that vision, Iliana threw away her idols and tools and left Santeria. What she didn’t expect was that the demons would go after her. Within the week, she was in the hospital fighting for her life. She had an internal bleeding with an unknown cause, so doctors suspected she must be infected with an unspecified virus.
While waiting to find out more about her condition she was visited by those who knew what was going on. “The saints were very upset at me. They told me to come back, to just do several rituals, several sacrifices and everything should be fine,” Iliana shared. But she rejected the demons’ offer to her.
She stayed in the hospital for two weeks and when she got out she had lost her job. Feeling like she lost everything, Iliana started questioning God for allowing these things to happen to her. She soon started having nightmares where demons would come visit her in her home and try to choke her. All that she wanted was to have a normal life and to get away from the demons. She no longer wanted anything to do with the spiritual realms.
The turning point
Within the next 5 years Iliana focused on her career until a Christian co-worker told her that God had a message for her. That message was the verse Jeremiah 29:11, but she was still too upset with God to hear it.
After a month, she suddenly heard God’s voice say, “Wake up! The time is near.” That’s when she asked for forgiveness to the Lord for everything she had done. She also heard God say that she was His beloved. Right then and there, Iliana found her true identity. She then spent a year getting to know God and learning how to listen to His voice while He stripped away everything that she thought she was, including being a witch.
Today, Iliana is delivered from demonic manifestations, anxiety, and fear. She is now married and has a son. When she’s not busy being a realtor, she goes on her Facebook show to give encouragement to those who need it.
