Out of the Devil's Cauldron: A Journey from Darkness to Light : Santeria, Spiritualism, Palo Mayombe

I enjoyed reading this book very much & I believe this book was written to give God all the glory & honor due Him. This was an easily read book, & will have a great impact on teen readers as well as on those of us who are older. There was so much to be learned from Mr. Ramirez's life history. For one thing, a father figure in the household is very important in a child's upbrining. Mr. Ramirez had an absentee father who was emotionally unavailable. His father was physically abusive to his mother & verbally & emotionally abusive to his sons. Mr. Ramirez grew hard hearted and angry because of unkind words especially being called "stupid". It was very painful, a true act of betrayal, to young Ramirez as he watched his father cheat on his mother. All young Ramirez wanted was a normal life with a father who would tell him that he was loved & with whom he could share events of his day, & play sports with in the park. He also wanted a virtuous father who took him to church & instilled faith & values in his life. Young Ramirez's father's people were all devil worshipers disguised as being religious. At the age of 10 young Ramirez was introduced to Santeria by his paternal aunt after she insisted his mother attend a tarot card reading. Young Ramirez never had a chance or choice to think things through before joining the religion "the occult". Young Ramirez had a void in his life because of his dysfunctional upbringing that was now filled. Satan became his father, protector, provider, & source of love. Mr. Ramirez thought that he had power, wealth, & all the beautiful women at his beck & call. When ,in fact, he was actually in bondage-enslaved by Satan & his demons who hated him, lied to him, & wanted to destroy him. Mr. Ramirez's marriage failed & missed out on his daughter's early years because of his life style. He also had a distrust of people & had poor relations with his mother & 3 brothers. Mr. Ramirez was cruel, crazy, far gone, & greatly feared by those in his community who knew of his religious activity. He was a warlock for hire & did great harm to people. He was a recuiter & would go out to bars & clubs & pray on the inebriated by trying to create doubt in their minds & then he would steal their souls. Soon he would tire of his lifestyle, but would realize that their was no way out unless he was willing to face death or illness. Little did he know at the time that there were random people who would see him out on the streets & plead the blood over him & pray for the salvation of his soul despite their fear. He literally became torn between light & darkness. He would discover that God was more powerful than Satan. It was not easy to leave the religion because he loved it & because of torment by the demons. His conversion was nothing short of miraculous. After he bacame a Christian, he was able to mend his relationship with his mother. God gave him the ability to forgive his father;thereby, allowing for him to become emotionally whole. One of the lessons to be learned is that Satan deceives & that the occult is far from harmless. The occult destroys your life & damns your soul because you become spiritually blind. Another lesson is to never underestimate the power of prayer. Prayer protects neighborhoods, & you & your children from demonic influences. We see that prayer over Mr. Ramirez greatly influenced his life. A praying spirit filled born again parents of Mr. Ramirez's girlfriend was influential in keeping her from converting to the religion. Also this family cared for Mr. Ramirez's soul & repeatedly requested that he come to banquets, Bible Studies & church where he saw a difference in the people who prayed for him & who would warmly welcome him into the flock after his conversion. A final lesson is that God loves the occultis perfectly, eternally & unconditionally, & that Jesus died to pay for his sin debt. The occultists' sins can be forgiven & he/she can become a child of the king with the hope of a wondeful future because God has a plan for this individual's life if he/she will totally surrender his/her life in total obedience. Salvation is costly, but the joy & peace that it brings is worth it. I live in a city where there are many devil worshpers that I routinely come in contact with. It is frightening, but I have resolved to pray for them. We need to be sober & on guard from attacks from the devil who comes to kill, steal, & destroy.

This is the testimony of David M. Sweeney co-written by Kateri M. Walsh (in David's words) I was going through you tube, looking up stories about the occult and peope who had near death experiences. I came upon your story, and many others, but it was your story that caught my attention. I listened to how deep your story went, and it grabbed meand touched my soul in a way I had never been exposed to before. your testimony stood out from the others in a way I cannot explain. something in my soul gravatated towards you, and your message. I was taken aback, in awe and moved very deeply. I may have not followed the occult, but the devil took me to a place of darkness, and seeing you transform from dark to light, of the Holy Spirit, that helped ignite the Holy Spirit inside of me.You helped me find the light inside of me. Your story flipped on the light inside of me. Even not in the occult, and being raised catholic as a child, making my sacraments and going to catholic school, I can relate. I enlisted in the Marine Corps and made it through infintry school, and was honorably discharged due to hazardous conditions I endured.when I got out, the first thing I did was get a job at a good company, and was moving up the ranks. at this point I had a great job, a house, two cars, money and a very active social life, dating many women.I got caught up in the fast life, and fell into the drug scene. at first it was socially accepted, and part of my party scene. at the time I basically thought I had it all. I was a hypocrite, going to church on saturday, then having the cocaine and pain killers waiting for me, and ready to go to the strip club.but, when I came home, I had to face myself, alone. I knew there was an emptiness inside, that no amount of money, sex, drugs or alcohol could fill. I kept the phasade going at work and in my circle of friends and family, but I knew the truth. I was becoming more addicted to drugs, I was becoming angrier for things that happened in my childhood, and after four years, everything unravelled and I fell into hard core addiction. I lost everything and ended up in a homeless shelter, I was scared, alone and stood face to face with my demons.the deamons tht wispered the lies in my ears and mind. the whole time pulling me deeper and deeper into darkness. I had oppurtunties, but each time the deamons would pull me back into the darkness.I hit rock bottom. I started going to the methadone clinic, recieved therapy and counseling. I have not used hard nacrotics or any type of drug for a year and a half. I started going back to church with my girlfriend, but there was still something missing.I still had the emptiness inside of me. I heard John's testiomony, and read his book, and somthing hit me deep inside. I could feel the Holy Spirit awake inside my soul. seeing as John was in great darkness, and so was I, it gave me great hope to see he was now covered in light, and the protection of Jesus. I now feel i am walking in the right path of light, and dispelling the darkness, like John did. I feel the Holy Spirit come alive inside of me, by John's words.I was drawn to John, and the light, and I believe John's story, his book, chose me. I still have a ways to go, and I want to help others in their recovery, but first I have to fully submit to Christ, and check my armour every day.Pray for me, and for others to hear God's words from John's story. I just want to say thank you to the love of my life, for her support, and helping me write my testimony. Thank you John Ramirez for the message you share from darkness to light "Out of the devil's Cauldron". your story changed my life. thank you. amen. David M. Sweeney

The biography of John Ramirez is inspiring. It is the testimony of a child who longed to have the love and approval of a father. From an early age, the verbal and physical abuse he received produced much hurt with terrible consequences. The behavior of his father was cruel, speaking negative words over his life which affected his heart, a sad reality reflected in many lives today. His mother, an innocent woman, gave her precious heart to John's father when she was 16 years old, full of the illusions of true love. What happened to these two lives? I believe his story and spiritual inheritance started with the union of his parents. Eustaquio was an abusive and alcoholic father and Esther, his mother, a naive woman with three children trying to do her best. For John, she was his childhood heroine. John is initiated into the occult at 10 years of age with his Aunt Maria, and from there becomes acquainted with the dark side of a diabolical trap which holds him captive for 25 years. This book impacted me because despite everything that John Ramirez lived through, and where this stage of his life lead him, God turned him around 180 degrees, and that makes my heart rejoice. This story reflects the love, forgiveness, restoration, healing and deliverance of his Savior Jesus Christ, who performed a perfect surgery in his heart, filling it with love and hope. Jesus Christ transformed all that pain into a refreshing peace that only comes from his true Heavenly Father. That Father gazes upon him and blesses him with his tender love. Today John Ramirez speaks with authority and exposes the dangers, deceptions and traps of the occult, the subtlety of apparently harmless practices which lead to destruction, opening our eyes. His story is fascinating because it reflects the redemptive love of the Savior, the only one who can transform a life full of sadness, a worthless heart broken into a thousand pieces, into a man with vision and plans for good in Jesus. On page 203 he reminds us that the healing of our heart can only happen through forgiveness, and forgiveness brings us to knowing that unconditional love of God which goes beyond all pain and all human understanding. Only Jesus can teach us the true meaning of FORGIVENESS. John Ramirez chose to forgive. He also shares with us on p. 199: "Only through God, through Jesus Christ, your life can be transformed. Just as His presence fills the cosmos, He can fill and satisfy your life, just as He did with mine. Now I have a life of peace, joy and unconditional love, knowing that when I die, I will be with Him forever. Thank you, John Ramirez, for having the courage to tell us your story. I know it will bring hope, healing and deliverance to others.

I had no idea this book even existed until yesterday, as I turned my television on in my bed room I saw John Ramirez on the channel my tv was already on. I have been a christian since I was 9 and as I was searching for something else to watch I felt led to watch what this man had to say. I can't say why, except I felt Sprit led. Holy Spirit that is, I was touched by his emotion that you could easily tell was genuine. I only caught the last part of the story on tv however but wanted to know more. At the end of the 700 club broadcast I learned that Mr. Ramirez had written a book about his walk with the devil. I immediatly downloaded it onto my Kindle and couldn't put it down. I had the book read in less than 24 hrs. It is compelling and a true blessing to not only believers but non-believers as well. I couldn't believe how Jesus had blessed this man and brought him to his real Father. The timing was perfect as in anything God does and it is so genuine and a real eye opener to those who think spiritual battle is no longer. In this book you will find that the spritual warfare is still everpresent and will continue to get worse and I just pray that we are all as prepared mentally as we need to be!!!! At the end of this book I saw that there was a website to visit for John Ramirez ministries, I got onto my computer and I was going to write him an e mail but for some reason a error message was popping up. I asked God what other way there was to contact John to let him know how much his book touched my heart and was lead to a phone number. I thought it would be a number with a recording or one of John's ministry people, however I was pleasantly surprised when I dialed the number and a man answered! I was a little taken off guard by this but recovered quickly and asked if it was John. The reply on the other end was yes, I was as excited as a kid in a candy store! I actually explained who I was and that I had just read his book and it was truly a blessing. John then took the time to pray for me on the phone and I could feel the anointing through the phone. I would just like to thank God for bringing the show to my attention and allowing me the pleasure to speak to this wonderful blessed man through Christ! This book is truly amazing and uplifting and if God can bring him to have Jesus in his heart there is absolutely NOTHING that God can't do!!!! Thank you so much Mr. Ramirez for taking the time to talk to a 28 yr old backsliding woman in middle america in a very small town in Kansas. I hope that this book blesses all of you who are fortunate enough to read it as much as it has me.

I read this book in a matter of 3 days. It's so good! It is well written and very informative. John's life story is incredible! Nothing short of a miracle...a HUGE MIRACLE!!!! It went into depth, just the right amount for us to see what's the occult, what's in it and how it can "innocently" creep up into someone's life and trap them. It also told of the beautiful way, with spiritual warfare, that Jesus Christ freed him from everything and filled that void in John's life. I cried! God's love is so huge, incredible, beautiful and more than we can ever imagine!!! At the end of the book it gives you more history, info and insight on the occult so that our eyes are wide open. My prayer and everyone's should be for wisdom, discernment and courage to face things fully armored. Always remember GOD THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE AND ALWAYS WILL BE GREATER THAN ANYTHING WE WILL EVER FACE! If God before us, who can dare be against us?! We have the victory because He overcame! And always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pray for the person you see all drugged up, the homeless, the "scary" one, the one in prison, the one next to you. You don't know what they're facing, BUT your prayer will help deliver them and bring then to fulfill the call God has on their life. Pray for all! John, thank you! Continue to carry out the great calling God has for your life! He loves you beyond measure!

I finished this book within two days, couldn't put it down. John's story is really powerful and eye opening. If you've never heard about the demonic realm before, you won't be ignorant to it anymore after reading this book. It's very well written and it paints a clear picture of the events in his life, from his childhood, to his involvement in witchcraft, and finally to the Lord Jesus Christ. The book touches on a lot of important subjects like poverty, relationships with parents, abuse, adolescence, adulthood, and the dangers of witchcraft. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to his story on some level. I know I did. John talked about coming from a family of witches and warlocks. Witchcraft was practiced in my family as well, although not as intensely as John's. However, I had a very close encounter with a high rank warlock and he was able to do everything that John describes in his book. He had all kinds of demonic power and tried to hide behind the title of a pastor. He seemed very normal and "christian", but in reality he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. He tried to attack me and my family, but the power of God was with us and the devil's plan didn't succeed. I've only been able to share my experience with a couple of people, because otherwise no one would believe me. Not even Christians. It's because they don't know. I'm so glad that the Holy Spirit led John to share his story. His life is proof that God can work all things out for our good, (Romans 8:28.)It encouraged me to keep fighting the good fight of faith, (1st Timothy 6:12). The devil is very real and we need to know how to fight against him. John's story sheds light on all of this, completely exposing the works of the enemy After you finish this book, there's no way that you can just stick it in a drawer and forget about it. You'll want to keep passing it on until more and more people have read it. God Bless.

It is very seldom that I write a review for anything. This was an interesting read, well written, and I devoured it in an afternoon. I had my first deck of tarot cards and ouija board when I was 14, performed my first seance at 11, and later got involved with paganism. However, I've only had one negative experience when I meditated one morning, did not cast the proper protective mechanism and asked for a goddess spirit to energize me. Later I became physically ill. Also, I never was into black magic or hexes; I even rarely did any spells. Mostly all I did was the divination and the rituals. Then, I became disillusioned with gods and goddesses and practiced Buddhism for 10 years. Although I never experienced the extreme of rage and hate the author clearly experienced, I know that I had something negative around me. In 2013, my husband became very sick and was on a ventilator for 2 weeks. It was at that time I hit my breaking point and fell to my knees in a hospital chapel begging God's forgiveness. Almost immediately, I felt something come down on me and lift something heavy off of me. For a good while after that, I could actually hear the devil tempting me, and I was very sensitive and very careful about what I fed my mind. I started going to a Catholic church, went through RCIA, and was baptized and confirmed. Sometimes I still have a fascination with hauntings and the paranormal. However, after reading this book, I've decided to avoid those topics and not allow myself to be tempted to be interested in those things anymore. I believe entertaining those things can make one susceptible to evil influences. The author's story kind of validates what happened to me. The reason for only 4 stars is after reading the book, I was left with the impression that the author seemed to regret leaving the life of the black magician. Very little of the book was actually about his conversion or life after conversion. I'm in no position to judge the author; these things are simply my observations.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A BOOK! I could NOT put it down. I read it in 2 days. So riveting and captivating. Eye opening to say the least. God gets all the glory for what He’s done in his life. What a testimony!

God's power is so awesome that devil has no chance to even come close. Every time I read about God's power I am blown away. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Hallelujah! Amen.

This book opened my eyes to the reality of the spirit realm and we as children of the most high the most powerful king Jesus must be on guard against principalities and dominions in our life and wherever we go to tear down these strong holds, be active in our faith not passive..

J’ai lu le livre en anglais mais ce que je dois dire c’est que tout chrétien devrait le lire . Un livre qui nous rappelle que Dieu est miséricordieux et qu Il nous aime …

A true Testimony of Gods mercy can save the wretched of souls . It proves no one is too far gone if in their heart truly reach out to our Lord Jesus Christ. As the author comes to realise as the book goes on , there is truth and power in the name Jesus . This book shows us and explains the snares that the devil uses to trap us through the occult . I have a similar journey as the author John Ramirez had that led to Christ , so I could relate well to his Testimony. The book is a very good read above all and keeps you gripped as the book unfolds .....

I read the book in 2 days. I was not able to take it out from my hands although I am a father of 2 young girls and have a full time Job. John, the author, takes us on his journey to become a general in Satan’s army. He shared a lot of insider information about how is the kingdom of Satan is operating. This information is very valuable in our war against Satan and his demons. We need to understand how our enemy is operating and this book does that in an excellent way. Of course, this book does not provide a complete list but it present patterns and schemes directly from the war rooms of the enemy. We are suffering and dying because of the lack of knowledge, as john shared. It came to my mind the parable of the shrewd manager in Luke16: 1-8 while reading the book “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” Lk16 8 I ask myself sometimes what will happen and how our world will look like if Christians will show the same devotion to Jesus as the Muslims or … to Satan? This book is an excellent wake up call for the sleeping church! We have churches now celebrating Halloween and offering Yoga classes in the church building! Wake up! Let us pray! Let us fight! Let us attack! Let us Love! Thank you John for your testimony, you inspired me for more!