Moira Noonan: The deliverance story of a former New Age guru, occultist

By Roxanne King

Raised as a Catholic, author Moira Noonan began delving into New Age practices as a college student.  For years she worked in Religious Science ministry, as a psychic counselor and a therapist.  In 1993, after a series of powerful conversion experiences, she returned to the Catholic Church, and is now a popular speaker in the Christian community, explaining the deeper meaning and influences of the New Age movement.  Noonan has told her story in the book “Ransomed from Darkness: The New Age, Christian Faith, and the Battle for Souls” (North Bay, 2005). She has a chapter about her conversion in “Prodigal Daughters” (Ignatius Press, 1999). For more information, visit spiritbattleforsouls.org.

Q: Why did you write “Ransomed from Darkness”?

A: I wrote it because I wanted people to know that my soul was in a battle and I didn’t know it and a lot of people are in a battle and they don’t know it. The battle is against unseen forces, spirits unknown. The book is to let people know what the warfare is I was in and that I was delivered and how they can get help too. A lot of people see the battle, sense the battle but don’t know where to get relief and help. It’s been a witness to many different people. A witness of hope; a story of hope.

Q: How deeply were you involved with the New Age movement?

A: I was involved for 30 years. I was really far gone in every kind of psychic practice: clairvoyance, Reiki, neuro-linguistic programming. I was a clinical hypnotherapist.  I was in ministry in the Church of Religious Science, which is similar to Scientology. I was working with the “Course in Miracles”—the New Age bible. (The “Course in Miracles”) is not mainstream New Age; it leads you into the occult.

Q: What caused you to return to the Catholic faith?

A: It’s pretty miraculous; it’s in the book. I was in an advanced program in clinical hypnotherapy doing past life regression therapy. While I was in the lobby in one of my clinical workshops I was reading a magazine and in it was an article about a woman who was going to India to find her guru when she met someone in the London airport who told her the Queen of Heaven was appearing in Europe. This woman decided to go check it out. Her lack of Christian background led her to believe that this was the goddess from heaven coming to meet the goddess of earth, Gaia. Something clicked inside me and said this is a lie. I thought, “What else do I believe that is a lie?.” My questioning created an opening. I said a simple heartfelt prayer. I knew that the Queen of Heaven was Mother Mary, not a goddess. I said, “Mother Mary if you’re appearing on earth I want to meet you.” It was a very sincere heartfelt prayer. It took several years but she started leading me to her son. Eventually I ended up in the Catholic Church. I had a Damascus, falling off the horse experience my first time in a Catholic Church in almost 30 years. I had a dramatic conviction by Jesus himself. He told me I was home.