Ex-witch Sarah Anne Sumpolec once found herself enraptured by incantations, Tarot cards, and casting spells — until an encounter with Jesus transformed her perspective. Decades later, she’s now a devout Christian who shares her experience as a former real-life teenage witch to help people see God’s power to change lives and perspectives.

Her harrowing story of engaging the spirit world and nearly losing her life is nothing short of deeply compelling. In this interview, Sumpolec recalls being plagued by scary dreams, and a feeling like the spiritual experiences she had so fervently embraced were starting to turn negative. At first, she assumed she was doing something wrong that made the spirits angry and attempted to remedy it.

“I was aware of the shift, but I didn’t know why the shift had happened,” Sumpolec said. “And I assumed I was doing something wrong, and so I kind of doubled down with all of it, because it was the only place I had to go.” That plan left her even more destitute, as she felt prompted by these spirits to embrace the idea that the only way she could heal herself was to end her life. After nearly losing her life, she found Jesus.