It's no surprise that there exist some awful people on this planet who try to take advantage of vulnerable individuals. It's worse when those awful people leverage, and use "spirituality" as a point to scare, and influence these vulnerable people to act for their own selfish benefit. Fraudsters in spiritual spaces exist, and they're preying on the lack of knowledge and information one has in order for them to push their "snake oil".
And look. I've had my share of accusations too. I've had people both online and offline make weird statements about me before. I'll address those as well, but what's important is that we first go over the "Scam DNA" of what these spiritual fraudsters do.
Fake psychics, Magicians, Witches, etc. prey on your lack of knowledge. And this is why it's important that you at least do a little bit of research into the traditions, as well as do your best to find out how magick works, especially the work you're looking to get done. Anyone can type up a convincing title for a listing, or service, and make it sound like it is a legitimate ritual. But the very mechanics of what is done is very important.
A real practitioner doesn't need to divulge in giving you their secrets, but at the very least they can list out a structure on what's actually being done. What spirits are being called upon, what traditions the spellwork originates from, the common names for it, etc. Often times the methods they highlight are inconsistent with the true tradition. Syncretic magick exists, but when something is just a franken-listing of a bunch of occultist buzzwords, then that's when your red flag radars should be alerting you.
If something comes to you like a "Djinn, Luciferian Voodoo black magic spell of love." Then you have to seriously dissect what's being said here. The title "sounds" powerful. But is just a word-salad of occult jargon to make you think you're getting something good.
The Djinn, or Jinn, have a history that predates Islam within Arabian belief, and the concept of them today survives prominently within Islamic cosmology. They aren't really a "pantheon", but rather a category of spiritual beings. There are also centuries of different occult traditions involving Jinn, including talismanic magic, astrology, magic squares, letter magic, and other forms of Islamic and Middle Eastern esotericism. So even someone advertising "Djinn magick" should be able to tell you what the hell they actually mean by that.
"Luciferian Voodoo" as a title doesn't automatically tell you anything meaningful about what is being practiced. Luciferianism is a spiritual belief that highlights the figure of Lucifer as a being of light, and a teacher to mankind. While Luciferians can practice forms of Magick, the concept of this belief operates on a post-Abrahamic narrative, and is much closer to a Judeo-Christian form of cosmology and sorcery than Haitian Vodou. Someone could theoretically create a syncretic system combining different traditions, sure. But simply putting the words "Luciferian" and "Voodoo" beside one another doesn't establish that the work has anything to do with Vodou.
Vodou is a religion that is often thrown around as a buzzword by scammers as "Voodoo" to make something sound powerful. While there are people within the religion who interchangeably use "Voodoo", the label itself also has unfortunately been used by scam artists. Hollywood's depiction of Vodou has really warped the general public's lens in how to see the religion.
Vodou is an initiatory religious tradition that believes in Bondye, the Supreme God, and the Lwa who are intermediaries that people interact with. Certain offices, rites, and knowledge within Vodou require initiation. It is a deep, well-established religion that venerates ancestors, and is a real religious belief for many. Hollywood has unfortunately washed it as some sort of black magick system, and has stripped away its theological elements, creating a fear-based mythos for people who do not know anything about it.
This is important because buying something called a "Voodoo spell" doesn't mean you actually purchased something originating from Haitian Vodou. "Voodoo" gets slapped onto everything online. Candle spells. Love spells. Revenge spells. Dolls. Generic black magic. Whatever the seller feels like putting into the listing title because they think the word sounds scary and powerful.
Now, can people within Vodou perform spiritual work intended to influence circumstances? Of course. There can be work concerning protection, cleansing, healing, relationships, prosperity, enemies, separation, removing unwanted influences, and all sorts of other things. Someone translating what they're doing into English might even casually use the word "spell". The problem isn't necessarily the word itself.
The question is: What are they actually doing?
What tradition is this coming from? Who is performing it? What is their relationship to that tradition? If they're claiming to be clergy, what exactly are they claiming to be?
Because if someone is claiming to be a Houngan or Manbo, now they're making a much more specific claim than simply saying "I practice Voodoo".
And specific claims can be investigated.
Vodou doesn't have some universal worldwide database where you type someone's name into a search bar and get a blue checkmark telling you they're a real Houngan. That's not how it works. But Vodou does have initiatory lineages, houses and sosyete, initiatory ranks, and relationships between initiates and the people who initiated them.
So ask questions.
What rank do you hold? Where did you receive Kanzo? Who initiated you? What house or sosyete are you associated with?
A real practitioner doesn't have to reveal initiatory secrets to you. Nobody is entitled to the mysteries of someone's religion simply because they're purchasing a service.
But secrecy protects mysteries. It doesn't magically establish credentials.
"I'm not allowed to tell you the secret details of my initiation" is perfectly reasonable.
"I'm a powerful Haitian Vodou priest, but I can't tell you who initiated me, where I was initiated, what rank I hold, what house I'm connected to, or provide any way whatsoever of corroborating anything I'm saying because it's all secret" is a very different statement.
That doesn't automatically prove somebody is lying. But it does mean their claim is unverified.
And that's another thing people need to understand when investigating practitioners. "Unverified" and "fraudulent" aren't automatically the same thing.
I like to think about these claims in four categories:
Verified. Partially Verified. Unverified. Contradicted.
If someone claims they were initiated by a particular person, and that person or their religious community independently confirms it, great. That's verification.
If parts of their story can be independently established but others cannot, then it's partially verified.
If you simply cannot establish whether their claims are true, they're unverified. That doesn't automatically make them a fraud.
But if someone tells you "I was initiated by Manbo X at Sosyete Y", and you independently contact Sosyete Y and they tell you they've never heard of this person?
Now we have a problem. That's not an absence of evidence anymore; That's a claim being contradicted.
Black Magic is a whole other term that is typically thrown around a lot, and used as some sort of label to denote the "strength" of magick. Typically leaving "White Magic" as its more tame opposite. Also not correct. People think the term Black Magic means "Powerful" when the term's more accurate definition is leaning onto malefic and infernal. Black and White magic classification is based more on intent and moral classification, not strength. And most practiced occultists typically discard the black and white nomenclature due to it being all too confusing for most people.
When you break down something like this in its title, the legitimacy of it starts to vanish. Which actually talks about the next big red flag: the "fake practitioner" can't put a name to their practice(s), or at least accurately put it in their practice.
Often times fraudsters like to use "secrecy" as a means to get you to stop asking questions, and to just take their words as a fact without further questioning. Their goal is to drive a sale as soon as possible, and they'll typically dodge questions that might expose their scam.
And this brings me into what I think is one of the biggest red flags of spiritual fraud altogether.
The Never-Ending Spiritual Emergency
You pay someone for a cleansing. Suddenly they "discover" that you're cursed. You pay them to remove the curse. Then apparently the curse wasn't the real problem. There's actually a spirit attached to you. You pay them again. Now the spirit is apparently extremely powerful, and they need some special ritual with expensive materials to remove it. You pay them again. Then the spirit "fought back". Now you need another ritual.
And another.
And another.
This is one of the oldest pieces of bullshit in the spiritual scammer's playbook. Because they've created a situation where every possible outcome proves that they're right. Nothing happened? "The curse is stronger than we thought."
Something bad happened? "The spirit is retaliating."
Something good happened? "See! The ritual is working."
You start questioning them? "The spirit is influencing you."
You want to stop paying? "If we stop the ritual now, you'll be in danger."
Do you see the problem?
There is no possible outcome where this person has to admit they were wrong. And conveniently, every new development requires you to open your wallet again.
Even if you completely believe in curses, spirits, magick, possession, and everything else being discussed here, this should still set your alarm bells off.
The issue isn't whether curses exist.
The issue is that the practitioner has constructed an unfalsifiable claim and attached a payment processor to it.
(I also have a blog post on curses, and helping you determine if you're cursed or not here.)
Fear, Urgency, and Money
This also goes hand-in-hand with fear.
"Someone has cursed you."
"Your family is in danger."
"There's something attached to your child."
"If we don't do this immediately, something terrible is going to happen."
"Don't tell anyone about this."
"Don't speak to another practitioner because they'll interfere with my work."
"You need to send the money tonight."
Now, there are spiritual traditions that genuinely believe in curses, hostile spirits, spiritual attachments, angry ancestors, and all sorts of things that aren't exactly sunshine and rainbows. So the presence of something frightening in a spiritual consultation doesn't automatically make somebody fraudulent. What you need to watch for is the combination.
Fear + urgency + financial demand + discouraging independent verification.
That's when spirituality starts turning into social engineering. If someone tells you that you're in spiritual danger and then simultaneously tells you that they're the ONLY person capable of saving you, you aren't allowed to get a second opinion, you can't speak to anyone else, and you need to send them $2,000 immediately?
Stop.
Seriously. Stop.
Do not let someone scare you into making a financial decision before you've had time to think.
"Guaranteed Results"
This is another huge one.
There is a difference between a practitioner being confident in their work and somebody guaranteeing a specific external outcome.
"I've had very good results with this type of work" is one thing.
"Your ex WILL come back within 72 hours" is another.
"You WILL get the promotion."
"Your roommate WILL move out."
"You WILL receive $10,000 within seven days."
Nobody has absolute control over another human being, their decisions, legal systems, employers, financial markets, relationships, random circumstances, and every other moving piece involved in an external outcome. And this remains true even if we're operating completely within a magical worldview. Magick is influence. It is not a cheat code that suddenly removes every other variable from reality. The funniest version of this scam is when someone offers "100% GUARANTEED RESULTS", nothing happens, and suddenly tells you that the ritual encountered "resistance" and you need to purchase another ritual.
Well then what the fuck did "100% guaranteed" mean?
You don't get to advertise certainty and then charge the customer again when your certainty fails.
Expensive Doesn't Automatically Mean Scam
This one is important too.
Something being expensive doesn't automatically mean that it's fraudulent. Likewise, something being cheap doesn't mean that it's legitimate.
There are legitimate practitioners whose work might require hours or days of labour, divination, difficult-to-source materials, handmade ritual objects, ceremonies, follow-up work, or decades of accumulated expertise. They can charge accordingly.
Meanwhile someone can sell a completely fake $19.99 spell to 500 people on Etsy.
The price isn't what determines whether something is legitimate.
Look at the claims surrounding the transaction.
What are you being promised? What are you actually purchasing? What work is supposedly being performed? Is the practitioner accurately representing their background? Are they constantly upselling you? Are they manufacturing emergencies? Are they guaranteeing impossible outcomes?
That's much more useful than looking at a price tag.
I get it, I've been faced with scam accusations when it comes to my pricing. Unfortunately there so exist some disgruntled (and sometimes entitled) people on the internet who believe that spellwork, and spiritual services can only fit within a certain price-point irrelevant to the materials and labour. Yes, spellwork is pricey to some folks. But using price as a flag for a scam is a very weak argument in this case. You're always welcome to asking me why something is priced that way, and I'll answer to my best ability without divulging in my own trade secrets, but I can definitely give you an idea as to what that is rather than just shrug the question off.
Photos Aren't Proof Either
This has gotten even more important in the age of AI.
A picture of an altar doesn't prove that altar was constructed for you. A photograph of some candles doesn't prove that a ritual was performed, A video of someone standing in front of an altar wearing ceremonial clothing doesn't prove that they're initiated clergy.
Screenshots can be fabricated, Testimonials can be fabricated, Certificates can be fabricated. Hell, entire people can practically be fabricated now.
Photos and videos can certainly be supporting evidence. But whenever possible, look for things that can be independently corroborated. This is why lineage, organizations, teachers, published history, community involvement, and other external points of reference become useful. You're no longer relying exclusively on evidence that the person selling you something controls themselves.
You Don't Have to Disprove Magick to Prove Fraud
And this is something I really want to hammer home. You do not have to be an atheist, materialist, skeptic, or believe that magick is fake in order to recognize a spiritual scam.
Let's actually do the opposite: Let's assume magick is real, Let's assume spirits are real., Let's assume curses are real, Let's assume evocation works, Let's assume divination works, Let's grant the practitioner every metaphysical premise they're asking us to accept.
They can still lie to you.
Someone can believe in Vodou and still lie about being a Houngan, Someone can believe in ceremonial magick and still lie about performing a ritual, Someone can believe in spirits and invent a spirit attachment that doesn't exist because they want another $500 from you, Someone can practice legitimate magick and still be a manipulative piece of shit.
These things aren't mutually exclusive.
That's why "Well, do you even believe in magick?" is completely irrelevant when someone is being accused of fraud. We're investigating the claims the practitioner made.
Did they claim credentials they don't have? Did they misrepresent another religion? Did they promise something they couldn't promise? Did they fabricate an emergency? Did they actually perform what they were paid to perform? Did they continually invent reasons why the customer needed to pay more money?
Those questions remain valid regardless of what you believe about the supernatural.
Specificity Is The Enemy Of Bullshit
If there's one thing I want people to take away from this section, it's this.
Ask questions:
"What kind of magick?"
"What tradition?"
"What ritual?"
"What does that term mean?"
"Where does it originate?"
"Who taught you?"
"What exactly am I paying for?"
"What are you actually promising me?"
"What happens if this doesn't work?"
"Why do I suddenly need another ritual?"
A legitimate practitioner might tell you that certain information is private, initiatory, or simply none of your business. That's fine. There are absolutely things clients aren't entitled to know. But they should still be able to explain what they're selling without hiding the entire service behind mystical word-salad.
Scammers thrive in ambiguity.
"Ancient powerful forbidden black magic ritual" sounds impressive precisely because it doesn't actually tell you anything. The more specific someone's claims become, the more those claims can be examined, And that's usually where bullshit starts having a very difficult time surviving.
-James