[1] Religious studies scholar Sean McCloud has referred to spiritual mapping as a "Third Wave [Charismatic] version of geomancy that discerns where and why demons control spaces and places, ranging from houses and neighborhoods to entire countries.
Otis and influential New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and spiritual warfare leader C. Peter Wagner helped define and spread the concept.
Spiritual mapping occurs on both the local and regional level with super-demons known as territorial spirits seen as laying claim to whole swathes of the globe.
So in Call, Colombia, for example, one of the discerned spirits might be drug addiction; in Portland, Oregon, individualism; and in Jeremie, Haiti, it might be voodoo.
[17]It aims at answering the following three questions, according to Otis:[18] Spiritual mapping traces its roots to the Church Growth movement and Christian missions work.
[20] Also underlying the belief in spiritual mapping is the idea that "demonic powers have deceived millions of people by supernaturally animating human systems", as Otis claimed in his 1991 book Last of the Giants.
According to The Christian Science Monitor, Wagner, who founded the parachurch mission organization Global Harvest Ministries, "[was] in the vanguard of the spiritual warfare movement.
"[25] Wagner's basic methodology is to use spiritual mapping[13] to locate areas,[26] demon-possessed persons, occult practitioners such as witches and Freemasons, or things they deem occult idol objects like statues of Catholic saints, which are then named and fought, using methods ranging from intensive prayer to burning with fire.
"[T]hey must burn the idols… the kinds of material things that might be bringing honor to the spirits of darkness: pictures, statues, Catholic saints, Books of Mormon, pictures of former lovers…native art, foreign souvenirs... [T]he witches and warlocks had surrounded the area… When the flames shot up, a woman right behind Doris [Wagner's wife] screamed and manifested a demon, which Doris immediately cast out!
[12] Spiritual mapping developed through loose Christian networks and can be traced back to the evangelical revival in Argentina beginning in the mid-1970s.
With this newly gained knowledge, Lorenzo's congregation began to undertake spiritual combat against the demons they believed were present in the area.
Also in 1984, Silvoso and a number of pastors prayed to defeat a demon they believed was controlling a region of Argentina lacking Evangelical churches.
Cindy Jacobs, founder of the Generals of Intercession, held spiritual mapping seminars as part of Plan Resistencia.
After a crusade in a Nairobi suburb which led to the founding of a church there, they drove out a local diviner known as Mama Jane, in whom they identified the "spirit of witchcraft" they believed had power over the area.
So in Cali, Colombia, for example, one of the discerned spirits might be drug addiction; in Portland, Oregon, individualism; and in Jeremie, Haiti, it might be voodoo.
In a 1993 article on Otis, the Calgary Herald described his research: "Why is it that, historically, some regions of the world are more prone to evil activity?...For instance...Why is Haiti the eyesore of the western hemisphere?
[21] Also mentioned in the article on Otis was a group of Christians in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, who spiritually mapped their city for evangelistic purposes.
Scholar Benjamin Young has described the spiritual mapping movement as "[tilling] fertile soil for [See You at the Pole]", a Christian prayer event in which students gather at their school flagpoles to pray.