Divining arts, spiritualist séances, black masses and other works of the devil

Magic is the art that purports to control or forecast natural events, effects, or forces by using supernatural powers, which are of the devil. Those who practice magic, therefore, purport to have the power of influencing the course of events by using devilish powers.

As it is fitting for the saints, we must flee all kinds of magic, knowing that magic is a work of the devil, which is condemned by God. No matter if magic is called white magic (employing magic to cure disease, or assure success in love or business, etc.) or black magic (using magic for personal gain, or for revenge in order to bring sickness, death, or adversity to an enemy, etc.), magic is magic and we must abhor it with all our heart. Here are some words that God spoke to Israel, which make it clear that God detests those who practice magic: “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Those who practice magic or resort to magic (sorcery) will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).

Now, I am going to speak very briefly of some well-known divining arts (or forms of fortune telling), and of some other magic practices, and warn you against them.

Astrology is the ancient practice of studying the movements and positions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars in the belief that they determine the character, the health and the activity of every human being, and that by observing the position of the celestial bodies at a given time one can foretell future events. When a person consults an astrologer, the astrologer tells him the map of the sky over his birthplace at the moment of his birth (his personal horoscope, called also birth chart), and the fortunes and misfortunes which depend – according to the astrologer – on that specific map of the sky. However, there is another kind of horoscope cast by astrologers for their clients, it is called horary horoscope and it concerns specific problems. In this case the client tells the astrologer a specific problem he is facing, and the astrologer – after complicated calculations – tells him the outcome of that problem and gives him the ‘solution’ of the problem, on the basis of the map of the sky at the time the question is asked.

Know this, that behind the astrologers there are evil spirits who want to deceive you into believing that your destiny is in the hands of the stars and of the planets. Your destiny, as well as the destiny of every man, is in the hands of God; therefore, do not deceive yourself and let no one deceive you with empty words. The stars, the planets, the sun and the moon cannot influence your life (your decisions, your character, etc.), just as a stone along the wayside or a flower or a tree cannot influence your life. You will say to me then: ‘What should I do then when someone asks me when I was born in order to see if he or she will agree with me and some other things?’ Answer him or her that you refuse to tell him or her your date of birth because you don’t want him or her to waste time and because you don’t want to hear lies.

I close with the following words which God spoke through the prophet Isaiah against Babylon, which make it clear what God think of astrologers and their work “Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.” (Isaiah 47:12-14).

Therefore, do not consult any astrologer and do not read your horoscope. Astrology is an abomination to God, and those who rely on astrology put their trust in lies, which influence their behaviour and decision to their disadvantage. Astrologers are nothing, and their work is nothing; he who chooses them is an abomination.

Cartomancy is a form of fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Thus this divining art claims that you can know your future or someone else’s future by interpreting playing cards.

Flee from it, for it is a device of the devil through which he deceives people into believing all kinds all lies, which lead them to take wrong decisions.

Chiromancy (also known as palmistry) is the art of foretelling the future through the study of the palm. Thus those who practice it claim that they can predict people’s future from the lines on the palms of their hands. However, the palmist like the card reader tells fortunes not by actually reading the anatomical lines and other features of the hands, but divines the future by an evil spirit, which is called spirit of divination (Acts 16:16), which has endowed him with psychic powers of telepathy and clairvoyance.

Brothers, do not learn to read hands nor let anyone read your hands Therefore when you meet a gipsy fortune-teller (or anyone else) who asks you if you want her to read your hands, answer ‘No’. And I say the same thing to you young people, who meet so often at school some schoolfellows who want to read your hands, answer ‘No’. I know that the reading of hands is not a serious sin in the sight of most people, for it looks like a joke to them, but I assure you that it is a work of the devil despite its seeming harmlessness. It is a practice which lies under the sway of evil spirits, which may lead you to other forms of divination.

Tasseography (sometimes called tasseomancy) is a divining art according to which a man can read his present and his future in the bottom part of a cup of coffee after drinking the coffee.

You must flee and expose also the coffee cup reading. Know this, that it is a work of the devil; in the bottom part of a cup of coffee you can’t read anything about your present and your future. Those who claim that they are able to read your future in the bottom part of a cup of coffee are ministers of Satan. If they tell you that they want to read the bottom part of a cup of coffee for you, tell them that you don’t believe their words because they are lies.

Crystallomancy (or Crystallography) is a divining art based on the consultation of a crystal ball and on the use of crystals as ‘power objects’, and many New Agers (members of the New Age Movement) have had the subjective experience of some type of occult energy amplification and focusing when involving crystals in New Age practices.

Here is what the late Randall Baer, who had been an expert on crystallography before his conversion to Christ, wrote about his ‘crystal initiation’: ‘Vicki had received a small but perfect quartz crystal from an American Indian medicine man – one of his ‘power objects’. One day when doing New Age meditation, she was instructed by her ‘spirit guides’ to give me the crystal and to ask me to meditate with it. This was bizarre. The idea of meditating with a hunk of rock sounded patently ridiculous. After laughing about the idea for a couple of days, I decided to give it a shot. It couldn’t hurt, could it? Only minutes after focusing on the crystal in a state of trance-like meditation, my consciousness was catapulted into electrifying domains of extra-natural light the likes of which I had never before perceived. The upper part of my head felt like it wasn’t there, like it had become invisible, as my awareness raced upwards at the speed of light. From a high distance, I could see in my mind’s eye that my body was trembling and shaking as the power of the experience rattled through it. This was my ‘crystal initiation’ into an entirely different supernatural realm. Wow! Was this ‘crystal power’ or what? For the rest of the week my crystal-aided meditations brought vivid visions of strange high-tech machines and contraptions all using crystal in different ways. It was like stepping into a science fiction novel about technologies on an alien planet. I also saw visions of a high-crystal-tech holistic health clinic with lasers, holography, color beams, glowing liquids, and more in this mind-boggling sci-fi film. Several close friends remarked on a distinct change in my demeanor. Somehow, they said, I was more charged and outgoing. I felt blissful, as if I had found an entirely new part of myself. Sadly, though, in reality I blindly had entered an entirely different realm of Satan’s high-tech, dazzling deceptions. Sure, all this was a blast and I was riding a high like I had never known, but later there would be a very dear price to pay for all this occult adventurism. A dear price indeed.’ (Randall Baer, Inside the New Age Nightmare, Published by Huntington House, 1989, pag. 25-26). As you can see, it is evident that crystallomancy opens the door to demonic influence; so flee from it.

A spiritualist séance is a meeting of people during which the spirits of the dead are consulted or evoked (this occult practice is called necromancy or spiritism). It is led by a person known as a medium who usually go into a trance that allows evil spirits to communicate through him or her, which spirits make the participants believe that they are communicating with the dead. Séances are conducted in dark or semi-dark rooms with participants seated around a table. Sometimes the table leans and tilts, participants (sitters) may feel a cold breeze on their faces, items may materialize apparently out of thin air and musical instruments may play mysteriously. During the course of the séance, the medium speaks under the control of a spirit. Other methods of spirit communication includes automatic writing, writing on sealed slates, writing with planchettes, and impressing images onto photographic plates which have been kept in sealed enclosures. During séances evil spirits may even appear in human form to those who are present assuming the appearance of this or that dead loved one evoked and imitating his voice, so those who talk with these spirits believe that they are talking with their loved ones. A black mass is a ceremony supposedly celebrated during the Sabbath, which is a parody of the Roman Catholic Mass. The purpose of the black mass is to mock God, to blaspheme against the Trinity. Horrible things are done during black masses; the participants commit all kinds of sexual perversions, and sometimes they even offer human sacrifices to Satan their master.

Beloved, do not attend spiritualist séances, and do not attend black masses and any other meeting which is held by a wizard, a witch, etc., for these meetings are full of demons, who hate you and want to oppress you and enter your body in order to cause you to do evil things and to destroy you. Know this, that if you attend spiritualist séances or any other meeting held by ministers of Satan (who have evil spirits in their body), not only will you be defiled, but you will become demon oppressed or even demon possessed, and you will make God angry and for sure He will punish you, as He punished king Saul (by killing him) because he went to a medium (a woman who was a medium at En Dor) and inquired of her. Therefore, if anyone invites you to a spiritualist meeting or any other devilish meeting answer ‘no,’ and warn him against attending such meetings (for – as I have just said - one becomes demon oppressed or even demon possessed). Remember that the Scripture states that those who turn to mediums, or seek out spiritists, or consult the dead, and get involved in sorcery are an abomination to God (Deuteronomy 18:10-13).

Amulets, talismans, fetishes, and any other object about which it is said or believed that it protects the possessor from all dangers and evil spirits or has any other power, have to do with magic, for they have been made by ministers of Satan and over them a charm or spell has been cast, and thus they carry or attract evil spirits. It follows that the atmosphere of the houses where these occult objects are placed (or the life of those who wear these objects) is evilly influenced by the spirits which are behind these objects. If you still have some of these objects, I exhort you to destroy them and burn them immediately.

Hypnosis is the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction, and self-hypnosis is hypnosis induced by yourself. Self-hypnosis generally combines relaxation techniques with visualization and imagery to induce a hypnotic state.

They are spiritual phenomena worked by demons, which open the door to demon oppression and even to demon possession. So flee from them.

I conclude by saying this, involvement in any form of magic practice invariably opens the door to influence, control, or oppression by demons, and it alienates you from God. So stay away from magic.

If you want to know your future, read the Bible; if you want to know God’s will for your life, pray God that He may reveal you His will, and He will make it known to you. If you want to know something about another person, pray God about it, and if it is His will, He will reveal it to you. If you need power, ask God for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. If you want to have some supernatural powers, earnestly desire the spiritual gifts. If you need a job, a wife, a house, etc. or you have a problem of any kind, let your request be made known to God, believing, and you will receive what you have asked for. Trust in Him with all your heart, and He will give you the desire of your heart. But do not turn to divination, sorcery, necromancy and any other kind of magic practice, for all these things are an abomination to God.

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