Expert Answer Forum
Divination QUESTION from evan wells May 31, 2000 Hello to John paul and others,
I note in your forum you refer to the bible on the subject of fortune telling. and consider that second sight and psychic intuiton may be an abomination to God.I have been gifted to read tarot.And in this I feel it is God and God alone who helps me. I find the instances you refer to in the bible,in some ways are contradictions.As there are other books and allegories that state the opposite.For example
a)What is the Book of revelation if not prophecy, deemed by God? A dream (or insight) given to a man for self awakening. and to HELP others.
b)Joseph was gifted with prophecy by God(the self same soothsaying and fortune telling for Egypt) for self awareness and the benefit of others.
I feel there are distinctions to be made here, between charlatans and the truth. Prophecy is fin as long as it is for a nobler purpose, and not strictly selfish reasons. Much like the differences between theurgy and goetia.Though that is a deeper path.
As for the Tarot, it is perhaps more tied to God than people realise, being based upon the ideas of self redemption and the journey to inner peace(hence God).Not leading me down the path to posession from demons, thanks very much.Depending on the level you wish to view it,Tarot is the torah, following the hebrew alphabet and numeralogical correspondances, and kabbalah.The same as the testaments and scriptures.I find you recommend psychiatric help to others with emotional problems.One of the founders of psychoanalysis was Freud, who was a keen advocate of the tarot as an exploration of the psyche.This was because the cards strong ability to reflect the chapters and structure of a persons life.
If you are given a gift from god, it is for a reason and not a cypher for demonolatry.such is te case for born psychics who see spirits.Anyone who seeks to exploit these abilities,for monetar gain or to hurt the minds and emotions of gullible persons, well, they deserve the damnation.
I respect the catholic church, but its very foundations are built upon the pagan & occult mystery of god.The word occult itself is misused(even by yourself).All of the church festivals and holidays are structured to the pagan cycles.My point is, that nothing is ever as purely simple or clearly defined as you would believe or have others.
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, O.L.S.M. on Wednesday, July 5, 2000 Dear Mr. Wells:
Prophecy given by God, and man's attempt to extract prophectic knowledge are not the same thing.
The prophets and others of the Bible who learned prophetic things did so at GOD'S initiative and calling.
Tarot and other methods of divination are not sourced in God, but are an attempt to extract prophetic information apart from God. It is the cards that tell the story, not God.
Secondly, divination is an activity that seeks to discover destiny and advice apart from God.
Although some practitioners try to incorporate God in the sorcery or divination, that does not make it okay. These activities are not of God, and trying to include God will not make them any more okay to God.
Yes there is a connection to the ancient Hebrew kabbalah divinition practices. These are condemned too.
You do NOT have a gift from God for Tarot. Any supernatural gift you have in this regard is from the other guy.
As for your erroneous concept of the foundations of Catholicism, the Catholic Church's foundation is in the REVELATION of God to man, not in occult and pagan concepts of god.
And not all of the Church festivals are structured to the pagan cycles. This is a lie.
There are feast days that correspond to pagan feast days. The Church did this on purpose. The idea was to help young converts get over their ties to paganism, and/or to evangelize a community. If the church provided a feast day on a day the pagan's were use to celebrating, then this helped in evangelization.
This is no different than offering an alternative to a person who is use to going out Friday night to pick up women in bars. Give him a Church activity to go to instead. It will help him get over his bad habit to have a Church activity planned at the same time and day be performed his bad happen.
This is not rocket science and is nothing occult or sinister in the Church's rather sophisticated and effective method of evangelizing. The Church' simply knows human nature and knows that if you take away something (pagan festival) that replacing it with a Christian festival will help with the transition from paganism to Christianity.
Bottom line, sir, you are not doing God's work with Tarot. I suggest that you seek repentance of this evil activity and return to the True God.
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