As a pilgrim to Rome, one must experience the beauty of Piazza Navona, with its charming fountains, the glorious facades of its buildings and its delightful cafes and restaurants. It is indeed a treasure of the Eternal City. But, when you stroll through Piazza Navona at night, you will be saddened to see the many stands offering tarot card readings, palm readings and the like. As you walk by them, there is a palpable sense of evil: this is not of God.
In Rome, the center of Catholicism—the city of Sts. Peter and Paul and countless other saints and martyrs—it is tragic to see Christians turn away from God and put their faith in that which is of the Evil One. As the Scriptures remind us, “Let there be not found among you anyone who causes their son or daughter to pass through fire, or practices divination, or is a soothsayer, augur, or sorcerer, or who casts spells, consults ghosts and spirits, or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). Why does the Lord so strongly forbid such occultic practices?
First, when we dabble with occultic practices, we are essentially saying to the Lord, “I don’t trust in You to lead and guide my future.” With the occult, we desire answers, signs or predictions of future events, believing that somehow this “unveiling” of the future will provide some tangible benefits. The problem with this understanding is twofold: evil spirits can concoct lies in these occultic readings, thus leading us astray on perilous paths in life or instilling a fear of the future that robs us of our joy to live. But more importantly, these occultic practices lead us to denigrate or abandon the spiritual gifts the Lord offers to us to ensure present and future happiness. We should prayerfully read the Sacred Scriptures, the living and enduring Word of God; we should devoutly receive the Holy Eucharist, where the Sacred Heart of Jesus speaks directly to our hearts; we should call upon the Holy Spirit in our discernment of spirits; and we should trust in the magisterial teachings of the Church, which as St. Paul reminds us, is “the pillar and bulwark of truth” (I Timothy 3: 15). If we claim to love God above all things, then we must reject any occultic practices, for they become gods of sorts, which lead us to reject the one true God.
Second, occultic practices, at first, are seemingly benign, but beware: they lead quickly to a downward spiral into control by the Evil One. Many Catholics have this mistaken idea that the devil can possess people. No, its people who choose possession by slowly opening their souls to the Evil One. It may start by innocently playing with a Ouija board and when one’s curiosity is peaked about knowledge of future events, then it’s onto tarot cards, palm readings, tea leaves readings and mediums. But then this is not enough, and the soul now opens itself even further to the Evil One by engaging in Satanic practices, such as the Black Mass, sorcery and ritualistic violence. This may seem alarmist to some, a bit farfetched, but read some of the accounts of Catholic exorcists. The souls most tormented by the Evil One got to this tragic state because they kept buying into his lies. He convinced them that occultic practices were “helpful” and “harmless” and, in short order, they had given their souls over to him and may have been eternally lost. Remember that Satan is the master of lies and he has one desire: to lead us to eternal loss and torment in hell. Rid your lives of any occultic practices because they open the door of our soul to the enemy, who gleefully waits to lead us through the portals of hell.
It is indeed sinful to engage in any occultic practices and if you have done so, please confess this to a Catholic priest in a prompt manner. To invoke Satan or any other demonic power through these practices places one’s soul in danger, for we have given allegiance and trust to evil beings rather than to the one true God. This turning away from God places one’s soul in great jeopardy, which is the Evil One’s primary goal. Jesus is the light of the world and promises eternal life and light in His Kingdom; don’t allow the Prince of Darkness to extinguish this great gift.
Fr. Benz is pastor at Sacred Heart, Glen Ullin, St. Ann, Hebron, and St. Joseph, Grant County. If you have a question you were afraid to ask, now is the time to ask it! Simply email your question to [email protected] with the “Question Afraid to Ask” in the subject line.