07/08/2021 2,819 Fortune telling
Author: Anastasia
Most of us grew up with the mindset that guessing is sinful, since it contradicts religious canons. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Russia is a secular state in which there is no official or state religion. And yet, the most widespread religion in our country is Orthodoxy. A significant part of the population (about 40%) adheres to the code of the Orthodox Church. The Church unequivocally states that all fortune-telling, including Tarot fortune-telling, is a sin and a deal with the devil. If you believe this statement, it turns out that all tarot readers are sinners and apostates. But what is this position based on? What arguments does the church use in this matter? This is what this article is about.
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Who are mediums?
Mediums are the link between the world of the living and the dead. Their abilities include direct communication with the deceased by infusing themselves with the spirit of a dead person, or contact with him at a distance. There are several types of such contacts:
- Mental mediumship is connecting with a spirit using the power of thought at a distance.
- Speech mediumship is the process of obtaining information through the voice of spirits or demons emanating from an object.
- Physical mediumship is the ability to obtain information directly by moving a spirit into and out of one’s body.
- Photographic mediumship - when it is possible to extract information from a photograph.
For the presented types of contacts listed above, a spiritualistic session is carried out, allowing the connection and communication of the guide - the medium with the summoned spirit, to whom you can directly ask questions of interest.
The history of the emergence of people with the gift of foresight
It is impossible to say unambiguously in what century the first sorcerers and magicians appeared. Even in ancient times, people had to face the problems of drought, flood, earthquake, volcanic eruption and other disasters, which were associated with the wrath of the gods. Loss of crops could lead to the extinction of an entire tribe. To avoid this, we had to turn to special people with the talent to see the future. It was believed that they were the chosen ones, and their connection with higher powers was strong. The help of the priests was not only in predictions, but also in conducting magical rituals, love spells, and so on. They were in a special position and were respected.
Pseudo-fortune tellers and mediums
Sometimes it seems that there are a lot of people with problems, but there are even more people who want to help them. Since ancient times, people who asked for help gave sorcerers, magicians, and priests expensive gifts. Today it's a good business. Quickly trained, newly minted fortune tellers make money from the problems of the people with the help of simple manipulations. To do this, they use not only the Internet, but also television, and also provide assistance by telephone. Communication with spirits at a distance is doubtful and does not inspire confidence. Pseudo-fortune tellers use stereotyped words and are good manipulators whose task is to profit from someone else’s misfortune. This is quite selfish in relation to a person who is trying to find a way out of the current, sometimes hopeless situation in this way, while giving away his last money to achieve the result.
Among the mediums there may also be dishonest individuals who, having basic acting skills, a good vocabulary and elements of psychological influence, can deceive a person without thinking about the consequences.
What does the church interpret?
How does the church treat fortune tellers? In cases of trouble, a person seeks salvation not from God, not in prayers, but resorts to the help of fortune-tellers, healers, and mediums, which is a direct violation of God’s commandments. For several centuries the Church fought against them. The clergy believe that fortunetellers use the help of evil spirits and, through rituals, allow evil spirits into the world of people, who subsequently poison the coexistence of the children of God. The life of an Orthodox person should be spent in communication with the Almighty, in prayer. It is through them that the son of God draws strength for good deeds.
Is going to a fortune teller a sin?
Going to fortune tellers is a great sin. The very vision of the future is a mystical process that is not harmless, since fortune tellers draw information from the fallen souls of demons. And the demon is the founder of lies, who manipulates the human soul, caught in his network. Initially, he will feed her with the necessary information, developing dependence on him, and subsequently, at his own request, he will build a destiny that he will have to follow alone. You should not succumb to the tricks of evil spirits who want human destruction. Why is going to fortune tellers a sin? Self-hypnosis and faith in otherworldly forces are a sin, since a person should not try to find out and change his God-given destiny. Carrying out rituals allows the souls of the dead into the world of the living, which paralyze the will of a person. Obtaining information and pre-solving problems related to it, leading to getting ahead of the future, subsequently cause regret, and retribution can result not only in deterioration of health, but also in troubles in your personal life.
Can baptized people go to fortune tellers?
A baptized person, cleansed of sins, after the sacred sacrament becomes a member of the Church of Christ and gains the protection of God. By coming to the fortune teller, he deviates from the foundations of the church. Forecasters foresee the future by entering the spiritual world and, perhaps, can see the truth, or can convey the information that the spirits themselves program for the future. It is believed that fortune tellers, magicians, and sorcerers acquire their gift by signing an agreement with the devil himself, and by joining the services of fortune tellers, a baptized person turns away from religion and true beliefs.
"Fun" activity
Such pagan tendencies become especially noticeable on the eve of the festive two-week period from Christmas to Epiphany, which is popularly called Christmastide. If true believers of the Orthodox Church strive to spend this time in prayerful joy, attending services and doing good deeds, then non-church and superstitious people use these days for festivities, accompanied, as a rule, by drunkenness and overeating. Often such festivities (especially in women's groups) are accompanied by all sorts of customs and amusements, among which there is, for example, fortune telling about the betrothed, children, and fate. But if some people regard fortune telling as an innocent pastime and a means of having fun, others, on the contrary, driven by dissatisfaction with their position in life, as well as morbid curiosity and the desire to know their future, attach special importance to it. But both of these relationships are equally dangerous for a person’s spiritual health, because such actions, wittingly or unwittingly, make him a hostage to certain circumstances or plunge him into the realm of magic and push him to meet the demonic world.
Unfortunately, the current media also contribute to the great popularization and interest in all kinds of fortune-telling. Psychics, healers, and molfars, as experts in folk traditions, broadcast from television screens, explaining how such rituals should be carried out correctly in order to obtain the required result.
In ancient times, fortune telling was an integral part of pagan mysteries. The life of a pagan unenlightened by the Divine Light was entirely subordinate to the forces of nature, which had to either be submitted to or find a way to force them to serve themselves. Ancient man believed that everyone born on earth has his own destiny, prepared in advance for him by an unknown providence. In order to find out some circumstances and events in advance, as well as with the hope of influencing their fate, the pagans began to resort first to the help of priests, and then to carry out certain rituals on their own.
Fortune Teller Abilities
Fortune tellers, unlike mediums, obtain information by assessing certain values. For example:
- Card reading. The most famous and popular fortune teller cards are the Tarot, the layout of which in various combinations, with certain meanings of the symbol of each of them, tells the story of the past, present and future. This type of fortune telling is considered the most common.
- Fortune telling on coffee grounds. A special pattern of settled coffee grounds at the bottom of the mug is associated with some event that should soon come true. This kind of fortune telling is considered more accurate.
- Wax fortune telling is another type of deciphering the resulting image from frozen wax.
- The most unique way to foresee the future is a prediction ball, which is widely used on the Internet.
Fortune tellers do not have direct contact with spirits, which is why fewer mediums are trusted. An experienced fortune teller will not give direct answers to the questions posed, but will point to the only correct answer through the subconscious. Most often, she uses cards or a fortune ball.
