Spiritual Warfare: Is Divination Evil?

Hey, everyone.

So, whilst I was thinking of topics to write about on the subject of ghosts and whatnot, I realized I didn't know a lot about ghosts. When it comes to the paranormal, I'm more of a cryptozoologist. But then I remembered, there is one other topic I'm well-versed in when it comes to the paranormal: spiritual warfare.

Well, I'm not well-versed, but I'm certainly no layman. From my Catholic background, I eat this stuff up. Hell, my first serious novel, Remnants of Chaos: Chaotic Omens, is about demon slayers, and the concepts of the world and enemies are based on Catholic doctrine and Catholic demonology. Back when I was a youth minister, I actually led a few "seminars" in which I lectured on the book An Exorcist Tells His Story by Fr. Gabriele Amorth. And since then, I've garnered quite a few resources on exorcisms, demonic activity, and spiritual warfare.

So, that brings us back to the blog post for today. Originally, I was going to try to tackle the theory of what ghosts actually are, but my sister knows a hell of a lot more on that subject than I do. So instead, I decided to look at a subject that gets a lot of attention and buzz, but one that many mainstream religions don't seem to look at in depth, and that is...

That's right; is divination evil? Now, I said this is a topic that many mainstream religions don't seem to look at, but it is one that many of them have taken a stance on. So, the question is, is their stance justified? Is their attitude banning the use of divination a fair cop? Let's take a look at divination and see if we can't puzzle something out.

The Mainstream Perspective

So, to begin with, I want to look at the mainstream perspective of divination, and with my Catholic background, this should be a cinch.

So, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2115 says this:

God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

Now, paragraph 2115 seems a little on the fence about divination. On the one hand, God can reveal what He may to whom He pleases, but the Catechism is urging every mother's son what calls himself a good Christian to place himself under the Providence of God. Providence, when capitalized, means divine guidance or care. So, 2115 is a bit vague, but paragraph 2116 lays down the law:

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

So, that seems quite clear on the subject as whole. But, there are a few problems:

1. Most psychics who use divination don't work in a capacity to control time, history, or other people. In fact, many psychics, including card, palm, and rune readers, use their gifts to help others find their way out of troubled situations and inform them which path of life is best suited for them at the current moment.

2. Many diviners will tell you that while they can predict the future, they don't necessarily. They use their talents or methods to "read" the current energy of the universe so as to see the issue from an outside perspective so they can then advise their clients or themselves on the best course of action. In fact, something palm readers will tell you is that your future is "in your hands, not on them."

3. As for the mention of clairvoyance and mediums, the Catholic Church has documented and recorded several moments of psychic phenomenon that they saw as God given. For instance, Ed and Lorraine Warren were the only two laymen ever allowed to conduct exorcisms because of their talents. St. Padre Pio is documented to have been psychic, and could even levitate and bilocate. And, both me and my sister have our own psychic abilities: my sister is a bit of a medium and I possess clairsentience.

So, although the Catechism was written as the be all, end all book on Catholic beliefs, there seem to be a few things it leaves out. Hell, I could go on with even more exceptions where people of the faith have had psychic or intuitive experiences. And, the objections from psychics and diviners go on as well. Speaking of which...

The Diviner's Perspective

Now, this seems obvious at first glance. Of course diviners of all sorts are going to say that divination isn't evil. But, there was an article I found, and it bugs the hell out of me that I can't find it now, that was doing some myth busting on Tarot. One of the myths was whether or not Tarot was evil. I didn't read the analysis that went with it, but the TL;DR notes said something along the lines of "sort of" or "can be."

Now, before you all fly off the handle, let me explain how and why I think the person writing the blog came to that answer. But first, a story. This story is about a girl who got a Ouija board, better known as a witch board, for Christmas. During her interactions with it, it said it was going to kill her uncle. The girl's mother, fearing what could happen, took holy water and blessed the board. From then on, the board never answered any question directly and only said things like "time will tell." And the uncle didn't die.

But, there is another story where a boy and his aunt were messing around with a witch board, and what followed their dabblings was a nightmare for both of them as the boy became horribly possessed by a demonic entity and required a fierce exorcism to cleanse him.

Now, that first story I told about the witch board, that girl was my sister, the girl's mother was my mother, and the uncle was my uncle, and it is all 100% true. As for the second story, that's 100% true too, and is the real-life story for the inspiration behind the movie The Exorcist. So, what can we learn from these two stories? Firstly, not everything that comes out of a witch board will come to pass, but if you're not careful when using one, sh*t can hit the fan. So, where does that leave us on the topic of divination?

Well, the way I look at it is this: there are supernal powers out there: positive, negative, and neither, and they want to be found. So, they will do what is necessary to be found. Hell, I once asked a very devoted Catholic woman that if I got a quarter, had it blessed by a priest, and then flipped it before a major decision, would God use it to communicate with me. Her response was that God would talk to me through a fortune cookie if He thought I'd listen to it.

The point here though is that Tarot, runes, scrying, witch boards, etc. create an opening to us from external sources. Obviously, this is problematic as we have no way of controlling what comes to us, although many psychics and readers will say things like "imagine yourself surrounded with light" or "that only the very best advice comes out of the reading." This is their way of making sure evil doesn't interfere with their readings, but honestly, as a person raised Catholic and as person who is well versed on the trickery of the Devil and who knows the efficacy of invoking God's name as a means of dealing with evil, why bother with all this light and "very best" garbage? Just go straight to the source. You may say, "Oh, well, I don't believe in God like you do," or "I'm not Catholic." That's not an excuse. You're messing with forces with which you are a plaything. Take it from me, having God the Father watching your back works, and it works a damn sight better than all that new age crap. But that begs the question can divination be used under God and still work?

Well, that's a difficult question to answer. I've been doing my research, and there's a lot of stuff written about this. One such thing comes from the book of Deuteronomy, 18: 10-11:

Let there not be found among you anyone who causes their son or daughter to pass through the 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.

Basically, this says everything that Catechism 2116 said. But, by mentioning the Catechism 2116, I'm sure you all remember me bringing up paragraph 2115 which said "God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints." So, what makes these "prophets" special that they can receive visions of the future but others can't?

Well, the biblical definition of "prophet" is different from what we think. According to an article on Judaism 101, a prophet is a "person chosen by G-d to speak to people on G-d's behalf and convey a message or teaching. Prophets were role models of holiness, scholarship and closeness to G-d. They set the standards for the entire community." And in regards to the act of prophecy, the webpage says further "prophecy is not a gift that is arbitrarily conferred upon people; rather, it is the culmination of a person's spiritual and ethical development. When a person reaches a sufficient level of spiritual and ethical achievement, the Shechinah (Divine Spirit) comes to rest upon him or her. Likewise, the gift of prophecy leaves the person if that person lapses from his or her spiritual and ethical perfection."

But, that isn't to say that divination is totally banned. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, the proper method for people to inquire about the future was to use the prophets, use dreams since "God would often reveal Himself to His chosen ones in a dream," and could consult the Urim and Thummim, a type of "lot oracle." If you Google them, they look like flat discs and were probably used a bit like dice. So, if God allowed for these sorts of practices, does that mean they're okay?

I'm not too sure. Honestly, I'm not going to give my blessing one way or the other. I have dabbled in runes and Tarot, but I use them as a means to communicate with God since He tends to be a quiet talker. I mean, Matthew 6: 25-34 tells us not to worry about anything and that God will provide all that we need. "Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil." But, there are times when sometimes we do need a bit of extra or immediate guidance. In those cases, I believe in asking God to send you sign, but make sure you establish what the sign is and what it means so that God can communicate effectively with you. (Remember my question about the quarter?) In that case, some methods of divination such as runes and Tarot might be permissible, but use your own judgment and always proceed with caution.

Next week, I think I'll continue with the spiritual warfare theme and I'll be giving some tips on how one can recognize demonic activity. A lot of people are quite ignorant of how evil works and what it looks like. So, that should be quite useful.

Keep writing, my friends.

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How to Use Tarot to Write A Story

Hey, everyone.

So, while I was perusing Pinterest, I came across two images that used Tarot card spreads in order to create a character and build story. So, I'm going to test this out for you and see how it comes out. I'm going to be using Nordic runes and Tarot just for some variety. But, just so you know, there are typically 78 cards to a Tarot deck and there are only 24 or 25 runes per set, so the runes are more likely to repeat. I also chose to let inverted/reversed runes and cards affect my interpretation. And to distance myself from their pagan origins, I'll be calling my runes by their 4th century Gothic names instead of their original names.

All right, let's get started.

7-Card Story Starter

Runes:

1. Dynamic Character: Inverted Uraz (Challenge)
2. Fatal Flaw: Fe (Abundance)
3. Battle Opponents: Gaar (Harvest Time)
4. External Conflicts: Eyz (Movement)
5. Interpersonal Conflicts: Inverted Bern (Birthing)
6. Internal Conflicts: Waer (Transition)
7. Desired Goal: Sugil (The Divine Source)

Analysis:

So, looking at the runes, there are something interesting things here. For the character, I got an Uraz rune which means "challenge," but it was inverted which actually means a really rough challenge or "being gored in the game of life." The others aren't that difficult to figure out, but the one that's got me confused is that battle opponents came out as Gaar, which is a rune that typically references the harvest and includes themes like "time to grow," richness or ripeness, the fertile season, and festivity. Now, I have no idea how to write bad guys who represent such things unless I interpret things loosely. So, what do we have then?

Story:

A man who has had a difficult life is seeking a relationship with God. But, he has a problem: he's a miser who has collected an immense wealth and knows that if he wants to be closer to God, he has to get rid of his money. But, things become dire for him when his adversary, a crooked accountant, sends mercenaries after him to collect a "fee." To add to that, the man is a paraplegic and can only get around by wheelchair. Meanwhile, his wife is threatening to leave him if he gives up his money and abort his first child. All of these problems stem from the fact that he wants to make a change in his life from being material to being ascetic.

Story Analysis:

Sounds like it might make a decent drama, maybe even an action film. And what I ended up doing was interpreting the baddies as being "harvesters" with the whole idea of them coming to collect a non-existent fee. I decided to put him in a wheelchair to show off how challenging his life has been already. One could argue that his life is about to get really challenging with everything going on around, but I wanted a more direct interpretation of Uraz.

Alright, let's look at the Tarot cards I got.

Tarot:

1. Dynamic Character: Inverted Four of Swords (Recuperation)
2. Fatal Flaw: Nine of Pentacles (Gain)
3. Battle Opponents: The Devil (Material Bondage)
4. External Conflicts: Six of Wands (Victory)
5. Interpersonal Conflicts: Inverted Three of Swords (Sorrow)
6. Internal Conflicts: Nine of Cups (Happiness)
7. Desired Goal: Six of Pentacles (Success)

Analysis:

For the most part, this seems like a straightforward enough reading. But, the problem comes when we introduce those inverted cards. It's easy to assume that inverted or reversed cards or runes mean the exact opposite, but that isn't always true. Looking at the reversed Three of Swords, that means something along the lines of "a conversation that needs to happen," or "the revelation of a painful truth." And then, a reversed Four of Swords means "restlessness" or "burn-out," which unfortunately sort of contradicts what I just said about how a card upside-down doesn't just mean the opposite.

Course though, what you could do is say phooey to all that reversed business and only accept your cards or runes right side up. But, just for fun, let's try it with the reversed meanings.

Story:

Our character is burnt out on life because he's constantly seeking gain, he wants to be a success because he has a strong desire for nice things and possessions. He's constantly looking for a victory here or there, but is always unable to, and he's never happy with himself or his life. To make matters worse, his boss is hiding something from him that could make or break his future.

                                                                

Story Analysis:

Honestly, this one was easier to write because the factors are so interwoven. Unfortunately, because they're so interwoven, it's difficult to give them all their own distinction in the story. Basically, it's a story of a greedy bastard looking for his big break that get him whatever he wants. Do I really need a paragraph to put that together? No. The other problem with this story idea is that it is only the premise of the story and not much of a story by itself. I know the spread is called "Story Starter," but sometimes a book's premise is the easiest thing to come up with, and writers don't really need help with that.

Character Profile

All right, so the first one was more for a story starter, possibly the blurb/teaser you put on your book to make it sale. Sort of like a trailer for a movie. This next spread is more designed to build a character rather than to set a story.

Runes:

1. Hero: Inverted Utal (Home)
2. Outward Quality: Sugil (The Divine Source)
3. Inward Quality: Iiz (Danger)
4. Goal: Inverted Chosma (Flame)
5. Motivation: Fe (Abundance)
6. Stakes: Bern (Birthing)
7. Flaw or Need: Aza on its side pointing right (Breath [as in communication or from God])
8. Source of Flaw: Giwa (Exchange)
9. How the Flaw Affects the Goal: Waer (Transition)

Analysis:

At first look, none of these are all that confusing until you get to #7. Some of you may be wondering what the hell I mean by "on its side pointing right." Well, I used to read runes, and the way I practiced, I allowed for reversed runes and runes on their side. For runes on their sides, I read ones pointing left as being mostly reversed, and those pointing right, I read as mostly right side up.

So, what do we have?

Story:

Our hero is an outcast who seems very religious, almost like a cleric, priest, or monk, but he's either got a dark side, or he's a thrill seeker. Going with the idea he's got a dark side, his goal is to burn or destroy someone else because he's been promised a huge reward. If he doesn't, there's a possibility that an evil child will be born, but there's a problem: he can't really communicate with his god to finish his mission because the last item he offered as a sacrifice to his god was rejected, ergo he has difficulty trusting his god that doing this mission will result in his being reconciled and he's thinking of abandoning his faith.

Story Analysis:

This idea was interesting to start off with because he sounded like a good guy, but he may have actually been a bad guy. But, because the stakes surround a birthing, he could be a good guy who gets things done the wrong way, like a lot of 80's fantasy action heroes. So, I thought that this might make for an interesting fantasy story with a lot of grey morality. It actually sounds like the typical anti-hero story. I might bookmark this idea for later.



Tarot:

1. Hero: The World (Completion with the Universe)
2. Outward Quality: Ace of Swords (Seed of Victory)
3. Inward Quality: Inverted Four of Cups (Luxury)
4. Goal: Inverted High Priestess (Wisdom)
5. Motivation: Page/Jack of Wands (Exploration or Discovery)
6. Stakes: Judgment (Facing the Facts of Life)
7. Flaw or Need: Inverted Six of Pentacles (Success)
8. Source of Flaw: The Devil (Material Bondage)
9. How the Flaw Affects the Goal: Nine of Swords (Cruelty)

Analysis:

For this one, I said screw the potentiality of the reversed cards meaning a whole bunch of stuff, and I just decided to wing it. So, I'm going to read reversed Four of Cups, High Priestess, and Six of Pentacles as being the opposite of what they mean when they're right side up.

Story:

This guy is very similar to the guy from the rune reading and the other Tarot reading. He's a monk who lives as an ascetic. There's a mystic aura to him; when people meet him, they get the feeling he's destined for greatness, but he shuns the claims because he knows that greatness can lead to luxury, but as an ascetic, he's always uncomfortable when in luxury. Meanwhile, he's on an adventure to find a mystic artifact because he wants to hide it away from the world thinking it's dangerous for other people to have it as it may reveal some knowledge about the world that the world doesn't need. His flaw however is that he could definitely fail because luxury makes him uncomfortable because it's something that tempts him away from his proper path. As result, he seeks his goal with a tenacity and fervor that borders on mania, and he can be quite short with people who get in his way.

Story Analysis:

So, again, just like the rune reading, many of these elements stepped on each other's toes. Personally, I don't think you need to lay out a character's motivation if he has a goal because the goal should be the motivation. Sure, you can want to save the world because you want to save your family, but you're also saving the whole world. You can have a goal and a motivation, but it isn't necessary. And, the stakes should be obvious from what the goal is; you fail the goal, the stakes happen.

And then, looking at the character's qualities, those can very easily coincide with or be the same as the character's flaw. But I will admit that source of the flaw and how the flaw affects the goal are definitely interesting separate qualities that can add a layer of dimension to the story that many writers may not have thought about.

But, anyway, this story again strikes me as a fantasy story due to its themes and the character I got.

Overall Analysis:

I think the first method is much more streamlined; it's sort of like the abridged version of the second method. And, while they did turn out some interesting possibilities in character and story, I wouldn't rely totally on this method to create a story, or at the very least, to make a novel. I want a bit more control over my novel's story. But, both methods can help the writer think about virtues, vices, and character traits that a writer may not have thought of. Plus, you can choose to use what you want.

In conclusion, I may still use these methods to craft a story, but I'll keep my final say in what happens, and the story I create will be more along the lines of a short story rather than one of my precious novels. In general, I think both methods are somewhat useful, and I prefer the second method, but they're both fun. I encourage you to try them out for yourself and see what you get.

Keep writing, my friends.

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