Dear Baba - I am curious to know where the Church stands on horoscopes and visiting psychic readers.

My dear, come sit down and have a cup of tea as we talk about this.  Your question is a very serious one and deserves a good and thorough conversation.  First of all, you must understand that you are made in the image and likeness of God.  As such, you are born with a free will.  This basic tenet you must keep firmly in your mind as we discuss your question.

Horoscopes are based on a series of astrological signs - each reflecting a constellation of stars that appear during a certain period of the year.  The foundation of this belief is that who we are is not based on free-willed beings made in the image and likeness of God but rather beings subject to the what stars happen to be visible on the day we were born as this rock called Earth hurtles through its orbit.  So not only will your love life, career success etc be determined by the stars,  it goes further to say that your very personality is defined by this and you have no choice in the matter.  The church rejects this.  Pagans were drawn to Christianity because they could get away from this nonsense.  It is hard to imagine any joy in a life that is driven by starlight and not from the light of God.   

Are being stubborn or free-spending or reckless-in-love traits of your ‘sign’?  I can show you people born throughout the year who have those traits and people born under the same sign who have none of those traits.  So it goes with every one of the characteristics ascribed to each sign of the zodiac.  

There is another aspect too that is very dangerous.  We want to say that our flaws and faults are out of our control - that we can’t help but be stubborn, reckless, temperamental or whatever.  It is somehow easier to say we’re stuck with it because of the stars.  Therefore, we don’t have to discipline ourselves as there is no hope for improvement.  No hope – now that is a demon-fed tragedy.

So why do we turn to the horoscope or worse yet to a psychic?  Could it be because we want a peek into the future or maybe we want to justify our bad behavior in the present? We can say it is in fun, but often we want just a little reassurance that things will be ok and we are ok just like we are.  We want to be reassured that love awaits us, or perhaps the perfect job, or even good health.  

If your horoscope said you would have good health this week and tomorrow you wake up feeling very good and healthy, would you believe the horoscope came true?  What about someone else born the same day you were who falls ill?  It may seem like an empowering peek into the future but it simply is not. We turn ourselves into victims of the stars that have no power over us.

Nicola Krause wrote in her Theologic Family Life series (http://www.theologic.com):

“Our Lord Jesus Christ taught His followers to distinguish true prophecy (that is, predictions made by men commissioned by God Himself to speak) from false prophecy, such as astrology:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
(Matthew 7:15-20)

If predictions from one source come true again and again, He says, the source of the predictions is ultimately the all-knowing God — these are the “good fruit”. If the predictions fail, the source is not God — and the predictions are “bad fruit”!

But our Lord includes a warning, too! False prophecy is enticing, because it often says what we weak and sinful humans want to hear:   Our daily horoscope promises us that we will be successful, come into a huge amount of money, or find true friendship or romance today.

At the worst, this type of prophecy looks like a harmless diversion or amusement: ‘Will the predictions come true? Let’s see!’ But our Lord points out that the lure of false prophecy is destructive, wolfish. False prophecy takes our focus away from God, the all-powerful Creator, and the choices we must make carefully every day if we want to come closer to His kingdom.”

She goes on to offer a challenge.  If you or someone you know really is starting to believe in their horoscopes, clip them for a week and put them in an envelope (without reading them).  Have the person write down every major good or bad thing that happened to them each day over the week.  At the end of the week compare.  Was it 100% right on?  I think we both know the answer – of course not.  So why dabble with it? Why play with it?

You also raise the very important issue with visiting psychics.  We need to distinguish between the average psychic setting up shop and the prophets and even the saints who were given the gift of clairvoyance.  Rarely did the second group bring good tidings of joy, health, wealth and happiness.  Prophets usually were run out of town or killed because their message was calling people away from their sinfulness.   

Think of your own reaction to good news and bad news.  What if you were told your soul would be required of you tomorrow?  You would spend your last day in prayer and repentance yes?  But would you have any urgency at all in growing closer to God if you were told you would have riches and love?  You would focus your day not on God but on finding the love of your life.  Your entire focus of the day would be chained to earthly things.  The demons would rejoice.  They would have succeeded in keeping you from growing closer to God; or as the Scriptures and Church Fathers exhort us...’taking up your Cross and following Christ.’

Do you remember the story in Acts chapter 16 about the girl who was a great source of income to her masters through her fortune telling?  The apostles freed her from the possession of the demons who spoke through her.  It was not her gift but demonic.  And the reaction of her masters?  They had the apostles arrested for spoiling their source of income.  So if you were to go into a psychic’s shop, who would get your money and whose words would you hear?

But what is a clairvoyant then?  Do people really have a gift?  Yes.  It can indeed be a gift from God for the salvation of souls and the glory of God, but not for material wealth or earthly success.  Ascetics, and others who have truly humbled themselves, can at times be given a gift of seeing into people’s hearts and souls and offering them advice and guidance.  Again, this is for their salvation on a very personal level.  And the words are usually not silken and easy.  

Do you remember the story in 1 Samuel Chapter 28?  Saul had fallen far with his sinful ways and no longer felt that God was answering him when he prayed.  So instead of repenting, Saul instead chose to consult with the Witch of Endor so she could conjure up Samuel for him in the hope Samuel would get God to answer.  When Saul was in his right mind, he had forbidden such things.  But temptation to get a sneak peek into the future got the best of him.  Samuel appeared to him alright.  But it is also important to note that absolute shock in the witch’s reaction as she screamed out in surprise – she wasn’t used to things actually happening.  But Samuel’s words were not what Saul went there to hear.  But they were words from God.  Saul had fallen very short of what he had been anointed as the king of Israel to do.  He and his sons would die.

So what would you get if you went to a psychic?  Would they sit with a deck of tarot cards?  Would they look at lines on your hand?  Do you really trust that?  Who would be speaking to you?  No, my dear, that is for neither one of us.  You can see that if what you are really after is guidance and wisdom, then the best person to turn to is your spiritual father.

Here, my dear let me pour you another cup of tea.  I’m so glad you came to me with that question.  Now I may not be psychic, but I do believe one of my freshly baked goodies is in your immediate future.

With enveloping hugs;
Baba