I'm scared for my friend

[Reepicheep]

Prayer always helps even though it might take time to see the effects.

Yes.
“The continual prayer of a righteous man availeth much”.

I’ll keep you in my prayers, Vulneris, and your friend Nathan also

 

[m134e5]

I have a friend, let’s call him Nathan, who is an active practitioner and believer in psychic ability. And…I don’t doubt what he can do. He bent the spoon (literally, no tricks) before my eyes, with his “mind.”

Okay, that’s great…mind over matter he says. He’s almost what I’d call a spiritual atheist. I don’t want to push my beliefs on him too much, but I almost feel like he’s mucking with dangerous forces. He’s joked to me that he’d sell his soul for the ability to do more than just the spoon. (He also knows my religious background)

When I tell him that he may already have, and that this is actually the devil’s magic, he just laughs. What should I do? Praying just isn’t working, and I don’t feel that it’s enough at this point.

Pray to Saint Michael the Archangel for him…and if I were you, I would stay away from him.

 

[Zooey]

I don’t want to overwhelm anyone with technical jargon but this is an example of what magicians call a “trick”.

I can remember, years ago, on the old Johnny Carson show, that there was a “psychic” who was supposed to be able to bend silverware…and he could not do it, because Johnny (who started out as a magician) set up the ground rules.
Johnny explained on a later show, that any competent magician can appear to do the same thing, but it is all a sleight of hand trick.
Now, I don’t know what other things “Nathan” may be into, and I agree with all who have recommended prayer, and I agree that consulting a priest is a good idea; but I am just saying, that as far as bending spoons being an example of psychic power, its actually an example of having learned a magic trick.

 

[JonW]

Its just a trick, folks. I have seen it done a few times, and more than once it was explaied that it is just a trick, an illusion. We should be using our prayers for the evils that the enemy is actually hoping will go under our radar. Parlor tricks should not be cause to fret. If anything, they are a distracion from the real problems we face.

God Bless

Jon Winterburn

 

[cerad]

Not all of it is a trick. And you can’t be so quick to call it such, because…well, according to the Book, this stuff exists. And according to the Book, this stuff is real. Also, he’s been involved in this kind of thing for a few years, has been trying to bend it(the spoon) for at least a year.

Let me put it this way, if your friend pulled a rabbit out of an empty hat would you then start being concerned that you friend was creating life out of nothing? Thats got to be be way more evil than bending a spoon.

 

[Tiago_Paolini]

It can also be just a magic trick, I saw illusionists or magicians doing it a couple of times. There are nothing of “ocultist” here if you ask me.

 

[RubyT]

Can he bend a spork?
http://dgs.greenhome.com/prodpix/te_spork_detail.jpg

ha ha ha ha ha good one TOP.

Here is my :twocents:

Let’s say for the purpose of debate that this is a true ability and not just a trick. As humans we cannot discern the source of special human abilities. We do not have full knowledge of the universe that our loving Lord has created. Perhaps God has created some people with unexplainable abilities. Space, Time and the metaphysical realm are all created by God thus I say IMHO we do not know the source of this ability. I think there are many mysteries that God has not revealed to us, perhaps this is one of them.

Perhaps God created this ability in all of us but few people have enough interest to pursue the ability. Such could be true of physic abilities or remote viewing. We just don’t know; all else is mere speculation. Thus my answer, who knows?

Is it spiritual or just a physical phenomena? Man has only begun to scientifcally delve into the space, time and matter interrelationship which our Lord has created.

It is always a good idea to discuss unusual abilities or events with your Priest.

 

[PoliSciProf]

The spoon bending trick is some slight of hand first popularized by Uri Geller who also claimed to be a “psychic.” This gave him great cover when he couldn’t pull his tricks off. He just said that his “powers” weren’t working because there too much scepticism. What a racket!. James Randi exposed this third rate magician as other posters have pointed out. What bothers me about this post is the large number of posters who seem to really think that because they don’t understand such “magic” it must be diabolical. I can do a few tricks that perplex people (I can break a pencil with a dollar bill–I tell the gullible that it is an old Ninja skill!!!). Randi has said that physics professors are often the easiest to fool because they have an unwarrented confidence in their own knowledge and powers of observation. A little mis-direction here and there and you too can have a reputation as a “psychic.” Your first thought ought to be “what’s the gimmick?” rather than seeking out a priest. They are busy enough anyway with real serious spiritual matters.

By the way, it was Geller who was exposed on the Carson show, with the help of James Randi.