Is checking your horoscope for fun a sin?

[AdamC]

Sometimes I look at mine for a chuckle, and I think to myself “Man, a lot of people are going to received an unexpected gift today!” or something like that. Sometimes, if I pick up the paper later in the day, I look at it and think “Well…that didn’t happen.”

Or I’ll say to my cousin “Let’s see what the star demons have to tell me today.” Just joking around, kinda mocking the horoscope.

In other words, I don’t take it seriously. I know that God knows my intentions, but I just want to know what the Church might think of this.

And if this is a sin, are fortune cookies? What about those placemats at the Chinese food restaurants? Or magic 8-balls?

Seriously, I’m not trolling.

 

[prstoessel]

No.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Adam, I’m with you and prstoessel. I don’t see that as harmful.

I don’t know what the Church says, though, to be honest.

I do know what some Catholics on this website are likely to say, that you’ve “opened a door” to allow evil to come in, by having anything to do with superstitious nonsense.

I’m not afraid of getting a little dust on my shoes, in an effort to befriend and understand other people. It looks bad to some, but it doesn’t IMO affect whether I can walk in the shoes.

I don’t agree with an absolutist “open a door” prohibition. Frankly, I consider that more paranoid and superstitious than the horoscope itself.

First, let’s agree for a moment that practicing and believing in superstition, the occult, whatever horoscopes are called, is evil and dangerous. If I were to put on blinders that prevented me from even seeing that evil, then I have placed arbitrary limits on my God-given ability to see and observe. Any good competitor, whether in sports, academics, or any other field, benefits from knowing the tactics of the enemy. And not just in books, but actually observances in person or on video, for example. Does it hurt or threaten team A’s performance if they view videos of team B playing someone else? Of course not; if it did they wouldn’t do it. Neither, says I based only on personal opinion, does observing and walking near things used by people who are evil – whether they even realize they are against me or not – open the door for our weaknesses. More likely it shows us whether we need some weatherstripping around the door.

That said, if I am to search my heart for what I consider “absolute” possible things, I do have this concern.

If you laugh and say, “oh my gosh. I couldn’t have come up with this myself,” then I think you might be OK. If you say, “the people who do this stuff are fools; thank God I’m not a fool like them,” then I think you’re walking on thin ice.

My :twocents: , anyway.

Alan

 

[svid2]

Silly? Yes. A sin? No.
I don’t look at them at all. When I was a kid I believed them, so I avoid them as a near occasion of sin. But if you don’t have that issue, go ahead.
If someone is reading them (and maybe believing) and asks my sign, I tell them I don’t have one. If they ask me when is my birthday, I say, “Once a year.”
By the way, do you use the old signs, or the new ones?

 

[benidict]

Sometimes I look at mine for a chuckle, and I think to myself “Man, a lot of people are going to received an unexpected gift today!” or something like that. Sometimes, if I pick up the paper later in the day, I look at it and think “Well…that didn’t happen.”

Or I’ll say to my cousin “Let’s see what the star demons have to tell me today.” Just joking around, kinda mocking the horoscope.

In other words, I don’t take it seriously. I know that God knows my intentions, but I just want to know what the Church might think of this.

And if this is a sin, are fortune cookies? What about those placemats at the Chinese food restaurants? Or magic 8-balls?

Seriously, I’m not trolling.

If any of these practices had any merit. The practioners would be at the top of their game with Wall Street, the Lottery, etc. Its all bunk. LOL! I like to check them out, just to see how far off they are. You will meet a dark and hansome. man…Really? they are all dark where I am at! Couldnt really judge if theyre handsome though. I like women…

 

[AlanFromWichita]

If any of these practices had any merit. The practioners would be at the top of their game with Wall Street, the Lottery, etc. Its all bunk. LOL! I like to check them out, just to see how far off they are. You will meet a dark and hansome. man…Really? they are all dark where I am at! Couldnt really judge if theyre handsome though. I like women…

http://bestsmileys.com/lol/5.gif

Alan

 

[valentino]

Sometimes I look at mine for a chuckle, and I think to myself “Man, a lot of people are going to received an unexpected gift today!” or something like that. Sometimes, if I pick up the paper later in the day, I look at it and think “Well…that didn’t happen.”

Or I’ll say to my cousin “Let’s see what the star demons have to tell me today.” Just joking around, kinda mocking the horoscope.

In other words, I don’t take it seriously. I know that God knows my intentions, but I just want to know what the Church might think of this.

And if this is a sin, are fortune cookies? What about those placemats at the Chinese food restaurants? Or magic 8-balls?

Seriously, I’m not trolling.

No.For thies reason.How would you react if you r horoscope proved true to you?Would you check it again? What say if out of curiosity as you say you checked a third time and in your mind it came true?By now you may actually begin to believe in it.Your playing with fire.dont be decieved.Leave i t alone.HOro scopes ,fortune tellers,ect.make predictions of things to happen us with a broad based answer.Ex.they dont say you’ll find a job selling cars today.They say this is yoour lucky day you’ll find a job.If you’ve been looking and are presently still looking its possible you"ll find a job.But it would be unlikely you would find a job selling cars if that wasn’t what you were seeking.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

No.For thies reason.How would you react if you r horoscope proved true to you?Would you check it again? What say if out of curiosity as you say you checked a third time and in your mind it came true?By now you may actually begin to believe in it.Your playing with fire.dont be decieved.Leave i t alone.HOro scopes ,fortune tellers,ect.make predictions of things to happen us with a broad based answer.Ex.they dont say you’ll find a job selling cars today.They say this is yoour lucky day you’ll find a job.If you’ve been looking and are presently still looking its possible you"ll find a job.But it would be unlikely you would find a job selling cars if that wasn’t what you were seeking.

May I offer a slight rewording of what I think you’re getting at, that would help you see if I’m understand you as far as how it applies to my own outlook?

You are right that statistical correlation does not mean causation, but some people can easily believe or feel that to be the case. But is that a matter of degree?

If I flip a coin and it comes up “tails” twice, I’d think little of it. If I flip it 10 times I ask myself, “is the coin rigged?” The absolute answer is, “we can’t tell from here.” A reasonable assumption is, “there is a good chance that it is.”

People fall for believing wrong things all the time, including assuming one thing causes another when it isn’t the case. Everything I read on facebook, for example, is subject to going through my “baloney filter” before I adopt it.

We should learn to know ourselves well enough that we know how likely we may be sucked into temptation. If you are Jesus, then party with the outcasts and the sinners. If you are subject to temptation, then stay away from them unless and until you grow out of it. The hand cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you.” It might say, “right now I’m handling food so I need to stay away from you.” We may not have what it takes to deal with societal rejects, but in God’s creation there are people who do. I cannot imagine doing what Mother Theresa did, nor can I see myself doing the work of Father A.

I think your way of looking at it is just as valid as mine, and I think a person is wise to know his own heart and not go into situations where you will likely be successfully tempted.

Alan

 

[Padraig1972]

Leave the hor(ror)oscope alone and trust in the Lord. That is my advice.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Leave the hor(ror)oscope alone and trust in the Lord. That is my advice.

I like your advice. I also like to enjoy the peace that the Lord brings – and expects me to enjoy – through the storm.

If I am to evangelize, I must trust that the Lord will protect me from the error of the ways of those I am trying to bring to Him. Most people don’t have that vocation, probably.

Honestly, if I am to take “trust” to the extreme, I have to believe that was I just read – that you typed – is exactly what God, working through His Spirit, would have me be looking at, right now.

That is, unless I intentionally or accidentally separate myself from Him.
Ps 22:4 (DR 1899):

For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.

Alan

 

[benidict]

What is the difference between reading the Horoscope and playing with the futures market? The OP is not losing any money reading these. And it is less risky than going to an investment broker, and listening how he is predicting the future with YOUR money. No one seems to have a problem with That practice. Read your horoscope and have fun my friend. May I also suggest Dear Abby, and the daily crossword. Goodness. :coffeeread:

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Leave the hor(ror)oscope alone and trust in the Lord. That is my advice.

False dichotomy.
Reading a horoscope does not automatically entail a lack of trust in God.
This goes especially if you’re anyone like me who reads that stuff for lulz.

Horoscopes are no different from black cats, Tarot cards, crystal balls, and good luck charms. It’s no more than silly superstition.

P.S.

This is a little off topic, I admit, but I do like some of the the ways artists draw out the symbols and signs of the Zodiac. That doesn’t stop the things stated by the horoscopes they’re in from being downright ridiculous at times.

I once saw a bedside astrologer from Cosmopolitan when my classmates and I visited a friend’s house. People nearby didn’t really know what I was reading but they never stopped wondering why I was snickering for quite a long while that day. Who’d have thought that superstition with a socialite flavor could be several times sillier?

 

[Padraig1972]

False dichotomy.
Reading a horoscope does not automatically entail a lack of trust in God.
This goes especially if you’re anyone like me who reads that stuff for lulz.

Horoscopes are no different from black cats, Tarot cards, crystal balls, and good luck charms. It’s no more than silly superstition.

P.S.

This is a little off topic, I admit, but I do like some of the the ways artists draw out the symbols and signs of the Zodiac. That doesn’t stop the things stated by the horoscopes they’re in from being downright ridiculous at times.

I once saw a bedside astrologer from Cosmopolitan when my classmates and I visited a friend’s house. People nearby didn’t really know what I was reading but they never stopped wondering why I was snickering for quite a long while that day. Who’d have thought that superstition with a socialite flavor could be several times sillier?

OK, so you call my advice for false and dichotomy. That is fine.
But it is my personal advice and not teaching of any kind.

Just for the record.

 

[christwithin]

Hi,
To start out I just want to point out that I was raised Orthodox Catholic and Orthodox Jewish. For this site I will only refer to my Catholic side of growing up.

The Zodiac and my religion seem to be combined without explanation from the authorities. Like the Pope and our church leaders let’s say. All I get is stay away from it… On the other hand the Pope or even our world leaders really on the stars for all their public appearances and historical planed events. Also I have notice many depictions of the Zodiac at the Vatican. I even saw the Zodiac on the furniture. I ask myself why would this be hidden from us and why is it being used by the Vatican? I know the Bible at one point was band for common people to use. That is why you could only read it in the dead language of Latin till King James and the printing press. Could the secrets of the Zodiac be hidden in our Holy Bible? Why was Jesus born on the Winter Solstice? Why was John the Baptist born on the Summer Solstice? Any time numbers appear in the Bible more than likely they refer to the patterns of stars and planets and how they affect us. Keep in mind the Bible stories are only stories and you have to figure out the true meanings yourself unless you are an initiate of the Mysteries.

If you are of a scientific mind then you should know we humans are made up of mostly water and like the tides of the oceans we are all subjected to the planets and the stars movements. If you were not subjected to magnetic fields then you would explode or implode upon yourself. We are all made up of electrons and protons outside of that we don’t really exist in the physical world. I will end by giving you these questions: Is Christ the Son or the Sun? Are you Christ? Do you have the same alignments as the havens? How many heavens are there?

 

[ahs]

Just in case there those who don’t know the line between taking horoscopes seriously and only as a joke:

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2116 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.48 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.

You can find more about the First Commandment here:
vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7E.HTM

-ahs

 

[ahs]

On the other hand the Pope or even our world leaders really on the stars for all their public appearances and historical planed events. Also I have notice many depictions of the Zodiac at the Vatican. I even saw the Zodiac on the furniture.

Can you provide any basis for this claim? And are you sure you are not mistaking the “zodiac” on furniture for the symbols of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? (Those symbols are in relation to the way in which those men were called, professed their Faith and spread the Word of God, by the way…nothing to do with the stars…). Given the explicit teaching against such things in the Church, I believe you are gravely mistaken.

 

[fred_conty]

Haven’t you better things to do?

 

[yablabo]

Just in case there those who don’t know the line between taking horoscopes seriously and only as a joke:

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2116 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.48 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.

You can find more about the First Commandment here:
vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7E.HTM

-ahs

AHS -

I’m glad you posted what the Catechism has to say. Obviously the CCC does not differentiate between consulting the horoscope “for fun” or for the purpose of gaining some hidden knowledge. It says that consulting these here listed “conceal a desire for power over time, history, and…other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers.” Pretty heavy stuff to consider.

– Nicole

 

[Hastrman]

Can you provide any basis for this claim? And are you sure you are not mistaking the “zodiac” on furniture for the symbols of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? (Those symbols are in relation to the way in which those men were called, professed their Faith and spread the Word of God, by the way…nothing to do with the stars…). Given the explicit teaching against such things in the Church, I believe you are gravely mistaken.

No, he’s right, there are Zodiacs all over the place throughout Christian art. But they have no divinatory significance, they’re just either decorated calendars (a zodiac is a form of calendar, and it wasn’t rare for them to go with sundials and clocks), or an artistic representation of the passage of time and cycle of the seasons.

Personally I don’t think checking the horoscopes is wrong, though I think it would be wrong (because superstitious) if you were checking it with even the slightest bit of belief. But it would also be wrong to check it purely to mock the people who do believe in it, as showing a lack of charity.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Personally I don’t think checking the horoscopes is wrong, though I think it would be wrong (because superstitious) if you were checking it with even the slightest bit of belief. But it would also be wrong to check it purely to mock the people who do believe in it, as showing a lack of charity.

I don’t know man, some of the stuff I’ve read in horoscopes do tend to be ridiculous when applied to me. On the other hand, I find it amusing whenever they were spot on.

I guess it depends on how far making fun of it starts becoming uncharitable.