New Age

[Simonne]

Hi
I,m looking for info on a new age practice . This has to do with finding your personal number to find your personality.
Talking to a couple of people who have gone to one of those sessions, I told them it was New-Age stuff but they don,t believe me.
They said that if I could show them documents from the Church saying it was not Catholic, they,d like to see them.
Can anyone help me in this matter?

God Bless
Simonne

 

[water]

I don’t think you can find an exact phrase regarding personal number and personality. However, you can question them about personality. Would they believe that a personality can be changed? How could it be changed? Can we change on our own power or by the help of God and His graces?

For instance, if my number is 13, would that make me a terrible person for the rest of my life? Would I ever be changed to become a better person?

New Age is a dangerous thing. Satan is very evil and wicked. He learns not to deceive people by total false but he uses 1/2 truth and 1/2 false. Unfortunately, many fall for this.

 

[LilyM]

The practice you’re referring to is called numerology. It is EXACTLY the same in all respects as astrology, only instead of discussing the influences of the stars and planets, it discusses the influences of numbers assigned to names or birthdates.

Ask your friends - if anyone started describing their personality based on their starsign would they believe them? Would they consider it occult? What’s the difference then with describing your personality based on some arbitrarily assigned number? God and you alone determine your personality, your present and your future - not stars, not your name or birthdate or numbers derived from them, not anything else!

Show them websites like this to demonstrate the links between numerology and other New-Age practices.

 

[Bennie_P]

Hi
I,m looking for info on a new age practice . This has to do with finding your personal number to find your personality.
Talking to a couple of people who have gone to one of those sessions, I told them it was New-Age stuff but they don,t believe me.
They said that if I could show them documents from the Church saying it was not Catholic, they,d like to see them.
Can anyone help me in this matter?

God Bless
Simonne

Enneagrams is the practice you need information about. Fr Pacwa has a very good book were he talks about how he fell into its trap and why it is anti-Catholic. I would suggest that you read the following document from the Vatican, this article by Fr Pacwa and pick up a copy of Fr Pacwa’s book on the New Age, these should be a good start for you. Hope these links help.

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
JESUS CHRIST
THE BEARER OF THE WATER OF LIFE
A Christian reflection
on the “New Age”

Enneagram Article

Catholics and the New Age. How Good People are being drawn into Jungian Psychology, the Enneagram and the New Age of Aquarius, by Mitch Pacwa s.j., Ann Arbor MI (Servant) 1992.

 

[Jan2]

Thank you for posting this thread. I work at a Catholic college and every year, we have a retreat given by a former nun and have gone through several of these types of “New Age” practices that I wasn’t aware of being damaging, but my soul told me otherwise.

The one year we did the Enneagram, it was during Lent and I became so uncomfortable and discouraged during this session, it is really hard to describe, and I can only say that my soul was letting me know that there was something wrong with what I was doing.

I am starting to see the deception behind these practices and have tried to tell others, and in doing so, was reprimanded by a priest that I can’t tell others that what we are doing is wrong.

On our next retreat, we are going to work with the mandalla (which we have done once before) and I am still unsure if this is something that I should stay away from and if so, what could I suggest as an alternative to do on our retreat.

 

[Bennie_P]

Thank you for posting this thread. I work at a Catholic college and every year, we have a retreat given by a former nun and have gone through several of these types of “New Age” practices that I wasn’t aware of being damaging, but my soul told me otherwise.

The one year we did the Enneagram, it was during Lent and I became so uncomfortable and discouraged during this session, it is really hard to describe, and I can only say that my soul was letting me know that there was something wrong with what I was doing.

I am starting to see the deception behind these practices and have tried to tell others, and in doing so, was reprimanded by a priest that I can’t tell others that what we are doing is wrong.

On our next retreat, we are going to work with the mandalla (which we have done once before) and I am still unsure if this is something that I should stay away from and if so, what could I suggest as an alternative to do on our retreat.

It is going to be very hard to stand up against these type of things, I have found so much of it being intertwined into the Church and so many that seem to be blinded to it. But continue in prayer and challenge it with knowledge. The link to the Vatican was written to teach and expand the knowledge of those that are suppose to be our leaders in the Church about the dangers and how to minister to those that have fallen into the many different traps of New Age, but I have seen many disreagard it.
My prayers are with you.

 

[Simonne]

Thank you everyone for the info. This website is awesome and thank the Lord I found it. There is a lot of liberal thinking in our parish that is causing me to feel alone in my traditional thinking.
I love to be involved in parish comittees but I,m looked at as the oddball sometimes when I try to let them know to beware of New Age influence going on behind the scenes.
We have a good priest but he,s being transfered at the end of June. He preached the truth but didn,t like to rock the boat. A feminist clique ( as I call them ) gave him a lot of trouble and heartache in the 5 yrs in the parish.
This clique is planning on getting back on comittees when the new priest takes charge, and it scares me.
The Church will prevail and I plan to do what I can to help but I think it,s going to be a rough ride.
Again thank you all. I,ll be sure to check the documents you suggested and go buy Fr Pacwa,s book
God Bless, Simonne

 

[pink]

Hi
I,m looking for info on a new age practice . This has to do with finding your personal number to find your personality.
Talking to a couple of people who have gone to one of those sessions, I told them it was New-Age stuff but they don,t believe me.
They said that if I could show them documents from the Church saying it was not Catholic, they,d like to see them.
Can anyone help me in this matter?

God Bless
Simonne

Tell them to show you documents from the church saying it is.

Better yet, tell them to ask their priest.

Tell them to look in the New Age and Metaphysics section of the book store. There they will find all of that, astrology, numerology, psychics, tarot cards… Tell them if they are right, they won’t find it in that section, but this will prove them wrong.

They won’t find it in the Religion section.

Here is a link for example.

amazon.com/Ancient-Wisdom-New-Age-Numerology/dp/1853689831

 

[Bennie_P]

Tell them to show you documents from the church saying it is.

Better yet, tell them to ask their priest.

Tell them to look in the New Age and Metaphysics section of the book store. There they will find all of that, astrology, numerology, psychics, tarot cards… Tell them if they are right, they won’t find it in that section, but this will prove them wrong.

They won’t find it in the Religion section.

Here is a link for example.

amazon.com/Ancient-Wisdom-New-Age-Numerology/dp/1853689831

The problem is if they are? teaching the enneagram, there have been Catholics that have written pro-enneagram books on the subject, but the Vatican link I gave and the book by Fr. Pacwa gives warnings against thier use.

You can find alot of New-Age material with a Christian twist to them in the Religious section of book stores.

 

[Debra_C]

Hi
I,m looking for info on a new age practice . This has to do with finding your personal number to find your personality.
Talking to a couple of people who have gone to one of those sessions, I told them it was New-Age stuff but they don,t believe me.
They said that if I could show them documents from the Church saying it was not Catholic, they,d like to see them.
Can anyone help me in this matter?

God Bless
Simonne

I would think this would be characterized as a form of divination–just as using astrological signs or the Chinese Zodiac to predict personality traits.

It is dangerous in a few ways-- at best it promotes superstition and/or a tendency to accept false assumptions and at worst could become an excuse for why this person is predestined to commit some sort of sin and therefore is not responsible for his/her actions. And of course, if there is no actual sin because it is just part ofthat person’s personality, there is no reason to try to reform one’s life either.

As for Church documents… the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) is not particularly specific on what falls under New Age or diviniation parcatices, but it does condemn them unequivocably accross the board:

Paragraph 2115

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.

Paragraph 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.

The surrounding paragraphs are also of interest to this topic and can be found online at usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt1.htm .

Also the Bible itself repeatedly condemns all forms of withcraft, wizardy, sorcery, divination, summoning the dead, temptation to trust spirits other than the Lord, etc.

Ezekial 13:1-10; 1 Samuel 15:22-25; 2 Kings 17:6-23; 2 Kings 21:1-9; Sirach 34:4-7

 

[christcnection1]

I experienced many mystical and supernatural things through numbers, but it brought me from atheism, to Evangelical Protestantism, and then to Catholicism (with points in between).

That being said, I don’t believe numerology as new agers understand it, is from God. They don’t call the devil the father of all lies for nothing. Is all numerology straight from the devil? I doubt it; however, it’s not worth the risk. The Church warns against similar practices.