Should I pursue this "foresight"?

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WatchfulPilgrim

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I don’t know how far this thread will go, and I didn’t know exactly where to post it.

I have had several instances the past couple of years that have me questioning my faith. I have had a lot of instances of foresight - seeing things before they happen - sometimes just seconds before they happen, and sometimes months. I ignored it at first as crazy thoughts, but so many of those thoughts came true. I’ve been told that it’s demonic spirits and I should ignore them, but I have tried to do that and yet I still have moments of foresight that I do not welcome. I have recently found out that my mother’s side of the family had a seer (my great-grandmother) and my father’s side of the family have often been contacted by the dead (w/out trying…).

This all freaks me out a lot, and has me wondering how spiritual any of it is, or, if it is spiritual, if it is from God. I worked with a priest for a while, but things got so scary and intense that I stopped telling him about it - I have kept it mostly to myself lately. There definitely has been an evil element in all of this, but I’m not sure if it’s something I’m supposed to be scared of. I seem to have a lot of people popping into my life that are satanic or suicidal - and I have been praying for them. I seem to be really sensitive to evil and knowing when something bad is going to happen, or if someone is involved in something evil. There are so many instances of this lately that it would take a lot to relate them all. At this same time I also have an exorcist in my community that I have happened upon. I have thought the whole thing so superstitious in the past, but considering what’s been going on, I wondered if I’m supposed to be working with this person.

Meanwhile, for the past 8 years I have had a lot of association with a very conservative Mennonite congregation and they think the whole thing is demonic. God is light and there is no darkness in Him, and there is a very dark element to all of this; the uncertainty of where it comes from, if I should shut it out or pursue it, the fact that I try to avoid the darkness of the world and these things keep coming into my life. I know when I start really praying and sacrificing for these situations my whole family seems to be affected in a negative way - there has definitely been demonic activity in the home a few times the past couple of years, and always in connection to my trying to intercede.

I mostly want to know what your opinions are. And please don’t tell me to ask a priest - I already have and it just seems to make it worse. It’s very uncomfortable to talk about and I’d rather do it this way, and get lots of people’s advice than to just seek out one. This priest is very young and inexperienced and doesn’t take the time to listen to me. So many things happen that by the time he can see me again I can’t possible tell him about it in the tiny amount of time he gives me.

I recenlty happened upon a program about how studies have been done on the brain that show that everyone tested showed brain activity that proved that the human brain is aware of what is about to happen just moments before it happens, even if people are not conscious of it. I’ve also read about the pituitary gland and “6th sense”. It doesn’t seem very spiritual at all when I consider the science that proves this is not so unique, except, maybe, that I am good at stimulating that part of my brain.

(sigh…) so many questions - very perplexed… Faith is shaken, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next. Am I supposed to try to shut this off? Should I be concerned when it happens w/out my trying? Should I pursue it?

Thanks~
 
I have a similar story, and I have no really good advice for you. You know what happened to Padre Pio: the more he prayed and suffered, the more God allowed Satan to afflict him.

But - we all have natural talents and psychism is one, IMO. Now, you can be a great composer and write music to glorify the Fatherland of Nazi Germany (Wagner) or you can write great soaring music to glorify God (Bach and Handel). So, the talent is a thing of nature, but the inspiration and the way to use it, comes from God.

I won’t even have a regular prayer practice anymore because of no spiritual director. If I had some advice for you, it would be to go talk to the exorcist. I also wonder of you’ve thought of entering a religious order?
 
Julia_Mae said:
I have a similar story, and I have no really good advice for you. You know what happened to Padre Pio: the more he prayed and suffered, the more God allowed Satan to afflict him.

But - we all have natural talents and psychism is one, IMO. Now, you can be a great composer and write music to glorify the Fatherland of Nazi Germany (Wagner) or you can write great soaring music to glorify God (Bach and Handel). So, the talent is a thing of nature, but the inspiration and the way to use it, comes from God.

I won’t even have a regular prayer practice anymore because of no spiritual director. If I had some advice for you, it would be to go talk to the exorcist. I also wonder of you’ve thought of entering a religious order?
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I understand what you are trying to say, but please get your history straight. Richard Wagner did not compose any of his music with the Nazi’s in mind. He was in his grave for 6 years when Hitler was born. Wagner died in February, 1883 and Hitler was born in April 1889.
The Nazi’s subverted Wagner’s music for their propaganda purposes as they did for most of German culture.
As for other things, Are you aware that the tune to “My Country 'Tis of Thee” is the same as the British “God Save the Queen” and the Imperial German National Anthem “Heil dir im Sieger Kranz” are all the same?
 
I have known people that had foresight from demons - for instance someone close knowing they would be shot in the head years before it happened and talking about it sometimes (he dreamed about it).

I have had demons show me violence before it happens as well - normally right before or in dreams. Be careful - they will plant fake dreams to make you paranoid as well. Remember that the harvest happens when it is meant to.

It’s all in good fun. The fallen angels do God’s will unintentionally.

Whatever you do - don’t bother talking to a regular priest. They will tell you to see a medical professional lol 🤷

God is in control anyways so just enjoy the ride and laugh at the demons - they are working in your favor. ALL things work for the good of believers. Fallen included.
 
It isn’t something one speaks about generally therefore foresight is both a gift and a curse. The question arises what do you do with the knowledge that you receive? If its being used for good as in if you get a feeling about something and you use it to help someone or do you use it for your own personal gain. If it is the first suggestion then all the better. If it isn’t, then you need to do some soul searching. Every time you get the gift bring it to the Lord and ask God to guide you. Discernment becomes vital. I also suggest that you are careful with whom you talk about it with. Many church denominations don’t understand it. They believe it is demonic and will treat one differently.
 
SecretGarden said:
It isn’t something one speaks about generally therefore foresight is both a gift and a curse. The question arises what do you do with the knowledge that you receive? If its being used for good as in if you get a feeling about something and you use it to help someone or do you use it for your own personal gain. If it is the first suggestion then all the better. If it isn’t, then you need to do some soul searching. Every time you get the gift bring it to the Lord and ask God to guide you. Discernment becomes vital. I also suggest that you are careful with whom you talk about it with. Many church denominations don’t understand it. They believe it is demonic and will treat one differently.
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It normally is demonic… Maybe sometimes not but I have never seen or heard of an instance where it didn’t at least appear to be.

That doesn’t make your post invalid - ALL things work for the good of believers.
 
Julia_Mae said:
I also wonder of you’ve thought of entering a religious order?
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Hi Julia,
Go talk to the exorcist as in, to see if I should be helping him? Or to see if he can exorcize me?

I have struggled with my Catholicity for about 10 years. Before that time I nearly entered the Secular order of Discalced Carmelites.

The last time these occurrences got really intense, I ended up not going to Mass anymore. Things get very intense when I have a Catholic devotion, which, quite frankly, led me to be scared of the Catholic Church, and all of my non-Catholic associates were begging me to get out before it got any worse. And I was pretty resolved to do that, but even still I would wake up in the middle of the night “prophesying” (for lack of a better explanation). It took about a week for things to cool down, and it’s been a few weeks since then, but just a few days ago I had an instance of foresight again even though I have been rejecting it as much as possible.

I just can’t see how it could be from God. We aren’t supposed to know what the future holds. I’ve always thought this was something of the occult. Even in the Book of Acts Peter casts out a “spirit of prophesy” from a woman, but maybe that was b/c some men were making sport of it? I’m not even sure I can do it at will, and the few times I have given it my attention I was so overloaded with information that I could scarcely function with practical everyday life. And one time, no, twice actually, I went into a very strange surreal state where I was anticipating everything just a few seconds ahead and was actually able to adjust the way I’d do things to prevent mistakes before I’d make them. That probably sounds fantastic, but I question how godly such an ability could be. Life isn’t supposed to be that way. How does one take up one’s cross if they are living in a surreal state of mind where everything can be done effortlessly? I tried to explain it to the priest as though (speaking of composing) life were a song that I knew really well. I play the piano, and when I get into one of these states it’s as though I am playing a song I don’t know but somehow know every note of it as I am playing. I have experienced moments of “flow” while playing the piano in the past, and that’s about the best I can explain these experiences.

Oh, and lastly, usually when things get intense I have a migraine. That’s another reason I question my faith in all of this. Is the pituitary glad somehow getting stimulated in an unusual way? The only reason I reject this idea is b/c there seems to be a demonic element to it.

When things get intense, at first even my usually irreligious family are pursuaded it’s from God - everyone goes to confession and starts getting more serious about their faith. But inevitably then strange things start happening around the house and everyone starts freaking out. My youngest daughter was even seduced into opening her window from the second floor in the middle of the night b/c she heard someone calling her in the middle of the night - and she is usually afraid of the littlest thing in the night. I don’t know how she didn’t get scared - and thankfully she didn’t fall out! Doors open by themselves, something flew off a wall, things turn on by themselves in the middle of the night… It’s like we all go through a period of being intimidated - and this actually makes us persist even more - and eventually it does stop and I usually end up in that strange state in the end. But last time my non-Catholic friends warned me that the demonic activity wasn’t b/c I was doing something for God, but b/c I was entertaining an evil spirit. They had me so scared I ran as fast as I could from my Catholic association and didn’t look back. Until now…

“God is light, and there is no darkness in him.”… “Resist the Devil and he will take flight.” I may have had some moments of foresight since then, but nothing scary has happened. I realize that as Catholics you will all try to persuade me to go back to the Sacraments, but regardless of whether or not I ought to go back to that, isn’t it more likely all of this is not from God? There is so much in Scripture about false prophets and great signs and wonders and warnings associated with them. Besides this, I don’t know how useful any of the information I get is. I knew a young man was violent and a couple of months later he committed suicide, but all I knew was that he was violent, and the thought was so crazy to me that I didn’t trust it. Now I feel guilty, but what could I have done? Tell his parents “Hey, I have a feeling your son is going to do something violent. I have no proof, I just have a feeling”??? I also knew someone in a family had mental illness and a couple of weeks later the son in the family had a mental breakdown, but I didn’t know which family member had the mental problem. What good was that? I did pray for the family, but I don’t know what more I could have done. Now there’s a woman in our community that I used to run into a lot when I was a teenager (25+ years ago…) that we dubbed “Satan lady” b/c she was noticeably disturbed - looked homeless and would walk around babbling and often would say “Satan” under her breath. She has suddenly been showing up at places I go after having not seen her in over 25 years. I have prayed for the woman, and I don’t know what more I can do than that.

Sorry for so much in answer to a simple question!
 
…and to complicate matters further, one of the reasons I am Catholic in the first place is b/c of events like this (which is another reason my non-Catholic friends don’t believe it is from God 🤷 )… Being woken up in the middle of the night with information I could not have known and having it confirmed immediately… Like one night I was woken up with information about the necessity of the church trying to relate to other cultures in an effort to convert them - I was given the name Kateri Tekakwitha and it turned out the next day was her feast day - no way I could have known that - it was a total miracle as far as I was concerned. In fact, one of the reasons I have any faith in God at all is b/c of some unbelievable answers to prayer. It has me wondering if my answers aren’t so much answers as they are my knowing when to pray about something; b/c I know the “answer” is about to come…

:confused:
 
I doubt God will let a demon pretend to answer your prayers or affect your communication with Him in any significant way.

Then again - I don’t have a clue.
 
FaithInTheLord said:
I doubt God will let a demon pretend to answer your prayers or affect your communication with Him in any significant way.

Then again - I don’t have a clue.
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lol… Well, I appreciate your opinion, even if you feel clueless! 🙂

I am concerned that this is the Devil’s way of keeping me from the truth and from what I need (Sacraments) - and he’s succeeding if that’s the case - and secondly, I am concerned that there is no religious tie to any of this in the first place, and that this is totally an issue of being able to stimulate the pituitary gland. I’ve even looked for other scientific explanations, like brain tumors, etc… (thinking of the movie “Phenomenon”).
 
…on that line of thought…

I have read that in some cultures it is believed that people who have migraines have the ability to tap into the spirit world. I don’t know if I buy that, or if it’s just a religious way of answering a more natural question. Maybe migraines cause some stimulation of the right parts of your brain that alter your state of consciousness or something like that.
 
The physical world is a skin for the spiritual world.

That is my strong belief.

I do not believe migraines are a sign of spiritual connection that is abnormal but then again - I don’t have a clue!

I doubt it is your pituitary gland…

If it makes you feel better keep looking for scientific explanations why not? I doubt you will find evidence of any scientific explanation that is concrete though…

Might not be demons at all. Could be a gift! That’s something you will have to discern.

Could be that your crazy…? What do I know 👍 . You don’t seem crazy but I don’t seem to have a degree either haha…

edit: If it is keeping you from God and the sacraments as well… I wouldn’t question the source. It is definitely not God…
 
FaithInTheLord said:
The physical world is a skin for the spiritual world.

That is my strong belief.

I do not believe migraines are a sign of spiritual connection that is abnormal but then again - I don’t have a clue!

I doubt it is your pituitary gland…

If it makes you feel better keep looking for scientific explanations why not? I doubt you will find evidence of any scientific explanation that is concrete though…

Might not be demons at all. Could be a gift! That’s something you will have to discern.

Could be that your crazy…? What do I know 👍 . You don’t seem crazy but I don’t seem to have a degree either haha…

edit: If it is keeping you from God and the sacraments as well… I wouldn’t question the source. It is definitely not God…
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Well, that’s the thing. It is pulling me into Catholicism, but I am resisting b/c I’m not sure it is from God. So it is my reaction to these things that is keeping me from the Sacraments - it isn’t the supernatural (or whatever you want to call it) “stuff” that is keeping me from the Sacraments - it is my own fear and skepticism of these things. Whether or not that = not-from-God… I cannot say.

Anyway, this is really uncomfortable for me… I’m praying for an answer. That’s all I can do…
 
…thanks for sticking with me, FaithInTheLord~ Even if you feel unequipped. 👍
 
WatchfulPilgrim, your situation doesn’t sound good. Please go see the exorcist you mentioned and discuss with him exactly what you’re going through. It’s his job to know whether what you’re experiencing is from God or demonic, and if it’s demonic, then he should be able to help you with it. If it’s from God, then he should be able to direct you to do something prayerful with it. God generally doesn’t give people experiences that drive them away from the Church. Padre Pio may have had experiences with Satan, but the sacraments are what supported his strength. I’ve read another post similar to yours–someone who was able to read thoughts after playing an occultic game, but for him it ended up causing pride. He got an exorcism and hasn’t been able to do it since. It has given him great peace to be free.
 
WatchfulPilgrim said:
Well, that’s the thing. It is pulling me into Catholicism, but I am resisting b/c I’m not sure it is from God. So it is my reaction to these things that is keeping me from the Sacraments - it isn’t the supernatural (or whatever you want to call it) “stuff” that is keeping me from the Sacraments - it is my own fear and skepticism of these things. Whether or not that = not-from-God… I cannot say.

Anyway, this is really uncomfortable for me… I’m praying for an answer. That’s all I can do…
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All I can say is if it is demons - they know your weaknesses and will try to play on them. Whether or not that is happening I can not say.

Seek and you will find…

If it is just your skepticism and the two are unrelated (I can not say) then your problems are not quite as complex!
 
I know what you mean about the priests by the way…don’t bother…the modern church is more of a social gathering thing from what I have seen…sad situation.

Whether or not to pursue it is your decision.

Like I said I can only speak on foresight that comes from demons… I don’t know any “seers” or anything like that.

I have seen violent events in my dreams before they happen… Hasn’t happened for a while though.

You are right to not want to talk about it in person. I wouldn’t want to be called crazy either!

I have tried to talk about demonic activity in person - most people including Catholics are modernized skeptics who trust science… I can not blame them. Before I met two demons I would have been skeptical too I guess…

If you do pursue it please be careful. You could be playing with demons (very likely are) and you know what they say about playing with fire…Of course I could be wrong.

Remember to ask the angels for help whenever you feel you need it…they are always there.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
I understand what you are trying to say, but please get your history straight. Richard Wagner did not compose any of his music with the Nazi’s in mind. He was in his grave for 6 years when Hitler was born.
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Thanks for telling me that. I hope OP will take my point and your facts.
 
WatchfulPilgrim said:
Hi Julia,
Go talk to the exorcist as in, to see if I should be helping him? Or to see if he can exorcize me?
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Neither, just talk to him. Tell him what’s going on and ask his opinion and advice. This is the kind of priest who really knows his stuff on the topic and will not dismiss you. Take him to lunch or something.
I just can’t see how it could be from God. We aren’t supposed to know what the future holds.
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Jesus did.

I want you to think about the option that it isn’t “from God” or from anywhere else. It’s just a natural ability. If you have perfect pitch or total recall, these are not things from God or the devil. Neither is psychism.
I’ve always thought this was something of the occult.
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Well, stop it. First, get an informed professional opinion about what “this” is. And proceed from there.
And one time, no, twice actually, I went into a very strange surreal state where I was anticipating everything just a few seconds ahead and was actually able to adjust the way I’d do things to prevent mistakes before I’d make them. That probably sounds fantastic, but I question how godly such an ability could be. Life isn’t supposed to be that way. How does one take up one’s cross if they are living in a surreal state of mind where everything can be done effortlessly? I tried to explain it to the priest as though (speaking of composing) life were a song that I knew really well. I play the piano, and when I get into one of these states it’s as though I am playing a song I don’t know but somehow know every note of it as I am playing. I have experienced moments of “flow” while playing the piano in the past, and that’s about the best I can explain these experiences.
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I don’t think it’s strange. I get it. For me it was like - like in a movie where a guy falls asleep in a chair and a transparent version of himself rises up from the body, where I was in a state where I was mostly living in the “higher” self, like I lived above myself and was only anchored to the world by my physical body. I could understand things in that state that I couldn’t express “back in” my body because all we have is analogy - it’s impossible to convey these knowings in human language.
When things get intense, at first even my usually irreligious family are pursuaded it’s from God - everyone goes to confession and starts getting more serious about their faith. But inevitably then strange things start happening around the house and everyone starts freaking out. My youngest daughter was even seduced into opening her window from the second floor in the middle of the night b/c she heard someone calling her in the middle of the night - and she is usually afraid of the littlest thing in the night. I don’t know how she didn’t get scared - and thankfully she didn’t fall out! Doors open by themselves, something flew off a wall, things turn on by themselves in the middle of the night… It’s like we all go through a period of being intimidated - and this actually makes us persist even more - and eventually it does stop and I usually end up in that strange state in the end. But last time my non-Catholic friends warned me that the demonic activity wasn’t b/c I was doing something for God, but b/c I was entertaining an evil spirit. They had me so scared I ran as fast as I could from my Catholic association and didn’t look back. Until now…
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Another good reason to speak to the exorcist. Invite him to your home. But you don’t need less Catholicity, you need more. You might need him to do a kind of exorcism of your house. You need to do family prayer, have holy water fonts by doors and use them. You need daily Mass and for everyone to wear blessed sacramental objects: medals and rosaries.

You might also ask if these things in the house started as one of your children approached or entered puberty. That’s a whole other possibility. The exorcist will know about that.
Besides this, I don’t know how useful any of the information I get is. I knew a young man was violent and a couple of months later he committed suicide, but all I knew was that he was violent, and the thought was so crazy to me that I didn’t trust it. Now I feel guilty, but what could I have done? Tell his parents “Hey, I have a feeling your son is going to do something violent. I have no proof, I just have a feeling”??? I also knew someone in a family had mental illness and a couple of weeks later the son in the family had a mental breakdown, but I didn’t know which family member had the mental problem. What good was that?
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See, now you are back to basic psychism. I have no idea what good it does, most times, except we can pray for them. (Sometimes there is quire practical and useful information, too!) There are ways of controlling and using these gifts. You can PM me about that if you want, but what you need to do is be as close to God as possible as often as possible. It isn’t because I’m Catholic, I’m a convert and all of my stuff started as a result of the intense prayer life I pursued right after my conversion. But I know one thing: whatever else we might sometimes doubt about how the Church is run, everything the Church teaches about God, about Christ, about the Eucharist, about the Communion of Saints and miracles, it’s all real.

The Catholic Church, and I’m sure all the Catholic churches and I think the Orthodox, all the ancient churches that have a valid Eucharist - this is where we most assuredly enter into true communion with the Divine. Every priest isn’t an expert - but generally exorcists are.

I once spoke with one of the exorcists involved in the famous case that book and movie were based on. Huge strong man, powerfully holy man. Go find the one you know about. That’s my advice. And take his.
 
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