Witchcraft - Opinions

[ConnorMM]

yes they are

 

[PetraG]

Her entire family are Christian (father’s side catholic which is her gran’s son)

If she had a Catholic grandmother, her grandmother would NOT approve of tarot cards or divination.
Her grandmother would want her to pray rosaries for her and have Masses said for her and for her to remember to practice the faith her grandmother passed on down. I mean she brought up her son Catholic and would have hoped that none of her grandchildren would lose the faith. This loss of the faith is a heartache for so many Catholic parents and grandparents!!

yes they are

I would chalk up what she’s doing to grief. Don’t condemn her, but do encourage her to do what her grandmother would have done for her relatives who passed away. Pray for the dead, including the dead her grandmother would have prayed for. The Catholic faith is the greatest family treasure her grandmother had to hand on…

 

[halogirl]

No. Don’t get involved in this. As a Christian you have chosen to ‘reject Satan and all his empty promises’. That’s all this is

 

[Sarcelle]

Tarot cards are a form of divination.

I would steer clear of this. It’s like playing with fire.

 

[MPat]

I don’t see a problem with it as she hates the Devil and doesn’t attempt any ‘evil’ magic.

Are you sure there is any other kind?

See St. Thomas Aquinas “Summa Contra Gentiles”, Part 3, Chapter 104 (https://dhspriory.org/thomas/ContraGentiles3b.htm#104) and “Summa Theologiae” Second Part of the Second Part, Question 95 (https://dhspriory.org/thomas/summa/SS/SS095.html#SSQ95OUTP1).

Basically, you should ask yourself (and her), how is all that supposed to work?

For example:

The reason I ask is because when she read my tarrow I gave her a question that’d be impossible for anybody to know, and she came up with the correct answer.

So, what’s the mechanism?

Is there no mechanism? Then she just got lucky, but pretends otherwise. That’s stupidity, perhaps fraud (if she knows she’s just lucky, but pretends otherwise).

Is she using something like “cold reading”? That’s definitely fraud.

Is she relying on some properties of cards? Then think: what those properties could possibly be? I suspect that you won’t be able to think of anything reasonable.

Is she relying on the help of some spirits? Then ask, if those spirits are good.

In order to find that out, remember that you have said she claims not to try “evil” magic. Therefore, she acknowledges that there is magic which she also considers to be evil. Now, ask yourself: would that be possible, if the spirits on which she depends were good?

As you can see, none of the possibilities (stupidity, fraud, collaboration with evil spirits) is good.

 

[Angel_Gabriel]

At the root of witchcraft is the desire to CONTROL everybody around them

Agreed 100%. I’ve thought that for a while now; that the allure of neo-paganism is in the desire to control things. there is no concept of self sacrifice and denial. I used to work with several neo-pagans and wiccans. Scary stuff really…

 

[snarflemike]

She’s only 15 she doesn’t mean any harm

But the demons that prowl the world mean nothing but harm, including to 15 year old girls, and this is one way they gain entry and influence. My son, in his late teens, had a friend who was into all sorts of occult things, and one night (it was actually one Christmas Eve!) he told me story after story of demonic apparitions that made my hair stand on end. I’m talking stuff you might see in a movie, but he witnessed it when with this person.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Just don’t be involved with it.
Being 15 years old creates an even bigger risk of demonic influence.

 

[halogirl]

I’m not proud of this but I did spells and stuff when I didn’t get what I wanted when I was younger . Have been to fortune tellers and done horoscopes. I confessed it all. The priest was laughing as he thought it was a load of b.s. but all this stuff represents not trusting in God. And that’s the reality. You want to get some Inside info and it’s not from a good place

 

[PetraG]

Just don’t be involved with it.
Being 15 years old creates an even bigger risk of demonic influence.

At 15 we have more risk of the boldness of youth. There isn’t any safe way or safe age to dabble in the occult, but a 15 year old is more likely to go into any dangerous activity with the thought that “I have no bad intentions, and since I mean no harm I can feel safe that I’ll do no harm.” It is that way with reckless driving, pranking their friends and the list goes on and on. A 15 year old is less likely to believe that the common sense in boundaries applies to her and more likely to believe bad things happen to other people.

 

[PetraG]

I’m not proud of this but I did spells and stuff when I didn’t get what I wanted when I was younger . Have been to fortune tellers and done horoscopes. I confessed it all. The priest was laughing as he thought it was a load of b.s. but all this stuff represents not trusting in God. And that’s the reality. You want to get some Inside info and it’s not from a good place

To a priest, the ones I know who have made any comment on the occult all say they have stories that would stand your hair on end. They are adamant about telling the faithful to avoid occult practices of every kind the way you’d be adamant about telling grade school kids to stay away from playing on power lines. It doesn’t matter if you think it is all b s. Don’t get close to it.

 

[Wesrock]

The reason I ask is because when she read my tarrow I gave her a question that’d be impossible for anybody to know, and she came up with the correct answer.

And? It’s immoral and explicitly called out as forbidden for Catholics in the Catechism.

 

[Neithan]

I used an Ouija board once when I was a kid. The “question” that was asked and the “answer” I got still bothers me to this day (I’ve confessed this to a priest experienced with spiritual deliverance). Don’t play with this stuff: even if you think it’s all quackery it’s not psychologically healthy, let alone spiritually.

 

[Margaret_Ann]

Everything you mentioned are sins against the First Commandment.

True story #1
When I was in college, my roommate had a Ouija board. I can’t remember participating (it’s almost 30 years ago) but gave me the creeps.

True story #2

Once I had a co-worker (non-Catholic) who prevailed upon the then-book buyer to get 2 books by Edgar Cayce, against the wishes of the owner. (Btw, Edgar Cayce sold himself to the devil at age 13.)

My Catholic co-worker told me that one should burn evil books - NEVER give them away or throw them out. They must always be burned.

I bought the books so no one else would buy them and took them home in a paper bag.

The Friday before Palm Sunday my parents and I were relaxing at home. Mom & Dad were in the kitchen - he read the paper and she played solitare. I was sitting in the recliner (just as I’m doing now), the TV off, and all was peaceful.

Suddenly, I heard a voice - not an audible voice, but I heard it nonetheless - say: “BURN THOSE BOOKS NOW!”

I was so scared I jumped an inch off the chair, got up, started tearing up the books (paperbacks), and burned them in the fireplace.

As the books were burning - sorry, this is the only way I can explain it - the demons in those books came out and it felt like they were strangling me.

I looked up at the Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict (which was blessed by a Benedictine priest with the traditional Benedictine blessing and exorcism!) on the fireplace mantel and exclaimed: “JESUS, MARY, ST. BENEDICT - HELP!!!”

Immediately - and I mean IMMEDIATELY - the demons left.

My parents were still in the kitchen and didn’t say a single word.

---

In the name of Our Lady of Sorrows, I beg you: stop allowing your friend to involve you in these diabolical practices! Take your friend to a priest who can help you. Ask him to get an exorcist if he can’t help you.

Do not fool around with the devil!
Your soul and the soul of your friend are at stake.

Precious Blood of Jesus, save us!

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!

St. Joseph, terror of demons, pray for us!

St. Benedict, pray for us!

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. AMEN.

 

[Socrates92]

 

[esieffe]

These tools, candles and tarot cards, this is an effort to obtain secret knowledge. Secret knowledge is the province of the preternatural. [the enemy] Mysteries and hidden knowledge [I prefer making a distinction] are the province of the divine.

One of the symptoms of possession the exorcists look for when evaluating a case is secret knowledge. Where do you think that comes from? Who do you think is behind those tarot cards? I can’t say or wouldn’t suggest that one session with a deck of cards is going to unleash the hordes of hell but at the same time, if you hang around a barber shop long enough, you most definitely will get a haircut.

 

[mythbuster1]

Satan is the leader of the demonic hordes, but they are legion. Indeed, if Revelation’s numbers can be taken literally, they number 50,500,000 or more.

 

[Finn]

This is all spiritually perilous and your involvement with any of it should be zero. The Church’s position on the aspects you seem OK with is really clear. Don’t help your friend endanger herself - pray that she stops.

 

[PetraG]

I used an Ouija board once when I was a kid. The “question” that was asked and the “answer” I got still bothers me to this day (I’ve confessed this to a priest experienced with spiritual deliverance). Don’t play with this stuff: even if you think it’s all quackery it’s not psychologically healthy, let alone spiritually.

Another priest has warned that even having an undue interest in stories about real supernatural or supernatural-seeming incidents not attributable to Providence can develop into an unhealthy preoccupation. (He wasn’t talking about fiction.) He says a fondness for hearing about forbidden things can get to the point of a sort of spiritual pornography. Another said that even odd things that happen, such as some sign that was not at all solicited but seemed some sign of communication from the dead should not be given any undue interest. Such things happen; it doesn’t matter that they weren’t asked for and don’t mean that anyone did anything wrong, but just let them go and don’t dwell on them. That’s for other powers and not for us to dabble in.

 

[7_Sorrows]

@ConnorMM If your friend practices Wicca - he or she is a Wiccan.
Many young people dabble in that kind of
stuff, but normally it is a passing fad.
Hopefully, that is how it will be with your
friend.
Pray for your friend.