The Irish standard., 1905-11-11
The Sin of Fortune Telling.


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cons reth soothsayers or observes
dreal.is and omens; neither let there
be any wizard, nor charmer, nor any,
one that consulteth pythonic spirits,
or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the
truth from the dead. For the Lord alb
horreth all these things, and for these
denominations He will destroy them at
thy coming" (DeHt. xviii, 9-11.)
When King Saul consulted the witch
of Endor to have his fortune told, he
was punished by the defeat of his
army on the following day, where he
persisted together with his son Jona-
than. u Kings XVI, ~
Is not fortune telling mere i'm
posture?
sulting the fortune teller is guilty both
of folly and sin-folly because he
allows himself to be duped, and pays
money for being duped; of sin for Civ
ing to a fellow man or woman the
honor that belongs to God alone. Those
guilty Of this gross sin of superstition
cannot reasonably plead that they do
not believe what Is told them. Why
do they consult If this were the case?
True, they do not generally attach full
credence to the answers received, but
they believe them in part and thus
commit the sin Of superstition.
1t is evident that they do not expect
the information sought from God Him.
self; nor do they expect 1t from the
exalted wisdom of the soothsayer.
They think there is a preternatural
agency at work which Is neither God
nor man, it certainly is not good
angel, faithful minister Of the Lord,
Who forbids the act. What remains
but that, as far as they hope to be
helped at all, they ask for his assist
ance from the evil spirit? And it is
indeed the devil or one Of his imps
that is the oracle consulted.
What forms does fortune telling as
sumo?
oracles of the false gods; they caused
themselves to be adored as gods, for
David tells US: "All the gods of the
Gentiles are devils" Cps. 95); and their
oracles were their most efficient means
to secure votaries. For though the de-
mons do not really know the contin-
gent feature they can make a very
shrewd guess at 1t. and thus they in
spired great confidence. There were
renowned oracles at Delphi and Do
dora; there were the oracles of Jupiter
Ammon, of Hercules and Mars, and
countless other idols. AS Christianity
spread, the oracle became dumb, be-
cause the devils were exercised by the
followers of Him Who has conquered
the spirit of evil.
Among our pagan Indians the medi-
cine men and soothsayers are the min
/ listers Of satan. In China and other
heather lands fortune telling has for
| ages taken in part the shape Of spirit
| rapping. In this form 1t has reap
peared in civilized lands. 1t is now
the fashionable form of deviltry here
| and in England, as we'll as in some
| n ri h1
To explain the proofs Of this state
ment would require separate paper
In all ages fortune telling has been
done by private persons many OF
whom make their living by it. Such
was the girl whom Saint Paul and
siIas met at Philippi, Of whom the
Acts narrate, "a certain girl, having
a pythonical spirit, met us, who
brought to her masters much gain by
divining But Paul being grieved
turned and said to the spirit: I com.
mand thee. in the name of Jesus
Christ, to go out from here, and he
went out the same hour" (xvi, 1918,
Such soothsayers in our cities today
would post on their door signs of "sec.
ond-sight reader" medium" clair
voyant." "chiromancer," "palmist,'
"mesmerist," ETC., or the familiar
plain fortune teller" Names matter
little, the nature and grossness of tn,
sin have been sufficiently explained
fortune telling is rank superstition.