FOOD FOR THOUGHT	ON FALSE RELIGION
	Fr Francis Marsden,
	For 8 March 1987.

Someone asked me recently about a spiritualist healing service they had attended. The spiritualists used the Our Father, and there was an encircled cross upon the wall. They went round and prayed over individuals, giving them messages. They claimed to be helped by a priest and two nuns.

Puzzled, I enquired further. I was told that this ‘priest and two nuns’ were not physically present, but were ‘spirit guides’ who spoke through the spiritualists. Mental alarm bells rang. Neither was the cross a crucifix, nor did any of the prayers mention Jesus as Son of God.

I remembered the words of St John: “It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust . . . Every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh, is from God; but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit of antichrist.” (1 Jn 4:2—3) This text suggests that those sects, which claim to be Christian, but deny the divinity of Jesus, or omit any reference to Him in their rituals, are inspired from below, not from above. This would apply to the Spiritualists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Moonies, Mormons, Freemasons, Christian Scientists and other cults.

The mention of ‘spirit guides.’ sounded dangerous. The Old Testament expressly condemns any summoning up spirits from the dead: “You must not practice divination or magic . . . Do not have recourse to the spirits, of the dead or to magicians: they will defile you. I am Yahweh your God.” (Lev. 19:26,31) Again in Deuteronomy (18:10—12): “There must never be anyone among you. who practises divination, who is a soothsayer, augur or sorcerer, who user charms, consults ghosts or spirits, or calls up the dead. For the man who does these things is detestable to Yahweh your God.”

Catholic teaching denounces such practices as false religion, sins against the first commandment. The superstition of calling up demons to discover hidden (occult) knowledge, called divination, is gravely sinful. Hence, the Church prohibits reliance on horoscopes or astrology, any visits to fortune-tellers, séances, use of tarot cards, table-turning or ouija boards.

The existence of evil spirits is a doctrine defined by Lateran IV (1215). Recent Popes have urged us to protect ourselves from the devil, and there is a Vatican declaration on demonology (S.C.D.W. 1975), which treats the whole subject thoroughly.

Now some spiritualists may deceive for financial gain. Others may mean wells but are dabbling with potentially destructive forces. They claim to contact spirits of the dead. Probably it is evil spirits, impersonating the dead, leading them on and gaining influence over their lives and the lives of those who consult them.
Many occult practices begin as idle superstition, tomfoolery or curiosity. Unfortunately, there is a grave risk of self-opening to evil forces. People involved in the occult often develop depression, mental illnesses or suicidal urges. The great German composer Schumann went insane and tried to drown himself in the Rhine after dabbling in occultism. He is one of many.

There are reports of séances or spiritualist meetings which could not proceed because someone present had on them a blessed crucifix or rosary, and the medium asked whomever it was to leave. Whatever it is that cannot take place  in the presence of a holy crucifix must be evil. The moralist Noldin reports that table-turning is sometimes stopped by placing a blessed object on the table.

Sometimes, however, a medium or fortune-teller genuinely reveals facts about a deceased person or family background. How can we explain this?

Let us remember that the fallen angels have supernatural knowledge of human lives over many centuries. They are not restricted to time and space, and are highly intelligent and malicious. By impersonating the dead or revealing family secrets, they lead on the unsuspecting. The victim begins to trust the medium or fortune-teller. He is led away from true worship of and trust in God.

Writers on the deliverance ministry suggest that a spiritual ban may afflict those who turn to the occult. They find they are spiritually distracted from praying to God. They find within themselves a resistance to confessing Christ. Spiritual evil is undermining their Christian faith and peace.

The false doctrines of the various sects mentioned above may flow from a similar source. Whilst appearing Christian, they deny Christ, and mislead genuinely religious seekers, trapping them in false and deluded belief systems. 1 wonder too if the so-called evidence for re-incarnation is not also the prompting of evil spirits. They can fabricate evidence of lives’ long past in someone’s mind, thus giving credence to reincarnation theories. Thus they spread a confusing and anti-Christian doctrine of the afterlife.

The message is clear: anyone who treasures their health, sanity or eternal salvation will steer well clear of any spiritualist or occult practice. We ask the guardian angels to protect us. For spiritual guidance, we turn to Jesus in the Scriptures, the Mass, deeper prayer, and a good spiritual director.