To the Editor:

In your 1/26 – 2/1/24 issue there was an article titled, “Church hosting tarot class.” 

Adhering to the revelation of Sacred Scripture, the Church has over the centuries formally condemned witches and witchcraft and has judged fortune telling, tarot card reading and the like as sinful. Sacred Scripture has many condemnations of these activities:  

In the Old Testament  - Leviticus 20:27 & Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

In the New Testament - Acts 8:9ff, 13:8ff, 16:16ff and Revelation 21:8.  

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in discussing the 1stCommandment repeats the condemnation of divination:  

"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. 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." (# 2116) 

(Please note that just reading a horoscope in the newspaper or the message inside the fortune cookie and having a laugh is not a mortal sin; however, taking such a horoscope seriously or paying for some astrologers advice is.) 

To invoke Satan or any other power, to enter the darkness (the occult) for any assistance or to attempt to usurp powers which belong to God alone is a defiance of the authority of Almighty God. To commit such acts is to turn away from God and place our own souls in jeopardy. 

Chris LaRose
Potsdam