How to lift a spell?
Fr Andrzej Przybylski
Dear Father Andrzej, I know that the Church strongly criticises the issue of fortune telling and belief in horoscopes. However, my problem is not so simple. As a high school student I went to a fortune-teller, out of curiosity and for fun. I was told that in the future my fianc would have a serious car accident and it would happen before our wedding. On that day I thought it was a complete nonsense and I forgot about it at once. After a few years I got to know the greatest love of my life, we love each other very much and my boy friend wants to propose to me. When I heard about the engagement I remembered the words of the fortune-teller, and suddenly I realised that my future fianc was a professional driver and risked his life every day. I began being afraid of him, and at present I do not know what to do because I have been haunted by the thought that if we got engaged the prophecy of the fortune-teller would come true. How to lift such a spell or how to get rid of the fear that this prophecy will be fulfilled?
Kasia
Because of my name, Andrzej, I often ask the question about the harmfulness of fortune telling in the period of my nameday. At students' parties, the so-called 'Andrew's days', I was talked into playing the role of a fortune-teller. I know it was only fun but as I meet more and more people who are slaves to similar practices, I have stopped being involved in such, seemingly innocent, games. I realised that it was not good when after two years one of the students reminded me that I had told her, looking at her wax sign, that she would find a husband from afar. I bluffed, I was simply joking but it occurred that she got to know a young American and married him. Now she firmly believes that he marriage was prophesied on that evening, and nobody can persuade her that I simply made up. That is the enslaving power of that kind of activities and the evidence of their harmfulness and the fact that the devil likes such practices very much. They drew us away from trusting in God's guidance, from submitting to God and acknowledging that he is the Lord of our lives. I do not know from where fortune telling has the power to enslave. Sometimes when we simply read horoscopes we can be so absorbed in them that we remember better what awaits us on Friday, or that we will get on well with a Taurus, than the Sunday readings. The harmfulness of magic practices is that they draw us away from faith in God and that we consent to other mysterious powers in our lives. You are feeling that after several years that enslavement comes from your inner part and now it is trying to destroy your love and peace when you are preparing for the marriage. All sorts of such games are a great risk to enslave people, and therefore, we should not expose ourselves to unforeseen circumstances. The best thing is Paul's principle to avoid 'every form of evil'.
What can you do? Pray a lot and present this matter to God in the sacrament of reconciliation and if you still feel uneasy I advise you to ask some prayer community to pray over you. During such a prayer God really sets many people free from fears that result from such practices. And then you should lead a normal life, ignoring all recollections of that prophecy. I remember the advice of Fr Jacek Salij. He was asked what we should do if a black cat ran past us. Fr Salij answered briefly 'If you believe that black cats affect your luck you should spit twice turning to your left and believe that this action has such power that would overcome the power of the spell'. This response might be surprising but it is the simplest of all possible answers because it shows that if a man stops believing in God he believes in anything else.
"Niedziela" 48/2005