tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post5981341339697633373..comments2023-09-26T03:53:17.142-04:00Comments on Pentimento: There and Back, Part 4: Reading the EntrailsPentimentohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-29813589304628540992009-04-23T08:20:00.000-04:002009-04-23T08:20:00.000-04:00I think the great danger of all gnostic practices ...I think the great danger of all gnostic practices is that they stoke one's pride in subtle ways.<br /><br />I've started reading the Gospels (a novel thought!), and they have me banging my head against the wall. What could He possibly have meant by x, y, or z . . . He makes discipleship seem singularly unattractive . . . etc.<br /><br />And you're absolutely right. Astrology is an elegant system. Tarot cards have beautiful, intriguing pictures on them. I used to read tea leaves and Turkish coffee grouds too. Occasionally I was able to predict the future based on my interpretation of the pictures, but mostly it was, as for you with astrology, about giving a clearer picture of the past and present that came out of it.<br /><br />The lure of special knowledge is so strong. And these systems for acquiring it, as we know, were practiced and utilized throughout the ancient world. The Catechism of the Catholic Church's main opposition to occult practices seems to be that they put the human striving for special knowledge before trust in God. It's that trust that is so hard for me, and the injunction that we must become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven.<br /><br />Simplicity is a stumbling-block for some of us, and complex gnostic systems a powerful attraction. But gnosticism was, essentially, the first sin.<br /><br />I used to know a guy in NYC who read palms. He was very, very skilled. He told me once that the only reason he did it was to help people to know God. I understand his point and I believe he really loved God. But when the great teachers and mystics talk about darkness and nothingness and not-knowing, and when Christ himself says that the only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah, I think it means we have to give up special knowledge. Easier said than done for some.Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-79803600151282227812009-04-22T23:56:00.000-04:002009-04-22T23:56:00.000-04:00p.s. Meant to hit preview, not publish. I was goin...p.s. Meant to hit preview, not publish. I was going to say, I didn't practice what was called "horary" astrology--i.e., trying to predict the future with it. Trying to understand the past and present with it was problematic enough. The one or two times I tried horary charts the results were hopelessly ambiguous. And there was always the sense that one might be listening to the Sphinx.Maclinhttp://www.lightondarkwater.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-57746586809099280612009-04-22T23:51:00.000-04:002009-04-22T23:51:00.000-04:00I was pretty knowledgeable about astrology at one ...I was pretty knowledgeable about astrology at one time. I don't think it did me any spiritual harm in the sense that people often mean about the occult--exposing me to demonic influence, leading me into further evil, that sort of thing. In fact, on balance, I'd say it was of a little positive benefit to me, in opening my mind to the possibility of order in the universe, and even more in a negative way, by teaching me something about the lure and hopelessness of gnosticism. The great temptation with astrology was the seeming possibility that you could Figure It All Out, and yet the picture was always shifting and dissolving under one's eyes, because everything was always ambiguous. I saw this and put it aside well before the change of heart that turned into conversion. I can see how one could literally drive oneself crazy trying to cover all the interpretive bases.<br /><br />I still think it's quite an elegant and fascinating system and am agnostic about whether it does or doesn't have a connection to psychological reality. There are some things in my chart in relation to those of certain other people (e.g. my wife) that are at a minimum thought-provoking.Maclinhttp://www.lightondarkwater.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-39696622264306150482009-04-22T22:18:00.000-04:002009-04-22T22:18:00.000-04:00I agree, Karinann. And in N.'s case, the door to ...I agree, Karinann. And in N.'s case, the door to evil had been opened wide by those who were supposed to be taking care of her in childhood.Pentimentohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17161146891505294679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554498168264477884.post-44637143189708997082009-04-22T11:58:00.000-04:002009-04-22T11:58:00.000-04:00I definitely think there is a link between immoral...I definitely think there is a link between immorality and occult practices. I dabbled a little myself and while I don't think it was the direct cause of anything I was doing immorally, it definitely contributed. So many of our young people are involved in all sorts of occult practices thinking it very innocent. They are looking for God and don't know it.Unfortunately what they find is sinister and evil.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15124468084334204166noreply@blogger.com