Growing up, anything that remotely resembled fortune-telling, consulting with spiritual mediums, or manipulating one’s fate basically meant dooming yourself to demon possession and/or Hell itself. I believe we called it “opening the door to the occult.” Biblical examples of swift and sudden punishment or death were referenced to show how uniquely dangerous this sort of activity was. Movies like The Excorcist further demonstrated the unfortunate consequences of dabbling in the occult, however innocent the individual or her intent. So naturally – even though my early Christian beliefs have moderated over the years – I viewed even the most mundane activities of this nature with suspicion and a bit of fear. Continue reading →