The Catholic faith does not require supplementation from the occult arts, it possesses within Scripture, Tradition, and the sacramental life everything necessary for sanctity and salvation.
With thousands of writings available through the Internet and many free, why would a Catholic be interested in wasting time reading anything that has to do with the occult except to know how seriously dangerous it is to one's soul? Better we delve into Sacred Scripture, the writings of the Fathers of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, the saints and holy men, women and popes.
The most recent Exorcist Files episode is about a possession resulting from a tourist having gotten a tarot card reading on a lark while vacationing in New Orleans.
“The 1983 edition that Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar gifted to John Paul II. The German edition is formatted differently from the English edition that was published by Catholic publisher Angelico Press.”
Just these two names-von Balthasar and JPII-both heretics would make me click off immediately.
Valentin Tomberg used to live about 15 minutes walk from my current flat, on the north side of Reading, 40 miles west of London. He would have been in the same parish as me when I was growing up, though I cannot remember ever seeing or hearing of him.
Some "Catholic" writers seem to seriously regard Meditations on the Tarot as a potentially valuable spiritual treasure trove. But seeing that you would have to filter out the parts on reincarnation, astral bodies, Kabbalah, the Luminous Holy Trinity and much else, I am not sure what would be left. Tomberg explicitly states that the Church concealed information about reincarnation. He regards reincarnation as a "fact of experience".
Tomberg worked after WW2 as an interpreter at the BBC Monitoring Station, which was about a mile north of his house. It was an enthralling place, recording radio broadcasts from around the world and especially the Communist bloc. They had plenty of German, Russian and Polish speakers. But Tomberg was extra valuable as an Estonian speaker. The site was obviously a major intelligence asset and there was at least one branch of US intelligence based there.
Entering Tomberg's world is entering a realm of the seriously wacky. My favourite story is his claim that Rudolf Steiner asked him in 1934 to join the Catholic Church to broaden her views. Er, yes, technically Steiner had died in 1925. But this conversation was done on the spiritual plane.
And it is blindingly obvious that Tomberg did not convert to Catholicism in any real sense. He was still actively promoting reincarnation when he wrote "Meditations" and should be regarded rather as a sinister infiltrator.
I no longer follow or support the Trad Inc. Influencers who promote this book, no matter how elite or credentialed they are. They are promoting sin against the First Commandment. Sin leads to damnation. They have lost their credibility. This is separate from their ignoring the truth of the current pontificate which just exposes their pandering. Promoting this book and others like it exposes their apostasy. One is Catholic or one is not.
While I would like to guess in the comments on who posted that post which you read, I have now realized that it is better to not call out the names in public. The more people are criticized publicly, I have realized, the more they dig their heels into their errors and double down. Great post as usual. Keep up the great work, through Mary and Jesus
"...they exhibit a mindset strikingly similar to that of Freemasons who dismiss the charge that Masonry is incompatible with Christianity." The same seems to be true of the "Catholic" charismatic movement.
I literally used to go to Shabat dinner for networking and meet up with friends. Stopped that shit when I realized what I was doing and how unnecessary it was.
I fell into centering prayer early in my reversion to the faith, but ceased when I realized how problematic it is. Mystical prayer has always intrigued, yet worried me; meditation leading to contemplation a matter of the head and heart. But my heart has led me into bad ways. Jeremiah says the heart is treacherous; who can understand it? So I rely heavily on liturgical prayer. Still, prayer of the heart calls out to me. I'm thankful for this post as it serves as a guide post for what to watch for as I continue into authentic Catholic Mystical theology and prayer.
Hi. That makes two of us. When I was still Protestant but starting my journey towards Catholicism, I was very enchanted by the false Contemplative movement. Maybe an idea to address in an essay🤷
Brilliant analysis on why conversion alone doesnt purify one's intellectual framework. The distinction between treating Hermeticism as an error versus a wisdom tradition really cuts to the heart of it, because when we harmonize Hermtic concepts with Christianity instead of subjecting them to Church teaching we're reversing the proper hierachy between revelation and philosophy. I've seen this mindset in other quasi-occult spaces where thers this subtle implication that only the spiritualy advanced can handle the material safely, which feels alot like the gnostic elevation of secret knowledge over grace.
My preceding post was accidentally cut short. I posted the partial text of the article because it says it all. We Catholics are never to use any kind of occult practices because they open the door to the devil by sending an invitation for him (or they) to enter our souls.
Your conclusion strikes me as being sufficiently correct and strong as to remove any need whatsoever to even dip ones toe into something that has a basis in the occult, which is in its least damaging form, not Catholic. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and Him alone. Amen.
It's quite appropriate that you chose an image of a Tarot card—specifically, the Seven of Swords—as you say it represents "being deceived, lied to, or dealing with betrayal". One Charles Coulombe was outed as an occultist in April of 2021, and the fallout literally broke Catholic Twitter at the time; it's become known as "Tarotgate", I believe a name coined by "Alistair McFadden", if I remember correctly.
A young man I befriended before then ended up also befriending Coulombe...in fact, they became such good friends that this younger man ended up following Coulombe to the ITI in Trumau, Austria (which is run by Opus JuDei, of all things, so that in itself is a HUGE red flag!) to follow in his footsteps by studying for a master's degree in Sacred Theology and Philosophy. Essentially he became Charles Coulombe's lapdog. He whored himself out because he wanted to be associated with a famous "Traditional Catholic" speaker and author and have the envy of others who didn't have such a close friendship.
As it turned out, he would bring up the online scandal about a year after it happened and lie to me about Charles Coulombe ever actually using Tarot cards. He basically played it off like none of the evidence gathered by a number of sources—Alistair, NovusOrdoWatch, Introibo Ad Altare Dei, Maurice Pinay, Moshiach, and the late artist known as "Call Me Jorge"—carried any weight...I knew differently, and I was angry afterwards at his betrayal. The young man was blasé with his deception in order to not make it obvious, but it was a betrayal all the same. I'm still working through the hurt and anger, and ultimately letting it go for good at last.
Let us also be extremely cautious about "The Telepathy Tapes" podcast, which is now claiming psychic communication between Our Lord Jesus Christ and non-verbal persons with autism, the occurrence of which is purportedly proclaimed via the use of "facilitated communication". Of course, using tragically disabled human beings and their heartbroken, despairing loved ones as puppets is something any Catholic familiar with the traditional teachings of the Church will instantly recognise as being modus operandi of the Enemy. I pray for all the people unknowingly caught up in or by this fraud, as well as for any bad actors knowingly participating in the Enemy's diabolic designs. Sancte Michaele Archangele, ora pro nobis!
With thousands of writings available through the Internet and many free, why would a Catholic be interested in wasting time reading anything that has to do with the occult except to know how seriously dangerous it is to one's soul? Better we delve into Sacred Scripture, the writings of the Fathers of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, the saints and holy men, women and popes.
The most recent Exorcist Files episode is about a possession resulting from a tourist having gotten a tarot card reading on a lark while vacationing in New Orleans.
"The caption read:
“The 1983 edition that Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar gifted to John Paul II. The German edition is formatted differently from the English edition that was published by Catholic publisher Angelico Press.”
Just these two names-von Balthasar and JPII-both heretics would make me click off immediately.
Valentin Tomberg used to live about 15 minutes walk from my current flat, on the north side of Reading, 40 miles west of London. He would have been in the same parish as me when I was growing up, though I cannot remember ever seeing or hearing of him.
Some "Catholic" writers seem to seriously regard Meditations on the Tarot as a potentially valuable spiritual treasure trove. But seeing that you would have to filter out the parts on reincarnation, astral bodies, Kabbalah, the Luminous Holy Trinity and much else, I am not sure what would be left. Tomberg explicitly states that the Church concealed information about reincarnation. He regards reincarnation as a "fact of experience".
Tomberg worked after WW2 as an interpreter at the BBC Monitoring Station, which was about a mile north of his house. It was an enthralling place, recording radio broadcasts from around the world and especially the Communist bloc. They had plenty of German, Russian and Polish speakers. But Tomberg was extra valuable as an Estonian speaker. The site was obviously a major intelligence asset and there was at least one branch of US intelligence based there.
Entering Tomberg's world is entering a realm of the seriously wacky. My favourite story is his claim that Rudolf Steiner asked him in 1934 to join the Catholic Church to broaden her views. Er, yes, technically Steiner had died in 1925. But this conversation was done on the spiritual plane.
And it is blindingly obvious that Tomberg did not convert to Catholicism in any real sense. He was still actively promoting reincarnation when he wrote "Meditations" and should be regarded rather as a sinister infiltrator.
Thank you so much for this comment!
I no longer follow or support the Trad Inc. Influencers who promote this book, no matter how elite or credentialed they are. They are promoting sin against the First Commandment. Sin leads to damnation. They have lost their credibility. This is separate from their ignoring the truth of the current pontificate which just exposes their pandering. Promoting this book and others like it exposes their apostasy. One is Catholic or one is not.
Amen!
While I would like to guess in the comments on who posted that post which you read, I have now realized that it is better to not call out the names in public. The more people are criticized publicly, I have realized, the more they dig their heels into their errors and double down. Great post as usual. Keep up the great work, through Mary and Jesus
"...they exhibit a mindset strikingly similar to that of Freemasons who dismiss the charge that Masonry is incompatible with Christianity." The same seems to be true of the "Catholic" charismatic movement.
I literally used to go to Shabat dinner for networking and meet up with friends. Stopped that shit when I realized what I was doing and how unnecessary it was.
This is either the funniest comment or I am not getting it😂😉
Its probably both
I fell into centering prayer early in my reversion to the faith, but ceased when I realized how problematic it is. Mystical prayer has always intrigued, yet worried me; meditation leading to contemplation a matter of the head and heart. But my heart has led me into bad ways. Jeremiah says the heart is treacherous; who can understand it? So I rely heavily on liturgical prayer. Still, prayer of the heart calls out to me. I'm thankful for this post as it serves as a guide post for what to watch for as I continue into authentic Catholic Mystical theology and prayer.
Hi. That makes two of us. When I was still Protestant but starting my journey towards Catholicism, I was very enchanted by the false Contemplative movement. Maybe an idea to address in an essay🤷
Please do!
Brilliant analysis on why conversion alone doesnt purify one's intellectual framework. The distinction between treating Hermeticism as an error versus a wisdom tradition really cuts to the heart of it, because when we harmonize Hermtic concepts with Christianity instead of subjecting them to Church teaching we're reversing the proper hierachy between revelation and philosophy. I've seen this mindset in other quasi-occult spaces where thers this subtle implication that only the spiritualy advanced can handle the material safely, which feels alot like the gnostic elevation of secret knowledge over grace.
Fantastic! Thank you for this refreshing article.
My preceding post was accidentally cut short. I posted the partial text of the article because it says it all. We Catholics are never to use any kind of occult practices because they open the door to the devil by sending an invitation for him (or they) to enter our souls.
Your conclusion strikes me as being sufficiently correct and strong as to remove any need whatsoever to even dip ones toe into something that has a basis in the occult, which is in its least damaging form, not Catholic. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and Him alone. Amen.
It's quite appropriate that you chose an image of a Tarot card—specifically, the Seven of Swords—as you say it represents "being deceived, lied to, or dealing with betrayal". One Charles Coulombe was outed as an occultist in April of 2021, and the fallout literally broke Catholic Twitter at the time; it's become known as "Tarotgate", I believe a name coined by "Alistair McFadden", if I remember correctly.
A young man I befriended before then ended up also befriending Coulombe...in fact, they became such good friends that this younger man ended up following Coulombe to the ITI in Trumau, Austria (which is run by Opus JuDei, of all things, so that in itself is a HUGE red flag!) to follow in his footsteps by studying for a master's degree in Sacred Theology and Philosophy. Essentially he became Charles Coulombe's lapdog. He whored himself out because he wanted to be associated with a famous "Traditional Catholic" speaker and author and have the envy of others who didn't have such a close friendship.
As it turned out, he would bring up the online scandal about a year after it happened and lie to me about Charles Coulombe ever actually using Tarot cards. He basically played it off like none of the evidence gathered by a number of sources—Alistair, NovusOrdoWatch, Introibo Ad Altare Dei, Maurice Pinay, Moshiach, and the late artist known as "Call Me Jorge"—carried any weight...I knew differently, and I was angry afterwards at his betrayal. The young man was blasé with his deception in order to not make it obvious, but it was a betrayal all the same. I'm still working through the hurt and anger, and ultimately letting it go for good at last.
Let us also be extremely cautious about "The Telepathy Tapes" podcast, which is now claiming psychic communication between Our Lord Jesus Christ and non-verbal persons with autism, the occurrence of which is purportedly proclaimed via the use of "facilitated communication". Of course, using tragically disabled human beings and their heartbroken, despairing loved ones as puppets is something any Catholic familiar with the traditional teachings of the Church will instantly recognise as being modus operandi of the Enemy. I pray for all the people unknowingly caught up in or by this fraud, as well as for any bad actors knowingly participating in the Enemy's diabolic designs. Sancte Michaele Archangele, ora pro nobis!
Who are the influencers that are promoting this? This is dangerous, indeed!