The vastness of Russia was then captured by adherents of non-traditional religions, ranging from more or less harmless "eyewitnesses of a flying colander" to sects that brought people to poverty and psychosis. The winds of change shook and turned the country, and we all wanted to find a quiet bay as soon as possible. So they ran to the sorcerers for accurate forecasts, money rain and other benefits.
Now is also a difficult time. Prices are growing, salaries are not, but we are used to living well and stable. Fortune-tellers and magicians rise on the wave again, with one difference - wrapping the same candy, but in a wrapper with a cross: “Treatment with Orthodox prayers! Removal of damage with church candles! Fortune-telling according to ancient Christian practices!"
About how this is consistent with Christianity, what the adherents of the occult are playing with and whether a sane person needs it, say priest Stefan Nokhrin, rector of the Grado-Khabarovsk Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God, and Igor Lyubachevsky, a practicing psychologist.
Fog and deception
The main Christian practice is prayer, sobriety, confession and communion. All the rest are ceremonies, - explains the priest Stefan Nokhrin. - In the Scriptures it is said about Satan that he is a liar and the father of lies. What he predicts through his fortune-tellers is a lie. All such predictions are vague and vague. As soon as Fukushima exploded, the next day the entire Internet was full of enthusiasm "but Nostradamus predicted!" Why only the next day, where have you all been before?
Stefan Nokhrin Photo: AiF / Yulia Terentyeva.
A person can try to get into the spiritual world on his own, and some succeed. But there they are waiting for him, because in the spiritual world there is not only the Lord and the angels, but also demons - fallen angels. It is they who show a person pictures that he can be tempted to, play on his vices. The most powerful vice is pride. "I am so exceptional, I have a gift that others do not have." Pride always blinds, closes his eyes to sins, a person falls into a state of spiritual complacency, not noticing how he decays. In return, the demons give him the illusion of power. This is if a person really touched the spiritual world, not a charlatan. They simply play on people's feelings, on their grief and vices.
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Danger! Keep out
“Games with the otherworldly usually end very badly. Arbitrarily breaking open the door closed from us by the Lord, a person comes into contact with the spirits of evil, which have the sole purpose of ruining a person. In my short priestly path, I have met people who have come into contact with spirits. All of them were damaged: spiritual, mental and, in several severe cases, physical - the person stops sleeping and eating. The next stage is suicide. When a person comes to me for confession and says that he has thoughts of suicide, I ask - did you go to fortune-tellers, do you practice occultism? And in most cases the answer is yes. These thoughts come from there, the spirits of evil inspire them into a person. We must understand and remember: this area is very dangerous and any contact with it will lead to consequences”.
Spirituality is what a person needs, not fortune-telling. Spirituality is the pursuit of God, for God is the Holy Spirit. We can show spirituality at home, caring for loved ones, at work, honestly fulfilling our duties, in relations with the world, helping people. Do you want to do something spiritual? Stop drinking and smoking, then there will be money for toys for children and a gift for your wife, and your health will improve. Do you destroy your world and think that now you go to a fortune teller and everything will work out? She will say something, give something to drink, give some herbs and you will have a special gift, a lot of money, your wife will grow kinder, and the children will have talents for learning? You do something human, then it will work out. First grow to the title of Human, look at your life and understand what needs to be corrected in it. Conscience will help you better than any crystal ball.
Everything will be fine
“Here, as in any service sector, demand generates supply,” says psychologist Igor Lyubachevsky. - Magicians, fortune tellers and psychics appear in difficult times when the country is shaken by difficult events. Many remember how at Kashpirovsky's sessions stadiums fell into mass hypnosis, turning into mass psychosis."
Igor Lyubachevsky Photo: AiF / Yulia Terentyeva.
Now in the life of our country is also a difficult period. And when there is a feeling that the ground has been knocked out from under their feet, everyone really wants to believe in the good, everyone is looking for support. In politics, our state has taken a direction towards traditional values, conservatism, that is, to search for a reliable, time-tested support.
However, at the same time, not a single trustworthy expert gives, cannot give a specific forecast for a year or two. What should an ordinary person do? After all, “everyone wants to know what will happen” and have a strong, very simple and very human desire - to hear from someone the words “everything will be fine”. Remember how in childhood our parents reassured us with these words? Therefore, people turn to magicians who are happy to give out predictions for a fee.
Turn on your brain
“I cannot say whether it is good or bad to address fortune-tellers and magicians. On the one hand, someone receives comfort from them, hope, finds support. This is if the psychic works as a psychologist: he listened, suggested, helped to realize his mistakes. On the other hand, there are many charlatans in this area who aim for money. Turning to them, a person runs the risk of being disappointed, as a result of which he will feel resentment and anger."
In order not to be trapped by all sorts of "wizards", you need to turn on critical thinking in time. We treat teeth at a dentist, heart - at a cardiologist, and with psychological problems you need to contact a psychologist.
One simple fact. There is a Harry Houdini prize, in Russia it is one million rubles, which will be received by a psychic who has proven his superpowers in a real experiment. Many tried to get it, including the participants in the show "Battle of Psychics". But until now this prize has not been awarded to anyone.
Sergey Travin
