An Omen of the ‘Mystifying Oracle’?

Posted on | July 12, 2014 | 142 Comments

“One time I was with Cara, Chloe, Anne, and Ellie,
and we were messing around with a Ouija board.”

The blogger at “Please Excuse My Vagina: My life as a teenage feminist” will probably notice the trackback, and to her this should be a warning — as it should be to anyone tempted to try “messing around” with the occult. WARNING: EVIL IS REAL.

Maybe you’re not religious. Maybe you think the Bible is just a lot of superstitious nonsense. Nevertheless, evil is real, and even if you think you’re just “messing around” with it, you are in danger.

Those weird coincidences you keep noticing? They’re not coincidences.

Life has a meaning and purpose. We are not random collections of atoms. Human beings have spirits — souls — and our lives are part of something larger than ourselves. Most people do not notice the evidence of this larger meaning and purpose. They lack a spiritual awareness and do not contemplate the relationship between their own mundane existence and the eternal truth of the cosmos. And so they do not notice that seemingly random events aren’t actually random.

So you were “messing around with a Ouija board” — random.

And your first boyfriend was a manipulative jerk — random.

Then you were riding home from your dance recital and, for no apparent reason, your dad got angry and started shouting at you.

Is all this random? Just a coincidence?

“I’m a self-righteous bitch. I don’t have any religion. . . .
I was raised in a liberal household, being taught
that everyone’s opinion is equal and valid, and
also being taught to value my own opinions.”

OK, I guess, except that if “everyone’s opinion is equal and valid,” you can’t really have any core foundational beliefs, which might be a problem when you start to fear that you’re going insane:

I started out the day so tired I was physically unable to move. My mom had to come in and tell me to get out of bed about five times.
I cried twice in about twenty minutes . . .
When people ask me to do things I find myself saying no more and more often. My friends are getting pissed off at me for being so apathetic. . . .
Thinking of all the things I might do wrong and all the people I might lose. And that was when I realized.
It’s happening again.
In sixth grade, I was depressed or anxious or some combination of both. I was never officially diagnosed, so maybe it was nothing and I was just being crazy. . . .
I imagine funerals. Eulogies I would give. Eulogies people would give me. I imagine people who aren’t even my friends dragging blades over their skin or killing themselves because of careless bitchy little comments I’ve made. I imagine the people I love pushed too far by something I said and sent careening over the edge. Vivid images of me or my family dying in a huge car crash flash behind my eyelids.
It’s happening again and I don’t know how to stop it. . . .
I’ve also somehow developed an intense pathological fear of bugs. . . . I constantly feel things crawling on my skin or fluttering near me but when I look there is, without fail, no creature in sight.

The good news: If you think you’re going crazy, you’re probably not. As long as you have enough self-awareness to recognize these ideas and behaviors as abnormal, you’re not insane . . . yet.

The bad news: If it doesn’t get better, that means it’s getting worse, because the persistence of the symptoms is itself symptomatic.

Anybody can have crazy feelings or spells of depression once in a while. If these things persist, however, the word “chronic” applies, and your morbid obsessions — your irrational death-related ideations — are not encouraging in that regard.

So, let’s get back to the reality of evil and that Ouija board incident. Lots of kids try “messing around” with the occult in this manner, without thinking that they thereby make themselves vulnerable to evil. It’s like the concept of marijuana as a “gateway drug”; you start “messing around” with weed, next thing you try LSD or Ecstasy, then prescription pain-killers or meth, and one day a dopehead friend tells you she’s tried heroin and you think, “Hmmm.”

Same deal with “messing around” with the occult. Sure, a Ouija board is a silly child’s game. But will it stop there? Maybe next you’ll be “messing around” with astrology or tarot cards. You’ll find a friend who shares these interests, and that friend will start telling you about paganism and Wicca and if you keep going in that direction, who knows where you’ll end up? People who say they “don’t have any religion” are often the most vulnerable to the occult, without evidently recognizing that such beliefs are also a religion.

Does it seem to you, however, that there could be a connection between your “messing around” with the occult and your recent emotional disturbances? Because I don’t believe in coincidences, and because evil is real, it strikes me that you may be under the influence of evil — and I mean Evil with a capital “E” — without realizing it.

Well, I ain’t superstitious.
Black cat just crossed my trail . . .
Don’t sweep me with no broom.
I might get put in jail.
— “I Ain’t Superstitious,” Willie Dixon (1961)

Rather than being superstitious, let’s exclude the possibility that the “Mystifying Oracle” of the Ouija board summoned forth the spirits to provide the answer to your inquiry. There were five girls involved in that game — yourself, Cara, Chloe, Anne, and Ellie — and let us suppose that at least one of them deliberately manipulated the result.

Who suggested this game and why? What was their motive? Evil has human agents, after all, and if the Powers of Darkness wished to influence you, wouldn’t your “friends” be an obvious means of exercising such an influence? You see that, even if you don’t attribute any magical power to the Ouija board, it can still be an instrument of evil through which your “friends” act to cause you harm.

“Ellie told me later that they were surprised . . .
that I seemed so casual about it.”

Were they really surprised?

“Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. . . . He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Damien, and powerful. So don’t listen to him. Remember that — do not listen.”
— The Exorcist (1973)

If you’ve never read the book The Exorcist, you might want to do that, because it is actually quite a profound meditation on the nature of evil, and our vulnerability to evil. What we call “mental illness” was understood by the ancients as demonic possession, and I’m not sure that modern science is more accurate than the ancient understanding. Psychiatrists keep telling us it’s all neurochemistry — serotonin and synapses, blah, blah, blah — but is insanity always organic? Do crazy people just have bad brains? Isn’t our belief in the omnipotence of science a sort of religion?

Is it not possible that there are things beyond human explanation? Are we who believe in cosmic truth just stupid and ignorant? And what about your own search for answers?

I’ve been feeling this weird sense of powerlessness lately, like I have no control over anything in my life. . . .
Recently, I’ve been having a lot of mini-existential crises, mostly of the if-we-suffer-so-much-why-do-we-exist variety. I mostly just question myself in circles and end up exhausted by the end of it. . . .
I’m a control freak with no control over anything. . . .
I used to think I had some semblance of control over some of the things that happened to me in my tiny, insignificant life. But apparently that’s not true. Things happen to and around me and I have no control or power over them and that scares me, it really does.
Sometimes when I feel like this I find myself wanting to turn to a higher power, but there’s no higher power that I have the strength to believe in. I find it impossible to believe in a supreme being that allows terrible things to happen to people on a daily basis, that allows human beings to destroy themselves all the time, without so much as a whispered word of assistance.
Sometimes I’ll pray. I don’t know who or what I’m praying to, or if my prayers are heard.

WARNING: Evil is real. If you “don’t know who or what [you’re] praying to,” don’t you think Satan may be listening? Yes, “terrible things happen to people on a daily basis,” but why do think that is? Don’t you think that Evil and Death are partners? And if you surrender to the influence of Evil, what do you think happens next?

Hadn’t you better see if Good and Life are within reach?

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
— John 1: 1-5 (KJV)

Darkness still does not comprehend the light.

By the way, Miss Teenage Feminist, isn’t it kind of weird that I found your blog this morning? I’ve been researching radical feminism — a mental illness in its own right — and it is admittedly weird to discover a high school kid writing about “heteronormativity.”

Probably just another random coincidence, eh?

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Category: Feminism, Religion

Comments

142 Responses to “An Omen of the ‘Mystifying Oracle’?”

JeffS
July 13th, 2014 @ 12:41 am

Tsk, tsk. I can’t have an informed opinion? While you spew uninformed opinions and/or assertions?

Yeah, those questions are rhetorical. Ol’ JackB is a flaming hypocrite, in addition to a bigoted ignoramus.
JeffS
July 13th, 2014 @ 12:46 am

First you piss on Christian religions, and then use them to support your arguments?

If it weren’t for double standards, lefties would have no standards at all.
ZZZZZZZZ
July 13th, 2014 @ 12:47 am

zzzzzzzzz……
DeadMessenger
July 13th, 2014 @ 3:00 am

Sorry it wasn’t footnoted. My comment was meant as personal testimony, not a study aid.

I’m not sure where you got the idea that I was “in” this to write a book, especially after I did say that I didn’t have time for it. I also specifically said that this was something God wanted me to do. When He has work for me, He tells me. If that doesn’t fit in with your personal theology, sorry ’bout that, chief. This work was something I didn’t want to do; something I didn’t feel qualified to do, but God wanted it, and who am I to argue? This is done in addition to my regular paying job, and my other volunteer work, which is writing Christian content for blogs and websites, for which I receive no attribution or credit. Because it doesn’t come from me.

However, because I know you disapprove, perhaps I will write a book and self-publish on Amazon, and give it away. Reason being, I’m asked the same questions over and over, and I think a book might help some people. No attribution there either; I never take attribution.

Here’s the content: What is sin and how does it come from Adam? What is our “sin nature” and how does it affect our lives? Who is Jesus, really? What is atonement, and how do I get it? What does it mean to be a Christ follower? What are demons and where did they come from? What is spiritual warfare, and how does it affect me? What is the difference between spiritual warfare in Western countries and spiritual warfare elsewhere? How do I know whether a demon is afflicting or possessing me? Why is it afflicting me? How do I know the difference between sin nature and demonic attack? How can prayer help me? What is exorcism and deliverance? What does it mean to be a Christian, and why do I need to live like one?

I could go on, but I won’t.
Adjoran
July 13th, 2014 @ 4:31 am

We all were – but he jumped back into the vagina.

Figuratively, I mean.
Adjoran
July 13th, 2014 @ 4:36 am

Read his speeches and writings, Zippy. Did you go to school?
concern00
July 13th, 2014 @ 4:51 am

Hey look, another vaguely notable person with a flagging career decides it’s time to announce that he is impacted by demons that he is unwilling to exert control over…and the world celebrates.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2014/07/12/ian-thorpe-australia-olympics-swimming-gay/12584271/
Phil_McG
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:35 am

I don’t know what to make of this stuff about ouija boards. I’ve never used one, but am not convinced by the idea that you can talk to spirits or demons using parlour tricks. Has there been any scientific study done on them?

What about Dungeons and Dragons, is that dangerous too? I had a teacher at my (Catholic) high school who said it was. I’m curious as to whether people still believe that.

I once received an anonymous letter at my office containing a Jack Chick cartoon. Whoever sent it seemed to want to warn me about the occult for some reason (I’m not now, and never have been, interested in the occult as such, but I am interested in what people believe about the occult).

Mr Chick’s pamphlet was entertaining, though I suppose I should’ve been offended by its suggestion I belong to a Babylonian death cult. Five minutes of googling showed it was based on satanic panic nonsense and the testimony of a mentally ill man.

Is there anything more credible out there to suggest demonic communication is real?
The Precocious Feminist Replies : The Other McCain
July 13th, 2014 @ 8:21 am

[…] required another 500 words I wasn’t in a mood to write. So I merely alluded to it indirectly, remarking that “it is admittedly weird to discover a high school kid writing about ‘hete… Yet she seems to wish to discuss it further. Very well, then . . […]
NeoWayland
July 13th, 2014 @ 8:35 am

I’m not concerned about your book, although your attitude about it does make me uneasy.

Look, this is an internet forum, and it’s possible that I am misinterpreting what you are saying.

But’s its also life, and it’s possible you are misinterpreting the “evidence” and your “calling.”

And frankly, that is if what you have brought here is truth. I’ll give you the benefit of a doubt on that one.

All I am saying is that you should check your experience with others with a different perspective, people you can talk with face to face.
Quartermaster
July 13th, 2014 @ 8:50 am

The problem with what you suggest is that demons are more than happy to allow you to “disprove” their existence and be chalked up to any number of things that will lead to people thinking they don’t have to worry about them. C.S. Lewis’ “Screwtape Letters” does give some very good insight into how Satan and his minions operate.

Because of their nature, Demonic activity is not amenable to what you suggest. Be aware that while supernatural phenomenon, and beings, exist, they are not amenable scientific research or validation. Anyone that blows it off because of that fact is placing themselves in serious danger.
Quartermaster
July 13th, 2014 @ 8:55 am

One does not have to be a satanist to be satanically inspired.
Obama admits he’s on the side of Illegal Immigrants (Video) and Weekend Links
July 13th, 2014 @ 9:00 am

[…] Other McCain has many good blog posts up including this one by Stacy on “An Omen of the ‘Mystifying […]
Quartermaster
July 13th, 2014 @ 9:03 am

Perzactly!
Quartermaster
July 13th, 2014 @ 9:11 am

People are leaving the church for a good many reasons, but the most common is their own humanistic desires, on one hand, and in the other certain denominations are being abandoned because people sense that those denominations have given into the culture instead of teaching about an Eternal God and what He provided so we don’t have to sit in the lake of fire for eternity.

Judgment is part of the Gospel message and can’t be avoided. Whether or not a person is turned off by that it isn’t relevant. If warning someone that an Eternal God will not accept a sinner in His Kingdom is hate in your warped mind, then make the most of it.
Quartermaster
July 13th, 2014 @ 9:13 am

The early church (before the Roman Catholic Church) regarded the Occult as evil and for very good reason.
Jeanette Victoria
July 13th, 2014 @ 10:24 am

He prolly did which why he is so ignorant of history
Jeanette Victoria
July 13th, 2014 @ 10:26 am

LOL you read about him in wiki and now you know everything OMG! He became a freemason years after he was involved in the occult. And I never said he was evil. I like the guy. He was a terrific Dad to our daughter. What he is involved in is VERY EVIL!
Quartermaster
July 13th, 2014 @ 1:56 pm

GW was a Freemason, but not all that active. Supposedly he was head of Freemasonry during one period, but he knocked that rumor in the head.

GW gave the appearance of being a devout Christian during the war. Afterwards, there were some serious questions. I don’t claim to know the entire story, but some who do state outright that he was not a Christian.

One thing I will say for the record: Freemasonry is not compatible with Christianity. It is a competing religion, regardless of what Freemasons wish to claim. The ceremonies for the Blue Lodge degrees are patently unchristian, and are not acceptable for the participation of any Christian.

Those ceremonies have been published openly and can be read by anyone wishing to know about them. Blood oaths, however, are forbidden to the Christian, and each degree requires one. They also direct one’s attention away from God as the source of light and life, to Freemasonry.
DeadMessenger
July 13th, 2014 @ 2:07 pm

Your assumption that I have not done so is both insulting and false. And if anything I write makes you uneasy, don’t read it. You’re also free to skip any blog comments I write, which I’d think you’d do, since, by your own admission, you believe me to be a mentally ill moron with a false theology.
Eric Ashley
July 13th, 2014 @ 2:21 pm

We went over this in Sunday school this morning.
Jeanette Victoria
July 13th, 2014 @ 3:05 pm

Well how timely the #FreeKate stalkers are using the Ojia board to communicate with my dead parents LOL! and I’m the obsessed one!

https://twitter.com/JeanetteANDLynn/status/488353932511416322
Jeanette Victoria
July 13th, 2014 @ 3:13 pm

Satan’s greatest success is convincing people he and his minions do not exists
NeoWayland
July 13th, 2014 @ 3:45 pm

*shrugs*

You’re putting words in my posts which were not there.

It’s not your writing that makes me uneasy, it’s your attitude about chronicling your experiences.

I’ve done my bit, I encouraged you to look for balance in your work. Thrice in fact.

And no, I won’t ignore you.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:08 pm

That beam is Darkness, a Black Hole, if you will, that subsumes all of The Light – The Light Of Truth that God created.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:11 pm

Evil looks for any opening it can find, so, yes, such things as Ouija Boards are dangerous, especially in this age when the official line is that God Is Dead.
Jeanette Victoria
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:13 pm

I always thought of it as an flashing bar light say here I am open for bushiness demons and assort bad things welcome
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:14 pm

That works, but I think the Black Hole analogy works better.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:18 pm

I think it is a tribute to The Catholic Church that, before they classify someone as Possessed, they make them go through psychological testing first.

Take that all of you ignorant fools who believe The Church is anti-Science.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:21 pm

And it’s also what the Devil desires because it is one of the fuels Evil uses to wreck havoc and destruction in the World.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:23 pm

I find, Evi and MM, that it fits well with:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

– Hamlet (1.5.167-8)
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:26 pm

You may.

Check your premises.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:28 pm

Even just believing in the One True God and not accepting The Resurrection helps a great deal.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:31 pm

As MM rightly stated, Stacy is offering Fatherly advice because he actually cares for her Soul.

Now, such advice is, by it’s nature, often hard, because that is one of the duties of a Father.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:33 pm

And why I accuse – I think justifiably – Leftists of practicing a form of it.
Jeanette Victoria
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:35 pm

I thing the black hole is more real but the bar light is my experience if what happens when on dabbles in the unseen. The light gets switched on the the evil creepy crawlies swarm. One isn’t even aware at first. It’s quite insidious.
Bob Belvedere
July 13th, 2014 @ 6:48 pm

Sounds like you’re doing very needed work.

I would just urge you, if you haven’t already done it, to consult the writings of Catholic Priests who have dealt with such matters – they have much wisdom to impart.
Nature abhors a vacuum: If you remove God from the equation, what do you replace him with? | Batshit Crazy News
July 13th, 2014 @ 9:53 pm

[…] Is this mental illness at play or something more? […]
What Means | Please Excuse My Vagina
July 13th, 2014 @ 10:02 pm

[…] OK, congratulations, you got my attention. Under the topic of “heteronormativity” (!!) I found she referenced an occasion when she and her friends were “messing around” with a Ouija board, which became the theme of my post, An Omen of the ‘Mystifying Oracle’? […]
DeadMessenger
July 13th, 2014 @ 10:04 pm

I’ve done that…there’s actually quite a bit to read from Catholic priests, and a lot of it is pretty frightening. What I didn’t expect to find was the large of amount of Protestant material in this area. This topic certainly didn’t come up often in any church I’ve gone to…and it seems like it ought to have at least gotten a mention, you know?
What Christian Apparently Means | Please Excuse My Vagina
July 13th, 2014 @ 10:49 pm

[…] OK, congratulations, you got my attention. Under the topic of “heteronormativity” (!!) I found she referenced an occasion when she and her friends were “messing around” with a Ouija board, which became the theme of my post, An Omen of the ‘Mystifying Oracle’? […]
Bob Belvedere
July 14th, 2014 @ 7:27 am

As with many Catholic clergy, it seems many ministers pride themselves on be ‘oh so sophisticated’ that they would never admit such ‘crazy’ things exist. They do so at their own Soul’s peril.