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What is the Jewish view on astrology, witchcraft, and occult practices?

by Rabbi Mendy Hecht

A. The Torah1 outlaws peeking around the curtain concealing the future. Tarot cards, crystal balls, psychics, astrology, horoscopes, seances, and palm reading are therefore out. Necromancy or otherwise contacting the dead is considered a form of idol worship.

B. Contemporary culture shows an ongoing interest in the metaphysical: TV shows, movies, clubs, chat rooms, walk-in centers, stores, seminars, and when all else fails, comic books. The underlying questions are good, but the answers are not. Most of the stuff you’ll get in those venues is nonsense, although some of it is based on truth.

C. The point is, Judaism has been answering these questions for millenia, so before you get into New Age religion or studies of the supernatural, look to Judaism for your guide to life. It works.

Staying with the Light Side of The Force may seem less exotic—you won’t gain supernatural powers. You’ll just be a regular Joe...
Why is all that stuff prohibited by the Torah?

1. The Purpose of Good and Evil

G-d is The Force, and thus, there is a Dark Side, too. Spirituality can be accessed in two ways: through the Light Side, and through the Dark Side. The reason the Dark Side exists is so Man can have free choice and use his mind to choose good over evil. If only the Light Side existed, there would only be good, and Man would have no choice but to do good only—because that’s all there would be. So G-d created the Dark Side, and allowed Man to access spiritual power through it, just so Man could choose between the good and the bad, the right and the wrong.

2. Be a Real Hero

Staying with the Light Side of The Force may seem less exotic—you won’t gain supernatural powers or anything Star Wars-like. You’ll just be a regular Joe in that sense. In this world, G-d specifically made evil tantalizing—it takes a discerning mind to look past the magical allure of evil to see that G-d is behind it all, and to opt for the Light.

Footnotes

  • 1. Deuteronomy 18:10-13

Related Categories

Miscellaneous » Astrology and Magic

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