Spirit Quest

What is this so-called Spirit Quest? What is the stand of the Church regarding this? Msgr. Sabino Vengco, a faculty member in Loyola School of Theology, would say that it is as an activity of a group of people interested in communicating with spirits. This kind of activity is not malignant in nature. If this interest in spiritist phenomena would be just a form of objective research in matters of parapsychology and has not degenerated into a form of a spiritualistic religiosity or occultism, then it would be an example of a necessary investigation and study of the paranormal. But when its purpose is to establish some contact with the dead and “earthbound human spirits and elementals” or to mediate peaceful coexistence with them, then it can be already a form of divination or magic. “Now, what’s bad with magic anyway?” a common teenager would say.   

Technically speaking, magic is evil. However, in current terminology there are two variations of magic—black and white. The latter means “to take away a spell” while the former means “to cast a spell”. Perhaps, the current terminology contributed to the mentality that magic is either good or bad. Fr. Candido Amantini, the mentor of Fr. Gabriele Amorth, never ceases to repeat the reality that there are no such variations of magic because there is only one magic—black magic. Every form of magic is always practiced with recourse to Satan. 

In Deuteronomy 18:10-12, we see the clear command of God against those practices like witchcraft, spiritism, sorcery, shamanism, channeling, and soothsaying or divination. Since spiritual power can only come from spiritual sources—the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of the devil—when we use spiritual power not coming from God, we are certain that we are using demonic power.      

The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us clear guidance on this matter: All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others—even if this were for the sake of restoring their health—are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.       

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.