An Anglican Priest who converted to Orthodoxy presented this that I thought was interesting and germain tothe subject:
From:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/torrington/d ... iridon.htm
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 There shall not be found in thee one who purgeth his son or his daughter with fire, one who useth divination, who dealeth with omens and augury, a sorcerer employing incantation, one who hath in him a divining spirit, an observer of signs, questioning the dead. For everyone that doth these things is an abomination to the Lord thy God.
Throughout the thousands of years of our Judaeo-Christian heritage, divination, seances, mediums and astrology have been strictly forbidden. This prohibition does not indicate a prejudice against these practices, but rather a deep insight into them. Simply, through God's revelation of himself in the Holy Scriptures and through the ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ, all things which are truly beneficial to man are manifestly accessible. In fact, the experience of the Church reveals that those "spiritual practices" which lie outside the Church are not simply neutral, but of a very negative value. That is to say, they harm the soul and work against the grace of God given to us for our salvation.
While an assistant pastor in an Episcopal church in Massachusetts, I had the occasion to meet a person who was a medium, and who professed and preached the virtues of this activity quite openly. The amazing thing about this is that she, with full knowledge of the senior pastor of this parish, was a regular communicant during weekday services of this parish. The senior pastor, when asked why he allowed this person to receive Holy Communion, replied: "After all, she is a baptized Roman Catholic."
In fact, as time went on I became aware of several persons who had consulted mediums for "readings". I met still more who were innocently reading astrological charts and had a superficial interest in the occult. And yet, at no time did the pastor of the church instruct his people concerning the dangers of such practices. In all of these cases, the persons involved had become innocent victims of insufficient instruction and guidance on the part of their church.
