What is Divination, Today?
In a previous post, I shared my thoughts on the idea that tarot readings, astrology, and the like are in de facto opposition to Christian values.
I do not agree with that concept. Christianity, just like any other faith, is not a fixed and rigid set of rules carved in stone, but instead is a living, evolving journey. The way the faithful practice their beliefs today is very different from how they practiced 1,000 years ago -- a time when the printing press didn't yet exist so people didn't own Bibles at home, which was fine because most people couldn't read anyway... a time when when science hadn't clarified many of the misunderstood phenomena that were ascribed instead at the time to miracles or evil forces.
Prohibition against divination is one of the original Biblical arguments against tarot and astrology, and I see that definition and prohibition as having evolved to irrelevance.
~ Deuteronomy 18:10-12
“There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.”
Divination is fortune-telling or future-predicting, and Christians are prohibited from trying to foresee or influence the future through supernatural means or in a way that is independent of or contrary to God's guidance. Fair enough, right?
And yet, farmers were allowed to use "divining rods" for dowsing, or identifying water sources for crop irrigation and wells. Almanacs were used to predict weather and best times for crop planting. Sailors would look at cloud patterns, wind and wave sounds, and the flight of seabirds to try and forecast sailing conditions.
So what permits these exceptions... to what are clearly types of future-predicting? Today, Christian scholars would confirm that it is acceptable to God for humans to use observations, wisdom and experiences from the natural world.
Utilizing practical tools for land and water management isn't sorcery or necromancy. Where it becomes a problem is using divination for supernatural purposes -- such as connecting with the souls of the dead or other deities, or attempting to resurrect life or generate life.
In other words, a sailor observing wave patterns to predict weather is relying on his own natural gifts from God; whereas, if he were making deals with the Sirens or making offerings to the Kraken to receive a more favorable passage, now it's supernatural... and therefore a problem.
So if an individual wonders about a career change, or the underlying issues of a disagreement with his girlfriend (all matters of man, mind you, and not of religion), and then he consults a Ouija board so his great-aunt Gladys can send him a signal from the beyond, it's supernatural.
If he looks for patterns in a few tarot cards to help clarify and frame his own thinking about the situation in order to make a better decision, he is relying on his own natural gifts. And if he asks another person to assist with the card selection, and point out some symbols in the cards to further help frame his thinking, this is again the natural God-given gifts of a human advisor. There is nothing supernatural about it. The Bible calls on us to consider our choices and make good ones, as part of our free will that was God's gift to man.
Christianity is very clear on the matter of humanity and free will, and taking responsibility for one's actions and choices is clearly part of God's teaching (Joshua 24:15, Galatians 6:7 just as a couple of obvious examples).
I'm not trying in any way to compare a tarot reading to a therapy session, obvs... but I'll point out that if the same example human consulted a counselor about his romantic disagreement, and she asked him questions to help elicit insights about his true feelings on the matter... we don't then call that counselor a witch or a necromancer. (I've long noted that tarot readings are just an old-fashioned form of a Rorschach test, and those have been utilized by psychology professionals for decades.)
There is nothing supernatural about human behaviors, pondered and discussed by humans. Therefore to me, there is nothing remotely divinatory about it either.