Divination is an age-long practice that has remained with us as part of our culture. It contributed its value in the growth of our society. Even in our modern life which has become more sophisticated the need for divination has become more sophisticated than ever. But today by virtue of the practices in the Christian faith the practice is condemned, labeled and demonized.
It has been confined among evil practices and people are scared venturing into it. But cultures they say die hard. This is the reason that even some Christians who condemn it secretly indulge in it to meet their needs. In the time past when calamity or other strange happenings occur in the society, the elders usually take to divination to find out the cause with a view to preventing an occurrence.
Today that is no longer the case. Little wonder the society is besieged by various calamities because the land has been desecrated through and through. Christians have appropriated to themselves the power of hearing from God and any such practice which did not pass their own processes is evil. But is that the true position? This remains of the negative influences of the imported religion used to decimate our pristine culture. Through divination our society was stabilized and made crime free because any bad person with evil machination is always exposed.
My views on the issue have been simplified by the following comments by Adebisi David as glimpsed from the wall of Odimegwu Onwumere of Igbo Spirituality Revivalists. Enjoy the read as captured by him below.
“Nigerian Christians have a problem with divination. They believe it’s evil but what they don’t know is that Abraham, whom the Bible refers to as a friend of God, was into divination. Abraham, in the Bible allegory, was a diviner. He was an astrologer. He gazed and studied the stars at night to interpret the messages of Heaven. That’s how he communicated with the divine. Even Moses, King David, Aaron, Samuel, and many others were diviners. Joseph, in the Bible, was a diviner (Genesis 44:15). His coat of many colours which his brothers envied about him represents his ability to perform divination.
“This is what no Nigerian pastor will tell you because they want to be the only ones to know about it and practice it in secret, but don’t want the Nigerian Christian sheep to know about it or practice it. So what they do to scare you about divination is to label it occultic (which is not an evil word but means hidden or secret knowledge that is kept away from commoners) and use hell fire to keep you away from it. They know if you know about it and practice it like they do, they will lose you as their ATM that provides reliable tithe money for them every Sunday.
“The truth is anyone who can see the past, present, or future is a diviner. A person whose third eye (pineal gland) is activated can see the past, present, and future. Even pastors are diviners. Politicians have diviners who help them see into the future so they can use information gathered to make wise decisions to benefit the nation. Even monarchs have diviners too. Businessmen have diviners that help them so they can make smart business decisions. Even the Vatican is a place where divination is practiced. The meaning of the word “Vatican” is associated with divination or astrology. The architecture of the Vatican City tells it all. Let me not go there.
“As a matter of fact, the etymology of the word “pastor” is associated with divination, which originates from astrology. Pastor ~ Pa stor ~ Pa star ~ Papa star ~ Father star ~ Father who studies the stars ~ father who studies astrology. This is what the word “pastor” means. It originates from astrology. A pastor is a man who studies astrology and a master or “mama star” is a “woman who studies the stars” or “a woman who studies astrology.” It’s true some people who have knowledge of divination use it for evil purposes to deceive or control people, but does that make divination, itself, evil?
“No, not at all. It’s the person who uses divination for evil that is evil, not divination, itself. There is so much Nigerian Christians don’t know. The etymology of the word “divination” from the Latin word “divinationem,” which means “the power of foreseeing or making predictions.” Don’t pastors do this? Of course, they do. Divination also comes from the Latin word “divinare” which means “to be inspired by God.” So what’s wrong with being inspired by God? A diviner is someone who communicates with the divine. In the word “divination,” the word divine” is in it.
(Divin)ation ~ Divine ~ ation
“So how is divination evil? When Nigerian pastors claim the Holy Spirit showed them stuff or they are in the spirit, isn’t that divination? Aren’t they communicating with the divine when they are in the spirit? There are many ways a person can communicate with the divine. Nigerian Christians have no right to say Christianity is the only true way to communicate with the divine and all other non-Christian ways and methods of communicating with the divine are evil. That’s very wrong.
“There are many road
s that lead to the divine. There is no single road that leads to the divine. Divination is not evil. Being conscious and knowledgeable about it is a great plus. It’s not evil at all. Divination is a very ancient science. It’s as old as man and that’s what the Ifa board below represents. It’s an instrument for divination. Even the internet, which houses information, is a replica/resemblance of divination. That’s because the same way you can access information via divination, you can do the same with the internet.
“The only difference, however, is that with divination you see or predict the future before it happens but you cannot do the same with the internet. The internet can have information on future events only when it happens. When it happens, it gets stored in the internet forever. That’s the difference. People who abuse their knowledge of divination for selfish means are the ones who are evil. But divination, itself, is not evil. It doesn’t reveal lies. It reveals truth. Knowledge is not power, alone. Knowledge is divine.”
If the Christendom is condemning divination my question is what do they expect people with such gifts to do with their talent as agents of God? There is a role or gift assigned to each of but sadly many of us leave the earth without accomplishing them. In the same manner we have talented musicians, writers, footballers, painters, etc same way we have talented diviners to communicate the message of God. It is evil to demonize such talents because it is not coming from the church.
