By Kitty Cleveland

When I was in my mid-20s, I was introduced to a “Catholic psychic” named Rosie who was visiting Louisiana from California to help a police officer solve a murder. She had helped him solve another murder over the telephone, even down to describing the car used in the crime and an exit off the interstate where it could be found.

Intrigued by the story, I wondered if maybe I could meet with her too. This was the era of Dionne Warwick and the Psychic Friends Network ads on TV. My prayer life and my formation in the faith were both sorely lacking, and I didn’t yet know the biblical prohibition against consulting psychics (and if I did, I was so prideful and dismissive of Church teaching that I would have scoffed at it). Instead, I saw this as an opportunity to have some burning questions of my own answered. I had recently graduated from law school and was depressed and confused, having just spent seven years of higher education preparing for a career I didn’t want. The future looked bleak and joyless to me.

I drove across the Mississippi River bridge to the law office of the criminal investigator, who was loaning Rosie a back room to see clients in exchange for her sleuthing assistance. Rosie was a short and plumpish Italian grandmother, originally from Brooklyn, with curly salt-and-pepper hair tied up on top of her head with a purple ribbon. She reminded me a great deal of the psychic in the movie Poltergeist, and I wondered if perhaps she had taken a cue from her style. After pleasantries, Rosie offered me a seat and asked me to refrain from telling her anything so we could “get a clear reading.” She rubbed her palms on her knees to “get her energy flowing,” and then she started praying in the name of Jesus and asked “only those from the Light” to come forward. She repeated, “Again, only those from the Light.”

I don’t recall many of the details from our first meeting, but there were some uncanny bits of information I do recall: she gave me the first initial of my great grandmother (“A grandmother or great grandmother with the first initial ‘B’ is coming forward”), and she told me that she was wearing pearls. I didn’t even know my great grandmother’s name, but it turned out to be correct—Bertha—and according to my grandmother, “She wore pearls every day of her life.” Rosie said that great grandmother “B” wanted me to know that she was very close to me. She also confirmed my need for creative expression in music and art, both of which had been dormant for years. At the end of our first session, I felt seen, special, understood, and loved by God when we were done. I also felt encouraged for the first time in a long time.

When I met my future husband later that year and I called Rosie for a phone session, she mentioned that my fiancé needed to stop writing on the pad in his car and making “California stops,”  or he was going to have an accident (he had a pad mounted to his dashboard that he wrote on frequently while driving, and he had just received a warning from a cop for the “California stop”). I would come to meet with Rosie a few more times by telephone, each time setting me back $100 and giving me lots to think about.

While some of the things she said were encouraging and exciting, I became a little more confused with each session. Some of the things were flat-out wrong, like when Rosie told me I was going to get pregnant and have twins.  I became increasingly frantic when I didn’t become pregnant after we got married. Had I done something wrong? And when her words didn’t quite jibe with my own feelings, I would second-guess myself. Was God using her to direct me? Did I need to be obedient to what she was telling me? Did I misunderstand, and that’s why it wasn’t working out? Since my prayer life was inconsistent at best, I trusted her more than I trusted my own discernment in prayer.

All of this came to a head when I attended the CCRNO (Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans) women’s retreat with the wonderful Fr. Harold Cohen (may he rest in peace). I hadn’t been on a retreat in years, and it was life-giving. During one of the talks Fr. Cohen told us to get rid of our compromises with New Age practices—consulting psychics (there’s no such thing as a Christian psychic!), Reiki or “energy work,” tarot cards, Ouija boards, horoscopes, the Enneagram (I had a number of those books, even some by Catholic authors), numerology, moon and Earth worship, crystal healing, etc. (We could also add to that list the books of Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Paulo Coelho, Louise Hay, et al.) Fr. Cohen’s words convicted me to the core. I went to confession, and when I returned home I got rid of everything that had ties to the occult.

So how could Rosie have known all of those things if God or his angels hadn’t revealed them to her, especially since they were kind and encouraging and loving, not evil? Plus, she said she was Catholic! Didn’t that give me some protection and assurance that this was coming from “the Light” of Jesus?

Well, not exactly.

One of the most effective ploys of satan is to appear as an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11: 14), even to someone who is well-intentioned and only wants to do good. However, there’s nothing holy about contacting the dead, as Scripture clearly forbids this practice:

Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the fire, nor a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner, or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead.” (Deuteronomy 18: 10-11)

“Do not go to mediums or consult fortune-tellers, for you will be defiled by them.” (Leviticus 19:31)

“Should anyone turn to mediums and fortune-tellers and follow their wanton ways, I will turn against such a one and cut him off from his people.” (Leviticus 20:6)

In a culture that disregards God’s Word and revels in New Age spirituality (even in some Catholic parishes), it’s no wonder that people are confused. Now we have television programs that feature “Catholic psychics” like Long Island Medium, where otherwise devout Christians are tuning in to see audience members weep as she gives them information about their departed loved ones. It gives them hope that they are “in a better place,” or that they are “at peace.” It’s truly sad that they don’t have a strong enough faith life to entrust their loved ones to the mercy of God, with prayers and sacrifices and the sacraments.

So, how is the Long Island Medium able to give her audience members such detail? There are only two possible answers:

Either she’s a fraud, or she’s consorting with demons (and she probably doesn’t even know it).

Given my experience with Rosie, I believe the latter. And in her disregard of the prohibitions in Scripture, Rosie put not only herself in danger but many more souls, as well. Why would a demon help her to solve a crime? you might ask. Perhaps trading a little justice and closure for the family of the deceased was worth it if it meant that many more souls could be dragged into the snares of the occult.

As Christians, we are called to be single-hearted in following the Lord and to rid our lives of any compromises with the enemy. As soon as you see any signs of New Age spirituality in otherwise good material, get rid of it. Satan is much smarter than you are, and he can use even well-intentioned people and seemingly good motives to lead you away from the Lord when it requires disobedience and inordinate curiosity.

As for me, I thank Fr. Harold Cohen for telling me the Truth (admonishing the sinner is one of the spiritual works of mercy) and setting me free from the snares of the enemy. May he rest in peace, and may Rosie and all those who dabble in the occult be likewise set free.

Additional resources:

(A prayer to renounce the occult is below)

To watch me read and comment on this post with my friend Kevin McCall, click here.

For Catholic Magisterial teaching on the subject, see Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian reflection on the New Age.

For the distinction between consulting the dead and the practice of invoking the saints, see this article.

For the distinction between psychics and authentic Catholic mystics/visionaries, see this article. Note that even holy people can mistake demons for angels, saints, and even Jesus and Mary! That’s why the Catholic Church is very careful before officially stating that the events were supernatural and the messages are worthy of belief. Always look for obedience to the bishop. If the visionary disobeys the bishop, especially when the messages are suppressed, it’s a telltale sign that they are not to be trusted. Even St. Pío (Padre Pío) and St. Faustina were suppressed for a time, and they were totally obedient and docile to their bishops.

For a fascinating and educational look into the life of a modern-day exorcist, see this post by Msgr. Stephen Rossetti (and his other related posts): The Exorcist Diary #129: A Recipe for Possession. 

Prayer to Renounce the Occult

“Heavenly Father, in the name of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, I renounce Satan and all his works, all forms of witchcraft, the use of divination, the practice of sorcery, dealing with mediums, channeling with spirit guides, the Ouija board, tarot cards, astrology, Reiki, hypnosis, automatic writing, horoscopes, numerology, the Enneagram, all types of fortune telling, palm readings, New Age spirituality, and anything else associated with the occult or Satan. In the name of Jesus Christ who came in the flesh, and by the power of his Cross, his Precious Blood, and his Resurrection, I renounce and forsake my involvement in all of them, and I choose you alone, Lord Jesus.

I confess all these sins before you and ask you to cleanse and forgive me for my divided heart. I ask you, Lord Jesus, to come into my heart, give me your merciful love, and make me holy. I ask you to send forth your Holy Spirit to baptize me with love, just as you baptized your disciples on the day of Pentecost.

I thank you, Heavenly Father, for strengthening my inner spirit with the power of your Holy Spirit, so that Christ may dwell in my heart. Through faith, rooted and grounded in love, may I be able to comprehend with all the saints, the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ’s love which surpasses all understanding. Amen!”

Friend, if you are a baptized Catholic, I urge you to make a sincere confession of your sins to a Catholic priest in the sacrament of reconciliation, which is more powerful than any exorcism. God loves you, died for you, and desires your freedom! Hallelujah!