Psychics and the Fox sisters
Psychic Wonderland
Psychics have “Prophetic Accuracy Quotients.” These are the percentages when their hunches turn out right. Jeane Dixon, Daniel Logan, David Bubar, and the others try to score high. But most of the time they do not.
Prophets in the Bible are different. They have certainty, the certainty of God backing them. Every prediction given by a prophet will always come true unless—because men have repented of their sins and returned to God or because they have decided to leave Him,—the predicted outcome must be changed. If men will sincerely repent, God will give them another opportunity. But, with this one exception, the predictions of the prophet always comes to pass.
There are prophets and there are psychics. We can clearly know the origin and message of both. The one follows the blueprint given in Scripture, the other finds its origin and messages in spiritualism.
Prophets will reprove sin and exalt the Bible; they will lead men to Christ and warn them of coming crises.
The psychics derive their information from the dark world. They tell us that their powers to predict come from crystal balls and “spirits of dead men” who visit them.
And what of their predictions?
Every year there seems to be more psychics than the year before. And they are predicting all kinds of trivial events—engagements of movie stars, political results, TV star contracts, the births of new “messiahs,” next year’s fashions, spiritualistic phenomena, and airplane crashes.
We need information. But sources are important. We dare not go to the wrong ones. Are the psychics and their fellow travelers (the astrologers, clairvoyants, mediums, and satanists) safe? Are they reliable? There are ways we can know.
The prophets of God received visions from heaven, warning men to repent of their sins and return to God; the psychics obtain their information from contacts that are far different.
They tell us that their powers to predict come from crystal balls, light bulbs, electronic boxes, and “spirits of dead men” who visit them. Ouija boards and séances are other means of information. And, as we shall find, guesswork is yet another helpful source.
Oddly enough, the predicted events themselves seem generally to be focused on celebrities: movie stars, singers, politicians, and so forth. But more often than not, the occurrence predicted will be a marriage or some such affair.
But not so with the ancient prophets sent to men with messages from Heaven. They received their directions directly from God through visions and dreams. They warned men everywhere to flee from sin and return to the Lord before their probation closed. They also predicted judgments upon the land.
They clearly declared that these judgments would come because of disobedience to the laws of God. And—unlike the psychics of our day,—their predictions could be counted on to come true unless men repented of those sins.
The psychics are very much different than the prophets: different in source, purpose, and message. Many people fear the contacts which supply the information to the psychics. Such have good reason to fear, for the Bible has warned against such manifestations.
“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.”—Isaiah 8:19-20.
At the beginning of 1978, Ralph Blodgett decided it was time to settle this matter of “psychics.”
So he did what other people have thought of doing but have never done. He went from one magazine vending counter to another, buying up the first-of-the-year sensational and gossip tabloids. Then he took his loot home and carefully compiled a list of 250 definite predictions for the year 1978.
As the year passed, he kept close tab on the news stories as they broke—in the newspapers, as well as the major news, science, gossip and sports magazines—and kept watching for fulfillments of those 250 predictions.
At the end of the year, he sat down and put it all together. Out of 250 specific prognostications, by the thirty leading psychics of the world, less than 3 percent (i.e., 6 out of 250) could be listed as reasonably fulfilled. Ninety-seven percent missed the mark entirely. (The six correct ones had been stated in such general terms that it was not difficult to find someone or someplace that could fulfill them.)
“What kind of predictions are we talking about? Here are a few for 1978 that flopped: U.S. space shuttle disaster sets program back 10 years; another major power failure to hit New York City in early 1978; a fire ravages the White House; the price of gas to reach $1.50 a gallon in U.S.; Quebec to split from rest of Canada; Carter to impose mandatory nationwide four-day work week in January; Cuba to apply to become fifty-first state; nationwide postal strike to halt all Christmas mail; Carter to reintroduce the draft in September; discovery of a cancer cure; Red China and the Soviet Union to go to war; CIA and FBI merge into a super spy agency; and remains of Atlantis discovered in Mediterranean off Turkey.”—Ralph Blodgett, “Supermarket Psychics Spin the Roulette Wheel Again,” in These Times, March 1979, p. 8.
Not only predictions of major news events, but also many that were little better than ridiculous. Five different psychics predicted that “Charlie’s Angels” TV show would be canceled; Burt Reynolds would marry Sally Field; Lindsay Wagner would become a TV superstar rage, replacing Farrah Fawcett-Majors; “Big-foot” would be captured. (None of this came true.) Such are not the messages of God to this world at such a perilous time in history as we are in today.
Where does all this come from? It is well-known that there are only two supernatural powers in our world.
Rene Noorbergen, in his book, Prophet of Destiny, draws back the curtain and reveals what is behind all this:
“James Bjornstad, author of the paperback, Twentieth Century Prophecy, a small yet powerful book dealing with the prophetic phenomena as displayed by Edgar Cayce and Jeane Dixon, has made a number of interesting comparisons between the abilities of these two great psychics and the Biblical requirements for a true prophet. His conclusion, based strictly on Biblical references, is for them truly devastating.
“Comparing all those who profess to have the extrasensory psychic gift (astrologers, mediums, clairvoyants, palmists, crystal gazers, telepaths) and submitting their abilities to the same basic set of Biblical standards, one arrives at the mind-shattering conclusion that all psychic mediums—and this includes such greats as Edgar Cayce, Jeane Dixon, Daniel Logan, Gerard Croiset, Peter Hurkos, Arthur Ford, etc.—without exception not only violate many basic Biblical principles, but also more often than not act in stark contradiction to the Biblical norms for a true prophet.
“The occult covers such a vast field of activities; and expecting to find one single Bible text applicable to all psychic phenomena would be asking too much. Yet there are ten very fundamental tests that beg for attention.
“At a time when 10,000 professional astrologers control the daily activities of 40 million people in the United States through 1,200 daily astrology columns and 2,350 horoscope computers; when roughly 140,000 fortune tellers, mediums, clairvoyants and psychic seers have created a 42-million-dollar-a-year business; and when three major universities offer credit courses in witchcraft, magic, astrology, and sorcery, a fool-proof method to separate the psychics from the prophets has become essential!
“The tests for a true prophet, all found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, pointedly indicate that those prognosticators not measuring up to these stringent qualifications cannot lay claim to the rare distinction of being true prophets of God.
“They can be summarized as follows:
“1. A true prophet does not lie. His predictions will be fulfilled (Jeremiah 28:9).
“2. A true prophet prophesies in the name of the Lord, not in his own name (2 Peter 1:21).
“3. A true prophet does not give his own private interpretation of prophecy (2 Peter 1:20).
“4. A true prophet points out the sins and transgressions of the people of God (Isaiah 58:1).
“5. A true prophet is to warn the people of God’s coming judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Revelation 14:6-7).
“These first five tests alone are already sufficient to damage the reputation of most of the so-called prophets; but crowned with the second group of five, they are truly devastating.
“6. A true prophet edifies the church, counsels and advises it in religious matters (1 Corinthians 14:37-40; 1 Corinthians 14:4-5).
“7. A true prophet’s words will be in absolute harmony with the words of the prophets that have preceded him (Isaiah 8:20).
“8. He recognizes the incarnation of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:1-3).
“9. He can be recognized by the results of his work (Matthew 7:15-20).
“Finally [10] he must be able to meet the requirements listed in Deuteronomy 18:9-12: A true prophet acts in accordance with the will and approval of God.
“Thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that . . useth divination [fortune teller], or an observer of times [astrologer], or an enchanter [magician], or a witch, or a consulter with familiar spirits [medium possessed with a spirit or a guide], or a wizard [clairvoyant or psychic], or a necromancer [medium who consults the dead]. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord [Deuteronomy 18:9-12].
“Based on this text, it becomes obvious that not everyone who prophesies is a prophet of God . . To be even more precise, the actions of a true prophet are not in contradiction to basic Biblical doctrines, but rather support and strengthen precepts already outlined.”—Rene Noorbergen, Prophet of Destiny, pp. 20-23.
Noorbergen’s book is helpful. If you have opportunity, purchase a copy and read it for yourself.
There is more than mere fakery in the psychics.
There is a superhuman power at work. This power has been known all through ancient times; and, although condemned in the Bible, it has existed in heathenism down to our own time.
“Shall we . . come down to the plain simple truth that the phenomenal aspects of modern spiritualism reproduce all the essential principles of the Magic, Witchcraft and Sorcery of the past? The same powers are involved . . the same intelligences are operating.”—J. J. Morse, a leading Spiritualist, in his book, Practical Occultism.
Present-day psychics recognize that their ability is the same power that controlled psychics in earlier ages. Sometimes they will say that their predictions of the marriages of movie stars comes from God. Jeane Dixon is in this category. Others, such as David Bubar, another well-known psychic, believes that his “power” to foretell the future comes from abilities within himself. Yet another leading psychic, Daniel Logan, declares that the power comes from communication with spirit beings through séances. Logan says the psychics are occult and receive their knowledge through a contact with unseen shadows.
Yet it was not until the year 1848 that spiritualism began its powerful surge into the Western world. And that entrance came about in a very strange way. Taking time to learn its modern origins will greatly help us to understand it.
“By common agreement, March 31, 1848, is the date that has officially been celebrated as the day when the raps at Hydesville, N.Y., in the home of the Fox Family, heralded to the world the stupendous message: There is no death; there are no dead. March 31 is the day when spiritualists celebrate the dawn of a new era which has changed the thought of the world . . March 31, 1848, ushered in a new era for the human race, an era which had its beginning with the tiny raps at Hydesville and will culminate only in the distant cycles of the future . . We are spirit here and now, a part of God.”—M.E. Cadwellader, co-founder of the National Spiritualist Association, in “There Is No Death; There Are No Dead,” in Centennial Book, pp. 88-89 (1948).
The first great lie was spoken by Satan, the father of lies, to Eve in the Garden of Eden: “Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). Beware of those two lies: You shall be God; you shall not die. These are two basic beliefs and operating principles of all spiritualists, clairvoyants, and psychics. Be warned: Have nothing to do with them.
In the spring of 1848, in a little cabin in Hydesville, New York, strange “rappings” were heard; but they were always where Margaretta (fifteen, also called “Margaret”) and Katie (twelve, also called “Kate”) happened to be. And it generally occurred only in a darkened room. On the evening of March 31, the two girls reported loud “rappings” in their room. Katie would laughingly cry out, “Mr. Splitfoot [Satan], do as I do,” and then clap her hands several times. The “rappings” would reply the same number of times. When their frightened mother came in, she asked the ages of each of her six children (including one who had earlier died); and the rappings counted off their ages correctly. In a matter of days, the house became thronged with curious people who were convinced that “the departed dead” were communicating with the girls.
People were willing to believe that they could communicate with “dead spirits.” Through this belief they opened a door for devils to enter; for, within several weeks, rappings were heard by hopeful communicants all over New England. By the early 1850s more than a million people in the United States and England had accepted the strange sounds as proof that the spirits of the dead are floating around, waiting to speak with them.
When the Fox sisters, Margaretta and Katie, were sent away to live with relatives, the rapping followed them when they were in darkened rooms.
They thoroughly enjoyed the publicity of it all; and, in 1849, the first of many public demonstrations in darkened rooms was arranged in Rochester, New York. From then on, the phenomena was known as the “Rochester rappings.”
Still later, Katie and Margaretta held spiritualist séances, and something would appear which said it was “departed friends.” Spiritualist organizations and “churches” were formed as a result of their efforts. And with them, a strong interest in astrology and so-called “psychic predictions.” The Fox sisters are today considered to be the founders of modern spiritualism—an occult communication with demons.
But something deeply bothered Margaretta; and, in 1858, she stopped her work as a spiritualist medium and joined the Roman Catholic Church. As the years passed, both sisters gradually became confirmed alcoholics and kept sinking deeper in loss of self-control, immorality, poverty, and alcoholism. “Pressed by the spirits,” Margaretta again became a spirit medium in 1867, again with full “powers” to bring spirits out of the air to appear as “departed loved ones from the presence of God.” And this, in spite of her gross immorality in both standards and practice. Of this time in her life, the English spiritualist, James Burns, editor of The Medium, wrote after her tragic death:
“We have [here] a woman giving spiritual manifestations to others, while within herself she is spiritually lost and misdirected. All moral sense, and control of mind and desire were gone . . But when the medium makes a trade of it and puffs the thing up as a commodity for sale, then farewell to all that might elevate or instruct in the subject.”—James Burns, The Medium and Daybreak, April 28, 1893, p. 25.
Her husband, Dr. Elisha Kane, an Arctic explorer, saw more clearly the causes of her moral collapse: It was the deception of the “rapping” that she had kept hidden in her heart all those years; for only to a few intimates did she disclose their origin.
“ ‘Oh, Maggie, are you never tired of this weary, weary sameness of continual deceit? Are you doomed thus to spend your days, doomed never to rise to better things?’
“Do avoid ‘spirits,’ I cannot bear to think of you as engaged in a course of wickedness and deception. Maggie, you have no friend but me whose interest in you is disconnected from this cursed rapping. Pardon my saying so; but is it not deceit even to listen [silently] when others are deceived?”—Letter from Dr. Elisha Kane to his wife Margaretta, quoted in C.E. Bechhofer Roberts, The Truth about Spiritualism, pp. 47-48.
Finally, in 1888, Margaretta Fox Kane could no longer withstand the accusing of her conscience. Millions looked to her, in sincerity, as one of the cofounders of a great new psychic movement that was supposed to lead humanity to a great new age of better living,—yet which was only demon worship.
She called newspaper reporters and told them that this guidance, called “modern spiritualism” and “psychic research”—had really sprung out of Katie’s and her childhood deceptions and that she had tried to drown it all in drink, but to no avail. She said this to those who, over the years, had been urging her to conduct séances with departed spirits. She would reply to them, “You are driving me to hell!” Within a few days, her sister Katie Fox Jencken returned from a trip to Europe and told reporters that she would join her sister in the exposure.
“I regard spiritualism as one of the greatest curses that the world has ever known.”—Katie Fox Jencken, New York Herald, October 9, 1888.
Then, on October 21, before a large assembly gathered in the New York Academy of Music for this purpose (after a Dr. Richmond had, by sleight of hand, successfully imitated the slate writing and thought reading of the séance room), Margaretta arose and, in her sister’s presence, read a statement repudiating their “powers” as a fake.
“ ‘That I have been chiefly instrumental in perpetrating the fraud of spiritualism upon a too-confiding public, most of you doubtless know. The greatest sorrow in my life has been that this is true, and though it has come late in my day, I am now prepared to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God! . . I am here tonight as one of the founders of spiritualism to denounce it as an absolute falsehood from beginning to end, as the flimsiest of superstitions, the most wicked blasphemy known to the world.’ ”—Margaretta Fox Kane, quoted in R.B. Davenport, The Deathblow to Spiritualism, p. 76. (Also see New York World, for October 21, 1888; New York Herald; and New York Daily Tribune, for October 22, 1888.)
That evening, Margaretta revealed that it all began because she had a big toe that was unusually double-jointed. At will, she could bend it and make surprisingly loud clicks, or “rappings.” She and her sister Katie had decided to play a joke on their mother and pretend they were talking to the devil or a spirit. But they had no idea that what they had started would turn into such a gargantuan monster that denied basic principles of morality and Christianity—and brought people under satanic control.
By throwing life and enthusiasm into her big toe, Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane produced loud spirit rapping in the Academy of Music auditorium that night which dealt a deathblow to spiritualism, that huge and worldwide fraud which she and her sister Katie founded in 1848. Both sisters were present and both denounced spiritualism as a monstrous imposition and a cheat.
“The great building was crowded and the wildest excitement prevailed at times. Hundreds of spiritualists had come to see the originators of their faith, destroy it at one stroke. They were greatly agitated at times and hissed fiercely. Take it all in all, it was a most remarkable and dramatic spectacle.”—New York Herald, October 22, 1888.
Under great pressure from spiritualists, both sisters later signed statements repudiating their earlier repudiation. With this agreement to return to deception, both gradually sunk into deeper gloom and eventually died as alcoholics—Katie in June 1892 and Margaretta in March 1893.
Here is Margaretta’s final outcome, as recorded by one of New York City’s largest daily newspapers at the time:
“The tenement house of No. 456 West 57th Street, New York, is deserted now, except one room, from cellar to roof. The room is occupied by a woman nearly 60 years of age, an object of charity, a mental and physical wreck, whose appetite is only for intoxicating liquors. The face, though marked by age and dissipation, shows unmistakably that the woman was once beautiful. This wreck of womankind has been a guest in palaces and courts. The powers of mind, now almost imbecile, were the wonder and study of scientific men in America, Europe, and Australia. Her name was eulogized, sung, and ridiculed in a dozen languages. The lips that utter little else now than profanity once promulgated the doctrine of a new religion which still numbers its tens of thousands of enthusiastic believers.”—Washington Daily Star, March 7, 1893.
It is generally recognized that modern spiritualism, including the astrologers and psychics that ply their trade in private audiences and through the major newspapers of the world today—trace their modern reappearance to the strange “rappings” in the children’s bedroom of John Fox’s home in Hydesville, New York, on the night of March 31, 1848.
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