Ex-astrologer Marcia Montenegro is on a mission to warn people about horoscopes, divination, and the many ways people turn to sources outside of God to try and find “truth.”
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“[Divination is] when you’re seeking information supernaturally, but outside of God, outside of God’s will,” host Jenn Nizza explained at the start of the most recent “Ex-Psychic Saved Podcast.” “God absolutely condemns it.”
Montenegro agreed, noting divination is an attempt to get information “beyond the normal means,” and noting it can take the form of turning to Tarot cards, astrology, numerology, and tea-leaf reading, among other practices.
She went on to speak about the fact some will try to use the Bible to validate astrology — the belief celestial bodies have an impact on human affairs — or act as though using the stars to predict the future somehow comports with the Gospel.
Listen to Montenegro warn about divination and horoscopes and share her journey:
“A lot of Christians…get confused over it,” Montenegro said, explaining why astrology and the Bible simply don’t mix. She specifically clarified the differences between astrology and astronomy.
“Astrology and astronomy are two different things. Astronomy is a science, and it’s based on observation of data,” she said. “They are observing the heavenly bodies … and it’s strictly concerned with facts and trying to figure things out about those heavenly bodies.”
Montenegro continued. “Astrology is focused on the idea that there’s a meaning there.”
As a former professional astrologer, she recounted being so “in” on her beliefs that she once refused to sign an apartment lease while mercury was in retrograde, fearing what might happen if she did.
Mercury retrograde is an optical illusion that unfolds a few times each year and appears to show mercury moving backward in its orbit. When mercury laps earth in its 88-day move around the sun, it causes mercury’s appearance to be retrograde from earth’s perspective.
Astrologists believe happenings in the sky impact life on earth. Thus, mercury retrograde has people engaging in speculation and superstition over purported disruptions they think it can cause.
With that belief in mind, Montenegro was afraid to sign the lease. Flash-forward to today, though, and she is a Christian who pushes back against the beliefs she once held dear.
“What astrology is … it’s a form of divination, because you’re reading a meaning into the planets that isn’t there,” she said. “Astrology … looks kind of innocent to a lot of people, because it’s so common … the internet has made this information more accessible.”
But Montenegro explained precisely why it’s anything but innocent, and sounded the alarm over the prevalence of such content on the internet today.
“[Generation Z is] captivated by all this and, because of the internet, it’s so very accessible. You could go online and find an astrologer,” she said. “Because it’s more accessible, and more popular, and more mainstream, people don’t realize what it really is.”
Montenegro continued, “Behind all this kind of glitzy, kind of interesting, fun facts about ‘who you are’ is this belief system that’s set up completely opposed to God and denounced by God.”
She likened horoscopes and astrology to a pretty house that looks gorgeous on the outside but, upon looking inside, is dilapidated. While it seems innocent and fun, she said astrology is plagued by darkness.
“It looks gorgeous on the outside and it has maybe a beautiful wreath on the door and the lights are glowing in the window and you think, ‘Oh, what a beautiful home!’” she said. “And then you open up the front door and you go in and it’s dark and the floors have holes in them, and there’s pieces of wood sticking up.”
While astrology is often treated like a game that’s laughed off, Montenegro warned people to see it as far more sinister.
“God has completely forbidden it and denounced it, so that should be the end of the story for a Christian,” she said.
Listen to Montenegro’s story.
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