A person receives relief, but it is temporary and you will have to “pay” for it with something.
The Orthodox Church does not bless turning to healers, healers, fortune-tellers, psychics. These people have nothing to do with the Church, although they often hide behind its name.
Why does the Church believe that clairvoyants who preserve the "ancient traditions of Orthodox healing", who heal with "Orthodox prayers" with the help of holy water, incense, candles, icons from an Orthodox church, commit lawlessness and violate the law of God?
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Does the end justify the means?
When a person has a toothache, he goes to the dentist, when his heart hurts, he goes to a cardiologist... It would never occur to a patient to seek medical help from a random person. For example, entrusting a heart operation to a process engineer, even if he is a genius ...
What happens to elementary logic when medicine suddenly turns out to be powerless, and in life, “for no reason at all”, everything goes “awry”: failures haunt, relationships with loved ones deteriorate? To whom does the person turn his gaze? Unfortunately, very often he seeks deliverance from troubles not from God, but from ... healers who "for a moderate amount" promise a 100% result. A desperate person becomes gullible, like a child. Often, someone’s random recommendation becomes the main argument for choosing a “doctor”: someone said that a healer grandmother would help solve any difficulties with the help of “miraculous prayers”. Trust in the healer is strengthened when, having established the “fact of damage” or the “evil eye”, she recommends going not to the sect of Satanists (for sure, this would stop many), but to the nearest temple in order to purchase everything necessary for “treatment” there: candles, incense, holy water. All these items of church use, according to her, will be needed for the "treatment" that will be carried out to "correct fate" and "gain lost happiness." Thus, a person convinces himself that the healer heals with God's help.
A vivid example: you read in the newspaper about the “clairvoyant Lyudmila” and see her in a photograph sitting at a table with a fan of playing cards. Next to her is a burning three-candlestick and the Crucifixion. These church items convince you of her "Orthodoxy". Moreover, at the very first session, she asks you to bring church candles, incense and holy water for “treatment”. But, here's the problem, a person who works in a candle shop in an Orthodox church, having learned that you take candles and incense for an "Orthodox healing session", for some reason you don't understand, refuses to sell you all this ...
The reason is simple: the Orthodox Church does not bless turning to healers, healers, fortune-tellers, psychics. These people have nothing to do with the Church, although they often hide behind its name.
When someone knocks on the door of your house, you will definitely ask: “Who is there?”, And you are waiting for an answer that would convince you that you can let guests in without danger to yourself and your loved ones. Why is the sense of self-defense dulled when it comes to interference in your life by a person who appears to be an Orthodox healer? You take his word for it, completely without thinking about the possible consequences of this unreasonable gullibility.
What does it mean to "heal with prayers"?
Why does the Church believe that clairvoyants who preserve the "ancient traditions of Orthodox healing", who heal with "Orthodox prayers" with the help of holy water, incense, candles, icons from an Orthodox church, commit lawlessness and violate the law of God? It turns out that the presence of church items in a healer is not at all evidence that a person serves God and is related to the Orthodox Church. On the contrary, the Church has struggled with such practices throughout the history of its existence.
What is prayer in the Orthodox sense? Prayer is communication with God. Every Orthodox person dedicates at least a few minutes a day to reading the morning and evening prayer rule. In these prayers, we thank God that He shows mercy to us, takes care of us, forgives our sins if we sincerely repent of them. In prayer, a person receives strength from God for the fulfillment and accomplishment of every good deed. But the words of prayer are not some miraculous formula. The most “correct” prayer is meaningless if the person reading it does not believe God and does not live according to His commandments, does not correct his life and does not participate in church sacraments.
In addition, the “prayers” with which “healers” treat are usually not at all the same or not quite the same that we can find in the Orthodox prayer book. Here is a fragment from the book of the famous Orthodox doctor Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov), who heads the rehabilitation center for victims of sectarianism and the occult in Moscow:
“People who have suffered from such an impact come to the spiritual and medical Rehabilitation Center for persons affected by totalitarian sects and the occult, which is in the Krutitsky Compound in Moscow, and when they often say that they have been to an Orthodox healer, one has to clarify - what is it like this? In response, you hear something unintelligible:
- But he had icons, he read prayers, led a candle ...
What kind of prayers did he say?
- We don't know...
- Maybe, "Our Father"?
- Yes, it seems, "Our Father" ...
- Do you know "Our Father"?
- Not..".
Taking advantage of this ignorance, healers carry out their method of influencing the human body. And people who, out of naivety and ignorance, decided to "get rid of corruption" from the "Orthodox healer", find themselves in the slavery of the same forces that they wanted to get rid of.
The fact is that sorcerers do not read Orthodox prayers as expected. They turn prayer into a conspiracy, into some kind of magic formula. Such a "prayer practice" can bring nothing but harm.
Without an active love for God, it is impossible to get any benefit from prayer (the same can be said about wearing the “Save and Save” ring, the “Alive in Help” belt, etc.). If prayer is perceived as a magical formula, this can turn into a tragedy for a person who did not want to seek advice from an Orthodox priest, but who decided to seek help "on the side" - from "Orthodox healers."
Holy Scripture about sorcerers, sorcerers and occult "healers"
In the books of Holy Scripture (Bible) we find numerous indications that turning to sorcerers, fortune-tellers and healers is a direct violation of God's commandments.
“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn from other peoples to do the abominations that they do: do not sacrifice on the fire of your altar either your sons or your daughters, do not try to find out about the future by asking the soothsayer , and don't go to a wizard, sorceress, or sorcerer. Do not allow anyone to conjure another, do not allow one of your people to summon spirits or become a magician ... The Lord your God hates those who do such things ... Be faithful to the Lord your God ”(Deuteronomy, 18: 9-14 ).
“Do not go to the callers of the dead, and do not go to wizards, and do not bring yourself to defilement from them. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:31).
“The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, magic... and the like; I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:20-21)
After the preaching of the Apostle Paul in the city of Ephesus, many who were engaged in sorcery and witchcraft believed in Jesus Christ and renounced this sin: “And of those who practiced witchcraft, quite a few took down their books and burned them in front of everyone ...” (Acts, 19:19).
Church rules (canons) about healers, wizards, sorcerers and fortune-tellers
61 canon of the VI Ecumenical Council:
He who surrenders to magicians ... or others like him, in order to learn from them what they wish to reveal to them, in accordance with the previous fatherly decrees about them, let him be subject to the rule of six years of penance [church punishment]. The same penance should also be applied to those who ... utter fortune-telling about happiness, fate, genealogy, and many other similar rumors: equally so-called cloud-catchers, charmers, makers of protective talismans and sorcerers. Those who are stagnant in this and do not turn away and do not run away from such pernicious and pagan fantasies, we determine to cast them out of the Church completely ... what is the agreement of Christ with Belial [Satan]? (see 2 Corinthians 6:15).
24th Canon of Ancyra Council
Those who enchant and follow pagan customs, or introduce such into their homes, for the sake of finding magic, or for the sake of purification, let them be subject to the rule of five years of repentance.
Rule 65 of St. Basil the Great
He who repented of magic or poisoning, may he spend the time set for the murderer in repentance.
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The above applies to all who call themselves "Orthodox healers."
Some "healers" deceive themselves and others by saying that they heal by the power of God, just as Orthodox saints did. However, it should be remembered that the saints receive the gift of healing after many years of great deeds of struggle with sin. In addition, healings that are performed by the power of God are never an end in themselves. Such miracles are evidence of God's love for man, they soften our hearts, help to reconsider life, attitude towards people, make us closer to God.
If, however, a person’s feeling of superiority over his neighbors and contempt for the Church intensifies, then we are dealing with a false miracle, which, according to the teachings of the Bible, occurs “according to the working of the devil” (2 Thess. 2:9).
Almost every priest has to deal with the terrible consequences of "healing treatment": mental illness, family breakdown, severe (sometimes fatal) illnesses. Such is the retribution for temporary relief or success received from "Orthodox" healers.
Where to find salvation and help?
A person who yearns for “Orthodox healing” must understand that there is no non-church Orthodoxy, and accordingly, there can be no healing from God with the help of Orthodox attributes that an impostor healer uses.
Joining the church life is the only possible way to spiritual health and the heritage of eternal life with God. Every deed and action performed by a Christian must be strengthened by faith in God and love for one's neighbor.
The root of every illness and disorder in personal life is sins. Every sin is a falling away from the Loving Creator, unwillingness to live in harmony with the will of God. The fight against sin, repentance is the path that blesses the Church. Having descended onto an “easier” path of acquiring happiness and health with the help of magical actions, a person inevitably deprives himself of God’s help.
Before you go to an “Orthodox healer,” ask yourself: why didn’t I myself turn to God in prayer for help, why didn’t I go to the priest and ask for blessings or talk to him about my difficulties? Perhaps it is his advice and help, together with a prayer to God, who “does not desire the death of a sinner, but that he turn and be alive” (Ezek. 33:11), will be the beginning of a good change in our life?
One of the great confessors of our time, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), in a letter to a woman who was engaged in healing, wrote:
“I can’t call you a servant of God! After all, you are doing the opposite. Do not destroy yourself and those people who, out of ignorance of the truth, turn to you. Refuse once and for all, and no matter what temptations the enemy throws up, stand firm and do not take up healing. Your soul will perish. ... Earthly life is short, but with what we will leave it and where we will find ourselves, think about it!
Let us take the advice of the elder and think about the brevity of our life and that it was given to us by God to prepare for eternity. And how we will spend this life and what we will take out of it depends on each of us.
ACCORDING TO THE MATERIALS OF THE ORTHODOX PRESS
I would like to touch on a topic that continues to be relevant today and at the same time very problematic, and to understand the spiritual phenomenon that broke into the life of our society in the nineties of the last, twentieth century, and continues to confuse many.
These are all kinds of methods of pseudo-non-traditional healing, extrasensory perception, various methods of divination, removing or inducing damage, adjusting karma and opening chakras, “hereditary healers”, “saviors”, “seers” and “foretellers”, sorcerers and magicians - everything that can be attributed to the field of non-church and extra-church mysticism.
At the end of the last century, when the well-established and seemingly unshakable system of state, interpersonal and spiritual relationships was being destroyed, when society was throwing “fire and fire into the frying pan”, from one crisis to another, when the state propaganda of official atheism completely outlived its usefulness, distrusted, impoverished and unfortunate people with great energy, they rushed to all kinds of traditional healers and seers, who promised in an instant to get rid of all conceivable and unimaginable troubles, problems and misfortunes, to give health, to return a loved one or beloved, to give wealth and good luck. And deprived of a genuine, gracious and, most importantly, mystical life in the Church, proven by two thousand years of experience, brought up in unbelief and lack of spirituality and yearning for faith, people who lived on one sixth of the land, rushed into the arms of pseudo-spirituality and pseudo-mysticism. So the concept of "psychic" burst into our lives.
From the TV screen, from the pages of periodicals, from huge city billboards, the workers of the invisible front, the Stakhanovists of magical services, are calling us and offering their services. Probably, on every book layout you can find manuals on divination or love spells, and in every self-respecting city or even village there is a local psychic. What is the essence of this extra-church and non-church mysticism?
In order to understand this, we must understand what magic is and from what source it draws its strength. Practicing magicians and psychics can talk for a long time about the fact that there are different types of magic - black, white, green, that they take the forces for their miracles from inexhaustible sources of space, from the ancient forces of the earth. But it is important to remember that all non-church mysticism has one source and the origin of all this mystical power is clearly not Divine. It is not God, the loving Creator and Provider of all that exists, who acts through all sorts of healers and psychics. Their source is the ancient serpent and murderer from time immemorial, the devil. Why? Because in order for God to enter a person's life, for his soul to be illuminated by Divine light, a feat is needed on the part of each of us. It is necessary to purify the soul from the filth of sin, it is necessary to strive to crucify oneself with Christ, forgiveness is needed, the desire to become better - these are the keys that open the doors of the human heart for the Divine Guest - Christ, Who alone can bring peace, joy in the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, and most importantly - true happiness.
But psychics and magicians offer a different path, the path of spiritual irresponsibility and determinism, the path of passivity. Only one thing is required of a person - to come and trust, that is, to voluntarily give himself at the disposal of those forces that communicate with a psychic, that is, into the hands of the devil. One seemingly harmless visit to the magician - and your soul is wide open for the influence of the evil all-destroying will, for the demonic influence. But, apologists for healers may object, because there are many psychics and so-called grandmothers who immediately send their patients to the temple, inviting them to do this or that action - put nine candles, kiss five icons, confess and take communion, and only then proceed to commit certain rituals. But let's think about for whom and to whom such a person comes to the temple - at the call of the heart, obeying the call of God, or at the command of the grandmother, in the hope of whom he warms the candles in front of the images - for God or for grandmother Maria or Shura. Thus, it turns out that this person, even coming to the temple, commits a sin - blasphemy, laughing at God and giving glory and hope due to Him alone to the wicked servants of Satan. And through this blasphemy, this sin, the evil forces gain even greater power over the human soul.
But again objections can be heard: what does it matter from what source magicians and sorcerers get their power, if they help people, if we see the real result of their actions. But the result is different. Every person wandering into the jungle of pseudo-spirituality in search of spirituality ultimately seeks happiness. But it is precisely happiness that evil hellish forces cannot give a person, because outside of God and without God, one who is created in the image and likeness of God cannot find happiness. Satan is able to give only a temporary illusion of happiness, but the price of this illusion is not at all illusory - this is the eternal salvation of the human soul, this is a rejection of life in divine love, ultimately, this is a rejection of God and the opportunity to truly love, and there is no happiness without love and cannot be. Anger, hatred and deceit are not capable of giving happiness. And that is why the one who tries to find salvation from troubles in search of another magician, sorcerer, psychic is deceived and mistaken, because the end and logical outcome of his path is in the gloomy depths of the underworld abyss.
Probably, every confessor who accepts confession can tell more than a dozen cases when the result of a seemingly harmless trip to a psychic is crippled health and mutilated destinies of entire generations.
But the All-Merciful Lord, who loves each of us, gives us the opportunity to correct our own mistakes, made perhaps out of ignorance or stupidity. To do this, you need quite a bit - to ask God, Whom we offend and grieve with our appeals to magicians and Satan, for forgiveness, to repent in the Sacrament of Confession. By this action, by our repentance, by our appeal to God, we will express our desire and give God the opportunity to enter our lives, to shine upon us with His love, His grace, in the light of which all the heinous deeds of the minions of fallen spirits disappear. God alone is able to grant us forgiveness and free us from the burden of past mistakes, and He will certainly hear everyone and help! We are only required to take a step towards the Lord, who awaits us with open arms.
Father Boris, tell me, are there any believing healers, or do they not exist? Many of them, for example, use Orthodox paraphernalia in their practice: icons, prayers, candles. How does the Church feel about this kind of their actions?
Psychic abilities really in the rudiment can be characteristic of a person. But modern man is not in the state in which God created him. His nature is corrupted by sin. And what was beautiful in a state of paradise, in a state of sinfulness is not good, but harmful.
Is it possible to somehow determine whether a person is a serious believer, that is, one who accepts the faith of Christ with all his heart and tries to fulfill it? There are many people who believe only ritually: they know some prayers, they can perform some rituals, but Christ and spiritual life are not native, alien to them. They do not have a blessed spiritual life, they cannot think like a Christian, cannot feel like a Christian, cannot live like a Christian (I'm not talking about the moral side, but about the spiritual).
I had to seriously talk with people who are engaged in treatment with such methods. Their spiritual life is always built incorrectly: either a complete lack of humility and love, or the highest conceit, or something else. Yes, those who live a spiritual life also have sins, but Christians understand that sin is bad, and they fight against it. For example, it is clear that drunkenness is a sin. There are alcoholics who do not dry out, and there are those who stumble, fall, but struggle with their alcoholism, try not to drink. One person drinks more than they need and realizes that this is a sin. The other drinks and considers it normal. Therefore, when we say that a person is a Christian, it does not mean that he is infallible, but that he has clear criteria: this is Christian, this is good, but this is sin.
In Russia in the 19th century, such an understanding was the norm of life - of course, there were sinners, they sinned, but repented; Christianity was an ideal, and people understood that they did not comply with the norms. What was once considered a sin is now considered a virtue. And people with such a distorted understanding of the norms are very far from God, and, in fact, they feel very bad. They indulge themselves in wine, entertainment, or all sorts of bodily pleasures, but they do this precisely because it is very bad for them to live. I remember one example from our communist past, when an American, a black woman, the leader of the American Komsomol members, Marina Vladis, came to our country, to the USSR. Why did I remember her? She explained very well why she does her party work: “Because when I am alone, I feel bad. Only when I work and be close to people does it feel good. And if I don’t, I feel terribly bad.” She said what many people feel but are embarrassed to say. Now about attributes. Indeed, many psychics use Orthodox paraphernalia. The question is why? So that they would be more believed: if there are icons, holy water, candles, then it is understood that this is connected with God; it seems to be the same with them as in the Church. But they need Orthodox paraphernalia only to decorate the premises, in order to imitate spirituality and to create an atmosphere of greater trust. They also use prayers: "Our Father", for example. But after all, the same word can be said with different meanings: it can be said as a request, or it can be said in such a way that there will be no request at all (like a spell, for example), there will be no conversion of the soul to God. After all, I can also read if they write to me in Russian letters what to say - both in Chinese and in Arabic, but I will not understand what I read.
- But after all, many psychics send a person to church ...
If they communicate with the soul of a person who is in a state of complete spiritual exhaustion, then when interacting with him, they exhaust themselves. Let's remember such a good Russian example - Baba Yaga. When people came to her, before eating them, she would feed them, give them a drink, put them to bed, take them to the bath, and then - “yum-yum”. Why would she chew bones? Well-fed and clean will taste better. And the same principle applies here. When a person goes to church, is spiritually cleansed, receives communion, is sanctified by the grace of God, then you can work with him, you can already feed on energy from him.
- Energy, energy - the favorite terms of people communicating with psychics. Does energy really exist?
Of course there is. I can only talk about the spiritual side. Why, for example, does a grandmother go to church on an empty stomach in the morning, without eating, and run back running so that she overtakes everyone? Has she already had breakfast? No, she prayed, talked with God, and now she has much more strength. Or an old woman stands in the church for two hours, she won’t sit down. And the young people standing in the same church are already exhausted, shifting from foot to foot, they have no strength. So the grandmother communicates with God, she is interested, and the "visitors" are only serving time. There is a difference? When an Orthodox person falls ill, he understands that he must definitely go to the doctor, but the church must also be visited. If trouble, then first run to God, stay with Him, and then move on. This is fine.
Often people are afraid of any evil eye, damage, sidelong glances. However, if I don’t have any wounds or scratches on my hands, then I can take anything in my hands. If the hands are bruised, and I take, for example, manure, then dirt will get into the wounds, they will become inflamed and start to hurt, and you can be left without hands. So here. The dog bites the one who is afraid of it first of all. The same is true in the spiritual life. If a person is afraid of damage, the evil eye and the actions of evil spirits, then he will quickly become a target for all evil spirits. And when a person tries to live with God, prays, reads the Gospel, tries to fulfill His will, takes communion, then he does not give a damn about all these intrigues of dark forces. When a person is baptized, before being baptized, he spits in the direction of the devil, turns away and says: "I don't know you and I don't want to know, you don't interest me."
Whom can all this affect? Let's take a simple example. If a child walks with his father or mother by the hand, then will a dog bite him or offend hooligans? Probably not. And if he is capricious, runs ahead, then the dog can bite him and the bully will beat him. When we try to be close to God, we are not afraid of anyone and nothing. Is there anyone stronger than God? Of course not! What if we left Him?
Indeed, it is dangerous to live in a world of sin without God's protection, but for a Christian, all these intrigues of the enemy are not dangerous.
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The phrase "Orthodox healer", "Orthodox psychic" today can be found in almost any media that advertises the services of people who allegedly have psychic abilities. And among the psychics themselves, statements are increasingly appearing that extrasensory perception does not contradict Christianity in any way and, in general, is almost an integral part of the functioning of the Orthodox Church. However, the Church itself holds a completely different opinion on this matter.
Why do psychics need the Church?
In modern Russia, the attitude towards the Orthodox Church on the part of psychics can be divided into two stages. The first stage began around the mid-eighties of the last century and continued until the end of the nineties. It was a time when serious ideological, political and economic changes began in the country, and almost everything that was forbidden by the Soviet government was allowed. In the spiritual sphere, this meant that a kind of vacuum had formed: the regime had been imposing its own ideology for decades and suppressing all alternative ones in every possible way, and now no one needed its own ideology. This vacuum was immediately filled by all kinds of religious organizations, sects and psychics: healers, magicians, fortune-tellers, soothsayers and so on. At that stage, only the Church, which was restoring its positions, was considered by psychics as a competitor, therefore, the attitude towards it was, at best, ignoring, at worst, openly negative. Indeed, when Kashpirovsky, Chumak and the like gathered huge television audiences and entire stadiums for their screenings, they did not need any Church.
By the beginning of the 21st century, the situation had changed. Sad spiritual experience has shown the majority of the population that many "healers" and religious sects end up doing much more harm than good. In addition, the Orthodox Church has grown stronger and gained influence. Of course, most of those who currently position themselves as Orthodox are believers only in name, following tradition or even fashion. However, in this situation, it is unprofitable for psychics to declare that they are against the Church simply from a commercial point of view - then most potential "clients" will turn away from them. Therefore, such a phenomenon as “Orthodox psychics” arose: these are psychics whose workplace is literally hung with icons and crosses, they use spells in their work that are very similar in form to Christian prayers, and also strongly recommend that their clients go to church, put so many candles at such and such an icon and read a certain prayer a certain number of times. Even those of them who do not resort to a Christian entourage avoid direct negative statements about Christianity. The maximum that they allow themselves is a negative attitude towards the "spoiled" priests and the "bureaucratic" Church, who have perverted the original teaching of Christ.
Psychic is reality...
With regard to the attitude of the Orthodox Church to extrasensory perception and psychics, the situation is as follows. The Church does not consider, like academic science, the very possibility that people have supernatural abilities as absurd, and all psychics are charlatans (although most of them are absolute scammers). On the contrary: Orthodoxy has no doubt that people can heal physical or neurological diseases, look into the past, read hidden thoughts and desires, and the like. The Church even identifies three sources of such abilities: firstly, it can be an innate heightened sensitivity in the spiritual realm; secondly, it can be the power acquired from demonic forces; thirdly, it can be the grace and insight sent down by God. The third option has nothing to do with psychics at once: according to church tradition, Divine grace is sent only to deeply believing people who are in the bosom of the Church, either as a sign of their acquisition of holiness, or as a means of glorifying the mercy and love of God for people. By the way, the numerous cases of miracles performed by Christ and his apostles described in the Gospel are interpreted precisely as the glorification of God.
... But from psychics - harm
As for the cases when people have and use psychic abilities 
but are outside the Church, this is considered destructive to them and their "clients" and opposed to God in character. Even if a person has certain abilities from birth, does not charge for their use, and sincerely believes that he is doing good, such a psychic is still a harmful element for the Church. First of all, sorcery (that is, witchcraft 
, divination, horoscopes and other components of practical extrasensory perception) are unequivocally condemned in the Bible and classified as ungodly. But even if we are talking about the treatment of the sick, the attitude of the Church is still wary. The fact is that from a Christian point of view, diseases and ailments are sent to people for their spiritual correction, so that they think about the causes of their suffering, see their sins and embark on the path of repentance and the fight against sins. If the healer is not a church person, but a psychic, then by healing people, he does them a disservice - this means that he relieved them of the symptoms, but did not touch the cause, that is, the sinful way of life, that is, he removed the salvation of the soul from them and the Kingdom of Heaven.
Cases when psychic abilities became, in the interpretation of the Church, the result of a person’s contact with the demonic spiritual world (during special rituals, unreliable spiritual practices, suspicious meditations, and so on), are perceived by Orthodoxy as openly hostile. Recommendations from such psychics to their "clients" to go to the temple to fulfill their desires, accept Baptism and participate in the Sacraments are interpreted as direct desecration of shrines and harm to naive people. Because the same Communion has a beneficial effect on a person only when he comes to him with a pure soul and faith - otherwise it will only harm his soul.
Alexander Babitsky
