Amidst all the hype and nostalgia over the 20th anniversary of the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, I feel a duty to point something out that political correctness has deemed the great unmentionable (though not quite an elephant in the room, because few among our biblically illiterate mainstream media are aware of its seriousness).
I well remember the concern I felt in the summer of 1997 when it was reported that Diana and her lover, Dodi Al Fayed, were visiting a spiritist medium in Derbyshire, England. They arrived by helicopter and there was much press coverage, as was always the case when the so-called “Queen of Hearts” was involved.
The Paris car crash in which the couple were killed just over two weeks after this deadly encounter in Derbyshire should have served as a warning to the millions of others dabbling in the dark world of the occult. I will explain what I mean by “deadly encounter” in due course.
Meanwhile Dodi’s father Mohamed concocted a bizarre conspiracy theory around the tragedy—claiming that it was an assassination engineered by Buckingham Palace and MI6 in order to deal with the supposed unsuitability of a possible Muslim match with royalty. Others blamed the chasing paparazzi for causing the crash as an apparently drunk “chauffeur” drove at nearly 100 mph to get away from them.
In looking back, most of our media paint a glossy picture of Diana as a tragic victim of so much misunderstanding—and indeed she was; a beautiful woman rejected by her husband, her insecurity driving her to search for love in the wrong places. Yes, very much the story of our age, hence the great outpouring of grief as millions, including myself, could identify with her. (In fact, the evidence of my family tree even suggests an ancestral connection with the Spencers).
While it is right and proper to extend compassion to Diana’s sons William and Harry over their grievous loss of an evidently wonderful mother, it was refreshing to get a somewhat different perspective from Daily Mail columnist Dominic Lawson, who revealed that the princess had spurned his advice about keeping away from the Fayeds.
In Dominic’s own words, Mohamed Fayed was “nothing but trouble,” citing for example “the almost toxically controversial nature of the Egyptian (then owner of Harrods) and the fact that having been condemned eight years earlier in a 752-page Department of Trade report as a serial liar and fantasist, he was not a suitable holiday host either for her or her sons.”
More serious still was her spurning of warnings given in God’s Word, the Bible, described as “the most valuable thing this world affords” at our queen’s coronation. Warnings against consulting mediums are repeated throughout the book on which our democracy – and indeed monarchy – has been built, such as: “Do not turn to spirits through mediums or necromancers. Do not seek after them to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:31). See also Leviticus 20:27, where death is the result, and Deuteronomy 18:11, where it is described as “detestable.” And in 1 Chronicles 10:13, we see that it was in part the cause of King Saul’s death.
The New Testament contains a most illuminating passage on the subject, which involved a female fortune-teller who earned a great deal of money for her owners. She followed the disciples, shouting: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17b). She kept this up for many days until St. Paul got so annoyed that he commanded the spirit to come out of her “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:18b). It did, and that was the end of her owners’ business.
The interesting thing is that she actually told the truth. But the devil also knows who Jesus is. The problem was that she was not serving God, but the devil. She was enslaved by the evil one and her freedom brought trouble—and jail—for Paul and his companion, Silas, because a money-making racket based on a forbidden activity had been stopped. The authorities sided with the owners of the occult practice, just as often happens today. Could this be why apparently little effort is being made to prevent so-called kinky sex festivals taking place on the doorsteps of protesting neighbors in Kent? One such festival, in woodland near Tunbridge Wells, was billed as a chance for hedonists to “fulfill fantasies on a mystical site where witches’ covens have met for centuries.”
Sexual promiscuity and the occult go together. Occult in all its forms—and that includes horoscopes—can be bracketed under the general heading of witchcraft. It is demonic, deceptive and disastrous.
According to the Derby Telegraph, Diana’s visit to psychic Rita Rogers in Lower Pilsley was not a one-off, as she kept in regular touch. Rita apparently warned Dodi to avoid France for fear of an accident in a tunnel and had earlier predicted Diana meeting a man with the initial D on water (they met on his yacht).
So there could well have been elements of truth that drew Diana and her lover into a deadly trap. This is where dabbling into the occult leads, and why unsuspecting Britons need to be warned to avoid it and instead pursue the beautiful truth personified in Jesus, who said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Fortune-telling enslaves you because it ties you to the course dictated by whatever “revelation” has supposedly been given rather than freeing you to make your own decisions and trust God to lead you in his “paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3).
Of course, I can’t say for certain whether Diana ever read the passages I have quoted or was aware of them. But the Bible is God’s Word to us. It is not just a history book. It contains a vast breadth of advice and wisdom on how to live our lives. Ignorance on the day when we will all have to give account of our lives will be no excuse (2 Cor. 5.10).
The fulfillment of many ancient prophecies, particularly those concerning the coming of Messiah Jesus as well as the more recent extraordinary re-gathering of Jews to their promised land from every corner of the globe, is surely proof enough that the Bible can be trusted absolutely.
Prophecy—the forth-telling of God’s will, ways and purposes —is one thing. Consulting mediums is quite another, an activity strictly forbidden by the Lord. It’s about seeking secret knowledge in order to feel in control by delving into a future that God has chosen not to reveal. He wants us to live by faith – that is, by trusting him for our daily needs. “Without faith it is impossible to please God”(Heb. 11:6). It is not for us to know precisely what lies ahead (see Deut. 29:29).
Dabbling with darkness will invite all kinds of trouble to our lives. God wants us to live in the light, and He has shown us the perfect way by sending Jesus, His Son, “the light of the world” (John 8:12).
One of the most famous passages of Scripture is preceded just a few verses earlier by this question: “When they say to you, “Seek after the mediums and the wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek after their God? Should they consult the dead for the living?” (Isa. 8.19). The former leads only to distress, darkness and fearful gloom (see Isa. 8:22).
Nevertheless … “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light … For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is give … and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9.1-6) {eoa}
This article originally appeared on Assist News Service.
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