Parshas Shoftim
“There shall not be found amongst you a diviner of divinations!” (Devarim 18:10)
It is a negative commandment that one may not divine. The explanation of the act of divining is that there are people who seclude themselves and concentrate all of their thoughts and efforts on one specific thing that they wish to know, and through this seclusion and strong concentration and elevation of their thoughts from all physical things, their soul joins the spirits who can find out the things which will happen in the immediate future. Nevertheless, they never have the power to know the distant future, as only the true prophets can reach this great level. Even regarding the immediate future, the diviners will not achieve the knowledge of the complete truth. Their knowledge is on the level that in the majority of cases it will come to happen. Even in this level not all men are equal, as there are some who have greater powers in these matters, in the same way that some people are stronger than others. About this it says “There shall not be found amongst you a diviner of divinations, a soothsayer or an enchanter!”.
Amongst the reasons for this prohibition are that these things lead the general public astray, as when they see that the diviner is able to predict certain things and they actually happen as he said, they come to think that everything that happens in this world is brought about by the forces and heavenly signs, and they will almost come to think that Hashem does not watch over the world at all!
This commandment applies in all places and at all times, both to men and to women. One who transgresses this prohibition and makes himself into a diviner by doing certain actions, and then tells other people the information that he sees, receives lashes. One who asks the diviner for information does not receive lashes, but is still very nauseating as he fixes his thoughts and wastes his time with these empty things, and it is not fitting that one who has received knowledge from Hashem and has been favored with the true law should think about these empty things. Instead he should fix his thoughts only on Hashem, and not fear the words of the diviner, for Hashem, in His great kindness, will change the formation of the constellations and destroy the powers of the heavenly signs to do good for His pious ones. It is known that we are a holy nation who are not under the jurisdiction of any star or planet; Hashem is our inheritance as He spoke to us.
