I wrote this letter a couple of years ago. We remained friends in spite of this letter. Mab is my wife, short for Mable.
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I wanted to write this so you would understand why we felt so uncomfortable with the idea of a fortune teller at a party. This seems innocent fun to most people, but not Mab and myself. Mab had a very unsettling experience with just this situation when she was a school girl. Her school was putting on a carnival arcade and bazaar as a fund raiser. She and a friend decided that a fortune teller would be fun. The friend, a Greek girl, was picked as the "gypsy fortune teller." Mab noticed one person after another leaving the "fortune teller" ashen faced. It seems that Mab's friend, quite innocently, and with no foreknowledge of talent in this regard was accurately telling people intimate details about themselves that she had no way of knowing other than through the occult. The fortune telling booth was closed early and both girls were frightened by the experience.
Many people see this dabbling in the occult as innocent fun. Mab and I do not. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 states explicitly that God does not approve of this. There is a seance described in 1 Samuel 28:6-20. What God thought of this is stated in 1 Chronicles 10:13. Other references are Leviticus 19:31 and 20:6, Isaiah 8:19, and Micah 5:12. 2 Timothy 3:13 predicts that practitioners of the occult will multiply but that we must avoid this. Revelation 19:20 states the final disposition of those practicing the occult. There are many other various references to this subject.
I hope you don't find me too pedantic in this letter. I value your friendship and I want you to understand what makes Mab and I tick. There is no intention to reject your hospitality. I hope you will accept this apology for our inability to participate in the game involving a fortune teller.
Regards
Steve McLeod
Job 19:25-27