So according to the Mayans...
Fearing the loss of control can lead us down into some dangerous roads..
The Mayan in front of me pulled out a large leather-bound book with pages weathered yellow. He wore the traditional Mayan garb of black slacks and a white button-up shirt with French cuffs as he thumbed through the pages to locate my exact birth date.
When he found May 16th, 1997 he pointed a finger at a strange symbol on the page and looked up at me.
“You are ick,” he said.
Somewhat insulted, I leaned in as he flipped threw a much more modern booklet made of laminated paper to find the symbol iq’ (pronounced ick). The short description for iq’, the Mayan word for wind, said that an iq’ person is adaptable, courageous, and a dreamer. It said a person born under this sign is innovative and focused on a vision of the future.
Admittedly, I was struck by just how well it described me! I mean, I am indeed the kind of guy whose head is stuck in the cloud and I think way more about the future than the past or present. Pretty on the money.
So were the Mayans—at least according to this tour guide / jewelry salesman at the Case del Jade in Antigua, Guatemala—on to something?
The Mayan were pretty smart people. But I’m still not convinced that they could predict a person’s personality based on the day they were born. I’m not convinced any variety of astrology or horoscope or star sign has any bearing on us humans.
But I’m not here to lay out a Biblical nor scientific case against astrology (for a fun scientific look, check out this episode of the podcast Science Vs.). I certainly am not meaning to cause a Satanic Panic with slippery slope arguments about how reading a horoscope leads to selling your soul to the devil at some crossroads down in Georgia.
Maybe I’m crazy, but it sure seems like there has been an uptick in people—many who are Christians—who casually read Tarot cards and cast a little spell here and there and discuss their star signs… I even had an American housemate in Guatemala who casually mentioned she drew a Wiccan sigil on her wall to ward off cockroaches.
It all strikes me as a part of the shift into the POST-post-modern age. Remember in the early 2000s when Richard Dawkins and his New Atheist gang were all like “Science rules, God drools” and everyone thought we were headed into a world without religion? Turns out, they were mostly wrong. While organized religion is on the decline, there is only a growing interest in spiritual practices. Now it’s perfectly normal and rational to be a devoted God-hating atheist but still think the position of Jupiter will determine if you should stop to get coffee this morning.
Whatever the form or fashion, heavy reliance on astrology and spells and fortune-telling is a continuation of a long human tradition of wanting to “hedge our bets.”
And thanks to the Israelites constantly worshipping other gods, we know clearly God’s opinion on this whole deal! God is, to say the least, not a fan!
When I grew up, idol worshipping was often translated into modern terminology by equating it with addiction or prioritizing anything over God (i.e. spending too much time on the computer or choosing to go to a sports game on Sunday morning). I now am inclined to believe it isn’t the strongest modern equivalency of idol-worshiping.
The Israelites didn’t constantly turn to idols because they had some sort of addiction to idol-worshipping or they thought it was fun. Israelites turned to idols because the idols were making big, attractive promises. Idol worshiping was a way to hedge one’s bet. To make sure all your bases were covered so you could get what you want. The worshipping of idols was an attempt to gain more assurance and control in your life.
Remember Ba’al, one of the big deities that Israelites continuously threw themselves at? Yeah, he’s a weather and fertility god. In other words, if you wanted favorable weather conditions for your crops or livestock or you really wanted a baby, he was apparently the pro. While Yahweh God is your generalist, the various other gods floating around were specialists who promised favorable outcomes if you just did some bowing, praying, and sacrificing. For ancient people, that was a pretty difficult offer to pass up.
I saw this exact same thing play out in modern times, in Guatemala just last week. The Mayan deity Maximón (god of smoking and drinking—fun dude) is commonly worshipped right alongside Jesus in the city of Santiago Atitlan with little apparent fuss. At his shrine, people would give him cigarettes and booze in exchange for his divine favor, then do a one-quarter turn and ask a ceramic Jesus to bless them. It’s playing both sides so no matter what, you win.
So what’s the issue? In finances, we all think it’s great to have multiple streams of income or a diversified investment portfolio. Not putting your eggs all in one basket is great wisdom in many circumstances. Yet… in the case of idols, God has some serious issues with it.
Whether you are literally worshiping an idol or basing decisions on a randomly chosen card or lighting some candles so the “negative energy” leaves you, it demonstrates a lack of trust in God. God wants to be your only spiritual go-to. After all, God is a jealous God.
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
-Exodus 34:14
God has a right to be jealous since God is the sole Creator of everything. God makes the rules so has a right to enforce them as God sees fit. Just think about the ending of Job—Yahweh’s famous whirlwind speech is just a long brag session where God explains that no one nor no force can top the Creator’s knowledge and wisdom.
Isaiah 44 includes a lengthy parody of idol makers, showing how ridiculous it is to “create” your own god from the same material that you use for home projects. The passage begins by stating how nothing can compare to God—God is the only god. The only spiritual force in the universe.
“This is what the Lord says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God.
Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me
what has happened since I established my ancient people,
and what is yet to come—
yes, let them foretell what will come.
Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”-Isaiah 44:6-8
All of our feeble attempts to “hedge our bets” by calling up other spiritual forces will fall flat because there isn’t any other force even close to the Lord. Not even close! It’s like having a Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant on your basketball team, but also drafting some random player who mostly was benched in high school as a backup, “just in case” the pro players don’t work out. It’s an idiotic strategy. There’s no way around that.
Many people believe astrology is just for fun, and I see nothing wrong with engaging in a little fantasy. But there can be a temptation to give it too much authority over our lives. Anything we go to as a replacement for God or as a backup in order to get good fortune and blessing in our lives is dangerous. It’s a trap! These tempting circumstances may include:
Star signs and certain personality tests
Good luck charms
Feeling the need to repost a lame Christian meme because the caption says “the Devil’s children will scroll on by”
Giving any money to a random television preacher who asks
Putting too much stalk into religious symbolism or paraphernalia, even Christian stuff
Dabbling in spells or incantations or special prayers that are supposed to invoke special happenings
Giving too much power to certain religious authorities, even when the things they do or say don’t jive with the way of Jesus
Basically anytime where you don’t really believe God will follow through so you go for a back-up.
God doesn’t play second fiddle (I believe the fiddle is the Devil’s instrument, actaully… but anyway). It’s an insult to God to think you or whatever magical powers can get the job done just as good or better than God. It doesn’t work like that! Not in this reality.
When I looked further online about being an iq’, the description of my personality started to not match very well. It said people born under this sign are great mathematicians. Major flop there. Not even close. (Though it did also say we are great communicators and writers—I’ll leave that up to you to decide if it’s true).
Those kinds of things are always going to be just vague enough to sound true, and studies have shown how little correlation there is between your personality and whatever constellation was behind the sun—and then there’s the whole deal about why that constellation would even have any bearing on your personality. But whatever.
The point is, the magic will fail us. Because it’s not God.
“Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror. All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by. That is all they are to you—these you have dealt withand labored with since childhood. All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save you.
-Isaiah 47:12-15
I get it. We want control. We fear losing control so we can turn to some really questionable and sketchy avenues for getting the control back. But if we are “hedging our bets” we don’t have faith in God. Faith is the door into a great world, one where God is revealed even fuller. God asks for our complete and unmitigated trust. That’s the mission. But yeah, it’s super scary.
Though God is the only one going to actually get things done.
Question of the Week
Leave your answer in the comment section below or reply to this email.
What are practices you could do to help increase your faith and trust in God?
My “Goings On”
Super Jake is a bit delayed but it should hit shelves next month!
I’m feeling a bit iq’,
Jake Doberenz
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