The Ravens Nest

Times, Are They Really A-Changin?

Did you know that there are still laws on the books in Pennsylvania that specifically allows the equivalent of a modern-day witch trial to take place?

It would seem that it’s true. In fact, an obscure 19th Century law called Title 18, Section 7104 specifically states the following:

§ 7104.  Fortune telling.

(a)  Offense defined.–A person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree if he pretends for gain or lucre, to tell fortunes or predict future events, by cards, tokens, the inspection of the head or hands of any person, or by the age of anyone, or by consulting the movements of the heavenly bodies, or in any other manner, or for gain or lucre, pretends to effect any purpose by spells, charms, necromancy, or incantation, or advises the taking or administering of what are commonly called love powders or potions, or prepares the same to be taken or administered, or publishes by card, circular, sign, newspaper or other means that he can predict future events, or for gain or lucre, pretends to enable anyone to get or to recover stolen property, or to tell where lost property is, or to stop bad luck, or to give good luck, or to put bad luck on a person or animal, or to stop or injure the business or health of a person or shorten his life, or to give success in business, enterprise, speculation, and games of chance, or to win the affection of a person, or to make one person marry another, or to induce a person to make or alter a will, or to tell where money or other property is hidden, or to tell where to dig for treasure, or to make a person to dispose of property in favor of another.

(b)  Advertising as evidence.–Any publication contrary to this section may be given in evidence to sustain the indictment.

(c)  Competency of witnesses.–Any person whose fortune may have been told shall be a competent witness against the person charged with violating this section.

I know what you’re thinking. How did we get here? Why are we discussing this? No one in their right mind would ever charge against this law, much less attempt to enforce it in the modern day?

Beck Lawrence, a tarot reader in Hanover, Pennsylvania was paid a visit by the Police Chief and he cited this obscure law, claiming that, should any complaints be made against her, he would be returning to possibly arrest her.

Being a practitioner in oracular arts myself, this one, admittedly struck a chord with me. At every turn, in every personal reading that I have produced for others, I have made one thing very clear and it’s something that needs to be made clear here.

The very fact that I provide these readings is not to predict your future but to merely provide insight on a current situation and present you with factors that you may be considering, have not considered. You are ultimately responsible for any outcomes from your own decision. I provide you with information and you make up your own damn mind what you do with the information.

You and you alone are responsible for the things you do. Whether you choose to follow what comes from the reading or not, it is all on you.

Tarot, Oracles, Runes, Pendulums, Dowsing, Tea Leaves, Palmistry, Astrology, Prayer, Hearing the Voice of God, none of it takes away from your own agency.

It would seem that this obscure law comes from a place where the non-believers in these practices believe in them more than they would have let on in the 19th Century. Two centuries later, it would seem some important things have been forgotten and something I think needs to be pointed out.

First and chiefly among them is that, whenever possible, our First Amendment protections from government have had groups that would subvert them due to some type of moral panic. Laws such as these are particularly sinister because this is the “Oh you have your free practice of religion and that’s still protected but you still suffer ‘the consequences’ of practicing it” and thus, stifling the free exercise of such practices.

To be fair, I haven’t reached out and talked to the Chief nor Beck Lawrence. While Lawrence has shared her side of things on the internet, I’m particularly interested in whether the Chief has issued the same warning to other metaphysical shops in the area as these shops in Hanover are within mere miles of each other. Whether warned or not, I wonder if the Chief knows that, as an agent of government, he is sworn to uphold and defend the constitutionally-protected rights of the citizens he claims to protect and serve?

Remember, Chief, it means protecting the rights of all, not just one group or another, no matter how large or small.

Also, if a minister were to pray on an issue and receive divine inspiration and convey that to their congregant, would the minister also be subject to this law if the congregant were to complain? At this point, in my own mind, the only difference in this point is window dressing.

Second, the Chief is wrong. Simply taking it up with the legislature is not the only option. Both he and the residents of Pennsylvania have a civic duty to The Constitution in that, he must protect those rights and keep his hands off, as stated before, by not enforcing what he is well-aware of is a bad and archaic law but the citizens have a civic duty to serve on a jury and use their brains to nullify any jury by simply voting Not Guilty when it comes to the application of such archaic laws.

While I can agree that everyone should be on the phone and sending letters to their legislator and letting their glorified employees know that this law should not and shall not stand, at the end of the day, sitting on a jury in such an event will be sufficient enough to note that the state will be wasting their time by attempting to enforce such a law.

Third, is a philosophical law of unintended consequences. Soon, even this law could have a chilling effect on ministers and those giving spiritual counselling as a service and function of their own vocations. This one is particularly important to remember as this law also targets those very people and is in a position to be weaponized by interpretation. Selective enforcement is also an issue as if the law does not apply fairly and equally across the board, it is no law at all.

As has been pointed out numerous times in Second Amendment instances, the SCOTUS case of Marbury v. Madison is clear in it’s statement that a “law that is repugnant to The Constitution is null and void.” That is full-stop and the enforcement of which does nothing more than expose tyrants and their simps.

Beck Lawrence may want to hire and retain an attorney at this point so that she does have protections in place. While that alone can be expensive and, in some cases, unduly burdensome, so can interruption of a small business. The one way around this law is the time-honored addition of “For Entertainment Purposes Only” addition to any advertisement to any oracular services and perhaps even a short waiver for the participant to sign that clearly states that she is not legally liable for any of the participant’s actions as a result of the reading until this particular law and any like it have been properly rescinded.

Readers, we can go on and on about how fundamentalist Christians are attacking and driving out small businesses in their own communities but that’s not only counter-productive but also misses the point. While it may be true, the best way to combat this is on fact and the importance of remembering that, as I’ve pointed out in an interview on the Legacy Game Mastering channel, revenge for slights not received from people whom have never committed them, shows we’ve learned nothing about our past and we have not moved on. The simpler and more effective method is that we make moves to ensure that the events such as the witchcraft trials of Salem never happen again, no matter what the subject is whether witchcraft or wrong political affiliation. It will cause nothing more than resentment and fuel more destruction.

The thing to remember is that, in a truly free society, people are responsible for their own actions. The constant protection of someone from the consequences of their actions while pulling down others who are enjoying the fruits of their more reasoned actions is exactly what is causing most of our problems today. The constant meddling and disadvantaging of one in favor of another has not, is not currently and will not work.

In short, this is an overlooked law that does need to be repealed sooner rather than later and citizens of Pennsylvania who honestly believe in the First Amendment should be taking whatever actions necessary in accordance with that amendment to see to it that it is no longer an issue.