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Can We Talk to the Dead? Can We Communicate with the spirits of the dead? Is it possible to conjure up a dead person's spirit and talk to them? The answer is "Yes!" and I am going to show you the scriptures that prove it. After all, the purpose of my website is to find out what the bible really says. But, before I do that, I would like to address another question: Should we talk to the dead? The answer is, absolutely, positively, "No!!!" Talking to the dead is a pagan practice that is closely associated to witchcraft. Conjuring up spirits of the dead is called necromancy. It is also called divination. Among the pagan practices associated with witchcraft are fortune telling, channeling (having the spirit of the dead speak through a living person), divination and necromancing. These practices take on many forms, such as séances, ouiji boards, tarot cards, and palm reading, among others. There seems to be increasingly more interest in these practices lately with the availability of psychics on telephone hotlines, and new television shows. Recently, on national news (FOX, CNN, and others) it was reported that Hillary Clinton had a spiritual adviser help her talk to Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi. Mrs. Clinton used psychic advisers to "help her be a more effective First Lady." Likewise, while First Lady, Nancy Reagan reportedly consulted psychics for similar reasons. The problem with these and similar practices is that they are strictly forbidden by God! For those of us interested in seeking bible truths, we need to understand that it is clearly an abomination against God to speak to the dead. The law of God in the Old Testament soundly condemns all such pagan practices. Leviticus 19:26 and 31 Ye shall not ... use enchantment... Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 18:9-12 ...thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Of course, there are many charlatans in the world who claim to have psychic powers, and assert that they can speak to the dead. Some are frauds who take advantage of people for monetary gain. However, what I am discussing here is the "real" thing. These experiences MUST be real because there are clear examples of them in the bible. Not only that, if it is NOT "real," then why is it so strongly denounced as an abomination against God? The following story is about Saul conjuring up Samuel's spirit from the dead. The story is commonly referred to as Saul and the Witch of Endor. 1 Samuel 28: 3-21 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. This verse is very clear that Samuel was indeed "dead" as the whole city lamented his death and his body had been buried. And Saul (the king) had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. This scripture is very clear that pagan practices were not tolerated by God's people. Witches, wizards, and necromancers were shunned and they were not allowed to live within the city gates. And the Philistines (enemies of Israel) gathered themselves together, and came ...And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Saul was afraid of the Philistines, so he sought help from God. Prior to this event, Saul had been disobedient to God. God was displeased with Saul. Therefore God did not answer his prayer, so Saul decided to consult with a spiritualist (another act of disobedience).... Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night... He disguised himself because he knew it was wrong to consult a spiritualist. He went to her a night, in secret. and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? The witch knew that her craft was punishable by death, so she thought that Saul was laying a trap to ensnare her. And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. When she saw Samuel (a man of God and high priest), she realized that Saul was the King in disguise. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? The end result of this story is that because of Saul's continued disobedience against God, his two son's were killed in battle the next day and Saul committed suicide. Now, in my previous study on Are the Dead Asleep, I discussed the soul-sleepers. The soul-sleepers assert that in the story you just read, Samuel was NOT conjured up from the dead. Since the soul-sleepers believe that the dead are totally unconscious, they have to change this story all around - bible gymnastics again - and they proclaim that Samuel's spirit was NOT Samuel at all, rather a demonic spirit. There is one big problem with that, soul-sleepers, and that is the scriptures do not say that Saul conjured up a demon! It says, "then said Samuel" not "then said the demonic spirit masquerading as Samuel!" It says what it says. Saul and the witch of Endor conjured up the spirit of Samuel who was dead and buried. They communicated with Samuel. Saul asked a questions and Samuel answered. They had a two-way conversation. If it was a demon who communicated with Saul, then it would say that - plain and simple! If you are reading books on spiritualism, consulting psychics or necromancers, engaging in seances, or any such thing, my advice to you is "Stop!" There is nothing that a dead person has to say to you that is more important than you being obedient to God. Furthermore, how do you know that you are not consulting with someone who is under the influence of demonic spirits? That is what a "familiar spirit" is anyway! The necromancer/psychic uses a demonic spirit to conjure up the dead. Even a psychic who believes in God and proclaims the gospel is to be avoided. Why? Because even the demons believe in God! The demons know who and what Jesus is. James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. There is an example of this in the New Testament. In this case, a young girl had psychic abilities which made her masters allot of money. However, her powers came from a spirit possessing her body. She went through the city streets proclaiming that people should listen to the apostles who teach the way of salvation... Acts 16:16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel (girl) possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers... They were angry when the apostles cast out the demonic spirit from the girl, because when the spirit left, her psychic powers followed. They were interested in making money using these powers. Even though the girl proclaimed that the apostles show the way of salvation, she was possessed by an evil spirit. Well, enough said on this subject. I hope these examples demonstrate that you should never consult psychics, fortune-tellers, or necromancers. You should never attempt to communicate with the dead. Not only are these practices an abomination to God, you just may be in cahoots with demonic spirits. The next study is Does Anyone Go Directly to Heaven?