A lone candle adorned the large, round wooden table.
The light from the small flame barely reached the walls of the dark room.
Then, into the dim light a woman's voice: "Place your palms upon the table, with your thumbs touching, and your little fingers touching those of your neighbors. Do not speak or make a sound. And do not break the circle."
Those gathered silently take up each other's hands.
The woman begins to mutter something quietly. Then she speaks a name.
Minutes pass. The woman never ceases her arcane speech.
Suddenly, the woman stops...silence.
A chill goes through everyone seated around the table. The room goes unnaturally cold.
Faintly, then stronger, the men and women around the table hear whispers.
The voices start from the corners of the room, and move toward the center--just above the flame, which is now flickering madly.
As if mimicking the candle's light, a pale mist appears and begins to dance above the middle of the table.
The fog coalesces into the figure of man...
...and it speaks.
The scene above was common enough in the Victorian era. A time when interest in the supernatural came to a peak in our modern times. A time when imaginations were also most fertile when it came to the paranormal. I have described a certain type of meeting, in which a medium calls upon the spirit of a dead person so that his or her loved ones can converse and commune with him or her once again. I have described a seance.
Believe it or not, one can find a seance in the Bible.
In 1 Samuel 28:3-20a, King Saul consults a medium at Endor. He asks the medium to call upon the spirit of the dead prophet of the Lord, Samuel, who was an important advisor to Saul.
[I encourage you to read the whole passage, as I will be leaving out some interesting details.]
King Saul was losing a war against the Philistines. After Samuel died, Saul tried to inquire of the Lord--that is, he tried to talk to God and seek God's will--but the Lord did not answer him. Desperate, Saul went to the medium at Endor, and begged her to contact Samuel from beyond the grave. The medium did, indeed, conjure up the soul of Samuel. And the following conversation ensues:
--
Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"
Saul answered, "I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; so I have summoned you to tell me what I should do."
Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done to you just as he spoke by me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord.... Moreover, the Lord will give Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me...."
Immediately, Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel....
--
Now, I firmly believe that most to all of the scriptures are of use to us. So, what can we possibly learn from this episode in the First Testament? In a word, don't call upon the dead.
Today, we have things like horoscopes, Quija boards, seances and various types of televised and un-televised ghost-whisperers. Or, at times, we may even be tempted to talk to or pray to deceased loved ones for advice or guidance. Now, you might be saying to yourself, I don't do any of those things because I think they are hocus-pocus, they are fiction and supernatural gobbledygook.
Well, the scriptures (both the Old Testament and the New Testament) tell us not to participate in such things. But the writers of scripture do not warn us against such things because they are silly. Instead, Scripture tells us not to participate in these activities because they are real...because they call on a real--and dark--power.
Notice that Samuel was actually conjured up for Saul to consult one last time. Notice that Samuel does give information to Saul. But Samuel also makes clear what Saul's sin was in using the medium. Instead of calling on God and discerning God's will through the Holy Spirit, Saul contacts a mortal soul. We are to always call on God. And if God seems to be silent, then there is a reason. And our task then is to wait on the Lord with patience and humbleness and endurance, trusting that God will finally answer our prayers. Ultimately, it comes down to trust. Do we trust human attempts to tell the future or answer questions about life, or do we trust God? Putting our trust in anything but God is sin and evil--we are called to trust God above all things.
And so the next time you are tempted to hold a seance, or read a horoscope, or use the Ouija board with friends (even if you think those things are nonsense and just for fun)--don't.
Try praying, instead. Praying to God.
God will answer your questions in good time.
And if God ever seems silent when you need him most, seek out the church.
God usually speaks through the living, not the dead.
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