Spirit Communication and Possession
The attempt to communicate with spirits of the dead is absolutely forbidden by
God (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6,27; Deuteronomy 18:11). Nevertheless, it has been
practiced in all cultures since the beginning of time. Of course, there was also the
belief that the gods and other guiding spirits could be contacted for their help as
well.
Spiritualism attracted many prominent people, such as abolitionist orator William
Lloyd Garrison, writers James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant,
and journalist-publisher Horace Greeley. Queen Victoria routinely consulted
mediums. Thomas Edison spent years trying to devise an electronic means of
communication with departed spirits. The Ouija board was developed specifically
to communicate with the spirits of those who had died in World War I.
Seances and Mediums
Two of England’s prime ministers, were very open about their spiritualist beliefs
and frequent attendance at seances, It was through attending spirit seances with
his wife, Helen, that Carl Rogers became convinced of the reality of the spirit
world. Many professed mediums are undoubtedly frauds, as is the case with
astrologers, palm-readers, psychics, and fortunetellers. The existence of
organized, mediumistic fraud has been documented in The Psychic Mafia. Exspiritualist M. Lamar Keene confessed that for 13 years he was part of a
nationwide network of 2000 phony mediums who traded information about clients
and conspired to cheat countless people out of millions of dollars.
He claimed that massive card files on “believers” were kept at Camp
Chesterfield, Indiana —known as “the hub of world Spiritualism”—for the use of
mediums “on the inside.” There is, however, solid evidence that communication
with spirit entities does take place. Ruth Montgomery was one of the most highly
honored women journalists of her day when she was assigned by an editor to
investigate the strange phenomenon of communication with alleged spirits of the
dead. Surprisingly, she found herself confronted with more than enough evidence
to overcome her seasoned journalistic skepticism. Eventually “spirit entities”
began writing books through Montgomery and she became known as “the Herald
of the New Age.”
California’s Episcopalian Bishop James Pike, a former lawyer, rejected most of
what the Bible said. After the suicide of his son, Pike was convinced that he had
made contact with his son’s discarnate spirit through a medium in London,
England: Enna Twigg. Pike’s skepticism was overcome when the spirit speaking
through Twigg mentioned numerous details of private life that only he and his son
knew. Once Bishop Pike was convinced he was indeed speaking with the spirit of
his dead son Jim, that entity proceeded to debunk Christianity. The spirit
proceeded to say, “Don’t you ever believe that God can be personalized... he is
the central Force.” It went on to explain that Jesus was not the Savior, but only
one of many enlightened beings existing on a higher plane. Likewise, the entity
that dictated A Course in Miracles through Helen Schucman said: “The name of
Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol… [of] love that is not of this world... a
symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods
to which you pray.... This course has come from him.”
A most unusual case involved the well-known psychologist William James and
Columbia University professor of logic James Hyslop. The latter was a psychic
investigator and friend of Carl Jung. Hyslop and Jung had together concluded
that “spirits” from a nonphysical dimension of reality were communicating. Hyslop
and James agreed that whoever died first would try to make contact with the
survivor. James died in 1910. Hyslop lived another ten years. Some time after
James’ death, Hyslop received a letter from a husband and wife (whom he had
never heard of) in Ireland (a country he had never visited). They had been
playing with a Ouija-board-like device and were bombarded by messages from
the discarnate spirit of someone named William James telling them to contact a
Professor James Hyslop, of whom they had never heard. The message they
delivered was “Remember the red pajamas?”
It was an apparent reference to a trip Hyslop and James had taken together in
which, upon arriving in Paris, their luggage was missing. They shopped for a few
necessities. The pajamas Hyslop bought were bright red and James had teased
him about them at the time.
While it would seem that only the surviving spirit of William James could have
sent such a message, there is another explanation: A demon who knew of the
red pajamas incident could very well have sent that message in order to
encourage faith in the satanic lie that death is only an illusion. There are many
other remarkable cases like this one.
Contact with the Dead—Or with Demons?
Fordham University theologian John Heaney summarizes in his book a number
of convincing cases involving alleged communication from the dead through
famous mediums. The cases that cannot be explained away after lengthy
scientific investigation are accounted for by something called “Super-ESP.” That
amazing talent would supposedly enable one to pick up any information from
anywhere and anyone at any time.
As a Catholic, Heaney of course believes in communication through prayer with
the “saints” and that the “saints” (no one is made a “saint” by the Roman Catholic
Church until long after death) sometimes appear on earth to assist the living.
Heaney does his best to find an ordinary explanation but cannot rule out the
involvement of spirit beings. He concludes that “apart from genuine contact with
the dead, there is no other rival theory [than “Super-ESP”] to explain the data.”
In fact, contact with the dead would hardly explain anything—certainly not the
cases (and there are many) where accurate information is given by the alleged
discarnate which was beyond that person’s intellectual capacity to comprehend
before his or her death. Yet such seeming omniscience is manifested in some
cases. For the alleged spirit of Aunt Jane, who had been a simple soul, to speak
intelligently of quantum mechanics, for example, would hardly prove that it was
Aunt Jane speaking from beyond the grave, but rather that it was not!
The apparent communication from an alleged discarnate is taken as evidence to
support the serpent’s lie that death is nothing to fear. Having “proved” its identity,
the alleged discarnate invariably proceeds to present persuasively the rest of the
lies the serpent told Eve in the Garden.
Why the Biblical Prohibition?
To prevent such deception being embraced, the Bible forbids any attempt to
contact discarnate spirits. Not because such contact is possible, but because it is
impossible. The demons take advantage of this human desire as they
impersonate the dead in order to promote their lies.
Heaney, though a Catholic theologian, contradicts the Bible by referring to “a
deceased person who remains ‘earthbound’... in a confused or bewildered or
malicious state….” On the contrary, no deceased persons are “earthbound,”
hanging around to haunt or help the living. Those who die as Christians are
instantly “absent from the body and… present with the Lord” in heaven (2
Corinthians 5:8). As for those who have rejected the gospel, their fate is given to
us by Christ through the “rich man”: “In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in
torment” (Luke 16:23).
Heaney frankly admits that both the Bible and his Church condemn consulting
the dead (except the alleged “saints,” of course). Nevertheless, he tries to justify
the practice by saying that “the biblical prohibitions apparently were directed
against aims and motives which are quite different from the aims and motives of
modern researchers.” He quotes Protestant clergyman Donald Bretherton of
London University, who agrees:
“Seeking after the dead” in ancient times was designed to show Yahweh as
either incompetent or untrustworthy, whereas modern mediumship seeks to show
the reality of the claim that “underneath are the everlasting arms.”
In fact, it is a delusion of liberal theology to imagine that the messages that come
through mediums support belief in the God of the Bible. Instead, they undermine
such faith by speaking of God as a “Force” and of Jesus Christ as an ascended
Master who exists on a higher plane than most of the discarnate souls. All
channeled material parrots the lies of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Indeed,
it is through this occult invasion of demonic beings impersonating the dead that a
host of error has entered the world and even polluted the church.
Communication with the dead implies that souls and spirits are free to flit about
on the astral plane and have become the communicators of an “ancient wisdom”
to mankind. One cannot believe in communication with the dead and at the same
time believe God’s Word: “…it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this
the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
The Ouija Board
A Ouija board demonstrates the ease with which anyone can be caught up in the
world of the occult. Scientific tests with a Ouija board have proved beyond
dispute that an intelli-gence independent of the persons using the board is
guiding the planchette. Sir William Barrett conducted experiments in which the
operators were blindfolded and the alphabet around the board was scrambled
without their knowledge. In addition, an opaque screen was held between the
sitters and the Ouija to make doubly sure that those using the board could not
see the letters. Under these rigorously controlled conditions the planchette
moved faster than ever. In his report to the American Society for Psychical
Research, Barrett said:
For we have here, in addition to the blindfolding of the sitters, the amazing
swiftness, precision and accuracy of the movements of the indicator spelling out
long and intelligent messages... without halting or error… messages often
contrary to and beyond the knowledge of the sitters….
Reviewing the results as a whole, I am convinced of their supenormal character,
and that we have here an exhibition of some intelligent discarnate agency...
guiding [the sitters’] muscular movements.
It was through a Ouija board that Carl Rogers (at the time a complete skeptic)
became convinced he had contacted the spirit of his dead wife, Helen, and
received a consoling message from her. Many channelers first made contact
with their spirit guides through a Ouija board. The Ouija has been implicated by
investigators in numerous cases of apparent demon possession. Nevertheless, it
overtook Monopoly in 1967 to become America’s most popular parlor game.
The Ouija board first put Pearl Curran, a St. Louis housewife, in contact with a
spirit entity, which called itself Patience Worth. Patience claimed to have lived in
Dorsetshire, England, in the seventeenth century. During a 20-year period
Patience dictated through eighth-grade-educated Pearl Curran “more than oneand-a-half million words in poems and historical novels.” One literary piece of
70,000 words was analyzed by Professor C.H.S. Schiller of London University,
who found it to contain “not a single word [which] originated after 1600.” He
stated:
When we consider that the authorized version of the Bible has only 70% Anglo
Saxon, and it is necessary to go back to Lyomen in 1205 to equal Patience’s
percentage... we realize we are facing a philological miracle.
Miracle? That hardly sounds scientific. How much more rational to admit that
Curran was indeed possessed by a spirit that had perfect knowledge of pre-1600
English and of events in early England. We are faced with a phenomenon, which
cannot be explained away and demonstrates the reality of occultism.
According to Dr. Raymond Moody, who has spent many years investigating
alleged encounters of the living with the presumed spirits of deceased loved
ones, “Science can’t distinguish...[whether] this is purely a phenomenon of
consciousness or some entity beyond one’s consciousness.” It is beyond the
capacity of science to deal with spirits. Nor do we need any help from science to
face the evidence.
New York City clinician Armand DiMele, though skeptical of most channelers,
acknowledges that in some cases accurate information has come through a
medium that could not be known by any normal means:
I have spoken to “spirit voices” who have... told me things about my childhood.
Specifics, like things that hung in the house [that he hadn’t thought of for years so
the medium wasn’t “reading his mind”]. There’s some undeniable evidence that
something happens, something we don’t understand and can’t measure.
They Are “Teaching Us Something”
One of the most powerful evidences we have of the reality of these spirit entities
and of their continued contact with mankind is found in the consistency of the
messages which they provide through those who claim to be in touch with them.
The same message comes independently through persons widely scattered
around the world and who have never been in contact with one another.
It is the religious philosophy with which the serpent “enlightened” Eve. It was
shattering for atheist Helen Shucman when she began hearing a voice saying,
“This is a course in miracles; take it down!” As well as teaching medical
psychology at Columbia University, Shucman was Assistant Head of the
Psychology Department at Presbyterian Hospital in New York. Far from
diagnosing her as suffering from delusion, her equally atheistic colleagues told
her to follow the instructions. When the dictation finally ended, the “Course” ran
to an astonishing 1100 pages and has been acclaimed for its brilliant insights by
psychologists and theologians alike. The voice dictating A Course in Miracles
claimed to be Jesus Christ Himself, intent upon correcting errors in the Bible that
have offended unbelievers because of their “narrow-mindedness.”
The Course explains that “forgiveness” is simply recognizing that sin does not
exist and therefore there is nothing to forgive. The Course is popular with those
who want to call themselves Christians while rejecting sound biblical doctrine.
The dictating “Jesus” contradicted nearly everything the Bible says about Him.
That fact is admitted by Kenneth Wapnick, head of the foundation that publishes
the Course. Not surprisingly, what this “Jesus” said was in perfect agreement
with the messages being communicated by a wide variety of entities through
thousands of “channels” around the world. Yet Shucman was ignorant of the
phenomenon of “channeling” until it suddenly happened to her.
The “higher Self” of Meredith Lady Young, a New Hampshire publisher,
channeled through her Agartha: A Journey to the Stars. Once again the
message was positive thinking, evolutionary advancement to perfection, the
oneness of all, that “God” is an energy, and that man is God: “We [channeling
spirits] are multidimensional beings from another more spiritually evolved plane.
Our aim is one of positive reinforcement to further man’s development…. The
human race must recognize its deeply buried bond with Universal Energy or no
significant spiritual growth is possible.”
Once again we have the undermining of basic Christian beliefs.