SPIRIT CONTACT: WHO IS ON THE OTHER SIDE?
Wings of a Dove
a former new ager who was at
one time involved with spiritualism (spirit contact). She has other
articles on her web site that
may provide some answers to the phenomena of ghosts and spirits.
SPIRIT CONTACT: WHO IS ON THE OTHER SIDE?
By Marcia Montenegro (page 1 of 2)
First written September, 2001
[Note: The writer of this article, in the past, attended several
Spiritualist churches; used the Ouija Board many times; participated
in séances; received a spirit guide in the mid-1970's who stayed with
her for a number of years; and attended sessions where spirit contact
was being done.}
Spirit contact is growing today. People who have lost loved ones want
to know their loved one is okay. People may seek advice from the
departed loved one, or guidance from a spirit being on a ‘higher'
dimension, from a guardian angel, or from an advanced spiritual
master.
What is Spirit Contact? It is contacting a disembodied being, whether
it is believed to be a dead person, an angel, a being in another
dimension, an alien, a spirit guide, a spiritual being, an advanced
soul, a demon, a higher evolved Master, or any spirit. Spirit contact
has been and is common in many cultures that contact dead ancestors
and contact the spirit world for advice or for information on the
future. In the United States, the religion of Spiritualism, which
still exists, teaches that one can and should contact departed souls
for advice.
Types of Spirit Contact: There are mediums, channelers, and psychics,
most of whom are involved either knowingly or unknowingly in spirit
contact. Mediums usually contact beings they believe to be the dead by
allowing the spirit to speak through them or by passing on messages
from the spirits. Some mediums admit to having several spirit guides;
often they will have a main spirit who speaks through them called a
"control." This term, however, is not as common as it used to be.
These readings are done at séances, in private readings, or in public
settings.
Seances are done with a group of people gathered together, usually in
a dimly lit room; someone calls for protection by asking to be
surrounded by white light or protective spirits; the medium summons
spirits interested in contact, or tries to contact the spirit of a
departed loved one of someone present.
Private readings are done between the medium, channeler or psychic and
an individual. Public readings are often done on television shows,
such as "Crossing Over" with John Edward, who claims to receive
messages from the dead relatives of those in the audience. Some
popular mediums in the U.S. are Sylvia Browne, John Edward, and James
Van Praagh.
Channelers usually contact spirit beings other than the dead – angels,
aliens, advanced spiritual beings, enlightened beings. They may do
this by allowing the spirit to speak through them, or they may simply
pass the message on. J Z Knight claims to channel Ramptha, who claims
to be a 35,000-year-old warrior. Lazaris is a being channeled by Jach
Pursel. Jane Roberts claimed to receive messages from an entity
calling himself "Seth." These messages are chronicled in the book Seth
Speaks and other Seth books. Ruth Montgomery, a former journalist,
wrote several books which she said contained teachings channeled from
aliens who guided her. The popular Course in Miracles was channeled by
Helen Schucman, an atheist, who said that the spirit talking to her
was Jesus Christ. More recently, Neale Donald Walsch wrote a series of
books that purport to be answers from God to Walsch's questions [see
CANA documents on Conversations with God and Friendship with God for
further discussion].
Psychics may use spirit guides, angels, or the spirits of deceased
teachers or gurus as a way to help them do their reading, though this
is not always the case. Sometimes psychics may be unaware of the help
they are getting from spirits.
One thing all these spirits – whether claiming to be the dead, angels,
spiritual masters, Ascended Masters, aliens, or evolved souls – have
in common is that they give messages often contradictory to the Bible
and to Christian doctrine. The messages are sometimes blatantly
hostile to Christ or Christianity, or promote ideas contrary to
Christianity. The messages also often deny the reality of evil [see
CANA document "The Dark Side" on ideas of good and evil in the
occult].
The Messages from the Spirits: John Edward's show, "Crossing Over,"
was so popular on the Sci-Fi channel, that it ‘crossed over' from
cable to regular network. Edward approaches a section of the audience
and starts giving his ‘impressions' of what he is getting, whether it
be a name, numbers, or a date, until someone responds with information
that matches. He also asks the person questions as he tosses out
‘clues' he says he is receiving. Sometimes it seems that he is
throwing out very general information and that the person in the
audience is filling in the blanks for Edward. Other times, Edward
seems to be uncannily accurate. Is he really receiving messages from
dead people?
Interestingly, it seems the dead have a hard time being very clear.
For example, they may show Edward pink roses to say that everything is
alright, according to Edward, or they may show Edward a flag to
indicate their past patriotism in this life. It is sort of like a game
of spiritual charades. One wonders about this. Why can't the dead just
speak words to Edward, or write them out on a "spirit chalkboard" so
to speak? James Van Praagh, in explaining the difficulty he has in
interpreting the symbols shown to him by spirits, said that the
recently deceased spirits were just learning to communicate, and so
one could not expect all messages to be clear. This raises other
questions: Why do recently dead people have trouble communicating?
Where do they get these objects that they show Edward and Van Praagh?
Why can't they just project their thoughts into Edward's mind? Why are
their messages so prosaic and, well, boring? The picture one gets of
these creatures certainly does not present a very interesting company
of people to pass the time with. Why would these spirits have any
special wisdom just because they are dead?
Though the spirits always claim to be happy and to be doing well (is
Hitler also there with them, doing okay?), we do not know why they are
happy and doing well. What do they do, exactly? And if they told us,
how do we know it's true? How can we test these spirits to see if they
are lying about anything or everything they tell the mediums? The
answer is that we can't test them based on our own experiences since
we haven't been to the other side. Only God really knows if these
spirits are telling the truth, and who these spirits are.
Note that the messages from the "dead," from the spirits, and from
channeled entities never encourage people to believe the Bible, never
urge people to trust Christ for salvation, and often openly contradict
God's word or even speak derisively of Christ as Savior. For example,
the "God" in Walsch's books attacks very early on the credibility of
the Bible, which he mentions specifically, saying that words cannot
contain truth (of course, that should apply to Walsch's books as well
since they are nothing but words!). This "God" also attacks the idea
that there is right and wrong, and urges Walsch to abandon previous
beliefs. At one point, "God" even tells Walsch that he (Walsch) is
God's equal, and that Adam's fall was actually his "upliftment," and
that it was not sin, but was a "first blessing," (Conversations with
God, book 1 [NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1995}, p. 75). This is directly
opposite of God's word.
Some movies that have popularized spirit contact are "The Sixth
Sense," "What Lies Beneath," and "The Others." "The Sixth Sense" gave
the message that receiving communications from the dead is a special
gift. The young boy in the movie finally accepts this as his gift, and
he is able to help someone who is grieving over a death.
In addition to the mediums and the movies, there is the angel
phenomenon. Angel books abound. Angels are popularized in movies and
on TV shows like "Touched By an Angel." Workshops are offered to teach
one how to contact one's Guardian Angel. Angels are promoted as
guides. In fact, angels are the new spirit guides, and it seems so
much safer to contact an angel than just any old spirit.
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God does Address the Issue of Spirit Contact. What does God Say About
it?
Deut. 18: 10-12 forbids divination, sorcery, spirit contact,
consulting mediums, consulting those who contact the dead, casting
spells, and heeding omens.
Jesus tells us about the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus, who have
both died, in Luke 16. When the rich man pleads that the beggar,
Lazarus, be allowed to go back to earth to warn the rich man's
brothers about his separation from God after death, and the terrible
place he is in, the rich man is told that his brothers can listen to
Moses and the Prophets and be warned that way. When the rich man begs
again that "someone from the dead" should go to them, he is told that
if his brothers ignore Moses and the Prophets, they will not be
convinced "even if someone rises from the dead," (verses 27-31). Jesus
is not just speaking of someone coming back from the dead, but of his
own resurrection from the dead which many refused to believe.
1 Samuel 28:11-20: The medium called up Samuel, who was dead, but the
medium seemed surprised to see Samuel. Although God allowed Saul to
see Samuel, it was for him to receive news of his death the next day.
God used Saul's forbidden consultation with the medium to give him a
message that condemned his action. First Chronicles 10:13, 14 follows
up by telling us that one reason that Saul is allowed to die in battle
is because he consulted a medium.
Consulting mediums or attempting spirit contact takes us away from
seeking God for direction: "And when they say to you, ?Consult the
mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, ? should not a
people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of
the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak
according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them," (Isaiah 8: 19, 20).
Leviticus 19:31 puts it clearly: "Do not turn to mediums or
spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord
your God." God considers this spiritual adultery (Leviticus 20:6).
There are two kinds of angels: good angels who serve God, and fallen
angels (evil spirits, demons) who serve Satan. Good angels are
messengers of God; they serve God, not us. They do not come and go at
our command. If one seeks to contact an angel, only evil angels will
respond.
-2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that Satan can disguise himself as an
angel of light. Demons serve Satan, and take after him. Why can't a
demon disguise itself as a good angel, a dead person, a wise
spiritual ?master,' or any other spirit that humans seek?
Conclusions
The spirits responding to contact are not dead people or wise
spiritual beings, but evil spirits. The messages from these spirits
may mention God, but they never urge Bible study, worship of God, or
the need for Christ as Savior. The spirits deny Christ as the Savior
or distort His message. God had some pretty harsh words for false
prophets who were telling their dreams as though they came from God.
This is not too different from claiming to receive messages from the
dead and saying that God approves of this, or that it is a good thing,
when God has clearly forbidden such contact. This is what God had to
say about the prophets who presented their dreams as coming from God,
when they weren't:
"I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They
say, ?I had a dream! I had a dream!' How long will this continue in
the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of
their own minds? They think the dreams they tell one another will make
my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through
Baal worship. Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let
the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do
with grain?" declares the Lord. ?Is not my word like fire,' declares
the Lord, 'and like a hammer which shatters a rock?'" Jeremiah
23:25-29
We cannot get information from God through spirit contact. We don't
need guidance from wispy spirits playing charades. We don't need a
medium, channeler, or psychic contacting spirits who are playing with
our minds and preying on our grief. Instead, God gave us His only son,
and He gave us His word in scripture. Through trusting in the work of
Christ on the cross as the atonement for our sins, we are reconciled
to God. Jesus, who has power over all the spiritual realms, has this
to say:
"I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and
behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and
Hades," Revelation 1:17b-18
Further Resources
For a more detailed discussion of this topic, see article by author
published in the Christian Research Journal, "I See Dead People: A
Look at After-Death Communication."
For more information on good and bad angels, see: "Angels: The Good,
The Bad, and the Ugly," by Sue Bohlin.
THE OUIJA BOARD --- JUST A GAME?
Parker Brothers did not invent the Ouija Board. It had already been
around for awhile when it was bought by Parker Brothers in 1966 and
turned into a commercial success as a board game. Its beginnings lie
in the distant past when an earlier version (a tripod device) was
used
in the ancient world of Babylon and Greece to contact departed
spirits. The tripod became the pointer now used with the Board, which
is printed with the alphabet, the numbers 1-9, a 0 (zero), and the
words 'Goodbye', 'Yes', and 'No'. There are other boards like this
with different names, but with the same history and purpose. The
modern version of this game was developed by a man named Planchette,
a spiritualist (someone who contacts the dead as part of their
religion). The Board was further transformed around the turn of the
century under the direction and ownership of two men, Elijah J. Bond
and William Fuld. Fuld's name can be seen on the Ouija Board today.
The name Ouija is a combination of the French and German words for
'yes': Oui and Ja. According to Bond and Fuld, the Board suggested
its own name. The primary purpose of the board is and always has been
to
contact disembodied spirits. Contacting the dead is called
necromancy,
and contacting spirits is spiritism, both strongly condemned by God
(Deut. 18:9-12; Lev. 19:31, 20:6; I Sam 28, II Kings 21:6; Is. 8:19,
19:3-4). The Board's translated name, 'yes, yes', is an ingenious and
subtle way to invite spirit contact. Dead people cannot hang around
after death; you cannot communicate with a dead person. The practices
and techniques of contacting the dead and contacting spirits are used
widely in the occult. Although the pointer is often moved
intentionally or subconsciously by the players, you are putting
yourself in a vulnerable position when using the Board. By 'playing'
this 'game', you are showing an interest in spirit contact. If
contact
is made, it is demons (evil spirits, fallen angels), not the dead,
who
are responding. If Satan can disguise himself as "an angel of
light" (2 Cor. 11:14), then it is not improbable that fallen angels
can disguise themselves as the dead. The Ouija Board is not harmless
just because it is marketed as a game. Satan, the master of deception
and seduction, is good at twisting the truth into lies (Gen. 3:1-6;
Jn. 8:44). Satan likes disguises and his lies are often disguised as
games. The next time you are tempted to play the Ouija Board as a
game, look beyond its disguise and see it for what it really is.
Think
about this: Just what or who are you trying to contact? God tells us
to seek Him instead of the dead (Is. 8:19), and Christ "lives forever
to plead with God" on behalf of those who believe Him (Heb. 7:25b).
Who wants the Ouija Board when you can know the One Who has "complete
authority in heaven and on earth!" (Matt.28:18). If you are wondering
about Christ, think on His words in John 5:23b-24, "He who does not
honor the Son does not honor the Father , who sent him. I tell you
the
truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal
life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to
life."
http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_OuijaBoard.html