I was offered a séance while grieving. Here’s why you should say no to talking to the dead

When I was at university a friend offered to hold a séance for me – a meeting through which people attempt to make contact with the dead. He had heard that I’d gone through a bereavement and wanted to help me in my grief. I had recently become a Christian, and it was actually the grief that first led me to explore faith. In that moment, I found myself asking: is it okay for Christians to talk to the dead? 

My gut reaction was no.  

But why was my instinct to say no? And why is it wrong for Christians to talk to the dead? 

This question matters more than ever as we’re living in a time of real spiritual curiosity. The Times recently reported that the Spiritualist Church has seen its number of young members double, and 1 in 5 people in the UK believe it’s possible to talk to the dead. It seems that the rise in spiritual curiosity is leading people to look in all sorts of directions. Some towards Christianity and others towards alternative spirituality.  

So what does the Bible say about this topic? Well, a lot. Old Testament and New Testament, the Bible never permits speaking to the dead. 

What happened to Saul? 

In 1 Samuel 28, we see an example of someone trying to communicate with the dead. Saul consults a medium to speak to the prophet Samuel who has been dead for some time. Is it Samuel raised from the dead, or a demon impersonating Samuel? Different theologians hold different perspectives. But whether it is demonic deception or not, it’s not good and it doesn’t go well for Saul. Saul’s visit to the medium was the final act of a man who had turned his back on God, and it led to his end.  

And in Deuteronomy 18:10-12 we see very clearly that God isn’t okay with us trying to communicate with the dead. “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.”

God doesn’t say these practices are silly or imaginary. The Bible takes the spiritual world seriously. Whatever you believe happened with Saul and the medium, when we reach out into the spiritual realm outside of God’s boundaries, we are reaching away from the kingdom of light and into the darkness and it won’t lead to life for us. Mediums and séances open a door to spiritual powers that are not from God, and therefore are not good. 

There’s something deeper going on too. At the start of human existence in Genesis 3, humans reached outside of God’s boundaries. They wanted knowledge, power and control that God hadn’t given them, and the result was a fracture in our relationship with God. Ever since, we’ve been tempted to fill our deepest longings in all sorts of ways other than going to God.

When we reach out into the spiritual realm outside of God’s boundaries, we are reaching into the darkness and it won’t lead to life for us

The answer to our longings

Grief creates a longing for connection. Many people who had never shown any interest in the spiritual, suddenly felt drawn to a medium or psychic after losing someone they loved. But the medium will never be able to fulfil that ache, in fact it will lead to more chaos and darkness in a person’s life rather than the peace they’re looking for.  

So, what do we do with our grief and our pain? We take it to the One who understands it and understands us. Jesus came for the broken, the searching and the grieving. We can bring our tears, our questions and our anger to God in prayer. And the Bible gives us a hope that no medium could ever offer. Revelation 21 describes a day when God will make His home with His people, wipe every tear from their eyes, and end every longing. For those who belong to Jesus, death is not the end of the story, and one day Jesus will return and end all pain, grieving and suffering.

So my gut reaction that talking to the dead was wrong was right, but the answer isn’t just “no”; it’s an invitation from Jesus to know Him as our comforter, to find our hope in Him, and to walk His way.  

You might be wondering what happened to my séance offering friend. Well, I thanked him for his care, said no to the séance and instead invited him to come to church with me, and, in a wonderful turn of events, he became a Christian too. He now no longer practises witchcraft, mediumship or any form of alternative spirituality and has had his life completely transformed by Jesus.