In March of 1848, young Kate Fox (age 11), her sister Maggie (age 14), and their mother, Margaret, heard strange “rapping noises” echoing from the other side of a wall inside their home in Hydesville, New York. “Now count five,” Margaret said to the mysterious “knocker.” Within seconds, five more raps followed. As this creepy dialog continued, the trio came to realize that they were communicating with an intelligent knocker, and it eventually turned out that this “person” claimed to be the spirit of a dead person who had previously lived in that house. As word rapidly spread about this bizarre encounter, it eventually gave birth to a movement called “modern spiritualism,” whose motto to this very day is, “There is no death. There are no dead.” According to spiritualists, the dead are very much alive on “the other side” and can easily communicate with the living. But notice this warning from the Bible: “When [people] shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:19, 20, KJV).

Here, God’s Word urges us to avoid encounters with all mediums, so-called, and spiritists who channel ghostly personages—especially if those otherworldly entities claim to be the surviving spirits of dead people. Instead, we should seek God and His instruction revealed in His Book. The Bible is clear. Based on Isaiah 8:19, 20, we can rest assured that if we encounter ghosts claiming to be the spirits of the deceased, whatever these entities claim, they have “no light in them.” This means they promote darkness and deception.

You may be thinking, Wait a minute! Are you saying that ghosts really exist? I’m not sure about that.

I realize that many people are skeptical about the supernatural. Still, such doubts can easily dissolve when a person has a bona fide encounter with an otherworldly entity—with something that simply cannot be explained scientifically. Of course, many charlatans tout their wares. But history also reveals many undeniable rendezvous with real spirit beings, such as those encounters with the Fox family in 1848.

More than 100 years later, on the night of December 8, 1963, American author Jane Roberts and her husband Robert were experimenting in their Elmira, New York, apartment with a Ouija board as part of their research for a book on extrasensory perception, or ESP.

Suddenly, the board’s pointer began moving from letter to letter, forming words, then sentences. Robert asked the board to identify the name of its invisible operator. The Ouija board spelled out S E T H. This communication continued, and soon Seth’s ideas were flying into Jane’s astonished mind faster than they could be written on the board. As Mrs. Roberts later described it, she felt like she was perched on top of a high diving board, with others standing behind her urging her to jump. Finally, Jane made her choice, surrendered completely, and took the plunge. Seth took control.

Throughout the next 21 years, until she died in 1984, Jane Roberts often entered a trancelike state as the mysterious Seth entity literally “entered” her body and dictated messages. These experiences resulted in a sequence of books called The Seth Material, offering detailed explanations of the nature of reality, the soul, and the afterlife.

These dictations were so open and obvious that many students, journalists, and scientists were invited to watch Jane and Seth in action. Also, many audio recordings of these “Seth sessions” were taped in the presence of wondering psychologists and researchers. These recordings exist today. For those willing to dig deep into these strange events, there can be no doubt that Seth is real and that he authored The Seth Material, not Jane Roberts.

To date, more than seven million Seth books have sold worldwide, with translations in more than a dozen languages. There is a “Seth Learning Center,” myriads of Seth-related websites, and countless internet blogs and discussion groups about The Seth Material. My point is that both Seth and the supernatural are quite real, and if we ignore these realities, we are hiding our head in the sand. Of course, I realize that millions of Seth supporters think he is a friendly ghost offering wholesome guidance from “the other side.” Yet, a careful study of the Bible reveals his true identity as a demon in disguise.

A 2019 book now offered on Amazon is titled A Children’s Book of Demons. The description on Amazon’s webpage says: “Don’t want to take out the trash tonight? Maybe you’re swimming in homework? Perhaps that big bully is being a real drag? Well grab your coloured pencils and sigil drawing skills and dial up some demons!”

In this book, children are encouraged to draw “sigils,” which are symbols regularly used in magic and occultism. Such symbols are often considered magical themselves and are considered to be connected to various spirits associated with these symbols. Thus, through this new book easily available on Amazon.com, kids are being taught how to contact real spirit entities—just as real as the invisible author of The Seth Material. And note that the title of the book itself, A Children’s Book of Demons, openly says that the contents are demonic.

Think seriously: do you want your children reading that book? I don’t!

As bad as this is, it gets worse. We’ve all heard of smartphones, but have you heard of the upcoming “SoulPhone”? Sure enough, it’s now being developed by a well-funded organization called the “SoulPhone Foundation,” which claims to be committed to “An Evidence-Based Technology for ‘Spirit’ Communication.”

Make no mistake about it. Ouija boards, spiritism, mediums, the use of magic symbols, and communication with ghosts claiming to be the spirits of dead people are all part of ancient, modern, and very real occultism. The Bible warns us to avoid these things like the black death. In Old Testament times, as the nation of Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, God spoke sober words of warning to His chosen people. He said, “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 18:9–13, NKJV).^*

In this comprehensive passage, many forms of occultism—child sacrifice, witchcraft, sorcery, conjuring spells, mediumship, spiritism, seeking communication with supposedly dead souls—are all listed as “abominations” to God. The word abomination means something detestable that God hates. This is how our Creator views these things. Yet today, many of these abominations are being taught to kids! Deuteronomy 18:9–13 informs us that we should “not learn” to follow these abominations. “Not learn” means to stay away.

Let me clarify a few more Bible concepts. Can a dead person return from beyond the grave to communicate with the living? Notice carefully what we read in the Bible’s book of Job: “As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore (Job 7:9, 10, NKJV; emphasis added).

Here the Bible says that when a person “goes down to the grave,” his spirit, disembodied soul, or ghost cannot “come up,” nor can he “return to his house” anymore. In other words, it can’t happen. It’s impossible. Why not? Here’s the answer: “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also, their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, NKJV; emphasis added). “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (verse 10, NKJV).

“For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?” (Psalm 6:5, NKJV).

“The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence (Psalm 115:17, NKJV).

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” (Psalm 146:3, 4 KJV).

My mother died nearly two years ago. A year and a half later, my father breathed his last breath. I miss them both terribly. Is it possible for me to still talk with them? According to the plain Bible passages just quoted, the answer is no. Why not? Why can’t I reestablish communication with my mom and dad? The reasons are simple. I cannot communicate with them because they’re dead, and “the dead know nothing.” Their “thoughts” have perished. They now lie peacefully in “silence” in their graves.

On the bright side, throughout both the Old and New Testaments, God’s Word refers to death as a painless, silent “sleep” (Psalm 13:3; John 11:11–14; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14). At this moment, the deceased lie silently waiting for resurrection day (John 5:28, 29; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 51–55; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).

In this age of occultism, witchcraft, spellcasting, magic, children’s books teaching kids how to contact demons, and upcoming SoulPhones leading to texting with devils, we should all heed the Bible’s sober warning about the global activity of deceptive demons before the battle of Armageddon. “For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. . . . Armageddon” (Revelation 16:14–16, NKJV).

As darkness and delusion increase in these end times, we should carefully study what the Bible teaches about the dangers of occultism and seducing spirits. If we don’t, we haven’t a ghost of a chance!

Beware of Ghosts by Steve Wohlberg	From the September 2020 Signs