👻 Should Christians Talk to the Dead?

The Bible is very clear - we are not to try and contact the dead. Practices like séances, mediums, or speaking to “ghosts” are forbidden.

🔹 Why?
Because the dead are not roaming around waiting to speak with us. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”  When someone dies, their spirit goes to be with the Lord (if saved) or to a place of waiting for judgment (if not).

So, who are people really talking to when they claim to hear from or see the dead?

The answer: demons.
The Bible says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). His demons can imitate voices, appearances, and memories of loved ones in order to deceive.

🔹 Scripture’s Warning

• “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:31)

• A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them (Leviticus 20:27, KJV).

What does the Bible say about familiar spirits?
The word familiar spirit in Hebrew according to Strongs concordance is 'ôḇ and means one who evokes the dead, ghost, spirit of a dead one.

I then took the word wizard back to the Strongs concordance in Hebrew and it is yiḏʿōnî and means 1) a knower, 2) one who has a familiar spirit, 3) a familiar spirit, soothsayer, necromancer.

The word soothsayer in Hebrew is Qāsam and means 1) to practice divination.

In the New Testament, Acts 16:16 describes a girl possessed with a spirit of divination.  In Greek the word divination is Pythōn which Paul cast out. Python was linked in Greek culture to the serpent spirit of Delphi and came to mean a demon of divination.

• Conclusion:
  A familiar spirit is not the spirit of the dead but a demon. Mediums, wizards, soothsayers, necromancers, and fortune tellers all operate by this same spirit of divination - the python spirit - which mimics the dead to deceive.

 🔹 The Truth
Talking to the dead opens the door to demonic deception. Those “ghosts” are not Grandma, Dad, or a lost child - they are fallen spirits pretending to be them, seeking to trap hearts in lies and bondage.

Instead of reaching out to the dead, we are to seek the Living God through Jesus Christ, who alone has victory over death and the grave.

✝️ Let’s put our hope in the One who rose from the dead - not in demons who masquerade as the dead.

- Tania Francis