Christians, What Do You Think Of Spiritualists/Clairvoyants?

[CuriousMama]

Do you think that people who contact the dead are dabbling with evil? Or are you open minded about it?
Do you know of verses in the bible that condemn or praise contacting the dead? I've tried to study this but keep getting confused (which doesn't take much )
Just curious as I'm unsure what to think myself as a Christian. Feeling very on the fence at the moment.
And yes I'm being chicken and have changed my name but I'm regular here (too much tbh ) I just don't want to be judged on this matter.

[nannyjo]

i feel that because i don't know enough about it then it is smewhere i would rather not go just incase it gets me somewhere i don't want to be.

I think that means i am nuetral about believing.

[CuriousMama]

Thanks for your opinion nannyjo

[CuriousMama]

Can anyone else give me there views?

[CuriousMama]

their*

[LadyMarinaofSarfLondon]

I think that people who feel driven to consult clairvoyants in the aftermath of a bereavement are being exploited by unscrupulous charlatans, if you want my honest view CuriousMama.
I've suffered the death of an unborn child, which hit my Christian beliefs hard and made both me and my husband ill with grief for a time. I can completely understand how lonely, distraught people will try anything to be closer to someone they love and miss. So, no, I don't think what they are trying to achieve is evil, but I think mediums and the like are dangerous at best, that a lot of them are also deliberate fraudsters, and there is no real truth or comfort ultimately in what they offer - for a LOT of money of course.
Someone people would level a lot of the remarks I've just made at the Christian church (supernatural, no "proof" etc!) but you are not charged to pray in a church or contact a priest.
I would be interested in any responses you get from some of the Christians on here who know their Bibles well. I am a wishywashy C of E person, whose previous church dealt with a regular, local "Spiritual Fair" by booking a small stand with some friendly faces and some welcoming, low-key Christian literature, including prayer cards.
They were the only stand not selling something or promising solutions or answers...I think that says something.

[CuriousMama]

Thanks for replying

I've been to a local spiritualist church recently with a friend who's bereaved and they charged £2 each entrance to cover heating, lighting ect.. but the mediums give their service free. I know that in the bible it says to avoid people who charge for this so anyone making money from it must be wrong? But then again if it's a gift from God do they have the right to earn a living like the rest of us, say surgeons who have a gift? I'd love to be enlightened by someone who's more up on the bible too.

[LadyMarinaofSarfLondon]

Healing services are as close as I like to get to this sort of Christianity CuriousMama, and even then I felt self-conscious at the one I attended once. I could see it was helping others present though.
Why is a "church" charging admission, though? Apart from a voluntary collection during the offertory hymn, we don't have to pay...

[CuriousMama]

I think this church charge as some weeks there may be hardly anyone there. I think their usual charge is £1 and it's maybe £2 if the medium had to travel to pay his/her petrol? I'm not sure? Most Churches can rely on direct debit or regular contributions but this one probably has people who only visit occasionally. The CofE church I attend has regular contributors.

[Tommy]

I've always felt that it goes against the last thing we would say at a funeral - may they rest in peace. I feel we should leave them in peace. If you have a firm belief in God and heaven then surely you would "know" that your loved one is safe etc. I guess they might be useful for people who are not sure what they believe in.

[edgetop]

i am open minded about it ,i would like to think there is life after deathi have been to mediums lots of times,they never told me anything to make me belive they were talking to my loved ones.also i think if a medium was talking to someone on the other side why dont they talk to you like they would,when they were alive?its mostly a money making racket.

[WigWamBam]

I used to belong to a church who felt that Spiritualism was part of the occult, and that the occult was always a pathway to Satan. Letting yourself be open to Spiritualism was seen as opening a door through which Satan and the forces of evil could pass and infiltrate a person's spirit.

This church believed that occult practices included things like astrology as well - they felt that even such innocuous things as horoscopes, palmistry and so on were wrong, because they were the work of Satan attempting to turn you onto the wrong spiritual path.

[Papillon]

There are all sorts of ways to interpret the bible. There are now Christian pagans. I have read and seen books on the magical tones in the bible.

I am not hugely keen on large gatherings of people healing, but I have always enjoyed prayer and feeling the potential healing that could be there because it is so warm and loving. Speaking in tongues is amazing.

I grew around Christianity and sunday school and have investigated as I am older. It is wise but a text which has alot of theories and dispute around it. Clairvoyants are people not dabbling in evil, that is not their intent. In fact for me who is someone who works (money or not one day - doctors get money and they are driven to seek them out) in the dimensional realms other than the one we live in and the vague sixth sense ideal it is about spiritual evolution and love and much much more.

[doormat]

Curiousmama I think there are charlatans in every walk of life not just confined to spiritualists/mediums.
I often go to see clairavoyants just out of curiosity, nothing in particular, and have seen some really dreadful ones but I have been to a couple and they have been quite accurate.
There is one though I seen in the beginning of the year and he was so accurate it blew mine and my dh heads off. He was certainly no charlatan. He has helped in high profile cases in police investigations and is also on the the physic channel.

[CuriousMama]

Yes that's what makes me wonder, if they're so evil then why do they help with police investigations?

[expatinscotland]

I think Western culture, not Christianity in and of itself, has made us fear death, which seems quite silly when you think about it. This hasn't been the case in Western cultures until quite recently, moreover. The more we fear death, the more we see things like mediums or people whose minds may be open to things which make some uncomfortable or seem disconcerting. Yet there are people who see things some do not, cannot or will not. Even within the history of the Christian faith itself, we have mystics who have seen visions and spoken to people who had left this Earthly life - including Jesus himself.

There are mysteries of the Christian faith which we cannot explain. It goes to follow there are many mysteries in the universe that humans cannot explain, at least not yet.

I know that there are numerous aspects of paganism which were incorporated into Christian practices in an effort to convert peoples from indigenous faiths. So I feel free to acknowledge them. 'El dia de los muertos' for example. I never celebrated 'Halloween' except as el dia de los muertos.

And it's a pagan holiday, essentially when the portal between the living and dead is open.

I don't see how this affects my faith as a Christian, however, anymore than say, acknowledging that Jesus may have married a woman and fathered children whilst he was alive on Earth.

[expatinscotland]

Also, how can a person believe in the existence of angels, who are essentially not human, but energy, spirits if you will, and not acknowledge some peoples' abilities to perceive what is not the norm?

Angels only took on human forms at various times so that humans could understand them, but when they did they'd often appear a bit otherworldly - incredibly, stunningly beautiful, for example. Or transform themselves from beggars into beautiful people.

[CuriousMama]

Thanks for your amazing posts expat Yes, I agree about Angels too, how can they be ok but not spirits? Also, Jesus saw Moses and Elijah on the mount after their deaths.
I did try picking my clergy's brain on the matter but ended up even more confused!

[CuriousMama]

Anyone else got an opinion or information that may help?

[fruitful]

The Bible says ...

Deut 18:10-12 Let no-one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practises 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..

It's not that Christians don't believe in the spiritual realm - quite the opposite, its just as real as the world we can see. Just that the only spirit you're supposed to talk to is the Holy Spirit. Also there's a question mark over whether the spirits that are contacted are the dead loved ones, or evil spirits taking us for a ride.

[CuriousMama]

thanks fruitful.

I've definitely experienced the holy spirit so I know that's real.

I'm going to the local spiritualist church tonight with my friend who's recently bereaved so I'll pray for protection for us both.

[CuriousMama]

went to spiritualist church and notice they don't mention Jesus or pray. I've emailed the snu site to see what they say on this?

[flamebat]

CM - was it a mediumship type of night that you went to or an actual service? Normally weeknights etc are more based on communication, whereas going to a Sunday service you would get more like a church service, with mediumship at the end (if that makes sense?). You have singing, praying, a sermon (of sorts).

[Tortington]

as a catholic i was always taught that it was wrong.

however - i do have a set of tarot cards and a book to tell me what it means and have done them at home for a bit of fun with the kids.

have done the ouija board as most do at 15 yrs old.

am open minded about it, especially when watching "most haunted"

[CuriousMama]

flamebat, it was a saturday night and they do have a service on a sunday.

I'd love to think that it was a good thing as I do believe they get real messages, it's just the source of information that worries me.

I'd never use tarot or ouija board though as I think that's definitely making you open to allsorts, especially if you don't know how to close the session or protect yourself.

[flamebat]

Ouija board is a huge no-no for me, again because of no control etc. Tarot, I think you need a lot of training in protecting yourself and knowing what you are dealing with before you should use them. I have had some cards for years, but still don't feel confident enough.

With mediumship, again, you have a lot of training in protection, and in knowing what you're dealing with. For me with no training, the few occasions when I have had people trying to contact I have had two that felt pure, and one that didn't - if I hadn't known how to throw up barriers, then I would have been scared, but luckily I did it instinctively, and lost all contact.

Just thought I should explain my angle on this now - My gran is a medium and runs a spiritualist church, my mum is a spiritualist, and I was raised at a basic christian sunday school, and then left to make my own choices. I am now a pagan. For me spiritualism is too much of the christianity side of things! Its amazing how looking at it from different angles gives such a different view.