There are lots of TV shows, books, films, reports of first-hand personal experiences, and stories about the paranormal. You may have experienced paranormal activity in person, visited a psychic, or been affected by demons. It’s a subject that fascinates (even some skeptics) and scares many who believe. Even those who doubt the existence of God are often open to the idea of ghosts, black magic, and communicating with the dead (even though the idea is contrary to evolution). But are these ideas based on myths and fiction? Could these ideas be a part of our imagination, or are there areas of spiritual activity that we simply do not understand?
According to reports, the US market size of the psychic services ‘industry’ has grown a huge 52% since 2005, reaching a value of 2.3 Billion $US Dollars in 2023. The Tarot Card market is estimated to be valued at $93.8 Million US Dollars by 2027. These are figures from the US alone, it’s not known what the industry is worth when including all countries from around the world, but it’s clear that there are millions, likely billions, of people who want to know about their future, or communicate with people who have passed away and are missed.

Along with the vast sums of money people spend on visiting a psychic (or medium), there have been billions made from all the media containing paranormal information. Take for example just one writer of this subject; J K Rowling. She has made an estimated profit of over £1 Billion from her Harry Potter books, all paranormal stories. The popularity of these books, and now blockbuster films, has demonstrated that children, along with adults, are entertained by magic and the occult, and this is deemed as harmless fun; but is it harmless? Outside of the fantasy world of special effects and film scripts, there is a high demand for real experiences with the occult. These encounters with genuine mediums can attract demons which have ruined many lives. If this all sounds dramatic don’t be too quick about doubting the existence and dangers of demons, the Bible exposes these creatures in many scriptures, showing they are powerful and dangerous.

The main reason a person, according to research, visits a psychic or spiritualist church is to try and communicate with a loved one who has passed away. Death is our enemy due to sin: Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”, it’s difficult for many to cope with such a massive loss when a loved one passes away; it was not the intention of God for us to die: Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Death is also described as the final enemy, but God does promise everlasting life, resurrecting the righteous and the unrighteous when his Kingdom comes (for further information on this subject read the article ‘The Bible and scientists confirm we should live forever’ on this website).

What does the Bible have to say about communicating with the dead, or practices that involve fortune tellers and psychics, black magic, and the occult? There are plenty of scriptures that warn us to stay far away from such practices. In the old covenant of law, God saw such practices as punishable by death, and warned any practicing necromancer (involved in black magic) or any person seeking advice from mediums should be put to death: Leviticus 20:27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” This may sound extreme punishment for being, or wanting advice from, a medium, but clearly God does not want anyone involved in the occult, after all, it is Satan who works to turn people away from Him and he uses these deceptions to do so. In fact it’s Satan, described as an angel of light, who is in control of the demons, and he is described as the god (note the lower case g) of this world: 2nd Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Even today, under the new covenant, God warns us to stay well away from these same practices, listing them with other serious sins that can prevent us from entering His Kingdom: Galatians 5 19-21 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
On the reverse side of the real psychics there are those who make money from pretending to communicate with the dead. These are frauds, lying to make money out of nothing more than fake ideas about how they have ‘special powers’ to attract demons and departed loved ones. Some of these have cleared out life savings from a person desperate for answers. Then there are those who attract large crowds to their shows, often asking audience members if someone has lost a loved on (who hasn’t experienced this), or is there anyone with a family member or friend who passed away, and their name begins with the letter D, or other letters. Often, out of excitement and wanting to communicate with a departed loved one, a member of the crowd will raise their hand, then it’s a game of the fraud gathering information from their ‘contact’ while all the time the actual member of the audience is providing subtle hints about the imaginary person the ‘psychic’ claims to be channeling. Others have been known to plant a friend in the crowd, easily staging a seemingly genuine ‘experience’, causing others who are unaware of the con to believe it as truth. These, and many ‘fortune tellers’ are often out to rip people off, knowing they are likely vulnerable from the grief that consumes them after losing a loved one. Many have cleared out the life savings of some, with police charging those who defraud others claiming losses down to these scammers in the tens and hundreds of thousands, even millions in cash! These are obviously dishonest practices, but not all who claim to communicate with the dead are fake; there are genuine ones who are somehow able to be contacted by demons.

The warnings for us to avoid any contact with demons is clear, but if a person is tempted to visit a medium how exactly can these ones claim to communicate with someone who has died when scripture tells us: Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Surely if the dead do not know anything then it’s not possible to speak to them. So who are communicating to the mediums and fortune tellers?
Imagine you could become invisible, were highly intelligent, and have lived for possibly thousands of years. What if there were thousands more like you, spirit creatures with these abilities? The power you possessed in such a scenario would be incredible, you could study a person, or many people, for years and learn about them in ways only close family and friends would understand. You’d know intimate details from studying their activities, know about their favourite music, expressions and nick names they use in speech, personal secrets and habits shared only to those close to them, with access to life-long memories, and information that only the person could provide to others. If you then took all this information from their profile after they had died, and communicated it to a medium, it would surely convince both the psychic and listener that the loved one lost to death was indeed speaking to them through their ‘spiritual channel’. How else could this person know so much about those no longer living, surely it must be the loved one trying to reach out from ‘the other side’. You can see how it’s easy for people to be fooled by these demons.

The Bible has many accounts of demons communicating with the living, through a person who they use to pass on their information. Demons are described as having the ability to possess a person too, plenty of accounts demonstrated that they can dwell in a person, Jesus encountered demons and expelled them, sometimes many at once. Jesus gave his disciples the power to expel demons too: Matthew 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. There is a very interesting account of multiple impure spirits controlling a person, it’s found in Mark chapter 5. Here Jesus meets with a man who has strength that nobody can control, he’s able to break the chains and shackles used to try and bound him. When Jesus questions the spirit inside the man he responds with this: Mark 5:9 “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” The demons begged Jesus not to send them out of that region, and instead to beg him to send them to the pigs so we may enter them. Jesus did as they asked, and they entered the pigs which then ran down a steep bank and into the sea where they drowned; about two thousand of them were taken over by the demons, these had been possessing the man! After this the man was found sitting quietly in his right mind, and people were amazed. The man begged Jesus to go with him, but Jesus told him to go and tell people what he had done for him.
There are lots of accounts about demons in the Bible. The one thing we do not want to do is give any of these spirit creatures any credit, or to take too much interest in them. We definitely should never glorify them in any way, that is what they want. Too much interest, or getting involved with demons will attract them, and once they are in your life all sorts of problems can surface. Mental health problems are very real, and a person suffering from them really does experience one of the worst diseases. There are plenty of demons who can cause mental health issues, and people who have experienced this problem have behaved in ways they say was not down to mental health at all, some have even been driven to suicide due to how miserable they have felt with these impure spirits controlling their lives. The Bible says that demons can come through during sexually immoral actions, looking at porn, listening to certain music, watching films with violence and the occult. They have been known to enter those, or live with them in the home due to visiting mediums, dabbling in tarot cards, witchcraft, and other occult practices.

I rarely write articles that include a family member, or something that is very personal. But I feel that in this article it’s important to point out just how powerful, destructive, and dangerous, demonic influence can become. I grew up in a household that was almost constantly involved in the occult, most nights there were card readings, communications with ‘the other side’, seances, and from my earliest memories I can still see my grandmother and father being heavily into this dangerous practice; it would often terrify me to be in that house as a very young boy, scared of what I saw and what went on when they attracted demons. It caused extreme violence in the family home, physical fights that ended in furniture smashed up, cuts and bruises, it was often like a massive fight in a bar. This pushed my father to alcoholism, created some of the strangest unexplained feelings, terrifying experiences, and darkest memories I care to recall. Many people would say I am making this up, or imagined it as demons when really there is some scientific and logical explanation for my experiences. Demons are very real, often mention in the Bible, and they believe in God too, scripture states clearly the demons fear Him: James 2:19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
Whatever a person may say about demons and impure spirits, I can stand in front of anyone and clearly express my feelings about what can be experienced if you are even close to those who surround themselves with the practice of attracting them, or are involved indirectly through friends or family interested in the occult and coming into contact with demonic influences.
Would I visit a psychic to communicate with demons? No way! For a start I know it’s not possible to communicate with the dead as they are no longer conscious of anything, scriptures clearly state the dead are all in the memory of God and will be resurrected in the new world where the Kingdom of God will never again allow anyone to suffer. I trust what the word of God has to say, rather than put the same confidence in humans and demonic influence to learn about those who we’ve lost. To stay away from these impure spirits, study the Bible DAILY, and do as it says; read it in an undertone day and night. Apply the principles into your life, repent of your sins, and avoid any occult activities. God advises us: James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Finally, to end on a very positive note. We can trust that demons are not our dead loved ones communicating to us through psychics or some form of the occult. We can also trust that we will not only see them again, but we will spend eternity with them in paradise. God has promised this, and he cannot lie: Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time. He says His Kingdom will never be brought to ruin, a place where no resident will say they are sick, no more death, no more sorrow, the former things will have passed away. This promise from our loving Creator surely gives us hope and joy, knowing that when we do lose a person who is dear to us, it’s only a temporary loss, one that will be healed when we are reunited with them in the near future.
If you’d like to no more about a Bible study, feel welcome to get in touch.
mark@truthministry.co.uk