When I was a kid, I remember seeing commercials advertising a woman named Miss Cleo. You probably remember her: She was the lady who advertised pay-by-the-minute psychic readings that you could receive over the phone.
I never called, mostly because I was way too young to make any kind of call like that. But also, because something about her TV ads just didn’t seem genuine. Psychic readings? Over the phone? Even as a kid, I assumed if she really knew the future, she would just pick the winning Powerball numbers and move on with her life.
This isn’t meant to shame anyone who called Miss Cleo back in the day. I have certainly done far more embarrassing things in my life than dial up the Psychic Readers Network and ask a complete stranger about my future.
But what kind of success rate can a psychic actually have? They don’t know me, and even if they did, in order to predict the future, they would have to have access to the divine. He’s the only one who actually knows, after all.
As it turns out, access to the divine is exactly what people believe psychics have. According to a recent Gallup poll, 29% of people believe in telepathy, 26% believe some have telepathy, and 25% believe in astrology. Clearly, there are a whole lot of people that believe spiritual powers can be harnessed directly by individuals.
That’s a problem. Not only does believing in psychics give people false hope, but it also shows a split devotion to God. Either you derive your understanding of the spiritual world from God’s Word, or you don’t.
God knew that these temptations would exist in the land of Canaan. That’s why, in Leviticus 19:31, He told them not to consult mediums and spiritists. They are not on par with God, and asking them for guidance instead of Jehovah shows how little we value God’s Word and His leadership.
The cultural draw to this must have been pretty severe. If so many people rely on spiritists and mediums, then to actively avoid them puts you on the outside looking in. You’re the “atheist”—the one who doesn’t believe in their gods. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what the Romans accused the early Christians of.
The day before King Saul dies, he infamously visits a spiritist to learn about his fate (1 Samuel 28). To everyone’s surprise—including the medium’s—the prophet Samuel appears and tells Saul that he’ll die in battle the next day. Saul is distraught, but within 24 hours, Samuel’s prophecy comes true.
This whole incident shows just how far away from God Saul was by the end of his life. Sure, he had spent most of his life chasing after David, but he also shunned and disobeyed God’s Word at every turn. In the end, he had to resort to spiritists, who were basically the only spiritual force in his life that he could converse with.
This is the reality for people who call psychic hotlines and ask Tarot card readers for advice. Statistics show that people who talk to mediums have higher rates of disassociation–when someone feels “disconnected”from thoughts and emotions—than other groups. Many are hopelessly depressed, lonely, and in need of anyone to listen to them.
Here’s the good news: God will listen to you. He’s available 24/7, has all the answers, and as an added bonus, won’t charge you by the minute.
