Walk into any bookshop and look at the "New Age" or "Spirituality" section, read popular magazines, follow television and radio programs or surf the Internet and it is obvious that we are living in the midst of a revival of interest in "the occult". The word means "something hidden", suggesting mystic knowledge, hidden powers and secret wisdom. The practitioners of the occult are consulted, sought after, treated with awe and often rewarded richly. They are the mystic seers from distant lands, the swamis and gurus, the astrologers, the mediums, mystics, psychics, healers, workers of miracles, witches and wizards, fortune tellers and fortune hunters, many now operating in the "New Age" movement. Some people come to them to gaze in wonder, to satisfy curiosity or discover inner powers or what the future holds. Others desperately seek healings, or contact with the dead or assurance of life beyond the grave.

What should be the attitude of Catholics to this massive revival of occultism? Is the "New Age" all nonsense or is it a serious religious revival? Can we take part in it? Should we approach it with scorn, respect, skepticisms, or even fear?

The word "supernatural" is the most common word people use to sum up uncanny events. However, in strict Christian usage, it is not correct to use the word "supernatural" to describe "New Age" occultism or uncanny events. The term "supernatural" refers directly to God. In this world we may use it to describe His saving action and Real Presence in the Sacraments which raise us to the supernatural life of grace. Therefore we must never cheapen the word "supernatural" by applying it to a controversial area of human experience, which may not be the work of God at all. There are two other words which refer more correctly and precisely to uncanny human experiences. 1) "Paranormal" is a mild term, appropriate for unusual matters beyond human understanding, but perhaps one day to be explained by science. Telepathy, and telekinesis (moving objects by the power of the mind) are paranormal powers. 2) "Preternatural" is a stronger term, more appropriate for uncanny events and phenomena, "spooky" events which seem to involve intelligences or spirits, good, neutral or evil. This is the area where "supernatural" is commonly but mistakenly used.

Unless you get too curious or have nightmares, it is harmless to read about the preternatural. But involvement is not harmless. "Seance" is a nice French word for a nasty and dangerous exercise. The usual technique is for people to sit in the dark around a table, perhaps led by a medium, a person claiming to be able to contact the dead. A glass or pointer may be used to get messages from the letters of the alphabet, perhaps printed on a "Ouija board". The techniques vary, either working in groups or through a personal consultation at a "sitting" with a known medium or psychic. Now, we must look at what is really happening. Putting it simply, these people are trying to call up the dead. We are confronting something very ancient, primitive and crude - the conjuring-up of the dead. The correct term for this is "necromancy". Those who practice it are necromancers. The Bible stands firmly against necromancy. Guided by this Divine Revelation, Christians and Jews do not believe that it is right to attempt to contact the dead. The practice is pagan.

The Biblical witness against seances, that is, necromancy is quite clear. Speaking against cruel pagan cults, the Lord God clearly forbids seances, as we read in Deuteronomy 18: 10-14:
                                  "There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination, a       soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromaner, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord."

Seances are included amongst many other different occultist activities. In 2 Kings 17:17 and Ezekiel 21:21 we have similar disapproval of pagan occultism. One of the worst Kings of Judah  was Manasseh, denounced in 2 Kings 21:6 because of his paganism, including the fact that he "practiced soothsaying and augury (telling the future by examining the entrails of sacrificed animals), and dealt with mediums and with wizards."

The first King of God's chosen people became entangled in occultism and necromancy. King Saul was desperate. The Philistine armies were massing for an assault on Israel; but Saul's faithful guide, the prophet Samuel, was dead. Saul decided to try and make contact with Samuel through a medium, to get the prophet's advice, for he had received no divine guidance. He said to his servants. "Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "behold, there is a medium at Endor." (1Samuel 28:7.) Saul went to the "wise woman" of Endor, in disguise, and heard her make comments against him, for until this time he had persecuted people practicing occultism and witchcraft. Still concealing his identity, he asked her to summon up Samuel the prophet, by the usual means of her "familiar spirit" the "spirit guide" of today's seance brigade or "New Age" channeling. But at this point the seance at Endor went wrong. Instead of the familiar spirit appearing there was a direct divine intervention and Samuel himself appeared, very angry and denouncing Saul. At once the terrified witch recognized that her client was really the King of Israel. Samuel told Saul that the Philistines would defeat him and this happened for, after a fierce battle, Saul committed suicide on Mount Gilboa. But let us note carefully that the terrors of this impending event first took hold of him when he presumed to defy God and consult a medium.  
The reader of the account of the witch of Endor may object, saying that Samuel's spirit did appear. The seance worked. But did it? We should note that the terror of the witch when her "familiar spirit" did not appear on time. The seance did not go according to plan. God disrupted it. It is necessary to point out these facts in order to contradict those who distort this event to argue in favor of seances.

Why has there been such a strong and consistent stand against these curious and intriguing practices? The church insists that there is no real difference between nice people sitting around a suburban table and touching a glass and a smelly old hag peering into a pool of boiling filth. It is like abortion, which is essentially the same gross crime whether performed in a modern antiseptic clinic with the latest killing devices or in a dirty kitchen using domestic implements. You can change the methods, adjust the circumstances, play with words to describe it, but it is still abortion. So whether or not you want to call it "channeling" the seance remains plain old necromancy, conjuring up the dead.

On April 26, 1917, Pope Benedict XV confirmed a ruling of the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). A question had been submitted to the Holy Office for judgment. could Catholics take part in seances, even only as witnesses? The answer was a complete negative. Applying this to the original question, the official ruling of the Catholic Church is as follows

          "It is not lawful to assist at any spiritualistic meeting, conversations with spirits, or manifestations of spirits. It matters not whether
           a medium be present or not, nor whether the meeting seems to be above board and apparently conducted from religious motives.
           A Catholic may not be present at such meetings, even as a onlooker, let alone ask questions of departed spirits and listening to their supposed replies.

The words "it is not lawful" must be interpreted carefully. In this area of human behavior the words do not mean "it is illegal" or "it is against a Church law". They mean that it is against the Law of God.

Source: A Catholic View. By Bishop Peter J. Elliott.