The Mystery of the Witch of Endor

Michie · Dec 22, 2024

Exploring the Otherworld in the Holy Scripture

Throughout the entire history of humanity, the ‘otherworld’ has always been the most controversial and, at the same time, appreciated subject. Regardless of which era we study, we find that both the history of religions and folklore and popular culture convey countless stories about the path of souls into eternity. Sometimes, as in chapter XI of Homer’s Odyssey or in Plutarch’s De sera numinis vindicta (On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance), we encounter what is known as ‘necromancy’—i.e., the invocation/summoning of the souls of those who have passed into the otherworld. Other times, as in another equally famous text, namely in book VI of Virgil’s Aeneid, we find a description of a journey into the world of the dead. And at the heart of Christian-inspired culture, we also have an epic poem—Divina Commedia—which, from start to finish, narrates the journey of the author, Dante Alighieri, through all the hierarchical regions of the unseen world.

The fact that pagan religions, along with poems, myths, and stories from all times, contain such episodes should not surprise us. There is no more important and controversial theme than this. If the explorations of the geography of our world or outer space are among the most interesting subjects, the exploration of the unseen realm of God, angels and spirits is much more spectacular and attractive. At the same time, I will not deny that in our era the unseen dimension of existence seems to be, at least sometimes, completely forgotten. But this happens only for a short time: as soon as someone capable of telling beautiful stories or formulating metaphysical questions that reopen the old discussion about the place where our dead go speaks up, most people become extremely curious. This explains the success of some dubious books, such as the bestseller Lifeafter Life (1975) by Raymond Moody or the French anthology Les Corps à prodiges (The Wonder Bodies,1977), in which the miracles of Saint Padre Pio are presented alongside shamanic, trans-corporeal experiences, and many other types of ‘paranormal’ phenomena. All these only confirm the diagnosis of some Catholic authors like Martin Anton Delrio (1551–1608) or Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936), who warn that when people lose their supernatural faith, it is replaced by superstitions.

Necromancy in Holy Scripture

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