Conjuring the dead for advice on state affairs is never a good idea. Heads of state are no strangers to this, then and now. In Macbeth, a classic tragedy, Shakespeare addresses this and the question of free will. Macbeth, a Scottish lord meets three witches after winning a battle. They call him “Thane of Cawdor” and “future King of Scotland” before this even happens. But King Duncan, though rewarding him with the title of the recently executed Thane of Cawdor, announces that his son will be heir to the throne. Macbeth believes that he has to kill the king now to fulfill the prophecy of the witches. Once Macbeth becomes king, however, he becomes so paranoid about losing power that he starts killing everyone around him, Kissinger style. Eventually his friends turn on him, and then even his army.
Macbeth follows the advice of the three witches after seeing them again and they conjure the dead to guide him (with tragic results). There is a paradox in this play where the witches know about Macbeth being the future king, but we do not know if he would have even thought about being king if he had not met them.
Interestingly, there is a modern parallel in this very presidential election in terms of the conjuring of “Eleanor” while Secretary of State, even to the point she plays messenger for a dead woman, the late Eleanor Roosevelt in a former president’s public address…
“Because as all of you famously learned when I served as president, my wife, now the Secretary of State, was known to commune with Eleanor on a regular basis…she told me that Eleanor reminded her to tell me that I should say that…”
Bill Clinton (see video clip above) See source from Trey Smith
Now in Peru, Hillary, did Eleanor say you would be president? Or was it some other time?
Eleanor Roosevelt, the voice from beyond that, apparently, has nothing better to do than talk to Hillary.
Regardless, according to one source you may be familiar with, conjuring the dead brings a lot of misfortune, particularly for the unworthy, as we see when Saul conjures Samuel for advice…
Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you.
1 Samuel 28:7 Then Saul 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 En-dor.”
8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.”
9 The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?”
10 But Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.”
13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.”
And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage. 15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.”
16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
If Eleanor did speak, she did well in getting the former president to mention the fact that she communes with the dead on a regular basis, because it confirms what many already know: Miss Cleo is terrible foreign policy adviser, and I hate to see Hillary’s phone bill.
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