The Brew: 28 Centuries After Deuteronomy’s Warning, Summoning the Dead is Still a Bad Idea
They’re not saying “Boo!” they’re saying “Brew!”
Nonetheless, it is Halloween. All Hallow’s Eve. Trick-or-Treaters will be out, and we pray safe candy canvassing to all.
The events of October 7, and the revelations since of the atrocities committed against the innocent, amplify the fact that there is real evil, real horror, out there. Real demonic spirits come to kill, steal and destroy. What ghoulish costume compares?
A kid comes to your door made up like the walking dead? Please. How about the young Muslim men prowling Cornell University hoping to find Jews and posting death threats, to the point that Jewish students were advised to avoid kosher dining halls? Dressed like a wicked witch at an office party? Please. How about Boston Children’s Hospital taking $1.4 million in taxpayer dollars to mutilate confused children or as it’s euphemistically called “gender transition services”? A house of horrors? Please. Who has the stomach after seeing the videos and images of blood-soaked kids rooms in Israel?
NY Post Claims to Show How to “Safely” Use an Ouija Board. “No!” Says Priest Who Performs Exorcisms
Last week, the New York Post ran an article headlined “How to use a Ouija board – your guide to communing with the dead safely this Halloween.”
My first thought was, “Look, a 2024 Democratic voter outreach program!” But then I realized the Post was serious. And dead wrong. (Pun intended.) The only way to safely use an Ouija Board is perhaps as a tray for cheese and crackers. But astrologer Reda Wigle plows on with 5 tips that make summoning the dead sound like rules for the It’s Just Lunch dating service.
- Don’t use a Ouija board alone
- Be polite
- Don’t use a Ouija board in a graveyard or any location presumed to be haunted
- In relationships, role play, work and Ouija practice, set your boundaries
- Maintaining a positive and respectful atmosphere
As innocent and rosy as the details are presented, even a quick look at the list suggests trouble. Where is the “or else”? Wigle won’t say it, but even her own words point to dark and dangerous doors being opened.
Catholic priest and trained exorcist Father Dan Reehil, exorcist for the Diocese of Nashville, says messing with the Ouija board opens the user up to demonic activity.
“Demons lie and impersonate dead people,” Fr. Reehil told Fox News. “When asking a board for information about a deceased person, or a life decision, they are all too happy to embed themselves into your life. Using an Ouija board is inviting a demon into your life, whether the person has that intention or not.”
And those demons can be convincing. You may know similar stories. During a family member’s visit to a medium, a demon made reference to incident from when he was about four or five that no living soul would know, let alone a medium could guess. Was the experience real? Yeah. The medium wasn’t running a clever con throwing out educated guesses. Was this person conversing with a deceased parent? No.
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The Ouija board arose in the 19th century amid when séances and mediums were the rage. Story goes the board got its name when a Baltimore medium asked the “talking board” what the thing should be called. It — the tale goes — responded “O-U-I-J-A.” Supposed this means “good luck.” More like big bucks for Hasbro.
But it’s no game, says Fr. Reehil. “Ouija boards should not be viewed in the same way as a typical board game. Although it is advertised as a game, it is far from it,” he added. “Rather, it is a form of divination.” And the Biblical warnings against that are clear, most plainly in Deuteronomy:
There shall not be found among you any … that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” (Deut. 18:10). In Malachi 3:5, the Lord promises to be “swift witness” against the “sorcerers.”
Halloween Candy Watch: Inflation Makes $100 Grand Bar Worth Much Less
Now this is spooky. According to numbers gathered by Datasembly, the price of candy went up 12.8% from October 3, 2022 to October 7, 2023. That’s compared to a 6.7% rise in groceries. And it’s on top of a nearly 20% jump the year before. Before you go blaming Bidenomics, as Daily Caller reports, the increase is mostly due to bad weather around the world driving down sugar and cocoa supplies worldwide simultaneously and thus causing record high prices for both commodities.
I love this quote in the Daily Caller story:
‘The price of candy has gotten to be outrageous,’ Jessica Weathers, a small business owner in Shiloh, Illinois, told The Associated Press. ‘It doesn’t make sense to me to spend $100 on candy.’
Raise your chocolate-covered hand if your first reaction was, “Oh, yes it does!”
Kinda Funny Around Halloween: Kamala Harris Declares “Joe Biden is Very Much Alive”
Not wanting to overflow the Brew with campaign-related news, we posted a full article yesterday called “A Campaign Trail Mix: Pence Bails, Haley Bolts, Newsome Charges … as Trump and Biden Legal Headaches Mount.”
But this one kinda fits the All Hallow’s Eve theme.
Kamala Harris was asked by 60 Minutes about the duo’s dismal poll numbers and the perception the Big Guy’s too worn down for the gig. Her response: “Joe Biden is very much alive.”
Not exactly, “I Like Ike” or “It’s nothing but fair to leave Taft in the chair,” but as a campaign slogan it could catch on.
Seriously, here’s her exchange with Bill Whitaker, which is admittedly less fun and dramatic than the headline … though it’s telling that Whitaker is saying Democratic donors aren’t high on Harris:
Whitaker: “We were talking to some Democratic donors, and they have told us that, should something befall President Biden, and he is not able to run, that there would be a free for all for who would run as president. You are in the spot that that would be a natural for you to step up. But we’re hearing from donors that they would not naturally fall into line. Why is that?”
Harris: “First of all, I’m not going to engage in that hypothetical because Joe Biden is very much alive and running for re-election.”
Along The Stream
Jason Jones returns with “’Curse God and Die,’ They Said. ‘It Will Be Fun,’ They Said.”
Don’t let the title fool you. This one is sweeter than any candy you’re going to down today. A lacrosse player gets injured. Devotes himself to helping sick and injured children. From Susan Ciancio, “Apostle Paul’s Words Exemplify Pediatric Pep Talks Brightening Lives of Sick Children.”
Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and co-author of the counter-terrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.
