October 26, 2008

As many of you know, I absolutely love this time of the year. I look so forward to the temperatures dropping, the leaves falling, and the wind blowing. And, I adore Halloween.

In past Halloween Apples, I have talked about the “true meaning” of Halloween and how we choose to celebrate it. I have talked about the connection to All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead. I have talked about the thin places between life and death and the importance of honoring those lives who have passed before ours. This year, however, I want to talk about a woman with a bad reputation.

She’s in the Bible.

No surprise of course. So very many stories of women in the Bible are ignored, or worse, manipulated into something they are not. This woman’s story has certainly been mismarked.

She’s called The Witch at Endor.

But the Bible never calls her a witch.

History has.

The story is found in I Samuel 28. King Saul, who soul is tortured by evil spirits sent from God Almighty (this alone is enough to disturb me for deep theological reasons!), is desperate to know what to do in the pending battle. His life has been ravaged by all sorts of events, and the text tells us clearly that God would not answer his worries, despite beseeching prayers, throwing lots (acceptable practice of the time), or even asking prophets. Finally, as his last resort, Saul orders his servants to find a woman who can help.

What kind of woman does he want to help him? Many translations say “a medium.” But the Hebrew concept behind the word is more complex than the creepy character with a crystal ball in Disney’s Haunted Mansion. It is the same word used in Lev. 20:27, and it is translated more woodenly there as “any man or woman who has a ghost or a familiar spirit [is doomed to die].” The Hebrews were not to engage with people who could talk to ghosts. It doesn’t say it couldn’t be done, it says to stay away from those who can do it. And yet, the culture always caressed the community. Old practices die hard, and people consumed with issues of divinity often sought out voices from beyond the grave. Even many years after Moses and the levitical laws were recorded, people continued to want to know a word from beyond.

For goodness sake, I think many of us wish we could say just one more thing to someone gone before us.

Renowned scholar Robert Alter in his book The Five Books of Moses says, “The ancient writer…seems to have assumed the efficacy of magic as a kind of technology…”

But – although the cultural influence of magic and mystery permeate the book we call Holy Writ, this woman was no witch. There is another word in Hebrew for “sorcerer,” that applies to woman and man alike. But this word implies the person was connected to spirits, not casting spells. This kind of person could talk to the dead.

Saul’s servants find her, and he makes an effort to disguise himself. When he asks the woman to consult a spirit for him, she says herself, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?” Saul anxiously guarantees her safety.

And then he asks for Samuel’s spirit.

For a storyteller, here is the magic of a well written tale. You could stop right there, hanging on the impact of those words – IF you know the story of Saul and Samuel. I don’t have time here to tell it, but I do recommend it. Check out I Samuel – all of it. It’s an incredibly amazing read. And if you had read it all up to here, you would definitely get a little Halloweeny shiver right up your spine. You’d want to call out to Saul in slow motion, “Noooooooooo!”

But you’d be too late.

The woman recognizes Saul through his disguise just at the mention of Samuel. She cries out, and Saul has to calm her and convince her not to be afraid.

Ironic, since he himself seems to be shaking in his boots.

The woman, it turns out, does bring up the spirit of the prophet and judge Samuel. Verse 13 calls him a “divine spirit” or a “god.” The scene is terrifying and intense.

Samuel’s first words are, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

And when Saul tries to explain, Samuel reams him. “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy?”

It doesn’t get better. I’ll spare you the pain of hearing the rest. You can read it yourself if you can stomach it.

But I will ask you to wrestle with the idea that God might turn from you and become your enemy. I can’t think of anything in the whole Bible that scares me more than that.

Saul’s story is a struggle every time I read it.

But as for the woman, she can hardly be conjured as the Witch at Endor. All our spooky connotations are set aside as the story continues. Wrenched with pain for Saul, she cares for him and his servants. She feeds them with the fatted calf and bakes bread for them. She sends that grieving man on his way, and she is never heard from again.

I wish I could say the story has a happy ending, but it certainly does not. No good word is given to Saul, whose entire life is a series of bumps and bruises and mental illness. The end is near.

The story shouldn’t be called The Witch at Endor. It isn’t about her. It is about Saul, and the star is Samuel. It is about a wrecked and desperate soul willing to reach even into the beyond for a word of comfort; and in doing so, receives nothing but amplified pain.

Whether “real life” ghosts exist or not, I can’t be sure. I don’t know if there are “really” people who can undeniably talk to those who have crossed over. But I do believe we can be haunted by the ghosts of our past, boundless wounds and sorrows for some, trivial anxieties for others. Maybe Halloween is a good time to consider what is haunting us, and if we are taking the time to listen to God’s words to us.

And if we find, like Saul, that for whatever reason God is not answering, maybe it is time to get really still and quiet. Maybe there are answers to be had, and maybe there are not, and maybe now is not the time for answers at all. Maybe now is the time to wait and wonder, sitting with our ghosts and learning from them, so that they might be released and let go.

When I walk in the company of ghosts, O God, watch over me.

- Jan L. Richardson, In Wisdom’s Path

Amen.

In Wisdom,
Brandi Calhoun Diamond

There was once a man who was haunted by so many personal ghosts that he allowed them to deeply affect the life of the Church. So much so, in fact, that his actions continue to affect the way you worship today! Don’t miss this chance to hear his chilling and exciting story! Join us for this fun, fast paced Done in a Night course!
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