The Editors of Time-Life Books - TIME-LIFE Mysteries of the Unknown: Inside the World of the Strange and Unexplained

CONTENTS

MYSTERIES OF THE UNKNOWN

INSIDE THE WORLD OF THE STRANGE AND UNEXPLAINED

NEW YORK

CHAPTER 1

PSYCHICS AND MEDIUMS

SOME BELIEVE THAT MYSTICS CAN HELP PEOPLE COMMUNICATE WITH DEPARTED LOVED ONES, FIND LOST PETS, SEE INTO THE MINDS OF OTHERS, AND MORE. ARE THEY ONTO SOMETHING?

Crystals are said to have a special energy that connects them to the spiritual realm.

SEERS OF THE BIBLE

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS ARE RIFE WITH PROPHETS, THOUGH BELIEVERS ARE WARNED TO BE WARY OF FALSE ONES.

A painting of the Prophet Isaiah, c. 1525.

Seers, psychics, and prophets make regular appearances in the Bible, and when the characters in question are legitimate, the Good Book embraces them. Yet the text is quite clear about the dangers of consulting false prophets. In the Old Testament, for example, Moses warns against divination, interpreting omens, and contacting the dead for all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord. The problem with such actions, believers say, is that false prophets cannot speak for the Lord, even if they pretend to. Instead, they seek their information from human spirits and other lesser entities who might even be Satan in disguise. From a strictly practical perspective, these false prophets also threaten a religions authority and can erode its power.

The Perils of False Prophets

The case of Saul, the first King of Israel, provides an excellent example of the woe that can befall someone who consults a psychic. Saul tries to decide what to do about the encroaching Philistine army, but his mentor, the prophet Samuel, has died and Saul no longer has a trusted counselor. Desperate for advice, Saul disguises himself and visits a medium known as the Witch of Endor, instructing her to summon Samuels ghost. Samuel appears but is angry that Saul has disobeyed God and spoken with a witch. He predicts that the King and his sons will die the next daywhich they do, in a battle with the Philistines.

Ghost of Samuel Called Before Saul by the Witch of Endor (1668), by Salvator Rosa.

The Word of the Lord

At the same time, the Bible is rife with true prophets who receive and spread the word of God. Depending on who is counting, there are close to 50 of them, including a few women, such as Miriam, sister of Moses, who prophesied while still a child that her as yet unborn brother would lead the Jews to freedom from Egypt. According to believers, the ultimate test for a true prophet is that the things he or she foretells actually come to pass.

A true prophet also acts in the best interest of the Lord, not out of self-interest. So the prophesies of the Bible tend to be similar in message. Most convey some version of the following messages:

Stop sinning and worshiping false idols

The Messiah is coming

The Messiah is returning

The End Times are on their way.

As for those who argue that certain Biblical prophesies have not come to pass, believers have only one word to add: yet.

MESSAGES FROM THE MAJORS

The books referred to as the Major Prophets of the Old Testament are those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel-not because they are more important than the other sections, but because they're so long. Each of them includes numerous prophesies.

PROPHET: Isaiah

WHO WAS HE?: Son of an elite Jewish family

PREDICTED: Birth of Jesus

BOOK/VERSE: Isaiah 7:14

THE MESSAGE FROM GOD: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

NOTES: Only the first part of the Book of Isaiah is believed to have been written by Isaiah himself.

PROPHET: Jeremiah

WHO WAS HE?: Son of a Jewish priest

PREDICTED: Fall of Jerusalem

BOOK/VERSE: Jeremiah 21:10

THE MESSAGE FROM GOD: [This city] shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

NOTES: Jeremiah sternly warned against false prophets with more optimistic predictions.

PROPHET: Ezekiel

WHO WAS HE?: Descendant of the prophet Aaron

PREDICTED: The Jews return to Israel

BOOK/VERSE: Ezekiel 36:24

THE MESSAGE FROM GOD: For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

NOTES: Ezekiel and Jeremiah were contemporaries.

PROPHET: Daniel

WHO WAS HE?: Either a pseudonym for later scholars, or a Jewish noble exiled in Babylon, depending on interpretation

PREDICTED: Continuing miseries in Israel for 70 more weeks