The fact that God’s law condemned talking with the dead as something detestable should have made Saul realize that seeming communication with the dead through spirit mediums was a fraudulent deception perpetrated by wicked spirit forces.​—Deut. 18:10-12.

Jehovah God does not view this matter lightly. To protect the Israelites from being deceived and harmed by wicked spirits, he made the practice of divination an offense worthy of death. God’s Word said: “You must not preserve a sorceress alive.” (Ex. 22:18) “As for a man or woman in whom there proves to be a mediumistic spirit or spirit of prediction, they should be put to death without fail.”​—Lev. 20:27.

¹⁶ Has Jehovah’s view of spirit mediums, sorcerers and diviners changed? Not at all! A decree from God still stands against all who persist in the practice of spiritism. Revelation 21:8 lists them among those meriting the judgment of “second death.” That means eternal death from which recovery is impossible. So, if any persons who have dabbled in this sort of thing want to do the will of God, now is the time to clean it out of their lives.

17. What should those seeking God’s approval do with items associated with the occult?

¹⁷ As to any items closely associated with spiritistic practices, make sure that none of such things are in your home. Imitate the example of those who accepted true worship in Ephesus, of whom Acts 19:19 reports: “Quite a number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody.” Expensive as these items were, the Ephesians who embraced Christianity did not hold back from destroying them.

Even so-called educated people consult fortune-tellers, dabble in astrology, carry “lucky” charms or, in some parts of the earth, seek cures from medicine men who invoke false gods. It would come as a great surprise to most of these persons to learn that the Bible condemns what they are doing. They have not been told what God’s Word says.