Necromancer

A necromancer (from Greek nekros, dead, and manteia, divination) was one who claimed to interrogate the spirits of the dead to discover the secrets of the future. The Mosaic law strictly prohibited necromancy as an abomination punishable by death (Deut. 18:10–11; Lev. 19:31; 20:27). The most celebrated biblical example is Saul's consultation of the medium at En-dor before the battle of Gilboa, where the figure of Samuel appeared and announced Saul's imminent death (1 Sam. 28:7–19). Isaiah mocked those who consult the dead on behalf of the living: "Should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isa. 8:19).