Channeling is done by psychics and mediums. It may also be called “trance channeling” or “vocal channeling.” It involves allowing a disembodied spirit (the person may think of this spirit as a dead person, alien, angel, a being on another plane like an Ascended Master, a deity, God [supposedly], Jesus [supposedly], or others) to speak through the psychic or medium. This is done vocally with the psychic’s or medium’s voice changing due to the spirit’s control. The psychic or medium is in a trance (altered) state during channeling and does not remember it. Some mediums call this spirit their “Control.”
A form of channeling is Automatic Writing. This is the same idea as vocal channeling except the person allows the spirit to control his writing hand or hands so that the psychic or medium is writing words coming from the spirit without consciously choosing the words. It can be done with pen or pencil and paper, on a typewriter, or on a computer.
Examples include these writers/teachers well known in the New Age, all of whom I read and was acquainted with when I was in the New Age:
Edgar Cayce, known as the Sleeping Prophet, who went into a deep trance state and allowed a spirit to speak through him.
Jane Roberts, author of the Seth books, allowed a spirit calling itself Seth to speak through her.
Ruth Montgomery, a journalist, did automatic writing by allowing beings she claimed were aliens to type through her on her typewriter. Several books under her name were produced this way.
The term “channeling” may also be used for a psychic or medium allegedly receiving messages from the dead or spirits by hearing them or in visions and relaying them to the inquirer. However, this is not the same as channeling via a spirit’s control of voice or hand. CANA uses the term “channeling” for the latter method with a controlling spirit.
The Oracle at Delphi
The Oracle at Delphi was an ancient pagan religious practice. In Greek mythology, Delphi was where Apollo killed the serpent Python that guarded the oracle. Python came to mean a spirit of divination and the pagan priestess who spoke for the oracle was said to be possessed by the “spirit of the python.” This term is used in Acts 16:16 for the girl in Philippi who had the pneuma Pythona, a spirit of divination or literally, a spirit of a Python (Brown, Colin, ed. and trans. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Zondervan and Paternoster, 1976, p. 558).
It appears that the priestess at Delphi and the slave girl in Acts 16 were channeling a spirit or sprits. In fact, Paul frees the slave girl in Acts by casting the spirit (demon) out of her. This does not mean that those who genuinely channel are always possessed but that their words are being controlled during channeling. It also means that one is giving oneself over to a fallen angel’s will. Paul’s action on the slave girl demonstrates that Satan is at the root of divination and of channeling. My view is that God wants the reader of Acts to see this, and also that Christ (through his apostle Paul) even after his ascension has power over demons (which Jesus demonstrated in his ministry).
Claims
Many claim they are channeling Jesus, the Archangel Michael, or even the Holy Spirit. However, this is false as God forbids summoning spirits and God’s angels would not allow anything God forbids. If there is actual channeling, the contact is a fallen angel.
God forbids spirit contact, which covers channeling (Deuteronomy 18:11; Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; 2 Kings 20:6; Isaiah 8:19). Psychics and mediums who do not channel are still in contact with fallen angels (their spirit guides) which is how they get some of their information.
Listening
A person “listening” to a voice and speaking out or writing what is said is not technically channeling because the person is controlling his own voice or hand, though the source and outcome are the same as channeling. This could be called verbal dictation from a spirit. It is no less deceptive or evil than channeling.
In all cases of channeling and verbal dictation, the spirits speaking are fallen angels in active ongoing rebellion against God.
The Bible
The Bible was not written by channeling or verbal dictation. Instead, the Holy Spirit superintended the process of God-breathed words as given to the biblical authors. The authors’ own writing styles and personal traits are not obliterated. It was a process we cannot fully comprehend but God, who created man, is more than able to communicate with man as He chooses.
God gave revelation through His prophets as well. The prophets were not channeling but rather conveying visions or verbal messages God had given them. We do not know how this was done but we know from fulfilled prophecies and from the Bible’s coherence that it was done. Moreover, Jesus affirmed the Old Testament scriptures as truth by consistently quoting and referring to them (Matthew 12:38-41; 19:4-5; Luke 24: 25-27; John 5:39; 17:17; and many more than can be listed here).
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:20-21