Grave soaking – or mantle grabbing – is the act of lying across the physical grave of a deceased preacher or evangelist for the purpose of ‘pulling out’ the power of the Holy Spirit, a power that was supposedly ‘trapped’ within the body upon the person’s death. The aberrant practice of grave soaking was initiated within the Charismatic movement and Word of Faith teachings, which are an amalgamation of orthodox Christianity and mysticism. Videos and images across the internet show grave soakers kneeling at or lying across the graves or gravestones of famous figures such as C. S. Lewis, John Calvin and Charles Finney in the hope of ‘grabbing’ the abandoned spiritual mantle or ‘soaking up’ an anointing like a sponge.
Grave soaking is based upon the idea that the spiritual calling of an individual who has died may be reclaimed and used by another person. The theory is that God uses the Holy Spirit to ‘anoint’ certain believers with a specific purpose, such as healing or prophecy, but when the persondies God’s work is thwarted. The Holy Spirit is therefore ‘wasted’ – lying upon the bones and unable to continue the calling. Unrecovered anointing is apparently available to anyone who would physically come and claim it. This superstitious practice is blatantly unbiblical, spiritually dangerous, and tremendously misleading for uninformed believers.