A ritualized attempt to communicate with spirits. People described as sensitives (mediums) offer themselves as channelers of communication between the spirit world and our world. Seances held by mediums became fashionable in mid-nineteenth century Europe and England (1).
How is a Seance Conducted?
In the early days of spiritualism, séances traditionally took place in darkened rooms where the medium and participants called sitters sat around a table holding hands or lay their hands on top of the table, to prove that any phenomena observed during the séance was not due to trickery (3). During the séance, a medium enters a state of total relaxation, while in a trance the medium may show characteristics of the spirits and speak in different voices as each one takes possession of his/her body (2).Various noises such as creaks, raps, clicks and voices supposedly come from beyond the grave and musical instruments are believed to have been handled by spirits when they sound (4).
One technique, which was popular in the 1800s was called table rapping and consisted of participants sitting around a table with their fingertips resting lightly on the table and touching those sitting on each side of them. The medium directs questions to the spirit world and the table responds by rapping on or more legs on the floor. There was a different number of raps for each letter of the alphabet (2).
What is Manifested During a Seance?
When a person dies, he/she leaves behind on the astral plane a disintegrating astral body known as a shade which is frequently seen at séances, but is only a soulless bundle of the person’s lowest qualities yet can still communicate by temporarily borrowing intelligence from the medium (5). Often a glowing figure said to be composed of ectoplasm can be seen and felt moving around (4).
- Fiery, A. 1999. The Book of Divination. San Francisco.
- The Reader’s Digest Association. 1992. Quest For the Unknown: Life Beyond Death. Pleasantville, New York.
- Guiley, R.E. 1991. Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience. Edison, NJ.
- Randi, J, 1995. An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. New York, NY.
- Powell, A.E. 1972. The Astral Body. London, England.