In the past the actual reason for calling up the dead was to get answers. (Please also see: PREDICTIONS FROM THE DEAD) Either to quell the loss of a loved one, or to get insight into the future. Many who attended these sittings often went to try and keep a dead loved one close to them even though they were gone. Still others saw it as something thrilling. The lure of seeing things paranomal in nature being performed. From tilting tables to strange voices calling in the darkness. The excitement of being in a room with something other worldly and powerful drew many. As they came to wittness floating ecto charged spirit apparitions and Messages that only the dead could give the living. 

 

Real Tried And True Ghost hunting Methods - such as Lights-Out - According to ghost hunting enthusiast web sites, many ghost hunters prefer to conduct their investigations during "peak" evening hours (midnight to 4 a.m.) when most paranormal activity is said to occur. Some also experiment in wavelengths on the fringe of human vision including red and ultraviolet light. Very much exacting ans similar to the calling of the dead to the actual séance room of old.

Contemporary séances today often continue to be a part of the religious services of Spiritualist, Spiritist, and Espiritismo churches today, where a greater emphasis is placed on spiritual values versus showmanship. And many in the field are just starting to investigate these occurrences openly trying to validate the comings and goings of the dead. ALSO PLEASE VISIT: Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp and SOME ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESSFUL CONTACT WITH THE OTHER SIDE.

 

One might ponder here now the fact that these necromantic rituals of calling of the dead is very much similar to what we are now seeing on television. Actual Ghost Hunting individuals in a darkened room calling out for ghosts to show them selves and communicate with them directly. And similar to the séance of the past. By this ""I mean they are challenging the dead to perform paranomal feats to prove their existence from beyond the grave.

The term séance is used in several ways, and can refer any of four different activities, each with its own social norms and conventions, its own favored tools, and its own range of expected outcomes.

Religious séances
Spiritualism (religious movement)
Espiritismo: Real Answers From the Dead

In the religion of Spiritualism, it is generally a part of religious services to communicate with the dead. The term "séance" is not often used to describe this, except by outsiders; a preferred term is "receiving messages." In these sessions, which generally take place in well lit Spiritualist churches or outdoors at Spiritualist camps (such as Lily Dale in upstate New York or Camp Cassadaga in Florida), an ordained minister or gifted contact medium will relate messages from the dead to the living. Generally Spiritualist "message services" or "demonstrations of the continuity of life" are open to the public. Sometimes the medium stands to receive messages and only the sitter is seated; in some churches, the message service is preceded by a "healing service" involving some form of faith healing.

In addition to communicating with the spirits of people who have a personal relationship to congregants, some Spiritual Churches also deal with spirits who may have a specific relationship to the medium or a historic relationship to the body of the church. An example of the latter is the spirit of Blackhawk, a Native American warrior of the Fox tribe who lived during the 19th century. Blackhawk was a spirit who was often contacted by the Spiritualist medium Leafy Anderson and he remains the central focus of special services in the African American Spiritual Churches that she founded.

In the Latin American religion of Espiritismo, which somewhat resembles Spiritualism, séance sessions in which congregants communicate with spirits are called misas (literally "masses"). The spirits contacted in Espiritismo are often those of ancestors or Catholic saints.

Stage mediumship séances

Mediums who contact spirits of the dead or other spirits while on a stage, with audience members seated before them, are not literally holding a "séance", because they themselves are not seated; however, the term "séance" has been applied to their activities. One of the foremost early practitioners of this type of contact with the dead was Paschal Beverly Randolph, who worked with the spirits of the relatives of audience members, but was also famed for his ability to contact and deliver messages from ancient seers and philosophers, such as Plato.

 

The 2001 Houdini Seance took place in Milwaukee, WI and was a fascinating journey to bring the world's most famous magician and escape artist back.

Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and many other famous people worked together to debunk fakes. The Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882. Some of the original members were the poet Tennyson, Prime Minister Gladstone, the scientist J.J.Thomson (discoverer of the electron), Mark Twain, William James, Lewis Carroll, John Ruskin, and Sir Oliver Lodge. Also please see: Harry Houdini "The Greatest Paranormal Whistleblower"

Houdini and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln

CREDIT: "Houdini and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln." Between 1920 and 1930. The American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920, Library of Congress.

Harry Houdini was a well known debunker of fake mediums and spiritualists. His interest began after the death of his mother, Cecilia Weiss.
Because of his background as an illusionist, he recognized the techniques of mediums who claimed to have contacted the spirit world. Houdini became a crusader against these charlatans who bilked grieving families of their money. He frequently attended Séances in disguise in order to expose the mediums.
Houdini who could wriggle out of almost any situation knew every trick in the book. Margery, an American medium, claimed she could summon ghosts with the help of her dead brother, Walter. The day Houdini locked her in a wooden box, she couldn't summon a single ghost.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the famous Sherlock Holmes character, was a contemporary and admirer of Houdini's. Ironically, Doyle was known for the logical explanations in the Holmes stories, yet he believed that Houdini's escapes and illusions were a supernatural phenomena.

Leader-assisted séances

Leader-assisted séances are generally conducted by small groups of people, with participants seated around a table in a dark or semi-dark room. The leader is typically asserted to be a medium and he or she may go into a trance that theoretically allows the spirits to communicate through his or her body, conveying messages to the other participants. Other modes of communication may also be attempted, including automatic writing, numbered raps, levitation of the table or of spirit trumpets, apports, or even smell.

This is the type of séance that is most often the subject of shock and scandal when it turns out that the leader is practicing some form of stage magic illusion or using mentalist tricks to defraud clients.

Informal social séances

Among those with an interest in the occult, a tradition has grown up of conducting séances outside of any religious context and without a leader. Sometimes only two or three people are involved, and, if they are young, they may be using the séance as a way to test their understanding of the boundaries between reality and the paranormal. It is in such small séances that the planchette and ouija board are most often utilized.

 

Chris Moon using Frank's Box. ... Rosemary Ellen Guiley w/ Frank's Box #22 & Minibox #115

Mediumship, trance, and channeling

Mediumship is the term used to describe an act where the practitioner attempts to receive messages from spirits of the dead and other spirits that the practitioner believes exist. Some self-ordained mediums are fully conscious and awake while functioning as contacts; others may slip into a partial or full trance or an altered state of consciousness. These self called 'trance-mediums' often state that, when they emerge from the trance state, they have no recollection of the messages they conveyed; it is customary for such practitioners to work with an assistant who writes down or otherwise records their words.

"Channeling" is a modern term for mediumship and is found most often in descriptions of stage mediums and leader-assisted séances who convey messages from spirits who are thought to be teachers of wisdom. Channeling is a process by which the medium allows a spirit limited use of his or her physical body to communicate with the sitters present. This is distinct from the concept of possession, which is considered to be the complete, non-consensual takeover of a living being by a spirit. Channeling, on the other hand, is assumed to offer opportunities for more positive and mutually respectful interaction between the living medium and the spirit.

Séances Spirit boards, talking boards, and Ouija boards

Spirit boards, also known as talking boards, or Ouija boards (after a well known brand name) are flat tablets, typically made of wood, Masonite, chipboard, or plastic. On the board are a number of symbols, pictures, letters, numbers and/or words. The board is accompanied by a planchette (French for "little table"), which can take the form of a pointer on three legs or magnifying glass on legs; home made boards may employ a shot glass as a planchette. A most basic Ouija board would contain simply the alphabet of whatever country the board is being used in, although it is not uncommon for whole words to be added.

The board is used as follows: One to all of the participants in the séance place one or two fingers on the planchette which is in the middle of the board. The appointed medium asks questions of the spirit(s) with whom they are attempting to communicate.

A Ouija board (correctly pronounced /wiʤə/ although often pronounced /wiʤi/, also known as spirit board or talking board) is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, and other symbols, theoretically used to communicate with spirits. It uses a planchette (small heart-shaped piece of wood) or movable indicator to indicate the spirit's message by spelling it out on the board during a séance. The fingers of the séance participants are placed on the planchette, which then moves about the board to spell out messages. Ouija is a trademark for a talking board currently sold by Parker Brothers. While the word is not considered a generalized trademark, it has become a trademark that is often used generically to refer to any talking board.

The first historical mention of something resembling a Ouija board is found in China around 1100 B.C., a divination method known as fuji 扶乩 "planchette writing". Other sources claim that according to a Greek historical account of the philosopher Pythagoras, in 540 B.C. his sect would conduct séances at "a mystic table, moving on wheels, moved towards signs, which the philosopher and his pupil, Philolaus, interpreted to the audience as being revelations supposedly from an unseen world." However, other sources call both claims into dispute, claiming that fuji is spirit writing, not the use of a spirit board, and that there is no record of Pythagoras or his students actually having used this method of achieving oracles or divinations. In addition, the claim of Pythagorian use is called into doubt by questions of historical accuracy, as Philolaus was never the pupil of Pythagoras, and indeed was born roughly twenty-five years after Pythagoras's death. The first undisputed use of the talking boards came with the Modern Spiritualist Movement in The United States in the mid-19th century. Methods of divination at that time used various ways to spell out messages, including swinging a pendulum over a plate that had letters around the edge or using an entire table to indicate letters drawn on the floor. Often used was a small wooden tablet supported on casters. This tablet, called a planchette, was affixed with a pencil that would write out messages in a fashion similar to automatic writing. These methods may predate modern Spiritualism.

During the late 1800s, planchettes were widely sold as a novelty. The businessmen Elijah Bond and Charles Kennard had the idea to patent a planchette sold with a board on which the alphabet was printed. The patentees filed on May 28, 1890 for patent protection and thus had invented the first Ouija board. Issue date on the patent was February 10, 1891. They received U.S. Patent 446,054. Bond was an attorney and was an inventor of other objects in addition to this device. An employee of Kennard, William Fuld took over the talking board production and in 1901, he started production of his own boards under the name "Ouija". The Fuld name would become synonymous with the Ouija board, as Fuld reinvented its history, claiming that he himself had invented it. The strange talk about the boards from Fuld's competitors flooded the market and all these boards enjoyed a heyday from the 1920s through the 1960s. Fuld sued many companies over the "Ouija" name and concept right up until his death in 1927. In 1966, Fuld's estate sold the entire business to Parker Brothers, who continues to hold all trademarks and patents. About ten brands of talking boards are sold today under various names.

Scientific explanation

Users subconsciously direct the path of the triangle to produce a word that is in that person's subconscious thought process. This subconscious behavior is known as ideomotor action, a term coined by William Carpenter in 1882. It is also known as automatism.[6] Some people may be convinced that the "powers" of the ouija board are real because they are unaware that they are in fact moving the piece and therefore assume that the piece must be moving due to some other "spiritual force". The subconscious thought process may produce an answer that is different from what the user expected in their conscious thought process—thus perpetuating the idea that the board has "mystical powers". The Penn & Teller: Bullshit! episode on Ouija Boards ran an experiment using unbiased participants. Questions were being asked to the late William Frawley with very strong answers. The participants were then blindfolded and the board was turned 180 degrees without their knowledge. With continued questioning, the planchette then traveled to bare areas of the board where the participants believed the "Yes" and "No" marks were located.

Little is published regarding Aleister Crowley's advocacy of the ouija board. Yet, he had great admiration for the use of one and the Ouija board played a passing role in his magical workings.

Jane Wolfe, who lived with Crowley at his infamous Abbey of Thelema, also used the Ouija board. She credits some of her greatest spiritual communications to use of this implement. Crowley also discussed the Ouija board with another of his students, and the most ardent of them, Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones): it is frequently mentioned in their unpublished letters.

in 1917 Achad experimented with the board as a means of summoning Angels, as opposed to Elementals. In one letter Crowley told Jones: "Your Ouija board experiment is rather fun. You see how very satisfactory it is, but I believe things improve greatly with practice. I think you should keep to one angel, and make the magical preparations more elaborate."

Over the years, both became so fascinated by the board that they discussed marketing their own design. Their discourse culminated in a letter, dated February 21, 1919, in which Crowley tells Jones, "Re: Ouija Board. I offer you the basis of ten percent of my net profit. You are, if you accept this, responsible for the legal protection of the ideas, and the marketing of the copyright designs. I trust that this may be satisfactory to you. I hope to let you have the material in the course of a week." In March, Crowley wrote to Achad to inform him, "I'll think up another name for Ouija." But their business venture never came to fruition and Crowley's new design, along with his name for the board, has not survived.

Crowley has stated, of the Ouija Board that, "There is, however, a good way of using this instrument to get what you want, and that is to perform the whole operation in a consecrated circle, so that undesirable aliens cannot interfere with it. You should then employ the proper magical invocation in order to get into your circle just the one spirit you want. It is comparatively easy to do this. A few simple instructions are all that is necessary, and I shall be pleased to give these, free of charge, to any one who cares to apply."

* G. K. Chesterton used a Ouija board. Around 1893 he had gone through a crisis of skepticism and depression, and during this period Chesterton experimented with the Ouija board and grew fascinated with the occult.

* Poet James Merrill used a Ouija board for years, and even encouraged entrance of spirits into his body. He wrote the poem "The Changing Light at Sandover" with the help of a Ouija board. Before he died, he recommended that people not use Ouija boards.

* Former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi claimed under oath that, in a séance held in 1978 with other professors at the University of Bologna, the "ghost" of Giorgio La Pira spelled the name of the street where Aldo Moro was being held by the Red Brigades in a Ouija. According to Peter Popham of The Independent: "Everybody here has long believed that Prodi's ouija board tale was no more than an ill-advised and bizarre way to conceal the identity of his true source, probably a person from Bologna's seething far-left underground whom he was pledged to protect."

* Bill Wilson the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous used the Ouija Board to contact spirits. His wife said that he would get messages directly without even using the board. For a while, his participation in AA was deeply affected by his involvement with the Ouija board. Wilson claimed that he received the twelve step method directly from a spirit without the board and wrote it down

* Art Bell, the former host of the paranormal-themed radio show Coast To Coast AM (which on Halloween became Ghost To Ghost AM) had once used a Ouija board, and experienced something he's been wanting to forget ever since. He refused to tell any of the callers/listeners about the actual experience and he always advised not to use a Ouija board - ever.

* The Fiery Furnaces said that they used a Ouija board to write lyrics for their album Widow City.

* On the July 25, 2007, edition of the paranormal radio show Coast to Coast AM, host George Noory attempted to carry out a live Ouija board experiment on national radio despite the strong objections of one of his guests, Jordan Maxwell, and with the encouragement of his other guests, Dr. Bruce Goldberg, Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Jerry Edward Cornelius. In the days and hours leading up to the show, unfortunate events kept occurring to Noory's friends and family as well as some of his guests, but these events would likely be considered coincidences by skeptics. After recounting a near-death experience in 2000 and noting bizarre events taking place, Noory canceled the experiment.

* The Mars Volta wrote their album Bedlam in Goliath based on their alleged experiences with an Ouija board. According to their story (written for them by a fiction author, Jeremy Robert Johnson), they purchased a Ouija board while on tour in Jerusalem. At first the board provided a story which became the theme for the album. Strange events allegedly related to this activity occurred during the recording of the album: the studio flooded, one of the album's main engineers had a nervous breakdown, equipment began to malfunction, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala's foot was injured. Following these bad experiences the band buried the Ouija board.

* Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of The Killers says that an Ouija board was the cause of his phobia of the number '621' which happens to coincide with his birth date (21st June).

Spiritualist explanation

Spiritualists who believe Ouija boards can be used to make actual contact with the spirit world feel that the act of hindering a medium’s ability to use his or her own eyes while the board is in use effectively places too great of a handicap on the whole exercise. This argument stems from the belief that contacted spirits actually utilize the eyes of the medium during a Ouija session in order to point to the letters and words needed to form a message. Most believers of this notion believe that the board has no intrinsic power in and of itself, but rather, is used simply as a tool to aid a medium while in communication with the spirit world.

Skeptical explanation

A skeptical view of the Ouija board is that it is frequently used as a prank game by persons who are fully conscious that they are guiding the planchette. Considering that the boards are sold by a game company, and are widely used by children, they can be used in a game similar to the popular "snipe hunt" trick, in which one or more participants are in on the joke, and at least one participant is not. When one or more players deliberately but discreetly moves the planchette, it is indistinguishable (to other players) from the sensation of the planchette "moving on its own". Players moving the planchette may either maintain a deadpan expression, or act out shock and surprise. Players who are fooled but eventually figure out what happened, can go on to become one of the pranksters in a future session with other new players.

Fuji (planchette writing) Fuji (Chinese: 扶乩 or 扶箕; pinyin: fújī; Wade-Giles: fu chi) is a method of "planchette writing; spirit writing; automatic writing" using either a sieve or a stick to write Chinese characters in sand or incense ashes.

Beginning around the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE), the fuji method and written characters changed from 扶箕 "support the sieve" (spirit-writing using a suspended sieve or winnowing tray) to 扶乩 "support the planchette" (using a stick or stylus, typically made from a willow or peach branch, and roughly resembling a dowsing-rod, see De Groot 1910 6:1296). Sieve divination or coscinomancy is culturally widespread, and Chao (1942:21) compares practices in ancient Greece and Rome, medieval Europe, and India.

Chinese fuji spirit-writing involves some specialized vocabulary. Luan 鸞 "a mythical phoenix-like bird" (see Jordan and Overmyer 1986:36-88; distinguish the fenghuang "Chinese phoenix") is used in synonyms such as fuluan 扶鸞 "support the phoenix," feiluan 飛鸞 "flying phoenix," and jiangluan 降鸞 "descending phoenix". The fuji process involves specialized participants. The two people (or rarely one) who hold the sieve or stylus are called jishou 乩手 "planchette hands", only one of whom is ostensibly possessed by a shen 神 "spirit; god" or xian 仙 "immortal; transcendent". Their assistants include a pingsha 平沙 "level sand" who smoothes out the shapan 沙盤 "sand table", a dujizhe 讀乩者 "planchette reader" who interprets the characters, and a chaojizhe 抄乩者 "planchette copyist" who records them. Jiwen 乩文 "planchette writing" is a general reference to texts produced through Chinese fuji spirit-writing.

Spirit-writing has a long history in Chinese folk religion, and is first recorded (Chao 1942:12) during the Liu Song Dynasty (420-479 CE). Fuji planchette-writing became popular during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when authors like Shen Kuo and Su Shi associated its origins with summoning Zigu 紫姑 "Purple Maiden", the Spirit of the Latrine. Fuji divination flourished during the Ming Dynasty, and the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1522-1566) built a special jitan 乩壇 "planchette altar" in the Forbidden City (Despeux 2007:428). Although the practice of fuji planchette-writing was prohibited by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) Legal Code, it has continued and is currently practiced at Daoist temples in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia as well as folk shrines in China.

Fuji is particularly associated with the Quanzhen School of Daoism. The Daozang "Daoist Canon" contains several scriptures supposedly written through spirit-writing. Two examples are the Zitong dijun huashu 梓潼帝君化書 "Book of Transformations of the Divine Lord of Zitong" (tr. Kleeman 1994, see Huashu) and the Taiyi jinhua zongzhi 太一金華宗旨 "Great One’s Secret of the Golden Flower" (tr. Wilhelm 1931).

Please also visit: Museum Of Talking Boards and To Ouija or not to Ouija - SCOTTIE STAMPER

Séances Trumpets, slates, tables, and cabinets

During the latter half of the 19th century, a number of Spiritualist mediums began to advocate the use of specialized tools for conducting séances, particularly in leader-assisted sessions conducted in darkened rooms. "Spirit trumpets" were horn-shaped speaking tubes that were said to magnify the whispered voices of spirits to audible range. "Spirit slates" consisted of two chalkboards bound together that, when opened, were said to reveal messages written by spirits. "Séance tables" were special light-weight tables which were said to rotate, float, or levitate when spirits were present. "Spirit cabinets" were portable closets into which mediums were placed, often bound with ropes, in order to prevent them from manipulating the various aforementioned tools.

The exposure of supposed mediums whose use of séance tools derived from the techniques of stage magic has been disturbing to many believers in spirit communication. In particular, the 1870s exposures of the Davenport Brothers as illusionists and the 1887 report of the Seybert Commission [11]. brought an end to the first historic phase of Spiritualism. Stage magicians like John Neville Maskelyne and Harry Houdini made a side-line of exposing fraudulent mediums during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1976, M. Lamar Keene described deceptive techniques that he himself had used in séances; however, in the same book, Keene also stated that he still had a firm belief in God, life after death, ESP, and other psychic phenomena.

Ethel Post Parrish sits in The Spirit Cabinet or " Ghost Booth" producing ectoplasm to materialize the entity Silver Belle during a seance under test conditions in the United States, 1953.

Table Turning or "Table Tipping" (see Ouija board) is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations. The table was purportedly made to serve as a means of communicating with the spirits; the alphabet would be slowly called over and the table would tilt at the appropriate letter, thus spelling out words and sentences.

When the movement of Modern Spiritualism first reached Europe from America in the winter of 1852–1853, the most popular method of consulting the spirits was for several persons to sit round a table, with their hands resting on it, and wait for the table to move. If the experiment was successful the table would rotate with considerable rapidity, and would occasionally rise in the air, or perform other movements. Whilst by many the movements were ascribed to the agency of spirits, two investigators—Count de Gasparin and Professor Thury of Geneva—conducted a careful series of experiments by which they claimed to have demonstrated that the movements of the table were due to a physical force emanating from the bodies of the sitters, for which they proposed the name ectenic force. Their conclusion rested on the supposed elimination of all known physical causes for the movements; but it is doubtful from the description of the experiments whether the precautions taken were sufficient to exclude unconscious muscular action (the ideomotor effect) or even deliberate fraud.

In England table-turning became a fashionable diversion and was practised all over the country in the year 1853. Dr. John Elliotson and his followers attributed the phenomena to mesmerism. The general public were content to find the explanation of the movements in spirits, animal magnetism, odic force, galvanism, electricity, or even the rotation of the earth.

The Scottish surgen James Braid, the English physiologist W. B. Carpenter and others pointed out, however, that the phenomena could depend upon the expectation of the sitters, and could be stopped altogether by appropriate suggestion. Faraday devised some simple apparatus which conclusively demonstrated that the movements he investigated were due to unconscious muscular action. The apparatus consisted of two small boards, with glass rollers between them, the whole fastened together by india-rubber bands in such a manner that the upper board could slide under lateral pressure to a limited extent over the lower one. The occurrence of such lateral movement was at once indicated by means of an upright haystalk fastened to the apparatus. When by this means it was made clear to the experimenters that it was the fingers which moved the table, not the table the fingers, the phenomena generally ceased.

In France, Allan Kardec studied the phenomenon and concluded that some messages were caused by an outside intelligence as the message contained information that was not known (see the Book on Mediums).

The exposures of fraud by tool-using mediums have had two divergent results: Skeptics have used historic exposures as a frame through which to view all spirit mediumship as inherently fraudulent, while believers have tended to eliminate the use of tools but continued to practice mediumship in full confidence of its spiritual value to them.

THE FIRST REAL GHOST HUNTERS

A séance (pronounced /ˈseɪ.ɑːns/) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma" ("a movie session"). In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from spirits or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits; in modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a séance.

There or those of us that investigate everything from haunted homes to haunted people. Also there or those of us that investigate the many ways that indivisuals try to communicate with the dearly departed. Many seem to be intrigued by mediums, psychics and the tools that can be used in having the dead come and visit us.

In some cases it is likeened to having a personal chat with spirits of the past in our own homes.

Mediums

Popular 19th century trance medium lecturers include Cora Scott Hatch, Achsa W. Sprague, Emma Hardinge Britten (1823-1899), and Paschal Beverly Randolph(1825-1875).

Among the notable people who conducted small leader-assisted séances during the 19th century were the Fox sisters, whose activities included table-rapping, and the Davenport Brothers, who were famous for the spirit cabinet work. Both the Foxes and the Davenports were eventually exposed as frauds.

Attendees

Notable people who have attended séances and professed a belief in Spiritualism include the United States President Abraham Lincoln, and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln; the social reformer Robert Owen; the journalist and pacifist William T. Stead; Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of Canada for 22 years, who sought spiritual contact and political guidance from his deceased mother, his pet dogs, and the late US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt [19]; the journalist and author Lloyd Kenyon Jones; and the physician and author Arthur Conan Doyle.

Scientists who have conducted a search for real séances and believed that contact with the dead is a reality include the chemist William Crookes, the evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace, the inventor of radio Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of telephony Alexander Graham Bell, and the inventor of television technology John Logie Baird, who claimed to have contacted the spirit of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison.

Debunkers

Among the best known exposers of fraudulent mediumship acts have been the researchers Frank Podmore of the Society for Psychical Research, Harry Price of the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, the professional stage magicians John Nevil Maskelyne (who exposed the Davenport Brothers) and Harry Houdini, who clearly stated that he did not oppose the religion of Spiritualism itself, but only the trickery by phony mediums that was being practiced in the name of the religion. Today these guys are credited with being the Fathers of modern Ghost Hunting today.

How to conduct a real Séance

The Ghost Hunting Séance

Not all real Ghosts are harmless. some believe there is nothing to fear. but many over the years have com out of the darkend rooms changed by the great emotional feelings that communicating with the dead can cause. Not that it is common knowledge. But many actual deaths have occurred during these midnight table sittings.

Direct contact during the actual séance is possible. And many actual ghost hunters and paranomal investigators or now trying to document these spirit activities. they do this either to debunk or prove the existance of real ghost today. The spirit manifestiations of today may be actual perceived through any sense. A scent (the sense of smell is the most emotive of our senses) this is the most common form of real contact. The next most common manifestation is through the sense of
touch (a cold spot may be perceived, most commonly from the left side). The third most common manifestation is through the sense of hearing (a sound or a voice). The rarest contact is visual. We will see a light or an apparition. Of course, a spirit may be present and be unknown to us. There are signs, however. When a candle flame burns blue, a spirit is present. Also, if a hound appears agitated, a ghost is present. (Dogs are sensitive to ghosts, whereas cats are sensitive to demons.)

 

Helpful Conditions
To contact a spirit, certain conditions are helpful. Spirits are most visible at night. In occult lore, the moon is older than earth and is dead. The moon is a giant luminescent corpse in the sky, and it exerts a powerful influence of death on the earth. The presence of moving water-a stream or falling rain (especially with lightning)--is helpful. Strong emotions-especially anger and terror-draw spirits. A drop of fresh blood also draws spirits (in contrast, menstrual blood draws demons). Quartz attracts spirits (but metal-especially iron and steel-repels them). The presence of spiritually sensitive people-especially women and children-also helps open the portal to the other world.

The technique we will use is from ancient Greece, with some later Christian additions. Four people-or six or more-will sit around a wooden table. We may not use five people, for Christ was murdered with five wounds, and five-symbolized by the pentagon and the pentacle (the five-pointed star)--draws sinister forces.

The hands of the four must be placed flat on the table, with the little fingers of each hand touching the hands of the people on either side. In the center of the table we will place a clear glass bowl filled with olive oil. A single drop of fresh blood-drawn from the finger of a volunteer--will be placed in the oil. During the séance, focus on the bowl of oil and blood. (Michel de Nostredame, the famous seer who was also called Nostradamus, used a bowl of blood and sometimes a bowl of water. The last was later replaced by an eighteenth century invention, the crystal ball.) Two candles will be positioned on the north and south sides of the bowl. A bible opened to 1 Samuel, chapter 28 (the text details a communication with a spirit) will be positioned on the west side. (The west-the point of the setting sun and rising moon-symbolizes the land of the dead. By positioning a bible there we will draw good spirits). A single piece of quartz will rest on the open book. On the east side of the bowl, we will place a lily. (The lily is a flower of death, and the fresh scent will draw good spirits. Vile scents draw demons).

Outside the circle, we will position a bell (this drives away spirits), a steel knife (steel, especially with an edge, repels spirits), and some rock salt. (Salt thrown into a fire drives away spirits, including demons). These things will be used to defend ourselves from any mischievous apparitions.

The Process
During the séance, do not speak. Only the medium will speak. Remain serious and respectful. Do not laugh. According to legend, the dead cannot laugh with joy and therefore levity offends them. Do not break the circle by moving your hands. Focus your attention on the bowl of oil and blood. Remember, the spirit may be perceived through any sense. Be aware of scents, feelings, sounds, and sights. If-at any point-any person present feels anxious-remember, we can protect you with the bell, the steel, and the salt in the fire.

Closing the Séance
When the medium is finished, she will thank the spirit. She will then close the bible and extinguish the candles. Tomorrow-in the light of day-a bell will be rung throughout the house. That will clear the
area of all entities.

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