{"id":5551,"date":"2011-08-01T01:10:30","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T06:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=5688"},"modified":"2011-07-20T13:47:06","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T18:47:06","slug":"paranormal-path-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2011\/08\/01\/paranormal-path-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Paranormal Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e9ances<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word s\u00e9ance is French and literally translates to seat, sitting,
\nor session. When we hear the word s\u00e9ance we think of people sitting
\naround a table in a dimly lit room, while a spirit medium attempts to
\ncontact the deceased. Usually these experiences are sought by those in
\nmourning who need closure.
\nOne of the first widely documented accounts of a s\u00e9ance was in 1848
\nwith Kate and Margaret Fox. These sisters were frightened by loud
\nknocking and banging sounds in their New York home. One day Kate
\ndecided to ask the source of these noises to knock in response when
\nshe snapped her fingers. This test was successful and the girls formed
\na system with the spirit that gave them yes or no answers. Soon they
\nlearned that they were communicating with the spirit of a man that had
\nbeen murdered in their home. The story became widely known and soon
\nthe girls had an audience. They began to hold s\u00e9ances around 1850.
\nLater the girls admitted that a lot of the knocking sounds had been
\nstaged but many held onto the idea that these s\u00e9ances were legitimate
\nways to communicate with the dead.
\nLater spirit mediums began to use \u201cspirit cabinets\u201d. These were either
\nactual pieces of furniture or a curtain that the medium would sit
\nbehind. Usually the medium was bound to a chair, with items such as
\nmusical instruments placed at their feet. During the session ghostly
\nhands and faces would appear through a hole in the cabinet or through
\nthe curtain and the instruments would begin to play. Upon opening the
\ncabinet or pulling the curtain the audience would see that the medium
\nwas still bound, proving it was actual spirit communication.
\nOther popular practices during a s\u00e9ance were table tilting and
\nautomatic writing. Table tilting was done by a group of people usually
\n4 or 5. Each person would sit with their hands flat on a table.
\nUsually there were several sessions before anything would occur. When
\nthis practice was successful the table would vibrate or move and
\nknocking sounds would be heard. Automatic writing was performed by a
\nmedium during a trance or an altered state of consciousness. The
\nmedium would write out words or sentences, supposedly messages from
\nthe spirit. This was allowing the medium to be used
\nas a tool for the spirit to communicate through, in itself a
\ndangerous practice. The practices of table tilting and automatic
\nwriting were believed to be more of an act of the subconscious and a
\nway to tap into the psychic energy of the living.
\nUnfortunately with the popularity of s\u00e9ances, came many frauds. A dark
\nroom and a few simple magic tricks accompanied by wigs and make-up
\nwere effective ways to convince an audience and make money. Some
\nmediums would hide wigs and make-up in their seats for a quick change
\nwhile the participants were waiting with closed eyes. Faces were
\npainted on balloons to create a floating apparition and objects were
\ntied with fishing line so they would appear to levitate. The spirit
\ncabinet made a wonderful hiding place for any escape artist to make
\ntheir session seem real. However not all mediums were frauds. Soon
\nscientists and even some magicians would come to check the authenticity of the
\nsession and ensure there were no illusions planned. These were in a
\nway the first paranormal investigators. One of my favorite stories of
\ns\u00e9ance debunking involves Mr. Harry Houdini himself. His training in
\nmagic allowed him to expose frauds. He would often attend sessions in
\ndisguise with a reporter and a police officer. He wrote about his
\nexperiences in his book A Magician among Spirits. Before Houdini\u2019s
\ndeath he and his wife Bess agreed that if his spirit would ever return
\nhe would utter the words \u201cRosabelle Believe\u201d, this was from a play
\nBess performed in when the couple first met and the name was engraved
\ninside of her ring. Houdini passed away on October 31st 1926. Bess
\nheld s\u00e9ances every Halloween for an entire decade but Houdini never
\nappeared. The practice is still continued with magicians throughout
\nthe world to this day.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.prairieghosts.com\/seance2.html<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/hubpages.com\/hub\/The-Seance—History-and-Origins<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harry_Houdini<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

S\u00e9ances The word s\u00e9ance is French and literally translates to seat, sitting, or session. When we hear the word s\u00e9ance we think of people sitting around a table in a dimly lit room, while a spirit medium attempts to contact the deceased. Usually these experiences are sought by those in mourning who need closure. One of the first widely documented accounts of a s\u00e9ance was in 1848 with Kate and Margaret Fox. These sisters were frightened by loud knocking and banging sounds in their New York home. One day Kate decided to ask the source of these noises to knock in response when she snapped her fingers. This test was successful and the girls formed a system with the spirit that gave them yes or no answers. Soon they learned that they were communicating with the spirit of a man that had been murdered in their home. The story became widely known and soon the girls had an audience. They began to hold s\u00e9ances around 1850. Later the girls admitted that a lot of the knocking sounds had been staged but many held onto the idea that these s\u00e9ances were legitimate ways to communicate with the dead. Later spirit mediums began to use \u201cspirit cabinets\u201d. These were either actual pieces of furniture or a curtain that the medium would sit behind. Usually the medium was bound to a chair, with items such as musical instruments placed at their feet. During the session ghostly hands and faces would appear through a hole in the cabinet or through the curtain and the instruments would begin to play. Upon opening the cabinet or pulling the curtain the audience would see that the medium was still bound, proving it was actual spirit communication. Other popular practices during a s\u00e9ance were table tilting and automatic writing. Table tilting was done by a group of people usually 4 or 5. Each person would sit with their hands flat on a table. Usually there were several sessions before anything would occur. When this practice was successful the table would vibrate or move and knocking sounds would be heard. Automatic writing was performed by a medium during a trance or an altered state of consciousness. The medium would write out words or sentences, supposedly messages from the spirit. This was allowing the medium to be used as a tool for the spirit to communicate through, in itself a dangerous practice. The practices of table tilting and automatic writing were believed to be more of an act of the subconscious and a way to tap into the psychic energy of the living. Unfortunately with the popularity of s\u00e9ances, came many frauds. A dark room and a few simple magic tricks accompanied by wigs and make-up were effective ways to convince an audience and make money. Some mediums would hide wigs and make-up in their seats for a quick change while the participants were waiting with closed eyes. Faces were painted on balloons to create a floating apparition and objects were tied with fishing line so they would appear to levitate. The spirit cabinet made a wonderful hiding place for any escape artist to make their session seem real. However not all mediums were frauds. Soon scientists and even some magicians would come to check the authenticity of the session and ensure there were no illusions planned. These were in a way the first paranormal investigators. One of my favorite stories of s\u00e9ance debunking involves Mr. Harry Houdini himself. His training in magic allowed him to expose frauds. He would often attend sessions in disguise with a reporter and a police officer. He wrote about his experiences in his book A Magician among Spirits. Before Houdini\u2019s death he and his wife Bess agreed that if his spirit would ever return he would utter the words \u201cRosabelle Believe\u201d, this was from a play Bess performed in when the couple first met and the name was engraved inside of her ring. Houdini passed away on October 31st 1926. Bess held s\u00e9ances every Halloween for an entire decade but Houdini never appeared. The practice is still continued with magicians throughout the world to this day. Sources http:\/\/www.prairieghosts.com\/seance2.html http:\/\/hubpages.com\/hub\/The-Seance—History-and-Origins http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harry_Houdini<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}