| Issue #31, October 27, 2006 |
Waking The Dead
Many people feel that the months of October and November are a truly spiritual time of the year. With holidays such as Yom Kippur, Halloween, the Wiccan New Year, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day it is no surprise that the masses are coming together to call upon our lost ones. However, what you may not know is that you don’t have to go to church, temple, mass, or even leave your house to contact those on the other side. In fact, you can reach those spirits any time of day or year from the privacy of your very own home (or a good friend’s home at least) through the beautiful magic of séance. A séance is a meeting at which a group of people attempt to contact a spirit and communicate with it.
As unbalanced as this may sound, many have claimed to conducted successful séances and they have video recordings to prove it. Organizations such as the International Society for Paranormal Research and the Society for Paranormal Investigation, Research and Informational Training are dedicated to exploring the possibility that ghosts and spirits actually exist in our very world, despite what your mother may have told you. The history of séance communication in the United States can be traced back to 1848, when young sisters, Margaretta and Catherine Fox, became famous for conversing with the other side in their home in Hydesville, New York. Other Hydesville residents were invited to attend and witness their conversations and the Foxes soon became the talk of the town and eventually the notion of spiritual communication spread through the nation.
If you would like to conduct a séance yourself without having to pay someone to lead the discussion you can follow a few simple steps. Like with anything, there is a right and wrong way to conduct a séance so be sure to follow these steps to minimize your chances of royally screwing up with those that have gone before us.
1. Invite people who are open-minded. If you have non-believers in the room who raise their eyebrows to the idea of séance or have been known to laugh and point through The Sixth Sense, don’t bother. This rule is important and should not be overlooked.
2. The number of people at the séance should be divisible by three.
3. Don’t invite children to the séance. Do you even have to ask why?
4. Hold your séance after the sun goes down. Spirits are much more likely to be summoned in the evening. Once you’ve decided on a location, it is important to prepare the area. Find a large table, round or ovular will do just fine. Cover the table with a white sheet. Place unlit candles on the table.
5. There are several scents that are important for when you conduct your séance. These include frankincense (which expands consciousness), cinnamon (which provides warmth and energy), and sandalwood (which helps members to stay focused). Light music in the background can be beneficial; relaxing sounds aid in mediation and finding that ideal ambiance.
Once everyone is settled, you must select a medium or someone who feels confident with their sixth sense. The séance should be held in an orderly fashion with a sense of beginning, middle and end. Now you must decide on whom you want to call over from the other side. Each candle should be passed to and charged by each participant before being lit and returned to the center of the table. By now the music should be shut-off and there should be as little distractions as possible.
Begin by closing your eyes and joining hands with the people surrounding the table. The medium should ask everyone to say these words together, “Our beloved [name of spirit], we ask that you commune with us and move among us.” This should be repeated until there is a response which could take the form of a sudden decrease in room temperature or rapping sounds. Be sure to establish a system with the spirit, like one rap=“yes,” two raps=“no.” If the spirit seems to be friendly the medium can invite them into their body to communicate further.
After you are done with all of your questions and are terribly scared, having vivid flashbacks of playing “Bloody Mary” in the bathroom mirror as a child, you can politely thank the spirit and ask them to leave. Break the circle of hands and blow out the candles.
Conducting a séance is something that gets easier with practice. In this very charged time, filled with unseen energy, it is favorable to take advantage and try your hand at performing your very own séance. You never know who might stop in.
–Victoria L. Cooper
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