![]() The reason given by spiritualists is that light interferes with the manifestations of the spirits, though a less charitable construction is sometimes put upon the insistent demand for darkness. The chief of these is, perhaps, the darkness or semi-darkness of the séance-room, though this is by no means an invariable condition. Both public and private seances continued, and still continue, to be an indispensable feature of spiritualism.īesides the presence of a medium there are other conditions which must be observed if the séance is to be productive of phenomena. In the early stages of the movementthese séances were conducted by private mediums, who took no fee for their performances, but later professional mediums arose whose séances were open to the public on the payment of a fee. ![]() When, in 1848, the Fox family at Hydesville called in their neighbors to listen to the mysterious sounds which have since become famous as the "Rochester Rappings," the gathering was too informal to be called a séance, though all the necessary elements were present but within the next two or three years the contagion spread throughout a large part of the eastern states, many "circles" (q.v.) were formed, and the phenomena which wasin the first instance apparently spontaneous was now deliberately induced. Antiquity furnishes many examples of what may be called "séances"-e.g., Saul's consultation with the Witch of Eador-but the term is generally used only in connection with modern spiritualism. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |