Spiritualism

Properly speaking, Spiritualism begins with FoxSisters^? of New York, who communicated with the dead via raps and snaps on a table. Spiritualism became a huge craze in Victorian England and America, and séances were extremely fashionable in many middle-class and (more rarely) upper-class circles. The basic point about Spiritualism, for game purposes, is that there is an experienced medium who runs the séance; more rarely there are two. As a rule, séances are held in darkened rooms, often with everyone holding hands. During the séance, the medium’s voice will transform radically as he or she is possessed by a given spirit. There are two common “roles” in conversation: the medium or an assistant, who asks questions and calls for particular spirits, who may be recalcitrant; and the spirit or spirits called, who answer questions directly from the assembled fraternity. Most mediums do not remember the content of the séance afterwards. When there are two principals, a medium and a guide, the latter is usually male and the former female; there is no absolute rule about this, but most mediums are women. Some mediums are capable of physical manifestations—ectoplasm, poltergeist effects, phantom music, etc.—but the majority communicate entirely through voice.

See Spiritualism^?

-- ChrisLehrich^? - 24 Dec 2004