In one section of The Mystery Library: Ghosts, by Stuart A. Kallen, it talks about spirits innteracting with a medium. Seances are most often conducted with many sitters, or witnesses. These sitters are grouped around a small table while the medium calls forth a spirit. Seances normally take place in a dark room only lit by a single candle. The medium chants to raise the dead, and the sitters either hold hands or place their hands palms down on the table. Using self-hynosis and breathing techniques, the medium begins their spirit communications. Events at a seance can be unpredictable. An example of this occured in 1892 when Charles Hill Tout was allegedly possessed by his father's ghost when it took control of his body during a seance. Sometimes during the course of a seance, ghosts materialize in human form to communicate with the medium or the sitters. They are said to take form of a slimy substance called ectoplasm. Ectoplasm's presence in the human anatomy has not been established biologically, and "as far as is known, ectoplasm exists for no other purpose than to provide construction material for spirits of the dead returning to visit spirit seances" (Kallen 40).
I've seen plenty of movies where the characters perform seances to communicate with deceased family members or friends, but I've never heard of anyone who participates in them in reality. I don't ever plan on participating in a seance, but I would like to find out more information about them. I still can't decide if I believe in ghosts or not because I've researched seances and found that many seances that have been performed have been fake so that the medium can get money from the sitters. But how do you explain ectoplasm during real seances that actually occur? If ectoplasm's presence in our bodies hasn't biologically been established, then how do you explain what it is when it's coming out of a medium's mouth, ears, or eyes? I'm not sure if seances are a way to really connect with spirits, but I think that the author gave enough evidence to convince me that something, whether it has to do with communicating with spirits or whether its black magic, goes on during these practices.
Freaky 50/50
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