Calling the Spirits
Calling the Spirits

Author: Lisa Morton

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2022-10-10

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1789142814

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From Halloween expert Morton, a level-headed and entertaining history of our desire and attempts to hold conversations with the dead. Calling the Spirits investigates the eerie history of our conversations with the dead, from necromancy in Homer’s Odyssey to the emergence of Spiritualism—when Victorians were entranced by mediums and the seance was born. Among our cast are the Fox sisters, teenagers surrounded by “spirit rappings”; Daniel Dunglas Home, the “greatest medium of all time”; Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose unlikely friendship was forged, then riven, by the afterlife; and Helen Duncan, the medium whose trial in 1944 for witchcraft proved more popular to the public than news about the war. The book also considers Ouija boards, modern psychics, and paranormal investigations, and is illustrated with engravings, fine art (from beyond), and photographs. Hugely entertaining, it begs the question: is anybody there . . . ?

The Book of Séances
The Book of Séances

Author: Claire Goodchild

Publisher: Voracious

Published: 2022-10-25

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0316353442

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From an award-winning artist, a beautifully mysterious guide to conducting seances and communing with the spirits in our conscious and unconscious lives. As long as people have lived, they have longed for wisdom and comfort from those who have died. In The Book of Séances, artist, author, and witch Claire Goodchild takes readers on a journey through the historical landscape of spiritualism and guides questers through safe practices for cultivating a connection with the other side. The Book of Séances details the four types of spiritual encounters, teaches us how to protect ourselves, and breaks down the different tools -- from spirit boards and tarot to dominoes and charms -- that are essential for opening a bridge to the afterlife. Whether conducting solitary or group séances, this book offers a way to safely glimpse beyond the veil. Through her evocative writing and singular art, Claire provides a comprehensive history of the séance, alongside an immersive guide to accessing and communing with the spirit world. The Book of Séances provides hauntingly lovely signposts into our own personal mythology as revealed through our conscious and unconscious lives.

Séances in Washington
Séances in Washington

Author: Nettie Colburn Maynard

Publisher: Ancient Wisdom Publishing

Published: 2009-10

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9780978393977

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This volume is a firsthand account of the author's experiences as a spiritualist medium in Washington during the Civil War. It depicts the beginnings of the Spiritualist movement in the 1840s and describes specific sances and meetings with Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln that took place in the White House from 1863 to 1865.

Shannon Taggart: Séance
Shannon Taggart: Séance

Author:

Publisher: Fulgur Press

Published: 2019-10-22

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9781527236318

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American photographer Shannon Taggart (born 1977) became aware of spiritualism as a teenager when her cousin received a message from a medium that revealed details about her grandfather's death. In 2001, while working as a photojournalist, she began photographing where that message was received--Lily Dale, New York, home to the world's largest spiritualist community, proceeding to other communities in, for example, Arthur Findlay College in the UK. Taggart expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the spiritualist trade. Instead, spiritualism's mysterious processes, earnest practitioners and neglected photographic history became an inspiration. Her project evolved into an 18-year journey that has taken her around the world in search of "ectoplasm"-- the elusive substance that is said to be both spiritual and material. With Séance, Taggart offers a series of haunting photographs exploring spiritualist practices in the US, England and Europe. Supported with a commentary on her experiences, a foreword by Dan Aykroyd, creator of Ghostbusters and fourth-generation spiritualist, and illustrated essays from Andreas Fischer and Tony Oursler, Séance examines spiritualism's relationship with human celebrity and its connections with technology, and concludes with the debate over ectoplasm and how spiritualism can move forward in the 21st century.

The Séance
The Séance

Author: John Harwood

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 0151012032

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Constance takes her grieving mother to a séance which leads to tragic consequences and a legacy that will blight her life.

Seances Are for Suckers
Seances Are for Suckers

Author: Tamara Berry

Publisher: Kensington

Published: 2018-10-30

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 149671962X

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When something goes bump in the night . . . it’s most likely a plumbing problem, or something equally mundane. But fake medium Eleanor Wilde is happy to investigate and cleanse your home of spectral presences—for a fee. Hey, it’s a living . . . Ellie has an ailing sister to care for, and working as a ghost hunter who doesn’t believe in ghosts helps cover the bills for both of them. When she’s lucky, it also pays for the occasional tropical vacation. Her brother doesn’t exactly approve, but Ellie figures she’s providing a service. On her latest job, though, she may be in for some genuine scares. The skeptical, reserved, and very rich Nicholas Hartford III has flown her all the way to his family’s ancestral estate in England—supposedly haunted by a phantom named Xavier. Nicholas thinks it’s all just as much a crock as Ellie’s business is, but the fact remains that something is causing the flashes of light, mysterious accidents, and other apparent pranks in the chilly, eerie castle. His mother is sure that Xavier is real, and he’s willing to employ Ellie if she can get to the bottom of it and put a stop to the nonsense. While the food and accommodations are somewhat disappointing (dorm-room furniture? Really?), Ellie is finding it an adventure to get to know this eccentric family and their houseguests, and to poke around in the nearby village for clues. But when an actual dead body appears—and subsequently disappears—at Castle Hartford, she’ll have to apply her talent for trickery and psychological insight to solve a flesh-and-blood murder.

Anatomy of a Seance
Anatomy of a Seance

Author: Stan McMullin

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2004-03-19

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0773571973

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MacKenzie King did it, so did Susanna Moody. In fact, many Canadians consulted the spirits as part of a religious experience, to seek guidance for themselves and others, and to attempt to learn what lies beyond the grave. Some came to the seance room to hear ancient wisdom while others came to understand the nature of psychic phenomena. Like the mechanisms that produced the flashing lights, cool breezes, and whirling trumpets that materialized in the presence of the medium, their beliefs and experiences have been mostly hidden, until now. In this first full-length study of Canadian spirit communication, Stan McMullin has drawn upon seance notes, letters, diaries, and special collections to create a fascinating picture of how educated people were drawn to spiritualism and psychic research. Anatomy of a Seance shows that for many Canadians attempting to sort out their religious beliefs and find an acceptable marriage between religion and science the seance room provided an alternative to formal religious dogma. Despite the opposition of mainline churches, spiritualism offered the possibility of a "scientific" religion that could prove the existence of heaven.

Holding a Seance by Myself
Holding a Seance by Myself

Author: Thomas Townsley

Publisher:

Published: 2020-09-15

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 9781636256481

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Poetry. "Townsley has a restless imagination--he conjures ghosts from the past, and out of fragmented memories he melds animal fables, parables, liturgies, dream visions, political debates, and a seance or two."--Ron Block "Reading him is a 'dark pleasure.'"--Brooks Haxton

The Last Seance
The Last Seance

Author: Agatha Christie

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0062959158

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“Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.”—Tana French, New York Times Bestselling Author From the Queen of Suspense, an all-new collection of her spookiest and most sinister stories, including an Agatha Christie story never before published in the USA, The Wife of Kenite! For lovers of the supernatural and the macabre comes this collection of ghostly and chilling stories from legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. Fantastic psychic visions, specters looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, a man who switches bodies with a cat—be sure to keep the light on whilst reading these tales. The Last Séance gathers twenty stories, some featuring Christie’s beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, in one haunting compendium that explores all things occult and paranormal, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.