What is spiritism and how dangerous is it. What is spiritualism: the practice of a ritual with a saucer What questions can be asked at a seance
Call sessions souls of the dead carried out by a group of people. They need to join hands, thus forming a magic circle, concentrating all their attention on what is happening. It is worth knowing that the consequences can be the most unpredictable, therefore, you should be extremely careful.
Seance Rules:
The session should be held from midnight to 4 am - at this time the ghosts are most active.
During the session, the electric light should not be turned on, prepare candles. An ordinary fireplace can also be used to illuminate the room. Also, turn off all electrical appliances: mobile phones, TV, computer and so on.
There should not be any jewelry or metal objects on the body.
Spiritistic sessions can be held no more than once a week, only one spirit can be called in one session.
It is strictly forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages before the session.
Ouija board for summoning spirits
This board is familiar to most of us. All the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and the words "yes" and "no" are applied to it. In the people this board is also called "Talking Board". You can buy a Ouija board online or make your own. It can be made from any type of wood, but most importantly, the questionnaire must be made from the same species. The questionnaire itself should be shaped like an arrow, with a hole in the middle.
How to conduct a seance?
Create a magic circle, light the candles, warm the questionnaire on a saucer and place it in the very center of the circle. Each participant in the session should touch the saucer with his finger and say: “Spirit“ name ”, come!”
If the saucer began to move, then the spirit appeared. Ask him if he wants to talk to you. The saucer itself will move to the "yes" or "no" section. If the dead has a desire to talk, go on. It is possible that in the first minutes meaningless combinations of letters will be obtained, but after a while the movements will definitely slow down and become understandable. When conducting a seance, try to be tactful. Do not ask the spirit about the causes of his death, where he now lives and whether he is well. The spirit may get offended and never contact you again.
After the conversation is over, be sure to thank the dead for the communication. Hit the table three times, this will mean that you thank him for his communication and let him go.
If the spirit did not appear?
The most important thing is patience. Try again and again. It is possible that one of the participants in the seance is unpleasant to the spirit. Try to find out who it is. Selecting a team for a session is not an easy task. At least one participant must have a strong energy. And most importantly, each participant must take what is happening seriously.
What you need to know about spiritualism in general
In the course of a spiritualistic séance, the contactee faces a formidable danger - the loss of control over his own body. It may begin with the spiritualist's hands being completely at the mercy of the spirits. The method of "automatic writing", "automatic drawing", "automatic speech" is very popular among spiritualists, but its amateur use is at least undesirable. The spirits do not let the contactee go without a fight: this should be remembered.
The alphabetic circle - the main device in spiritualism - is a kind of mirror, which reflects the personality of the contactee with all its advantages and disadvantages.
The human body is capable of self-regulation. Fatigue, absent-mindedness, a feeling of loss of strength after a spiritualistic session indicates that the contactee needs to interrupt his operations for a while and think about both restoring mental strength and more effective protection. After a properly conducted spiritualistic seance, calmness, lightness, the joy of victory and other purely positive emotions should be felt. The dark veil between consciousness and subconsciousness practically disappears, giving the psyche huge resources for successful activity. However, the subconscious is several orders of magnitude more “efficient” than consciousness, and excessive enthusiasm can lead to the exhaustion of the psyche of even the most successful spirit contactee. But excessive enthusiasm in spiritualism is akin to obsession - a state in which a person completely ceases to control his actions and deeds. “Give freedom to the subconscious, but know how to keep it in check!” - professional spiritualists advise, and one cannot but agree with them.
When conducting a seance, remember that the called spirit (image) is not able to extract from its “memory” more than what contains the total life (conscious and subconscious) experience of all participants in the seance. It was this feature of spiritism that caused the greatest criticism of materialistic scientists: they say that spiritists do not evoke spirits, but their own subconscious memories. Such a point of view should not be disputed: in any case, at a properly organized spiritualistic session, you will receive answers to all your questions.
It can be said without exaggeration that the medium is the main character in a seance. Choosing a medium is not easy. Spiritualists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries often turned to well-known foreign mediums, inviting them to take part in seances. Today, choosing a medium is just as difficult. If your group is already formed, it makes sense to try all the participants in turn as a medium. O right choice will testify to the effectiveness of the seance. And vice versa, the inconsistency of the answers, their inconsistency indicate that the session is organized incorrectly. You can increase the effectiveness of communication by seating the participants in a session in a different order, that is, experimentally. Participants in a seance are not only those who sit at the table and directly participate in communication with the spirit, but also those who are simply present in the room.
When the circle of participants in the spiritualistic seance is determined and a medium is selected, you can proceed to the next stage of work.
Spirits can make themselves felt in several ways: various sounds (knocking, creaking), the movement of objects, as well as the direct appearance in the form of a ghostly shimmering cloud. We note right away that novice spiritualists should not seek the direct appearance of the spirit - this is not safe.
During a seance, one can form a "spirit of the circle", embodying the moods, thoughts, feelings of all those present. The answers of the spirit in this case will be addressed not to an individual person, but to the entire circle of participants in a spiritualistic session.
The picture shows a spiritist circle that you can make yourself.
The words YES and NO can be included - above and below - in a digital circle.
In the gap between the alphabetic and digital circles - on the right and on the left - you can draw a question mark and an exclamation mark.
In the middle of the circle, it is necessary to depict a noticeable point that will help to concentrate the attention of the participants in the session. The material for the circle can be ordinary thick paper.
In the amateur practice of spiritualism (mainly in Russian), it was customary to depict various additional symbols, such as "love", "death", "separation", etc. Such symbols are not needed, they only make it difficult to interpret the answers.
The circle during the session must be firmly fixed on the table.
Now let's choose an object that will act as a pointer. Traditionally, this is a porcelain saucer. It is worth choosing a non-heavy saucer that will glide well along the spiritualistic circle. As a rule, a noticeable stripe-pointer is drawn on the outside of it.
Proper conduct of a séance
The session time must be correct. The subconscious is most liberated in the evening and at night. However, experience has shown that daily sessions can also be quite effective.
There are days on which it is not worth holding seances. As a rule, the spirits themselves are asked about this, and they, as an interested party, report whether the time is right for the session.
Before the start of the session, participants must remove all metal from themselves: watches, rings, rings, brooches, chains, pendants, etc. The window should be opened. If the session is held in the evening or at night, candles should be used for lighting. They are needed not for spirits, but for the participants in the session themselves: their light has a hypnotic and calming effect.
It is recommended to talk quietly during a seance, preferably in a whisper.
Before the session begins, write down questions that you would like to hear answered.
Only the medium communicates with the spirit. He is also in charge of his challenge. None of the other participants should influence the work of the medium in any way. Accepts answers, and also brings them into a readable form also by the medium.
The ability to make subconscious contacts varies from person to person. Therefore, not all session participants can drive a saucer. Before starting the session, you need to stretch your fingers, rub your palms. For those who are not confident in themselves, it is better to simply put their hands on the table, but do not bring them closer to the saucer.
You need to choose someone who will write down the answers of the spirit. This person will not come into contact with the spirits.
Please note that it is the preparation for the session that creates a special emotional atmosphere, disinhibits the subconscious sphere of the participants, and prepares them to receive astral information. The closer the séance participants come to the state of meditation, the better.
At the beginning of the session, the medium heats the saucer over the candle flame. Then he sets it in the middle of the image on its side (at an angle of about 45 degrees) and says:
Spirit of such and such (or such and such), please come to us!
This spell must be repeated three times.
Let's make a reservation right away that the challenge of the spirit of Napoleon Bonaparte, popular in its time, looks, to put it mildly, archaic at the beginning of the 21st century.
After pronouncing the challenge, the medium places the saucer in the center of the spiritualist circle. Thus, he covers the spirit that came to the call. Now the rest of the participants in the session carefully touch the edge of the saucer with the fingertips of one or both hands.
The medium must ascertain the presence of the invited spirit: here the saucer must begin to move. There are three options for the behavior of the saucer.
The saucer remains completely still. Participants need to slightly press on the saucer, as if pushing it. As a rule, the direction of this movement, dictated by the astral body, is rarely erroneous. Then the saucer moves of its own accord.
The saucer makes sharp chaotic movements. Participants must hold it. The reason for this behavior of the saucer may be an excess of participants. Are you cramped at the table? Have some of the participants try to remove their hands from the saucer. You can not remove the fingers of all participants in the session - this usually leads to a loss of contact with the invited spirit.
If the answer is yes and the spirit is in contact with the spiritualist group (the answer is "yes" - the saucer turns with a risk to the answer "yes" in the center of the circle), then the medium asks the following question:
Spirit of such and such (or such and such), are you ready to communicate with us?
Usually the spirit answers that it is ready - it is interested in the continuation of its existence, that is, in communication with spiritualists. Having received a negative answer, the medium should end the session as soon as possible. Continuation of the session with a negative answer is highly undesirable. If communication with this spirit is extremely necessary, you can try to ask why he refuses to speak, and still continue communication. But this is only as a last resort.
In order to verify the correctness of magical operations, the spirit is asked to introduce himself. The name must match the name of the spirit you wish to question.
Saucer in response to question asked must walk in a circle, pointing at risk to certain letters. The sequence of these letters is the answer of the spirit to the question of the session participants. Sometimes it happens that the saucer cannot immediately orient itself in a circle, and you need to give it time to “calm down”. The better the spirit orients itself in the symbolism of the circle, the clearer its answers will be. Remember: the answers of the first spirit will be the most detailed and valuable.
The spirit caused by the different composition of the participants will give different answers. This is important to know for lovers of accuracy. Unfortunately, this quality is only to a small extent inherent in the inhabitants of the astral world. However, it is very difficult for spirits to fit their answers into the framework of human language, limited by the rules of vocabulary and grammar.
Take care of the medium! Help him! For the duration of the session, he renounces himself, becoming an instrument in the hands of the forces of the astral world!
The spirit does not always “speak” the whole phrase. The medium must guess the end of the phrase begun by the spirit. Otherwise, the spirit interrupts the "speech" and the risk on the saucer turns to "no". In this case, you need to start recording the answer again.
The inhabitants of the astral world do not tolerate rudeness. Be tactful! Those who are patient and polite get much more information than those who are rude and hasty.
Questions addressed to the spirit must be formulated with the utmost precision. It is best if each of them can be answered "yes" or "no". By building a chain of such questions, you can get virtually any information that interests you. Don't rush to interpret the answers! In order to understand them, in some cases you need to wait at least a few days. Records of the spirit's responses must be kept very carefully.
The creation of the spirit takes place not only at the beginning of the session, but also during its continuation. The spirit must be tamed by the participants, and only in this case you will be able to get enough information.
Fear is what often interferes with participants in a seance. We have already said that spirits, by definition, are much weaker than humans and are less perfect beings. So fear at a seance is simply meaningless: the spirit is not able to physically influence a person.
It is possible that the spirit you invited simply does not have the information you need. Then it would be quite correct to ask which of the other spirits should be disturbed in order to resolve the issues that have arisen. Know how to expose an incompetent spirit that is trying to lie to you! With especially "touchy" spirits, show special tact.
When the answers to the prepared questions have been exhausted, it is time to end the séance. The medium should very politely thank the spirit for the help and say goodbye to him. All other participants in the session should say words of gratitude and farewell to themselves. The speech formula pronounced by the medium may be as follows:
The spirit of such and such (such and such)! We are grateful for your help. Goodbye! (Or "Goodbye!" if it was supposed to be a one-time use of a certain spirit.)
Then the medium must turn the saucer upside down, thus releasing the spirit to freedom.
Communication with spirits for beginners should be short. You should not communicate with the spirit for more than an hour (and more than 4-5 hours a week). You cannot summon more than two spirits on the same day. Before a seance, one should not drink alcohol and drugs, as well as take a lot of food. After the session, be sure to eat to make up for the loss of energy. Will be useful and physical exercise within 10-15 minutes. A spiritual contactee should sleep at least 8-9 hours a day, spend more time in the fresh air.
We live in a society of rigidly imposed behavior and way of thinking. Therefore, the sensations that arise after the session can cause some discomfort in the spiritualist. We are talking about a sharp increase in intuition, improvement of logical and creative abilities. That which was inhibited by upbringing, training, turns out to be activated through spiritualism.
Often novice spiritualists ask the question: “Is, say, the spirit of Golda Meir able to understand the Russian language and adequately answer the questions of a medium?” It is easy to answer this question. Spirits do not speak any of the human languages and at the same time understand equally well the questions asked in both Swahili and modern international language- English. Asking a question to a “foreign language” spirit, you will get a completely adequate answer, except that the saucer will spend a little more time orienting in the alphabet circle.
A seance at home is a practice of invoking the spirits of the other world, especially popular in the middle of the 19th century. Its popularity has not waned to this day. The external simplicity of this ritual and its external effectiveness gained great popularity among the youth.
However, a séance is not as simple, and certainly not as safe as it is said to be.
I think each of you has an idea of who spirits are, what they are and where they come from. These are the entities of another world, carrying information in themselves, and also, if they are demonic entities, a terrible ancient power and thirst. As a rule, the call of the medium is an energy hunter.
Before you figure out how to conduct a seance, you need to remember and understand the main thing: you can call the spirits of the other world for contact only with a pure heart and good intentions. Only this will take away serious dangers from you. I think many of you will have to work on yourself.
How to conduct a real seance on your own.
A spiritualistic seance can be held both by a group of people who, holding hands, form a magic circle, concentrating energy in it, or alone. However, you will have to be well prepared for this. Firstly, it is forbidden to drink alcohol before the session and eat a lot, especially fatty and spicy foods. It is better to endure a short fast, not eating food for several days, doing only water - this will cleanse your energy. Secondly, you can engage in spiritualism for no more than one hour a day, and during the session you can call no more than three spirits.
To conduct a seance, you will need some tools.
Magic circle. The circle is best divided into 32 sectors. In this case, one of the letters of the alphabet - "e" or "b" - has to be taken out of the general circle, which does not have of great importance. Inside the alphabetic circle, a second, somewhat smaller diameter, digital circle is drawn, with numbers from 0 to 9, also located around the entire circle. In the same circle, the words “YES” and “NO” are written in large letters. For divination, you need a saucer. It should be small, light, best of all porcelain, gliding well on paper. On the outside of the saucer, draw an arrow-pointer, point down.
You need to do such an action when conducting a seance at home
Put the magic circle on the table, light the candles, heat a saucer over the flame of the candle and place it in the center of the magic circle. All participants in a seance at home should touch the saucer with their fingertips, saying: “Spirit (here the name of the spirit is called), come!” Soon you will feel that the saucer has begun to move. This indicates the appearance of the spirit. Greet him and ask if he wants to communicate, if he will answer questions. If you received an affirmative answer, then you can ask further.
Communicating with spirits during a free spiritualistic session, you must be delicate, tactful. Spirits do not like questions about death, where they are now and how they live. Therefore, these questions are taboo for the medium. Do not keep the spirit close to you for too long, otherwise you may not have enough energy to keep the passage between the worlds open. Otherwise, you will have to bear the responsibility for the fact that the "door" slammed shut, and the spirit cannot leave the world of people. From here, by the way, comes the phenomenon of poltergeist - "noisy spirit". This is a kind of revenge for the impossibility of return.
After holding a spiritualistic session at home, thank the spirit for communication, say goodbye to him, turn the saucer over and gently knock it on the table three times, as a sign that you are releasing the spirit.
It is theoretically possible to conduct a séance alone, but I do not recommend it simply because the effect will be weak. And in some, especially dangerous cases, simply no one will help you. The optimal group of people, the presence of observers is also welcome. The time of the greatest activity of the spirits is from midnight to 4 o'clock in the morning. The full moon is also an advantage, as full moon activates both the activity of spirits and the abilities of mediums.
How to conduct a seance at home alone?
A seance at home takes place in a semi-dark room, by candlelight. Traditionally, a door or window is left ajar. It is believed that in this way the spirit enters the room. The participants in the séance are seated in different sides table, a spiritualist circle is placed in the middle. The saucer is slightly heated over the flame of the candle and placed in the center of the spiritualistic circle. All participants in the session lightly touch the saucer with their fingers, but without pressing, while the fingers of one participant should touch the fingers of the other, as if closing the circle. The formula of the call is pronounced: “Spirit, come!”. You will understand the appearance of the spirit by the behavior of the saucer, it will begin to turn, it may even rise slightly above the table. But that's not all. The appearance of the spirit is accompanied by specific sensations that are difficult to describe. Now you can ask questions. This is done by the leader of the seance at home. You should start with such questions: is the spirit here, is he the one who was called, does he agree to answer questions ?,
Spirits are capricious, you should not count on being told the truth. You can test the spirit, but it is not safe, especially if the demon has appeared. You should not ask questions concerning the afterlife, the details of the life of the spirit on the other side of reality, since an aggressive reaction of the spirit is likely. At the end of the spiritual session of the session, thank the spirit, turn the saucer over, knocking it on the table three times. Tell the spirit that you are letting it go. A seance can be carried out not only using a saucer, but also a needle, as well as a pendulum. The principle of operation is the same as with a saucer.
I categorically do not approve of self-employment in spiritism. While doing magic, I know what forces are involved in the work. These are dark forces, and they cannot be disturbed just like that, especially by unprepared people. The emergence of weakness at the end of the session is the smallest nuisance that awaits you. Mental disorders, the occurrence of serious problems with physical health, and in some cases death are very common consequences of this kind of "entertainment", and the value of the information received is negligible. It is especially difficult for an unprepared medium.
Spiritualism(from Latin spiritus - “soul, spirit”) is a way of communication (communication) with the souls of the dead and aliens from the other world, who can make contact with the living through special persons - mediums. Spirits come into contact with people through various visible physical phenomena, giving answers to their questions by lifting tables, various knocks, automatic writing of the medium, etc.
The term "spiritualism" was introduced in the middle of the 19th century by the French researcher of mental phenomena Allan Kardec, the founder of this philosophical and religious doctrine.
Allan Kardec
Allan Kardec began to study the paranormal phenomena that occurred at séances in 1850. With the help of his friend's daughters, who acted as mediums, he learned about his "mission", which was to convey to mankind, as he claimed, some "new ideas about the structure of the world and life in it." Kardec, believing in his own “chosenness”, undertook to form his own “holy scripture” through spiritualistic dialogues, asking questions to the “spirits” and writing down the answers. The latter were formulated by knocks or claps (with the help of a conditional code) or letter by letter, on a planchette. He outlined the main provisions of his new doctrine in The Book of Spirits (1856), followed by The Book of Mediums (1861), The Gospel in the Interpretation of Spirits (1864) and others.
Kardec's spiritualism was popular in the highest spheres of French society. Arthur Conan Doyle in his History of Spiritualism wrote , that Emperor Napoleon III was fond of spiritualism and repeatedly invited Kardec to the Tuileries, where he had a long conversation with him, discussing the "Book of Spirits".
The history of communication with spirits goes back centuries. There are references that even the ancient Greeks and Romans practiced summoning spirits. The ancient Greeks constantly asked the dead for advice, for which there was a special class of necromancers. Even the great sage Socrates communicated with the "mysterious genius" and believed his messages. In general, communication with the Spirits of dead ancestors existed among all peoples. Special people were engaged in this - healers, sorcerers, shamans. Spirits at that time were, as it were, "guardian angels" and protectors of people. They were approached for advice, help, they helped in the treatment, in the fight against the elements and enemies. At that time, the spirit world was an extension real life and fulfilled the duties assigned to him by God - to help people.
The history of the emergence of spiritualism
The harbingers of spiritualism were an unexpected outbreak poltergeist (from German poltern - "make noise", "knock" and Geist - "spirit") in the house of the English doctor and priest John Pordage (1607-1681). This highly educated man for that time led the Protestant association of the Friends of God, later known as the Philadelphia Society. One night, terrible things happened in his house: he saw a black silhouette with a huge, uprooted tree on his shoulder and a sword in his hand, then a creature appeared in the form of a huge winged dragon half the room. Pordage entered into a fight with these unknown entities, which brought him to a faint. His wife was also a witness to these battles.
After what happened, he told everything to his like-minded people, after some time they began to see images from the "life of hell and paradise." Such devilry was going on in his house that it caused not only mental harm to people's health, but also physical: a disgusting stench, fumes emanating from ghosts, the inhabitants of the house had pains in the body, many became seriously ill. According to Pordage, the "devils" imprinted on the glass of the windows and on the tiles the same unusual figures that all the inhabitants of the house saw. The drawings turned out to be indelible, they could only be removed with a chisel and a hammer. It lasted for a whole month, then the devilish manifestations disappeared.
It was, so to speak, only the very beginning, when so often the spirits began to disturb our world.
But modern spiritualism appeared only in the middle of the XIX century . It began to be counted from March 1848, when a certain John Fox rented a house in Hydesville, New York, where strange knocks began to appear that no one could explain. The head of the family was a farmer and a zealous Methodist (one of the religions of that time), his religious beliefs were shared by his wife and six children, but by that time only the youngest lived with their parents - 12-year-old Margaret and 9-year-old Kate.
In March 1848, teenage girls began to communicate with the spirit that lived in their house. First, they asked him to repeat the knocks that the girls themselves made, then they began to ask questions, agreeing that the spirit would answer in the affirmative with one knock, i.e. The questions were asked in such a way that the answer could be either yes or no. It soon became clear that the spirit not only hears, but also sees, and also knows a lot. 12-year-old Margaret invented a whole alphabet that allowed knocking to get answers to her questions: “yes” or “no”. Using it, she learned that the mysterious entity was the spirit of a robbed and murdered traveling merchant. As a result of the excavations, a fragment of bone with several hairs was found (a local doctor claimed that the find was a fragment of a human skull). In 1904 (after both sisters had already died), an event occurred which, as many believed, confirmed the truth of their testimony. In the collapsed wall of the basement, the corpse of a man who was once immured here was found, who, by all indications, was the disappeared merchant.
The Fox Sisters: Lee, Margaret and Kate
After moving to Rochester, New York, the Fox sisters (Lee, Margaret and Kate) began to give public sessions. As early as 1849 they had become nationally famous, and even the later confession of one of them that all their séances were fraudulent did not shake the faith of many adherents of Spiritualism. After the incident in Hydesville became public, people who had not dared to do so began to talk about their experience with spirits.
By 1850, a wave of séances swept the United States, and soon the whole world.In the countries of America, Europe, Russia, a huge number of spiritualist societies appeared. Newspapers, magazines began to be published, one after another books were published, the authors of which were the most famous people of that time - scientists, writers, public figures and even politicians. Serious people accepted the new teaching as a boon, and since then it has not only not weakened, but has spread with incredible speed; within 3-4 years it attracted to its side in all parts of the world an innumerable number of adherents, especially enlightened people, whose number grew in an extraordinary progression.
Spiritualism gained particular popularity among the intelligentsia. It is curious that many of them did not believe in the existence of God, but recognized the mysterious power of mediums.
In Russia, the first séances were organized in the early 1970s by the famous medium Hume. Among the first adherents of spiritualism were the Decembrist F. N. Glinka and the compiler of “ explanatory dictionary living Great Russian language” V. I. Dal. It is known that Dostoevsky and Leskov took part in the sessions. In the mid-70s, ardent supporters of spiritualism A. N. Aksakov, the famous chemist Professor A. M. Butlerov, and the professor of St. Petersburg University, the zoologist N. P. Wagner, organized a circle of spiritualists. It was at their invitation that famous Western European mediums began to come to Russia. When the medium Bredif arrived in St. Petersburg in 1874, his experiments attracted general attention.
Spiritualistic experiments have become the topic of the day. Then Professor Dmitry Mendeleev turned to the Physical Society at St. Petersburg University with a proposal to form a commission to study spiritual phenomena. “The time has come,” he said in his note, to pay attention to the spread of spiritualistic studies in family circles and among some scientists. Classes in table-turning, talking with invisible beings with the help of knocks, calling human figures through mediums, threaten the spread of mysticism, which can tear many away from a sound view of objects and strengthen superstition, because a hypothesis has developed about spirits that supposedly produce the aforementioned phenomena. Mendeleev's proposal was accepted. A committee of 12 people was formed. The commission compiled a detailed report on its research and the results achieved and published it in the Golos newspaper. The conclusion of the report was that spiritualism is a superstition. The activities of the commission apparently had an impact on Russian society. The enthusiasm for spiritualistic phenomena gradually began to weaken, and spiritualistic experiments were abandoned.
However, séances continued to be held in private apartments for a long time. So, in a house in London, seances were often held, to which friends and high-ranking dignitaries were invited. During séances, the Roerichs evoked "the souls of dead people", and after joining the Theosophical Society founded by H.P. Blavatsky, they tried to establish contact with the Teachers (Mahatmas). Helena Roerich claimed that thanks to her and her husband's communication with the "Great Teacher" (Mahatma Moriah), arose.
Seances
The main practice of spiritism is in collective seances, the purpose of which is to call the spirits of dead people and communicate with them. The simplicity of the ritual and the effectiveness of the result have brought seances to great popularity among young people who are interested in the unknown. However, the seance is not as simple as "knowledgeable people" usually tell about it.
Usually, séances (also called table-turning ) take place at night in a room where there are no icons, because it is believed that the time of the greatest activity of spirits is from midnight to 4 o'clock in the morning. A seance is usually conducted by several people, one of whom is the leader (possessing mediumistic abilities). Holding hands, people form a magic circle, concentrating in it the energy necessary for the spirit subtle world. To communicate with spirits, a round table, a spirit board (Ouija board) and a porcelain or faience saucer without chips or other flaws are used. Further, those gathered call on the essence of the subtle world, calling its name, and say: “Spirit, come!”. A saucer with an arrow travels and points to the letters that make up the text.
spiritist circle
Spirits manifest themselves by the movement of objects, voice, knocking, or even appear as ghosts. Practitioners of Spiritualism disagree on many points about the nature of the spirits invoked. In any case, their awareness of the details of the lives of those they claim to be leaves much to be desired. Spirits at the sessions are capricious, black humor and inconstancy in answers. It has been established that the spirit best answers those questions, the answers to which are known to at least one of the participants in the seance. The spirits have not yet reported a single hitherto unknown fact about the life of great people. From the point of view of classical esotericism, spiritists do not communicate with the souls of dead people, but with larvae and other entities - the inhabitants of the lower astral. Accordingly, all the information available to them is information owned by the participants in the séance. Spirits draw strength to demonstrate their abilities from mediums. That is why the medium spends per session a large number of personal energy. Frequent practices of this kind cause serious harm to both physical and mental health.
Let's bring a story from the book of Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) "Unholy Saints" about how he himself, while still studying at VGIK, participated in a seance.
“The history of foreign art was taught by Paola Dmitrievna Volkova. She read very interestingly, but for some reason, perhaps because she herself was a searching person, she told us a lot about her personal spiritual and mystical experiments. For example, she devoted a lecture or two to the ancient Chinese book divination "I-Ching". Paola even brought sandalwood and bamboo sticks into the classroom and taught us how to use them to see into the future.
One of the classes concerned many years of research on spiritualism by the great Russian scientists D. I. Mendeleev and V. I. Vernadsky, known only to narrow specialists. And although Paola honestly warned that the enthusiasm for this kind of experiments is fraught with the most unpredictable consequences, we, with all youthful curiosity, rushed into these mysterious, exciting realms.
I will not delve into the description of the techniques that we subtracted from the scientific treatises of Mendeleev and learned from the staff of the Vernadsky Museum in Moscow. Having applied some of them in experience, we found that we can establish a special connection with some incomprehensible to us, but completely real beings. These new mysterious acquaintances, with whom we began to have long nightly conversations, presented themselves in different ways. Either Napoleon, or Socrates, or the recently deceased grandmother of one of our friends. These characters sometimes told unusually interesting things. And, to our immense surprise, they knew the ins and outs of each of those present. For example, we could be curious with whom our classmate, the future famous director Alexander Rogozhkin, is secretly walking until late at night?
And immediately received the answer: "With sophomore Katya." Sasha flared up, got angry, and it was quite clear that the answer hit the nail on the head.
But there were "revelations" even more amazing. Once, during a break between lectures, one of my friends, who was especially fond of these experiments, with eyes red from sleepless nights, rushed to one or another classmate and asked in a terrible whisper who Mikhail Gorbachev was. I, like the rest, had never heard of a man with that last name. The friend explained: “Tonight we asked “Stalin” who will rule our country. He answered that some kind of Gorbachev. What kind of type, we need to find out!”
Three months later, we were taken aback by the news, which we would not have paid any attention to before: Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, the former first secretary of the Stavropol Territory Party Committee, was elected a candidate member of the Politburo.
But the further we got carried away with these exciting experiments, the more clearly we felt that something disturbing and strange was happening to us. For no reason, we were more and more seized by an inexplicable longing and a gloomy hopelessness. Everything fell out of hand. An inexorable despair seized us. This state grew from month to month, until at last we began to guess that it was somehow connected with our nightly "interlocutors". In addition, from the Bible, which I never returned to the Baptist, it suddenly became clear that such activities are not only not approved, but, as it says, are cursed by God.
But still, we did not yet realize that we were faced with merciless and improbably sinister forces that invaded our cheerful, carefree life, from which none of us had any protection.
Once I stayed overnight with friends in a hostel. My classmate Ivan Loshchilin and a student from the director's course Sasha Olkov sat down to their mystical experiments. By that time, we had already sworn several times to give up all this, but we could not help ourselves: communication with the mysterious spheres attracted us like a drug.
This time my friends resumed their interrupted conversation the day before with the "spirit of Gogol." This character always spoke exclusively figuratively, in the language of the beginning of the 19th century. But today, for some reason, he did not answer our questions. He complained. He moaned, lamented, breaking his heart. He told how unbearably hard it was for him. And most importantly, he asked for help.
"But what's happening to you?" my friends wondered.
- Help me! Horror, horror! .. - conjured a mysterious creature. - Oh, how unbearably hard! I beg you, help!
We all sincerely loved Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and just as sincerely thought that we were talking with him.
But what can we do for you? we asked, wishing from the bottom of our hearts to help the writer we loved so much.
— Help! Please don't leave! Terrible fire, brimstone, suffering... Oh, this is unbearable, help...
- But how? How can we help you?!
"Do you really want to save me?" You are ready?
Yes, yes, ready! We warmly responded. “But what should we do? After all, you are in a different world.
The spirit hesitated and answered cautiously:
- Good young men! If you really are ready to take pity on the sufferer...
- Certainly! Just tell me how?
- Oh, if so! .. Then I ... Then I would give you ... poison ...
When the meaning of these words reached us, we were petrified. And looking up at each other, even with the dim flame of a candle cinder, they saw that our faces had become white as chalk. We knocked over our chairs and stormed out of the room.
Coming to my senses, I said:
- Everything is correct. To help him, we must first become like him. That is... to die!
“And I understand everything,” Sasha Olkov said, chattering his teeth in horror.
“He wants us to…commit suicide.”
“I even think that I’ll go back to the room now and see some pill on the table,” Ivan Loshchilin added, green with fear. - And I understand that I definitely need to swallow it. Or you want to throw yourself out the window ... They will force us to do it.
We could not sleep all night, and the next morning we went to the neighboring church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. We no longer knew where to ask for advice and help.
Savior ... This name from frequent use sometimes loses its original meaning even for Christians. But now it was for us the most desirable and most important thing - the Savior. We understood, no matter how fantastic it sounds, that powerful forces unknown to us have declared a hunt for us, and only God can save us from their enslavement.
We were afraid that in the church we would be ridiculed with our "gogols", but the young priest, Father Vladimir Chuvikin, quite seriously confirmed all the worst fears. He explained that we communicated, of course, not with Gogol and not with Socrates, but with real demons, demons. I'll admit it sounded crazy to us. But at the same time, we never doubted for a second that we had heard the truth.
The priest firmly said: such mystical pursuits are a grave sin. He urged those of us who have not been baptized to immediately prepare for the sacrament and be baptized. And the rest come to confession and communion.”
On the dangers of séances
Seances are very dangerous. Under the guise of called "spirits", demons are always (!) (Even the supporters of spiritualism, such scientists as Fekhner, Pergi, Butlerov, and others, recognized the participation of evil spirits in spiritualistic séances.) And such communication is extremely detrimental to a person. At best, there will be a loss of energy, at worst, obsession and madness. This is not clairvoyance at all, nor spiritual sight, and has nothing to do with the third eye. The information received from the spirits is very relative and often false. Although these evil beings can tell the past and present, they are unable to do much more than predict the future. These guesses are often so skillfully presented that they are able to satisfy the questioner and at the same time seem plausible, even if the result is contrary to expectations.
Naive people usually think that dark forces always rude and criminal in their actions and intentions. This is a pernicious delusion. Only the dark forces of small degrees act in this way. Much more dangerous are those who come under the guise of Light and with our formulas on their lips. The Dark Ones always act according to the consciousness of their victims, and they often act very subtly and inventively, playing on the vanity and weak strings of their victims.
It is said that all spiritualists preach morality, and this, of course, can in no way hurt. It must be borne in mind that the devil never directly invites people to sin. He knows that a person will not go for it, so at first he is carried away by supposedly innocent thoughts, he offers something that a sinner will not refuse, even good, just to put the inexperienced to sleep. When a person trusts him, the devil does what he wants, and, moreover, brazenly laughs at him. This is what he does in spiritism.
According to eyewitnesses, if religious people take part in a séance, the spirits at first seem very careful when they mention the Bible, sometimes they advise these people to read the Bible more, pray more, etc. But all this is done in order to eliminate suspicions and fears and to subordinate them more to their influence. Gradually such instructions become rarer, and the student is made to understand that the Bible is good only for the ignorant world; for those who have direct communication with spirits, the Bible is useless, and even worse - it creates an obstacle. A well-known writer has a good saying about spiritualism: "A system that begins with light, innocent, insignificant, and frivolous acts and fellowship, but ends with its followers denying "the Lord who redeemed them" and rejecting God's Word, which lives and abides forever."
Those engaged in spiritualistic contacts often fall into complete dependence on spirits. : they gradually lose the ability to soberly evaluate the information received, begin to believe it without limit, unconditionally follow all commands and instructions. Sometimes this ends in tragedies: murders, suicides, deaths on dates predetermined by the spirit.
A well-known expert in spiritualism V.P. Bykov, himself a former spiritualist, testifies that he knows many cases of mediums committing suicide. It is also known that famous mediums were the most unfortunate people...In 1991, the following case was widely reported in the press: four schoolchildren aged 14 to 16 killed their classmate. They brought her to the river bank, tied her up, mortally wounded her, and collected her blood. Then they drank the blood, and hid the body of the murdered woman. Soon the perpetrators were found. During the investigation, it turned out that they had been practicing seances for a long time: they talked with spirits, asked questions, received answers, getting more and more carried away and imperceptibly falling into complete dependence on the counterparty. After some time, a “man in black” appeared to them at a session, ordering them to kill an Orthodox girl and drink her blood. They were no longer able to disobey the terrible order ...
The attitude of the Church towards spiritualism
The Christian Church refers to spiritualism as grave sin : Everyone who practices spiritualism or divination will go to hell. The very practice of spiritualism can lead a person to demon possession. The most terrible thing is that a person thinks that he is addressing the souls of the dead, but in fact he communicates with demons that can appear to a person in various forms, including human ones.
There are many references and warnings in the Bible on this subject.
What we now call spiritualism was part of the religious cult of paganism and was strictly forbidden among the Jewish people under pain death penalty. Here is what the Scripture says: “And if any soul turns to those who call up the dead and to wizards to go after them fornication, then I will set My face on that soul and cut it off from its people ... Whether a man or a woman, if they call the dead or do magic, yes shall be put to death: they shall be stoned with stones, their blood upon them."(Lev. 20:6,27).
Everyone knows the story of the First Book of Kings about how the sorceress of Endor conjured the shadow of the prophet Samuel for Saul (1 Samuel 28:7-19). Saul then turned to the sorceress when he saw that God had abandoned him. Obviously, only despair prompted him to this, and he himself realized that he was seriously sinning. In the books of Moses, God Himself testifies more than once that the Canaanite tribes were condemned by Him to extermination also for calling the dead, and this occupation is called "abomination."
That spiritualism is of demonic origin is beyond doubt. Saint Theophan the Recluse writes: “Spiritism is downright demonism, not covered by anything. There is a tactile evil force here. Who is acting here can be judged by the phenomena. Yes, they themselves do not hide that they are demons.
Saint Ambrose of Optina wrote about spiritualism: “Spiritualism is nothing but the delusion of the enemy. This teaching is the communication of people with spirits, but, of course, not with the spirits of light, but with the spirits of darkness...”
And this opinion, that it is not the souls of the dead who speak through mediums, but unclean spirits, is in full agreement with the teaching of the ancient Fathers of the Church. During the time of St. John Chrysostom, as well as during the apostolic times ( cm.: Acts. 16:16-18), the mediums were the possessed, who spoke on behalf of the dead. “What does it mean,” Chrysostom asks, “that the demons say: I am the soul of such and such a monk?.. This is the cunning and deception of the devil. In my opinion, it is not the soul of someone who has died that cries out, but the demon hiding under it to seduce the listeners... It is impossible for a soul that has already separated from the body to wander here...»
Conclusion
Spiritualism is attractive to a person, because. gives you the opportunity to feel part of another world.The fashion for table-turning at the end of the 19th century was more connected with psychology: a medium, supposedly evoking the soul of the deceased, helped to endure the bitterness of loss, satisfied vanity and curiosity (who would not want to talk to Pushkin?). Man could not resist the temptation to enter the mystical world from the "back door". Christianity offers the believer the path of humility, warns him against "charm", but spiritualism, on the contrary, widely opens the door to the afterlife for a person, makes him an interlocutor of spirits, the only question is - what kind? Spiritualism does not require from its followers either a moral life or observance of the commandments of God - live as you live, do whatever you like, you are immortal anyway! A very attractive idea for many! Moreover, spiritism owes its popularity to manifest miracles, which no science can explain, nor can it deny.
In the manifestations of spiritualism, we are dealing with a most experienced enemy who does not disdain any means to achieve his goal. His name is the devil, and his goal is to seduce a person through flattery, deceit, forgery, imaginary kindness and holiness, alienate him from God and His Holy Church, subordinate him to his evil will and destroy his immortal soul in eternity.
Material prepared by Sergey Shulyak
Used Books:
1. Archbishop Nikon (Christmas). What is spiritualism // Trinity leaflet No. 94, 1915
2. A. A. Oparin. Spiritualism
3. Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus, I.A. Efron. The concept and history of spiritualism
Most religions agree that there is an afterlife. In this regard, a logical question arises - is it possible to make contact with those who have already died? Various peoples of the world tried to call the spirits. This article contains practical recommendations for beginner mediums.
What to Expect When Calling Spirits
What will happen to a person who decides to hold a seance at home? If everything goes well, then you will be able to get answers to your questions.
Of course, you should not think that you will be able to communicate with Pushkin, Diogenes, Machiavelli or other great people. The spirit does not have to come to your call, it has free will. But you can try to make contact with those who sympathize with you - with dead friends or relatives.
Sometimes it is not possible to establish a connection with the other world. In this case, you simply won't succeed. If the souls of the dead are in no hurry to come to your call, then you can try to reschedule the session the next day.
In the worst case, the spirit will come, but will not be able to return back at the end of the session. Accordingly, he will remain in the house, which does not bode well for the household. They will be pursued by minor troubles, illnesses, all sorts of troubles. Effects characteristic of - disappearance of things, spontaneous combustion of curtains, etc. may appear.
Precautionary measures
It is advisable not to summon dead enemies, even if you want to ask them for forgiveness. A soul that is negatively disposed towards a medium can drain its vitality.
You can not conduct a session in a state of intoxication or under the influence of drugs! Otherwise, you will completely lose control of the situation. If an aggressive astral entity appears instead of a relative or friend, then the medium can become seriously ill.
Address the summoned spirit with respect, as if you were talking to a living person. Do not try to put pressure on your "guest", order him. It is not recommended to repeat the same question several times.
How to conduct a séance
If the call of the spirits is scheduled for the dark time of the day, then it is recommended to carry it out by candlelight. In principle, a bright electric light does not prevent communication with the other world, but it makes it possible for the medium to concentrate. You will need some inventory:
- stable table
- Ouija Board
- Saucer or needle on a thread
- Photo of the person you want to contact (this is not required)
If there is no Ouija board at hand, then you can make it yourself. Draw a circle on a blank piece of paper. On the circle, draw the numbers from 0 to 9 and the letters of the alphabet (in no particular order). Outside the circle, write the phrases "yes", "no", "don't know". An arrow should be drawn on the saucer, which will be used as a pointer.
Now place the saucer in the center of the circle and touch it with the fingertips of your left hand. If several people are involved in calling the spirits, then each of those present should touch the saucer.
Ask a question
Imagine the person with whose spirit you want to make contact. Say three times "Spirit (name) appear!". You will know that the interlocutor has responded to the call by the following signs:
- slight chills
- Air movement in a closed room
- Feeling an invisible presence
- Voluntary phenomena, such as rhythmic tapping
You can ask questions, and if the interlocutor wishes to answer, the saucer will begin to move around the board. Keep track of which letters the arrow on it points to. Instead of a saucer, you can use a needle suspended on a thread. It should be held above the canopy board and observe which letters the needle deviates towards.
When all questions have been exhausted, say goodbye to your "guest" and say three times "Spirit, (name), we let you go, go away!". Now you know how to conduct a seance at home. This technique is recommended to be used no more than once a month and only if the medium is in perfect physical and emotional health.
Detailed instructions for conducting a spiritualistic session will teach you how to summon the spirit correctly and get an answer to your questions.
What you need to know about spiritualism in general
In the course of a spiritualistic séance, the contactee faces a formidable danger - the loss of control over his own body. It may begin with the spiritualist's hands being completely at the mercy of the spirits. The method of "automatic writing", "automatic drawing", "automatic speech" is very popular among spiritualists, but its amateur use is at least undesirable. The spirits do not let the contactee go without a fight: this should be remembered.
alphabet circle- the main device in spiritualism is a kind of mirror, which reflects the personality of the contactee with all its advantages and disadvantages.
The human body is capable of self-regulation. Fatigue, absent-mindedness, a feeling of loss of strength after a spiritualistic session indicates that the contactee needs to interrupt his operations for a while and think about both restoring mental strength and more effective protection. After a properly conducted spiritualistic seance, calmness, lightness, the joy of victory and other purely positive emotions should be felt. The dark veil between consciousness and subconsciousness practically disappears, giving the psyche huge resources for successful activity. However, the subconscious is several orders of magnitude more “efficient” than consciousness, and excessive enthusiasm can lead to the exhaustion of the psyche of even the most successful spirit contactee. But excessive enthusiasm in spiritualism is akin to obsession - a state in which a person completely ceases to control his actions and deeds. “Give freedom to the subconscious, but know how to keep it in check!” - Professional spiritists advise, and one cannot but agree with them.
When conducting a seance, remember that the called spirit (image) is not able to extract from its “memory” more than what contains the total life (conscious and subconscious) experience of all participants in the seance. It was this feature of spiritism that caused the greatest criticism of materialistic scientists: they say that spiritists do not evoke spirits, but their own subconscious memories. Such a point of view should not be disputed: in any case, at a properly organized spiritualistic session, you will receive answers to all your questions.
Without exaggeration, we can say that the medium is the main character in the seance. Choosing a medium is not easy. Spiritualists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries often turned to well-known foreign mediums, inviting them to take part in seances. Today, choosing a medium is just as difficult. If your group is already formed, it makes sense to try all the participants in turn as a medium. The effectiveness of the seance will testify to the correct choice. And vice versa, the inconsistency of the answers, their inconsistency indicate that the session is organized incorrectly. You can increase the effectiveness of communication by seating the participants in a session in a different order, that is, experimentally. Participants in a seance are not only those who sit at the table and directly participate in communication with the spirit, but also those who are simply present in the room.
When the circle of participants in the spiritualistic seance is determined and a medium is selected, you can proceed to the next stage of work.
Spirits can make themselves felt in several ways: various sounds (knocking, creaking), the movement of objects, as well as the direct appearance in the form of a ghostly shimmering cloud. We note right away that novice spiritualists should not seek the direct appearance of the spirit - this is not safe.
During a seance, one can form a "spirit of the circle", embodying the moods, thoughts, feelings of all those present. The answers of the spirit in this case will be addressed not to an individual person, but to the entire circle of participants in a spiritualistic session.
What does a spirit circle look like?
The picture shows a spiritist circle that you can make yourself.
The words YES and NO can be included - above and below - in a digital circle.
In the gap between the alphabetic and numeric circles - on the right and on the left - you can draw a question mark and an exclamation mark.
In the middle of the circle, it is necessary to depict a noticeable point that will help to concentrate the attention of the participants in the session. The material for the circle can be ordinary thick paper.
In the amateur practice of spiritualism (mainly in Russian), it was customary to depict various additional symbols, such as “love”, “death”, “separation”, etc. Such symbols are not needed, they only make it difficult to interpret the answers.
The circle during the session must be firmly fixed on the table.
Now let's choose an object that will act as a pointer. Traditionally, this is a porcelain saucer. It is worth choosing a non-heavy saucer that will glide well along the spiritualistic circle. As a rule, a noticeable stripe-pointer is drawn on the outside of it.
Proper conduct of a séance
The session time must be correct. The subconscious is most liberated in the evening and at night. However, experience has shown that daily sessions can also be quite effective.
There are days on which it is not worth holding seances. As a rule, the spirits themselves are asked about this, and they, as an interested party, report whether the time is right for the session.
Before the start of the session, participants must remove all metal from themselves: watches, rings, rings, brooches, chains, pendants, etc. The window should be opened. If the session is held in the evening or at night, candles should be used for lighting. They are needed not for spirits, but for the participants in the session themselves: their light has a hypnotic and calming effect.
It is recommended to talk quietly during a seance, preferably in a whisper.
Before the session begins, write down questions that you would like to hear answered.
Only the medium communicates with the spirit. He is also in charge of his challenge. None of the other participants should influence the work of the medium in any way. Accepts answers, and also brings them into a readable form also by the medium.
The ability to make subconscious contacts varies from person to person. Therefore, not all session participants can drive a saucer. Before starting the session, you need to stretch your fingers, rub your palms. For those who are not confident in themselves, it is better to simply put their hands on the table, but do not bring them closer to the saucer.
You need to choose someone who will write down the answers of the spirit. This person will not come into contact with the spirits.
Please note that it is the preparation for the session that creates a special emotional atmosphere, disinhibits the subconscious sphere of the participants, and prepares them to receive astral information. The closer the séance participants come to the state of meditation, the better.
At the beginning of the session, the medium heats the saucer over the candle flame. Then he sets it in the middle of the image on its side (at an angle of about 45 degrees) and says:
- The spirit of such and such (or such and such), please come to us!
This spell must be repeated three times.
Let's make a reservation right away that the challenge of the spirit of Napoleon Bonaparte, popular in its time, looks, to put it mildly, archaic at the beginning of the 21st century.
After pronouncing the challenge, the medium places the saucer in the center of the spiritualist circle. Thus, he covers the spirit that came to the call. Now the rest of the participants in the session carefully touch the edge of the saucer with the fingertips of one or both hands.
The medium must ascertain the presence of the invited spirit: here the saucer must begin to move. There are three options for the behavior of the saucer.
The saucer remains completely still. Participants need to slightly press on the saucer, as if pushing it. As a rule, the direction of this movement, dictated by the astral body, is rarely erroneous. Then the saucer moves of its own accord.
The saucer makes sharp chaotic movements. Participants must hold it. The reason for this behavior of the saucer may be an excess of participants. Are you cramped at the table? Have some of the participants try to remove their hands from the saucer. You can not remove the fingers of all participants in the session - this usually leads to a loss of contact with the invited spirit.
If the answer is yes and the spirit is in contact with the spiritist group (the answer is "yes" - the saucer turns with a risk to the answer "yes" in the center of the circle), then the medium asks the following question:
- The spirit of such and such (or such and such), are you ready to communicate with us?
Usually the spirit answers that it is ready - it is interested in the continuation of its existence, that is, in communication with spiritualists. Having received a negative answer, the medium should end the session as soon as possible. Continuation of the session with a negative answer is highly undesirable. If communication with this spirit is extremely necessary, you can try to ask why he refuses to speak, and still continue communication. But this is only as a last resort.
Read the continuation of the article on spiritualism