Séance
A séance is a method whereby people attempt to communicate with spirits. The word séance comes from the French word for 'session', 'meeting', from Old French seoir, 'to sit.'
In English, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people to receive spiritualistic messages (a sense first recorded in English in 1845).
Contact
Contact with a spirit during a séance may occur in various ways. Direct contact is possible and perception can be through any of the senses with smell being the most common, followed by touch (possibly a cold spot may be percieved), auditory and finally visual being the rarest. Indirect contact in the form of a dream, a candle buring blue or an agitated animal is also possible.
Conditions
Séances are believed to be more effective under certain conditions. These include holding them at night when the spirts are more visible or an ambiance with moving water–a stream or rain. Also in occult lore, the moon excerts a powerful influence on the dead.
It is thought that strong emotions such as anger or terror can attract spirits. Other attractants include fresh blood (menstrual blood is said to draw demons not spirits), quartz or the presence of spiritually sensitive people–especially women and children. Spirts can be repelled to especially by iron and steel.
Proceedure
The traditional technique is from ancient Greece, with some later additions from a Christian influence. Four people–or six or more–sit around a wooden table. Séances with five people are avoided since Christ was crucified with five wounds, and five–symbolized by the pentacle (the five-pointed star) is thought to draw sinister forces.
A clear glass bowl filled with olive oil is placed at the center of the table with a drop of blood. To enhance the chances of attracting a spirit the bowl is surrounded by object placed at the comppas points. Two candles are positioned on the north and south sides of the bowl. A bible opened to 1 Samuel, chapter 28 (the text details a communication with a spirit) is positioned on the west side with a single piece of quartz on the pages. On the east side is a lily flower. Outside the circle are bell (this drives away spirits), a steel knife (steel, especially with an edge, repels spirits), and some rock salt (Salt thrown into a fire drives away spirits, including demons). These latter objects are regarded as tools for defense against undesired spirits. Those participating in a séance place their hands flat on the table, with the little fingers of each hand touching the hands of the people on either side. During the séance, the participants focus on the bowl at the center of the table. Michel de Nostredame, the famous seer who was also called Nostradamus, sometimes used a bowl of water and this inspired the use of a crystal ball in the eighteenth century.
During the séance, the participants do not speak except for the medium. The circle of hands is maintained throughout and the participants focus on the central bowl. When the medium is finished the bible is closed and the candles extinguished. The following day a bell is rung throughout the house to remove spirts that remain.