Physical mediums

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John Jackson © UK-Skeptics

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Physical mediumship is about connecting to the spirit world. The medium channels ethereal energy and focuses it so that it can influence physical objects. The spirits manifest themselves through the medium’s body, often producing ectoplasm as they do so.

Séances are either held in the dark or in a very dim red light. For some reason, spirits are averse to white light or conditions that allow participants in the séance any chance of normal vision.

Many physical manifestations occur. They may be genuine, but of course there may also be more earthly explanations for the phenomena produced. Here we will consider some of these phenomena and give some possible explanations for them:

Ectoplasm:

• Claim:
  
  Ectoplasm is a product of ethereal energy which usually forms as a fog like mist, solid white mass, or as a vortex. It emanates from various orifices of the medium, most commonly the mouth, nose and ears. Ectoplasm can form into rods which can be used to move objects and even levitate people in their chairs.
  
  
• Explanation:
  
  Ectoplasm is the fabric chiffon. Chiffon is highly compressible and can be hidden easily about the medium’s body or introduced to her by her assistant. Mediums can cover themselves with the fabric and hide/reveal themselves from behind a black curtain to make themselves look like a materialisation. Chiffon can also be wrapped around rods and other pieces of equipment which are then used to move things around. The chair levitation is achieved by assistants holding one chair leg each and lifting the chair up.

Voice trumpets:

• Claim.
  
  The spirits do not speak loudly so some form of amplification is required. This is usually in the form of a trumpet which is placed on a table. During the séance the trumpet is often seen to levitate and move around whilst the spirit voice comes through it.
  
  
• Explanation:
  
  The trumpet is often marked with a luminous paint so that the levitation can be seen in the dark. The trumpet simply has a hidden extendable handle which the medium (or assistant) uses to pick it up and wave it around in a way that looks too fast to be produced by someone holding it. The voices are produced by the medium who uses a second smaller trumpet to speak through.
  
  For an account of a medium being caught red-handed see: Tony Youens’ article.

Apportation:

• Claim.
  
  The spirits can make items materialise during the séance ranging from semi-precious stones to peoples’ personal belongings that they may have lost at some other time.
  
  
• Explanation:
  
  Simple apports are just placed there by the medium in the dark. The items are usually worthless and are given as souvenirs to the sitters. Where missing personal items are apported back to their owners, it is a case of the mediums, or their helpers, actually stealing or pick-pocketing these items from their owners and miraculously returning them to their owners via the spirits. This occurrence is more likely to happen where people attend the same places regularly.

Table tipping and levitation.

• Claim.
  
  Sitters at the table all place their hands on top of the table. The spirits then levitate the table during the séance with everyone’s hands remaining on the top of the table.
  
  
• Explanation:
  
  There are several methods of levitating tables, many of which are still used by magicians today so we will not reveal the more sophisticated methods. Simple table manipulations have been performed for a long time. Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918) was a medium who developed a simple method. She used a special lightweight table which was designed so that her foot could be hooked beneath one of the legs. Pressing down with her hands and up with her foot gave her control of the table.
  
  With more advanced trickery large, heavy tables can be made to levitate even with a person sitting on it.

Raps and taps.

• Claim.
  
  The spirits often make noises from small taps to loud bangs.
  
  
• Explanation:
  
  The medium and the assistants make the noises. It can be as simple as using a children’s peashooter.

Spirit lights.

• Claim.
  
  Flashes of lights appear near or around the medium, often as the spirits are coming through.
  
  
• Explanation:
  
  Wire wool brushed across the terminals of a high-voltage battery will make some strange and spooky looking flashes and sparks.

But the medium was tied to the chair…

• Claim.
  
  At the start of the séance, the medium is often tied to a chair with ropes. This rules out trickery.
  
  
• Explanation:
  
  There are also tricks employed here. The chair may have detachable arms. The ropes may have been tied by an accomplice who leaves enough room for the medium to slip out of and back into the apparent restraint.
  
  Where rooms are set up for the sole purpose of séances, there is often a secret door through which accomplices enter after the lights go out. Many effects can be created by accomplices who do the tricks of black art; often seen as a stage act where people dressed in black in front of a black background go unseen and the effects they create look miraculous.
  
  It is surprising just how quickly magicians can free themselves from ropes that are genuinely tied by other people.

There are other tricks and techniques used in physical mediumship, many of which have been around for a century or more. The tricks are quite mundane when seen in daylight, yet the effect that they produce in darkness can be quite profound.

Although physical mediumship is on the decline today, it is remarkable that many people still believe that spirits are coming through when the mediums are using the same tricks that were exposed by magicians like Houdini over eighty years ago.