Hold a Traditional Spirit Circle

For readers who want to conduct an experiment in Victorian-style spirit communication, I've provided guidelines for a traditional spirit circle. The guidelines are an amalgamation of what I've learned reading countless spiritualist publications, but they draw particularly heavily from Emma Hardinge Britten's wonderful instructional booklet: Rules to Be Observed When Forming Spiritual Circles, which was published in 1887.

Note: Modern practitioners of spirit communication advise that anyone attempting a séance begin with a ritual or request for protection (setting the intention that only benevolent spirits will come forth) and finish by bidding the spirit-realm farewell, dismissing all spirits, and closing all lines of communication.

Hold a Traditional Spirit Circle

The first step to holding a séance is to carefully select the participants. Nineteenth-century spiritualists believed that spirit communication required a certain magnetic or chemical balance among the people present at the séance table. Many spiritualist books and articles divided people into "positive" (or "active") temperaments and "negative" (or "passive") temperaments. The negative temperament tended to be associated with women, and it was also considered the ideal personality type for a medium. The positive temperament was considered more masculine and less innately mediumistic. Victorian séance guidelines suggested that people strive for a circle composed of half negative and half positive temperaments to achieve the perfect "magnetic" balance and ideal conditions for successful spirit communication. Some mediums would have the séance attendees sit around the table in an alternating pattern, alternating according to either personality type or gender, to enhance this magnetic positive-negative charge.

In our modern world, that sort of thing could quickly become problematic; we no longer have a purely binary understanding of gender identity, and people are unlikely to appreciate being sorted according to whether their personality type is positive or negative. So, rather than organizing the attendees according to some binary characteristic, you might just strive for an overall sense of balance, or harmony, in your group.

Three to twelve people is the ideal size for a séance, and the spiritualists tended to prefer even numbers of people. It was also advised that no more than two fully developed mediums attend the same circle together since their energy might overpower the rest of the table, throw off the balance, and actually inhibit spirit communication.

Whomever you decide to invite, have a conversation with them beforehand regarding your goals for the experience. Is this a fun Hallowe'en party activity for you, or are you really trying to recreate the conditions of serious Victorian spirit circles? Is this for laughs, or do you want a more solemn and reverent mood? If you're trying to cultivate the atmosphere of a serious session circa 1878 and your friends arrive wearing Scream masks and brandishing a Ouija board, then there's a fundamental mismatch between your expectations and theirs, so have a conversation about what you're trying to do.

Once your participants have been selected, you can decide as a group where to hold the séance. Whatever space you use shouldn't be too brightly lit; darkness or semidarkness is better. It's preferable that you all sit around a table, ideally a wooden table (it was believed that the wood of the table could be a conduit for spiritual powers). Some Victorian mediums instructed participants to hold hands, but many preferred that the participants each put their hands (palms down, fingers spread) on the table in front of them so that their fingers almost, but not quite, touched the fingers of those on either side of them. The evening is the traditional time for a séance, but it's important that people don't come to the circle already fatigued, so don't schedule your séance too late at night.

There should be one person who is explicitly responsible for directing the séance. At a Victorian séance, this person would typically be the most experienced medium; since you're the one reading this, it should probably be you. You should also be sure that everyone has pen and paper, just in case they feel compelled to write or draw anything during the séance. You can open the séance with a few minutes of quiet reflection, a group meditation, a recitation of poetry or prayer, or even some music that matches the mood you're trying to cultivate. Contrary to what you may have seen in films, the Victorians didn't sit in complete silence waiting for phenomena. Mediums encouraged light conversation in the circle, but only if it stayed on topic and didn't become heated.

Whether you're sitting in silence or conversing quietly, everyone at the circle should be paying attention to the room around them: observing, waiting, and listening.

Turn your attention to your five senses. What do you hear, see, taste, smell, and feel? Pay attention also to your thoughts. Are you having strange, recurring, or intrusive thoughts? If your mind wanders in a strange direction, notice where it goes. Don't forget to maintain your connection with the rest of the circle. Notice the people around you and check in with them periodically.

If anyone believes that they are witnessing phenomena, then they should make note of what they're experiencing and share what they've noticed with the other members. If people get the urge to speak directly to the spirit-realm, then they can follow that impulse, though generally, the medium in charge should be the one addressing the spirits directly. If anyone becomes uncomfortable during the séance, it is important that you end it immediately. It is not appropriate to continue a spirit circle once someone has expressed that they are uncomfortable or want to stop. When you're ready to end the séance, acknowledge that you're closing the session, thank the spirits, and bid them farewell.

Traditionally, mediums suggested that if no phenomena were observed, the séance should only last an hour—of course, you can stop yours whenever you need to. Victorian spiritualists by no means expected every séance to result in observable phenomena; they believed that it took time to forge a connection with the spirit-world. Most amateur spirit circles were advised to commit to meeting regularly each week or month for at least an hour. They were advised not to be discouraged by "unsuccessful" séances with no observable phenomena, but to commit to meeting at least a few more times with the same group to see if progress could be made. If the circle was still unsuccessful after five or six meetings, then that was considered evidence that something about the balance or magnetism of the group was off. Spirit circles that had met that many times without results were advised to alter the balance of their circle somehow, typically by either removing some current members or introducing new ones.

Excerpted from Spirits, Seers & Séances, by Steele Alexandra Douris.