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As spiritualism came into
vogue in the mid nineteenth century, spirit writing became a popular
form of mediumship. A spiritualist or medium sat with pencil in
hand, while others sat nearby ready to feed her/him blank sheets of
paper awaiting the frantic script of the channeled messages. With the
fringe attendees growing weary of the standard methods of
"communication" like the auditory knocks of the Hydesville Fox
sisters and other fashionable spiritualists used, spirit
writing was just the ticket to renew a robust interest in the spirit
realm and séances once more. The method of automatic writing
opened the door for women of the Victorian era to achieve some
notoriety. Taking up the spirit pen meant they could write, while
not breaking any of the societal morals of the day. Blaming it on the
spirits held up much better when confronted by an angry husband or
father.
When it comes to the medium's
involvement in the process, some people slip into a trancelike state
while doing this, while others are fully awake and simple let the words
flow, usually not really aware of what is being written because the
messages generally come in very quickly, as though the spirit has only
so much energy to funnel the message to the medium. Some go into a
complete trance, unaware of either the movement of the pencil or
the words coming through, although some have reported feeling heat when
angry words pour out and cool when the messages are calm. As
though the feelings behind the messages come through clearly for some
sensitive ones.
A NY state supreme court
judge named John Edmonds, in the mid nineteenth century attended a
session with the Foxes after he lost his wife. He had a friend who
claimed to be a medium and pushed this man to try to channel famous
authors and writers. What those automatic writing sessions produced are
considered vague at best. The one thing the get-togethers did do was to
stir even more interest in professional and public figures.
Edmonds was lucky his position in the courts did not radically suffer
from his dabbling in the spirit realms.
Over the next hundred and
fifty years, not only was writing used, mathematics came through from
the spirit world, music, song lyrics, poetry, erotica and art.
Mandelas are said to be drawn by artists guided by "god".
Voodoo Veves and other magical symbology as well.
Spirit communication is here
to stay, be it by word, tapping, ouija boards, automatic writing or
spirit art. Humans will continue to strive to open more clear
communication with those on the other side.
© 2009 J. Thompson
Automatic or spirit writing
is the practice of writing while channeling messages from the spirit
realm. Those on the Other Side are sometimes strong enough to
"push" textual messages across the veil and those who are able
to relax enough to take up the pen in a spirit writing session will have
interesting messages come through. read
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