Another séance with Miss Tique, aka @coven_of_skulls !

We already know about spirit rapping and how tedious it could be to spell spirits’ messages this way. That’s when automatic writing came along – a much faster way for mediums to channel spirits and convey their messages. At least in theory, since many of the ‘messages from beyond’ were indecipherable scribbles or confusing drawings, especially when the writing was done by a few inspired people at the séance table at once.

Automatic writing could be done just with a regular pen, or with the help of a big stylish planchette with little wheels and a hole to put a pen in. The planchette itself was created during an alphabet-calling session in Paris in 1853. As reported by Allan Kardec, one of the participants of a séance that day channeled the spirits who told them to grab a basket, put it upside down, and put a pencil in it.

As for Miss Tique’s rude guest, it was actually a belief at the time that women made better mediums because they were passive and their minds were ‘vacant,’ thus they could be more easily possessed by spirits. This sexist belief was however embraced and used by female spiritualists in surprising ways, which we’ll explore in future episodes.