A séance /ˈseɪ.ɑːns/ or seance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word “séance” comes from the French word for “seat,” “session” or “sitting,” from the Old French seoir, “to sit”. In French, the word’s meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of “une séance de cinéma” (“a movie session”). In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits; many people, including believers and non-skeptics, treat it as a form of non-fictional science and spiritual reality. In modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a séance. The Catholic church is against the practice of Séances.
One of the earliest books on the subject of communication amongst deceased persons was Communication With the Other Side by George, First Baron Lyttelton, published in England in 1760. Among the notable spirits quoted in this volume are Peter the Great, Pericles, a “North-American Savage,” William Penn, and Christina, Queen of Sweden. The popularity of séances grew dramatically with the founding of the religion of Spiritualism in the mid-nineteenth century. Perhaps the best-known series of séances conducted at that time were those of Mary Todd Lincoln who, grieving the loss of her son, organized Spiritualist séances in the White House, which were attended by her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, and other prominent members of society. The 1887 Seybert Commission report marred the credibility of Spiritualism at the height of its popularity by publishing exposures of fraud and showmanship among secular séance leaders. Modern séances continue to be a part of the religious services of Spiritualist, Spiritist, and Espiritismo churches today, where a greater emphasis is placed on spiritual values versus showmanship.
The term séance is used in a few different ways, and can refer to any of four different activities, each with its own social norms and conventions, its own favoured tools, and its own range of expected outcomes.
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Seance, Spiritualism, Spirit, Immortal spirit, eternal spirit, undying spirit, undieing spirit, immortal soul, eternal soul, undying soul, immortality of the soul, breath of life, breath, life, life after death, communicating with the dead, communication with the dead, death, sorcerer, medium, familiar spirit, divination, Witch of Endor, Saul and the witch, Speaking to the dead, Conjure, Conjuring, conjuring up the dead, Augury, Seeing the future, Predicting the future, Soothsaying, Soothsayer, Sooth sayer, Sooth saying, Necromancy, Necromancer, Diviner, hepatoscopy, Witchcraft, wizard, fortune teller, fortune telling
Bible reference(s): Gen 44:5, Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 19:31, Leviticus 20:6, Leviticus 20:27, Numbers 22:7, Numbers 23:23, Deuteronomy 18:10, Deuteronomy 18:11, 1 Samuel 28:3, 1 Samuel 28:7-20, 2 Kings 17:17, 2 Kings 21:6, 2 Kings 23:24, 1 Chronicles 10:13, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 19:3, Isaiah 29:4, Jeremiah 14:14, Ezekiel 12:24, Ezekiel 13:6, Ezekiel 13:7, Ezekiel 21:21, Ezekiel 21:22, Ezekiel 21:23, Acts 16:16
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Séance,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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