5. SUMMON THE SPIRIT
Beginning
- Begin by joining hands with the people on either side of you and closing your eyes.
- Depending on your religious beliefs, you (or the medium) might want to say a short invocation or divine blessing before going further, just in case.
- Then the medium should lead everyone in a deep breathing exercise by instructing them to breathe in slowly through the nose . . . and out slowly through the mouth, while trying to keep their minds blank. The goal is to get everyone calm, comfortable, and in touch with their senses.
- After a few minutes of this, the medium should ask everyone to say these words together: "Our beloved [name of spirit], we ask that you commune with us and move among us." Repeat the chant until there is a response.
- A response can take the form of a sudden decrease in room temperature, a slight ache in the area that caused the spirit's death (for example, if the deceased died from a heart attack, séance participants might feel a subtle pain in their chest), or a rapping sound.
- If after awhile there is no response, the medium can add to the chant: "If you are with us, [name of spirit], please rap once."
Middle - After receiving confirmation that you are, indeed, chatting with the dead (don't scream or you might scare Nana away!) make sure that it really is Nana you're talking to by establishing a "one rap = yes, two raps = no" system and asking her yes-or-no questions that only she would know the answers to. If you discover that it's actually not Nana you're speaking to, don't panic - the spirit might still be a friendly and helpful (though confused) one. Figure out what type of ghost you have on your hands and go from there.
- If the spirit gives you creepy responses ("When will I die?" . . . "Today!") or starts to knock furniture over and toss vases across the room, quickly tell it to go in peace, break the circle of hands, extinguish the candles, and turn on the lights.
- Otherwise, continue to ask yes-or-no questions. Don't ask more than one question at a time and never tease the spirit, unless you actually want a peeved ghost to haunt your house forever. For some reason, spirits are usually very sensitive and don't take jokes very well, so save your playful ribbing for the living.
- If the séance is going well (the participants aren't fainting, the medium's head isn't spinning 360 degrees, and the ghost seems happy to talk), the medium can invite the ghost into his/her body to answer questions more fully.
- If, for any reason, things start to get out of control and the medium can't seem to handle it (look for spastic movements - you don't have to wait until green gunk starts spewing from the medium's mouth to decide that he/she can't handle it), have a designated pinch-hitter. Command the participant to quickly tell the spirit to go in peace, break the circle of hands, extinguish the candles, and turn on the lights.
End - After you're done with all your questioning, end the séance by thanking the spirit for its time and telling it to go in peace. If you don't thank the spirit, it may feel miffed by your lack of manners and refuse to come when you try to call it again in the future. Worse yet, it may tell all its buddies about your unfortunate upbringing and no ghost will want to visit you. And if you don't tell the spirit to go, it might see that as an invitation to stay awhile, at which point we'd recommend for you to move - so make sure you get that goodbye in. Then break the circle, extinguish the candles, and turn on the lights. Look around the table and make sure all the participants are fully conscious.
- Record the events of the séance immediately (on paper if you weren't already taping it). Have each participant write down his/her point of view. If you plan on holding séances regularly, a séance log will help you remember all the little details of what occurred during each meeting. You'll be surprised at how dreamlike the experience will seem after you have a good night's rest and wake up with the sun blazing in your face. The log will serve as proof that you not only managed to talk to a ghost, but several other people were there to witness it.
