séances
Spirit contact meetings
Séances are gatherings where participants attempt to communicate with the dead, typically guided by a medium who claims to channel spirits.
The practice peaked in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often involving darkened rooms, joined hands, and phenomena like table-tipping or automatic writing.
They held a séance to contact her late grandmother.
The word comes from French for "sitting" or "session."
Calling forth deliberately
- conjuringPerforming magical illusions
- contactCommunication or physical touch
- messageTransmitted communication
- voiceSound from throat
whisper · knock · rap · table-turning · speaking · planchette · trumpet · levitation
Beyond scientific explanation
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- otherworldlySeemingly not earthly
- esotericAccessible to few
- mysticalOf hidden spiritual significance
ethereal · arcane · metaphysical · transcendence · veil · beyond · afterlife · uncanny
Apparition of the dead
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- specterGhostly threatening presence
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
poltergeist · revenant · shade · spirit · manifestation · presence · entity · deceased
One claiming supernatural perception
- clairvoyantOne who perceives beyond senses
- mediumMiddle size or state
- sensitiveEasily affected emotionally
- tranceSemiconscious, unresponsive condition
possessed · conduit · oracle · seer · necromancer · mesmerist
Disturbingly strange
- spookyUnsettlingly strange
- hauntingDisturbingly unforgettable
- chillingCausing fear or cold
- unsettlingCausing unease or discomfort
ominous · shadowy · gloomy · foreboding · flickering · candlelit · darkened · hushed
summoning
Calling forth deliberately
- conjuringPerforming magical illusions
- contactCommunication or physical touch
- messageTransmitted communication
voice · whisper · knock · rap · table-turning · speaking · planchette · trumpet · levitation · calling
paranormal
Beyond scientific explanation
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- otherworldlySeemingly not earthly
- esotericAccessible to few
mystical · ethereal · arcane · metaphysical · transcendence · veil · beyond · afterlife · uncanny · preternatural
ghost
Apparition of the dead
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- specterGhostly threatening presence
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
wraith · poltergeist · revenant · shade · spirit · manifestation · presence · entity · deceased · departed
psychic
One claiming supernatural perception
- clairvoyantOne who perceives beyond senses
- mediumMiddle size or state
- sensitiveEasily affected emotionally
trance · possessed · conduit · oracle · seer · necromancer · mesmerist
eerie
Disturbingly strange
unsettling · ominous · shadowy · gloomy · foreboding · flickering · candlelit · darkened · hushed · mysterious
ritual
Ceremonial set of actions
table · hands · candles · darkness · invocation · participants · sitters · victorian · parlor · ceremony
- paranormalghosts, paranormal, haunting, poltergeist, apparition
- magicwizard, wand, sorcerer, witchcraft, mage
- ghostsapparitions, ghosts, apparition, phantoms, specter
- occultwitchcraft, sorcery, black magic, tarot, magic
séancesprayer services
Organized communal worship events
prayers · Mass · liturgy · devotions · meditation
séancesscientific experiments
Systematic tests of hypotheses
laboratory research · peer-reviewed studies · skeptical inquiry · debunking · scientific method
séancesletting go
Releasing one's grasp
funerals · burials · cremations · grief counseling · moving on
session, channeling, necromancy, spiritualism, channeler, spiritualist, séance, spiritualists