Mediumship

A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word séance comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one may, for example, speak of "" (). 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. In modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a séance.

in modern spiritualism: writing produced involuntarily

mountain in Aomori Prefecture, Japan

thumb|Medium Eva Carrière photographed in 1912 with a light appearing between her hands

thumb|right|250px|An itako at the autumn Inako Taisai festival at Mount Osore, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

Divination through writing on sand with winnowing tray and chopstick or later a Y-shaped stylus stick, similar to planchette writing