Spiritualism

19th century religious movement based on the belief that one can communicate with the spirits of the dead

parapsychology recordings with anomolous haunting sounds investigated as spirit voices

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.

paranormal phenomenon

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

world or realm inhabited by spirits

alleged creation or appearance of matter from unknown sources

disincarnate (vital principle or animating force within all living things) wayfinder

paranormal transference of an article from one place to another, or an appearance of an article from an unknown source

metaphysical belief in immaterial spirits

1906 film by Walter R. Booth

name given by spiritualists to what they believed to be a materialized spirit