ꄗ: Séance, second sight, Psychometry
An account of encounters with the otherworld
I ventured out once more near dusk, having rotted the day away like something half-dead confined to nightfall. The barista recognized me at once, with memory of my order as well. “An iced mocha?” I grinned, nodding affirmatively.
“With an extra shot?” I nodded once more. The cafe was full, as was usual for that time. I sat down at the table closest, the occupiers seated amicable enough towards my presence to embolden me to sit. I settled enough to take notice of their workings when I heard the shuffling of cards, a sidecast glance revealing them to be Tarot. How auspicious, it was, that I would overhear such an interaction. They seemed concerned as to whether someone plotted against them via occult means, and were determining whether to retaliate in a similar manner. I was intrigued by the intensity with which they discussed the matter, their earnest expectation that some dark magic might be cast upon them. “We can’t do anything until we know for sure.” The card reader had asserted to his anxious companion. I continued to parse through the book I had been reading whilst nursing my coffee.
Walking these old tracks can provide both clue and starting point for an exploration of magic. To begin this study we do not need to worry about arcane formulae and complicated rituals. Marcel Proust got to the heart of the matter when he said: ‘The real magic of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.’
The Book of English Magic, Phillip Carr-Gomm & Richard Heygate
A calendar notification in bold appeared onscreen: SÉANCE
I hoped that I would experience such a consecration of perspective to perhaps further sense the mythic landscape amidst the patterned mundanity I encountered otherwise.
The initiatory vision, the appearance of fellow magicians, superhuman beings or angels to the would-be magician at a certain age in dreams (or, more accurately, when he first falls into trance) the obligatory character of the calling to exercise his functions, his eventual resistance to this calling and the futility of this resistance - all these characteristics bring to mind shamanism. Klaniczay 1990: 1 44.
From a charm in :Everyday Magicians: Legal Records and Magic Manuscripts from Tudor England, Sharon Hubbs Wright and Frank Klaassen
I sat upon a couch in anticipation between an American student and a woman who’d come to the city to be a lawyer, my notebook in my lap alongside a scarab talisman I’d picked up from the museum. The student watched me fidget with the replica absently, prompting me to speak. “Have you guys ever had a reading done before?”
The student, who was a reader herself, mentioned that tarot readers were required to meet a quota of sorts in order to garner access to these events. It made sense, but I hadn’t previously considered the logistical side of such an endeavor. Only after a certain number of correct predictions were they allowed to conduct readings at these gatherings.
“Goodluck!” I’d said to the lawyer, who appeared nervous, but in good spirits.
The reader was close to me in age. I chose the darker oracle deck for her to read for me when presented with two options. “Do you have a specific question?”
“Yes, it’s kind of general, I guess, but I’m looking for something. I just don’t know what.”
She nodded understandingly, and I was amused at the ambiguity of my inquiry being appropriate to the setting (for once), aware that it would otherwise be entirely too abstract. The first card issued was the two of cups, a decidedly optimistic one. “Oooh… this is interesting. You’re going to meet someone, like a soulmate type figure. Not necessarily romantic, but someone who understands you in a very deep way. That’s what this card means.” She tapped her fingers on the oracle card.
“You’re someone that feels misunderstood, aren’t you? That’s what this is about. Someone will change that.” It was generic enough of a read, but I felt it to be cruelly pointed on the behalf of coincidence. More so, I found it evoked a strange embarrassment in me that I might aurically read as a lonely creature brooding over an absent companion.
The next card, eight of pentacles and the last, the page of pentacles.
“Ohhh yes… if you’re studying, keep going. The path will reveal itself. You might be doing something a bit unorthodox, so you’ll have to just keep going, and you’ll get help along the way.” Once the matter was concluded, I thanked her for the reading, ducking outside into the fog amidst snogging couples and smokers lining the cathedral’s exterior.
Samhuinn drew near. I was satisfied with my fortune reading as I lingered outside the old cathedral, spectating the foggy night. Others loitered similarly, captivated by the night’s atmospheric quality. Some snapped photos whilst taking long drags of their cigarettes, the smoke rendered indistinguishable from the brume concealing the night. A gasp from a woman leaning against the wall astride me struck me from my reverie as a black cat scampered by my feet. I watched the auspice retreat into the darkness. It was, I concluded, the most opportune time for a séance.
“Just as, with the invention of the telegraph in 1844 and the telephone in 1876, the world of science was proving that communication at a distance was possible, so the thought that our loved ones could speak to us from a faraway place was captivating for many people. A territory normally confined to a select group of seers was now a subject of widespread interest. Gladstone and Queen Victoria attended séances, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the distinguished physicist, Sir Oliver Lodge became enthusiasts, and various organisations were established in London to promote research into mediumship and the wider field of ‘psychic Studies’. :”
The Book of English Magic
Simply defined, a séance is a ritual through which the living initiate contact with the dead1. Methodology varies, but the process generally entails the induction of a liminal atmosphere through which to symbolically bridge the material and spiritual realms. The endeavor is usually conducted in the presence of a group to energetically bolster the attempt to make contact.
Séance conducted by John Beattie, Bristol, England, 1872
We descended into the church’s crypt, entering the room in which the ceremony would take place. A candle, a crystal ball, and a ouija board sat on a small table meant to seat two people, a wry chair in the corner accompanied by coffee, a pumpkin, and sweets. The murmurings of the spectators subsided as the two mediums took stage, greeting the audience with a casual air that implied a certain familiarity with such acts of conjuration.
The woman, clothed in a long black dress, introduced herself as a hereditary witch whose bloodline carried an da shealladh2, or taibhsearachd, the second sight.
Within Scottish folkloric belief, an da shealladh is considered similarly as an involuntary, sometimes inherited clairvoyance. In Martin Martin’s A description of the Western Isles of Scotland (1703), the second sight is defined as: “The Second Sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise invisible object, without any previous means used by the person that sees it for that end.” (Martin, M. and Munro, D., 1999)3
In Georce Sinclair’s Satan’s Invisible World Discovered (1685) , he says of the second sight’s nature: “... is derived downward by succession to their posterity, many of such I suppose are innocent, and have this sight against their will and inclination.” (Sinclair, 1969).4
The other practitioner, a man with seals his hands that I recognized from The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) (image) 5 introduced himself as an Irish folk practitioner, a Warlock.
‘learned conjurors with their grimoires commanded demons, spirits and angels to come to their aid, [while] the more humble could, instead, call upon the services of the fairies’, Davies 2003: 95.
Dominique Vivant Denon (French, 1747–1825) after David Teniers II (Flemish, 1610-1690). A Coven of Witches (detail), 18th century. Etching. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Gift of William Drummond
The chair, the man explained, was reminiscent of the Irish dumb supper in which an empty chair symbolically invites the dead, usually an ancestor, to sit amongst the living.
The pumpkin, the coffee and the sweets served the purpose not only as venerational libation, but as a transfer of energy to strengthen the spirits enough to commune. Sweet and spicy food is considered energetically favorable, the intensity of which allows the spirit sustenance to maintain contact. With this, there is not only an energetic exchange between the living and the spectral other through the symbolics of sacrifice, but a transmutation of sensual qualities of the offerings into energetic property so that it might be transferable to spiritual agents.
“It takes a great amount of energy to cross over”, he had said. It was also impressed upon the audience that sustenance on the part of the medium was equally as important, for such an exertion of psychic energy could result in depletion, an unfavorable state of vulnerability when inviting contact with spirits. The audience watched on as he sauntered to the back wall, picking up a spare ouija board.
“These aren’t dangerous if you know what you’re doing. Like anything in the wrong hands, it could become hazardous.” The act of using a ouija board was analogized to opening a door, the occupants behind it entirely unknowable until contact is made. The nature of spirits was also discussed. Contact depended largely on proximity, perhaps those of a certain locality to the area were drawn forth, or those who happened to heed the invitation by chance. The nature of this proximity is considered largely indiscernible, but the crystal ball and flame were meant to act as intermediary spaces, as gateways of contact between our world and whatever unknown cosmology from which the entities originated. There was an impression that through use of the scrying glass, something or someone might peer back.
The crystal ball was made of pure quartz, something that was said to further energetically supply the conjuration. Though contact with the dead was described as being the most common, there was no guarantee as to what would be called forth. Spirits are unreliable in their communications, just as they are known to lie, at times for malevolent reasons. Contact with non-human spirits was also a possibility; spirits of animals, the good folk6, and presences that one might classify as demonic.
“That is why we have rites of protection.” The Witch lifted up a tuning fork to display to the audience. “We are going to cast a sound circle of protection now. Sound is an energetic conduit, it carries intent.”
“I am also going to make a circle invoking the Archangel Michael for our protection, so that no malevolent spirits can enter.” The warlock clarified, explaining that Catholicism, particularly angels, were commonly invoked in Irish folk practice. Within his practice, he explained that he worked with many persuasion of spirits, such as good folk and ancestors. Music was a particularly charged medium he cited as a conduit of such interactions saying; “Spirit communication is very much the core of my practice, I can pick up on these omens, these signs”.
“A lot of times it’s just your music. My experience is, for your music, when they’re trying to... when the loved one that’s close to you or something besides is trying to communicate, it might be like you keep hearing that same music that’s their favourite, you know, their favourite song and stuff, and you just keep hearing it randomly in there. They’ll often, yeah, communicate. “
Synchronicity in the form of a song heard repeatedly, recurring dreams, were described as common bids for communion from the spiritual realm.
“You might experience changes in temperature, do not be alarmed. That is just a sign contact has been made.”
The fork was struck, the note resounding throughout the small candlelit chamber. The pair split in creating the circle, the Witch intoning whilst striking the fork. The warlock began his incantation whilst encircling the room:
The Great shield of St. Michael is around us.
Protecting Us from any potential hit, or any malevolent spirits that may do us harm.
The mighty sword of St. Michael is within our hands, ready to strike, to any malevolent spirits that may do us harm.
We are shielded in the most powerful and fiery circle of protection, impenetrable, nothing goes in, only our energies and those that allow us, allow them with peace and love for entering.
Amen, to Saint Michael, Archangel, protector. Amen.
The final strike of the fork rang out to mark the completion of the circle, a pregnant pause. “Now,” The pair took their seats at the table. “Let’s begin. It’s a foggy night. Folklorically, conditions like this are a good omen, especially as we near Samhuinn when the veil is at its thinnest. Contact should be very easy.” The Witch assured, rolling up the sleeves of her dress.
“Once we open the door, it’s important we maintain contact with the board.” In a simultaneous motion, they each placed both hands on the planchette.
“If there’s any spirits here, communicate with us now if you will.” A moment passed, the plachette pendulating in swiveled figure eights across the board before halting. HELLO.
“Hello, well welcome. Is there any message that you have for us?”
The planchette scraped quickly across the board.
“ O. S-O-V-A. Sova. Sova. O. Soval. Soval. The sign is a bit like Latin. It’d be Latin. It would be a lot of things.Are you an English speaker? Is this a name or a place?” I concealed a smile, immediately thinking of Star Trek.
“Spirit often speak in symbols as well. It’s not always... They don’t always have the energy to make a lot of sense in words.” The witch clarified, turning her attention back to the board.
“Q. You. Queer. Interesting. There’s a lot of us here. So, tell us more. More about this. T. Can you tell us something a little clearer? Something...?”
Scrambled and nonsensical, the communion proceeded. I felt my hands get oddly hot, my head warm and light. I had the wherewithal to conclude it might be something like suggestibility or a placebo despite the onset of vertigo.
Sarah? What about Sarah? Can you try spelling that again? Try saying it a little differently. Not familiar to me. Doesn’t mean it’s not a word. Try again. Try and spell it out. U A G It’s almost like no go. New ago. Almost like old Scots. Are you from here? Are you Scottish? What year did you die? Seven Four Seven…
1747. So we’re dealing with some pretty old language, 18th century. Are you Associated with this part of the city? YES
Is there a direct message? Something like a warning or some good news or anything to tell us? G. A. Gap. Gap. O. T. O. Is that a whole name? Like Nana Gapato? Gapato?
“Is there anything else that you’d like to tell us or give us before we let you go?”
The planchette slide swiftly to the bottom corner of the board.
“Goodbye. Well, we say, they say goodbye, we also say goodbye. And we close off the portal to that session. Okay. Well, it seems like we have quite a random, uh, randy... And sometimes they’re quite randy. Yeah. It’s an interesting portal.”
“Well they’re always going to come. So what I’m going to ask is if you have anybody in spirit that you’d like to call in. We can’t guarantee they’re going to come through but we can but try and if anybody wants to they’ll appear.”
No one in the audience made a move to request a certain specter.
“So… let’s give it a minute and just kind of concentrate and see if you can feel it. And this will be our last session as well because If there’s more of you, you have a kind of battery. If there’s more of you, there’s a lot more energy to give. But if there’s two, you can do it on your own, especially on your own. You want to limit the sessions for your own energy levels. Let’s Get the board warmed up a little more. Some energy and friction going.”
Once again, the spirits were evoked.
“We call out to the spirits from the great beyond, from the living to the dead. We ask you to commune with us, be amongst us, and only those with good intent be with us. O spirits, O departed, speak with us, commune with us through this board. With love and peace we ask thee, we invite thee.”
The momentum gathering movements of the mediums ceased, seemingly as the line was hot once more.
“Who are you? B? Bob. Well, welcome, Bob. What have you got to tell us? Do you have a message for anyone? Q? A. Question and answer. All of us. That’s great. Like, that’s what we went for.”
“Bob, before we go any further, can you tell us when you died? 9-7-1970. So we’ll probably understand him a little better. So, Bob, what have you got to tell us? Oh, yes, he’s chatting.”
The witch remarked under her breath. The warlock retorted with a mirthful scoff:
“ Yeah, I can’t stop, I swear. And a... Okay, so you’re asking the audience to ask a question. So does anyone in the audience have a question for Bob?”
No one moved to make an inquiry of Bob. I briefly considered speaking up, perhaps to ask about my reading, or my gift, but thought better of it.
“Okay, um, is it somewhere, is this where you live? Yes. We’re going to play the lot with spirits tonight. So, Bob, is there any way that you can tell us, like, how you depart from this world? How did you die? Um, your nose and throat? Some kind of... Explosion? No. No. A bad, oh, T. Bad sorts, or bad sorts. Okay. Um, was this pain, I think?” I supposed the rule of “never as a spirit how they died” was simply a horror movie cliche, as Bob didn’t seem to mind the line of questioning.
“Was it ENT related? Is there a message you have for anybody or anything that you have to tell us? S. Cassandra. Do you mean Cassandra? Is there any message for someone in this room? Sova. Sova. It’s B and Q over and over again. Well, there’s something related to it. Or the shop. Yes.”
I hardly knew what to make of what I was witnessing, though I suspended maaking any immediate judgments. Were these rapid fire messages of the subconscious? Or did the board truly conjure forth these scrambled messages with the mechanics of a rapidly turning radio dial?
“Okay, so we’re talking about the shop. B&Q. Saw. B&Q, saw. So that one must apply to somebody around here. Someone needs to get B&Q. Anything else? A. Dad. B&Q, saw. Dad. Anything else? Very specific. So is this someone’s dad? A. R-A-N. Ran. T. Night. Spelled not very well. Yeah. Ran and night? Does it mean like...
Did he work a shift? What does this pertain to? S-A-S-O. Some, I think is what he’s been trying to say. It’s pertaining to a son of a... A nightclub? Maybe that he’s working at night. Yes. B-E. So, a son called Ben works nights. G-O. So, go. H-N. Go home. You’re telling this person to go home, not work at night.
Yes. So Ben, he works at night. A. Right, okay. Is there a danger to somebody being out at night? Yes. Pertaining to a sloth. Someone called Ben, and they work at night. Is there anything else specific? Dad. They have vodka. Vodka. They work at night. Do they drink a lot? Yes. C. Is that like an acronym or an abbreviation? T-C-N-A…
Right, so even though you say goodbye, we also say goodbye to you and we should close off our channel. I don’t know if I had a message to anyone. Someone called Ben, someone who works late at night but maybe drinks too much vodka. Should be aware. Thank you, souls. Sounds dangerous. Thank you.”
The pair turn from the board to address the audience.
“Not everything that comes through Ouija board is sensible. A lot of it isn’t. I don’t know if any of you have gone to see mediums, but sometimes they come through with just really strange symbols because it takes so much energy for them to come through from the other side that they might just interpret, they might just give a symbol and it’s kind of like you recognize the symbol so they’ll be throwing out something hoping that you recognize them from it yeah or sometimes they’re never as well so if like you went to b and q with someone they might they might be like this person will know this because maybe you drink vodka with them.”
The warlock nodded along curtly.
“Yeah, it’s a case of what we said before, it takes a lot of energy from us as well, but for them to try and spell out what they’re trying to communicate. So often it’ll be just like one words, that they’re going to think that one word will spike some kind of memory, who’s the person they’re trying to communicate. Has anyone got any questions? Even in regards to Ouija, if you’re interested in doing it yourself? Spirit activity..?”
A question from somewhere further back into the darkness arose, dispelling the quiet.
“Ouija boards, you mentioned you could do it by yourself or a partner. Would you ever do it with, you know, more than two people? Is there any benefit to it, because I imagine more energy.”
The warlock nodded.
“Yeah, yeah, I used to do it when I was younger with like, four people…But yeah, the more people that you have doing it, the better that channel’s going to be because then you’ve got to see like a battery. So we are the battery that powers. And so the more batteries, the more power, and therefore the better the session is and more likely because you’re powering the spirit and they’re drawing more energy, you’ll get a better, like, sort of communication from them.”
The man added on:
“And last thing, Do spirits tend to come from the same geographical area from which you are doing the ouija or is it…”
The warlock scratched his beard contemplatively. “I find…not always, but they can come from anywhere because the spirit world is so vast. But, yeah, if there’s activity in the place that you’re doing it and there’s things that’s going on in that area, you’re most likely to pick up someone that’s more of a local spirit”
“ and this city is full of spirits…yeah, it’s one of the most haunted places in the world.” Added the witch. “You can definitely pick up on a lot of activity here. “
The inquirer continued:
“I imagine that the spirit knows where you are in the material physical world, so to an extent the spirit kind of…self volunteers, as it were, or do you…I suppose what I’m saying is does the spirit volunteer or are you forcing the spirit to interact?”
I found myself privately amused at the prospect of preternatural ethicality as the warlock pondered the question momentarily.
“Well… they volunteer. We don’t know how it all works, but we are powering the board. We’re opening a doorway for a few minutes. Not completely open because that’s not what we want here. We don’t want them to come into this world and that’s what we do protections for. But we’re opening that just ajar for anyone that is behind that door. whose first comes first sort of thing to come through. You can provoke people to come through, I’ve done it myself, but it takes a lot of work, you know.”
“And they don’t always want to come through.” The Witch Clarified.
“They have to be willing, they have to be in the right place for it.”
“Free will, you know, spirits have free will as much as we have free will in the living. The dead, they have free will, you know. So the dead, it’s up to them. It is. Like I was telling the other audience, you don’t have to have a Ouija board to contact the other side. And especially during this time of the year when the veil between the worlds is so thin, you might start seeing signs from passed over loved ones, sometimes just weird coincidental things.”
This time, a woman from the crowd:
“Do you find that in places where people are reaching out to spirits more, is there a difference in their energy when multiple people are looking for something specific?”
“I find that some places that bother other people don’t bother me, and then if I go to certain places like castles where maybe there’s a lot of violence that happened there in dungeons…I just don’t want to be there. You can feel the tension, feel the violence in the air. And I’ve got friends who do ghost tours and they’re down underground all the time, talk about all the strange things that happen, they don’t like to be down there by themselves.”
“I’m very much the same.” The Warlock chimed in. “ I know through history that there’s a lot of dark shit that happened, I just don’t want to have anything to do with that. So I certainly won’t be doing ouija board and sessions like that…”
The questions subsided as the warlock surveyed the room with clasped hands, trying to make out any potential raised hands emerging from the darkness of the chamber.
.
“So I think we can close the circle. Yes. And we’re going to do it the same way we opened it. “ They once again took up the tuning rods, striking them whilst circling the audience. I felt warm, in the way I imagine one might feel after drinking some sort of ale or winter wine. The last strike of the fork cut through the silence with an abruptness that almost felt solid. “The circle is closed, but our protections remain.”
The Great shield of St. Michael is around us.
Protecting Us from any potential hit, or any malevolent spirits that may do us harm.
The mighty sword of St. Michael is within our hands, ready to strike, to any malevolent spirits that may do us harm.
We are shielded in the most powerful and fiery circle of protection, impenetrable, nothing goes in, only our energies and those that allow us, allow them with peace and love for entering.
Amen, to Saint Michael, Archangel, protector. Amen.
The crowd soon dispersed, rejoining the festivities upstairs. I lingered, not to request a tarot reading as the witch had offered departing guests, but to make an inquiry of my own.
“Before I go, if you guys are not too tired or anything, can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I explained my plight, that I was in search of areas known for their anomalous activity, perhaps beyond the scope of the usual tourist attractions.
“The vaults, the underground areas” The Warlock began, nodding emphatically.
“I’ve got friends who work there who have seen things go flying, I would say anywhere that’s been inhabited for a long time, but the one I definitely hear about is the vaults…yeah.. Activity wise, the vaults definitely.”
I listened with rapt interest, committing the recommendation to memory, gray imitation moleskin in hand.
“There used to be a coven that worked down there from the 80s up until the high priest’s death in 2014. There’s a stone circle where they used to work, but there’s also a room where they left all the ritual tools and stuff like that, so you can see the gowns they used to wear.” I had been meaning to look more into the vaults, compartmentalizing the recommendation for later. I had wanted to do more research prior to my descent, so that I might contextualize and prepare for any strange Danteian sights.
The Witch spoke: “I would say a lot of old churches also have quite a lot of spirit activity. I’ve been in [redacted] when I saw things just kind of go white, and that usually is something going on there. Any spiritualist church, obviously.’
“Do you have any experiences with the good folk?”
“Oh yeah” The Witch affirmed with a nod, as the Warlock extrapolated from where he perched against the banister.
“They become very much a part of your life, your everyday life, spirits coming forth. I mean, we did the ouija board tonight because it’s a little bit more interactive, but we’ll have spirits come forth all the time, messages, or see them, or hear them.”
I reflected on my own soujourns throughout the city. Such things were yet to be revealed to me. I thanked them both for their time, intending to pursue the leads I’d been given. The witch had once again reiterated the miasmic atmosphere surrounding castles, often places of great violence, citing an expereince she’d had in the great archway of one in Scotland. She’d been unable to breach the stone threshold, petrified, stricken by an intensely oppressive psychometric impression.
“The kirkyard is very peaceful though. People always talk about it being haunted but it’s very quiet there.” My own anecdotal experience aligned with this sentiment. that places like museums could be more energetically virulent than the grave. It had been as such in my own experiences. The gravesites were void of spiritual presence. Sites of melancholy and serenity. I find more presence of unrest in museums, the most potent symbols of psychic entrapment.
“If you go to one of the cathedrals, look up. Keep an eye out for these bright balls of lights.” It made sense to me that these places of prayer and memory might be most inhabited by spiritual energies, the charge of a thousand prayers lingering in the air.
Gaelic
Bogam thu ‘sa bhũrn,
A lèug bhuidhe, bhoidheach, bhuadhar.
Ann am bũrn an fhior-uisg;
Nach d’ leig Bride a thruailleadh,
An ainm nan Abstol naomh,
S Muire Oigh nam beùsan,
‘N ainm na Trianaid ard,
‘S nan aingeal dealrach uile;
Beannachd air an lèug;
‘S beannachd air an uisge,
Leigheas tinneas cléibh do gach creutair cuirte.
Translation
Let me dip thee in the water,
Thou yellow, beautiful gem of Power!
In water of purest wave,
Which (Saint) Bridget didn’t permit to be contaminated.
In the name of the Apostles twelve,
In the name of Mary, Virgin of virtues,
And in the name of the High Trinity
And all the shining angels,
A blessing on the gem,
A blessing on the water, and
A healing of bodily ailments to each suffering creature.
NOTICE OF A HIGHLAND CHARM-STONE. BY Rev. ALEXANDER STEWART, LL.D., F.S.A. SCOT., BALLACHULISH MANSE.
I gazed into the crystals, thinking to perhaps use them
For my own scrying purposes. I remember hearing that some victorians believed the eyes of the dead captured the image of what they last saw prior to the sou;’s departure, frozen in time. I wondered if I were to gaze into the crystal, whether I would be able to see such a crystalized scene from the past were I to gaze with enough intensity.
“You can read time fairly well, using symbolism. Symbolization suggests eternity.”
Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Séance | occultism. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/seance.
aibhsearachd f (genitive singular taibhsearachd, plural taibhsearachdan)
second sight, clairvoyance
Martin, M. and Munro, D. (1999) A description of the Western Islands of Scotland ca. 1695 ; and, alate voyage to St Kilda. Edinburgh: Birlinn.
Sinclair, G. (1969) Satan’s invisible world discovered: (1685).
www.gutenberg.org. (n.d.). The Discoverie of Witchcraft, by Reginald Scot, Esquire—A Project Gutenberg eBook. [online] Available at: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60766/60766-h/60766-h.htm.
the good folk pl (plural only) (colloquial, UK) Fairies, brownies, pixies, etc.; magical humanoid creatures. Synonym: good people
Beautiful essay as well. You write so beautifully. Enchanted as always 🌘