Speaking with spirits and the dead
Mediumship, ancestor rites, possession and the offerings made to the unseen.
Speaking with spirits and the dead is the aim of mediumship, ancestor rites, possession and necromancy. It runs from the spirit mediums of Korea and Brazil to Vodou possession, Chinese ancestor offerings, the Mexican Day of the Dead, Victorian spiritualism and the Witch of Endor of the Bible. It is a central practice in some living religions and a frequent target of fraud in others. This page covers who speaks to the dead and how they are judged.
Ways of contact
Methods differ. In possession, a spirit or deity is said to speak through the body of a medium, as in Vodou, Candombl茅, Haitian and Brazilian rites, and in Korean gut. In trance or dream, a shaman travels to the spirit world. In offerings and festivals, families feed and talk to ancestors, as in the Hungry Ghost month in China and the ofrenda in Mexico. Spiritualism added the seance and the table-rapping of the 1840s.
Who may
In many societies, women lead: Korean mudang, Okinawan yuta, Brazilian m茫es de santo and the Western spiritualist mediums of the nineteenth century, who found in mediumship a public role denied elsewhere. Elsewhere, the role is for elders and ancestors' descendants. Some traditions require initiation, and some say contact with the dead is not for outsiders to attempt. Spirits and ancestors are not always friendly: mediums report angry, hungry or lost beings, and rites exist for settling them, such as offerings for neglected ancestors in China and Vietnam.
Authority and fear
Religions disagree. Christianity, Judaism and Islam each forbid certain contact with the dead while honouring prayer for them. Spiritist movements around Kardec in Brazil and France treat communication as a doctrine. Colonial authorities banned possession cults in many places, often labelling them devil worship, and some Pentecostal churches today condemn them in the same terms. The rites are widely found in Africa too, where ancestors are consulted at the family shrine and are held to watch over the living.
Fraud, grief and study
Grieving people are vulnerable. Fraudulent mediums, from the Fox sisters, who confessed in 1888, to modern cold readers, have taken money by exploiting loss. Researchers point to cold reading and to the ideomotor effect behind the Ouija board. Many bereaved people also report real comfort from rites that keep a bond with the dead, and counsellors acknowledge that continuing bonds are common. Doctors and psychologists note that a grief reaction can include hearing or sensing the dead, which is common and not in itself a sign of illness.
Speaking with spirits and the dead on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚠馃嚩 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire
A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreAnkh
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life and the amulet that carries its meaningCharm 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic
A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition 路 Power and authority 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚡馃嚨 Japan and 1 moreK奴kai绌烘捣
Founder of Shingon Buddhism who brought Vajrayana esoteric practices from China to Japan.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Protection Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreJohn Dee
An English scholar and advisor to Elizabeth I who pursued angelic communication through scrying.Tradition 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 3 moreSixth and Seventh Books of Moses
A grimoire claiming to reveal the hidden spells of Moses for controlling spirits and natureText 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalySibylline BooksLibri Sibyllini
Ancient Roman oracular texts consulted during state crises and disastersText 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚨馃嚫 PalestineHekhalot literature住驻专讜转 讛讛讬讻诇讜转 讜讛诪专讻讘讛
Jewish visionary texts describing ascents to heavenly palaces and chariotsText 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreCorpus Hermeticum
A collection of Greek writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus that shaped Western esoteric thoughtText 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceThree Books of Occult PhilosophyDe occulta philosophia libri III
A Renaissance treatise on elemental, celestial and divine magicText 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptPapyrus of Ani
A decorated Egyptian scroll for the afterlife, held in LondonText 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FrancePlanchette
A wooden device for automatic writing used in Victorian spiritualist s茅ancesCharm 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 France and 2 more脡liphas L茅vi
A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyMarsilio Ficino
A Renaissance priest and philosopher who revived Plato and blended astrology with Christian theology.Text 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Healing Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomGrimoire (sample)
A handbook of rites and names.Text 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaSynoptical astrology
An astrological system that overlays tropical, sidereal and constellational zodiacsText 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaRisalah Maktubaat乇爻丕賱賴 賲讴鬲賵亘丕鬲
A collection of Persian letters guiding disciples and rulers on spiritual and moral matters.Text 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 IranBalaibalan亘丕賱賷亘賱賳
An early constructed language from the Islamic world, likely created for sacred or poetic purposes.Text 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚚馃嚟 SwitzerlandArbatel de magia veterum
A 1575 Swiss grimoire focused on celestial spirits and Christian ethicsText 路 Power and authority 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 1 moreManba al-Ansab賲賳亘毓 丕賱丕賳爻丕亘
A Persian manuscript tracing Sayyid lineage and Sufi practice in early modern IndiaText 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 1 morePardes驻专讚状住
A four-level method for interpreting Jewish scriptureText 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBook of Magical Charms
A seventeenth-century English manuscript of spells and medical remedies held in Chicago.Text 路 Healing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreThe Teachings of Don Juan
A 1968 book presenting an apprenticeship with a Mexican sorcerer as anthropological fieldwork.Text 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Change and initiation Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBarddas
A 19th-century book presenting Welsh bardic and druidic theology as ancient traditionText 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
- Jewish mysticism: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Book of Magical Charms: Robert Ashley, died 1641, Public domain, source
- 脡liphas L茅vi: Eliphas L茅vi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
- Marsilio Ficino: Marsilio Ficino, Public domain, source
- Ankh: Soutekh67, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- K奴kai: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Synoptical astrology: Constellarius, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pardes: Anonymous (photo by Adrian Pingstone), Public domain, source
- John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
- Sibylline Books: kladcat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Public domain, source
- Papyrus of Ani: Photographed by the British Museum; original artist unknown, Public domain, source