#tablestournantes

I’ve always loved the manifesting spirit in this engraving. #seance #spirit #ghost #spiritualism #spiritualist #tabletipping #tablestournantes #tableturning #ectoplasm #occult #death #necromancy https://www.instagram.com/p/CE6lcgJBJ0t/?igshid=105g0shyf936t

Still life, or still death? #planchette #seance #skull #spiritualism #stilllife #talkingboard #tabletipping #tablestournantes #ouija #occult https://www.instagram.com/p/CCvkji2l7t7/?igshid=1ea72crjpbvvo

I really adore the poignancy of this illustration of table-turning in action, from the enraptured true believers to the dubious skeptic. Like any good illustration it conveys so much without a sound. Just lovely! I’ll be headed to Oregon this afternoon, so keep an eye out on my stories as I visit friends old and new—including a reunion with IAPSOP’s founder to hand-deliver an extraordinarily rare book for preservation. Stay tuned, saints + sinners! #seance #spiritualism #tabletipping #tableturning #tablestournantes #occult #haunt #psychic #paranormal #pastpresentfuture https://www.instagram.com/p/B3MfUrZlWr0/?igshid=dohtnxca0tmn

Lovely illustration from a vintage magic catalog of a gimmick that allowed the user to easily manipulate a table during a tipping séance. Spooky! How’s your Saturday shaping up? I’m about to have a very important cup of coffee with a new friend and might come home with a major new artifact to report, so stay tuned! #spiritualism #magic #seance #magician #medium #pastpresentfuture #tabletipping #tablestournantes #spookshow #spiritisme #espirito #ectoplasm #séance #haunted #paranormal https://www.instagram.com/p/BxCikh7lBCQ/?igshid=6aio4ya01d4s

Normal Sunday morning in the archive. Nothing to see here. #seance #occult #pastpresentfuture #Spiritualism #tabletipping #tablestournantes #spookshow #spectre #spirit #ghost #ectoplasm https://www.instagram.com/p/BqU2AlKld4A/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=yjbhi8glu1dt

I love the design of this stamped cover of Robert Tocquet’s “Mediums y Fantasmas,” so sharing it with you, saints and sinners! #tablestournantes #tabletipping #tableturning #spiritualism #occult #psychic #mediumship #spiritualist #ghost #spectre #spook https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Ec0HPFRC4/?igshid=6b31rn81zmqb

An early French caricature of tables tournantes, or table-tipping, 1853. That year mark an explosion in the popularity of the newly-discovered phenomenon as word of the mysterious movements of tables, chairs, and even top hats spread around the globe, sparking experimentation on all levels of society. And lots of satire, particularly in France. I’m organizing some ephemera today in preparation for framing and display, so check my stories for some bonus stuff! #seance #occult #tabletipping #tablestournantes #spiritualism #pastpresentfuture #ghost #spookshow #spirit #haunt https://www.instagram.com/p/BsiR6RaFY0j/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1y0o7n74eoym8

Pretty creepy, France. This illustration is lampooning the great tables tournantes (table-turning) craze in France in 1853, when a fervor over experiments in the strange autonomous movements swept the nation. Here, two women have applied the theories to a small child, which is levitating between them, in what might be one of the earliest depictions of a sort of “light as a feather, stiff as a board“ experiment . Luckily, there’s a detractor racing to the scene to put an end to it, but it wouldn’t be the first use of a child medium in Spiritualism. #séance #occult #lightasafeather #lightasafeatherstiffasaboard #tablestournantes #tableturning #tabletipping #spiritualism