Research source

She then asked if it was a spirit, and if so to manifest it by making two distinct sounds

Date of account: Published 1857
Source: The Spirit Land
Reference: The Spirit Land · selected passage 75
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

She then asked if it was a _spirit_, and if so to manifest it by making two distinct sounds. Instantly she heard two raps, as she desired. She then proceeded to know or inquire if it was an injured spirit, and if so to answer in the same way, and the rapping was repeated. In this way it answered her until she ascertained that it purported to be the spirit of a man who was murdered in that house by a person that had occupied it some years before; that he was a _pedler_, and that he was murdered for his money. To the question _how old he was_, there were _thirty-one_ distinct raps. By the same means it was ascertained that he was a married man, and had left a wife and five children; that his wife had been dead two years.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a historical account assembled under the reporting and publishing conventions of its period. It may preserve testimony, hearsay, retelling and editorial interpretation together.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

A modern comparison can identify recurring descriptions and possible explanations, but the account is not treated as independently verified evidence merely because it appeared in print.

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