Research source

When the requisite preparation is made, there is no need of consulting the spirits at all, in order to secure…

Date of account: Published 1857
Source: The Spirit Land
Reference: The Spirit Land · selected passage 131
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

When the requisite preparation is made, there is no need of consulting the spirits at all, in order to secure answers

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

When the requisite preparation is made, there is no need of consulting the spirits at all, in order to secure answers. You may consult with the chairs or the table just as well. This experiment was tried, not long since, at Wilmington, Vermont. A Mr. Kellogg was the medium, and he had succeeded in consulting the spirits to the satisfaction of all concerned. At length he remarked that he was about to let the company into an important secret. 'We will interrogate the _table_,' said he, 'and have nothing more to do with spirits.' He did so; and the _table talked and answered, just as the spirits had done before_. At the same time the table was made to stand on one leg, and to move about, as is usual in such cases. This experiment demonstrated, to the satisfaction of all present, that the strange appearances could be produced just as well without the spirits as with them.

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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