HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Today, I bring you the last spooky word of the season: séance.
If you watched Night of the Demon, then you saw a scene featuring a séance. Here is that scene…
So, “séance” is our spooky word of the week (and the last one until next year!)
A séance, of course, is an occult ritual in which a medium — a type of psychic — summons and attempts to communicate with the spirit of a dead person in order to relay messages to others seated alongside the medium, typically, at a table.
Sometimes, in a séance, participants may hear noises or a candle may flicker. It’s more rare for someone to “channel” and speak as if he or she was the departed loved one or other spirit. That is what you see in this scene.
Séances became popular in the mid-1800s with the birth of Spiritualism, a religious movement focused on communicating with the spirits of the dead.
Later, séances began to be conducted by psychics and other persons interested in the paranormal or the occult.
Séances were also used by charlatans who sought to defraud vulnerable, grieving people out of their money.
As you probably guessed, séance is a French word. According to Wikipedia, it comes from the French word, session, which is derived from seoir, an Old French word meaning “to sit.”
I hope you have the opportunity to view Night of the Demon today, if you haven’t seen it. Spirit board optional!
Autumn in Virginia 
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