Whispers in the Dark Trivia Quiz

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was an avid believer in the supernatural. Shortly after moving into the White House, the 11 year old son of the President and First Lady died, plunging both of them into depression or melancholia. In 1863 the "Boston Gazette" published an article written by one of their correspondents who was present at one of these sittings.

It is thought that Abraham Lincoln found the idea of seances to be a novelty, as did many other members of society. His wife, however, truly believed that she was in contact with their deceased son. For the rest of her life, when her health permitted it, she visited mediums in the firm belief she was in contact with both her son and her then-deceased husband.

Answer: Spiritualism

Spiritualism originated in the English-speaking countries in the mid-19th century. Communicating with the deceased was a central part of this belief system. Interestingly, most of the followers of Spiritualism were from the middle and upper classes. The use of human psychology was very evident, and very successful.

It was also a belief system that allowed women to play a larger role than most of the other accepted belief systems found in the Judeo-Christian religions.

Answer: Ouija boards

Spirit boards, also known as Ouija boards, were commonly used by mediums who were intent on convincing their clients that they were communicating with the dead. The board contained letters, numbers, and a few simple words, such as "yes" and "no". A small pointer, called a planchette, was used with the board. All participants were instructed to put a finger on the planchette but were told not to use put any pressure on the device.

The medium would then direct a question to the "spirit" who would answer the question by using its power to move the planchette to letters, spelling out the answer to the question. Because all participants, including the medium, had a finger on the planchette, it was very easy for the medium to spell out whatever answer they wished.

Answer: The Seybert Commission

The Seybert commission was a group of scholars from the University of Pennsylvania who undertook to prove or disprove the practice of spiritualism and seances. They studied all of the common practices used to "communicate with the dead" before coming up with their answer.

After years of attending seances and visits with influential mediums, the commission claimed to have uncovered fraud in every case and person that they examined. What is most ironic about the Seybert Commission is that is was paid for by Henry Seybert, an influential Spiritualist from Philadelphia, who had left the school $60,000 to be used for the impartial study of belief systems, including and particularly the study of Spiritualism.

Answer: Automatic writing

Automatic writing was very easy to do, needing nothing more than a pen/pencil and a piece of paper. Also needed was proper room decor, a medium with a charismatic personality, personal information about the client and/or deceased, and a vulnerable clientele. Questions were often written down by clients and given to the medium, who then went into a trance-like state.

The idea was that the medium was a channel for the spirits to send their answers from the other dimension. Often answers would be written in symbols not found in local alphabets.

While automatic writing was usually used for short notes or letters, it was also claimed by some that entire books could be written in this manner. Examples of this are "A Course in Miracles" (1975) and "Conversations with God" (1996) both of which were authored by writers who claimed automatic writing was used.

Answer: Photography

"Spirit photography" became popular in the 1860's with the growing use of photography. Spirit photography was usually an image made by double exposure of a negative. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a true believer in spirit photography, and gave very vocal public support for the practice. Most of these images were photos of a client onto which an image made from an earlier photo was exposed onto it.

When an earlier photo was not available, the image of a ghostly entity would be used.

Answer: The Fox sisters

New York sisters, Leah, Maggie and Kate Fox were prominent mediums for over 30 years. They used "rapping" or knocking on wood to convince their clientele that they were in contact with deceased loved ones. In 1888, Maggie admitted that they whole thing had been a fraud.

Despite the thousands of dollars these women made while posing as mediums, they died penniless. It was believed that the sisters hid clappers made of wood beneath their voluminous skirts using them to make noises that usually answered yes or no questions.

Answer: Ectoplasm

Ectoplasm was the substance that was seen to ooze from the orifices of mediums while they were in a trance. It was only seen in a darkened room, and could take on a variety of appearances. Sometimes it was gelatinous, sometimes gaseous, and at other times had a solid appearance. Sometimes the use of scented oil was used in conjunction with the production of ectoplasm to heighten the effect.

A good medium would make use of all the human senses to make his abilities more believable.

Answer: True

As odd as it might sound, this is true. Thomas Bradford and his accomplice Ruth Doran believed they could prove to the world that communication with the dead was real. The idea was that Bradford would kill himself and then communicate with Doran once he had made it to the domain known as the afterlife. (There are many other terms for this hypothetical location). Bradford killed himself by blowing out the pilot light on his heater and turning on the gas.

The "New York Times" reported on the story and followed a few months later with an article advising that Mr. Bradford had never contacted Ms. Doran, it was headlined "Dead Spiritualist Silent".

Answer: False

Spiritualism still exists, although it now resembles most other religions found in the English speaking world. While they still promote the ability of mediums to make contact with the deceased, they have rid themselves of the flamboyance of early practitioners.

There are Spiritualist churches in Canada, England, Australia and the U.S. Most members truly believe that contact with the dead does occurr, and their main objective is not to defraud others who are vulnerable. It is just another of the myriad of belief systems found in today's world.