প্ল্যানচেট (Planchet) / Mediumship - A perspective

 “IT WAS NOT SUICIDE, I WAS MURDERED!”

How many times have we seen in a movie or read in a book (the quintessential Bengali will remember in the popular Felu Da narratives) wherein in an eerie setting of a chilly dark room, a dim candle on a table, surrounded by a few excited and nervous people; the DEAD comes back with a bang! The fear and the possibility of the unknown excites and thrills us!

Human Being’s unending curiosity is one the traits which defines as well as separates us from other species in the planet. The urge to know and discover has taken us places, and situations, seemingly where imaginations and science converge!

Most religions have instructions pertaining to how we live and conduct our lives and few also have deciphered the journey beyond; Reincarnation / Nirvana / Moksha are all phases of the “life after death”. The concept of soul / spirit has also been mentioned in many religions which describes the fact that the human body is just a cloak and the true self is that one “thing” which crosses even death; carries on in the journey.

It’s the concept of contacting these spirits of the dead through mental and physical mediums is called প্ল্যানচেট or Mediumship. The spirit operator (person who’s conducting the ritual), through a medium (with whom the spirit will communicate) and a spirit guide (little guides who acts as messengers to locate friendly spirits) locates the friendly spirit who chooses to communicate. Normally the communication is through:

Mental Mediumship: communication by the spirit with the medium through telepathy.

Trance Mediumship: communication by the spirit using the medium’s mind to communicate in the form of verbal or written messages; in a typical deep trance the medium doesn’t fully remember their action.

Physical Mediumship: communication by the spirit in the form of physical manifestations, such as loud raps or noises, movement of objects etc.; this communication is achieved through manipulation of energy systems by spirits.

Direct Voice: communication by the spirit is independent of the medium; normally “trumpets” are used to amplify the communication.

Channeling: communication by the spirit is in two ways; one way is through “clairaudience” – wherein the medium hears the spirits and relays the message and the other is through the spirit entering and controlling of the body of the medium; the medium’s soul leaves his body allowing the spirit to enter.

The first documented attempt to communicate with the dead is mentioned in the Jewish treatise: “Books of Samuel”, wherein the Witch of Endor raises the spirit of Samuel (Prophet) on the request of King Saul to answer his questions on upcoming battles.

In the nineteenth & early twentieth century, “Spiritism” or “Mediumship” gained popularity with the Fox Sisters in New York, Pascal Beverly Randolph, Emma Hardinge Britten, Eusapia Palladino practicing and documenting the various aspects of the craft. It’s surprising to note that many celebrated scientists (Nobel Laureate Pierre Curie), authors (Sherlock Homes creator: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), physicists and people from many walks of life took interest and it manifested in the craft getting wide cognizance and popularity.

However, in the twentieth century, many of these mediumship acts were found to be frauds or being conducted with magic tricks – which gradually defamed the entire concept. As per the latest reports, sting operations conducted increasingly revealed that the claims of mediumship has been carried out with the help of tricks and technology.

 Mr Gary Schwartz of The Laboratory of Advances in Consciousness & Health in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona conducted research and concluded that: the consciousness (identity / soul?) of a person survives physical death; but couldn’t offer conclusive evidence.

Science has always summarized based on facts and proof, which is not ideal in the case of mediumship; however, till today there are few aspects which science is yet to explain and in that very small “grey” area – beliefs, crafts and practices like প্ল্যানচেট sustains and continues to make us wonder!

 

Source:            Wikipedia and Google

 

Disclaimer:      The above prose doesn’t reflect the belief of the author, as his mental acumen isn’t capable enough to think beyond the living and enjoying the simple pleasures of life! Much love and sunshine to you all.