Fox Sisters' Spirit Table

The Fox sisters were three sisters from New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism. The three sisters were Leah Fox (1814–1890), Margaret Fox (also called Maggie) (1833–1893) and Kate Fox (1837–1892). The two younger sisters used "rappings" to convince their much older sister and others that they were communicating with spirits. Their older sister then took charge of them and managed their careers for some time. They all enjoyed success as mediums for many years. The word "seance" is not used in We Hear the Dead.  The Fox Sisters always called their rapping sessions "spirit circles."  The term seance did not come into use until several decades later.  Nevertheless, Leah Fish transformed the earlier, crude rapping sessions begun by Maggie and Kate into the experience that is generally known as a seance today.  Clients and spirit medium would sit around a table in a darkened room, hands resting upon the table in full sight.  The medium might descend into a trance state, and soon messages from beyond the grave would arrive in the form of knocking sounds or in spirit messages written by the medium's hand.  Ghostly phenomena such as ringing bells, puffs of air, and luminous lights might occur.  The table would rock, move, and tip.  Leah Fish also developed an early version of the Ouija board, on which she painted letters and numbers to enable the spirits to better deliver their messages.