Table-Tilting
A form of psychic phenomena in which a table rotates, tilts, or rises completely off the ground by the mere contact of the fingertips of an individual or group of individuals. In exceptional cases tables have been known to move or even levitate without direct contact. The familiar form of séance in table-turning is that in which the sitters place their fingertips on the table; then the table moves without conscious exercise of muscular force. By relating the raps or tilts of the table to the alphabet it becomes possible to receive intelligent messages.
Dr. Michael ("Magic Mike") LIkey Performing The Floating Table
Mandrake Performing The Floating Table
Anderson Performing The Floating Table
History
Nandor Fodor described table tipping, or table turning, as “the crudest form of communication with the
subconscious self or with extraneous intelligences.” Yet tables have been used since antiquity for purposes of
divination. Ammianus Marcellinus (330–395 CE), the author of a history of the Roman Empire, described a
table with a slab engraved with the letters of the alphabet, above which a ring was suspended from a thread.
The ring would swing to a succession of letters and spell out words. However, table tipping was a little different
from this and became very popular with the advent of Spiritualism in the mid-nineteenth century.
When table tipping is done with a medium—especially one known for physical phenomena—it is not unknown for the table to not only tip but to levitate. There are many photographs, taken in infrared light, showing such levitation. Some of the photographs also show the ectoplasmic “rods” that emerge from the
medium to do the lifting. Of his experiments with the medium Eusapia Paladino, the psychical researcher
Hereward Carrington said that the table appeared to be somehow alive, “like the back of a dog.” Paladino
insisted on a table that was built entirely of wood, having no metal in it. She considered soft pinewood the best material. Rather than metal nails, the table should be fastened with wooden pegs. However, other mediums have no problem with metal, some modern circles even using metal folding card tables.
Although most table tipping séances are principally to communicate with the spirits of departed loved ones, they can also be for purposes of divination; to find out about future possibilities.
In his book Psychic Force, Gambier Bolton wrote of the medium Florence Cook,
During any meal with Mrs. Elgie Corner (Florence Cook), in one’s own house, and whilst she herself is engaged
in eating and drinking—both of her hands being visible all the time—the heavy dining table will commence first to quiver, setting all the glasses shaking, and plates, knives, forks and spoons in motion, and then to rock and sway from side to side, occasionally going so far as to tilt up at one end or at one side; and all the time raps and tappings will be heard in the table and in many different parts of the
room. Taking a meal with her in a public restaurant is a somewhat serious matter.
Sources:
Bolton, Gambier: Psychic Force: An Investigation of a Little-Known Power. London: Spiritualists’ National Union, 1897
Buckland, Raymond: Buckland’s Book of Spirit Communications. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 2004
Fodor, Nandor: Encyclopedia of Psychic Science. London: Arthurs Press, 1933
Owens, Elizabeth: How to Communicate With Spirits. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 2002
Spence, Lewis: An Encyclopedia of the Occult. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1920
subconscious self or with extraneous intelligences.” Yet tables have been used since antiquity for purposes of
divination. Ammianus Marcellinus (330–395 CE), the author of a history of the Roman Empire, described a
table with a slab engraved with the letters of the alphabet, above which a ring was suspended from a thread.
The ring would swing to a succession of letters and spell out words. However, table tipping was a little different
from this and became very popular with the advent of Spiritualism in the mid-nineteenth century.
When table tipping is done with a medium—especially one known for physical phenomena—it is not unknown for the table to not only tip but to levitate. There are many photographs, taken in infrared light, showing such levitation. Some of the photographs also show the ectoplasmic “rods” that emerge from the
medium to do the lifting. Of his experiments with the medium Eusapia Paladino, the psychical researcher
Hereward Carrington said that the table appeared to be somehow alive, “like the back of a dog.” Paladino
insisted on a table that was built entirely of wood, having no metal in it. She considered soft pinewood the best material. Rather than metal nails, the table should be fastened with wooden pegs. However, other mediums have no problem with metal, some modern circles even using metal folding card tables.
Although most table tipping séances are principally to communicate with the spirits of departed loved ones, they can also be for purposes of divination; to find out about future possibilities.
In his book Psychic Force, Gambier Bolton wrote of the medium Florence Cook,
During any meal with Mrs. Elgie Corner (Florence Cook), in one’s own house, and whilst she herself is engaged
in eating and drinking—both of her hands being visible all the time—the heavy dining table will commence first to quiver, setting all the glasses shaking, and plates, knives, forks and spoons in motion, and then to rock and sway from side to side, occasionally going so far as to tilt up at one end or at one side; and all the time raps and tappings will be heard in the table and in many different parts of the
room. Taking a meal with her in a public restaurant is a somewhat serious matter.
Sources:
Bolton, Gambier: Psychic Force: An Investigation of a Little-Known Power. London: Spiritualists’ National Union, 1897
Buckland, Raymond: Buckland’s Book of Spirit Communications. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 2004
Fodor, Nandor: Encyclopedia of Psychic Science. London: Arthurs Press, 1933
Owens, Elizabeth: How to Communicate With Spirits. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 2002
Spence, Lewis: An Encyclopedia of the Occult. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1920
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