Psychophony
Encyclopedia
Psychophony is the name given by Spiritism
and some other spiritualist traditions to the phenomenon where, according to them, a spirit
talks using the voice of a medium
.
Spiritist Doctrine
as codified by Allan Kardec
identifies two main classes of psychophony, to say, the "conscious" one and the "unconscious" one. The first one, as its name says, happens when the medium assures that he has mentally perceived or physically heard something that a spirit
said, having only used his voice to reproduce it. The second one occurs when the medium assures that he ignores what was said, suggesting that a spirit used his phonetic organs while he was unconscious. As happens with all sorts of classification, this one is useful only for didatic purposes. Most psychophony occurrences are neither 100% conscious nor 100% unconscious laying somewhere between the two classes.
In The Mediums' Book, Allan Kardec
calls unconscious psychophonic mediums "speaking mediums".
In 1971, Konstantin Raudive
wrote Breakthrough, detailing what he believed was the discovery of electronic voice phenomenon
(EVP). EVP, however, has been described as auditory pareidolia
.
Spiritism
Spiritism is a loose corpus of religious faiths having in common the general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a stricter sense, it is the religion, beliefs and practices of the people affiliated to the International Spiritist Union, based on the works of Allan Kardec and others...
and some other spiritualist traditions to the phenomenon where, according to them, a spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
talks using the voice of a medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
.
Spiritist Doctrine
Spiritism
Spiritism is a loose corpus of religious faiths having in common the general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a stricter sense, it is the religion, beliefs and practices of the people affiliated to the International Spiritist Union, based on the works of Allan Kardec and others...
as codified by Allan Kardec
Allan Kardec
Allan Kardec is the pen name of the French teacher and educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail . He is known today as the systematizer of Spiritism for which he laid the foundation with the five books of the Spiritist Codification.-Early life:Rivail was born in Lyon in 1804...
identifies two main classes of psychophony, to say, the "conscious" one and the "unconscious" one. The first one, as its name says, happens when the medium assures that he has mentally perceived or physically heard something that a spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
said, having only used his voice to reproduce it. The second one occurs when the medium assures that he ignores what was said, suggesting that a spirit used his phonetic organs while he was unconscious. As happens with all sorts of classification, this one is useful only for didatic purposes. Most psychophony occurrences are neither 100% conscious nor 100% unconscious laying somewhere between the two classes.
In The Mediums' Book, Allan Kardec
Allan Kardec
Allan Kardec is the pen name of the French teacher and educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail . He is known today as the systematizer of Spiritism for which he laid the foundation with the five books of the Spiritist Codification.-Early life:Rivail was born in Lyon in 1804...
calls unconscious psychophonic mediums "speaking mediums".
In 1971, Konstantin Raudive
Konstantin Raudive
Dr. Konstantīns Raudive was a Latvian writer and intellectual, and husband of Zenta Mauriņa. Raudive was born in Latvia but studied extensively abroad, later becoming a student of Carl Jung...
wrote Breakthrough, detailing what he believed was the discovery of electronic voice phenomenon
Electronic voice phenomenon
Electronic voice phenomena are electronically generated noises that resemble speech, but are not the result of intentional voice recordings or renderings. Common sources of EVP include static, stray radio transmissions, and background noise...
(EVP). EVP, however, has been described as auditory pareidolia
Pareidolia
Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse...
.