How to Talk To Ghosts With Automatic Writing and Drawing

Automatic writing with a planchette, artist unknown.

Here is a basic overview of automatic writing and drawing from the recent seance workshop in Richmond, Va: 

1. You can use either cursive or print.
2. You may chose to look or not look at the page.
3. Some recommend doing something in addition to writing while you
practice to occupy your left brain, (have a conversation, watch t.v.,
etc.)

To practice automatic writing:

Just put pen to paper and, without thinking about it, move your had as if you were writing. Some recommend that you do this as quickly as you can, I've had better result with doing it somewhat slowly or a little slower than normal writing speed, try both ways.

Stop when it feels natural to stop. If you catch yourself losing focus at some point/losing track or flow, choose a letter beforehand to then begin the next sentence with each time that happens. Always use the same letter so that you can identify where you did so later on.

Go back over what you've written and circle words that have formed. It  helps to have someone else look at it too. I've also definitely found (usually obvious) words each time I've looked back over it - so def. look at it again.

It's ideal to write the date, time, location and method of automatic writing at the top of the page each time you do it. (Method meaning whether cursive or print, looking or not, doing something else or not etc).

Automatic drawing works the same way, the difference being that you draw rather than write.

You can also do this with a computer keyboard, (for me that works better/it's what I've always done). I've also found that adding bibliomancy, (open a book at random, putting your finger on a word at a time without looking), is extremely effective. Write the words your finger lands on on a different page, noting that that's what you're doing.

After the first few times that you do this/once you've gotten the hang of it, start focusing beforehand on a specific person you would like to talk to. Write ____________ are you here? Then attempt to answer with automatic writing. You can then write a series of questions and seek answers the same way.

It is NORMAL for automatic writing sessions to sometimes be scary/ disturbing. If this happens, think of it as working in a similar way that nightmares do - they can sometimes be completely incredible, made up of images we would normally not even think of. Automatic writing is similar, words are coming from your subconscious to your conscious mind, just as images do in dreams. If you feel uncomfortable stop. The next time you try it, vary the method and see if doing it another way works better for you.