The Purpose of a physical circle is for one thing and one thing only. That is for the development of physical phenomena. No clairaudience, no clairvoyance no clair anything should be practised, mental mediumship is banned. The time and place must be convenient to all sitters, and absence held to a bare minimum. Holidays and sickness must be accepted, but nothing else, otherwise the offending sitters commitment must be held in question. If their absence is continual, they should be replaced. Dedication and harmony are paramount to success.
There should be minimal disturbances from outside noise. Clocks should be kept out of the seance room and alarms, doorbells and telephones disabled. The presence of pets or children in the building can be somewhat of a distraction as well as disruptive. Some circles work despite these factors.
A newly formed circle does not need a recognised physical medium. However, if you have one, your circle will be off to a flying start. If you haven't, don't worry, the spirit communicators may in due course select one of your circle members as the medium and the others must then sit for that persons development. However, this might not happen and phenomena may still occur without the medium being identified. If any of your sitters can not accept the choice made by the spirit communicators, then they must leave the circle.
The choice of sitters is extremely important. You must chose people with whom you feel completely at ease, and if you are in any doubt about the suitability of a person, the rule is simple, DO NOT INVITE THEM, not only will you be wasting everyone's time, but it may cause bad feeling if you have to ask them to leave.
Always meet new sitters on an informal basis, where possible give them the experience of sitting in a completely darkened room. Many people think that they know what it will be like until they actually try it and in actual blacked out conditions when you can't see your hand in front of you. Always ensure that you invite new sitters on a trial period only of not more than four weeks. Should either party feel that its not quite right, they can leave without causing ill feeling.
It must be made clear to all sitters that the circle is a closed circle and not open to visitors, until the circle spirit controls give permission.
The size of the circle will vary in accordance with the availability of suitable sitters, but at least five people should be enough to produce some phenomena. Less than this and it will be unlikely that you will be able to generate enough energy, unless a powerful medium is among your numbers. Seven is an ideal number but, should also be considered a maximum. It is considered that more than seven sitters would produce a distinct possibility of disharmony and absenteeism may occur. Odd number are thought to be the best, but having the right people is more important as harmony is of the utmost importance. Harmony is the essential ingredient of any physical circle, without which development will be impossible.
The room must be large enough for the number of sitter selected allowing you to sit in reasonable comfort. Ideally, the room would be used for nothing else other than your seance work, but circles that can achieve this are rare.
The seance room should be cleaned before each sitting, particularly if ectoplasm is likely to be produced, as when this returns to the medium, it is likely to take any debris that is left on the floor, with it. Small items such as cotton, buttons, pins etc must be removed. This is one good reason for only using the room for seance work.
The blackout should be absolute and completed in good time prior to the sitting. Another good reason to have a dedicated room. (Achieving a Blackout tips, can be found at the end of this section.) The room should be comfortable and reasonably warm. As with any physical circle the temperature may drop considerably, especially from floor to knee height. Central heating radiators are ideal. but what should be remembered is that any heat sources should show no light, not even as small as a little red dot when in standby mode.
The atmosphere in a small room may get stuffy, which is one reason why sitters should bath or shower before attending circle. Antiperspirants may be used but they should be the unperfumed type, as it would be difficult to distinguish them from those smells or scents created by spirit.
Ionisers may help to purify the atmosphere.
Initially no lighting will be required, as nearly all physical circles are held in total darkness, unless instructed to have some by the spirit controls of the circle. Although some transitional lighting from total blackout to full brightness is helpful. eg; the use of a small red light with a very low wattage operated through a dimmer switch would be of use. Later on the spirit controls may indicate that some dim red light can be used during a part of the sitting, but only when permission is given. (Always remember that sudden light can be extremely dangerous to the medium, whether it is red or white.
Seats should allow you to sit in an upright position with enough padding to ensure comfort for the duration of the sitting. Sitters should refrain from 'fidgeting' as much as possible as this in its self can be distracting. The medium, when he or she is identified, may need a chair with arms for support, particularly if the trance state is reached, or when it is found necessary to apply or prove restraint.
A bowl of water should be placed in the somewhere in the room, and sitters should be allowed a glass of water to drink. Fresh flowers and or pot plants have been though to be of some benefit.
Before the Sitting:
Sitters should arrive punctually; approximately 15 - 30 minutes before the commencement of the circle is ideal, giving little time to get involved in contraversial conversation. This period should be used to forget the cares of the day and get into the seance mood, "Happy and Harmonies". Please remember that HARMONY is the key word to success, coupled with the "Happy Party" type attitude. Negative chit chat is not advised as you will inevitably carry your negativity into your seance room.
Try and avoid a heavy meal within two hours of your starting time, and do NOT consume ANY alcohol during the day of your seance. It is common practice to provide snacks after the sitting to supplement the lighter refreshments taken earlier in the day.
Cleanliness is essential, unpleasent body odours will do little for the harmony. Loose, comfortable clothing should be worn with slippers or thick socks. It is also recommended that the same clothing be worn at every sitting as they become impregnated with life force energy in some way, this does not mean that they should not be washed, as washing is not believed to remove these life force impregnations.
All sitters should ensure their comfort by making a last trip to the bathroom before sitting. You should not be able to leave the seance room once the seance has began, or until its conclusion.
Any jewellery items likely to rattle or watches that may be luminous or beep should be left outside the seance room. Mobile phones should also be left outside the seance room and turned off.
During the Sitting:
Throughout the seance, sitters sitters should sit as upright as is comfortabbly possible with legs uncrossed and hands resting loosly on the lap. Nobady should move out of their place without first obtaining permission, or, by being instructed to do so by spirit controls of the circle. If there is an equal number of each sex, it is usual to seat them alternately.
When all are seated comfortably, it is most important to open your circle with a prayer. It does not need to have strong religious overtones or connotations, but be aware that we are reaching for the highest ideals and aspirations and with the greatest of respect for those oin the spirit world who will take the trouble to work with us. The prayer should express these ideals and ask for the development of physical phenomena only. It is also vital that you ask for protection from unwelcome entities of a lower order. Do NOT include thoughts for help for the sick and suffering as this might release energies that are needed during the sitting. You can do this in you closing prayer at the end of your seance when you need to dispel any surplus energies that are left after your seance. Many people are shy to give public prayer, and the circle leader should set the example in simplicity and sincerirty and later on all sitters may take place in a round robin, which helps to gain confirdence.
Nothing, however, should be done to impose tension or anxiety on any sitter. Often the opening and closing prayer are rotated among the circle members. Initially the circle members should hold hands. This might be just through the prayer or you can continue it during the singing, but it can not be sustained comfortably for long periods, without causing tension.
At the end of the opening prayer, the red light should be extinguished and the sitting should proceed in the dark. If the blackout has not been tested before hand, a few minutes should be spent becoming accustomed to the dark, and if any points of light are observed, they can be delt with straight away. However this should be completed before the commencement of the circle.
Singing of Songs:
The singing of cheerful songs accompanied by or supplemented by taped or CD music will create a helpful atmosphere. Examples of such songs can be found at the end of this section under the heading, "Recommended Song List". When you are not singing it is helpful to get involved in cheerful chatter, with no negative or critical discussion. Long silences may cause the energies to deplete. Look on the circle as a gathering of old friends who are enjoying each others company being in a happy and friendly attitude, a party mood which should be ,maintained throughout the seance. Remember though,the sound you make should not be to loud in case the sounds or voices from spirit visitors is drowned out.
Conclusion:
At all times keep the circle moving along, and to this end, you need to appoint a circle leader who will encourage not only sitters, but the spirit people trying to make their contacts. The atmosphere you are trying to achieve should be harmonious, relaxed but alert. This can not be over emphasized, Harmony is one condition that helps bring speedy results. Pleasant conversation and humour create these consditions, interspersed with singing and if you don't know the words, try humming, along with the music.
All contraversial subjects should be avoided at all costs. If an argument ensues, you might as well close the circle straight away.
Always close the circle with a prayer, give thanks to the spirit operators who have been working hard, even if you have seen no results and assure them of your continued commitment. During this closing prayer you can now offer healing thoughts asking spirit helpers to take what ever energies are left to those who require healing. To someone personally known by a member of your group or allowing spirit to take the energies to whereever they are needed most.
A note of warning; If at any time during your seance, you become aware of an abusive or unpleasant entity, or it is felt that "something" is wrong, the sitting should be brought to a conclusion immediately, informing the spirit operators of what you are doing and why. This will give them chance to withdraw any ectoplasm that is being used back to the medium. The light should then be brought up to full as soon as it is safe to do so.
It should be stressed that the presence of unpleasant entities at a seance is a very rare occurance. But it is better to be safe and prepared, rather than ignorant and unprepared of what action should be taken. Firstly adopt a positive attitude and tell the unwanted entity to leave, and that they are not welcome in your circle. Ask your spirit controls to remove this lost or troubled soul and guide them away from your circle and into the light of the spirit rhelms. The closing prayer should then ask for help to be given to this troubled spirit. Before sitting again, ensure that this entity has gone. If you have a problem then, get help from a medium who has experience in rescue work.
This is a selection of songs, that over the years has proven to have been helpful with the phenomena. This is not an exclusive list, and only a guide as many people no these songs, but many of your favourite songs will be just as effective. If you like Queen or Brian Adams or Doris Day, play their music, as long as everyong in your group enjoys the music, it will enhance the party attitude and blend the harmonies. Experiment with different tunes to see what works best for your circle.
Some people prefare to sing hymes, again the choice is yours as long as it brings joy, laughter and harmony.
During the singing you may get the feeling of cold riseing from the floor to the knee level. This is natural and an indication of the presence of spirit presence.
Achieving a blackout is easy if you can use the exclusively for seance work and don't mind what ficxings are used. In this case permanent shutters may be constructed with thick black polythene or even a frame build into the window frame and covered with hardboard and taped over the joints. Drawbacks are that loose paint and wallpaper can be stripped of if the screening has to come down.
The use of Velcro on blackout curtains, either stuck or pinned to the window or door frame, can be effective and unobtrusive. Velco strip can also be purchase in Black or White.
The use of blackout material pinned to a frame that fits with the window frame and edged with pipe insulation form would mean that the frame can be pushed into the window frame without any damage to paint or paper and is not permanent. (Storing these items might cause another problem.)
It is generally a case of trial and error and whether you are able to leave them in situ, or have to remove them after each seance. As long as you maintain a complete black out the methods are up to you.
If any member of the circle sees, hears or feels something which they believe to be abnormal, they should report what it is so that others may confirm whether they have experienced it also. A feeling of cobwebs over the face is common and indicates movement of power and maybe the formation of ectoplasm. If you should feel this do not touch your face.