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ECTOPLASM
The name ectoplasm is a rather quaint ‘throwback’ to
the Victorian area when the idea of 'Spiritualism' first
became popular. Mediums (often a elderly woman, assisted
by a younger man) would sit at a table, usually in a
darkened parlor, and accompanied by a number of willing
participants. They would all link hands and sit in awe
as the medium would suddenly fall into a trance and
begin to talk in a strange voice. And then, sometimes,
but not always, a strange grey, or white mist would
begin to exude from the medium. Sometimes this mist
would actually start to form into a person. And, more
often than not the person would be a dead relative of
one of the people sitting at the table. All sounds very
impressive! Unfortunately the vast majority of these
séances were fraudulent. The 'mist' often turned out to
be materials such as cotton wool, linen, cheesecloth, or
even double cream! Consequently, the notion that a
medium could produce ectoplasm during a séance was
considered with great suspicion.
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In parapsychology, ectoplasm is a
hypothetical form of dense bio-energy which is claimed
to make possible the materialization of ghosts and
psycho kinesis. Ectoplasm seems to be as a result of
localized electro-magnetic disturbance, which is in turn
caused by the presence of a paranormal entity.
As with the Orb phenomena, strange anomalies are being captured
in digital photographs. What is usually captured in these photos is
a mist like formation, grey/white in color, and sometimes containing
faces, or even taking on the shape of a person. It is thus easy to
see why it is being referred to as ectoplasm, as it has similar
characteristics to the 'Victorian séance' ectoplasm. But, rather
than being linked to, or produced by, a medium, this version is
simply photographed at a haunted location as if ‘hanging’ in the
air.
From that pale mist
Ghost swore to priest:
'There sits no higher court
Than man's red heart.'
Sylvia Plath, Dialog Between Ghost and Priest
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