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ectoplasm

I’ve wanted to post these photos for a long time, but was never quite sure how to present them. As this site continues down its week of the bizarre, I thought today would be a good opportunity.

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Spiritualism reached its height of popularity in the United States between the Civil War and World War II. The tremendous pain of loss coupled with the nearly limitless promises of science, opened the mind to all sorts of new ideas.

If the electrical energy emitted through a radio frequency could carry a human voice through the ether, why couldn’t it also tune into the spirit world? If a camera could capture a moment in time, why couldn’t it be adjusted to photograph angels or ghosts? In the early days, the power of scientific discovery supported religious claims and was believed by many to have the ability to eventually prove them.

It was a hopeful and deeply interesting time that I find endlessly fascinating. Anything was possible and little was discounted as beyond the limits of reality.

But there were also a lot of frauds.

By the 20th century, the fad of ectoplasm was popular in the spiritualist community. Many photographs of mediums producing this “spiritual substance” were made and distributed. What look today like crude Photoshop jobs, or just clear fabric-ation. (sorry) were accepted by many as legitimate proof of the spiritual realm. Either way, I love these photos and regardless of their authenticity, think that they deserve a look.

Here are a few. Google can produce many, many more: