![]() Some accounts claim that ectoplasm begins clear and almost invisible, but darkens and becomes visible as the psychic energy becomes stronger. This material is excreted as a gauze-like substance from orifices on the medium's body and spiritual entities are said to drape this substance over their nonphysical body, enabling them to interact in the physical and real universe. In spiritualism, ectoplasm is said to be formed by physical mediums when in a trance state. ![]() Although the term is widespread in popular culture, there is no scientific evidence that ectoplasm exists and many purported examples were exposed as hoaxes fashioned from cheesecloth, gauze or other natural substances. It was coined in 1894 by psychical researcher Charles Richet. Early theorists of religion might have placed a line between the sacred and the profane, but the daguerreotype here questions that line and asks questions of permeability.Ectoplasm (from Greek ektos 'outside' and plasma 'something formed or molded') is a term used in spiritualism to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums. This object lesson then invites us to consider the utterly mundane as part of American religion. The table rather than the patriarchal pulpit. Tables were an important component of Spiritualism. This woman sat touching a copy of a trance speaker’s work sitting atop a simple table. However, the table looks significant here. A simple table does not come to mind when asked for objects of American religion. What makes an object part of American religion? When we think of religious objects, we typically think of materials specifically made for use in religious settings or objects featuring overt religious imagery. The table, then, seems intentionally included in the image by the sitter, perhaps for simple comfort or perhaps for reasons more personal. But she could have also sat with the book in her lap or with her hands folded in her lap rather than having one resting on the table’s edge touching the book. And portraiture paintings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often featured objects of the home with their subjects to reflect class and personal interests. I’ve been told about the photography “rule of thirds” and the importance of orientation in an image. ![]() Maybe the photographer included it to create a more interesting image. Why the table next to her? Do tables tell us something about American religion? I would guess that the table had been at the photographer’s studio and likely featured in many daguerreotypes captured there. All that is speculation, but then again, object lessons ask questions of us and lead us to further questions still. This led her to seek out a photographer to capture the important moment in her life. ![]() Though it’s a creative leap, maybe she visited a medium, received a message from a loved one, read Davis’s work, felt closure, and wanted to commemorate the event. That with the text in question could signal a desire to reach through to the other side. Was the woman in mourning? Maybe, she appears to be in black. Furthermore, white women were the demographic most likely to engage Spiritualism in the nineteenth century. And so, the woman’s text was likely a copy of his 1847 book The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind, a book that became an important text for Spiritualists after the 1848 Rochester rappings. Andrew Jackson Davis, the famous Poughkeepsie seer and trance speaker, did not publish a book titled Revelations. Was the woman a Spiritualist? I think it’s likely. Who was she? Why that expression? Why that book? What prompted the visit to the photographer’s studio? Pursuit of these questions, despite the fact that I cannot know the answers, is not a fool’s errand. While I’ve not been able to hold the daguerreotype in my hands, feel its weight, trace my fingers along its frame, or smell it, it still fills my mind. This image provokes a series of reflections and further questions. I sometimes wonder if her face strikes me because it looks a bit like we could be related in some far-off manner.Īn object lesson encourages the student to consider the artefact in a variety of ways. She wore a refined dress in a dark color, trimmed with white lace, accompanied with jewelry. That text, a large cloth-bound volume, read “Revelations by A.J. The young woman, serious-faced, sat for her daguerreotype photograph next to a small table covered in an ornate cloth.
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