Nonsense was also used at ancient Greek oracles to make spirits of the dead visible and audible to spectators. Lucian of Samosota poked fun at oracles of the dead and the exotic, meaningless nonsense that was used there to summon spirits. Lucian said that evokers of spirits uttered strange polysyllabic, foreign-sounding words that made no sense.
Using nonsense to summon the dead is also sometimes a theme of popular entertainment. For example, the movie Beetlejuice is a dark comedy about a haunting. In the movie, a medium called up spirits of the dead by uttering the following nonsensical combination of words:
Hands vermillion
Start of five
Bright cotillion
Ravens dive
Nightshade’s promise
Spirits strive
To the living
Let now the dead come alive.89
Incredible as it may seem, nonsense can actually be used successfully to induce visionary reunions with the deceased. I know because I re-created the ancient process. I guided hundreds of people through a procedure during which they experienced vivid, lifelike apparitions of their departed loved ones. The procedure I devised has been replicated by multiple independent investigators with the same remarkable results.90
I reconstructed this procedure by combing two sources. I read ancient historical and magic texts that describe how to evoke spirits of the deceased. I also studied archeological reports of excavating the most famous of the ancient Greek oracles of the dead. Putting those two sources of information together made it plain how the process worked.
Ancient historical and literary texts reveal that formulaic nonsense was a key component of procedures for preparing people’s minds for experiencing apparitions. Meanwhile, archeological findings showed that apparitions appeared in reflective surfaces such as mirrors, polished metal bowls, or pools of clear water. That detail uncovers a psychological principle involved in the operation of the oracle of the dead.
Gazing into the optical depth of a mirror, crystal ball, or pool of clear water often induces fantastical iridescent visions. Gazers report seeing majestic landscapes, mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers. They also report seeing faces of people moving around in complex settings such as inside buildings or on a street. The images appear lifelike, with essentially photographic reality. The images often have bright, beautiful, lively colors, and they appear and take on a life of their own irrespective of the gazer’s conscious volition. The images usually appear to be three-dimensional, and they move around on their own accord.
I constructed a simple apparitions chamber where people could experience realistic interactive visions of deceased loved ones. You can try this for yourself by following simple instructions.
exercise
Induce Visionary Reunions with the Deceased
Choose a small room, such as a well-ventilated walk-in closet. Paint the walls of the room flat black or cover the walls and ceiling of the room with a black fabric known as teeshot poplin.
Obtain a wall mirror the sides of which are about three or four feet in height and width. Place a comfortable chair on the floor about three feet in front of the mirror on the wall. Choose a chair with a back that reclines slightly backwards so that you can relax comfortably.
Position the mirror high enough on the wall so that you cannot see your reflection when looking upward from the chair. Obtain a small plug-in lamp with a little light bulb, say about the size of a ping pong ball or smaller and place the lamp behind the chair. You might add a rheostat (a dimmer switch) in the circuit and place the switch where you can easily reach it from the chair. That way, you can adjust the light in the darkened chamber to your own comfort level. This requires trial and error to achieve your optimal level.
That is all the physical apparatus you need to commune with your deceased relatives and friends. Completing a psychological and spiritual procedure is needed to prepare your mind for perceiving and interacting with spirits in your apparition chamber. Nonsense was an integral element of ancient techniques for calling up the spirits of the deceased. Choose some work of nonsense that speaks to you and strongly affects your consciousness. You might choose a favorite nonsense poem, for instance, or a particularly mind-bending book by Dr. Seuss. Keep the work of nonsense close at hand so that you can read it shortly before entering the apparition chamber.
Choose some deceased person known to you that you would like to see again. Call up your poignant memories of this person. Ask yourself what your most pleasant memories of this individual are and also reflect on the unpleasant memories, the conflicts, and any unfinished business. Looking at old photographs of the person might help. Take your time and go through the process thoughtfully, feeling the emotions.
If you are a loner and homebody like me, you might prefer to try this procedure by yourself. Otherwise, choose a friend to help you through the process. Your friend can ask you questions about the deceased person you want to see. That will stir up your memories and feelings about your relationship with your deceased loved one. Don’t hurry and don’t skip any steps.
Continue the process of reflection until you have brought your memories and feelings about your deceased loved one vividly before your mind. Then read aloud the work of nonsense that you selected. That will help shift your consciousness to a state in which you can more readily perceive and experience apparitions of the deceased.
Once you have completed all those steps, enter your darkened apparition chamber and sit down. Switch on the light and adjust the illumination with the dimmer switch. Get comfortable in the chair and relax deeply. Gaze into the depths of the mirror and let the memories and feelings you experienced during the preparation process flow through your mind.
Plan to spend at least an hour in the chamber during your first attempt. People who experience apparitions often say that they first see clouds, fog, or mists form in the mirror. More defined images or visions then appear. Some people say that a three-dimensional vision of their departed relative or friend forms in the mirror. Others say that the apparition then steps out of the mirror and emerges into the room. Yet others say that their consciousness goes through the mirror into a parallel reality where they meet departed loved ones.
About 30 percent of subjects report hearing the audible voice of the deceased during their experience. Almost all the rest report experiencing heart-to-heart or mind-to-mind communication or conversations with their loved ones. Most report a vivid sense of presence of their loved ones during the encounter.
My book Reunions (Villard Publishers, 1993) covers my research in greater detail. Classical scholar Daniel Ogden’s book Greek and Roman Necromancy (Princeton University Press, 2001) is a fascinating history of oracles of the dead. Ogden’s book discusses how evocation of the deceased influenced the origins of Western thought in ancient Greek philosophy.
Nonsense as a Comedic Gateway
Nonsense has been used in jokes, cartoons, and songs to denote the entrance into a world beyond death. The idea of nonsense at the gateway between this life and the next life is also a familiar theme of popular entertainment. Singer Shirley Ellis’s “The Clapping Song” was a hit in the 1950s. The song combined a nonsense chant with hand clapping. People in the audience would clap their hands in a certain sequence in time with the singer’s words and music. Again, here is an example of nonsense chanted by a group, along with physical activity, to forge or strengthen social bonds.