Some psychic mediums possess a truly special gift known as automatic writing, also known as psychography. Automatic writing is writing that occurs without the conscious intention of the person whose hand is doing the writing. Instead, the medium’s hand is guided by a spirit, passing a written message from the ethereal world to the mundane world. So automatic writing is a method of channeling the mind.
The origins of automatic writing
The earliest known examples of automatic writing occurred in China during the Song Dynasty, from 960 to 1279 AD. The Song Dynasty was one of the most advanced societies in the world during the Middle Ages. It was the first society to issue paper money to its citizens and manage banking at the local level. The Song dynasty may have been the first society to develop a compass that could indicate true magnetic north, the key to maritime navigation. This may have been why it was also the first company to establish a permanent navy for defense.
BUT…did this knowledge actually come from the academic studies of Chinese or was it revealed by the spirits? Is it simply a coincidence that the earliest records of automatic writing coincide with one of the fastest advances in knowledge in human history?
Academic pursuits were highly valued during the Song Dynasty. Mathematics, botany, geology, astrology/astronomy and philosophy were all actively studied, and it was a time of extraordinary vision and achievement. Knowledge expanded so rapidly during this period that many historians have wondered how this could have happened. What caused the sudden acceleration of knowledge? Some have postulated that the ideas may come from the minds through various forms of automatic writing. It is also thought that some of the knowledge attributed to the Greeks actually came from studying with Chinese monks who referred to these automatic writings and their subsequent revelations.
What is trance writing?
Trance writing is a form of automatic writing. In this form of automatic writing, the psychic medium enters a trance state in which she is not even aware that she is writing. The process is similar to the spirits guiding a clairvoyant’s hand on a Ouija board to spell words while in a trance. The resulting writing is usually cursive, but some trance writing is also printed. Psychics today sometimes use a keyboard to type a message obtained from the spirits while writing in a trance.
An intriguing example of automatic writing
Perhaps one of the most famous ghostwriters of all time was Pearl Lenore Curran. You see, Pearl was born in 1883, but she was the ghostwriter for a ghost who lived two centuries before her! The ghost’s name was Patience Worth, and from the visions Pearl received, it appeared that she had lived in England during the second half of the 17th century. She then emigrated to America, where she was murdered by Indians. Pearl was so impressed by this spirit that she named her daughter after her.
Channeling Patience, Pearl wrote several novels, plays, short stories, and more than 3,000 poems. Not only was Pearl a prolific writer, but her published works won awards and high reviews. One of her books was heralded by the New York Times as a “feat of literary composition.” Contemporary leading writers considered her a literary prodigy, as did scholars of the time.
It all started in 1913 when a friend of Peal convinced her to try out a Ouija board. She reluctantly did so, and that’s when Patience Worth contacted her for the first time. Initially through the Ouija board, and then through automatic writing, Patience’s literal talents shone brightly through Pearl. Several researchers tried to figure out how Pearl could do this. Some even thought she was a fraud, but no one could ever prove that this was the case.
it was all a big mystery as to how Pearl had suddenly acquired the ability to wax poetic. There was nothing special about Pearl’s life. She had not traveled abroad. She had been a below average student with little interest in school or learning. She hardly ever read books. Pearl was born in Illinois in 1883, but grew up in Texas. When she was 14, she moved to Missouri with her family. She performed so poorly on academic tests that they decided to give her a grade back. So there was no point in her suddenly becoming a literal genius.
How then could Pearl write with such refinement? Stylistically it just didn’t fit. She wrote about things she had no firsthand knowledge of, nor had she made any effort to read or research these topics. The only other explanation that seemed to fit was exactly what she explained so openly in interviews. The spirit of Patience Worth spoke to her and dictated the words. In her automatic writing, the words simply flowed into elegant prose and poetry. In many cases there were witnesses, including professors, who were amazed at her abilities.
This is the way it has been for many who have written great works through automatic writing. They simply write way ‘above their pay grade’. In some cases they write in languages they have never spoken or written before, that is, languages they do not even understand. For example, an English speaker who suddenly writes in Arabic characters, a language in which the alphabet is not even the same.
Automatic writing can and will sometimes produce shocking results.
Is automatic writing the same as free writing?
No, and there seems to be a lot of confusion about whether or not freewriting is the same as automatic writing. Freewriting encourages a person to continually write whatever comes to mind without pausing – absolutely without pausing and without erasing/deleting what has already been written. While writers usually take time to think about how ideas fit together and how each sentence is formed as they write, the goal of freewriting is to bring out a free flow of ideas, no matter how far-fetched, and to not having to worry about creating perfect sentences. Freewriting is essentially a form of brainstorming, except it is written in complete sentences.
However, the free flow of words on paper is where the similarities between free writing and automatic writing end. In freewriting, the words and ideas come from the writer’s mind and imagination. In contrast, the words and ideas expressed during automatic writing do not come from the writer, but rather from the mind that guides the writer’s hand. The writer, a psychic, simply acts as the medium through which the spirit communicates. So instead of the psychic speaking the spirit’s message, she is guided to write it down.
Interestingly, just as a psychic can adopt the spirit’s voice when communicating a message verbally, the writing produced during automatic writing can have a completely different tone than her normal writing tone. The handwriting can even be completely different.
Does automatic writing come from the subconscious?
Some people believe this is so. In this view, the ideas and words put down on paper during automatic writing come from the subconscious mind, without the intervention of the conscious mind which is full of distractions and may not have the same ability or imagination. However, it is also thought that both psychic revelation and psychic divination come from beings in the spirit world communicating with the subconscious mind.
Final thoughts
An ancient form of automatic writing that took place in China was called ‘fu chi’. The spirit would direct the medium’s hand to push a stick into the sand to write Chinese characters. It is believed that several paragraphs of the Taoist Daozang canons were transcribed by mediums under the guidance of the spirits into automatic writing.
The next time you go to the beach, you might want to try automatic writing. Find a piece of driftwood, or perhaps a pointed shell, and let the spirit guide your hand as you ‘scribble’ in the sand. Even if you don’t immediately recognize the meaning of what you write or draw, take a photo so you can refer to it later. You may be surprised when the true meaning of what the spirit tells you to write becomes known to you. It may even prove to have profound meaning in your life.
