Planchette

Do you believe in spirits? Do you believe that we can communicate with these spirits? Do you believe that these spirits can provide useful knowledge and guidance?

What tools might allow you to reach across the dimensional mists to the afterlife? A planchette, perhaps.

In the Victorian Era, the new fad of spiritualism swept through the darkened parlors of America as mediums attempted to communicate with the dead through strange thumps and movements of the séance table. As spiritualism spread to Europe, the planchette, meaning "little plank."

The idea was to create a small, flat, heart-shaped piece of wood on wheeled castors with an aperture for holding a pencil. Participants in the séance would lightly touch the planchette, and the spirits would write out the messages.

Sometimes this "automatic writing" was garbled, but planchettes became wildly popular as "do-it-yourself" devices that didn't need a medium to get answers from beyond.

Elegantly varnished boards with stenciled letters arching across the front were a fast, efficient way to spell out messages from the spirit world. With its aperture, the planchette can display each letter rather than always using an upright pencil.

Scientists claim that the planchette moves due to the "idiometer response" -- a muscle reflex prompted by the subconscious without the participants being aware of their movements. But, of course, the true believers claim that spirits are indeed summoned by the board, and every session must be properly ended with "goodbye" to close this portal.

Whether you are a seeker of spirit guides or simply fascinated by this mysterious little device -- and its prominent place in popular culture and movies -- you will undoubtedly love our OHM PLANCHETTE bead.

Beautifully etched, this elegant little silver heart-shaped spacer will add a touch of mysticism and the thrill of unknown possibilities to your bracelet.

Like that flying saucer poster on a certain FBI agent's office wall said, "We want to believe."