Knowra Automatic writing Automatic writing Automatic writing is the practice of producing written words while deliberately reducing conscious direction. Spiritualists have used it to claim communication with spirits, while Surrealists used it to explore unconscious thought.
Trance : A state of altered awareness marked by narrowed attention and reduced responsiveness to surroundings. Some practitioners describe automatic writing as occurring during a trance state.
Spiritualism : A religious movement based on the belief that the living can communicate with the spirits of the dead. Automatic writing became one method Spiritualists used to seek messages from spirits.
Surrealist automatism : A Surrealist method of creating art or writing with minimal conscious planning and censorship. It turned automatic writing into a deliberate avant-garde technique rather than solely a mediumistic practice.
Stream of consciousness : A narrative technique that represents the continuous flow of a character's thoughts and perceptions. Unlike automatic writing, it is a crafted literary representation, not necessarily writing without conscious control.
Ideomotor phenomenon : Unconscious, small muscular movements that can produce actions without a person's awareness of initiating them. It offers a psychological account of writing movements attributed to external spirits.
Fox sisters : Maggie and Kate Fox were American sisters whose reported spirit communications helped launch modern Spiritualism in 1848. Their séances helped popularize the movement in which mediumistic writing developed.
Mediumship : The claimed ability to communicate with spirits or transmit their messages. Automatic writing is one form of mediumship, alongside speech and other claimed channels.
Diary : A personal record of experiences, thoughts, or events, usually written regularly. Diary writing typically involves deliberate recollection and selection rather than suspended editorial control.
Free association : A method of expressing thoughts as they arise, without deliberate selection or censorship. Both practices loosen deliberate control, though free association need not involve involuntary movement.
Allan Kardec : A French educator who codified Spiritism, a doctrine based on communication with spirits, in the nineteenth century. Kardec described mediumistic writing as a means of receiving spirit communications.
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