Crossword clues for planchette
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Planchette \Plan`chette"\, n. [F. See Planchet.]
A circumferentor. See Circumferentor.
A small tablet of wood supported on casters and having a pencil attached. The characters produced by the pencil on paper, while the hand rests on the instrument and it is allowed to move, are sometimes translated as of oracular or supernatural import.
Wiktionary
n. 1 A small plank. 2 (context spiritualism English) A type of Ouija board. (A small tablet of wood supported on casters and having a pencil attached. The characters produced by the pencil on paper, while the hand rests on the instrument and it is allowed to move, are sometimes interpreted as of oracular or supernatural import.) 3 A plane-table. 4 (context chiefly Canada English) circular, colored dots pressed into paper money, used to distinguish authentic currency from counterfeit currency.
WordNet
n. a triangular board supported on casters; when lightly touched with the fingertips it is supposed to spell out supernatural (or unconscious) messages
Wikipedia
A planchette ( or ), from the French for "little plank", is a small, usually heart-shaped flat piece of wood equipped with two wheeled castors and a pencil-holding aperture, used to facilitate automatic writing. The use of planchettes to produce mysterious written messages gave rise to the belief that the devices foster communication with spirits as a form of mediumship. The devices were popular in séances during the Victorian era, before their eventual evolution into the simpler, non-writing pointing devices for talking boards that eclipsed the popularity of their original form. Paranormal advocates believe the planchette is moved by the presence of spirits or some form of subtle energy, while skeptics allege the motion is due to the ideomotor effect.
Planchettes took on a variety of forms during the height of their popularity. American planchettes were traditionally heart- or shield-shaped, but manufacturers produced a wide range of shapes and sizes hoping to distinguish themselves in the highly competitive and profitable market of the devices' late-1860s heyday. Manufacturers espoused the wonders and benefits of different materials (including various hardwoods, India rubber, and even glass), insulated castors, and various attachments meant to "charge" the devices or insulate the user from malevolent spirits. In Great Britain, planchettes took on the classical shapes popularized in early illustrations and newspaper depictions, with round, blunt noses and flat backs. Regardless of their shape or country of origin, almost all planchettes were equipped with brass castors and small wheels of bone or plastic, and their sometimes lavishly illustrated boxes were often packed with blank parchment, pencils, ouija-like folding letter sheets, and esoteric instructions espousing the mysterious communicative powers of the items.
Though planchettes experienced great surges of popularity in Victorian times, in modern usage the term is most commonly associated with the heart-shaped pointers for Ouija or "talking boards." Rather than writing, these devices "dictate" messages by pointing to the board's printed letters and numbers. As writing planchettes were popularized during the beginning of the Spiritualism movement of the mid-19th century, planchettes predate the popularization of talking boards by nearly four decades.
Usage examples of "planchette".
Marilena had the sense that Reiche Planchette might assume that she was as far down the road in her thinking as was Viviana, and that made her want to settle things in her own heart and mind before the meeting.
Marilena did not, however, sit and take it when Planchette attempted to sway her with an academic argument in which he was nowhere near as adept as she.
And despite the protestations of Viviana Ivinisova and Reiche Planchette, there was conflict in the spiritual realm.
And Viv had recently met with Reiche Planchette and begun to advertise and teach classes in the Cluj area.
Marilena would not argue that point, but she would never concede Nicky to Planchette, even if she had given her word about his spiritual training.
Reiche Planchette had tried to influence her raising of Nicolae from the beginning, but he had bothered to get to the cottage only once since the boy was born.
But now Planchette had requested an audience with her, and Marilena was already regretting acceding to it.
Marilena found it disconcerting that Viv busied herself in the kitchen as Planchette explained the Stonagal connection.
As she sat across from Reiche Planchette, she realized the awful truth.
She had insinuated that she could pull rank, could have Reiche Planchette arbitrate differences, that she was in a privileged position that made Marilena feel like a mere means to an end.
How she wished that either her son or her longtime friend would be thoughtful enough to help her from the car, into the cottage, into her bed so she could relax before Planchette arrived.
Would the association, Planchette, and his minions allow her to stay here at all?
She should pick it up, hang it up, try Planchette again, leave a message for the vicar, call the hospital.
Across from him, Jake stiffened, and the planchette twitched beneath their fingers.
Dana could ask her next question, however, the planchette began spinning aimlessly around the board for a moment before moving on to spell another new word.