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Josepher New user Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 90 Posts |
What's a Wordstick? How does it differ from Automatic Writing?
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Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4694 Posts |
Never heard of such a thing. You have a link?
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
PROF BC Inner circle 1445 Posts |
The use of a wordstick was employed in the nineteenth century to reveal, among other things, the 'true' author of Shakespeare's plays (insert disgusted sigh here). To discover hidden messages, one connects together words, or sometimes merely letters or syllables, between printed lines (usually from books but, later, sometimes from handwritten notes and letters left behind by the deceased); by following a predetermined pattern, cyphers could be adduced. The practice soon became a form of bibliomancy used to contact the dead and discover messages from beyond. In a sense, wordsticks operated a bit like the modern 'ghost box' that blurts out single words or phonemes to create a message from the other side.
One type of rudimentary wordstick (the type intended by the author) is when the first letter of each line connects vertically to create a word. The opening poem of Jonson's play, The Alchemist, for example, spells out that title when the first letters are read down the left-hand edge. Delia Bacon created an elaborate 'wordstick machine' in the mid-nineteenth century with long rolls of paper containing the complete works of Shakespeare in single-word columns that allowed her to 'crank out' any message from the bard she desired in order to 'prove' that her namesake, Sir Francis Bacon, actually wrote those works. (insert another disgusted sigh here). Delia Bacon died in an asylum for the mentally unstable. BC
Phasmologist
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Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4694 Posts |
That makes more sense. Thank you.
Sounds like an acrostic to me. I seem to remember that a similar technique was used extensively with the "Bible Code."
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
Bogbadger Special user England 626 Posts |
If I could meet the person who thought up the idea of the "ghost box" and the person who thought it might play a legitimate part in parapsychology they wouldn't need to decode the few choice words I would have for them!
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PROF BC Inner circle 1445 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 14, 2019, Philemon Vanderbeck wrote: Just so, an acrostic is a rudimentary (and intentional) form of a wordstick.
Phasmologist
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Josepher New user Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 90 Posts |
Thanks Prof ! You are the reason I asked.
I'm currently completing my edition of your TMHHIE. |
Bogbadger Special user England 626 Posts |
My second hand copy of TMHHIE arrives next week Josepher! Will be purchasing the pdf and it will be my project for next winter whilst sitting in front of the log burner!
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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The spooky, the mysterious...the bizarre! » » Please explain the use of a WORDSTICK in ghost hunting. (4 Likes) |
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