Automatic Writing
“Is it a form of channeled message, or self-hypnosis to access the subconscious?
What it is (and Isn’t)
Automatic Writing, or psychography, is the psychic ability to write words without being consciously aware. The ability is believed to come from spiritual, subconscious, or supernatural sources. Scientists call this ability the ideomotor effect. When you write automatically you allow ideas and words to flow through you, acting as a scribe. Some ways people write are with pen and paper, computer, and the ‘Spirit Board’ or ‘Ouija Board’. Some automatic writing may be channeled, and some are a result of tapping into the unconscious.
Spirit Writing is when the spirit takes over and writes through a medium without the medium having any recollection of the words or any particular background on the topic. They may not even be present in the body as the spirit enters and uses their faculties, perceptions, and communication to convey messages and information in written form. Some famous examples include people who could write ambidextrously, in some cases with two entirely different topics being written by each hand, or one handwriting, the other drawing or diagramming. There are also examples of art being created when the individual that spirit is channeling through has no prior skills or abilities.
Automatic writing is different from free writing which is the act of dumping out thoughts or ideas on the page or computer screen without concern about whether it has any meaning. This writing process was created by Peter Elbow in 1973. This is a form of pre-writing without stopping for a set time in sentence or paragraph form was originally intended to help academic writers and researchers to focus.
History
Automatic writing is associated with mediumship where individuals channel messages from spirit. The practice was popular in China and was called Fuji writing. In the Song Dynasty mediums channeled messages from spirits and deities. This inspired several religious sects.
In the 16th century, the Enochian language was used as the language of a particular form of magic in England. Famous parapsychologists claim to be able to channel messages from spirit. Spiritualism believes that spirits may take the hand of a medium and use it to channel messages. These beliefs include the use of the ‘planchette’, also called the ‘Ouija Board’ or ‘spirit board’.
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote on the topic and stated that automatic writing is either ‘a subconscious act or the result of external spirits working through the writer’. He and his wife were notable for conducting a séance with Harry Houdini where they contacted his late mother. Houdini later discredited the act.
The US government employed the use of automatic writing to gather intelligence during the CIA Stargate Project, where individuals were asked to remote view targets. Some participants claimed to use automatic writing to gather information looking to locate a DEA agent on the run. The government later denied, discounted and discredited the work.
The highly controversial conspiracy personality and author David Icke claims that he has been told that he is the ‘Son of the Godhead’ through his automatic writing. He believes that many of his ideas originate from a source other than himself. Other famous figures who employed the use of automatic writing are Joseph Smith, Patience Worth, Aleister Crowley, Jane Robers, Helen Schucman, and Neale Donal Walsch.
Published Works of Automatic Writing
There are many examples of books that used channeled writing with information transmitted by beings or entities. Some of the most well known are:
- A Course in Miracles – Helen Schucman
- Ask and it is Given – Abraham Hicks
- Ra:The Law of One – Bryce Courtenay
- The Michael Teachings – Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
- The Seth Material – Jane Robers
- Blueprint for Change – Bashar
- Conversations with God – Neale Donald Walsch
- The Kryon Books-Lee Caroll
- The Path of Empowerment – Barbara Marciniak
- I am the Word – Paul Selig (and numerous other books)
Science
Scientists claim that automatic writing is a dissociative state and a form of motor automatism, or unconscious muscular activity. Theodore Flourney studied the medium Helen Smith, who claimed to be channeling messages in a martian language from Mars and found it to be the effect of autosuggestion produced by auto-hypnotization, leading to the emergence of a secondary self. Others believed that there is no way to prove or disprove that the writing is coming from a source outside of the subject.
Popularity
Automatic writing has become popularized by the Clairvoyant Medium Tyler Henry, who is wildly popular among celebrities and has a massive following. In his sessions, he can be seen writing on paper, often in just jots and doodles, rather than written language. He claims that this helps him to tune into spirit. Although many believe this to be his version of automatic writing he tweeted
“I actually don’t consider it to be automatic writing. Scribbling for me acts as a repetitive motion that I’ve trained myself to meditate to. When I start scribbling, that’s my cue to myself to enter a different mindset than I’m normally in.” (Twitter; April 25, 2018)
Whether you believe automatic writing to be a way to receive psychic information and impressions or not, it is fun to explore and try it for yourself.
Automatic Writing Exercise
- Meditate in a method of your choice
- Getting a pen and paper/opening a notepad or word document
- Thinking of a question to ask
- Writing down the question
- Relaxing your body and mind
- Allow the writing to flow spontaneously
A Psychic Perspective
Not all who have connected to their psychic abilities are able to channel or are considered mediums. Mediumship is a practice that usually takes a great deal of training, regardless of natural abilities, often for years. What automatic writing may provide is a way to get into a state of mind that allows the development of intuition, stronger connection to the spirit world, and heightened psychic awareness.
If you want to explore psychic tools, meditation, and psychic development, sign up for our Clairvoyant Meditation Free Open House to learn about course offerings or book a psychic reading or spiritual healing through The Psychic School.
