Communigraph
An instrument for mechanical communication with spirits
of the dead. Known as the Ashkir-Jobson Communigraph, it
consists of a small table with a free pendulum underneath. The
pendulum may make contact with a number of small metal
plates representing the alphabet. The contact closes a circuit
and makes the corresponding letter appear illuminated upon
the face of the table. According to the inventors claim, no medium
is necessary for the instrument to work. If a circle sits
around the table, the pendulum will begin swinging by what
seems to be its own volition. The communigraph was developed
by the Ashkir-Jobson TrianionA. J. Ashdown, B. K.
Kirby, and George Jobson.
After the death of Sir Vincent Caillard (18561930), a prominent
British diplomat, industrialist, and writer, his widow,
Lady Zoe Caillard, transcribed a book on the communigraph
said to be dictated by the spirit of her husband and entitled A
New Conception of Love (1934). She had previously written a
book of her own, Sir Vincent Caillard Speaks from the Spirit World
(1932).
Sources
Ashdown, A. J. The Communigraph and Other Early Psychic
Aids for Communications. The Psychic Researcher supplements
2 and 3 (1975).
Gaillard, Lady Zoe. A New Conception of Love. London, 1934.
. Sir Vincent Caillard Speaks from the Spirit World. London,
1932.
