- 95 - 2. 2. 3 Planchette mediums Another type of writing medium are the so-called ‘planchette mediums’. A ‘planchette’ is a slab of wood, metal or other material upon which are marked the letters of the alphabet, numbers and other symbols. The surface of the planchette is smooth, so that an object may readily be slid about upon it. The medium, who retains full consciousness, lays his hand on some easily movable object resting on the slab that has a point or pointer. He then waits until the object is moved towards the letters. The pointer indicates, one after another, the individual letters that will when put together spell out words and sentences. The planchette medium sits with his eyes closed or, better still, blindfolded, so that he cannot see the letters himself, since otherwise there is a danger that he might help along the motion of his hand and thus reproduce his own thoughts. • The most famous of all planchettes was the ‘breastplate’ on the ephod (outer garment) of the high priest, who was himself the medium. In your modern translation of the Bible this ‘breastplate’ is referred to as the ‘oracle plate’ because it was used by the Israelites when they ‘asked of God’. It was in the shape of a square and consisted of four rows of precious stones, the first row being composed of a sardius, a topaz and a carbuncle; the second of an emerald, a sapphire and a diamond; the third of a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; and the fourth of a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. (Exodus 39: 9-13) On each stone was engraved a character, corresponding to the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; they thus formed a kind of alphabet. Precious stones were used because they possess strong odic force and thus strengthened the high priest’s mediumistic power. Between the stones was a wide, smooth, groove of gold without corners or edges. A part of the equipment was the socalled ‘forehead plate’, a holy diadem of gold engraved with the words: ‘Dedicated to the Lord’.. This was fastened to the headband with a cord of purple, and was the most important of the objects used in consulting the Lord. Hence it bore the inscription ‘Dedicated to the Lord’ with good reason. (Exodus 39: 30-31) Whenever he ‘asked of God’, the high priest untied the lower edge of the breastplate from the ephod and brought the breastplate into a horizontal position. He then removed the engraved plate of gold, or ‘diadem’, from the headband and laid it into one of the grooves between the precious stones. Then he held his hand over the breastplate, without touching either it or the ‘diadem’ that rested upon it. The very strong odic force of the high priest was used by God’s spirit world to set the golden diadem in motion. It glided along the grooves, touching in sequence, with a small eyelet by means of which it was fastened to the headband, those stones whose characters were to be joined into a word. When a word had thus been spelled out, the diadem glided to the right edge of the breastplate, where it struck a small bell to indicate that the word was complete. When the words had been put together to form a complete sentence, the diadem slid both to the right and then to the left side of the breastplate, striking the bells on both sides in succession. This double signal indicated the conclusion of a sentence. In this way all possibility of error was eliminated, since no character belonging to one word could be moved to the preceding word, and no word from a preceding sentence could be moved to a following one. Inasmuch as this method excluded any possibility of misunderstanding God’s answer, the diadem and the bells were known collectively as the ‘sacred lots’, symbols of truthfulness and clarity. In the Hebrew text they are called ‘the Urim and Thummim’, words that also mean truth and clarity.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI1MzY3