A seance is a gathering intended to communicate with spirits, typically through a medium. The term comes from the French word for “sitting,” reflecting the seated nature of the session. In traditional descriptions, a seance often involves a circle of participants holding hands in subdued light, with the aim of contacting or receiving messages from deceased individuals through the medium, voices, automatic writing, or other phenomena. The concept has been central to spiritualist movements dating back to the 19th century, though reports of such practices appear in various cultures and eras.