Welcome, foolish mortals, to this UNofficial page about Disney's Haunted Mansion's ghostly references.

An academic study of 
The Seance Circle
-the significances of Madame Leota's Chamber-
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All of these references are from the script of the Seance Circle:

"Call in the spirits, wherever they're at..."

The spirits are the ghosts.  The word "spirit" was originally an Anglo-French term,  probably from the Latin, spiritus, related to breathing or the air.  From at least the 16th century, and probably earlier, "spirit" has meant a supernatural, living, rational being that is separate from physical form.  The word spirit is used interchangeably with the words ghost and soul.

return to the script

The spirits, "wherever they're at," are usually acknowledged to live on another plane, perhaps among us, or in another location altogether.  Obviously, ghosts manifest in our earthly existence.  However, different cultures have a variety of "homes" where ghosts and other spirits may live.  In Celtic traditions, these locations include "the Hollow Hills" and an underworld or "the Otherworld."  In Greek mythic tradition, it is necessary to cross the River Styx to reach the home of those who have passed on.

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"Rap on a table, it's time to respond,
Send us a message from somewhere beyond..."

Rap on a table, refers to rapping noises made by mediums and/or the spirits with which they communicate.  Rapping noises are also made by poltergeists, literally "noisy ghosts."  

Among the first and most noted mediums who were contacted by rapping on tables, were the Fox sisters of Hydesville, New York, around 1850.  Soon after the Fox family had moved into a haunted cottage (previously known for its odd noises), two of the daughters claimed to be contacting the spirits with rapping noises.  These two are credited with being responsible for the surge of interest in spirits, and the birth of the Spiritualist Movement.  About 40 years  later, the sisters claimed that it was all a hoax, and tried to attract audiences as they demonstrated how they'd fooled the world.  Soon after this last 15 minutes of fame, the two sisters recanted their "confessions," and returned to work as mediums.  

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