Sometimes a page becomes easier to hear when the inner editor grows quiet. Automatic writing / escritura automática can describe more than one practice, however, and those histories should not be blended together. This guide separates Spiritist psychography, Surrealist automatism, and a simple reflective exercise created by Touch of Magick Shop.
One phrase, different histories
In Allan Kardec’s 1861 The Mediums’ Book, “direct or manual psychography” names writing that Spiritists attributed to communication through a medium. Kardec distinguished hand-written psychography from methods involving baskets and planchettes. This is a teaching within Kardecian Spiritism—not scientific proof that words come from spirits, and not a universal explanation for every experience of spontaneous writing. Source 1
Folklorist and historian Barbara Walker notes that, within modern Spiritualism, mediums could be understood as channels through trance speech or automatic writing. Her account documents how a religious movement described its own practices; it does not verify supernatural authorship. Source 2
A different current developed in early twentieth-century Surrealism. The Museum of Modern Art describes automatism as creative strategies intended to reach material beyond deliberate control, while the Metropolitan Museum of Art connects Surrealist automatic writing with imagination, the subconscious, and the literary movement that formed around André Breton’s 1924 manifesto. Source 3 Source 4 Similar words, then, can point to different communities, aims, and beliefs.
Contexts, meanings & limits
| Context | Meaning in that system | Careful language today |
|---|---|---|
| Kardecian Spiritism | Psychography was understood by believers as written mediumship. | Name the tradition and present the claim as belief, not established fact. |
| Modern Spiritualism | Automatic writing could be one mediumistic channel among several. | Movement history documents practice; it does not prove a message’s source. |
| Surrealism | Automatic writing and drawing loosened conscious control in creative work. | Treat this as an artistic and literary method, not a borrowed religious rite. |
| Touch of Magick practice | Brief freewriting creates space for reflection. | No spirit contact, prediction, diagnosis, or external authorship is claimed. |
Original shop practice: the two-column notebook
This is an optional practice created by Touch of Magick Shop. You need only a notebook, a pen, and a timer. It uses no flame, smoke, ingestion, or skin application.
- Arrive. Sit at an ordinary table. Date the page, set a five-minute timer, and notice your feet on the floor.
- Write. Begin with the neutral prompt, “What needs my honest attention today?” Keep the pen moving without trying to sound wise. If nothing comes, write “I am noticing…” and name what is actually present.
- Stop. When the timer ends, put the pen down. Take one slow breath and underline only concrete observations—not predictions or claims about another person.
- Separate. Divide the next page into two columns: “Words on the page” and “My interpretation.” Copy one line into the first column, then describe your meaning-making in the second.
- Choose. Record one small, practical action you can freely take. A coincidence may remain a coincidence; a striking sentence may remain a creative sentence. Keep, close, or discard the page as you prefer.
Boundaries & material care
Keep private material private, and do not use spontaneous writing to declare someone else’s thoughts, health, fate, consent, or moral worth. It should not replace medical, legal, financial, or mental-health support. If the exercise feels frightening, commanding, or difficult to stop, pause it: name five visible objects, return to ordinary journaling, and seek appropriate support if distress continues. Store pens and ink safely, protect the table, and choose washable materials when children or animals share the space.
Journal prompt
Which sentence is an observation, which part is my interpretation, and what gentle action remains mine to choose?
Related Book of Shadows guides
- Grounding / Enraizamiento
- Writing an Intention / Escribir una Intención
- Dream Journal / Diario de sueños
- Grimoires / Grimorios
Sources & further reading
- Allan Kardec, The Mediums’ Book, Chapter XIII: “Psychography”.
- Barbara Walker, Out of the Ordinary: Folklore and the Supernatural, Library of Congress-hosted edition.
- Museum of Modern Art, “Automatism”.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Surrealism”.
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