Almost everyone is curious about what happens beyond the grave. Which is why it makes sense humans try to reach the other side before they die. Seances are a means of communicating with spirits that have passed. These ceremonies, led by a medium or other spiritual guide, claim to connect people with ghosts or other entities to learn about their unfinished business, their life after death, or how to go on without them. Sometimes they're conducted through a spirit board or other means of communication, while others are simply done by a spiritually sensitive person inviting a spirit to overtake their body.
几乎所有人都对死后的世界充满好奇，所以人类都想在死前窥探一下那个世界。通灵就是一种与过世的人进行交流的方法。据说，通过某种媒介或灵魂的指引，通灵仪式可以让生者与死者交流，了解到逝者未尽的事宜、他们死后的生活或没有他们的陪伴应该怎样继续前进。实现通灵的方式多种多样，有的需要借助占卜板或者其他的媒介，有的只需要由灵力强大的人邀请鬼魂附身。
Seances have a long history in cultures around the world, but not every attempt at communication with the afterlife goes according to plan. Even experienced mediums may run into a nasty spirit from time to time, and those who have no experience whatsoever may find themselves overwhelmed by a strong-willed entity with an inclination to do harm.
在世界各地的文化中，通灵基本都有着悠久的历史，但这不意味着每次与逝者的交流都很顺利。就算经验丰富的通灵师也会时不时遇到难搞的鬼魂，而那些没有经验的则不可避免地会被有暴力倾向的强念力鬼魂伤害。
These true, creepy stories from seances show that communication with those who have died is not always in our best interests. From accidentally unleashing a demon on your girlfriend to cursing your band's next album, dabbling too heavily in spirit communication can be terrifying. And while some people say they've communicated with spirits on the other side to avoid their problems, these stories are actually real. These true seance stories will make you think twice about lighting a few candles and busting out that dusty old Ouija board in your closet.
这里就有些真实诡异的通灵故事，它们说明有时候与逝者交流并不仅不会给我们带来什么好处，过多地与灵魂深入沟通还可能导致可怕的后果，比如说不小心释放了魔鬼附在你女朋友身上，或为你们乐队的下一张专辑下咒之类的。虽然有很多人的确通过通灵的方式避免了一些麻烦，但接下来提到的故事也同样真实。这些通灵故事也许会让你在点燃蜡烛、从你衣柜里拿出尘封的占卜板之前再三斟酌一下。

1. A Seance Gone Wrong Is The True Story Of The Conjuring Movie
1. 现实版本的《招魂》

If you've seen The Conjuring, you have some idea of what happened in the life of Andrea Perron. But the film didn't tell the whole story.
如果你看过电影《招魂》，必然知道些安德里亚·佩龙的故事，但电影并没有展现出故事的全部。
In 1971, Perron and her family moved to a house in Harrisville, RI. The soon discovered the house was filled with spirits who hadn't yet passed on, and unexplained phenomenea kept happening. Scared for their lives, the Perron family called upon Ed and Lorraine Warren for help. With them was a medium who promised to try and help the family get the spirits out.
1971年，佩龙一家搬到了美国罗德岛州哈里斯维尔。很快，他们发现房子里住满了怨结的鬼魂，还老是有灵异现象发生。佩龙一家担心自身安危，向艾德·沃伦和洛林·沃伦求助。沃伦带来了一个通灵师，后者向佩龙一家保证驱逐鬼魂。
She performed a seance, and it went dreadfully wrong. The medium summoned a spirit that attacked Perron's mother Carolyn, throwing her around the house with such force she sustained a concussion. While the seance was the last severe supernatural event the family experienced, it left a lasting impression and a warning not to play around with spirits.
她作了一次通灵法事，结果惹出了大麻烦。通灵师召唤出的鬼魂袭击了佩龙的母亲卡洛琳，鬼魂力量非常强大，将她在房子里抛来抛去，引起严重的脑震荡。虽然在此之后佩龙一家没有再遇到灵异事件，但它还是有一定的警示作用，并给人们留下深刻印象。

2.Britain's Last Witch Reveals A Military Secret
2.揭露军事机密的女巫

In 1941, psychic Helen Duncan was approached by a mother looking for news of her son, a soldier in the British Royal Navy. She held a seance to conjure up any spirits with news of the man. Duncan revealed the young man had been lost in the sinking of the battleship HMS Barham. The unusual part? That ship sinking hadn't yet been revealed to the public to prevent a loss of morale in the difficult days of World War II.
1941年，一位母亲找到了灵媒海伦·邓肯向她寻求儿子的消息。她的儿子当时在英国皇家海军服役。灵媒举行了一次通灵法事，召唤了所有知道她儿子消息的鬼魂。邓肯告诉这位母亲，她儿子随着巴勒姆战列舰的沉没去世了。奇怪之处在于，为了不在二战艰难的时期扰乱军心，当时军方并没有向公众宣布沉船的消息。
Among the people at the seance were two lieutenants of the Navy. They were immediately suspicious of Duncan, and two undercover policeman later attended another seance. They promptly arrested her, and Duncan was tried under section 4 of the Witchcraft Act of 1735, which forbade fraudulent spiritual activity, making her the last person to be tried for witchcraft, even fake witchcraft, before the Act's repeal in 1951.
有2位海军中尉参与了通灵法事，他们立刻怀疑到邓肯头上，之后又有两名卧底警察去参与邓肯的通灵法事，他们立即逮捕了她。后来邓肯因触犯1735年颁布的《巫术法案》第四章而受审。该法案规定禁止任何不正当的召灵行为。法案于1951年废止，邓肯也成为了因实施巫术（即使是假的巫术）而受审的最后一人。

3. A Frightful Entity Visits Dabblers Around the World
3. 拜访各地通灵人士的幽灵

Individual stories of spirit contact are creepy enough, but even more eerie is the number of people who claim to have contacted an entity named Zozo. The spirit is most known for having intimate knowledge of people's lives and, worse, its ability to manipulate people and objects to do harm.
单个人碰到鬼魂的故事已经够诡异了，更加可怕的是有很多人都声称遭遇过同一个鬼魂——佐佐。这个鬼魂不仅因为知晓个人生活隐私而为人所知，更吓人的是它还可以通过操纵人类和物品来造成伤害。
The entity's origins are murky, but people around the world claim to have interacted with it during seances, while using spirit boards, or while practicing automatic writing. Sometimes Zozo is a mere trickster, while other times it's been blamed for things as serious as murder. A teenager was arrested in 2012 after he stabbed his friend. The two had been using a Ouija board and the spirit Zozo told him to hurt his friend.
人们对于佐佐的来头尚不清楚，但世界各地的通灵者都声称他们是在进行通灵时遇到它的，比如使用灵魂载体或召唤笔仙时。有时候佐佐只弄点恶作剧，但有时候它也犯下谋杀这种严重的罪行。在2012年一个青年因捅伤了他的朋友而被逮捕。当时他们俩正在使用占卜板，然后佐佐出现了，并让他去伤害朋友。
Whatever the cause, if a spirit identifies itself as Zozo it might be best to slide that planchette over to "Goodbye."
不管原因是什么，如果一个鬼魂说自己是佐佐，那最好把占卜板拿远点然后跟它说拜拜。

4. Ouija Board Experiments Almost Doom Album Release
4. 差点毁了专辑发售的占卜行为

Experimental rock group The Mars Volta almost canceled an entire album thanks to a cursed spirit board. After guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López picked up the Ouija board in Jerusalem and the band used it, they started experiencing strange happenings, including tracks disappearing from the computer screen before their very eyes, two floods in the studio, and a longtime producer nearly quitting.
概念性摇滚乐团火星之音差点因为一个被诅咒的占卜板取消了整张专辑。吉他手奥马·罗德里格斯-洛佩兹在耶路撒冷捡到了一块占卜板并且用它举办降神会后，各种奇怪的事就降临到乐队头上。比如他们眼睁睁看见音轨从电脑屏幕上消失，录音室被洪水淹了2次，长期合作的制作人也差点退出。
True to form, the band channeled the strange events into their album, "The Bedlam in Goliath," which released in 2008. Rodríguez-López buried the board to avoid any future incidents, and the band released two more albums before breaking up in 2013.
自然，乐队将这些怪事写入了专辑——“疯人院里的巨人”中，后专辑于2008年发表。罗德里格斯-洛佩兹埋葬了那块占卜板，以免未来继续出事。之后乐队又发表了2张专辑，直到乐队于2013年解散。

5. A Fake Seance Gets Too Real For This Magic Shop Employee
5. 一场唬住了魔术商店店员的“假”降神会

Bradford J. Angers, a magic store employee and psychology student, got more than he bargained for when a customer paid him $100 to put on a fake scary seance complete with sounds and visuals. With the aid of a partner, Angers set out to create an entirely fabricated seance that felt real. Angers pulled it off without a hitch, with disembodied voices speaking predictions about the attendees's loved ones from a mist that gathered in the center of the table. Once it was over, Angers attempted to help his partner disconnect the equipment they used to produce the special effects, only to find that he and his equipment had been locked outside the entire time. Whatever had happened during the seance, it wasn't thanks to their planned antics.
布拉德·J·安格斯，是一名在魔术商店打工的心理学系学生。有一次，他接到了一个100美元的单，这个价格实际高于他们的收费标准。顾客要求他组织一场假的吓人的通灵法事，法事要包含音效和视觉效果。安格斯在他伙伴的帮组下，一起创作了一场以假乱真的法事。整个过程进行顺利，安格斯使自己灵魂出窍，然后从桌子中央的迷雾中预言出参与者未来的爱人。法事结束后，安格斯去帮助搭档收拾制作特效的设备，然后发现从始至终设备都被锁在外面。也就是说整场通灵法事中发生的奇异的事，都和他们的安排无关。