Communication with the dead has been documented as far back as The Old Testament, which tells the story of The Witch of Endor, who raised the spirit deceased prophet Samuel in order for the Hebrew king Saul to question him about an impending battle.Channeling spirits became a popular practice in 19th century America when the religious practice of Spiritualism was gaining a strong following. Modern Spiritualism dates back from 1848, with the practices and lectures of the Fox sisters in New York state. Leading lecturers and authors on the subject in the mid 1800s include Emma Hardinge Britten and Paschal Beverly Randolph.

The fraudulent use of stage magic tricks during the late 1800s and early 1900s caused mediumship to fall into disrepute. From the 1930s to the 1990s, physical mediumship became less practiced in the church of Spiritualism and the process of spiritual channeling gained popularity.Lacking the limitations of a physical body, spirits are believed to hover around at will, often in a place where they believe their lives were ended unfulfilled. They also tend to follow living acquaintances that they either deeply loved or resented. The medium, or channel, may contact these spirits by entering a hypnotic state before sitting, lying down or moving around in the room. Often he or she will gesture to, joke with and essentially translate between the spiritual realm and that of the living while having no memory of anything that was discussed.