The Planchette, a French word for “little plank,” was a heart shaped piece of wood with wheels and a slot for holding a pencil or some other writing implement. The purpose of a planchette was to assist with the generation of automatic writing, or as a medium to encourage communication with the spirit world.
The planchette was embraced by spiritualists and reigned in popularity from the early 1850’s, through the Victorian Era, only to be supplanted by the modern Talking Board, the Ouija, starting around 1890.
 
Length: 8”
Width: 6 ½”
Thickness: ¾”
Height: 1 ¾”
Wood Types: Cypress
Pyrography: Tempus Fugit
 
 
This Planchette is hand made in my studio from solid wood and is woodburned with an winged hourglass design, using a traditional wood burner, then the colored details are added with a number of oil pencils. All planchettes feature a pair of silver conveyor bearings, a stainless steel pencil fastener with an adjustable tightening wheel. Comes complete with a black pencil, a black drawstring bag, and a booklet containing a brief history and instructions for use.
 
We offer these planchettes in a variety of wood types and designs, check out the Spiritualism page for more information.