The evening is the most suitable time for an Expectancy sitting, which is to be held in the light or in semi-obscurity; the bustle and turmoil of the day having then given place more or less to quietude and tranquillity. But, if darkness does not inspire fear, a sitting in a bedroom (or other apartment) during the hours from midnight to, say, two o’clock in the morning is preferable. Silence is then more supreme than at any other time, and the majority of the human beings in the locality are asleep. This accounts for the traditional notion of “the witching hour,” which is not based, as is supposed erroneously, on some divine or diabolical limitation of certain hours as the free time for errant spirits. It refers to the fact that sleep is a kind of trance during which the hold of the body on the soul is slackened, thus facilitating the task of any outside spirit who may wish to communicate; the point in issue being well exemplified by the old Romans (and others of the ancients), who taught that dreams are the apparitions of supernormal beings. Dealing first with the case of a midnight sitting, it should be noted that absolute darkness is not imperative. The room may be illuminated in any way that is convenient; but, for reasons already given, the less light the better. If the nerves of the sitter will bear the strain the sitting should take place quite in the dark. In that event some apparatus for signalling by sound should be provided, such as, for instance, a small key suspended by a thread inside a glass tumbler in such a manner that a very slight movement is accompanied by a tinkling. After remaining quiet and expectant for a few minutes the sitter should speak aloud and ask, “Are there any spirits present?” This requires a little courage, both physical and moral; the former because of the darkness, the “witching hour” and the sound of one’s voice in the stillness; and the latter because one is tempted to regard both the situation and the question as absurd, and because one does not relish the idea of possibly making a fool of one’s self. But it is merely a question of breaking the ice. When once the sitter has spoken aloud the difficulty of speaking does not recur. To ask in one’s mind whether there are any spirits present is not as effective as actual speech. There is a greater psychical concentration when a thought is focussed, as it were, by spoken words; besides which there is some reason to believe that spirits--the bodily substance and organs of whom are analogous to those of living persons--find it easier to receive impressions by physical sounds than by telepathy.