spirit rapping

a form of communication between living persons and the spirits of deceased persons by tapping out messages on a table, board, or the like.

Origin of spirit rapping

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

spirit rapper, noun

Then, all of a sudden, the moorland villages round were overtaken by an epidemic of spirit-rapping and table-turning.

The History of David Grieve |Mrs. Humphry Ward
Spirit-rapping, table-turning, and the rest of it, fare badly at the hands of Leech.

John Leech, His Life and Work, Vol. II (of II) |William Powell Frith
What, we may ask, do those who hold in their hands a perfect revelation from God want of table-turning and spirit-rapping?

Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy, Volume II |Charles Henry Mackintosh
I fancy that is just what those who believe in spirit-rapping would say.

The Portent and Other Stories |George MacDonald

This is a totally different thing from believing in spirit-rapping, which I scorn.

Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville |Mary Somerville