It was a year ago when I first attended one of Jaymes White’s séance events in Toronto. It was an unforgettable experience. I’ve always been curious and intrigued by haunted places and the stories of the paranormal. Whether you believe or not, that’s personal. I will say that things happened that night at the Beverley Street mansion that cannot be explained. Now that it’s October, we’re drawn to all things frightful and fun. Jaymes White is back again only this time, the séance titled EVOKE takes place within the confined of whatever four walls you choose – yes, thank you COVID19. Don’t worry. You’ll be safe in your own space. I think.
Mentalist Jaymes White has been hosting his very popular Halloween séance in-person experiences to sold-out crowds for the past five consecutive years. Venues have included hotspots that are known to have spirited activity from haunted houses to landmark destinations. This year’s situation isn’t going to stop the spirits and Jaymes has adapted to bring the experience online. Will it be as thrilling and chilling? I wouldn’t put it past him.
Eerie indeed but the séances are also fun in spirit. Jaymes has a way of reading the room and knows when to lighten up when things get a little too intense but let’s be clear, there are no limits to what can happen. “The fun thing about my séances is every location we go to has a different story and a different past. I think why the séance does well is because if you come on any night the séance is completely different because it depends on the groups and what they bring in. We have had some crazy stories from some of these nights that are very hard for me to explain and I am pretty skeptical. We also were able to catch a bunch of footage of unexplainable activity.” (see below)
I can confirm that this is what I had experienced last year. In the séance I had participated in Jaymes had the group sit in a circle. He summoned any spirits in our presence by asking for a sign – any sign – and twice my Apple Watch chimed on cue. It had not chimed…for days. Jaymes himself was taken back. Not only that, all electronics and phones were requested to be completely shut down before we began.
I had asked him if he thought it was a coincidence or if he actually believed that something had happened. There were no explanations. Even though he claims he’s a skeptic he found these timely occurrences pretty cool and yes, entertaining for him as well. By the way, his experience as a mentalist, mind-reader, hypnotist — whatever you want to call him, has led him to also work with law-enforcement and universities in identifying and training on body language, deception, and memory development. You can learn more about him here.
“Evoke is going to be very unique, the advantage of this is I have always wanted to experiment with this of type séance and figured this was the perfect opportunity,” said Jaymes. “When you look at the history of spiritualism there is a direct correlation with new technology, so I wanted to give this a try. One thing I find amazing is that people from all over Canada can connect and become one at the same time. I find it to be very fascinating and different. I think that there is a huge psychological element to this by having people accomplish unique things using their instincts-it will be curious to see what people are able to pick up on.”
What will change is the number of people participating. To keep EVOKE as an intimate experience, there will only be 10 people in each séance. With that in mind, even if two people are involved, they will still cap off the numbers to the maximum. So if you are at home with someone and want to watch it together they ask that you both buy a ticket each because they only want 10 people at a time to keep it personal.
Brave and willing minds will be guided through an engaging night of the unexplained. Jaymes has adapted his techniques from years of working in psychology and hosting seances to bring this unique event to life. The seances will be hosted from a private studio to accommodate his work during the pandemic. He does ask that each person dim the lights low and make their viewing area dark and creepy, to keep in the spirit of things.
The most important thing is to go in with an open mind. “There is a concept in psychology called Mental-Imagery meaning if you can imagine a situation and really visualize it you will increase the odds of success. We will be playing with this concept while doing a séance.” He also requests that everyone brings an item that represents them because it might just dictate the direction in which the séance goes.
He tells us that he’s pretty excited to attempt EVOKE. “To accomplish a séance like event simply through zoom is definitely a challenge. I am excited to hear about everyone’s experiences and how they felt during the event. I think this will be a lot of ghostly fun for me,” says Jaymes.
Any particular nights for those who are really brave? He tells us his favorite nights are October 30 (Devil’s night) and Friday the 13th of November. “I think in the schedule those two nights are going to be the craziest. If I had to choose one, I feel like Devil’s Night will always win.”
EVOKE séances take place from October 16 to November 28, 2020. Tickets are $24.99 each. Each séance is approximately 45 minutes in duration. Check the schedule and tickets at www.jaymeswhite.com.
So, are you in?
Here’s a peek at what happened at last year’s Beverley Street Seances…
