In seances, trying to find forebears (8)
I believe the answer is:
ancestry
'forebears' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'in seances trying to' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'ANCESTRY' is hidden within 'seances trying to'.
'find' is the link.
(Other definitions for ancestry that I've seen before include "Family tree" , "Line of forebears" , "Genealogy" , "Person's ethnic descent" , "Lineage" .)