Spiritualism is a
monotheisticIn theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Platonic concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite...
belief system or
religionA religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity or deities, or ultimate truth...
, postulating a belief in
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
, but the distinguishing feature is belief that
spiritThe English word "spirit" has many differing meanings and connotations, but commonly refers to a supernatural being or essence — transcendent and therefore metaphysical in its nature: the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as "the non-physical part of a person"...
s of the dead can be contacted, either by individuals or by gifted or trained "
mediumMediumship is supposedly a form of communication with spirits.It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Louisiana Voodoo, Shambala and Umbanda...
s", who can provide information about the
afterlifeThe afterlife is the idea that the consciousness or mind of a being continues after physical death occurs. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual or immaterial realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics...
.
Spiritualism developed in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in
English-language countries-Definitions:According to a post on Word Spy, a blog on unusual words, the term was first used by author Neal Stephenson in his 1995 novel The Diamond Age. Stephenson did not use the term in any specific geopolitical sense but rather to describe a fictional race called the Atlantans who, when...
, By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, mostly drawn from the
middleThe middle class are any class in the middle of a social schema. In Weberian socio-economic terms they are the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the...
and
upper classIn sociology an upper class is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area, but only to the extent that the power of the state can intervene in free exchange or distort...
es, while the corresponding movement in Latin speaking countries is known as
SpiritismSpiritism is a philosophical doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on books written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that...
.
The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. Many prominent Spiritualists were women. Most followers supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and
women's suffrageWomen's suffrage is the right of women to vote, and historically includes the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage to women. The movement's modern origins lie in France in the 18th century. Of currently existing independent countries, New Zealand was the first to give...
. By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear. Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational
Spiritualist ChurchThe Spiritualist Church arose from the Spiritualist movement which began in the 1840s in America. Spiritualist Churches are found around the world, but are more common in English-speaking countries. In North America, many churches are affiliated with the National Spiritualist Association of...
es in the United States and
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Theism
Most Spiritualists believe in a monotheistic, omnibenevolent, natural, pantheistic
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
. The
Spiritualists' National UnionThe Spiritualists' National Union is a Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is Light, Nature, Truth....
's first principle is "The Fatherhood of God".
Mediumship and Spirits
Spiritualists believe in communicating with the spirits of discarnate humans. They believe that
spirit mediumsMediumship is supposedly a form of communication with spirits.It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Louisiana Voodoo, Shambala and Umbanda...
are humans gifted to do this. They believe that spirits are capable of growth and perfection, progressing through higher spheres or planes. The
afterlifeThe afterlife is the idea that the consciousness or mind of a being continues after physical death occurs. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual or immaterial realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics...
is not a static place, but one in which spirits evolve. The two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits may lie on a higher plane—lead to a third belief, that spirits can provide knowledge about moral and ethical issues, as well as about
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
and the
afterlifeThe afterlife is the idea that the consciousness or mind of a being continues after physical death occurs. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual or immaterial realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics...
. Thus many members speak of
spirit guides—specific spirits, often contacted, relied upon for worldly and spiritual guidance.
Compared with other religions
Christianity
As Spiritualism emerged in a Christian environment, it has features in common with
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, ranging from an essentially Christian moral system to liturgical practices such as Sunday services and the singing of hymns. Nevertheless, on significant points Christianity and Spiritualism are different. Spiritualists do not believe that the works or faith of a mortal during a brief lifetime can serve as a basis for assigning a soul to an eternity of
HeavenHeaven may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English...
or
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
; they view the afterlife as containing hierarchical "spheres", through which each spirit can progress, which may have had its origin in a distorted understanding of Catholic teachings on Purgatory. Spiritualists differ from Protestant Christians in that the Judeo-Christian
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
is not the primary source from which they derive knowledge of God and the afterlife: for them, their personal contacts with spirits provide that.
Indigenous religions
Animist faiths, with a tradition of
shamanismShamanism comprises a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. It is a prominent term in anthropological research. A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman, , noun...
and spirit contact, are similar to Spiritualism. In the first decades of the movement, many mediums claimed contact with Native American
spirit guide"Spirit guide" is a term used by the Western tradition of Spiritualist Churches, mediums, and psychics to describe an entity that remains a disincarnate spirit in order to act as a spiritual counselor or protector to a living incarnated human being....
s, in apparent acknowledgment of these similarities. Unlike animists, however, spiritualists speak of the spirits of dead humans and do not espouse a belief in spirits of trees, springs, or other natural features.
Islam
Within
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
, certain traditions, notably
SufismSufism or ' , also spelled as tasavvuf and tasavvof, is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ' , though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals...
, consider communication with spirits possible. Additionally, the concept of
TawassulTawassul is a religious practice in which a Muslim seeks nearness to God. A rough translation would be: "To draw near to what one seeks after and to approach that which one desires." The exact definition and method of tawassul is a matter of some dispute within the Muslim...
recognises the existence of good spirits on a higher plane of existence closer to God, and thus able to intercede on behalf of humanity.
Hinduism
HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
, though heterogeneous, shares with spiritualism a belief in the existence of the soul after death. But Hindus differ in that they believe in
reincarnationReincarnation, literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or metaphysical belief that some essential part of a living being survives death to be reborn in a new body. This essential part is often referred to as the spirit or soul, the "higher" or "true" self, "divine spark", or "I"...
and hold that all features of a person's personality are extinguished at death. Spiritualists maintain that the spirit retains the personality it possessed during human existence.
Spiritism
SpiritismSpiritism is a philosophical doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on books written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that...
, the branch of Spiritualism developed by
Allan KardecAllan Kardec is the pseudonym of the French teacher and educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail , who is known today as the systematizer of Spiritism.-Early life:Rivail was born in Lyon in 1804...
and found in mostly Latin America countries, has emphasised reincarnation. According to
Arthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle,
DL was a British physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, most British Spiritualists of the early 20th century were indifferent to the doctrine of reincarnation, few supported it, while a significant minority were opposed, since it had never been mentioned by spirits contacted in séances. Thus, according to Doyle, it is the empirical bent of Anglophone Spiritualism—its effort to develop religious views from observation of phenomena—that kept spiritualists of this period from embracing reincarnation.
Occult
Spiritualism also differs from
occultThe word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
movements, such as the
Hermetic Order of the Golden DawnThe Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a magical order founded in Great Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which practiced theurgy and spiritual development. It has been one of the largest single influences on 20th-century Western occultism...
or the contemporary Wiccan covens, in that spirits are not contacted to obtain magical powers (with the exception of power for healing). For example,
Madame BlavatskyElena Petrovna Gan , better known as Helena Blavatsky or Madame Blavatsky, born Helena von Hahn, was a founder of Theosophy and the Theosophical Society.Well-known and controversial during her life, Blavatsky was tremendously influential on...
(1831–91), the founder of the
Theosophical SocietyThe Theosophical Society was an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. Theosophy is an active belief system today, and through a process of schism has also given rise to many other mystical beliefs and organisations.-Formation:The...
, only practiced mediumship to contact powerful spirits capable of conferring esoteric knowledge. Blavatsky did not believe these spirits were deceased humans, and held beliefs in reincarnation different from the views of most Spiritualists. Spiritualists at that time viewed
TheosophyTheosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics. Theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the "Spiritual Hierarchy" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth...
as unscientific and both occultist and cult-like. Theosphists viewed Spiritualism as unsophisticated and uncosmopolitan.
Origins
Spiritualism first appeared in the 1840s in the "
Burned-over District"Burned-over district" was a name popularized by historian Whitney Cross in his 1950 book The Burned-over District: the social and intellectual history of enthusiastic religion in western New York State, 1800-1850. The term appears to have been coined however, by Charles Grandison Finney who in his...
" of
upstate New YorkUpstate New York is the region of New York State north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York, but the term "Upstate" is sometimes used to refer to the whole of the state besides New York City...
, where earlier religious movements such as Millerism, and
MormonismMormonism comprises the religious, institutional, and cultural elements of the early Latter Day Saint movement and its modern denominations deriving from the leadership of Brigham Young...
had emerged during the
Second Great AwakeningThe Second Great Awakening was a period of great religious revival that extended into the antebellum period of the United States, with widespread Christian evangelism and conversions. It was named for the Great Awakening, a similar period which had transpired about half a century beforehand...
.
This region of New York State was an environment in which many thought direct communication with
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
or
angelAngels are spiritual beings found in many religious traditions. They are broadly viewed as messengers of God, sent to do God's tasks. Traditions vary as to the precise nature and role of these messages and tasks...
s was possible, and that God would not behave harshly—for example, that God would not condemn
unbaptisedIn Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted to membership of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered.The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the...
infants to an eternity in
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
.
Swedenborg and Mesmer
In this environment, the writings of
Emanuel Swedenborgwas a Swedish scientist, philosopher, Christian mystic, and theologian. Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. At the age of fifty-six he entered into a spiritual phase in which he experienced dreams and visions...
(1688–1772) and the teachings of
Franz MesmerFranz Anton Mesmer was a German physician and astrologist, who discovered what he called magnétisme animal and other spiritual forces often grouped together as mesmerism. The evolution of Mesmer's ideas and practices led Scottish surgeon James Braid to develop hypnosis in 1842...
(1734–1815) provided an example for those seeking direct personal knowledge of the
afterlifeThe afterlife is the idea that the consciousness or mind of a being continues after physical death occurs. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual or immaterial realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics...
. Swedenborg, who claimed to communicate with spirits while awake, described the structure of the spirit world. Two features of his view particularly resonated with the early spiritualists: first, that there is not a single hell and a single
heavenHeaven may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English...
, but rather a series of higher and lower heavens and hells; second, that spirits are intermediates between God and humans, so that the Divine sometimes uses them as a means of communication. Although Swedenborg warned against seeking out spirit contact, his works seem to have inspired in others the desire to do so.
Mesmer did not contribute religious beliefs, but he brought a technique, later known as hypnotism, that it was claimed could induce trances and cause subjects to report contact with supernatural beings. There was a great deal of professional showmanship inherent to demonstrations of
MesmerismAnimal magnetism , in its most common usage today, refers to a person's sexual attractiveness or raw charisma. But the term originally signified a magnetic fluid or ethereal medium residing in the bodies of animate beings, as postulated by Franz Mesmer. The term translates Mesmer's magnétisme animal...
, and the practitioners who lectured in mid-19th-century North America sought to entertain their audiences as well as to demonstrate methods for personal contact with the Divine.
Perhaps the best known of those who combined Swedenborg and Mesmer in a peculiarly North American synthesis was
Andrew Jackson DavisAndrew Jackson Davis , American Spiritualist, was born at Blooming Grove, New York.- Early years :He had little education, though probably much more than he and his friends pretended. In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, as the phenomena of hypnotism was then termed, and...
, who called his system the
Harmonial Philosophy. Davis was a practicing Mesmerist,
faith healerFaith healing is a concept that religious belief can bring about healing—either through prayers or rituals that, according to adherents, evoke a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability in particular indicated individuals. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...
and
clairvoyantThe term clairvoyance is used to refer to the alleged ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
from
Poughkeepsie, New YorkPoughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, the United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
. His 1847 book,
The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind, dictated to a friend while in a trance state, eventually became the nearest thing to a canonical work in a Spiritualist movement whose extreme
individualismIndividualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses independence and self-reliance. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires, while opposing most external interference upon one's choices, whether by society, or any other group or...
precluded the development of a single coherent worldview.
Reform-movement links
Spiritualists often set March 31, 1848, as the beginning of their movement. On that date,
Kate and Margaret FoxThe Fox sisters were three women from New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism, the religious movement. The three sisters were Kate Fox , Leah Fox and Margaret Fox .-Hydesville events:In 1848, the two younger sisters – Kate and Margaret – were living in a...
, of
Hydesville, New YorkArcadia is a town in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 14,889 at the 2000 census.The Town of Arcadia is on the south border of the county and is east of Rochester NY.- History :The town was first settled around 1791....
, reported that they had made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. What made this an extraordinary event was that the spirit communicated through rapping noises, audible to onlookers. The evidence of the senses appealed to practically minded Americans, and the Fox sisters became a sensation.
Amy and Isaac PostAmy and Isaac Post, were radical Hicksite Quakers from Rochester, New York, involved in the struggles for abolitionism and women's rights. Among the first believers in Spiritualism, they helped to associate the young religious movement with the political ideas of the mid-nineteenth-century reform...
,
Hicksite QuakersElias Hicks was an itinerant Quaker preacher from Long Island, New York. He promoted doctrines that embroiled him in controversy that led to the first major schism within the Religious Society of Friends...
from
Rochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, behind the New York City metropolitan area. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and...
, had long been acquainted with the Fox family, and took the two girls into their home in the late spring of 1848. Immediately convinced of the genuineness of the sisters' communications, they became early converts and introduced the young mediums to their circle of radical Quaker friends.
It therefore came about that many of the early participants in Spiritualism were radical Quakers and others involved in the
reforming movementA reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.Reformists' ideas are often...
of the mid-nineteenth century. These reformers were uncomfortable with established churches, because they did little to fight
slaverySlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
and even less to advance the cause of
women's rightsThe term women's rights refers to freedoms and entitlements of women and girls of all ages. These rights may or may not be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, local custom, and behavior in a particular society...
.
Women were particularly attracted to the movement, because it gave them important roles as
mediumsMediumship is supposedly a form of communication with spirits.It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Louisiana Voodoo, Shambala and Umbanda...
and
tranceTrance denotes a variety of processes, ecstasy, techniques, modalities and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.The term "trance" may be associated with meditation, magic, flow, and prayer...
lecturerLecturer is a term of academic rank. In the United Kingdom lecturer is the name given to those who teach in their first permanent university position. That is, lecturers are academics early in their careers, who lead research groups and supervise postgraduate students as well as lecture courses...
s. In fact, Spiritualism provided one of the first forums in which U.S. women could address mixed public audiences.
The most popular trance lecturer prior to the U.S. Civil War was
Cora L. V. ScottCora Lodencia Veronica Scott was one of the best-known mediums of the Spiritualism movement of the last half of the 19th century. Most of her work was done as a trance lecturer, though she also wrote some books whose composition was attributed to spirit guides rather than her own...
(1840–1923). Young and beautiful, her appearance on stage fascinated men. Her audiences were struck by the contrast between her physical girlishness and the eloquence with which she spoke of spiritual matters, and found in that contrast support for the notion that spirits were speaking through her. Cora married four times, and on each occasion adopted her husband's last name. During her period of greatest activity, she was known as Cora Hatch.
Another famous woman spiritualist was
Achsa W. SpragueAchsa W. Sprague was one of the best-known Spiritualists during the 1850s in the United States. Primarily a medium and trance lecturer, she also wrote articles and poetry for Spiritualist publications such as the Banner of Light, the Green Mountain Sibyl, and the People's World.Sprague was born at...
, who was born November 17, 1827, in
Plymouth Notch, VermontPlymouth Notch is a small unincorporated village in the town of Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, United States.All or most of the village is included in the Calvin Coolidge Homestead District, a National Historic Landmark...
. At the age of 20, she became ill with
rheumatic feverRheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that may develop two to three weeks after a Group A streptococcal infection . It is believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity and can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain...
and credited her eventual recovery to intercession by spirits. An extremely popular trance lecturer, she traveled about the United States until her death in 1861. Sprague was an abolitionist and an advocate of
women's rightsThe term women's rights refers to freedoms and entitlements of women and girls of all ages. These rights may or may not be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, local custom, and behavior in a particular society...
.
Yet another prominent spiritualist and trance medium prior to the Civil War was
Paschal Beverly RandolphPaschal Beverly Randolph was an American medical doctor, occultist and writer.Randolph is notable as perhaps the first person to introduce the principles of sex magic to North America, and, according to A.E...
(1825–1875), an African-American "Free Man of Color," who also played a part in the
AbolitionAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
movement. Nevertheless, many abolitionists and reformers held themselves aloof from the movement; among the skeptics was the eloquent ex-slave,
Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, (born circa 1818 February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer...
.
Believers and skeptics
In the years following the sensation that greeted the Fox sisters, demonstrations of mediumship (
séanceA séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
s and
automatic writingAutomatic writing is the process or production of writing material that does not come from the conscious thoughts of the writer. Practitioners say that the writer's hand forms the message, with the person being unaware of what will be written....
, for example) proved to be a profitable venture, and soon became popular forms of entertainment and spiritual catharsis. The Foxes were to earn a living this way and others would follow their lead. Showmanship became an increasingly important part of Spiritualism, and the visible, audible, and tangible evidence of spirits escalated as mediums competed for paying audiences. Fraud was certainly widespread, as independent investigating commissions repeatedly established, most notably the 1887 report of the
Seybert CommissionThe Seybert Commission was a group of faculty at the University of Pennsylvania who in 1884-1887 investigated a number of respected spiritualist mediums, uncovering fraud or suspected fraud in every case that they examined.-Establishment of the Commission:...
. In a few cases, fraud practiced under the guise of Spiritualism was prosecuted in the courts.
Prominent investigators who exposed cases of fraud came from a variety of backgrounds, including professional researchers such as
Frank PodmoreFrank Podmore was an English author, founding member of the Fabian Society, and writer on psychic matters.-Life:...
of the
Society for Psychical ResearchThe Society for Psychical Research is a non-profit organization which started in the United Kingdom and was later imitated in other countries...
or
Harry PriceHarry Price was a British psychic researcher and author.-Early life:Notwithstanding his claim to be born in Shropshire, Harry was born in Red Lion Square on the site of the South Place Ethical Society's Conway Hall. He was educated in London at Waller Road School and Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham...
of the
National Laboratory of Psychical ResearchThe National Laboratory of Psychical Research was established in 1925 by Harry Price, at the location of 13 Roland Gardens, London, S.W.7. Their aim was 'to investigate in a dispassionate manner and by purely scientific means every phase of psychic or alleged psychic phenomena'.The honorary...
, and professional
conjurersMagic is a performing art that entertains an audience by creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats, using purely natural means...
such as
John Nevil MaskelyneJohn Nevil Maskelyne was an English stage magician and inventor of the pay toilet as well as many other important Victorian inventions...
. Maskelyne exposed the
Davenport BrothersIra Erastus Davenport and William Henry Davenport , known as the Davenport Brothers, were American magicians in the late 1800s, sons of a Buffalo, New York policeman. The brothers presented illusions claimed to be supernatural.The Davenports began in 1854, less than a decade after Spiritualism...
by appearing in the audience during their shows and explaining how the trick was done. During the 1920s, professional magician
Harry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer...
undertook a well-publicised campaign to expose fraudulent mediums. He was adamant that "Up to the present time everything that I have investigated has been the result of deluded brains."
Despite widespread fraud, the appeal of Spiritualism was strong. Prominent in the ranks of its adherents were those grieving the death of a loved one. One well known case is that of
Mary Todd LincolnMary Ann Todd Lincoln was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865.-Life before the White House:...
who, grieving the loss of her son, organized séances in the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
which were attended by her husband, President
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
. The surge of interest in Spiritualism during and after the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
and
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
was a direct response to the massive casualties.
In addition, the movement appealed to reformers, who fortuitously found that the spirits favored such
causes du jour as equal rights. It also appealed to some who had a
materialistThe philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance. As a theory, materialism is a form of physicalism and belongs to the...
orientation and rejected organized religion. The influential
socialistSocialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a method of compensation based on...
and
atheistAtheism can be either the rejection of theism,or the position that deities do not exist.In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities....
Robert OwenRobert Owen , born in Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales was a social reformer and one of the founders of socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
embraced religion following his experiences in Spiritualist circles.
Many scientists who investigated the phenomenon also became converts. They included
chemistChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
and
physicistPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
William Crookes (1832–1919),
evolutionIn biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
ary
biologistBiology is the natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy...
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) and
Nobel-laureateThe Nobel Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901...
physiologist Charles Richet. Other prominent adherents included journalist and pacifist William T. Stead (1849–1912) and physician and author
Arthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle,
DL was a British physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
(1859–1930). Pioneering American
psychologistA psychologist is someone who studies the human mind and behavior. Research psychologists study human perception, cognition, attention, emotion, motivation, personality, behavior and interpersonal relationships...
William James studied spiritualism, publishing supportive conclusions. The
séanceA séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
s of
Eusapia PalladinoEusapia Palladino was a Spiritualist medium from Naples, Italy.In Italy, France, Germany, Poland and Russia, Palladino seemed to display extraordinary powers in the dark: levitating and elongating herself, "apporting" flowers, materializing the dead, producing spirit hands and faces in wet clay,...
were attended by investigators including
PierrePierre Curie was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity and radioactivity, and Nobel laureate...
and
Marie CurieMarie Skłodowska Curie was a physicist and chemist of Polish upbringing and, subsequently, French citizenship...
. The celebrated New York City physician,
John Franklin GrayJohn Franklin Gray was an American educator and physician a pioneer in the field of and the first practitioner of homoeopathy in the United States...
, was also a well-known and prominent Spiritualist in New York City.
Unorganized movement
The movement quickly spread throughout the world; though only in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
did it become as widespread as in the United States. In Britain, by 1853, invitations to tea among the prosperous and fashionable often included
table-turningTable Turning or "Table Tipping" is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations...
, a type of séance in which spirits would communicate with people seated around a table by tilting and rotating the table. A particularly important convert was the French pedagogist
Allan KardecAllan Kardec is the pseudonym of the French teacher and educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail , who is known today as the systematizer of Spiritism.-Early life:Rivail was born in Lyon in 1804...
(1804-1869), who made the first attempt to systematise the movement's practices and ideas into a consistent philosophical system. Kardec's books, written in the last 15 years of his life, became the textual basis of
SpiritismSpiritism is a philosophical doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on books written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that...
, which became widespread in Latin countries. In
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
, Kardec's ideas are embraced by many followers today. In Puerto Rico, Kardec's books were widely read by the upper classes, and eventually gave birth to a movement known as
Mesa BlancaEspiritismo is the Latin American and Caribbean belief that good and evil spirits can affect health, luck and other elements of human life....
(White Table).
Spiritualism was mainly a
middle-The middle class are any class in the middle of a social schema. In Weberian socio-economic terms they are the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the...
and
upper-classIn sociology an upper class is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area, but only to the extent that the power of the state can intervene in free exchange or distort...
movement, and especially popular with women. U.S. spiritualists would meet in private homes for séances, at lecture halls for trance lectures, at state or national conventions, and at summer camps attended by thousands. Among the most significant of the camp meetings were Camp Etna, in
Etna, MaineEtna is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,012 at the 2000 census.-History:Etna is named for the famed Mt. Etna in Italy. It was originally known as "Crosbytown" after its first proprietor, Gen. John Crosby of Hampden, Maine. It was incorporated as a town in 1820...
; Onset Bay Grove, in
Onset, MassachusettsOnset is a census-designated place in the town of Wareham in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,292 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Onset is located at ....
;
Lily DaleLily Dale is a spiritualist community of the Modern Spiritualist movement located in Chautauqua County, New York, USA.It is in the Town of Pomfret at the north end of Cassadaga Lake, next to the Village of Cassadaga. Located in Southwestern New York State, it is one hour south of Buffalo, three...
, in western New York State;
Camp ChesterfieldCamp Chesterfield was founded in 1886 and is the home of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists, located in Chesterfield, Indiana. Camp Chesterfield offers Spiritualist Church services, seminary, and mediumship, faith healing, and spiritual development classes, as well as mediumship and psychic...
, in
IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
; the
Wonewoc Spiritualist CampWonewoc Spiritualist Camp is a Spiritualist Church community, of the Modern Spiritualist movement, located in Wonewoc, Wisconsin. The camp is open every summer.-External links:**...
, in
Wonewoc, WisconsinWonewoc is a village in Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Baraboo River. The population was 834 at the 2000 census.-History:...
; and
Lake PleasantLake Pleasant is a village in Montague, Massachusetts, United States, and the site of an early and prominent American Spiritualist campground. It claims to be the oldest continuously-existing Spiritualist community in the United States....
, in
Montague, MassachusettsMontague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. In founding
camp meetingThe camp meeting as a Christian gathering originated in the United States of America. The English founders of Primitive Methodism took inspiration from this for a way of holding an extended prayer meeting.-Camp meetings in America:...
s, the spiritualists appropriated a form developed by U.S. Protestant denominations in the early nineteenth century. Spiritualist camp meetings were located most densely in New England and California, but were also established across the upper Midwest.
Cassadaga, FloridaCassadaga is a small unincorporated community located in Volusia County, Florida, just north of Deltona...
, is the most notable spiritualist camp meeting in the southern states.
A number of spiritualist periodicals appeared in the nineteenth century, and these did much to hold the movement together. Among the most important were the weeklies
The Banner of Light (Boston),
The Religio-Philosophical Journal (Chicago),
Mind and Matter (Philadelphia),
The Spiritualist (London), and
The Medium (London). Other influential periodicals were the
Revue Spirite (France),
Le Messager (Belgium),
Annali dello Spiritismo (Italy),
El Criterio Espiritista (Spain), and
The Harbinger of Light (Australia). By 1880, there were about three dozen monthly spiritualist periodicals published around the world. These periodicals differed a great deal from each other, reflecting the great differences among Spiritualists. Some, such as the British
Spiritual Magazine were Christian and conservative, openly rejecting the reform currents so strong within Spiritualism. Others, such as
Human Nature, were pointedly non-Christian and supportive of socialism and reform efforts. Still others, such as
The Spiritualist, attempted to view spiritualist phenomena from a scientific perspective, eschewing discussion on both theological and reform issues.
In the 1920s many "psychic" books were published of varied quality. Such books were often based on excursions initiated by the use of
Ouija boardsA Ouija board , also known as spirit board or talking board) is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, and other symbols, theoretically used to communicate with spirits. It uses a planchette or movable indicator to indicate the spirit's message by spelling it out on the board during a séance...
. A few of these popular books displayed unorganized Spiritualism, though most were less insightful.
The movement was extremely individualistic, with each person relying on her own experiences and reading to discern the nature of the
afterlifeThe afterlife is the idea that the consciousness or mind of a being continues after physical death occurs. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual or immaterial realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics...
. Organisation was therefore slow to appear, and when it did it was resisted by mediums and trance lecturers. Most members were content to attend
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
churches, and particularly
UniversalistThe Universalist Church of America was a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States . Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name was changed to the Universalist Church of America in 1942...
churches harbored many Spiritualists.
As the Spiritualism movement began to fade, partly through the bad publicity of fraud accusations and partly through the appeal of religious movements such as
Christian ScienceChristian Science is a religious belief system founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1866 and is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Christian Science asserts that humanity and the universe as a whole are spiritual rather than material in nature and that truth and good are real...
, the
Spiritualist ChurchThe Spiritualist Church arose from the Spiritualist movement which began in the 1840s in America. Spiritualist Churches are found around the world, but are more common in English-speaking countries. In North America, many churches are affiliated with the National Spiritualist Association of...
was organised. This church can claim to be the main vestige of the movement left today in the United States.
Other mediums
William Stainton MosesThe Reverend William Stainton Moses , was an English clergyman and Spiritualist.Educated at Bedford School, University College School, London and Exeter College, Oxford, he was ordained as a priest of the Church of England by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce in 1870.He attended his first séance with Miss...
(1839–92) was an Anglican clergyman who, in the period from 1872 to 1883, filled 24 notebooks with
automatic writingAutomatic writing is the process or production of writing material that does not come from the conscious thoughts of the writer. Practitioners say that the writer's hand forms the message, with the person being unaware of what will be written....
, much of which was said to describe conditions in the spirit world.
London-born
Emma Hardinge BrittenEmma Hardinge Britten is known for her work as an advocate for the early Modern Spiritualist Movement. Due to the publication of her speeches and writing on the spiritual movement, and an incomplete autobiography which was edited by her sister, much of Emma’s life and work is publicly recorded....
(1823–99) moved to the United States in 1855 and was active in spiritualist circles as a trance lecturer and organiser. She is best known as a chronicler of the movement's spread, especially in her 1884
Nineteenth Century Miracles: Spirits and their Work in Every Country of the Earth.
Eusapia PalladinoEusapia Palladino was a Spiritualist medium from Naples, Italy.In Italy, France, Germany, Poland and Russia, Palladino seemed to display extraordinary powers in the dark: levitating and elongating herself, "apporting" flowers, materializing the dead, producing spirit hands and faces in wet clay,...
(1854-1918) was an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
Spiritualist
mediumMediumship is supposedly a form of communication with spirits.It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Louisiana Voodoo, Shambala and Umbanda...
from the slums of
NaplesNaples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
who made a career touring
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Her stratagems were unmasked on several occasions, though some investigators, including Nobel laureate scientists, credited her mediumistic abilities.
One believer was the
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
psychologist
Julian OchorowiczJulian Leopold Ochorowicz was a Polish philosopher, psychologist, poet, publicist and leading exponent of Polish Positivism.-Life:Ochorowicz was the son of Julian and Jadwiga, née Sumińska.Ochorowicz studied natural sciences at Warsaw...
, who in 1893 brought her from St. Petersburg, Russia, to
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. He introduced her to the novelist Bolesław Prus, who participated in her
séanceA séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
s and incorporated Spiritualist elements into his
historical novelHistorical fiction is a genre in which the plot is set amidst historical events, or more generally, in which the author uses real events but adds a fictional character.-Overview:...
Pharaoh. Ochorowicz studied as well, 15 years later, a home-grown Polish medium, Stanisława Tomczyk.
Adelma VayAdelma Vay born Wurmbrandt Stuppach, , also known as Adelma von Vay or Adelma Vay de Vaya, was a countess, author, medium, and leading advocate of spiritualism in Hungary.- Life and work :She inherited the mystique of having powers from her mother, the Countess Teleki,...
(1840-1925),
HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
(by origin)
spiritisticSpiritism is a philosophical doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on books written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that...
medium, homeopath and clairvoyant was author of many books about spiritism, written in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
and translated into
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
.
After the 1920s
After the 1920s, Spiritualism evolved in three different directions, all of which exist today.
Syncreticism
The first of these continued the tradition of individual practitioners, organised in circles centered on a medium and clients, without any hierarchy or dogma. Already by the late 19th century Spiritualism had become increasingly
syncreticSyncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. This may involve attempts to merge and analogise several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an...
, a natural development in a movement without central authority or dogma. Today, among these unorganised circles, Spiritualism is similar to the New Age movement. However,
TheosophyTheosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics. Theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the "Spiritual Hierarchy" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth...
with its inclusion of Eastern religion, astrology, ritual magic and reincarnation is an example of a closer precursor the 20th century New Age movement. Today's syncretic Spiritualists are quite heterogeneous in their beliefs regarding issues such as reincarnation or the existence of God. Some appropriate New Age and Neo-Pagan beliefs, whilst others call themselves 'Christian Spiritualists', continuing with the tradition of cautiously incorporating Spiritualist experiences into their Christian faith.
Spiritualist Church
The second direction taken has been to adopt formal organisation, patterned after Christian denominations, with established liturgies and a set of Seven Principles, and training requirements for mediums. In the United States the Spiritualist churches are primarily affiliated with the
National Spiritualist Association of ChurchesNational Spiritualist Association of ChurchesOne of the oldest and largest of the Spiritualist churches in the USA is the National Spiritualist Association of Churches , which formed in 1893 in Chicago. Among its leaders were Harrison D. Barrett and James M. Peebles, both former Unitarian...
, and in the U.K. with the
Spiritualists' National UnionThe Spiritualists' National Union is a Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is Light, Nature, Truth....
, founded in 1890. Formal education in Spiritualist practice emerged in 1920, continuing today with the
Arthur FindlayArthur Findlay MBE JP was a writer, accountant, stockbroker and Essex magistrate, as well as a significant figure in the history of the religion of Spiritualism, being a partial founder of the newspaper Psychic News and also a founder of the International Institute for Psychical Research...
College at Stansted Hall. Diversity of belief among organised Spiritualists has led to a few schisms, the most notable occurring in the U.K. in 1957 between those who held the movement to be a religion
sui generis (of its own with unique characteristics), and a minority who held it to be a denomination within Christianity. The practice of organised Spiritualism today resembles that of any other religion, having discarded most showmanship, particularly those elements resembling the conjurer's art. There is thus a much greater emphasis on "mental" mediumship and an almost complete avoidance of the apparently miraculous "materializing" mediumship that so fascinated early believers such as
Arthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle,
DL was a British physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
.
Survivalism
The third direction taken has been a continuation of its empirical orientation to religious phenomena. Already as early as 1882, with the founding of the
Society for Psychical ResearchThe Society for Psychical Research is a non-profit organization which started in the United Kingdom and was later imitated in other countries...
, secular organisations emerged to investigate spiritualist claims. Today many persons with this empirical approach avoid the label of "Spiritualism", preferring the term "
survivalismSurvivalism refers to the belief in the afterlife survival of the conscious self after the death of the physical body. Survivalists attempt to prove survival with the methods of science, using as evidence such things as psychic phenomena, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, electronic...
". Survivalists eschew religion, and base their belief in the afterlife on phenomena susceptible to at least rudimentary scientific investigation, such as mediumship, near-death experiences,
out-of-body experienceAn out-of-body experience , is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one's body and, in some cases, perceiving one's physical body from a place outside one's body...
s, electronic voice phenomena, and
reincarnation researchReincarnation research is research into the idea that human beings have multiple lives. Some of the field is paranormal research that records and analyzes the discourse of people who claim to have had past lives....
. Many Survivalists see themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Spiritualist movement.
See also
- Spiritism
Spiritism is a philosophical doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on books written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that...
- New Thought
The New Thought Movement or New Thought is a spiritual movement which developed in the United States during the late 19th century and emphasizes metaphysical beliefs...
- Spiritualism in fiction
This article provides a list of fictional stories in which Spiritualism features as an important plot element. The list omits passing mentions.-Written works:...
- List of Spiritualist Organizations
- Lily Dale Assembly
Lily Dale is a spiritualist community of the Modern Spiritualist movement located in Chautauqua County, New York, USA.It is in the Town of Pomfret at the north end of Cassadaga Lake, next to the Village of Cassadaga. Located in Southwestern New York State, it is one hour south of Buffalo, three...
- Necromancy
Necromancy is a form of magic in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits" or "spirits of divination", for multiple reasons, from spiritual protection to wisdom...
- Telekinesis
- Michel Eugène Chevreul
Michel Eugène Chevreul was a French chemist whose work with fatty acids led to early applications in the fields of art and science. He is credited with discovering margarine and designing an early form of soap made from animal fats and salt...
- Harry Price
Harry Price was a British psychic researcher and author.-Early life:Notwithstanding his claim to be born in Shropshire, Harry was born in Red Lion Square on the site of the South Place Ethical Society's Conway Hall. He was educated in London at Waller Road School and Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham...
- Thomson Jay Hudson
Thomson Jay Hudson born Windham, Ohio, USA, February 22, 1834, Chief Examiner of the US Patent Office and Psychical researcher, known for his three laws of psychic phenomena, which were first published in 1893....
- Camille Flammarion
Nicolas Camille Flammarion was a French astronomer and author. He is commonly referred to as Camille Flammarion.-Life:Camille Flammarion was born in Montigny-le-Roi, Haute-Marne, France...
External links