What is Spiritualism?
abracad, · Categories: spiritualism, spiritualityIn a nutshell, Spiritualism is the belief (or to Spiritualists, the knowledge) that individual consciousness survives the death of the physical body and, under certain circumstances, is able to communicate with those who remain physically alive.
Although often credited to Emanuel Swedenborg, Spiritualism took off in 1848 when sisters Kate and Margaret Fox of Hydesville New York began to experience rappings that were attributed to the Spirit of a murdered peddler. Though debate continues as to the authenticity of the Fox sisters' phenomena, the momentum started by their "experiences" created a worldwide movement that continues to this day.
The golden days of Spiritualism following the Fox sisters' rappings continued throughout the Victorian era, peaking during World War I with numerous families attempting to make contact with slain loved ones. During this period Spiritualism was investigated, and eventually embraced by eminent scientists including William Crookes and Oliver Lodge. The Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was another prominent Spiritualist.
During the Golden days physical mediumship was widespread, including the manifestation of Spirit people, and ectoplasm - a substance produced by mediums. Undoubtedly there were numerous fake mediums operating at this time, preying on the desperation of the bereaved. But it would be unfair and naive in the extreme to assume ALL reported phenomena was phony.
Spiritualism continues to flourish in the 21st century by way of local Spiritualist "churches". My current hometown boasts two such "churches", one a Christian Spiritualist Church, the other avowedly nondenominational. In my experience over the last decade attendance has remained constant, or perhaps grown slightly.
In 1871, medium Emma Hardinge Britten received the 7 Principles of Spiritualism from Spirit communication. These continue to guide the movement to this day and are:
- The Fatherhood of God
- The Brotherhood of Man
- The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels
- The Continuous Existence of the Human Soul
- Personal Responsibility
- Compensation and Retribution for all the good and evil deeds done on earth
- Eternal progress open to every soul
Further discussion on the 7 principles
These days Spiritualism has 2 main strands - mediumship (or clairvoyance) in which a medium attempts to prove the survival of the soul through passing messages to sitters from departed loved ones. The messages are usually of a fairly trivial nature, but are significant because they relay things that couldn't be known by the medium. It has to be said that the accuracy of these messages varies considerably from one medium to another, and from sitting to sitting, but viewed as a whole the evidence is overwhelming.
The second strand of modern Spiritualism is healing. This can be hands-on healing, or absent healing sent to those placed in the church's healing book. The successful delivery of healing serves to provide additional evidence that non-physical agencies are both real and able to influence the human condition.
For more on Spiritualism see:
Modern Spiritualism
Spiritualist Mediums: Messages from Spirit
Life, Death and Spirit
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