Earthpulse Blog

I am in Torquay, walking my daughter to sleep on an evening which, though coming on the back of a glorious sunny, spring day, was becoming a little chilly. Now, I am no stranger to synchronistic meetings and events and although not a Christian, I often have numinous experiences on important Christian holidays. In fact, I was slightly disappointed that the day had been non-eventful and that no chance meetings had occured. Enter Tony. Tony was a seemingly ordinary individual with whom I struck up casual conversation as our paths crossed outside a chip shop. After talking about work and other mundane matters it seemed that there would be nothing significant about this exchange either. That was until, out of the blue, Tony revealed that he was an ordained minister for the Spiritualist church. That’s more like it, I thought.

This article outlines a brief history of Spiritualism and looks at what to expect at a Spiritualist service.

March 31 1848: The Fox Phenomenon

The Fox sisters: Kate, Leah and Margaret

Although the conceptual foundation to the Spiritualist movement would have been earlier, with the work of Swedenborg, Mesmer and Andrew Jackson Davis of particular influence, the 31st March 1848 is often cited as the official beginning of the tradition. It was then that the Fox sisters, Margaret and Kate (left) first claimed to have contacted the spirit of a murdered pedlar at their home in New York. What made the claims so readily believable was that the spirit communicated with loud raps, raps which could be heard clearly by witnesses. Such seemingly conclusive evidence of the survival of bodily death required an explanatory belief system and Spiritualism took on that role, fuelled by the support of a large contingent of radical Quakers.

A number of converging socio-political factors provided a ripe environment for the fledgling movement to gain momentum. Firstly, the belief in higher planes of existence and the phenomenon of trance mediumship opened an avenue for the expression of morally and ethical progressive views. Whether or not the messages were genuine, this conveniently suited the agendas of both the abolitionists and the women’s rights movements with the added bonus that female mediums could take Spiritualist services. Cora Scott, a beautiful, young and eloquent medium was one such voice from the founding days of the movement as was Achsa Sprague. Paschal Beverly Randolph, an occultist and abolitionist was another famous name that could be seen on stage. Secondly, the immense loss of life caused by WWI and American Civil War brought with it an even larger wave of grieving families desparate for contact with the departed. The movement also attracted the attention of President Lincoln’s wife, Mary Ann Todd, who lost her second son Eddie in 1850. Many Spiritualists soon took advantage of their marketability with an element of showmanship being introduced. Seances and automatic writing demonstrations were popular and some mediums became celebrities, a situation which continues to today (I recently experienced the impressive live performance of British TV medium Sally Morgan). In fact, some ‘materialization’ mediums could purportedly extrude a malleable substance called ectoplasm from their bodies in order to materialize spirits.

Although there was a great deal of fraud, some of it exposed by the Society of Psychical Research and the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, the evidence was enough to convince many notable personages of Spiritualism’s underlying truth. Famous early converts include the biologist Alfred Russell Wallace, physiologist Charles Richet, former atheist and socialist Robert Owen and author Arthur Conan Doyle. Psychology’s ‘founding father’ William James drew supportive conclusions from studying Spiritualist evidence and Marie Curie was known to have attended seances.

Spiritualism comes to Britain

Table-turning displays, a popular pastime for English ladies

Spiritualism spread throughout the world but became especially popular in Britain. The first Spiritualist church was founded in Keighley, Yorkshire in 1853 and the first Spiritualist newspaper began its circulation in 1855. The movement once again appealed particularly to women and attending displays of ‘table turning’ became a popular middle class ladies’ pursuit. In 1891 the National Federation of Spiritualists was founded, expanding and eventually becoming the hugely popular Spiritualists’ National Union in 1901, with the motto ‘light,nature,truth’. Nevertheless, early Spiritualism was still perceived as a radical movement.

Direct Contact: The Spiritualist Service

Spiritualist groups draw their inspiration from many faiths and adherents can also follow a traditional religion, although Christianity seems to have a particularly noticeable influence in the UK and USA. The service usually begins with an opening prayer and address followed by hymns. The main distinguishing component of Spiritualist worship of course is the central role played by a medium. He or she begins by ‘opening up’, the technique by which contact is established between the medium and the spirits waiting to communicate to members of the congregation. A ‘good’ medium should be able to produce verifiable ‘survival evidence’, in other words specific information that identifies the spirit of the deceased to their family. Mediums develop their abilities within ‘development circles’ which often contain elements of meditation, contemplation and channeling but the more showy aspects of mediumship (materialization, table-tipping and the like), while still practised, have largely been dropped.

The Declaration of Principles

In 1899 Spiritualism defined for itself a six article ‘Declaration of Principles’, later expanded to nine articles. Not all Spiritualist groups follow the Declaration but here are the nine articles, as published on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualist_Church#Declaration_of_Principles, accessed April 17th 2009):

1. We believe in Infinite Intelligence.
2. We believe that the phenomena of Nature, both physical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intelligence.
3. We affirm that a correct understanding of such expression and living in accordance therewith constitute true religion.
4. We affirm that the existence and personal identity of the individual continue after the change called death.
5. We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact, scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism.
6. We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule: “Whatsoever ye would that others should do unto you, do ye also unto them.”
7. We affirm the moral responsibility of the individual, and that he makes his own happiness or unhappiness as he obeys or disobeys Nature’s physical and spiritual laws.
8. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any soul here or hereafter.
9. We affirm that the precept of Prophecy and Healing are Divine attributes proven through Mediumship.

Spiritualist church in Runcorn, UK

Coming next: Stepping between worlds: The Shamanic journey

Do you have any personal experiences with or opinions on Spiritualism that you would like to share? If so, please leave a comment below.