The History of Modern Spiritualism
The 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
the National Spiritualist Association of Churches and in the
UK with the Spiritualists National Union.
The historically separate African American based but not formally
organized Spiritual Church Movement also counts many spiritual
churches among its loose membership.
The origin of mediumship is usually linked to the Fox Sisters at
Hydesville, New York in 1848, but believers date the unofficial
beginning of American Spiritualismto the Shakers and similar
religious groups.
By 1853 the movement had reached San Francisco
and London, and by 1860 was worldwide.
The Fox family remained very active in Spiritualism for many years.
Other notable Spiritualists were Mercy Cadwallader, who became
a sort of missionary for the movement, and Emma Hardinge Britten ,
who wrote many books on mediumship and its place in American
popular and religious culture.
In 1853 the first Spiritualist Church in the British Isles was established
by David Richmond at Keighley in Yorkshire. In 1855 the first Spiritualist
newspaper in Britain, The Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph, was published,
and by the 1870s there were numerous Spiritualist societies and
churches throughout the US and Britain.
There was little in the way of national organisation of mediums in Britain
or the USA although some regions of Britain had organised Federations
that might have up to thirty circles of similar beliefs, and in 1891 the
National Federation of Spiritualists (NFS) came into existence and grew
quite large before its name change to theSpriritualist National Union (SNU) in 1902.
British spiritualists of this time were often adherents of the temperance and
anti-capital punishment lobbys, often held radical political views and were
frequently vegetarians. A few dabbled in Women's Rights and a tiny minority
espoused Free Love: the popular perception of Spiritualists was often of
radicals in the Victorian period.
'Two Worlds" was the major British magazine of spiritualism and had a fairly
large circulation, and it advertised the existence of local circles.
Trance mediumship flourished and table turning was a popular craze,
reputedly even reaching Buckingham Palace.
D.D. Home one of the greatest mediums did much to make spiritualism
fashionable by his high profile activities, and it was common among everyone
from the aristocracy down. There can be no doubt that there were many fake
mediums practicing in the period, exposed by both the Spiritualists, and the
fledgling Society for Physical Research, founded in 1882, whose members
spent much time investigating the phenomena.
By 1924 there were 309 Churches who were affiliated to the SNU or one of
the many other organisations. A new magazine, Psychic News, had joined
Two Worlds on the newsstands of Britain.
American spiritualism continued to exist but was more individualistic and
anti-organisation than its British counterpart.
From 1920 to 1938 there was the British College of Psychic Studies
(1920 to 1947) led by Mr and Mrs Mackenzie in London, but more successful
was the Arther Findlay College at Stansted which continues to today.
In 1957 Spiritualist Churches in Britain divided between the Spiritualist
National Union , influenced by Arthur Findlay's beliefs and holding
spiritualism to be a religion, and the circles of Christian Spiritualism, who
hold it to be a denomination of Christianity. This schism is a major break,
as the two groups hold very different theological beliefs.
National Spiritualist churches form the large majority and are affiliated
to The Spiritualists' National Union (S.N.U.), including the Spiritualist
Association of Great Britain.
The SNU also has some member churches in other English speaking
countries. Christian Spiritualist Churches are mainly affiliated to
The Greater World Christian Spiritualist Association.
There are Spiritualist churches in Australia, New Zealand, Canada,
Republic of South Africa and groups in many countries including Japan,
all Scandinavian countries, Korea, Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary,
the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Iceland.
Many such groups and also individuals, are members of International
Spiritualist Federation ( ISF ) which was founded in Belgium in 1923 and
is an umbrella organisation for all spiritualists. They hold Congresses
every two years in different parts of the world. Other Spiritualist groups
in the UK include The White Eagle Lodge, founded by the medium Grace Cooke,
The Institute of Spiritualist Mediums and the Noah's Ark Society ,
that focuses on physical phenomena only.
Styles of Worship
Spiritualist churches are places of worship for the practitioners of Spiritualism.
The Spiritualist service is usually conducted by a medium.
There is an opening prayer, an address, hymns and finally a demonstration
of mediumship.
Through engaging their intuition, they attempt to contact with the spirits
of the dead.
This is known as opening up.
In Britain especially, such mediums are trained to produce clear evidence
that the spirit contacted is the person they claim it to be before going on to
give any "message" from the spirit.
Such evidence can be details of where they lived, including addresses sometimes,
particulars of illnesses suffered and notable events in their lives, often known
only to the person in the audience being given the information.
The standard of mediumship varies greatly but the best do produce startlingly
accurate information about the spirit with whom they are in contact.
Spirtualists believe that we all die physically; and that some aspect of the
personality or mind survives this and continues to exist on a spirit plane.
Spiritualists use the word Spirit as a plural which describes all minds and
entities who have entered into the spirit world.
The purpose of the medium is to provide some evidence that a human has
survived by describing the person to their surviving relatives.
The degree of accuracy with which the deceased are described goes some
way to convincing the living relatives and friends that the medium has some
contact with the spirit. Spiritualists describe this as Survival Evidence.
Spiritualist Healing is a form of mediumship which involves a technique of
directing healing energy to the patient from a higher source.
The healer uses his or her hands to affect repair of damaged or diseased
tissue. All or part of the patient's good health is sometimes restored.
There have been a number of outstanding and famous practitioners of spirit
communication connected to Spiritualist churches.
One of the principal advocates of Spiritualism was the 20th century British
writer Arthur Findlay.
Findlay was a magistrate, farmer and businessman who left his mansion
house as place for the study and advancement of psychic science.
This has now become a psychic college in Stansted, England and is run by
the S.N.U.
Mediums develop their ability by sitting regularly in development circles
with other student psychics. Meditation usually plays a large role
in Spiritualist practice.
Meditation is used to calm the "voices" of modern, hectic life so that
the practitioner can better hear his or her guide.
Meditation often includes the breathing practices of Buddhist meditation
( anapanasat ) and may also include the idea of chakras
The Spiritualist may also focus on the tenets of their chosen religion to
help them attain a higher existence.
These may include standard prayers ( Hail Mary, Shema, Yisrael or Salah etc. ),
focusing on the name of God ( Jesus, YHWH or Allah etc. ) or other
aspects of a holy nature.
Like most meditation techniques, imaging (intensely imagining a place
or situation) is common.
There are specific imagings used to "meet" one's guide, connect with
those who have died, receive protection or support from God or simply
calming the mind.
Many Spiritualists draw inspiration from other religious traditions,
most notably Christianity, but also from faiths with a deep mystical
tradition such as Sufism, the Kabbalah, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Some Spiritualists believe in the idea of the universe as the creator,
and don't necessarily follow any specific religion.
In 1899, a six-article "Declaration of Principles" was adopted.
Three other articles were added at a later date. Because of its
significance in setting the beliefs of Modern Spiritualism, all nine
articles are quoted in full below. The influence of Unitarianism is
obvious in the definition of God in article one.
In Australia these were reduced and modernised to "The Seven Principles"
Declaration of Principles
l. 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." (Principles 1-6 adopted in Chicago, Illinois, 1899. Principle 6 revised in Ronkonkorma,
New York, 2004.)
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; ( Principles 7-8 adopted in Rochester, New York, 1909 and revised
in Rochester, New York, 2001. )
9. We affirm that the precept of Prophesy and Healing are Divine attributes
proven through Mediumship . ( Principle 9 adopted in St. Louis, Missouri,
1944, revised in Oklahoma City, 1983 and in Westfield, New Jersey, 1998.)
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