Spiritualism
Spiritualism, aka Modern Spiritualism (to distinguish it from earlier philosophies) and not to be confused with personal or other cultural spiritual beliefs, is a monotheistic worldview based on the belief of the existence of spirits and the possibility of communication with them through mediums. According to most Spiritualist organisations, Modern Spiritualism started in 1848 when two children in Hydesville, New York, Kate and Margaretta (Maggie) Fox, with their mother Margaret, demonstrated an ability to communicate with spirits who could be heard rapping on the wall. A committee of sceptics found no evidence of deception. Spiritualism is a progressive worldview without fixed doctrines or beliefs, but some works have been particularly influential in the movement. In 1847, American seer Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1910) published the pioneering book The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind, statedly comprising messages conveyed to him from the spirit of Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg. At a lecture in London in 1871, English opera singer and medium Emma Hardinge Britten (1823–1899) delivered the following ‘Seven Principles’, which have been updated, interpreted and reworked in diverse ways but still express the core of most Spiritualist practice today: 1) The Fatherhood of God; 2) The Brotherhood of Man; 3) The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels; 4) The Continuous Existence of the Human Soul; 5) Personal Responsibility; 6) Compensation and Retribution hereafter for all the Good and Evil deeds done on Earth; 7) Eternal progress open to every Human Soul. Emma Hardinge claimed the American Civil War (1861–1865) added 2 million new followers to the movement, and by the 1880s there were about 8 million Spiritualists in the United States and Europe. In 1888, Maggie Fox, with the support of her sister Kate, after decades of successful tours to spread Spiritualism, confessed to an audience that she and Kate had produced the raps on the wall in Hydesville using an apple tied to a string. A year or so later she recanted her confession. Many eminent thinkers and scientists, including inventor Thomas Edison (1847–1931), physicist Pierre Curie (1859–1906), biologist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) and author Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) of Sherlock Holmes’ fame have been actively drawn to Spiritualism. By contrast, many magicians and illusionists, including Harry Houdini (1874–1926), debunked methods of famous mediums, criticising them for preying on the vulnerability of mourners, and performed their tricks in their shows – but Houdini himself made many (unsuccessful) attempts to contact his mother after her death in 1913. There are many denominations of Spiritualism with no single overarching body but instead umbrella organisations alongside independent churches or other organisations. The US-based National Spiritualist Association, precursor to the current-day National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC), was established in 1893. In 1922 the NSAC expelled or made unwelcome all its African American members, some of whom went on to form a national organisation called the Colored Spiritualist Association of Churches, which eventually disbanded and reformed as loosely allied and independent churches now known informally under umbrella term ‘spiritual church movement’. Today, Spiritualist organisations and churches exist in Australia, New Zealand, North America, South Africa, Japan, Korea and much of western and northern Europe. It is hard to estimate the number of followers of Spiritualism since it is not an organised religion, but it is probably still in the millions. The major American and British Spiritualist bodies have tens of thousands of paying members. The UK-based Spiritualists National Union was established in 1890 and is the legally recognised body for the religion of Spiritualism in the UK. Prior to 1951, mediums could be tried in the UK for witchcraft; the UK Parliament passed the Fraudulent Mediums Act in 1951, enabling Spiritualists to practise their religion legally. The worldview Spiritism, established in France in the 1850s, has its origins in Spiritualism and shares the basic beliefs in the spirit world and ability to contact spirits through mediums, but Spiritism has one clear founder, French academic Allan Kardec, who wrote its foundational texts, and Spiritists meet in Spiritist Community Centres that do not run Sunday services, whereas most Spiritualists have access to Sunday services, often in churches. Today, most followers of Spiritism live in Brazil. Despite the clear distinction, however, even some followers use the terms Spiritism and Spiritualism interchangeably. Christianity heavily informs the beliefs of Spiritualism and Spiritism, but both are rejected by the Catholic Church. Section 2116 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, ‘All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future.’ Most Spiritualist churches resemble a church hall and Sunday services are usually held with songs, prayer, readings, talks and a session with a medium contacting the spirit world. There are no universal Spiritualist holy days, festivals, special rituals or dietary restrictions.