I noticed at the last meeting that many of you were unfamiliar with Spiritualist Churches, and as they are somewhat relevant to the work we do, I thought I’d post a short write-up on the topic. I cribbed some of this from Wikipedia,. The rest is based on my experience as a church organist at a Spiritualist church in Exeter NH, my occasional attendance at Spiritualist churches in Watertown and Brookline, and my having taught a course on cults at several traditionalist churches.

Feel free to ask me questions, or even disagree on some points. And if anyone is interested in attending a service, I can point the way.

What is Spiritualism?

The Spiritualist Church arose from the Spiritualist movement that began in the 1840s in America. Spiritualist Churches are found around the world, but are more common in English-speaking countries. In North America the churches are primarily affiliated with the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, and in the UK with the Spiritualists National Union.

Spiritualists believe that we all die physically; and that some aspect of the personality or mind survives this and continue 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..

Mediumship, the ability of certain individuals to communicate with those who have passed on, is the foundation of Spiritualism. Its purpose 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.

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 (?n?p?nasati) 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 imaging’s used to “meet” one’s guide, connect with those who have died, receive protection or support from God or simply calming the mind.

Spiritualist Healing is a form of mediumship that 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.

Many Spiritualists draw inspiration from other religious traditions, most notably Christianity, but also from faiths and belief systems with a deep mystical tradition such as “New Age”, 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.

History

The origin of mediumship is usually linked to the Fox sisters at Hydesville, New York in 1848, but believers date the unofficial beginning of modern American spiritualism to 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. By the 1870s there were numerous Spiritualist societies and churches throughout the US and Britain.

In the early years there was little in the way of national organization of mediums in Britain or the USA although some regions of Britain had organized 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 the Spiritualists’ National Union (SNU) in 1902. British spiritualists of this time were often adherents of the temperance and anti-capital punishment lobbies, 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.

D.D.Hume one of the greatest physical mediums did much to make spiritualism fashionable by his high profile activities, and it became common among everyone from the aristocracy down. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, was a strong proponent and evangelizer for the movement. And here in the US, President Abraham Lincoln, influenced strongly by his wife after the death of their son, was an adherent. 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 Psychical Research, founded in 1882, whose members spent much time investigating the phenomena. The magician Harry Houdini dedicated himself to exposing fake mediums and did so with a vengeance, reportedly because none of them could assist him in contacting his deceased mother.

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. In 1957 Spiritualist Churches in Britain divided between the Spiritualist’s 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 e a denomination of Christianity. This schism is a major break, as the two groups hold very different theological beliefs.

Beliefs

Spiritualism is a relatively ‘free-thinking’ religion, and if you talk to ten different practitioners you’ll probably get ten different answers to a question. However, the Spiritualist Church accepts the Seven Principles of Spiritualism – but individual liberty of interpretation is reserved to each member:

* The Divine Eternal Parenthood (sometimes called “the Fatherhood of God”)
* The Family of Humankind (sometimes called “the Brotherhood of Man”)
* The Interconnectedness of all Creation.
* The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels
* The Continuous Existence of the Human Soul
* Personal and Social Responsibility, including compensation and/or retribution hereafter for
the good and evil deeds done “on Earth”
* Eternal progress open to every Human Soul

Relationship to Orthodox Christianity

The official view of most traditionalist Christian churches, particularly the evangelistic and fundamentalists groups, is that Spiritualism (which they prefer to call “Spiritism”) is a cult and cannot be considered a Christian denomination. First and foremost, certain passages in the Bible appear to prohibit any attempt to contact the dead, and they imply that any spirits that claim to be the souls of deceased friends and relatives are in reality demons masquerading as such. Also, Spiritualists do not teach that believing in Christ and his redemptive sacrifice on the cross is essential to salvation, and do not believe in hell and eternal damnation. And finally, Spiritualists deny that Christ arose bodily from the dead but instead teach that he returned in spirit form.

Here’s a brief summary of Spiritualist churches today in the US:

* Most are small, do not have fulltime ministers. A few are fortunate in owning their own church buildings, but most congregations meet in rented churches, hotel conference rooms, and such, mostly on Sunday afternoons.

* The worship area is simple, usually consisting of a platform and lectern and perhaps a few candles. There are few if any religious icons such as crosses, pictures, or statuary. Recorded music plays in the background until the service begins. There is no choir and sometimes not even an organist or piano accompanist.

* Members of their clergy are, almost without exception, accomplished mediums. There is no clerical hierarchy to speak of, such as bishops and archbishops. Churches operate autonomously for the most part.

* Some churches adhere to a basically Christian flavor, while others have adopted a Judeo-Christian slant and celebrate Jewish as well as Christian holy days.

* The church week consists of a general worship service on Sundays. There is an opening prayer, an address, hymns, and finally a demonstration of mediumship. In addition, there may be a “Message night” service during the week, when the focus is on the mediums conveying messages from the spirit world to those in the audience. A church may also offer training in mediumship and other courses, give readings, perform healing, and other services.

* Besides churches, there are Spiritualist Campgrounds scattered throughout the US, “cottage communities” where followers can stay for a week or more to take part in ‘tent meeting’ style services and attend special classes.