Spiritualism: History, Beliefs and Practices

Merriam Webster defines spiritualism, as the view that spirits are a prime element of reality. They further definite spiritualism as a belief that spirits of the dead communicate with the living, usually through a medium. While the word spiritualism today means different things to different people, the spiritualism movement is marked by a belief in life after death and a strong belief that we have the power to contact and even speak with the dead.

When Did Spiritualism Begin?

According to the Australian Paranormal Society, spiritualism did not begin as a religion, but overtime it developed into one. Interest in communicating with spirits and in finding "proof" of life after death took hold during the 1840's. The birth of spiritualism in the United States was said to have begun with events surrounding the Fox sisters of Hydesville, New York in 1848. The three Fox sisters became famous for their so-called communicating with spirits. The communication supposedly started with the young Fox sisters hearing a series of taps they began responding to the taps with taps of their own. Eventually people came to witness the events, and the stories of the Fox sisters' ability to communicate with spirits grew and the sisters became famous. Interest in spiritualism and communicating with spirits grew. The spiritualism movement peaked during the 1920's and slowly dwindled (but did not die out completely) due to many fraudulent mediums and a lack of scientific proof.

Elements of Spirtitualism
Two of the most important elements of spirtualism are mediumship and mesmerism. Both will be discussed further in this article.

Mediumship in Spiritualism
A belief in mediumship is important to spiritualism. Mediums are people who are believed to have a special power that allows them to communicate with the spirit world. The objective of mediums is to prove survival of the human personality after death and to help the bereaved come to terms with the death of a loved one. Mediums in the spiritualist church can not guarantee that they can contact at any given time a particular spirit. Mediums in the spiritualist church are also carefully monitored by the governing bodies of the Spiritualist church. Mediums differ from psychics in that mediums do not predict future events.

Mesmerism and Spiritualism
A belief in mesmerism which can take the form of hypnotism is also one of the core elements of the spiritualist church. The technique of mesmerism was introduced by Austrian Physician Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer's theory was that all animated bodies including man were affected by a magnetic force, which also influenced the celestial bodies and the earth. His curative technique was publicly accepted in Paris in 1778. In the spiritualist church a belief in mesmerism can take the form of hypnotism and even a belief in levitation.

Spiritualism Today

While spiritualism is not nearly as popular today as it was during its heyday in the early 1900's, there is still an active spiritualist movement. Spiritualism is most popular today in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the spiritualist churches are primarily affiliated with the National Spiritualist Association of Churches and in the United Kingdom with the Spiritualist's National Movement.

Spiritualism may not have been able to find the momentum of other religions, but it still lives on today.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism#Spiritualist_Church

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spiritualism

http://www.australianparanormalsociety.com/news/?page_id=230

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/m/mesmerism.html

http://www.psychics.co.uk/mediums.htm