Spiritualism (religion)

Spiritualism (religion)
Name	Spiritualism
Caption	Interior of a Spiritualist church
Classification	Religion
Founder	Unknown
Founded place	United States
Founded date	19th century
Scripture	Sermons, séances, messages
Practices	Mediumship, healing, prayer, trance speaking
Regions	United States, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Australia

Spiritualism (religion) Spiritualism is a religious movement and set of practices asserting that the spirits of the dead can communicate with the living through intermediaries known as mediums. Emerging in the mid-19th century, it intersected with social movements and institutions such as abolitionism, Universalist Church of America, Quakerism, Temperance movement, Suffrage movement, and influenced thinkers associated with Transcendentalism and publications like the Liberator and the Spectator. Its followers organized societies, churches, and scientific investigations involving figures from the worlds of science, literature, and politics including connections to Royal Society debates and public lectures at venues like the Royal Institution and the Chautauqua Institution.

History

Spiritualist emergence is often traced to events at locations including Hydesville, Myrtles Plantation-adjacent lore, and the activities of the Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York. The movement spread via tours, lectures, and publications across the United States, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Canada, and Australia through networks connected to figures such as William Lloyd Garrison, Horace Greeley, Narcissa Whitman, and institutions like the American Spiritualist Association and the British National Association of Spiritualists. Prominent 19th-century proponents included Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Arthur Conan Doyle later promoted Spiritualist causes while clashing with contemporaries including Harry Houdini who exposed fraudulent mediums. Scientific inquiry intersected with Spiritualism through investigators like Sir William Crookes, Alfred Russel Wallace, Cesare Lombroso, and research contexts such as the Society for Psychical Research and debates in venues like the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Beliefs and Practices

Spiritualist doctrines often emphasize communication with spirits, progression of the soul, moral accountability, and healing; these were articulated in sermons, periodicals, and texts tied to actors like Emanuel Swedenborg-influenced writers and institutions such as Boston's New Religious Movements circuits. Worship and ritual can take place in organized settings including New York City Spiritualist churches, Liverpool halls, and private séances, featuring practices shared among groups such as the Spiritualist Church of France, Sociedade de Estudos Psíquicos, and the Universal Spiritualist Church (UK). Practices include mediumship, trance speaking, spirit art, and spirit photography—techniques developed and publicized by figures associated with Spirit Photography pioneers and exhibitions at venues like the Great Exhibition. Healing ministries connected Spiritualism with charities and hospitals influenced by personalities linked to Florence Nightingale-era reform and local bodies such as the Barnes Hospital and charitable societies.

Organization and Communities

Spiritualist organization ranged from decentralized circles and lodges to formal bodies like the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC), the British Spiritualist Association, and the Universal Brotherhood Movement. Communities organized conferences, such as gatherings akin to those at the International Conference on Psychical Research and the World's Parliament of Religions, and affiliated publishing houses printed periodicals comparable to the Banner of Light and the Medium and Daybreak. Notable meeting places included the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp, Lyndhurst Hall, and urban Spiritualist churches in Chicago, Boston, and London. Educational efforts manifested through schools and seminars resembling programs at the Chautauqua Institution and cooperative ventures with philanthropic trusts and local councils like those in Brighton and Glasgow.

Mediumship and Phenomena

Mediumship practices produced phenomena such as automatic writing, materializations, apportations, trance lectures, and table-turning, which were investigated by institutions like the Society for Psychical Research and debated in scientific forums including the Royal Society. Mediums of historical note included the Fox sisters, D. D. Home, Eusapia Palladino, and later practitioners who performed in venues associated with Music Hall and salon culture. Techniques such as spirit photography involved craftsmen and exhibitors connected to camera pioneers and studios in cities like New York City, Paris, and São Paulo; some phenomena were championed by investigators like Sir William Crookes while debunked by magicians including Harry Houdini and Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin.

Reception and Criticism

Spiritualism drew support and skepticism: proponents included reformers and scientists such as Alfred Russel Wallace and critics included magicians, skeptics, and religious authorities like members of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. Exposés by performers and skeptics—Harry Houdini, M. R. James, and writers in periodicals like the Spectator—highlighted fraud and prompted legal and police interventions in cities including New York City, London, and Paris. Academic scrutiny appeared in journals and debates at universities such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Harvard University, while parliamentary inquiries and regulatory actions in countries including France and the United Kingdom reflected contested public policy.

Cultural Influence and Notable Figures

Spiritualism influenced literature, music, and visual arts through associations with creators like Arthur Conan Doyle, Helena Blavatsky-era theosophists with overlapping networks, writers including Victor Hugo, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Algernon Swinburne, and painters who exhibited in salons and galleries in cities such as Paris and London. Notable advocates and critics included Eleanor Sidgwick of the Society for Psychical Research, entertainers such as Harry Houdini, reformers like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, scientists like Sir William Crookes and Alfred Russel Wallace, and international figures who organized communities in Brazil and Argentina. Institutions and cultural events influenced by Spiritualism include the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp, published periodicals such as the Banner of Light, and memorials and archives held at repositories like the Library of Congress, British Library, and regional museums in New England and São Paulo.

Category:Spiritual movements