History of the Spiritualist Movement

This is an excerpt from my new Ebook, “Enlightened Afterlife: A Study of Spiritualist Philosophy on Life After Death”. You can purchase it by clicking on the book cover below or clicking the “buy now” button at the bottom of this post.

Let’s look at the history the unique religious movement known as Spiritualism.

Spiritualism thrived from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s. Its popularity fizzled by the late twentieth century for a number of reasons, including accusations of fraud against mediums and criticism of its lack of structure. Despite this, it continues today with devoted members all around the world.

In a nutshell, the Spiritualist philosophy is that the soul survives the death of the body and evolves into ever higher states of consciousness.

Departed spirits can communicate through mediums for the purpose of reaching living relatives, describing the afterlife and quelling their relatives’ fear of death, and we all have the natural ability to channel these spirits. We just have to develop it, which requires us to believe in it.

A Golden Age for Spirit Communication

You might be surprised to learn how much channeled material was produced during this movement’s heyday.

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were a Golden Age for spirit communication, and thanks to the New Age movement and other modern twists on Spiritualist philosophy, similar channeled material is produced in abundance today.

The channelings of the modern era owe their existence to devoted Spiritualist mediums who were in business over century ago and, in some cases, produced book after book of communications from beyond.

The mediumship made famous by the Spiritualist movement formed the foundation for the channeling practices common in the New Age movement today.

The latter might have turned out a lot different if it weren’t for Spiritualist mediums, and when you explore the history behind this movement that’s responsible for our conception of spirit communication, you realize there were just as many genuine spiritual seekers involved as there were frauds.

The Philosophy

Wikipedia defines Spiritualist philosophy as a belief in spirits of the deceased who have the ability and desire to communicate with the living. ⁽¹⁾

Rather than experience one set afterlife, the soul is believed to progress through several higher or lower planes depending on their choices in life (and in the afterlife). ⁽¹⁾

Since mediums believe the spirits they communicate with are in a more enlightened state of consciousness, they turn to these spirits for moral and philosophical guidance. ⁽¹⁾ They also believe in the concept of a spirit guide with whom they can communicate through a medium. ⁽¹⁾

8 Million Followers

The Spiritualist movement thrived from around the 1840s to the 1920s, and its members were mostly middle to upper class people in English speaking countries. ⁽¹⁾ By 1897, the movement had more than 8 million American and European followers. ⁽¹⁾

It flourished despite that it had no formal body, organization or scripture thanks mostly to missionary work, tours, camp meetings and other related activities ⁽¹⁾.

Many prominent Spiritualists during this time were female freedom fighters who were vocal in causes including women’s rights and the abolition of slavery. ⁽¹⁾

Despite its mass following, the movement’s credibility took serious dive due to the aforementioned fraud. As a result, Spiritualist organizations thinned out. ⁽¹⁾

However, it’s still an established religion with followers and denominational churches where the unique philosophy we’ll explore throughout this series can be expressed and expanded. ⁽¹⁾

Infinite Intelligence, Spirit Communication, Structure of the Spirit World

Spiritualists hold a firm belief in God, often referred to as infinite intelligence. ⁽¹⁾

Other beliefs include the soul; life after death; spirit communication; spiritual evolution; nature as an expression of infinite intelligence; and the ability to create our reality. ⁽¹⁾

Spirits are often referred to as “discarnate humans” who can communicate through a medium or anyone who’s receptive. ⁽¹⁾ Although it’s believed mediums are given the gift of spirit communication from God, it’s also believed that anyone can develop this gift. ⁽¹⁾

Swedish scientist, astronomer and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg was a key figure in what would become the Spiritualist movement, as he contributed deep philosophical writings about the nature of the soul and higher states of consciousness. ⁽¹⁾

His writings resonated well with early Spiritualists.

He claimed to communicate with spirits and proposed a description of the structure of the spirit world based on his communications. ⁽¹⁾

He proposed that rather than there being a single heaven and hell, there are multiple planes in the afterlife that are increasingly heavenly or hellish depending, again, on our choices. ⁽¹⁾

Early Spiritualists supported this idea, as well as the idea that discarnate humans and the mediums who channel them are chosen by infinite intelligence to be the vehicle for its wisdom to reach people on earth. ⁽¹⁾

Spirit Communication Throughout History

According to the Spiritualists National Union, humans have been aware of discarnate spirits since the dawn of time. ⁽²⁾

Contact with spirits has been prominent throughout history: The Greeks were known for consulting oracles and the Romans and Assyrians practiced divination to obtain “guidance from the Gods” to give a few examples. ⁽²⁾

Contact with spirits is nothing new, and the SNU asserts that the early Christian Church was founded on the basis of mediumship. ⁽²⁾ The evidence for this is found in the fact that Jesus was considered a gifted healer with access to the other side who could perform miracles. ⁽²⁾

The Bible contains references to psychic abilities, mediumship, healing and other phenomena associated today with Spiritualist or New Age philosophy. ⁽²⁾ This kind of thinking has always been around, but it hasn’t always been tolerated.

Spirit communication and all related philosophical thought was reportedly squashed in the Middle Ages, when anyone suspected of being psychic could face trial, torture and death. ⁽²⁾

Hundreds of thousands of mediums were reportedly put to death by witch hunters, and the masses were forced to seek spiritual guidance through the priesthood alone. ⁽²⁾ At this time, spirit communicators were considered false profits or agents of the devil and brutally persecuted. ⁽²⁾

Fortunately, mediumship would make a comeback thanks to Swedenborg. He, as well as Andrew Jackson Davis – who channeled Swedenborg after his death – was instrumental in introducing philosophy regarding the afterlife to the world well before the Spiritualist movement “officially” started in 1848. ⁽²⁾

In my opinion, this is significant because this type of thought had been so heavily persecuted that it was near extinction. Thanks to Swedenborg, Davis and others, it remains popular to this day; though not nearly as popular as it was in the late 1800s.

Andrew Jackson Davis

According to Spiritualism and Beyond, spiritual author Andrew Jackson Davis is considered the “John the Baptist” of Spiritualism. ⁽³⁾ He grew up in a small town along the Hudson River in New York State, and at a young age he claimed to hear voices and demonstrated clairvoyant abilities. ⁽³⁾

Davis had a life changing experience on the evening of March 6, 1844 when he entered a sudden trance state and awoke the next morning forty miles away from where he was. ⁽³⁾ He claimed that during his time in trance, he met the spirits of a Greek physician named Glen and a seer named Swedenborg. ⁽³⁾

After this experience, he traveled, lectured, and wrote thirty books that were all popular. ⁽³⁾ Remember that this was all before the Spiritualist movement officially started. In 1847 he made a prediction that turned out somewhat accurate: it wouldn’t be long before the existence of the afterlife would be proven.

It never was, but just a year after his prediction, the Hydseville Rappings would launch the Spiritualist movement and the Fox sisters (along with many of Davis’ ideas) to international fame. Though unproven, the afterlife quickly became a topic of great interest around the world.

History of the Fox Home

Troy Taylor writes that the Spiritualist movement officially began in the home of the Fox sisters in Hydesdale, New York in 1848. ⁽⁴⁾ It was revived once or twice in the mid-1900s after its popularity had waned, and the greatest of these revivals took place during World Wars I and II. ⁽⁴⁾

Legend states that the Fox family house was haunted before they moved in. ⁽⁴⁾ A couple with the last name Bell occupied the house between 1843 and 1844, and a young local woman, Lucretia Pulver, did chores and other related things for them. ⁽⁴⁾

A young peddler came to the door one day looking to sell goods to the family, and he ended up staying with them for a short time. ⁽⁴⁾ It’s believed that the peddler had a closer relationship with Mrs. Bell than anyone knew. ⁽⁴⁾ Shortly after he began staying with the family, Lucretia was fired for unknown reasons. ⁽⁴⁾ No explanation was given for her firing, but there were no hard feelings involved. ⁽⁴⁾

Before Mrs. Bell was to take her home, Lucretia decided to buy a small kitchen knife from the peddler which she requested he bring to her father’s farm later. He never showed up. ⁽⁴⁾

To her delight, Lucretia was rehired a week later. ⁽⁴⁾ When she returned, she noticed the peddler was gone but Mrs. Bell was in possession of most of his things. ⁽⁴⁾ She assumed Mrs. Bell had bought them from him before sending him on his way, however, and everything seemed back to normal. ⁽⁴⁾

The sense of normalcy wouldn’t last.

Lucretia quickly began to notice strange happenings: knocking and tapping noises from the peddler’s old room; eerie footsteps pacing the house before descending down the stairs to the cellar; and a nervous and frightening feeling that would overwhelm her when she was alone in the house. ⁽⁴⁾

The noises would sometimes cease if she had a friend or relative stay in the house with her, but oftentimes they’d go on for hours whether or not she was alone. ⁽⁴⁾ The noises scared her brother so bad on one occasion that he left the house and refused to return. ⁽⁴⁾

One day while down in the cellar, Lucretia stumbled over a fresh mound of dirt she didn’t remember being there before. ⁽⁴⁾ Mrs. Bell’s explanation was that she’d dumped it there to cover rat holes. ⁽⁴⁾

Shortly after, the Bells moved out of the house and the Weekman family moved in along with a relative, Ms. Lafe. They didn’t stay long. ⁽⁴⁾

Ms. Lafe was entering the kitchen one day when she spotted an apparition of a man in a black frock coat. ⁽⁴⁾ She screamed and it vanished. ⁽⁴⁾ Soon, the whole family would be aware of a strange presence in the house.

It wasn’t long before the Weekmans noticed noises similar to those reported by Lucretia in the evening and night. They moved out shortly after because they couldn’t handle it. ⁽⁴⁾

Then, in 1848, the Fox family moved in. ⁽⁴⁾

Legend of the Fox Sisters

The Fox family consisted of John Fox, his wife and their three daughters Margaret, Kate and Leah. ^(4,5) John was a farmer from Canada who’d recently purchased land in New York and was building a house on it. ⁽⁴⁾ They stayed in the Hydesdale cottage temporarily while their family home was being built. ⁽⁴⁾

Within days of moving in, they began to notice strange noises. ⁽⁴⁾ They’d be awoken suddenly at night by loud banging, rattling and other noises, and at first John Fox thought nothing of it. ⁽⁴⁾

He figured they were simply the sounds of a new and unfamiliar house exaggerated by his family’s active imaginations. ⁽⁴⁾ However, the noises and the reports from his wife and daughters became harder to dismiss. ⁽⁴⁾

One night, Kate woke up screaming and said a hand had touched her face. ⁽⁴⁾ In another instance, Margaret reported feeling invisible fists pull the covers off of her bed. ⁽⁴⁾ Mrs. Fox even reported hearing footsteps in the house that descended into the cellar, like Lucretia had a few years earlier. ⁽⁴⁾

Not a superstitious man, John Fox was perplexed. ⁽⁴⁾ He couldn’t explain or figure out the source of the noises, and his wife and daughters quickly began to believe the house was haunted. ⁽⁴⁾

On the evening of March 31^st, 1848, John examined the noises in an attempt to find a source as he had every single evening up to that point with no success. ⁽⁴⁾ Things would be different on that night, however, when one of the Fox sisters decided to take the investigation in a new direction. ⁽⁴⁾

Kate noticed that when John would knock on a wall or doorframe, they’d hear the same number of knocks in response from the ghostly presence. ⁽⁴⁾ It was as if someone was trying to communicate with them. ⁽⁴⁾

Being assured of its existence and even naming it “Mr. Splitfoot”, Kate addressed it by this name and told it to “do as I do” before clapping her hands twice. ⁽⁴⁾ Two knocks were immediately heard, and it was as if they came from inside the wall. ⁽⁴⁾

Then Kate rapped on the table. The knocks repeated her again. ⁽⁴⁾

Their attention thoroughly captured, her family entered the room and watched as she communicated with the presence through sound. ⁽⁴⁾ They began to ask it questions, such as the age of one of the daughters and the age of a Fox child who’d passed away. ⁽⁴⁾

The number of knocks always corresponded with the accurate age or number, making it seem as if they were communicating with a presence or intelligence that somehow had deeper knowledge of the family. ⁽⁴⁾

John Fox brought his neighbors over to witness the phenomenon. ⁽⁴⁾ Many of them were initially skeptical but surprised to receive accurate answers to their own questions, and scientific experiments began in the house to determine if proof of a discarnate spirit had really been found. ⁽⁴⁾

William Duesler was a neighbor and former occupier of the house who embarked on his own experiments by asking repeated questions and creating a form of alphabet using a series of knocks. ⁽⁴⁾

He was able to determine the cause of the disturbances through a group session with the spirit wherein it revealed it was a peddler who’d been murdered in the house. ⁽⁴⁾ Lucretia just happened to be in attendance and quickly came forward with her experiences and the story of stumbling over the dirt mound in the cellar. ⁽⁴⁾

John Fox and William Dueselr went to the area in the cellar where Lucretia had reported finding the mound and dug, and after over an hour, they found nothing except a strange object underneath the blade of Fox’s shovel. ⁽⁴⁾

It was a small piece of bone with some hair still attached, and a local doctor later determined it was a piece of a skull. ⁽⁴⁾ The Fox family (as well as the masses who’d gathered at their home by this point) were convinced it was from the peddler. ⁽⁴⁾ From there, what we now know as the Spiritualist movement took off. ⁽⁴⁾

Fox Sisters Claim Psychic Abilities

The two younger Fox sisters, Margaret and Kate, now claimed to have psychic abilities and a special connection with the spirit of the peddler. ⁽⁴⁾ News spread fast, and by just a little over a year later in November 1849, the two sisters were giving public displays of their abilities. ⁽⁴⁾

Their older sister Leah became their manager. ⁽⁵⁾

Everyone was intrigued and wanted to be a part of what was going on, and thus, the Spiritualist movement was born. ⁽⁴⁾ The Fox sisters gained international fame, but their credibility was called into question often. ⁽⁴⁾

After a while, the Fox family became overwhelmed with all the visitors to their home and moved to Rochester. ⁽³⁾ The peddler reportedly followed the sisters and continued to make contact; they presented evidence for this contact at a public demonstration organized in Corinthian Hall, the city’s largest assembly. ⁽³⁾

A committee was appointed to investigate the sisters’ legitimacy before the demonstration, and they’d formed the opinion beforehand that the sisters were making the tapping sounds by snapping their knee joints. ⁽³⁾

However, according to Spiritualism and Beyond, they passed every test and the committee “had no choice” but to let them go on stage. ⁽³⁾

To read the rest of this chapter, purchase Enlightened Afterlife below:

Sources:

1. “Spiritualism”, org, n.d. – httpss://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism
2. “History of Spiritualism”, SNU International, d. – https://www.snui.org/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=9
3. “History”, Spiritualism and Beyond, n.d. – https://spiritualismandbeyond.com/history.html
4. Troy Taylor, “History & Mystery of Spiritualism”, Prairie Ghosts, d. – https://www.prairieghosts.com/spiritualism.html
5. “Fox Sisters”, org, n.d. – httpss://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_sisters

By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness, November 12, 2016 – https://tinyurl.com/hmj7obn