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Spiritualism is a religious movement based on the belief that the spirits of the dead exist and have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living. The afterlife, or the "spirit world", is seen by spiritualists, not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to evolve. These two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans—lead spiritualists to a third belief: that spirits are capable of providing useful knowledge about moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God. Some spiritualists will speak of a concept which they refer to as "spirit guides"—specific spirits, often contacted, who are relied upon for spiritual guidance. Spiritism, a branch of spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec and today practiced mostly in Continental Europe and Latin America, especially in Brazil, emphasizes reincarnation.
A séance or seance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word séance comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French seoir, "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma". In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits. In modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a séance.
Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan was a fraudulent Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act of 1735 for fraudulent claims. She was famous for producing ectoplasm which was proven to be made from cheesecloth.
Harry Price was a British psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and his exposing fraudulent spiritualist mediums. He is best known for his well-publicized investigation of the purportedly haunted Borley Rectory in Essex, England.
Doris May Fisher Stokes, born Doris Sutton, was a British spiritualist, self-proclaimed medium, and author. Her professed ability to communicate with the dead, public performances, television appearances, and memoirs made her a household name in Britain. During her lifetime, she was a controversial figure, with some believing her to possess psychic abilities, but investigations published after her death demonstrated that she used techniques including cold reading, hot reading, and planting accomplices in her audience, giving the appearance of having paranormal abilities.
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including seánce tables, trance, and ouija.
Eusapia Palladino was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through her spirit guide John King, and to produce other supernatural phenomena.
Mina "Margery" Crandon was a psychical medium who claimed that she channeled her dead brother, Walter Stinson. Investigators who studied Crandon concluded that she had no genuine paranormal ability, and others detected her in outright deception. She became known as her alleged paranormal skills were touted by Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and were disproved by magician Harry Houdini. Crandon was investigated by members of the American Society for Psychical Research and employees of the Scientific American.
Ectoplasm is a term used in spiritualism to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums. It was coined in 1894 by psychical researcher Charles Richet. Although the term is widespread in popular culture, the physical existence of ectoplasm is not accepted by science and many purported examples were exposed as hoaxes fashioned from cheesecloth, gauze or other natural substances.
Rosemary Altea is a British author who describes herself as a medium and healer. She has appeared on various programs, including Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and featured in the series premiere of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! alongside mentalist Mark Edward. She has written six books and claims to have a "healing foundation".
Estelle Roberts was a British Spiritualist medium.
Leonora Piper was a famous American trance medium in the area of Spiritualism. Piper was the subject of intense interest and investigation by American and British psychic research associations during the early 20th century, most notably William James and the Society for Psychical Research.
Tony Stockwell is a British Psychic medium, author and television personality. He was born in Walthamstow, East London and currently lives in Wickford, Essex.
Walter Franklin Prince was an American parapsychologist and founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research in Boston.
Gladys Osborne Leonard was a British trance medium, renowned for her work with the Society for Psychical Research. Although psychical researchers such as Oliver Lodge were convinced she had communicated with spirits, skeptical researchers were convinced that Leonard's trance control was a case of dissociative identity disorder.
Geraldine Dorothy Cummins (1890–1969) was an Irish spiritualist medium, novelist and playwright. She began her career as a creative writer, but increasingly concentrated on mediumship and "channelled" writings, mostly about the lives of Jesus and Saint Paul, though she also published on a range of other topics.
Gordon Mons Higginson was a British spiritualist medium.
Richard Hodgson (1855–1905) was an Australian-born psychical researcher.
Rosina Thompson was a British trance medium.
Thomas Everitt (1823–1905) and Mrs Thomas Everitt (1825–1915) were prominent British spiritualists.
References
- ↑ Jenny Randles, Peter Hough. (1994). The Afterlife: An Investigation Into The Mysteries of Life After Death. Berkley Books. ISBN 978-0425142127
- ↑ Doris Collins. (1985). A Woman of Spirit: The Autobiography of a Psychic. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0583136426
- ↑ Doris Collins (1918-2003) Archived August 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Jonathan C. Smith (2009). Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1405181228
- ↑ James Randi. (1997). An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0312151195
