Spiritualism (beliefs)

Spiritualism is a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least two fundamental substances, matter and spirit. This very broad metaphysical distinction is further developed into many and various forms by the inclusion of details about what spiritual entities exist such as a soul, the afterlife, spirits of the dead, deities and mediums; as well as details about the nature of the relationship between spirit and matter. It may also refer to the philosophy, doctrine, or religion pertaining to a spiritual aspect of existence.^[1]

It is also a term commonly used for various psychic or paranormal practices and beliefs recorded throughout humanity's history^[2]^[3] and in a variety of cultures.^[4]^[5]

Spiritualistic traditions appear deeply rooted in shamanism and perhaps are one of the oldest forms of religion. Mediumship is a modern form of shamanism and such ideas are very much like those developed by Edward Burnett Tylor in his theory of animism;^[6] in which there are other parallel worlds to our own, though invisible to us and not accessible to us in our state. A psychic is to be one of the connecting links between these worlds. A psychic is defined as someone endowed with exceptional sensitivity to the occult dimension, who experiences visions and revelations. Some authors have stated only few individuals are said to have this capacity.^[7]

^ [1], Spiritualism in Answers.com, retrieved February 14, 2008.
^ Doyle, Arthur Conan (1926). "The History of Spiritualism". Nature. 118 (2961): 147. Bibcode:1926Natur.118..147T. doi:10.1038/118147a0. S2CID 4122097. There has, however, been no time in the recorded history of the world when we do not find traces of preternatural interference and a tardy recognition of them from humanity.
^ "Spiritualism, Pathway of Light; Ancient and Modern Spiritualism". National Spiritualist Association of Churches. Archived from the original on 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2008-02-11. Ancient and Modern Spiritualism; so often in a lecture or a book, we hear the term "Modern American Spiritualism". Why Modern? It is Modern Spiritualism to distinguish it from the ancient form of Spiritualism, for spiritual manifestations and communications between the physical world and the spiritual world have been evident and recorded by all civilizations. In fact, every religion that has ever been, has registered Spirit manifestations. Most all of the great spiritual leaders conversed or communicated with spirits although they were called other names, such as devas, pitris, gods, ancestral spirits, ghosts and magic.
^ Kucich, John J. (2004). Ghostly Communion: Cross-Cultural Spiritualism in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. Hanover: University Press of New England. ISBN 1-58465-432-5.
^ Lang, Andrew (1995). Myth Ritual & Religion. Senate, London. ISBN 1-85958-182-X.
^ Stocking, George W. Jr. (1971). "Animism in Theory and Practice: E. B. Tylor's Unpublished 'Notes on "Spiritualism"". Man. New Series. 6 (1): 88–104. doi:10.2307/2798430. JSTOR 2798430.
^ Brockway, Robert W. (2007). The Roots of New Age: Esotericism and the Occult in the Western World. Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. p. 38. Spiritualistic traditions are deeply rooted in shamanism, and, as such, are perhaps the oldest forms of religion. The medium is the modern urban shaman. In the séance she enters into a deep trance. While she is in that state, a control from "the other side" takes possession of her vocal cords and sense organs. The control is also a medium, a departed spirit who has capacities analogous to those of the psychic. Those who have "passed over" are thought to be still embodied, but their bodies are much more subtle than ours, though not perfect. Some occultists speak of the "beyond" as the "astral plane" inhabited by "astral bodies." This idea is very much like that discussed by the nineteenth-century ethnologist E. B. Tylor in his theory of animism. There is another world parallel to our own, though invisible to us and not accessible to us in our state. However, all forms of organic life as well as inorganic matter is eternal and is translated from one sphere of reality to the other. The connecting link is the medium, the person endowed with exceptional sensitivity to the hidden or occult dimension, who experiences visions and revelations.

[1] [1], Spiritualism in Answers.com, retrieved February 14, 2008.

[Doyle-2] Doyle, Arthur Conan (1926). "The History of Spiritualism". Nature. 118 (2961): 147. Bibcode:1926Natur.118..147T. doi:10.1038/118147a0. S2CID 4122097. There has, however, been no time in the recorded history of the world when we do not find traces of preternatural interference and a tardy recognition of them from humanity.

[NSAC_web-3] "Spiritualism, Pathway of Light; Ancient and Modern Spiritualism". National Spiritualist Association of Churches. Archived from the original on 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2008-02-11. Ancient and Modern Spiritualism; so often in a lecture or a book, we hear the term "Modern American Spiritualism". Why Modern? It is Modern Spiritualism to distinguish it from the ancient form of Spiritualism, for spiritual manifestations and communications between the physical world and the spiritual world have been evident and recorded by all civilizations. In fact, every religion that has ever been, has registered Spirit manifestations. Most all of the great spiritual leaders conversed or communicated with spirits although they were called other names, such as devas, pitris, gods, ancestral spirits, ghosts and magic.

[Kucich-4] Kucich, John J. (2004). Ghostly Communion: Cross-Cultural Spiritualism in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. Hanover: University Press of New England. ISBN 1-58465-432-5.

[Lang-5] Lang, Andrew (1995). Myth Ritual & Religion. Senate, London. ISBN 1-85958-182-X.

[Stocking-6] Stocking, George W. Jr. (1971). "Animism in Theory and Practice: E. B. Tylor's Unpublished 'Notes on "Spiritualism"". Man. New Series. 6 (1): 88–104. doi:10.2307/2798430. JSTOR 2798430.

[Brockway-7] Brockway, Robert W. (2007). The Roots of New Age: Esotericism and the Occult in the Western World. Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. p. 38. Spiritualistic traditions are deeply rooted in shamanism, and, as such, are perhaps the oldest forms of religion. The medium is the modern urban shaman. In the séance she enters into a deep trance. While she is in that state, a control from "the other side" takes possession of her vocal cords and sense organs. The control is also a medium, a departed spirit who has capacities analogous to those of the psychic. Those who have "passed over" are thought to be still embodied, but their bodies are much more subtle than ours, though not perfect. Some occultists speak of the "beyond" as the "astral plane" inhabited by "astral bodies." This idea is very much like that discussed by the nineteenth-century ethnologist E. B. Tylor in his theory of animism. There is another world parallel to our own, though invisible to us and not accessible to us in our state. However, all forms of organic life as well as inorganic matter is eternal and is translated from one sphere of reality to the other. The connecting link is the medium, the person endowed with exceptional sensitivity to the hidden or occult dimension, who experiences visions and revelations.

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