SPIRITUALISM/ SPIRITISM

Also called Spiritism. A system of religious beliefs centered on the
assumption that communication with the dead, or spirits, is possible.
It implies that the human personality, the spirit or soul, survives death.

Spiritualism as a movement began in the United States in 1848 with the
activities of Margaret Fox and, to a lesser extent, her two sisters,
of Hydesville, New York. The Fox sisters were able to produce spirit
rappings in answer to questions put to them. After moving to
Rochester, New York, and receiving a wider audience through a series
of increasingly elaborate public seances, their fame spread to both
sides of the Atlantic. By the mid-1850s they had inspired a host of
imitators, and Spiritualism claimed two million followers. Margaret
Fox admitted later in life that she had produced rapping noises
through manipulation of her joints.

The repertoire of the early mediums included table levitations, ESP,
speaking in a spirit's voice during trances, automatic writing, and
the manifestation of apparitions and ectoplasm. All such phenomena
were attributed by the mediums to the agency of spirits.

Early supporters of spiritualistic phenomena included American
journalist Horace Greeley and British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Support for spiritualism diminished, however, as many 19th-century
mediums proved to be fakes. Spiritualism has had, since its inception,
a large following. Many churches and societies have been founded that
profess some variety of spiritualistic beliefs. It achieved
particularly widespread popular appeal during the 1850s and '60s and
immediately following World War I.

Closely aligned with other new age beliefs, belief in spiritualism
again became popular during the 1980s, particularly in the United
States. One new facet of spiritualism is that modern-day channelers or
mediums are as apt to attempt contact with extraterrestrials or
spirits from ancient mythical societies as they are to try to
communicate with the recently deceased. Today, Spiritism's popularity
is once again on the rise.