What is Spiritualism?

It has been stated that ‘human thought …..has taken two distinct paths’ - the path of facts and the path of beliefs. Adherents of the major religions are required to ‘have faith’ in what they believe. Christians for example, know that Jesus didn’t physically write any part of the New Testament. They know that is has been arbitrary as to what has been included in today’s bible and they have faith that what is written is a true account of the word of God. For those of us who follow the ‘path of facts,’ faith alone is not enough.

We live in an age of new and emerging science. Since the industrial revolutions of the late nineteenth centuries, we have become fascinated and affected by the rapid rise of communication technologies and other scientific advances. Today we are learning so much about ourselves and the universe, as more space exploration continues and the unraveling of the human genome yields greater understanding.  It should be no surprise that a religion based on proven facts, should attract enquirers. Most of us wonder at some time “why are we here,” “where do we go to when we die” amongst many questions. Thus, a religion which is based upon science and philosophy has much to offer ‘modern man’ and Spiritualism fulfils these needs.

The first question to answer is why is Spiritualism a religion, rather than just a theory? One definition of religion is:

‘a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.’

Certainly, spiritualist philosophy is concerned with the cause, nature and purpose of the universe and it is true that all these aspects are considered to be the creation of ‘God.’ Spiritualism is monotheistic and like other monotheistic religions, God is the supreme creator of all that is. Spiritualists affirm that they are created by and each person is an inseparable aspect of God - they are connected

Furthermore, Spiritualism is legally defined as a religion too as in English law, a movement cannot be defined as a religion if it has no ‘God!’ This is an interesting definition as it would exclude Buddhism as a religion and yet Buddhism is considered one of the oldest major religions in the world.

Concerning the ‘devotional and ritual observances’ Spiritualist services account for these aspects. The divine church service has hymns and prayers. One could say that the regularity of the service is ritualistic as is the singing of a healing hymn and vesper.

With regard to the moral code, spiritualists have a set of seven principles’ to live by, which were received by the spirit world and form the basis of the philosophy of spiritualism. Unlike other religions, there is no holy book, no creed or dogma to abide by and spiritualists believe that by living their lives according to their principles, their purpose and potential progress is being fulfilled.

Our second consideration regarding Spiritualism is that of Spiritualism as a science. The tendency is to regard science as an area of study and discovery, set in a laboratory with people in white coats studiously working. However, science is more than that and in Spiritualism it may be defined as  experimentation, with results which constitute proof of an afterlife. This is achieved by communication with the Spirit World by a Medium and the proof (or evidence) is considered valid by confirmation by the person/s receiving the communication.

Conversely, traditional scientific methods require replication, to ensure that an exact result will be achieved each time the experiment is repeated. It is on this basis that a scientific result is validated.

The difficulties this presents are many for Spiritualism. In Mental Mediumship, the mind of the Medium is influenced by a discarnate spirit and the Medium communicates impressions they receive of sound, sight, emotion and physical attributes. However, the mind of the Medium is key and another Medium being influenced by the same spirit, would perceive the impressions in a different way and different information would be communicated. Therefore, exact results cannot be replicated in the same way it is achieved in traditional science.

These differences are countered in Spiritualism with Physical Mediumship, which when successful, ensures that experimental results are witnessed identically by all present. With Physical Mediumship, the Medium acts as a reservoir of ectoplasm (a substance, which when produced can form rods to move things and materialise parts or even the whole body resemblance of a Spirit). Clearly, with a physical phenomena present, everyone who witnesses it will see the same manifestation. This type of work is usually experienced in ‘circles’ (small groups of the same people). Furthermore, in many circles the same manifesting spirit could be witnessed on a regular basis.

Thus, on a basis of producing scientific results which can be replicated, Spiritualism can offer a way of producing identical results as evidence. However, definitions are by consensus and it would therefore be possible to state that even in Mental Mediumship, the replication of Spirit Communication is scientific enough - despite the variety of communicating discarnate spirits and what they actually wish to convey.

Modern Spiritualism began in 1848 and this was a time when new scientific developments were emerging. It is therefore no coincidence that the phenomena of Spiritualism was closely scrutinised and validated by scientists. Psychical research has been vast with many eminent scientists confounding their colleagues with ‘proof’ of phenomena which substantiates an afterlife. Today, there are many universities offering post graduate courses in Parapsychology, where attempts to experiment and prove the Afterlife continue. It has never been disproved and the work of Mediums and Spiritualism as a science continues.

Lastly, Spiritualism claims to be a philosophy and proliferates by discussion. All religious movements have a philosophical basis to an extent but the differences are apparent upon their origin.

Spiritualist philosophy is deeply held within the seven principles, which were expounded by the Medium Emma Hardinge Britten and are the words of the discarnate Spirit of Robert Owen. What is particularly remarkable is that the philosophical basis of these principles was offered to us by the discarnate spirit of an ordinary man to the incarnate spirit of an ordinary woman. In our history we regard Emma and Robert as Pioneers, but the distinction being made here is that no one ever claimed they were speaking the word of God and no one was held in ‘saintly’ regard. Spiritualist philosophy came to us from the Spirit world by the route of everyday folk.

Unlike religions which claim to offer the word of God in a book which should be studied verbatim, Spiritualist philosophy shows us that our interpretation is vital. In each principle there exists the capacity for personal and moral interpretation. There are no people who are appointed as representatives of God who we can turn to for instruction. Instead we are able to philosophise on the principles on a personal level, share our thoughts and learn from each other.

Each principle offers us significant insight into our very being, our purpose and how to live our lives. It affirms our eternal nature and becomes apparent by the process of philosophising. The seven principles of Spiritualism are the means to a way of life and spiritual understanding and are found by personal interpretation, discussion and thought - in other words Spiritualism is underpinned by philosophy.

Every statement is open to interpretation and every interpretation has caveats. In the case of Spiritualism, it is true to state that it conforms to an acceptable understanding of what a religion is, it is upheld by scientific principles of evidence and is philosophical in nature.