In
South Africa, the native population still follow age-old spiritual traditions. Their Shamen or Sangomas know, as humanity
from the beginning has known, that life continues after the death of the
physical body and that communication between those who have passed and those of
us remaining on Earth is not only possible but has always happened. They still communicate with the spirit world (their
ancestors) as their forebears have done for centuries. Some years ago, the well-known British
medium, Albert Best, visiting South Africa, went to meet a Sangoma and in broad
daylight, Albert’s late wife, materialised, fully formed beside him for all to
see!
There is nothing new in
this. Psychic gifts have always been
around. Spiritualism is a natural
progression from the work of Shamen. It
is designed for a different type of society, that’s all. Emma Hardinge-Britten,
in her fascinating book “Nineteenth Century Miracles” describes the work of
numerous mediums and psychics all over the world, both before and after 1848. The inexorable growth of materialism since
the Industrial Revolution led to millions of people moving from the land, where
they worked closely with nature, to cities, where the natural world was almost
entirely absent. Those in the Spirit
World, who care for and worry about us, knew the world needed a dramatic
demonstration of the power of the Spirit in order to counteract materialism:
Hence the Hydesville knockings and the birth of Spiritualism in 1848.
The early days Spiritualism
produced a lot of mediums, many of whom were what we call Physical Mediums,
gifts that we encounter but rarely today.
These gifts allowed the mediums to dazzle and amaze nineteenth century
Americans and Europeans: So much so that
by 1863 it was possible to hold a convention of people representing several
million Spiritualists world-wide.
Unfortunately, human greed allied to the cupidity of many sitters, led
to widespread fraud, especially where materialisation was concerned. As a result the numbers of avowed
Spiritualists declined rapidly, a situation not helped by splits within the
Spiritualist movement; splits that led to the formation of organisations such
as Christian Science, Theosophy, Spiritism and Christian Spiritualism.
Religions have always
split. This is human nature I suppose;
people wanting to be the big fish in the smaller pond. We need to focus more on what unites us instead
of what divides and begin working together again, exchanging ideas and
discussing the way forward for us all. Especially
is there a need to discuss and implement, ways to raise the standard of mediumship
and give it a more spiritual dimension. Many demonstrations of mediumship today are
little removed from fortune-telling. The
proof of life after death and the philosophy that stems from this is vital for
a world struggling through the morass of materialism. People are crying out for guidance and we owe
it to them and those in the spirit world to be less self-indulgent and work
harder to help them. What can we do?
In addition to a
willingness to work with other groups and discus openly mutual challenges and
the future, we need to examine our past. Spiritualism as a religion, not just as a
vehicle for psychic development and practice, brought a new dimension into
religious thinking. A dimension
incidentally that caused much heart-searching within the Christian church at
the time. It is a dimension which all
the great religions had in their infancy but lost as they were side-tracked by
the lure of power and its corruptive influence.
Not long after 1848 Spiritiualism began to produce a body of philosophy,
under guidance from spirit, and powerful speakers appeared. Speakers, working in trance and through
inspiration, like Emma Hardinge-Britten, Andrew Jackson-Davis, Estelle Roberts
and many others were able to explain why knowledge of eternal life is so
important for us all. We need more like
them today.
Early Spiritualism did not
have churches and powerful trance, physical and mental mediums developed their
gifts in home circles. Indeed I know no leading medium today whose
development did not involve sitting in a home circle. Development was not all that such circles
provided. They also gave anyone prepared
to sit in love and harmony with others to link with those in spirit, an almost
magical sense of the true beauty and glory of life in all its forms. Home circles are not just places to make
contact with family and friends and receive proof of their continued
existence. In such circles, knowledge of
the life awaiting us after passing from Earth-life is given with a gentleness
and love that brings immense comfort to the sitters. Details have been given of the boundless
opportunities existing for us all once the need for food and physical shelter
are removed; details of the schools and halls of learning; of visits from those
bright beings who have progressed beyond anything you and I can envisage; of
gatherings for special celebrations and of groups dedicated to helping those on
Earth.
I know churches that
see home circles as competition and therefore discourage their formation,
preferring to run development circles in the church. This is to completely misunderstand the role
of home circles. In the past the spirit
world have told us that one day mediums will not be required because each
individual will be his or her own medium.
Each of us will be able to contact those in spirit whenever we choose
and receive guidance direct. It is only
through the intimacy and harmony of home circles that this wonderful state of
affairs can be achieved. Let us
therefore switch off our televisions, put away our smart phones and at least
once a week join our friends from the spirit world in joy and harmony. The benefits would be immense.
Nowhere could the
influence of the spirit world have greater benefits than upon scientific
research, if only scientists asked for help and made themselves available. However, the materialistic bias of scientific
training needs to be altered before this can happen. Some scientists are finally willing to accept
that much that happens on Earth cannot be explained satisfactorily on the basis
of physics and materialism alone. Should
we perhaps make greater efforts to show that Spiritualism and mediumship are
not ‘weird’? It is as natural as
breathing and scientists in the spirit world can help those on Earth. To do this we would of course require logical
and convincing arguments, not airy-fairy New Age gobbledegook.
If we succeed it would
return science to the holistic position it held before materialism took
hold. Then science accepted that all
physical life was energised by the power of spirit and the physical should
always be examined in relation to the spiritual. Science could benefit a great deal from such
a change. Many of the disasters brought
about by introducing new drugs and medical treatments too hurriedly could have
been avoided by co-operation with spirit scientists. What
an opportunity this is for Spiritualists!
For an illustration of
how Astronomers and Astro-physicists could benefit and thus widen our
understanding, one need only look at “The Lowlands of Heaven”, written through
automatic writing by the Rev George Vale-Owen. In it was given a description
from spirit of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, things unknown at that time. They were only discovered by scientists in
the late twentieth century and even today, little is known about them and their
purpose. Spirit claimed in 1913 that these forces were used in
the creation of ectoplasm and the transmission of light throughout the
universe: Fascinating claims that at
least deserve to be properly investigated.
Global Spiritualism faces
many challenges but incredible opportunities.
Challenges within Spiritualism itself are the easiest to overcome. If we stopped being so defensive and
introspective, put more effort into raising standards, worked in closer harmony
with the spirit world, then our internal squabbles would quickly
disappear. The role of ego would be
diminished and ideas for widening our spiritual impact on humanity in all
fields of human endeavour (not just in religion) would begin to flow. We should look forward with confidence,
secure in the knowledge that the spirit world will help us all the way.
Lionel Owen
March
2017
