Evolution of Spiritualism

This continues Al batten's talk at the ISF Congress inEngland in July 2006:

It was the founding philosophy of Spiritualism and it was written before there was even a hint of communication. But even here he had a premonition, for in this book he(Andrew Jackson Davis)wrote, and I quote, “spirits commune with one another while one is in the body and the other in the higher spheres”, and he added that “the truth will ere long present itself in the form of a living demonstration and the world would then hail with delight the ushering in of that era when the interiors of men will be opened, and the spiritual communion will be established.”

A year later, on the evening of March 31, 1848, he wrote in his diary that he heard a “tender and strong” voice tell him, “Brother, the good work has begun, behold a living demonstration is born”.

That exact same night, 500 miles away, the second most important development in Spiritualism took place; the events at Hydesville, when the Fox sisters established intelligent communication with the spirit of Charles Rosna. It was, what we call, the Birth of Modern Spiritualism

Davis had provided the philosophy, those noble faculties and Hydesville provided the science, the communication.

Those events at Hydesville launched an energy that was extraordinary for its time. It had the excitement of mediumship, and it promoted an appealing new philosophy. And it had a popular purpose; it’ s important to recognize that in its’ earliest day it was a vehicle for social activism; championing labour reform, the anti slavery movement, the temperance movement, women’s rights, child labour, rights to education, and it fought rigorously against religious intolerance. Strangely though, it remained leaderless and reluctant to organize; but that would soon change and move into an entirely new phase.

It has been said that the first requirement for a religion is that people must believe in certain things for them to have any sort of mental piece

It took a third event 23 years after the events at Hydesville to satisfy this requirement. In 1871 on a January evening in the city of New York, a small group of people gathered for a sitting in which the lead medium was a well known Spiritualist of the day, an English woman by the name of Emma Hardinge Britten. As the circle got underway, the spirit of a prominent 18th century British social reformer, Robert Owen, came through and gave to the Spiritualist movement a set of principles; a simple set of guidelines that gave a meaning and purpose to Spiritualism. We know them well.

The Fatherhood of God
The Brotherhood of Man
The Communion of Spirit and the Ministry of Angels
The Continuous Existence of the Human Soul
Personal Responsibility
Compensation and Retribution hereafter, for all the good and evil deeds done on earth
Eternal Progress Open to Every Human Soul

Spiritualists of the day rallied around them; they had provided the focus to organize and solidify their religious tendencies. And from that point on Spiritualism took on a whole new life

Davis had provided the noble faculties, Hydesville the communication, and Britten added the harmony. The ties that bind us.