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., Spiritualism in Answers.com, retrieved February 14, 2008.
It is also a term commonly used for various psychic or paranormal practices and beliefs recorded throughout humanity's history and in a variety of cultures.
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; 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.
Definition Spiritualism is the belief that spirits are able to communicate with the living by agency of a medium. The earliest recorded use of the word is 1796spiritualism – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and it was used by the prominent 18th-century spiritualist Emanuel Swedenborg. The term "spiritualism" has come to have different meanings. A broad working definition of the term would include the multi-faceted belief in a vital principle within living beings, a supernatural or paranormal, divine, incorporeal being – force, spirit – anima animating bodies etc. Adherents of spiritualistic movements believe that the spirits of the dead survive mortal life, and that sentient beings from spiritual worlds can and do communicate with the living. Since ancient times, this has been an element in traditional indigenous religions. In today's world, it is a growing phenomenon manifesting itself in traditional indigenous religiosity on all continents through non-aligned spiritualistic groups and many syncretistic movements and within elements of orthodox religions by which it is still seen as a challenge.
Many reference works also use the term spiritism to mean the same thing as "spiritualism" but Spiritism is more accurately used to mean Kardecist spiritism. Central to adherents' faith is a belief that spirits of the dead communicate with the living usually through a medium.
The word also takes on specific alternative meanings in various differing fields of academia, see below.
Usage Spiritualism is used in English to mean either: (Religion) – the belief that people can and do communicate with dead people and the practices and doctrines of people with this belief.
(Philosophy) – In a philosophical doctrine or religious beliefs emphasising that spirits and souls exist or that all reality is spiritual, not material. (Metaphysics) – various doctrines maintaining that the ultimate reality is spirit or mind.Engel Pascal, Psychology and Metaphysics from Maine de Biran to Bergson Pascal Engel Université Paris Sorbonne
(Ethics) – the view that spiritual concerns are more important than this-worldly concerns (a kind of idealism or asceticism that is opposed to secularism).
(Epistemology) – another term for mysticism.
(Art) – "Abstract Spiritualism", a term coined by Gerard Tempest, friend of the renowned surrealist Giorgio de Chirico in the 1950s to describe his "landscapes of the mind's eye." A recurring theme begun in 1953 and continuing throughout the 1990s.
Beliefs
Modern Spiritualism
"Modern Spiritualism", or "Modern American Spiritualism" is used to refer to an Anglo-American religious movement having its golden age between the 1840s and 1920s but which continues on to this day.
National Spiritualist Association of Churches, USA
The Nine Principles of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, USA are;
We believe in Infinite Intelligence. We believe that the phenomena of Nature, both physical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intelligence. We affirm that a correct understanding of such expression and living in accordance therewith, constitute true religion. We affirm that the existence and personal identity of the individual continue after the change called death. We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact, scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism. We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We affirm the moral responsibility of individuals, and that we make our own happiness or unhappiness as we obey or disobey Nature's physical and spiritual laws. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any soul here or hereafter. We affirm that the precepts of Prophecy and Healing are Divine attributes proven through Mediumship.
Christian Spiritualism
Spiritualism has been related to the practices of early Christianity and has developed into an additional form of Christian Spiritualism, e.g. the still active First Spiritual Temple in the US founded in 1883 and the Greater World Christian Spiritualist League (later to become the Greater World Christian Spiritualist Association) in the UK which was founded in 1931.
Foremost in the movement towards Christian Spiritualism in the United Kingdom was one of the leading pioneers in the spiritualism movement, medium and Reverend William Stainton Moses.Schofield, A. T.. Modern Spiritism: Its Science and Religion He was a member of the BNAS (British National Association of Spiritualists), vice-president of the Society for Psychic Research and launched the London Spiritualist Alliance which later became the College of Psychic Studies.F. W. H. Myers, 'The Experiences of W. Stainton Moses – II', PSPR, 11 (1895)
Contemporary Christian Spiritualist denominations also include those within the American Spiritual Church Movement pioneered by Leafy Anderson, such as the Metropolitan Spiritual Churches of Christ, founded in 1925, Pentecostal Spiritual Assemblies of Christ Worldwide, founded in 1938, whose motto is "Pentecostal by Birth, Spiritual by Lifestyle, Apostolic by Experience, and Christian by Demand. A Spiritual Church... On a Spiritual Foundation... Walking in the Supernatural...," and Universal Hagar's Spiritual Church, founded in the 1920s.
France Pre-1848 French spiritualism, better known as Spiritism; popular throughout France and Latin American countries. Its foremost researcher and author is Allan Kardec.
Spiritualist beliefs are found from time to time in the early literature of the French "magnetists". As early as 1787 M. Tardy de Montravel wrote that in the trance the soul of the "somnambule" became freed from its body and was able to intercourse with other spirits. Dr G.P. Billot, and J. P. F. Deleuze and recorded discussing and documenting seances from the 1820s.Billot, G. P.. Recherches psychologiques sur la cause des phénomènes extraordinaires observés chez les modernes voyans, improprement dits somnambules magnétiques, ou correspondance sur le Magnétisme vital, entre un solitaire et M. Deleuze (2 vols.) . Paris, 1839.
The early French Spiritualist, Alphonse Cahagnet, publisher of spirit messages such as "Arcanes de la vie future devoiles" (1848), is one of its foremost cases. Familiar with the teachings of Swedenborg, and with an interest evoked by contemporary German clairvoyants, in the Paris of his day, Cahagnet stood almost alone, belonging to no school. For the advent of Modern Spiritualism in America, Cahagnet would have found but few readers, although his documentation of his work with the medium Adele Maginot was at once amongst the most remarkable and the best-attested documents on which the early case for Spiritualism depended.
Native American spiritualism Representations of Native Americans images have played a significant role in nineteenth and twentieth century spiritualism although in reality Natives and their tradition have suffered considerably under the influences of competing Christian churches . Since 1970, there have been a number of individuals purporting to sell Native American spiritualism, sometimes called '"American Indian Spiritualism." The spread of these beliefs began with a number of literary hoaxes undertaken by non-Indians such as Carlos Castaneda and Jamake Highwater. Several Native Americans have also sought to exploit interest in Native American spiritualism, writing distortions of indigenous spiritual practices and knowledge for consumption in the mass market. This situation has been attacked by legitimate Indian scholars and by activists such as the American Indian Movement, Survival of American Indians and the late Gerald Wilkenson, head of the National Indian Youth Council.
The Caribbean Spiritualism in the Caribbean has taken different roads of expression based on its contact with other religious systems. In urban areas, for example, Spiritualists were highly literate and more apt to indulge the concepts of foreign authors. In the rural areas, however, illiteracy was widespread and practitioners held a diverse array of beliefs and practices.
In Cuba, for instance, two fundamental variants of espiritism exist:
La Mesa Blanca Spiritualism is highly colonialized, meaning the European influence is quite evident. Catholicism, Native and African meld together into a syncretic belief system. This variant is designated by the use of La Mesa Blanca or "White Table". Egungun Spiritualism has strong Kongo–Bantu roots. Elements from Lucumi/Regla de Ocha are evident. This type of practice, designated by the use of chants and dancing (performed by the mediums) in a line or chain to the beat of songs, hymns and invocations that ultimately lead to a state of trance or possession by the Spirit, is seen in rural areas and in the province of Santiago.
La Mesa Blanca Spiritualism is the type of Espiritismo that made its way to US. The old line Eggungun form of service has not made much headway on the mainland. Séances, in Latino cultures, are called misas. Santería, more properly called La Regla Lucumi (as the Yoruba were called in Cuba) is famous for its magic based on a knowledge of spirits and how to interact with them.
South America
Definitions of spirit possession, channelling and mediumship within the Brazilian 'cultos' is recognised to correspond with what appears to be the majority view as described by ethnographers of spirit possession worldwide. There are a number of descriptions available concerning what happens when someone becomes possessed. Practises brought over by African slaves from West Africa,The Voduns of Maranhão: Maria AP Barretto, San Luis, Fund. Cultural of Maranhao, 1977. Mixed with indigenous South American tradition to develop their own flavour. During the suppression of Culto Omoloco or Umbanda by the Roman Catholic Church a period of syncretism commenced that included the introduction of images of the saints present in the churches presenting a new look for repressors behind which the Africans worshipped their gods and ancestors.The Batuque in Umbanda: Symbolism, Ritualismo, Interpretation. Leopoldo Battiol, Rio de Janeiro, ed Aurora, 1963. This process of merger continued with the introduction of Kardecist spiritism and includes spiritualists.