Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system that emerged in the mid-19th century, centered around the idea that individuals can communicate with the spirits of the deceased. It began in 1848 in Hydesville, New York, with the Fox sisters, who claimed to hear mysterious knocks, which they attributed to the spirit of a deceased peddler. This led to a surge in popularity, particularly among women who identified as mediums, capable of relaying messages from the departed. By the 1850s, Spiritualism had gained traction as a movement, spreading through North America and Europe, where it became intertwined with social reform efforts, including women's suffrage and the abolition of slavery.
Throughout its history, Spiritualism faced significant skepticism and accusations of fraud, especially from scientists and stage magicians who sought to debunk the claims of mediums. The 1920s marked the peak of Spiritualism's popularity, but it began to decline as many mediums were discredited, despite its cultural influence seen in literature, films, and games like the Ouija board. The movement provided comfort to those seeking closure after the losses of World War I, but by the end of the decade, it fragmented significantly. Nevertheless, elements of Spiritualism continue to resonate in modern culture, reflecting an enduring fascination with the possibility of an afterlife and the supernatural.
Spiritualism
The 1920s represented the last decade in which Spiritualism experienced widespread popularity and acceptance. By the end of the decade, the movement had become fragmented after most mediums had been discredited and ridiculed by scientists and stage magicians. Communicating with the dead nonetheless spread into the popular culture of the 1920s and was featured in popular literature, movies, plays, and games such as the Ouija board. Although there is still skepticism surrounding the subject of spiritualism in the twenty-first century, mediums are gaining acceptance.
Spiritualism began near Hydesville, New York, in 1848. The Fox sisters, thirteen-year-old Maggie and eleven-year-old Kate, claimed to have heard mysterious knocking throughout their house, which they later identified as the spirit of a peddler who had been killed in the house and buried in the basement years prior. The Fox family told others of their experiences and began to travel, demonstrating the sisters’ ability to communicate with the peddler’s spirit. The Fox sisters became a national phenomenon, and soon others, primarily women who called themselves “mediums,” claimed to be able to communicate with nonliving spirits and to act as conduits between the living and the dead.
By the 1850s, Spiritualism as a religion had increased in popularity and spread across North America and to Europe, especially to England, and mediums now entered trancelike states and acted as voices for the spirits or as scribes to write down messages from the spirits. These performances usually took place in public venues, but some were private séances, and all were for a fee. Beginning in the 1870s, mediums began to assist in the physical materialization of spirits by entering “spirit cabinets,” which were hidden from spectators’ view, and then helping the spirits to emerge.
In addition to spirit communication, Spiritualism was connected to social reform movements, including women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery. Initially, Spiritualists resisted formal organization, but by the end of the nineteenth century, they began to form Spiritualist communities. Many of the communities founded during this period endured into the twenty-first century.
Accusations of Fraud
Emerging out of the nineteenth century, a time when scientific authority competed with religious truth claims, Spiritualism asserted that its movement and mediums scientifically proved the existence of the afterlife. Scientists routinely took up these challenges and often found that mediums were manufacturing the noises, movements, or visual manifestations of the spirits. While spiritual investigations emerged almost as soon as mediums made claims of spirit communication, the 1920s hosted some of the most sophisticated investigations. In 1924, the magazine Scientific American offered a contest with a $5,000 prize for a spirit manifestation produced under scientifically controlled conditions and accompanied by an authenticated photograph. (Much like the fraudulent mediums, spirit images were regularly denounced as being produced through mechanical techniques such as multiple exposures.) Several mediums entered the contests, but no one successfully produced spirit materialization under the scrutiny of the scientists.
Stage magicians were also frequently employed to substantiate a medium’s assertions because they could demonstrate the same effects without claiming supernatural ability. Harry Houdini, best known for his death-defying escapes, began exposing Spiritualist mediums during the 1920s and served as a judge in the 1924 Scientific American contest.
Popularity and Cultural Influence
Despite the claims of fraud, thousands of people firmly believed in the ability to communicate with the dead. After World War I, the movement experienced a brief surge in popularity as people attempted to contact loved ones lost in the war. Spiritualism’s popularity was greater in Great Britain than in North America, and famous Spiritualists from England traveled to the United States and Canada to promote the religion. One such Spiritualist was the author of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who had converted to Spiritualism after the deaths of several close family members. He published a two-volume history of Spiritualism in 1926, which is still considered one of the most authoritative histories by a self-professed Spiritualist.
A central tenet of Spiritualism is the belief that anyone had the ability to communicate with the dead, and the Ouija board, which gained popularity during the early 1920s, claimed to allow the general public to do just that. The Ouija board became a cultural phenomenon, appearing in movies, plays, and song lyrics, and supernatural themes that emerged out of Spiritualism were common in novels, movies, and other entertainment.
Spiritualism in the Twenty-First Century
In the twenty-first century, a medium is regarded as a gifted person who is able to communicate with incorporeal beings—very much like in the twentieth century. Some mediums are specialists in communicating with the spirits of loved ones. John Edward McGee, Jr., known professionally as simply John Edward, is a well-known psychic medium who is famous for attending talk shows and doing the so-called audience readings. In these psychic readings, he receives messages from entities who have passed away. Afterward, John Edward communicates what these spirits are transmitting to him to the audience. Although there is still skepticism surrounding mediums, and the subject of spiritualism in general, they are gaining acceptance. One of the reasons why this subject is gaining acceptance is because it is now being studied.
Parapsychology is the experimental study of paranormal phenomenon. Although parapsychology has no formal affiliation with contemporary psychology, there are organizations that offer grants and scholarships to individuals who wish to undertake the study of parapsychology. One of these organizations is the Parapsychology Foundation located in New York City. This nonprofit was founded by Eileen J. Garrett “to encourage and support impartial scientific inquiry into such psychical aspects of human nature as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis.” A medium herself, Garrett saw that this subject lacked attention and resources, which prompted her to start the foundation. Organizations like this one aim to popularize the field of parapsychology.
Impact
From its inception, Spiritualism often brought closure and solace to thousands who had lost loved ones, and it was therefore especially popular immediately after World War I. The movement spurred the debate among religious leaders, scientists, and entertainers on the possibility of life after death. It also provided a gateway for the supernatural to reenter American popular culture. Primarily due to Houdini’s debunking of the movement, the 1920s was the last decade during which Spiritualism flourished as a religion in the United States. The fascination with the spirit world, however, continues well into modern times.
Further Reading
Brandon, Ruth. The Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1983. A history of the Spiritualist movement.
Braude, Ann. Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth Century America. 2d ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. Details the connection between Spiritualism and women’s rights movements.
Moore, R. Laurence. In Search of White Crows: Spiritualism, Parapsychology, and American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Examines the interaction with investigations of the Spiritualist movement by the scientific community of the time.
“Organizations Related to Spiritualism and Spirituality.” Spiritualist Resources, www.spiritualistresources.com/cgi-bin/organizations/index.pl?read=33. Accessed 31 Jan. 2017.
Weisberg, Barbara. Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. A biography of the Fox sisters and examination of the phenomenon they created.
Wicker, Christine. Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town That Talks to the Dead. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. A history of the largest Spiritualist community in America.
Houdini, Harry
Ouija boards
Religion in the United States