| By their very nature, controversial religious movements | | | | the religion, it did have a set of commonly referred-to |
| grab the public's attention, creating an interest in the | | | | tenets that described the belief system, including the |
| religion and bringing out supporters and critics alike. The | | | | ideas that God is expressed through Nature, that |
| Church of Scientology, Wicca, Mormonism, and | | | | people never truly die, and that true religion is |
| Jehovah's Witnesses are all examples of religions that | | | | expressed by following the laws of Nature. |
| have received much notoriety for their belief systems, | | | | How did Spiritualism start? Spiritualism first began in |
| with much of this attention being negative and | | | | America in the 1840s; specifically, it is often said that |
| continuing to present day. However, this type of | | | | the Fox sisters, mediums from upstate New York, are |
| attention is not limited to these modern-day religious | | | | the founders of the religious movement. Once the |
| sects. It can be traced back thousands of years. In | | | | movement took hold, it flourished and became quite |
| fact, one of the largest and most controversial religious | | | | popular among middle and upper class people, |
| movements was that of Spiritualism, which was | | | | especially women. Though Spiritualism does exist |
| founded in the 1840s. The story of the religion itself as | | | | today, it is on a much smaller scale. At its peak, the |
| well as how its presence remains fixed in Western | | | | religion had several million followers. However, by the |
| society today is quite interesting. | | | | 1880s, many people had lost interest in Spiritualism as it |
| What is Spiritualism? Spiritualism is a religion based on | | | | had become tainted by claims, and even proof in |
| the belief that the spirits of deceased people can be | | | | some instances, of fraud. Though there were many |
| contacted to provide information about God and the | | | | ready believers in spiritual communication at the time, |
| afterlife. A spiritual medium serves as the contact point | | | | there were also many doubters who were skeptical |
| between the living and the dead. | | | | of the purported spiritual contact and made it their |
| What are the basic tenets of Spiritualism? The | | | | business to seek out phony mediums. During the 20th |
| Spiritualist belief system centers mainly on this | | | | century, the religion came to be known as the |
| communication between living people and deceased | | | | Spiritualist Church, and today members are counted in |
| ones. Followers of the religion believe that spirits can | | | | over 30 countries. |
| provide helpful information about all things in life, | | | | Who were the Spiritualists? Spiritualists were usually |
| particularly about moral and ethical issues. Additionally, | | | | white middle and upper class people who had a keen |
| they claim that there are several planes that exist in | | | | interest in communicating with the spirits of deceased |
| the spirit world, with each plane representing a higher | | | | individuals. There were a few prominent followers and |
| level of growth and perfection. This also leads to the | | | | others with great interest in the religion, including Mary |
| assertion that the spirit does not stop growing or trying | | | | Todd Lincoln, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the journalist |
| to achieve these higher levels of perfection. Though | | | | William T. Stead. |
| Spiritualism did not have a specific text associated with | | | | |