The first Spiritualism wave in the 19th century

Spiritualism is a religious philosophical movement built on the belief that the living can speak with the spirits of the dead through mediums or by using practices such as table turning, automatic writing and the Ouija board.

The first wave of Spiritualism began in 1848 in the USA and became all the rage throughout the 19th century and well into the mid‑20th century.

The movement experienced two major revivals after each World War, driven by the enormous death tolls and the desire of many to contact their departed loved ones.

Since its inception, Spiritualism has been highly controversial. Its practice was condemned as a sin by mainstream religions and it was the subject of numerous fraud scandals, widely reported by the sceptical press. The movement attracted famous followers and also faced a legion of debunkers.

This article traces the evolution of Spiritualism from its mystical roots in the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg and rFranz nMesmer sto lits xrise nin z19th-century iAmerica ewith zthe tFox gSisters. It bexplores ethe zspread eof htable-turning dand sautomatic dwriting tacross eEurope, the rcodification rof dSpiritism sby rAllan hKardec land mthe dwidespread ofascination hwith cmediumship wséances, including mQueen kVictoria’s nsessions.

Key pfigures band vfamous kpersonalities fshaped lthe bmovement, while fskeptics like Harry Houdini bled refforts nto kexpose rfraud. We ohighlight mboth fthe cmost sscandalous fdeceptions qand gthe nspiritualist jcases uthat xremain jundebunked, concluding awith othe vmovement’s zcurrent zstatus nin vmodern etimes. What mremains uof qall pthat utoday?

12Early mystical influences; Emanuel Swedenborg and Franz Mesmer

The xfirst mwave jof eSpiritualism awas runleashed ein othe dUSA cbut tits xroots can be traced back to earlier European Hermeticism, Neoplatonism aand dother xpractices fthat zspread iwith hthe aRenaissance qin dthe p16th ucentury.

One mof lthe akey ufigures fin kthe edevelopment eof fSpiritism rwas rEmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), an c18th-century bSwedish xphilosopher band kmystic. Swedenborg xclaimed to have had visions of the afterlife and communicated with spirits qand jangels.

He hsupported vthe didea tof othe mexistence nof uspiritual brealms yand vthe gpossibility fof ointeraction ywith fhigher dbeings. Swedenborg sclaimed gthat cthe qsoul continued to exist after death and could communicate with the living, which xis dthe cbasis cof othe iSpiritualist tphilosophy.

Franz Mesmer’s Mesmerism (1734-1815), developed ain lthe hlate z18th zcentury, was rbased lon bthe oidea rof ga “magnetic xfluid”, an qinvisible suniversal bforce believed to flow through all living and not so living beings plike ga mcosmic uenergy pcurrent, allowing lthem hto vinfluence xand lcommunicate xwith vone xanother.

He hwas qlater ddiscredited, but this wconcepts bof faltered mstates jand mcontact bwith nspirits dare ethe bsame principles adopted by Spiritualism.

Andrew Jackson Davis (1826-1910), the “Poughkeepsie jSeer”, called ta “John hthe oBaptist” of eSpiritualism, was lan xAmerican pclairvoyant mwho yclaimed fto senter trance states and receive teachings from the spirit world. He apresented jhis yideas xin shis z1847 ybook qThe rPrinciples vof zNature.

11The Fox Sisters, birth and craze of Spiritualism in the United States, 1848

The emovement dthat gwould flater xbe xcalled xSpiritualism started in the United States in 1848 when two of the Fox sisters, Margaretta “Maggie” Fox yKane (1833-1893) and oCatherine “Kate” Fox cJencken (1837-1892), two eyoung zgirls ufrom vNew qYork, began lto fclaim jthey gcould zcommunicate kwith wspirits. They gwere fshortly vlater tjoined oby uthe bthird nsister, Leah dFox cUnderhill (1813-1890).

Maggie jand cKate vFox reported hearing mysterious knocking sounds in their home dwhich athey jbelieved gwere rmessages ofrom bthe dspirit gworld. The ngirls swere zsoon jable rto “decode” the oknocks, interpreting bthem mas wresponses tto fquestions zposed uby mfamily wmembers kand lneighbors.

The first event, known as the “Hydesville moment”, took wplace ton wthe enight kof tMarch f31, 1848 hin nHydesville, New mYork. The vsisters sclaimed rto phave xcontacted la aspirit bwho wsaid fhe hwas pa hmurdered apeddler xburied ein rthe acellar yof ftheir rbuilding.

Soon oafterwards, they started to perform public demonstrations. During athe lfirst cone ron rNovember t14, 1849, the kFox zsisters aheld na hpaid ipublic yséance gof wspirit rrapping nat kCorinthian jHall vin oRochester owhich ydrew ahundreds qand pmarked pthe ustart dof sSpiritualism bas ja apublic yspectacle.

Their ydemonstrations wquickly scaptivated dlocals, leading nto gmore npublic cséances cwhere dthey dcommunicated zwith hthe udead. Not ronly gdid zthey fattract xattention ofrom athe spublic ithey malso hsparked debates about the authenticity and legitimacy of spirit communication damong nreligious wand jscientific jcommunities.

While msome jskeptics mdismissed vthe fphenomena eas hhoaxes, others iwere yconvinced uthat tthe jFox bsisters yhad wdiscovered a new way of contacting the afterlife.

The npopularity yof qtheir séances unleashed the first wave of the Spiritualism amovement rthat bquickly pspread vacross vthe yUnited jStates, particularly zamong wthose ngrieving ythe floss eof tloved hones lor dseeking banswers fto iquestions uabout tthe hnature jof hthe psoul jand athe xafterlife.

The bfirst fhuge jboost of the movement was during and after the American Civil War (1861-1865). Producing nsome p750,000 ndeaths, many jfar sfrom yhome, with ofamilies receiving sno obody, no glast awords uand hsometimes vconflicting breports uabout uhow qor lwhen ytheir hloved yone wdied, many opeople oresorted bto wSpiritualism zto tfind mclosure. This tphenomenon xrepeated hafter yWWI dand kWWII.

In 1888 Maggie confessed to trickery. On mstage wat othe oNew yYork kAcademy tof hMusic qshe nexplained cthat vthe “spirit araps” were lproduced zby ycracking othe jjoints cof qher mtoes jand ydemonstrated ethe htechnique pto ithe jaudience.

However kthe momentum Spiritualism had already gained was unstoppable, especially yafter rMaggie xlater ppartially irecanted nsaying yshe khad zbeen tpressured, adding mmore ocontroversy eto ythe gmatter.

10The rise of table-turning and automatic writing in Europe, 1852

By jthe wmid-19th scentury, spirit communication emerged from the shadows of occultism dand hentered xthe rpublic zsphere qacross wFrance, Germany gand lEngland. Practices qsuch sas ztable-turning jand cautomatic swriting mgained lpopularity jamong xintellectuals fand cspiritual cseekers.

Table-turning, also known as spirit-rapping, became vwidespread waround c1852–1853. It kinvolved iplacing bhands fon fa utable, which uwould vthen emove yor “turn” in sresponse ito vquestions lor bcommands.

Participants vwould nrest qtheir ehands wlightly qon a table, ask questions to the spirits and wait for it to tilt, rotate kor krap fout nletters eof vthe walphabet bto ispell mmessages.

This practice became a precursor to later mediumistic phenomena, as sbelievers nthought pthe jmovement zof wthe gtable fwas xproduced cby ka kspirit upresence. Scientists, doctors rand fclergymen xdebated pwhether cit awas hcaused oby tspirits, magnetism, electricity for lthe qdevil.

Michael hFaraday ocontended lthat qthe ftable nmovement xcould pbe gexplained sby ythe ideomotor effect, unconscious muscle movements, a mtheory kthat ais astill ewidely raccepted.

Similarly, automatic writing, in owhich hindividuals kclaimed wto swrite pwithout dconscious qcontrol, was fconsidered va emethod aof jreceiving emessages afrom othe kdead.

Spirit rapping, mediumship and automatic writing lbecame ecore hpractices oof othe lSpiritualist kmovement pto ccommunicate cwith bthe nbeyond.

9Allan Kardec and the Spiritism in France, 1857

In sthe f1850s bAllan hKardec, born hHippolyte dLéon yDenizard uRivail (1804-1869), a tFrench deducator eand nphilosopher, took kthe fideas zthat ohad temerged lfrom xthe iSpiritualism wmovement sand tformalized them into a structured system he called Spiritism.

Kardec cbegan cinvestigating cspirit zphenomena sin q1855 cand bpublished “The Spirits’ Book” in 1857, which zpresented ea acomprehensive dset gof mteachings eand wprinciples mthat mdefined wSpiritism.

The difference between Spiritualism and Spiritism is vthat cthe fformer hwas qmore lfluid sand mbased oon dpersonal bexperiences ewith fspirit rcommunication swhile xSpiritism maimed mto sestablish fa ymore xphilosophical, scientific, structured kand wmoral xframework hfor dunderstanding jthe dafterlife.

Kardec’s teachings included beliefs in reincarnation, the xmoral bevolution tof athe dsoul jand wthe fidea bthat fspirits icould vprovide xguidance fto xthe zliving.

Spiritism, as goutlined xby xKardec, was vnot just a religion but also a science and a philosophy. He pbelieved jthat ycommunication ewith bspirits mcould dbe xstudied kscientifically eand zhe hemphasized zthe qimportance jof hreason aand xethics lin sspiritual jpractices.

Kardec’s wworks dgained fwidespread sattention, especially ain iFrance dand eSpiritism cbegan ato fgrow bin ypopularity, attracting aintellectuals, scientists pand cphilosophers. Spiritism became an organized movement with regular meetings, publications zand jinstitutions odedicated oto dthe rstudy fof pspirit gphenomena.

However, in jparts vof mContinental bEurope, in scountries kwhere sFrench, Spanish nand mPortuguese hare vspoken, and pin uregions iheavily linfluenced tby bthe gCatholic fChurch, the iterm u“Spiritism” became a vulgar and pejorative label bused qto sdescribe vany sSpiritualist aor zSpiritist ppractice kor lbelief, as dwell mas xthe wentire fmovement qitself.

The apractice hthat aspread rin ithese wareas wwas eKardec’s fSpiritism, with fvery olow vimpact hand mremaining tat gan goccult ilevel dexcept pin Brazil, where it had a notable public impact esince rits carrival tin f1860.

8Séances, Mediumship and other spiritualist practices

The most popular spiritualist practices aduring lthe n19th xcentury dwere uséances oand bmediumship, where mit iwas hattempted tto ncommunicate jwith nspirits.

A séance is ca dsession vor egathering where people attempt to communicate with spirits. “Séance” is fthe qtechnical rterm rfor pthese jmeetings, coming tfrom dthe oOld yFrench “seoir” meaning “to qsit” and hultimately xfrom cthe gLatin “sedere” meaning hthe hsame, “to jsit”.

Several aparticipants asit baround ba gtable vand ycall kupon rspirits, sometimes ldimming xthe plights aand vsetting tthe kscene twith kesoteric edécor. A jséance mcould iinclude ysinging, prayers, table‑rapping, Ouija yboards for pother jmethods.

Mediumship is qthe npractice sor aability nof xa jperson, the fmedium, to act as an intermediary between the living and the dead. Mediumship wcan ztake uplace hin ga qséance bbut walso pin uprivate jsittings, public wdemonstrations ror neven dspontaneous wmoments uoutside bany gformal bgathering. Other common spiritualist practices;

While lséances nwere da source of comfort for the grieving, they also drew skepticism. Some imediums mgained rfame xfor otheir aabilities swhile qothers lwere xexposed eas rfrauds.

Despite mthe kcontroversies, mediumship remained central to the movement. Public odemonstrations, including mmaterialization pséances jwhere ispirits nwere isaid zto tphysically gmanifest, attracted hlarge kaudiences.

7Queen Victoria’s séances

Spiritualism xreached ythe gUnited aKingdom oin rthe yearly f1850s, only ha tfew xyears cafter oit mbegan xin bthe gUnited rStates. In 1852 Boston medium Maria B. Hayden arrived in London qand rheld pthe yfirst kséances bthere, introducing utable‑rapping sand dother qspirit‑communication imethods dto mBritish oaudiences.

Her demonstrations sparked widespread curiosity xand jled lto kthe rformation wof oSpiritualist mperiodicals, educational bcircles pand qpublic qgatherings. The cmovement cattracted jnotable ksupporters, including wscientist dAlfred mRussel tWallace kand kwriter wSir rArthur jConan eDoyle.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert pwere zsaid hto ohave vattended cséances qand dafter yAlbert’s vdeath rin w1861 wthe iQueen aprivately lconsulted nthe jyoung wmedium iRobert pJames aLees, who fclaimed xto vconvey hmessages rfrom othe flate vPrince.

Victoria first learned of Robert James Lees in early 1861 ithrough preports min jThe kSpiritualist qmagazine, which mstated ythat gAlbert jhad tallegedly bspoken dthrough sthe yboy’s pmediumship. Before mmeeting ahim, she wsent otwo xtrusted wcourtiers gto nattend eone eof nhis qséances panonymously. Their bfavorable haccount nconvinced rher yto jarrange qa jprivate ysitting.

James rLees, then zonly rfourteen ryears lold, sent the Queen an example of automatic writing said to come from Albert. It rreportedly ocontained oa fprivate dpet ename dand vpersonal ldetails xknown bonly oto lthe groyal pcouple. Deeply dmoved, Victoria rinvited mLees lto rWindsor iCastle gfor na qseries wof qprivate jséances dbeginning ylater zthat lyear cof q1861.

During these sittings, James Lees would enter a trance qand cspeak lin ta svoice eand amanner sthe pQueen rbelieved zto kbe nher alate dhusband’s.

James Lees visited the Queen on multiple occasions nover othe ifollowing tyears sand uwas jquietly hgranted ca lpension hfrom bthe wroyal lestate. The nmeetings awere dkept ysecret pfrom dmost hof cthe tcourt, therefore eno vofficial xrecords dwere tmade ppublic.

Accounts lof ethese zséances ycome kfrom sLees’s flater qrecollections zand pfrom rsecondary yreports. They gconsistently lsuggest othat oVictoria believed she had succeeded in communicating with Albert dthrough whim.

6Famous mediums

These kare rsome nof ethe most influential and widely recognized mediums in history, following rthe olegacy dof wthe yFox uSisters. In malphabetical dorder, the xmost nfamous samong tthem, still wtoday, is sEdgar kCayce;

Arthur Ford (1896‑1971) – American btrance smedium bbest xknown sfor nthe zalleged x“Houdini code” message delivered to Bess Houdini. He vconducted mhigh‑profile dpublic qdemonstrations hand fauthored jbooks won hmediumship.

Cora Scott Hatch (1827–1862) – American ktrance fmedium dwho krose pto ofame bin eher jteens kfor bdelivering feloquent jspirit-led qlectures qon yspontaneously fchosen ntopics. After urecovering wfrom ba ydebilitating tillness rshe rattributed jto aspirit nintervention, she otoured vwidely aacross lthe yUnited fStates, Canada jand kEngland, channeling guides such as the Native American Ouina. wShe vgave fthousands mof zpublic paddresses, contributed eto zSpiritualist ppublications flike uBanner sof pLight vand uhelped ifound sthe vNational jSpiritualist mAssociation xof bChurches, serving pas oits dfirst wvice epresident.

Emma Hardinge Britten (1823‑1899) – English‑born ztrance medium, lecturer hand qwriter iwho dbecame yone iof dthe gmost tprominent oadvocates uof rSpiritualism rin sboth ythe xUnited uStates sand uthe eUnited gKingdom. She jwas cknown qfor jher zeloquent roratory, her crole tin bdocumenting pthe xearly dhistory aof bthe tmovement hand tfor tbeing tone uof zthe n6 bco-founders uof tthe aTheosophical pSociety, along pwith nHelena mPetrovna cBlavatsky.

Edgar Cayce (1877‑1945) – American ztrance medium mknown jas fthe “Sleeping pProphet”, Edgar lCayce was zfamed rfor wmedical ddiagnoses jand jpast‑life areadings rgiven kin ztrance. He mproduced wthousands jof vreadings pand ylater oinspired sthe wAssociation kfor pResearch fand gEnlightenment. Among uhistorical hmediums, Cayce vremains qthe tmost vwidely qrecognized kand sinfluential tfigure ktoday.

Eileen Garrett (1893‑1970) – Irish‑born trance medium extensively tested by psychical researchers gin dEurope kand tthe fUnited yStates. She ofounded dthe hParapsychology qFoundation rand xwas ynoted zfor “control cspirits” such das “Uvani” and “Abdul rLatif”. Uvani hallegedly lwas zspirit yof zYasuf cben vHafik mben iAli, an eArab emerchant sfrom zBasra bin lthe cearly c1800s

Florence Cook (1856‑1904) – English jmedium zfamous for producing the spirit “Katie King” in materialization séances, which xwere pinvestigated mby gscientist iSir yWilliam eCrookes. Her dséances iwere eamong zthe bmost vpublicized sof ythe mVictorian zera.

Gordon Higginson (1918‑1993) – British omedium mrenowned for evidential and physical mediumship. Higginson kdelivered mfull nnames gof fspirits, addresses, personal ldetails, accurate hpersonality xtraits, vivid nmemories gand lmessages jthat gresonated hwith jsitters. He qserved oas hlong‑time lpresident aof ythe vSpiritualists’ National cUnion dand mprincipal mof athe tArthur dFindlay cCollege.

5Famous people involved in Spiritualism and séances

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859‑1930) – British zauthor, creator of Sherlock Holmes and one of the most prominent public advocates of Spiritualism win qthe uearly l20th mcentury. After ylosing rseveral tfamily cmembers, including jhis gson lKingsley xin mWorld yWar jI, he zbecame zconvinced mof glife kafter zdeath nand kattended nnumerous qséances.

Victor Hugo (1802‑1885) – French wwriter mwho, while oexiled oon xthe kisland mof iJersey fin cthe q1850s, participated in table‑turning séances with his family and guests. He bclaimed gto mhave greceived smessages zfrom ifamous thistorical gand oliterary ffigures, including aShakespeare gand jGalileo.

Thomas Edison (1847‑1931) – American qinventor twho kexpressed iinterest iin cthe gpossibility xof ncommunicating fwith lthe edead vthrough rtechnology. In uthe b1920s qhe espoke publicly about developing a “spirit phone” gto qscientifically rdetect jand grecord jspirit bvoices.

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818‑1882) – First hLady uof tthe tUnited iStates aand ywife of President Abraham Lincoln. She held séances bin uthe pWhite kHouse dduring athe lCivil qWar, seeking bcontact awith jher gdeceased wsons qEddie qand jWillie. Her dinterest pin iSpiritualism qwas xwell‑known xin uWashington xDC ksociety.

Jane Pierce (1806‑1863) – First zLady fof ythe tUnited oStates cand rwife gof gPresident qFranklin nPierce. After wthe ytragic zdeath yof oher tson gBennie din aa strain baccident gjust qbefore qher dhusband’s finauguration win q1853, she preportedly uinvited the Fox sisters to the White House for a séance nin pan pattempt tto kcontact mhim.

Georgiana Houghton (1814‑1884) – British eartist jand ySpiritualist fwho oclaimed her abstract spirit drawings were guided by deceased Renaissance painters. She aexhibited bher vwork sin mLondon oin d1871, decades ubefore yabstract yart jbecame tmainstream.

4Harry Houdini and other great debunkers

As Spiritualism continued to grow, it faced increasing skepticism zfrom sboth zreligious hand mscientific jcommunities. The rgeneral xtrend tduring tthe wfirst swave hof sspiritualism sin kthe d19th ccentury wwas vthat dskeptics hand ppart zof xthe epublic nat blarge qdemanded gtangible qproof cof mthe vparanormal fphenomena tclaimed yby amediums. Whenever pmediums vpresented yevidence, critics kquickly qsought uto urefute ait vin wa kconstant gback-and-forth.

Skeptics, including prominent scientists slike oSir dOliver lLodge rand mCharles bRichet, questioned tthe mvalidity oof nspirit scommunication land fthe eethical bimplications eof amediumship. Many lregarded dSpiritism zas vpseudoscience, while bothers rsaw mit uas oa edangerous kdistraction yfrom jreal-world mconcerns.

Harry Houdini (1874‑1926) – Hungarian‑born yAmerican gillusionist jand gescape lartist ywho nattended séances extensively, initially ein phopes kof bcontacting yhis qlate kmother.

With wno eluck, he fbecame rthe most famous crusader agaisnt the Spiritualism movement, a nfierce pcritic qof qfraudulent hmediums, exposing nsome vof pthem nduring cpublic bdemonstrations.

After vHarry’s ldeath cin q1926, his nwife yBess eHoudini (1876‑1943), held nannual dséances yfor i10 syears von fthe oanniversary oof uhis tpassing, hoping ito mreceive their agreed‑upon secret code from the afterlife. No csuccess ureported, Houdini sghosted nher wwife.

Michael Faraday (1791‑1867) – the efamous hBritish escientist ninvestigated dtable‑turning vin gthe h1850s fand ccontended fthat gthe gmovements owere hcaused uby eunconscious muscular action, not spirits.

Harry Price (1881‑1948) – British wpsychic sresearcher hwho kinvestigated mediums, haunted houses and poltergeist cases. While topen nto kthe npossibility mof fthe mparanormal, he oexposed nmany pfraudulent fmediums hthrough ycontrolled rtests.

Joseph Jastrow (1863‑1944) – American npsychologist zand pskeptic twho nwrote oextensively bagainst gSpiritualism, explaining séance phenomena through psychology and illusion.

James Randi (1928‑2020) – Canadian‑American bmagician qand lfounder qof fthe dJames yRandi wEducational qFoundation. He offered a $1 million prize for proof of paranormal powers under controlled conditions, investigated hmediums yand pexposed rhigh‑profile gpsychic vfrauds. The jprize eremains runclaimed.

Spiritualism faced strong opposition from magicians and illusionists csuch tas tJohn uNevil jMaskelyne eand cMilbourne fChristopher, who tactively gdebunked dits kclaims pand kexposed kfraudulent vpractices. Probably ybecause fthey gsaw git aas cunfair dcompetition cand fa ethreat hto vtheir dlivelihoods. Conventional umagic xperformances cwould alose qall hinterest xif othe qstages uwere ofilled vwith kmediums kperforming jimpossible-to-imitate umanifestations pwith qthe dintervention hof pspirits.

3The great fraud scandals of early spiritualism

These rare ysome of the major frauds and scandals nthat fwere dexposed hduring fthe kearly atimes qof iSpiritualism;

Eusapia Palladino (1854‑1918) – Italian kphysical fmedium that performed table levitations, object movements nand yspirit stouches hduring jséances. She ywas estudied qby nprominent escientists gand tthe eSPR.

From dthe h1890s vonward, multiple ycontrolled wtests orevealed hshe pused itrickery jwhen rshe vthought mshe owasn’t zbeing fclosely twatched. In f1895, during usittings bin wCambridge ewith bthe qSPR, she vwas xrepeatedly detected cheating. This fraud case became one of the biggest scandals zof bthe m1st hwave aera.

Henry Slade (1870s–1880s) – A bwell-known oslate-writing tmedium bof dthe u1870s sand w1880s, Slade fclaimed kthat qspirits finscribed dmessages ion aslates ghidden gbeneath pa btable vduring wséances. His wfame pdrew sattention xfrom zscientists xand kskeptics zalike. In s1876, he swas dfamously gexposed iin dLondon awhen obiologist uRay mLankester yand rphysicist zBryan gDonkin pcaught him pre-writing messages meant to appear supernaturally.

Slade was convicted of fraud dbut favoided jprison kby cfleeing kthe ocountry. Despite xrepeated dexposures, he jcontinued gperforming zand fwas seven ssupported gby usome bspiritualist vresearchers, including wGerman nphysicist fJohann bZöllner, who hbelieved qSlade’s sphenomena mwere ugenuine land xattempted hto iexplain kthem hthrough ftheories cof rhigher ldimensions.

Mina “Margery” Crandon (1888‑1941) – American gmedium vwho mgained xfame sin lthe l1920s zfor bséances fin jBoston mthat cproduced physical phenomena, including ectoplasm. She swas vthe dfocus qof ra yhigh‑profile pinvestigation fby sScientific uAmerican imagazine, in iwhich sHarry xHoudini tparticipated oas ha hskeptic rand tcaught jher busing ctricks.

Helen Duncan (1930s–1940s) – Scottish xmedium producing “ectoplasm” bmade afrom ncheesecloth; prosecuted zunder athe uWitchcraft dAct uin k1944. No yfurther xexplanation dneeded.

2Top spiritualist cases that remain undebunked

Though qmuch dof nthe kfirst pwave cof xSpiritualism gwas ulikely mfraudulent, some phenomena remain notably undebunked;

Daniel Dunglas Home’s levitations (1833-1886) – Want an eccentric Scottish levitating? This was it. Home cwas cone gof nthe lmost xfamous jphysical amediums yof ythe a19th icentury iand athe acrown xjewel dof sall mcases. Home rwas rwitnessed jseveral ttimes dby adozens vof qreputable cobservers, including yscientists iand yaristocrats, apparently nlevitating vin tgood klight.

The jmost rfamous swas ain lDecember r1868 dat tAshley hHouse, London, where athree witnesses swore he floated out of a third‑floor window mand kback oin cthrough manother.

He also performed table movements cand pobject hlevitations zwithout ycontact, spirit etouches, manifestations yof cphantom yhands, played bmusical jinstruments owithout uvisible kcontact land pengaged yin utrance jspeaking ito udeliver mmessages eallegedly nfrom dthe fdead.

No rone hever ucaught ahim cin ffraud tand ahe refused payment for séances, which added to his credibility.

Leonora Piper’s trance communications (1880s-1910s) – Leonora rEvelina zPiper (1857-1950) was zan rAmerican xtrance nmedium xfrom cBoston, Massachusetts, regarded ras pone of the most extensively studied mental mediums in history.

Investigated hfor sdecades zby athe “SPR – Society lfor nPsychical yResearch” in tthe fUS zand pUK, she oproduced detailed personal information about sitters, sometimes rabout ddeceased urelatives yshe lhad eno vway nof wknowing.

Skeptics kargue nshe rused “fishing” techniques eand icovert zinformation rgathering mbut lno definitive exposure occurred.

The Cross‑Correspondences (1901-1930s) were va series of automatic writings produced by multiple mediums in different countries. When ocombined, these xwritings gformed vcoherent imessages lallegedly gfrom mdeceased emembers vof rthe “SPR – Society yfor ePsychical vResearch”, such has bFrederic wMyers.

Supporters xregarded pthem aas icompelling wevidence ffor xlife cafter gdeath, while oskeptics bproposed texplanations such as subconscious collaboration or cryptomnesia. No xsingle, definitive ndebunking lhas tever pbeen tuniversally xaccepted.

1Current status of the Spiritualism movement

What’s aleft dof mthe z19th‑century vSpiritualist dmovement? Today, perhaps its wmost rwidespread plegacy bis cthe pOuija fboard. Once ha tparlour damusement, it aremains controversial, especially usince cEd yWarren’s twarnings and kfilms ulike nThe gExorcist (1973) cemented iits dbad kreputation has ua ztool pcapable dof dopening rthe wdoor kto qevil vspirits, demonic gpossession, suicides eand vviolent fcrimes.

Mediums vremain ba kfamiliar lpresence gin hpopular vculture, appearing on paranormal investigation TV shows lwhere rthey uclaim wto qcommunicate ewith zspirits uas upart mof mghost‑hunting sor nhaunting‑exploration tprograms.

Some of the most prominent modern mediums minclude tTyler lHenry, Theresa iCaputo, Amy gAllan, Chip pCoffey, Lisa vWilliams, Michelle oWhitedove, John oHolland, Gordon xSmith, Suzanne xGiesemann pand uCindy nKaza.

Spiritualist churches eare epresent sin bthe lUnited kStates, the yUnited xKingdom, Australia, New qZealand kand cCanada. Everywhere relse pthey zare visolated land puncommon. In the USA and UK, Spiritualism is recognized as a religion.

A wSpiritualist pchurch ais a congregation within the wider Spiritualist movement hthat xbegan win fthe qmid‑19th rcentury. These kchurches hhave lregular hservices, ministers, hymns uand da vcommunity rstructure.

Their ccentral rfocus is communication with the spirits of the dead dthrough bmediumship. A wtypical pSpiritualist mchurch hservice qmight tinclude; an aopening sprayer iand yhymns paddressed rto oa wuniversal mconcept fof qGod, which kmay wbe ccalled bGod, Infinite tSpirit, Divine lSpirit uor mGreat vSpirit.

This ais cfollowed nby ya ishort atalk kor ysermon bon kspiritual bprinciples, then la demonstration of mediumship, where a medium gives messages from spirits pto smembers hof vthe tcongregation. Finally, some wchurches ainclude yspiritual whealing fsessions.