Many of the world’s faith systems incorporate some concept of a soul’s continuing existence after the death of the physical body. But just one, Spiritualism, is actually founded on these concepts. Spiritualism accepts that spirit communication is a natural and common occurrence in the physical world that has been taking place throughout the history of human existence, and that much healing and good can come from it.

Like all belief systems, Spiritualism comes with its own traditions—the stories and experiences that make up its history and heritage. Some are entertaining, while some are inspiring. Collectively, they reflect the evolution of Spiritualist thinking from random communication with spirits to the purposeful connections modern Spiritualist mediums make. Spiritualism today has much to offer to those seeking to understand our human spiritual resources, and the many ways in which spirits, in and out of the human body, interact and evolve.

But before we get into that, let’s time-travel through the evolution of Spiritualism. Sit back and put up your feet … it’s time to meet the characters and circumstances that have taken Spiritualism through its rise, near-fall, and revival in the world today.

Modern Spiritualism came into popular practice in 1848 when two sisters—Catherine and Margaretta Fox—moved with their parents into a small house in Hydesville, New York. Their story is well documented through an affidavit Mrs. Fox wrote about the family’s experiences, as well as through numerous anecdotes from those who heard about the strange communication that the Fox sisters established with a ghost who already resided—unwillingly and unhappily—in the house.

On December 11, 1847, the Fox family moved into its Hydesville home, which was to be a temporary residence while the family’s new house was being built. Almost immediately, they heard noises in the night. Not being familiar with the history of the house, they tried to ignore the strange sounds that kept them awake. But on March 4, 1848, the bangs and rap-pings became particularly loud. Catherine and Margaretta were very frightened and ran to their parents’ bedroom. The parents, too, were awake and listening, and walked through the rest of the house to try to find the cause of all the racket.

There were knocks on the pantry door and footsteps in the hallway. Windows and doors were closed tight; nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Yet the rapping, banging, and thumping continued even as the Foxes searched the house. “I then concluded that the house must be haunted by some unhappy restless spirit,” Mrs. Fox later wrote in her affidavit about the family’s experiences.

The frightened sisters decided they were going to sleep in their parents’ room until the noises ceased. After a week or so, they began to feel more comfortable. One night, Catherine, feeling brave in the safety of her parents’ bed, said, “Mr. Splitfoot, do as I do!” and she clapped her hands. To her amazement, she heard clapping in response. Then Margaretta clapped one, two, three, four … and heard back one, two, three four raps!

The girls called for their mother. Mrs. Fox took over the questioning, determined to get to the bottom of the situation. She tested the visitor’s knowledge by asking it to rap the number of children she had. Seven raps. She asked again; she had just six children. Seven raps again. Puzzled at first, Mrs. Fox then asked how many of those children were living. Six raps. No one outside the family knew that the youngest Fox child, little Emily, had passed as an infant some years earlier.

With a simple code—two raps for “yes”—and more counting, Mrs. Fox extracted the information that this was indeed a ghost, a man who had been murdered in the house by a man who had once lived there. Not knowing the history of the house’s residents, Mrs. Fox asked her neighbors, the Redfields, who had lived in the area all of their lives, to come over. As it turned out, the Redfields had once lived in the house and knew of the other families who had also called it home. Again, there was an exchange of names and raps. Mr. Redfield went through the list of names of the house’s former residents until one name—Bell—returned two raps, the signal for “yes.” Frustratingly, however, the neighbor wasn’t able to identify the ghost. Finally, Mrs. Fox hit upon the solution. She worked out a code to identify the letters of the alphabet, and instructed the spirit to rap once for each letter of his name. The questioning eventually elicited the name of one Charles Rosna, who, other neighbors later recalled, had been a traveling peddler who had disappeared six years earlier.

Further questioning brought forth the claim that Rosna’s body was buried in the cellar. Neighbors who rushed to dig for the body were unable to locate anything, because a high water table just a few feet beneath the basement’s earthen floor flooded into the basement as soon as they dug into it, leaving Rosna’s fate unproven. Or was it? In the summer of 1848, when the weather became dry, the Foxes and some of their curious neighbors went back into the basement. This time they were able to dig deeper, unearthing bone fragments and a peddler’s bag.

It was evidence enough to launch the Fox sisters into careers as mediums. They soon discovered that it wasn’t only their resident spirit with whom they could communicate. It seemed they could summon spirits of all sorts, spirits eager to make contact with loved ones in the physical world.

The sisters quickly became well known even beyond their local community. Hundreds of people flocked to their home for spirit communication. In 1849, Margaretta Fox gave a demonstration of her mediumship abilities in New York City, which sealed her fame. Much of the time, the famous were among those who came to her during her career as a medium, including author James Fennimore Cooper (who penned The Last of the Mohicans, among other stories) and William Cullen Bryant, poet, attorney, and editor of New York’s Evening Post. The media dubbed the sisters and those who believed in their abilities “Spiritualists”—and a movement was born.

The events that catapulted the Fox sisters to fame as mediums and established Spiritualism as a movement did not just happen out of the blue, of course. Others had been exploring the relationship between body and spirit, some from within the context of religion and others from the framework of science. Just before the Foxes moved to Hydesville, another New Yorker, Andrew Jackson Davis (1826-1910) published what was to become a breakthrough work for him and for Spiritualism: The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind.

As a young child, Davis showed strong psychic abilities. When the family moved to Poughkeepsie, Davis encountered a tailor who detected these abilities and discovered that Davis could use them for medical diagnosis. At the age of 18, Davis had a metaphysical experience that changed the course of his life. In what was either a trance state or a visitation, Davis met the spirit of famed theologian and scientist Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1722) who had died more than 100 years before Davis was born.

It was this visit that produced the book The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind, which Davis dictated over the course of more than a year. In the book, he predicted the discovery of the eighth and ninth planets (Neptune and Pluto, respectively), at the direction of Swedenborg. Under Swedenborg’s direction, Davis also wrote Univericoelum (The Spiritual Philosopher). Himself an uneducated man, Davis wrote these and other manuscripts in a ponderous, scholarly, and complex style similar to that of Swedenborg.

When published in 1847, The Principles of Nature met with intense interest among those already interested in the concept of the continuing life of the spirit. It wasn’t until after the events of Hydesville, however, that Davis’s book gained popular attention. Although somewhat cumbersome to comprehend, The Principles of Nature outlined in great detail the interrelationships among human physical existence, the mind, and the spirit (personal as well as divine). The language was complex and technical, making it difficult for the average person to read but affirming its connection to Swedenborg, who wrote in the same style.

In its relatively short existence, Spiritualism has drawn interest and support from a number of famous people. Few were better known than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). You might know of him as creator of the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. But did you know this renowned writer was also a physician … and a prominent investigator of psychic phenomena, as well as one of Spiritualism’s most zealous supporters? Although better known as a writer of mystery novels and stories, Doyle was trained and practiced as a physician. In fact, he was knighted in 1902 for his work with military field hospitals in South Africa during the Boer War.

As it turns out, 1902 was a fortuitous year for the good doctor. That was also when he met Sir Oliver Lodge, a renowned physicist of the time who was intrigued by the relationship between the physical world and the realm of human consciousness. He was particularly fascinated with the concept of thought transference—the process of being able to communicate one’s thoughts without physical means such as speaking or writing. Doyle was also interested in this area, and had engaged in some informal research of his own. He respected Lodge and his studies, and found the other scientist’s methods compelling.

After establishing a literary career writing detective and romance novels, Doyle’s interest in thought transference led him to the logical next level, communication between spirits in this world and in the spirit world. He turned his full attention to that and joined the Society for Psychical Research, a prominent and well-respected organization of the time. He also attended mediumistic readings at his friends’ homes, which so intrigued him that he began his own studies with a medium.

In midlife, Doyle published a number of books that were a considerable departure from the fiction that had made him famous: The New Revelation, The Vital Message, Wanderings of a Spiritualist, and the two-volume The History of Spiritualism. These books discussed his research, his conclusions, and his beliefs, all of which strongly advocated Spiritualism.

In his own spirit communication through mediums, Doyle was able to make contact with his son, who was wounded and died during World War I, his mother, and other relatives. These experiences were both comforting and validating for him, and gave a depth to his insights that could only come from such deeply personal contacts. Unfortunately, they also gave rise to criticism from skeptics who felt that Doyle’s grief dulled his scientific senses. But they only strengthened Doyle’s commitment to Spiritualism.

Doyle concluded his literary career in 1930 not with a final Sherlock Holmes adventure but with what he considered a work of enlightenment, The Edge of the Unknown. This book, his last, presented Doyle’s observations and insights about 15 famous mysterious events, such as magician Harry Houdini’s apparent dematerializations and writings from the other side by a number of authors, including Charles Dickens and Jack London.

Of course, there have always been—and always will be—those who doubt the authenticity of spirit contact and spirit communication. On the one hand, it’s perfectly natural to expect proof or evidence that a spirit communication is authentic (we discuss this in more detail later in this chapter). But there are those who are never satisfied with the evidence as proof.

In the late decades of the nineteenth century, the Spiritualist Church became a formal entity with congregations throughout the Western world. This organization gave a level of credibility to Spiritualism, and established it as a process inextricably linked to the divine (more on this later in this chapter). Spirit contacts were not late-night parlor games, but rather integral elements of a religious institution. This gave increased credibility to Spiritualism, and many of the movement’s early detractors became its most ardent supporters (including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who started his explorations of psychic phenomena from the scientific platform of evidentiary proof).

Spiritualism as an institution has endured its share of scandal through the years, typically the result of fraudulent actions on the part of people acting as mediums. Tragically, those seeking insight and understanding, particularly when driven by grief and desperation, are vulnerable to manipulation. By the 1930s, England had passed the Fraudulent Medium Act and other legislation intended to protect the public from cheats and hoaxsters, which of course didn’t prevent them from scamming the unsuspecting. Over the next few decades, Spiritualism lost popular favor and entered into a period of decline. Although this did nothing to diminish the authenticity of spirit communication, it did leave people somewhat floundering for other ways to address their spiritual needs.

Since the 1970s, however, interest in spirit communication and Spiritualism has been on the rise. This is partly the result of a more open environment with regard to personal freedom and expression and partly the re-emergence of interest in self-healing. The surge of interest in “New Age” concepts that swept through the United States and other parts of the Western world in the 1980s broadened the appeal and acceptance of spirit contact and communication. Although the exact numbers are hard to come by, it’s safe to say that more people practice Spiritualism today than ever in its history.

Mediumship is an integral part of Spiritualism. Through mediums, spirits communicate with those in the physical world. Mediums who are certified in the Spiritualist Church (as is co-author Rita) undergo extensive training and must pass a series of qualifying examinations (including doing a complete church service with spirit communication to the satisfaction of a board of ordained spiritualist ministers and certified mediums).

All mediums have psychic abilities, but not all psychics have mediumistic abilities. (There’s more on this in Chapter 14.) It takes time, focus, and training to develop skill as a medium. It is a Spiritualist medium’s responsibility to prove the continuity of life beyond a shadow of a doubt. This means that when the Spiritualist medium finally begins talking to you with messages from spirits that are present, he or she has a clear sense of what the spirit looks or sounds like, why the spirit is present, and even who the spirit is. This doesn’t mean the medium knows all of this for certain, only that he or she has a good idea about it.

Spiritualism holds that every human being has at least limited mediumistic capacity. Each of us has the ability to communicate with spirits on the other side, if we pay attention to the signals we receive. As is the case with any other ability, some people are more skilled than others.

Do you ever think something, then have a friend call and say it? Must be telepathy! Such events happen often, yet we usually don’t give them a second thought. But do you ever struggle with a dilemma, then “hear” a voice (sounding, to the ear of your mind, suspiciously like your grandmother who passed away five years ago) telling you what to do? If you’re tuned into your psychic senses, you might notice and acknowledge this message. If you’re oblivious to your psychic senses, you might act on the message without understanding its origin or dismiss it from your mind because it isn’t logical.

Such experiences are often mental mediumistic phenomena; that is, a spirit has activated your mediumistic abilities in an attempt to convey a message to you. Of course that was your grandmother’s voice speaking to you from beyond the physical world! You know, as she does, that only she would call you by the childhood nickname she gave you when you spent the summer with her way back when.

When a trained medium receives mental phenomena, they can be quite spectacular. There is countless documentation of mediums delivering messages of detailed instruction for carrying out tasks that the medium knows nothing about. Even writing a book, preparing a seven-course meal, or creating an invention!

Physical mediumship is more advanced and more complex. Not everyone has the mediumistic abilities necessary to receive physical phenomena. Such phenomena might include levitation, materialization, transfiguration—all of which involve the spirit using the medium’s energy to convey its message. Rapping and table-tipping are also physical phenomena (see Chapter 11).

Sometimes physical phenomena are quite specialized, putting to use the medium’s special talents. Rita receives physical phenomena in the form of spirit drawing or spirit painting; you’ll see her artwork throughout this book. Other mediums might receive spirit communication through spirit photography or automatic writing (which we’ll talk more about in Chapter 10).

Key to Spiritualism is the conviction that human existence consists of the body, mind, and spirit. The body, made of matter, is the outer, physical shell that contains both the mind and the spirit. The mind, also made of matter but of a different sort, houses the spirit, made of energy. This energy is what links spirits across the border of the physical world and makes spirit communication possible.

Also key to Spiritualism is the conviction that this energy is Light, in that it represents the presence and the power of the divine. As a result, it is good and it is for help and healing. Spirit communication, likewise, is for good and for healing. Spiritualist mediums always begin their readings with a prayer to welcome the Light (the divine) and request its guidance in keeping the reading focused on its intent—which is always to heal in some way.

Although its details change with each reading to be specific to the circumstances, purpose, and person, this is the general prayer Rita uses: “Infinite Spirit God, I ask that you be with me during this reading. I ask that you surround us with white light. I ask that this be healing, helpful, evidential and to prove the continuity of life. I ask that this reading be blessed and that it help this person on his or her path. I give thanks for what we are about to receive. Amen.”

To have a mediumistic reading without purpose is like driving without a destination. You certainly could end up someplace interesting and enjoyable, especially if you travel by car a lot and instinctively make the right choices about which direction to go. When the journey is spiritual rather than physical, most people have specific reasons for seeking spirit contact. Many desire contact with specific loved ones in the spirit world. This is one part of intent. It doesn’t always turn out that you get who you want; calling on the divine places the communication in a higher power. In seeking, the divine will give you what you need but not always what you request. People sometimes make promises before they pass, but they can’t always keep them because the choice might not be theirs.

We’ve emphasized that the primary purpose of spirit communication is help and healing. What this means for you is unique and personal. Perhaps healing is closure following a loved one’s sudden and unexpected passing, to help you move on in your life. You could desire understanding of someone’s behaviors that have affected you in some way. Or you might just want proof that the spirit does continue after physical death, to give meaning and direction to your life.

It is human nature to want “proof,” especially of things that are deeply important to us on a personal level. For the Spiritualist medium, establishing “proof” of the continuity of life is essential with any spirit contact. This is usually not the kind of tangible proof in terms of something you can see or touch. Rather, it is evidence in the form of knowledge that only you and the spirit could share. Perhaps this is the spirit referring to you by a childhood nickname only one person would know. Or reminding you of a long-forgotten event, or giving the answer to a question you didn’t know you were asking. Understanding and insight become clearer, which is how spirits are able to help those of us on this side.

Spiritualism encourages self-exploration and learning. It fits within just about any religious framework, and perhaps as importantly as any other function, it dispels fear. It is, in fact, nothing more than the function of being spiritual—which we all are, regardless of our belief systems, simply because we are human beings with physical and spiritual selves.

Many of those attracted to the Spiritualist movement as it rose to prominence in the fifty years or so following the Fox sisters were people who challenged and probed the “meaning of life” from various contexts—they were physicians, scientists, writers and poets, artists. But they were also just ordinary people seeking answers to questions everyone has. Spirit communication puts the quest for information into your hands. You determine what to ask, and what to do with the answers you receive. It’s quite empowering, as upcoming chapters will show you!

The Least You Need to Know