Death is a fact. Throughout the world many religions-- but not all-- attempt to explain death by envisioning some type of existence following death. The essence or entity that is presumed to continue after death is often called a soul in English. Viewing death as a transition from one type of existence to another raises the question: Since souls continue to exist, is it possible for the living to talk with dead people?
There are many reasons for wanting to talk with dead people. A few of these include:
- A desire to talk with recently deceased friends and relatives to find out if they are okay, if they are happy. This is a way of seeking closure to relationships and to ease the fear of dying.
- A desire to talk with famous or important people from the past, seeking their advice on current problems.
- A desire to find a personal teacher or guide who would be able to provide personal guidance for living in today’s world.
These are just a few of the reasons for talking with dead people. Overall, of course, talking with dead people reinforces the belief that death is not the end and that human souls are immortal.
During the nineteenth century, spiritualism became a popular movement in the United States which promoted the idea that some people had a special ability to communicate with the dead. The spiritualist movement was inspired by the eighteenth-century philosopher Emmanuel Swedenborg and promoted by both charlatans and religious leaders.
In an article in Skeptical Inquirer, Sadri Hassani writes:
“Spiritualism was a movement rooted in the belief that the spirits of the dead existed and continued to evolve. Mediums were individuals gifted with the ability to communicate—in sessions known as séances—with the spirits and learn about the knowledge they had gained about God in the afterlife.”
In her book Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Mary Roach describes spiritualism this way:
“Spiritualism, in a nutshell, is a religious movement devoted to communication (via mediums) with those who have died and to proving to others, via seances and other mediumistic demonstrations, that it is possible to do so. Death is not viewed as an end to life, but merely a different phase, a changing of address and scenery.”
In an essay in The Conversation, Lindsay DiCuirci writes:
“Spiritualists believed that people could maintain communication with the living even after death. They thought communicative spirits had a principal role to play in addressing the era’s most pressing social and political concerns, which would be impossible if souls were damned. This idea was a cornerstone of their practice and a driver of their politics.”
Lindsay DiCuirci also reports:
“Spiritualists held that after shedding the body in death, the spirit would continue on a celestial journey. A spirit’s assignment was to help those still in their bodies to create a better, more just world. Through mediums, séances and object manipulation, spirits were believed to be able to enlighten the living by giving them a glimpse into life on a broader plane of existence.”
Emmanuel Swedenborg
Swedish natural philosopher, engineer, and visionary Emmanuel Swedenborg(1688-1772) is often seen as the father of modern spiritualism. In 1758 he wrote:
“The world of spirits is not heaven, nor is it hell; but it is a place or state intermediate between the two.”
In an essay in The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief, Alison Lewis and Robert Helms write:
“Visiting London in 1745, he saw an apparition, and began to concentrate his energies on a reinterpretation of the Bible and works of theology based on conversations with angels and spirits of the dead.”
In his entry on Swedenborgianism in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Jean-Loup Seban describes it as:
“Swedenborgianism, the theosophy professed by a worldwide movement established as the New Jerusalem Church in London in 1788 by the followers of Emanuel Swedenborg (1668-1772), a Swedish natural philosopher, visionary, and biblical exegete.”
Swedenborgianism envisions a relationship between the body and the soul; between the natural and the spiritual worlds. These relationships are, of course, explained and interpreted through the Bible. The Swedenborg worldview is explained by Alison Lewis and Robert Helms, in their entry on spiritualism in The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief:
“Heaven is a normal society where souls continue as they might on earth. Hell (where there is no Satan) is chosen by selfish, materialistic people who are free to commit any misdeeds they please, but they are punished (beaten by other souls) only if they become morally worse than they were when they were alive.”
Fox Sisters
While Swedenborg’s writings certainly inspired other philosophers and theologians, the popularization of spiritualism actually came from performers, charlatans, and con artists. In public performances and private seances, they would claim to make contact with the spirit world and convince their audiences and clients that they were receiving messages from dead people. In the mid-nineteenth century, the most famous spiritualist charlatans were the Fox Sisters.
Lindsay DiCuirci writes:
“Swedenborg’s ideas gained public traction in the U.S. after sisters Kate and Margaret Fox of Hydesville, New York, reported ‘rapping’ and ‘knocking’ sounds in their home. The knocking seemed responsive to the sisters’ questions, and they soon claimed that they could hold conversations with the deceased. Rising from this domestic drama was a national and international phenomenon that recalibrated people’s relationship with death and offered a balm to the grieving.”
In 1848, three sisters now living in Rochester, New York—Leah (1813-1890), Margaretta (1833-1893; also known as Maggie), and Catherine (1837-1892; also known as Kate) Fox—began a spiritualist movement based on the belief that ghosts exist, and, more importantly, living humans can communicate with them. While the Fox sisters’ communications with the spirit world were a hoax—Margaretta publicly revealed their method in 1888—they inspired growth in the spiritualism movement.
In 1849, they turned their little hoax into a business by demonstrating their ability to talk with the dead before a paying audience of about 400 people at Corinthian Hall in Rochester. Thus, the Fox Sisters became the first professional Spiritualists. While there were some skeptics, many people believed that the performance was real. Inspired by the success of the Fox Sisters, other people who claimed to be mediums began to have their own shows.
The popular spiritualist theatrical performances featured special lighting and music. Many performers, including the Fox Sisters, became celebrities. While professional magicians, such as Ira and William Davenport, exposed many of the professional spiritualists as fakes, spiritualism remained popular.
In 1888, the New York Herald reported that Margaretta Fox said:
“When I began this deception I was too young to know right from wrong, That I have been mainly instrumental in perpetuating the fraud of Spiritualism upon a too-confiding public, many of you already know. It is the greatest sorrow of my life.”
Despite this declaration, and similar statements by other Spiritualist mediums, the Spiritualist movement continued unfazed by evidence of fakery. The Spiritualist movement continues to this day, with the stage performances of the nineteenth-century replaced by reality TV programs.
Among the famous people who were caught up in the nineteenth-century spiritualist movement was Queen Victoria (1819-1901) who held séances with the 13-year-old medium Robert James Lee (1849-1931) seeking advice from her dead husband. It was reported that Lee lived at Buckingham Palace for a while so that Queen Victoria would regularly talk with her deceased husband through him.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), known for his Sherlock Holmes mystery stories, attended a séance in 1880 and became convinced that it was possible to communicate with dead people.
Spiritualist Church
While the popular Spiritualist movement has been primarily a form of entertainment, there has also been a religious Spiritualist movement. When the Spiritualist movement, driven by the popularity of the Fox Sisters and others, reached California, it inspired the creation of the Spiritualist Church. In his chapter on changing attitudes to death in the Book of Death, Derek Wilson writes about the Spiritualist Church:
“The basic philosophy aims to bring peace of mind, inner harmony, and even physical healing to adherents by connecting them with the collective consciousness existing on the spiritual plain. Death is not the end they insist. We are not left to struggle on our own. There is someone there.”
In his book Religions, Philip Wilkinson writes:
“Followers especially value insights that come from the spirits, which they believe are metaphysically closer to God. Believers therefore take seriously the moral and ethical advice of the sprits, and many view the spirits as guides to both earthly and heavenly matters.”
In the Spiritualist Church, services are usually conducted by a medium. In addition to prayers and hymns, there is a demonstration of mediumship.
Spiritualism is seen as a religion in its own right with no relationship to other religions.
Within the Spiritualist Church, the purpose of the medium is to provide evidence that the spirit or soul survives physical death. In developing their abilities, the mediums regularly sit in development circles with other psychics. Meditation is also an important practice for the Spiritualist mediums as it quiets the voices of the modern world.
The Spiritualist Church recognizes two forms of mediumship: Physical Mediumship and Mental Mediumship. Physical Mediumship affects physical objects and can be observed by the physical senses. Mental Mediumship, on the other hand, is based on the interpretations of a medium regarding the messages from the spirit world. Mental Mediumship often involves trance and prophecy.
More religion stories
Religion 101: The Idea of an Afterlife
Religion 102: The concept of the soul
Religion 101: The Meaning of Ghosts
Religion 101: Ghosts in Different Cultures