Spiritualism: Encyclopedia II - Spiritualism - Characteristic Beliefs

Spiritualism - Characteristic Beliefs

The central tenet of Spiritualism is the belief in and practice of mediumship which is believed to provide evidence of the continued existence of an individual's spirit or soul after death. A secondary belief is that spirits are in some way closer to God than living humans, and that spirits themselves are capable of growth and perfection. The afterlife is therefore not a static place, but one in which spirits continue to evolve. The two beliefs: that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans, leads to a third belief, that spirits are capable of providing useful knowledge about moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God and the afterlife. Thus many Spiritualists will speak of their spirit guides -specific spirits, often contacted, who are relied upon for spiritual guidance.

Spiritualism emerged in a Christian environment and has many features in common with Christianity: an essentially Christian moral system, a perceived belief in the Judeo-Christian God, mystical panentheism, and liturgical practices such as Sunday services and the singing of hymns. Nevertheless, on significant points the two faiths are quite different. Spiritualists do not believe that the acts of this life lead to the assignment of each soul into an eternity of either Heaven or Hell — rather, they view the afterlife as containing many hierarchically arrayed "spheres," through which each spirit can successfully progress. Spiritualists also differ from Christians in that the Judeo-Christian Bible is not the primary source from which they derive knowledge of God and the afterlife — their own personal contacts with spheres of experience beyond what is generally understood as "material" and their own contacts with "spirits" provides that source.

Religions other than Christianity have also influenced Spiritualism. Animist faiths, with a tradition of shamanism, are obviously similar, and in the first decades of Spiritualism many mediums claimed contact with American Indian spirit guides, in an apparent acknowledgment of these similarities. Unlike animists, however, spiritualists tend to speak only of the spirits of dead humans, and do not espouse a belief in spirits of trees, springs, or other natural features.

Buddhism and Hinduism share a belief with Spiritualism in the separation of the soul from the body at death, and its continued existence. Unlike traditional Spiritualism, these faiths often believe in reincarnation, and they also hold that all features of a person's personality are extinguished at death. Traditional Spiritualists maintain, on the other hand, that the spirit continues to retain the personality it possessed during its (single) human existence.

Spiritualism also differs from occult movements, such as Order of the Golden Dawn or the contemporary Wiccan covens, in that spirits are not contacted in order to obtain magical powers (with the single exception of obtaining power for healing). Occult practitioners such as Madame Blavatsky (1831-1891) of the Theosophical Society would practice mediumship in order to contact powerful spirits capable of confering esoteric knowledge. Blavatsky apparently did not believe that these spirits were deceased humans, and in fact held beliefs in reincarnation very similar to those of Hinduism (Braude 2001).

Already by the late nineteenth century Spiritualism had become increasingly syncretic, a natural development in a movement without central authority or dogma. Many individual Spiritualists draw heavily from the spiritual sects of Islam (Sufi), Judaism (Kabbalah) and Buddhism. Some Spiritualists follow one distinct religion's practices while others pull elements from any or all of the three religions to formulate their beliefs. Some Spiritualists believe in the idea of the universe as the creator, and don't necessarily follow any specific religion. In its most syncretic form, Spiritualism is not readily distinguishable from the similarly syncretic New Age movement, and like the New Age movement draws heavily from shamanism and embraces the idea of reincarnation. For example, adherents of perhaps the most vigorous contemporary offshoot of Spiritualism--the Spiritists of Brazil--maintain a belief in reincarnation.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Characteristic Beliefs", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki