Spiritualism: Its Echoes, Its Foundation

By Phillip Falcone

Spiritualism focuses on communication with the departed and has its roots in the late 19th century in the United States. It developed along two paths: spirit communication, which has been occurring since humans began living in groups, and the rediscovery of nature's principles. Catherine, Margaret, and Leah Fox brought public attention to the phenomena through public seances or demonstrations. They introduced phenomenal Spiritualism.

The Modern Spiritualist focuses on preparing for the afterlife and developing character through exploration and understanding of nature’s principles and the Soul Realm. They apply their understanding to their experience of life, treating others with respect, self-accountability, and kindness towards others. Traditional religion often emphasizes suffering and separation. Spiritualism does not promote suffering, but joy and harmony. Spiritualism also emphasizes investigation through logic and understanding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phillip Falcone
• Release date: Apr 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224641734

Phillip Falcone

Everyone should have a purpose in life or a passion to fuel their creativity. Phillip's is to serve and to help others. No one should have to fumble through life as I did. Everyone should have some form of support.Phillip is a certified Life coach, a spiritual teacher, and a facilitator of art classes for senior citizens. He has also earned a BA in Psychology from the University of Phoenix and has been a resident in Southwest Michigan for most of his life. Before that, he was just like many others with questions and no means of getting answers because he was taught how to find them.Phillip’s fortieth year was celebrated with a life changing event that took him out of the workforce. No clear diagnosis was given, only suspicions and a worthless diagnosis: conversion disorder. Through his own efforts, Phillip sought a means to improve his situation. Many of his writings are based upon experience. The strategies building a better life are discussed in the Re-Creator series and the methods of attracting beneficial circumstances and events that are explained in the Creation by Design series. Its not just fantasy, its real.The saying is, all myths contain some amount of truth. Even a lie is based upon some amount of truth. Research is something Phillip enjoys, particularly when he finds connections between the world of science and the realm of occult science. This is where he finds inspiration to write and fulfills a need to share these discoveries with any who are interested. Sometimes the discoveries inspire his art too.As part of his desire to serve, he facilitates art classes at different senior centers, serves as pastor at the First Spiritual Church of Prayer, 3511 Vine St. South Bend, IN, operates the Spiritualist Circle of Light online, serves the Independent Spiritualist Association, hosts YouTube channels for First Spiritual Church of Prayer, Spiritualist Circle of Light, and Bird in Sky Guide. Longevity is found in novel experiences and enriching activities.

Book preview

When I wrote Spiritualism: Its Echoes and Foundations, it was in response to a failed attempt to update information about Spiritualism in the Spiritualist organization I am part of. I continued exploring Spiritualism, finding digitized out of print books, including information about Emma Hardinge-Britten’s Principles of Spiritualism. I discovered a good portion of the information presented was not only incorrect, but some of the sources used were incorrect. The principles attributed to Emma Hardinge-Britten was a summarization of ten principles given. The information about the Fox sisters was also inconsistent and varied from one author to the next. There is nothing worse than presenting the wrong information. So, I settled down and set about correcting it.

Spiritualism is touted as being a science, a philosophy, and a religion. This is correct, but I do not believe it to be in the manner most people assume. I found a definition of philosophy and religion in Archie Bahm’s book on comparative religion that became my measuring stick. Philosophy is about discovering what is good in us and religion helps us to experience and maintain what is good for us. I do not believe Spiritualism fulfills this requirement in the traditional sense. Therefore, I set about developing a different view of religion that is unique to Spiritualism, and that is experience. Traditional and mainstream religions demand adherence to doctrinal teachings according to the instructor’s belief and interpretation. When we take the time to read some of the historical writings, we discover something very different from today. The same is true of the old writings that came out of the circles of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, we discover that religion, as we understand it, cannot be supported by Spiritualism. Mainstream religions maintain the existence of a supernatural being, a Supreme Being. Spiritualism does not support this. Only through those holding onto what is familiar to them and adding the practice of soul communication continue to insist upon the maintenance of a supernatural being. The only way for us to make such a discovery is to let go of conventional thought, which is difficult. If God is a supernatural being, and Spiritualism sets out to prove the fallacy of the supernatural, then what is left? There is only the collective of humankind. With the philosophy of continued life, there is no need for God, but there is the recognition of humanity being a single collective entity, a collective consciousness that guides. This is something many are reluctant to consider.

There are aspects about Spiritualism that do not quite fit in a book about Spiritualism. When the first souls began regularly communicating the Abolitionist movement had already begun. Those who were part of the movement were focused on equality for all humankind. Spiritualists were politically active in bringing about and supporting the unions, the rights of women, and a variety of other movements centered around equality. Today’s Spiritualists appear to support the separation of the masses. They seem to support the racial, gender, and religious prejudice being reaffirmed once again. A far cry from the designs of those who sought to better humankind. Unfortunately, those early Spiritualists who insisted upon equality also failed to understand the role of harmony. They sought an all-encompassing peace for humankind. Boasting that all truth should be measured against Principles of Nature. What they failed to see was that true harmony is not something entirely of peace. Harmony must also have conflict. Nature is filled with peace and conflict, while not in equal measures, the opposing forces do exist, each having their turn. Peace must have conflict and conflict must have peace.

Another aspect of Spiritualism that I had not noticed, and assume other Spiritualists have failed to notice, is that much of the teachings from the communications with souls correspond with many of the teachings of Pagans and Gnostics, Pagans being those religions before Christianity. The idea of personal salvation through wisdom and responsibility are stressed in these practices, yet they did not have access to many of the Gnostic writings, particularly of the Nag Hamadi library. Something else that is astounding about the investigation is that the primitive Christians knew more about prophecy, or Mediumship than their contemporary brothers and sisters of our era.

One last thing I would like to mention before we move into Spiritualism’s echoes. As I have indicated, the Spiritualist organization I am associated with chose not to pursue correcting their teaching material. People are reluctant to let go of what they are familiar with, because it has become part of their identity. Spiritualists of old struggled with bigotry, or the stubbornness of the people of their time. Many of those people were religious, and many of them were scientists, who held fast to their unwillingness to alter their belief based on new information. We examine this in our text, but to experience it is bewildering. Spiritualism is a movement about progression, progression of the soul, of the individual, and especially of humankind. There is no room for those who are unwilling to accept new information into their belief system, but here they are. They stifle the growth of those involved. They are caught in the trap of Phenomenal Spiritualism. They only see the demonstration and learn nothing from it. They set their traditional beliefs alongside the demonstration and call it religion, and like those religionists of old they grasp their beliefs tightly, believing them to be Universal Truth, accepted by all. Spiritualism teaches there is no Universal Truth, that truth is fluid and dependent upon the individual. Spiritualism is a science, a philosophy, and a religion, but not in the sense many would prefer. Spiritualism is not about a God or a Supreme Being. Spiritualism is about the individual becoming part of something other than the self.

We do not explore the phenomenal aspect of Spiritualism. We introduce you to potential deeper esoteric understanding. We encourage you to become more than you were yesterday. We encourage you to share what you have learned so that humankind may be true to their purpose, to nurture each other, nature, and to continue to discover.

Part 1: The Echoes of Spiritualism

The First Mediums

The history of Spiritualism, by archeological standards is relatively new, just as the Christian religion is considered young when compared to the others. Nevertheless, Spiritualists can boast of potential evidence of mediumship existing long before the foundations of religion having been formed. We can even direct you to possible evidence in various regions of the world. Before we do that, we must clear some misconceptions first.

The term, primitive religion, often conjures up images of ancestors flailing about or cowering in dim caves. The term is also synonymous with animism, which is often described a belief in a pantheon of gods having supernatural powers, such as the Greeks or the Hindu people.i Animism comes to us from the Latin word anima, which means breath of life. Thus, Animism is about the pervasive life force.ii We are not about to enter into a full explanation of primitive religion. Rather, we are going to narrow our focus upon a specific phenomenon known as the Shaman. The Shaman is not responsible for, nor to be confused with Shamanism. The Shaman is one who speaks with bodiless beings.iii Yes, we said bodiless. A more blatant title would be Master of Spirits, for it was the Shaman’s duty to communicate with such beings.iv Shamanism is the religious aspect. Shamanism is the various rituals involved in healing the sick, seeking divine inspiration, and seeking guidance from the spirits.v Shamanism is not our focus, the Shaman is. Now, we are able to continue with our presentation.

In certain caves and rock faces scattered about the globe are paintings and etchings depicting the life of primitive man and possibly the experiences of the early Shaman. The oldest images can be found in the Chauvet caves in France. These images are thought to be over 30,000 years old.vi Other sites include the Lascaux cave also in France and Altamira in Spain. Open-air rock carvings can be found in the Southwestern United States, Portugal, and South Africa. While these sites may be separated by continents and time, they have certain common elements, which we will get to in a moment.

As a demonstration of how transitory theories and facts can be, early archeologists believed the cave images were tied to hunting magic.vii The problem, when examining anything remotely religious, of which magic is often connected, is the poison carried by the examiner. When exploring religions, many approach the endeavor by applying their contemporary framework of what religion is supposed to be. What this means is that the examiner uses their religion as the standard.viii For instance, a person whose religious belief is anchored in Christianity will view these images and related practices through the particular Christian denomination’s lens or interpretation of Christianity . Such may have been the case for the initial theory of the practice of magic. Then there is the approach itself. If religion is based solely on human development, then they must reach 225,000 years into the past.ix Thus, they would have to examine humanity’s entire development. While our gaze is not quite as extreme, it is the general direction. Therefore, we suggest our enquirers suspend their beliefs for the moment so they may fully grasp what is being imparted.

So, if the belief was magic, then what could be the purpose for the paintings? There are two suggestions offered. The first may be that if a hunter painted an animal on the cavern wall, the archeologists assume the hunter believed they would be ensured of a successful hunt. The second is for perpetuation of food. The belief would be that one could increase the herd by painting a large number of bison or elk. This manner of thinking borders on ridicule. If one were to observe any of the various historical programs offered by television networks like the History Channel, they would find examples of architectural feats and others that modern technology is unable to replicate or explain. Fortunately, these archaic theories were debunked. The bones of the corresponding painted animals were missing from nearby trash heaps,x thus leaving us to consider them as potentially a record of some sort.

The archeologists may have suspected magic due to the images of half man/half animalxi and their religious views. The devil is often portrayed as being half animal and half human. Such a depiction is analogous to the two natures of humankind. Sometime during the 1980s, another theory was introduced suggesting a religious theme. The idea of religion was based on certain motifs found in the cave paintings and the open-air rock carvings of Coso, Portugal, the San of South Africa, and Native Americans.xii These same patterns are experienced by all who pursue transcendental meditation and trance meditation today. These motifs include images resembling jagged lines, waves, spider webs, and others.

Other images may express the different experiences of the Shaman. The Salon of Bulls, a painting of spiraling animals in the Lascaux cave in France may represent a Shaman’s journey from one realm into the next.xiii The imagery seems to move the observer from one chamber to the next in a similar fashion. Native American Shaman describe their entry into the sacred realm as traveling through a spiraling tunnel that opens into or passes through a rock face.xiv One can easily imagine themselves perched on a boulder gazing into a rock face. As eyes shift in and out of focus, the uneven surface may appear to move. Similar practices are done today. As part of developing clairvoyant abilities, a person may gaze into a dark mirror, pool, or bowl of water. What we call ghosts or spirits may have begun as shadow beings emerging from dirty uneven cave walls. Add to this the mind’s penchant for creativity or its imagination and such mundane images suddenly become surreal. One such image may have been captured in the wall of the Sanctuary at Trois Feres, one of the Volp caves of France. Within a series of overlay etchings is that of a hybrid, part human and part bison. Could such images be spirit? We are taught that Mediums communicate with those who came before them. Could these images be representations of souls that were before the cave dwellers?

The Shaman

Sorcerer, magician, medicine man, are just a few names attributed to the Shaman. We do not mean to imply they are all the same, but they do share the main qualification. In the regions of China, Shaman where were referred to as the Wu. The first evidence of the Wu is believed to have occurred sometime between 1554-1046 BCE. However, it isn’t until later, during the fourth century BCE a text referred to as The Gou yu tells of the Wu and their intermingling with supernatural beings.xv These could be stories of the Wu’s travels to the beyond. The last stage of trance is when the person is no longer the observer but has become a participant. Such instances may be expressed as hybrids such as the one recorded in the Volp caves. The one in trance may have felt the presence of animals or believed they were experiencing what the animal was experiencing, or believed they were the animal. We can only rely on our own experiences to determine if any of these speculations could be true. Of course, a variety of religious writings record similar stories. The Book of Enoch speaks of angels descending upon the earth, intermingling with humans, and teaching them sciences, or magic. The Mesopotamians wrote of Oannes, a man who rose from the water and taught them science. They may also be interpreted as UFO encounters. Could they actually be references to the Shamans that existed in the early days of human development? Then again, if they were the Masters of Spirit, what manner of being could the spirits have been? After all, humankind was still considered young by the evolutionary ladder.

The term Wu, which we are aligning with the term Shaman, also means spirit medium, including one who speaks with bodiless beings.xvi While each region or tribe attributed a variety of responsibilities to the Shaman, such as healing, council, and leadership, they all had one activity in common. All Shamans practiced the art of communicating with spirits through the actions of the séance. The séance is perhaps one of the cornerstones of Spiritualism, and it was being developed by our earliest ancestors.

Our distant cousins

Early archeologists portray the Shaman as being mentally deranged, a definition later applied to Spiritualists. Given our present state of technology, we can probably discount deranged in favor mental illness, but not all. What we can comfortably suggest is that they were considered unusual, sometimes from birth. Certain behaviors that set them apart included hallucinations, epileptic fits, and emotional outbursts.xvii We know that a number of afflictions can be attributed to malformed areas of the brain. Schizophrenia is one example. This disorder is said to have existed alongside the development of civilization. Shaman sometimes appear to be deranged, spiritually enlightened, and wise,xviii an adequate description for these early travelers of the inner realm. We can also identify mood disorders, particularly bi-polar disorder,xix which is characterized by sudden changes in moods from mania to depression. Another possibility may be migraines, which can explain their predilection for night activities.

Another explanation for the aforementioned conditions may be personal crisis. We know that today the cause of chronic conditions can be tied to increased levels of stress. There is also the belief that other mental ailments experienced by Shaman may be hereditary.xx This is true for schizophrenia.xxi The lifestyle of the Shaman alleviated some symptoms, except for the physical conditions, which appeared to be chronic. Another way of saying this is no apparent organic component can be determined. One example of managing the symptoms of bi-polar disorder could have been through meditation. Keep in mind that these suggestions are based on interviews from Shaman of the present and possibly from Native American and Siberian cultures. Thus, by no means are Spiritualists prone to mental disturbances or that such conditions are conducive for mediumship.

The visions experienced by the Shaman were and are achieved through a means of altered states of consciousxxii identified as a state of ecstasy or rapture. They achieved these states through drumming, dancing, fasting, self-torture, meditation and possibly drugs.xxiii Peyote, marijuana, and tobacco are well known for their ability to alter a person’s mental state. This may account for the structure of the visions they experienced, which may have been violent. Areas where the Shaman practiced and most likely illustrated their experiences were thought to be where the veil between the worlds was thinnest.xxiv

The cave paintings at the Chauvet cave may be the oldest evidence of mediumship. Shaman was also known as the Master of Spirits.xxv Unfortunately, we don’t know if those beings they sought and communicated with were ghosts, beings of another dimension, or the meanderings of a deranged mind. If they were souls, then those souls they communicated with may be those illustrations of hybrids. What we do know is that humanity’s brush with or inspiration of God, or the Divine may have begun here. Regardless, it was not meant to last, and like all great ideas, it evolved.

References

Bahm, A. (1964). The World's Living Religions: A searching comparison of the faiths of East and West. Carbondale and Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Hansel, J., & Damour, L. (2005). Abnormal Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Michael, T. (2015). Shamanism theory and the early Chinese Wu. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 83(3), 649-696.

Mishlove, J. (1975). The Roots of Consciousness: Psychic Liberation through History. New York: Random House Pub.

Singh, D., & Chatterjee, G. (2017). The evolution of religious belief in humans: A brief review with a focus on cognition. Journal of Genetics, 96(3), 517-524.

Tong, E., & Von Falkenhausen, L. (2002). Magicians, magic, and shamanism in Ancient China. Journal of East Asian Archaeology, 4(1-4), 47.

Whitley, D. S. (2009). Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit: The Origin of Creativity and Belief. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

The Continuity of Life

One of the foundation stones of Spiritualism is the demonstration of the personality surviving death. A simpler and more demonstrable explanation would be the continuity of life. We are not speaking of religion, but more of a cultural belief, which obviously is that of today’s mainstream thought. Therefore, we will turn our gaze upon the Ancient civilizations.

When speaking of Ancient civilizations, we are not referring to the Hebrews, Palestinians, Syrians, or any of the races listed in the Bible. The civilizations we are referring to lie further back in time. Sometime between 195,000 and 160,000 B.C. the modern human being began to evolve. Think of these nations as the second generation of humankind.xxvi The first generation may the time of the Shaman, when civilizations consisted of tribes and clans. Perhaps this would make us the third generation. The people we are referring to are the Ancient Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, Mesoamericans, and early Asians. What may be considered intriguing about this exploration are their locations. They occupied different continents, having little, if any contact with each other. Yet, they managed to develop a peculiar belief simultaneously. We can only speculate upon whether communication with the so-called dead took place. However, we can be assured of their belief in the continuity of life. Thus, our focus continues here. After all, that may very well have been the forerunner to what we recognize as Spiritualism.

The Mesopotamians

Mesopotamia is not a country or a race of people, it is a region known as the Fertile Crescentxxvii or the Cradle of Civilization.xxviii This breadbasket reached as far north as Southeastern Turkey and south to the Persian Gulf, specifically around the area of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some archeologists put this near the city of Urfa, which is close to a group of monolithic stones, which were placed in a circle about 11.000 years ago.xxix Studying ancient civilizations has proven to be difficult for the nonprofessional. Earlier translations were based on limited information that may have been hastily done. As archeologists continued their explorations, new treasures were uncovered along with new ideas. Some were forced to revise past theories. For instance, some of the literature unearthed was found to be bilingual and sometimes trilingual.xxx Akkadian and Sumerian writing being very different may have contributed to incorrect assumptions. Our interests though lie with their religious practices and beliefs, not their literary development.

Our only evidence of spirit communication is not in the manner we employ today. To the Mesopotamians ghosts were described as dust clouds or will-o-the-wisps that were able to consume food and drink. These mysterious beings were often consulted, but they could never be touched.xxxi This suggests the practice was popular, more so than today. Our only evidence though appears to be in the literature of the time. In one of the stories of Gilgamesh, Enkidu, his companion, is questioned about his encounter with the dead. Enkidu then provides a history of individual deaths and of how they were faring during his encounter.

During these early days, the pantheon of gods was just beginning to take form. Prior to this, the idea of god lay within a family’s history or that of a clan. This type of worship often referred to as ancestor worship, was popular with many of the ancient Near East cultures; most likely, the traditions were developed by prior conquerors. Descendants often took the god of their father or a similar role model as their own.xxxii This may be the source of the term, God the Father. We are not searching for the origin of God, but this is worth mentioning as God, or any god, appears to have a relationship with death and the afterlife.

None of the Mesopotamian artifacts indicate a belief in physical resurrection, rebirth, or even reincarnation.xxxiii However, there remains a great deal to support the idea of a belief in the continuity of life. The type of goods found in burial sites suggests the possibility of attaining some form of happiness or reward after the demise of the body.xxxiv This idea of reward in the afterlife continues in our present day religious practices and beliefs. Our burial practices today suggest an interest in the comfort of deceased loved ones. Many are buried with letters, rings, and other forms of comfort and remembrances for them to possess in the afterlife.

The popular concept of as above, so below may have been a reference to one’s social standing remaining intact in the netherworld. Their belief was that the underworld mirrored the world above. This evidence provides a clear indication of a belief in the continuity of life, as Spiritualists understand it. Andrew Jackson Davis informs us that the transition is likened to crossing the ocean from one continent to another. Upon arrival, we are the same person as we were prior to departure. xxxv

Egypt

Research has not revealed where or how the idea of an afterlife developed among the Mesopotamians. They may have borrowed the idea from the Egyptians, though it is doubtful. The idea was well established before the development of a written language. For the Egyptians, their belief of continuing life came from their observations of nature.xxxvi In the morning, for those of us who are early risers, we witness the sun emerging from the eastern horizon. We go about our daily business only to watch the day expire with the setting of the sun. This simple observation has been the foundation for many religious philosophies and doctrines when referring to a person’s life. When experiencing the seasons, life emerges from the ground in the form of awakening plants and later with animals conducting their mating rituals. With summer, life abounds. Newborns emerge and the first fruit of our agricultural habits begin to be harvested. As summer slips into autumn, those newborns have matured, and the plants are heavy with their bounty. Soon afterward, some animals prepare for a long sleep and the vegetation begins to wither. Finally, all appears to have died, though most have sunk into a deep sleep only to emerge once again. From these simple observations, the idea of life continuing is a natural development. As for the early Egyptians, You have not departed dead, you have departed alive.xxxvii

In the Old Kingdom, the common belief of the ability of the deceased to move about was limited to the area of the tomb. Only kings were able to ascend to what was called heaven. Later, processions carried the departed to the City of the Dead, which lay west of the city proper around the pyramids.xxxviii This accounts for the saying, ‘being carried into the West or living in the City of the West.’ As the cultures transitioned into the Middle Kingdom, beliefs transitioned as well. The City of the Dead began to extend into our world. With its roots remaining firmly in the tombs around the pyramids, the Ba (the person’s personality) of departed bodies began insinuating themselves amongst us. xxxix

As early as 1500-1300 BCE, reincarnation was a popular belief.xl Before that, or perhaps at the same time, the ability of a person’s personality being able to move about was entertained. The Egyptian, at that time, saw the body as having two aspects: life force and personality. The life force or Ka passed unto the child via the parents.xli This is more than just chromosomes. We are talking about the animating life force as described in Genesis. The