Spiritualism: Communication with the Dead

Spiritualism began in America in 1848 as a religious and politicized movement centered on communication with the dead. Influenced by Swedenborgian theology and conscripting Mesmeric trance states, Spiritualists tried to produce the equivalent of a telegraph to heaven. By using predominantly women as...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gutierrez, Cathy (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2010
In: Religion compass
Year: 2010, Volume: 4, Issue: 12, Pages: 737-745
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Summary:Spiritualism began in America in 1848 as a religious and politicized movement centered on communication with the dead. Influenced by Swedenborgian theology and conscripting Mesmeric trance states, Spiritualists tried to produce the equivalent of a telegraph to heaven. By using predominantly women as the conduits between the earth and the afterlife, Spiritualism offered new opportunities that challenged gender assumptions of the day. Racial and religious boundaries as well were brought into question when advocates declared that all races and creeds were assured entrance to the afterlife. Spiritualism incorporated and altered much of the European inheritance of the occult sciences, including Kabbalistic and other forms of Neo-Platonic thinking, but made these available in simpler forms to wider audiences. New areas of research in Spiritualism expound on these themes and expand to new borders, with Spiritualist phenomena on continental Europe as well as in Latin America and beyond bringing new perspectives to the field.
ISSN:1749-8171
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion compass
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2010.00250.x