Continuations on paper stuff.... Spiritualism
Spiritualism
note - some quotes are in varying fonts, this is only because I wanted to be able to differentiate between what I simply found interesting, and what was interesting and useful to my paper. (I know these posts seem so formal and as if I'm talking to a large audience but that's only because I am the formal essay mindset...And also because I have linked some people that I do not personally know to this as I got into a debate with them about similar stuff...)
alllll right, Spiritualism!! whee, I know I didn't finish neopaganism, but I have a short attention span and neopaganism encompasses so much that well, I figured I'd do this one first.
Alrighty, the website I'm using is www.nasc.org
"NSAC - The object of this society is to effect a complete organization of the Spiritualists of the United States of America into one general association ... for the advancement of those purposes, undertakings and enterprises germane to the study of the phenomena, the promotion of the Science, and the promulgation of the Philosphy and Religion of Spiritualism.
Spiritualism is the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of continuous life, based upon the demnstrated fact of communication, by means of mediumship, with those who live in the Spirit World.
Spiritualism is founded upon a Declaration of Principles, nine in number, received from the Spirit World by means of mediumship. They provide a firm and tangible foundation on which to base the knowledge of Spiritualism."
National Spiritualist Association of Churches, www.nsac.org 716-595-2000, secretary@nsac.org
A random note -- part of Ohio, specifically Athens, OH is known supersticiously as one of the top thirteen "most haunted places", this superstition fueld in part by a large Spiritualist movement in the 60's and 70's, and again in the late 80s. People who did not bother to understand feared these groups and thought them to be satanic, and thought that the beliefs and practices actually caused the "phenomena" that are known to take place in the mountainous regions nearby and throughout Athens. Ohio University has been named the Third most haunted location in the world, and the first in the United States due to many of its buildings being a refurbished abandoned Mental Asylum that was famous for its numerous studies on lobotomies (sp?). I'm sure spiritualists don't enjoy these superstitions being linked to them, however they located in mass numbers to Athens OH due to the "Spirit Room" built by some dude. more on it later probs.
The website is probably one of the better religious websites that I've seen, as it provides a lot of information in short and sweet ways. This will probably just be a shitton of quotes for now, as it'll make my paper a looooooot easier that way.
the NSAC's "a word to the reader" -(I put the whole thing here with my own comments too)-
"This web page is intended as a brief introduction to Spiritualism. It will acquaint you with some of the beliefs and highlights of the NSAC. No religion can be completely understood through a few pages so please consider this as some of the basics."
"Spiritualism is a common sense religion, one of knowing and living. We accept all thruths and endeavor to prove their validity. Truths are found in nature, in other religions, in writings, in science, in philosophy, in Divine Law and are received through spirit communication."
"Spiritualists believe that God or Infinite Intelligence is ALL That Is, expressing through all creation by love, light and law. Humanity, the most complex of life on earth, reaches this Divine Source through prayer, meditation, listening to the inner awareness, and service. Why service? Because every living thing is a part of God, so as we serve life, we also serve the Higher Energies."
I find it very interesting that for the quote about truths, all religions tend to make statements about seeking truth by accepting all other truths as well to some extent, and somewhat admitting that everyone's truth may be different and personal, although few admit to try and draw from everywhere. Even fewer mention spirit communication in the same sense. Even more interesting is the quote about God and service, as it seems to be extremely similar to what is taught throughout many sects of catholisism/christianity, and other monotheistic religions.
"Life is consciousness - without consciousness there is no existence. Consciousness is the totality of one's thoughts, feelings, emotions and impressions on the mind. The state of thinking is how we create our consciousness. Spiritualism teaches that through the Law of Action/Reaction or Cause/Effect we take control of our lives as we control our thoughts. Positive thinking leads to happiness and assists the individual to grow."
"Spiritualism encourages growth of loving consciousness in the physical world not only for the immediate benefits, but also the future rewards in the Spiritual Dimension. The Law of Continuity and the Law of Attraction teach us that 'As within, so without. As above, so below." A soul arriving in the next plane of existence will find they take their consciousness with them and will be in the company of like-minded entities. The more loving and spiritual the soul has become, the more beautiful and rewarding will be the new home and associates in the spirit land."
The next quote is complicated if you've never heard of Spiritualism or Mediums before...The belief in planes and vibrations is fascinating, and I hope to go into it later, after I find solid deffinitions for them within the Spiritualist belief I will put them somewhere in here, but it is still an interesting quote with or without that information...
"Life is continuous, the consciousness never dies for it is part of God and the Infinite is forever. Upon the cessaton of the physical housing the spirit graduates to the next plane of existence. This plane is similar to our earthly plane but at a higher rate of vibration and luminosity. One method of service in spirit is to communicate, assist and help illuminate those that are living on the earth plane. Mediums in the Spirit World and mediums in the physical world adjust their vibrations to enable communications between the two planes of existence. It has been demonstrated in our Churches, home circles and in scientific investigations that "there is no death, there are no dead.""
The mention of scientific investigations do not stand simply within Spiritualism. Parapsychology has studied many phenomena, including mediumship. Parapsychology, however, has made it clear that they have no interest in neopaganism, magic, spiritualism, or the occult. The goal of parapsychology is to prove or disprove acts of the human brain that have been believed and sceptically talked about and fantasfully written about for hundreds to thousands of years. Scientific studies have been inconclusive, only showing positive results sometimes, and many scientists question the variables and controls in these experiments. As finding the correct people and testing is relative, it is hard to say what the findings are, however, there have been results in tests that cannot be ignored. Making objects or images physically appear/ seem to phsyically appear in a room that was previously empty, to those watching, knowing information that could not possibly be found out without previously knowing the examiner, knowing specifics of an event that took place in a location that they had never previously been to, and that was not publicly known, controlling or knowing ahead of time the results of a random number generator, etc... Parapsychology is not a strongly funded study, but a fascinating one nonetheless.
"All life moves in a gradual state of evolution or change. Arrival in the Spiritual realm does not mean instant knowing. Rather the personality of the individual and the understanding gleaned on the earth plane continue at the same level, ready to begin the next phase of unfoldment. The physical world has aches, pains and struggles. These are not taken to the spiritual realm which is love, light, law, peace, cooperation, sharing, and growth. The soul body is whole and shining forth that which is within its essence. Falsehoods, separateness, and illusions are left behind as the desire to progress awakens. The rewards follow according to the goodness of the entity."
It is funny, because the very beliefs that seem to be similar to what I know of some Christianity are the ones that seem vastly different at the same time. I'm talking mostly about the quote above. I find one of the most interesting things to be a belief in the afterlife, but the different take on it and speaking of it, as it being a known thing with facts that are also known, is vastly different than most other religions that speculate. It made me realize how much I don't know about the religions I was raised with and most familiar with whether the beliefs of my family, or my friends, I don't know the specifics as how they are chosen to be taught and not personal takes on them, which when it comes to just general research don't help much.
"Life concerns growth. We, Spiritualists try to keep an open, even mind so new truths may be incorporated into our principles. In keeping with this, we have no bound creed or set of dogmas. Our Declaration of Principles, which form the basis of our beliefs, has changed over the years as new clarification has been gleaned. We know that truth is the highest religion and endeavor to test our beliefs, altering them as new truths are proven."
"Humans are spiritual beings, an indivisible part of the Divine. God is The Spirit within each individual waiting to be consciously accepted and activated. One of the desires of Spiritualism is to awaken this spirit within, to move beyond the five senses to higher awareness. Each person has free choice and is personally responsible, yet Spiritualism, through communication with the higher teachings derived from the Spirit World, tries to provide a way, a guideline, a set of principles, to help the world travelers to proceed upward, toward the light. The following pages briefly present the message of spiritualism."
Ancient and Modern Spiritualism
Well, apparently in textbooks and lectures, the term "Modern American Spiritualism" is often used. The word "modern" is used to distinguish current Spiritualism from the ancient form. Spiritual manifestations and communications between the physical and spiritual worlds have been talked about and believed to be evident and recorded by all civilizations as far back as we can see, and likely beyond.
"...every religion that has ever been, has registered Spirit manifestatons. Most all of the great spiritual leaders conversed or communicated with spirits although they were called other names, such as devas, pitris, gods, god, angels, ancestral spirits, ghosts and magic."
We know that often in the beginning of recorded history, people believed in many gods. There was a god that dwelled in all of natures forms, such as a sun god, a god of wind and storms, a god of earth, etc. If a problem happened, the people feared that they had in some way displeased the gods, and that the events were the communication of that displeasure, punishment, etc. Sometimes offerings or sacrifices were made to appease gods. These were beliefs held in many ancient religions, including ancient spiritualism, and still today in some current religions in different forms. Today Spiritualism believes in one God, that is referred to as Infinite Intelligence.
"Those in the past believed in many gods that were apart from them, where we in Spiritualism believe in one God, that we call Infinite Intelligence, which is All in All or within everything."
Modern Spiritualists acknowledge that in the past, where as a whole people were uneducated, much of what happened must have been frightening, or seemed like miracles or magic. In every ancient civilization, regardless of the common beliefs, both natural and unexplanable phenomena (which would have been one in the same at the time, or said to be an act of the gods) were credited to magic, miracles, gods, or people doing bad things due to possession of evil in spirit forms, demons, satan, bad magic, things to be feared, the opposite, or the result of the gods. Modern Spiritualists believe in Natural Law, and seek truth instead of fearing.
"We, in Modern Spiritualism, know that all flows according to Natural Law. Where the ancients believed in the supernatural, miracles and magic, punishment and rewards, we believe in the natural, God's Laws, growth and love. We are a truth seeking religion that incorporates science and testing as a part of our philosophy."
Spiritualism is yet another religion that faces the trouble of other religions viewing their practices and beliefs as dangerous and evil.
"Often the people of the past thought of phenomena as the work of devils and demons. Some religions today still see communication in this manner. We know that the phenomena is a work through those in the Spirit World and that we attract to us spirit guides that correspond to the level of our vibration."
Brief History of thought and summing up of why Spiritualism, at least the spiritualism I am going to research/talk about is called Modern American Spiritualism:
"Ancient (625 BC to 476 AD) humanity thought objectively. By this we meant that the early people made their reflections upon life by looking at the universe as a whole, then attempting to see the interconnections between things. The early thinkers looked at the differences between things; the realities and non-realities, then tried to figure out how the world was constructed based upon THIS point of view of the world.
Medievil Philosophy (476 AD - 1453 AD) is considered traditional in their thinking which means that they had a set of authoritative doctrines from the past. During the Middle Ages, it is said that humanity, no matter how deeply they reflected, was constrained by a set of religious traditions and censors.
Modern thought is subjective. here we refer to an entire change in the type of intellect where the starting point is not considered the world, but the individual .We now see that truths can be found within rather than externally. Reality is personal rather than the cosmos of the ancients or the political state of the middle period."