Spiritualism

Spiritualim is a religious movement which began in the United States in the mid 1800s. It is based on the belief that the dead continue to exist in the form of spirits and the living may communicate with these spirits through mediums.

Origins
Spiritualism is often traced back to March 31, 1848 in upstate New York, when Margaretta Fox, 14, and her sister Kate Fox, 11, convinced their parents and neighbors that they were able to communicate with a spirit which had been haunting their home. Knocking sounds that could not be accounted for were heard on many prior nights. But it was on this night that Maggie and Kate decided to talk with the ghost. What follows is from a signed affidavit written by Mrs. Fox.

On Friday night, March 31st, 1848, we concluded to go to bed early and not permit ourselves to be disturbed by the noises, but try and get a night's rest. My husband was here on all occasions, heard the noises, and helped search. It was very early when we went to bed on this night; hardly dark. I had been so broken of my rest I was almost sick. My husband had not gone to bed when we first heard the noises on this evening. I had just lain down. It commenced as usual. I knew it from all other noises I had ever heard before. The children, who slept in the other bed in the room, heard the rapping, and tried to make similar sounds by snapping their fingers.(1)


Levitation
Modern Spiritualism, itself part of the Christian tradition, offers the case of the medium DD Home (1833-1886), who attributed his psychokinetic powers to God. Home was seen to levitate objects - including pianos and tables with people sitting on them - in good light, and often by multiple witnesses in surroundings with which he was unfamiliar. He was also said once to have floated out of an upper storey window at night and back in at another, dramatic testimony which however was vulnerable to criticism and weakly supported.(2)



Psi Encyclopedia: Fox Sisters
(1) First Spiritual Temple: The Fox Sisters
(2) Psi Encyclopedia: Religious Levitation
(3) Wikipedia: Spiritualism

http://oldoperatingtheatre.com/blog/seeing-is-believing-spiritualism-in-the-victorian-era-part-1

http://www.thearda.com/timeline/movements/movement_67.asp

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-fox-sisters-and-the-rap-on-spiritualism-99663697/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2010.01515.x

https://publications.newberry.org/outofmany/exhibits/show/atlanta/spiritualism-in-nineteenth-cen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_sisters

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322631234_The_Fox_Sisters_Talking_to_the_Dead_or_Tricking_the_Alive

https://www.historynet.com/the-fox-sisters-spiritualisms-unlikely-founders.htm

https://www.fst.org/fxsistrs.htm