The Idea Of The Spiritualism Movement

One of the most controversial topics in history is the idea of the spiritualism movement. Debated upon by the best of scholars, the spiritualism movement was the idea that people or mediums were able to contact and communicate with spirits or ancestors that have gone before us. There are many accounts of scholars who find this movement to be bogus, but there are also some who understand that there could be some bigger force at work causing this movement to be a reality. We will be examining a multitude of texts and pieces of information to build our case on why people believe in this movement back then and now, what it means to those people and my take on spiritualism. I have come to the conclusion that even though the general public and I
But I have a small theory involving some of the people who do believe in it. I feel that one reason there could be believers in the spiritualism movement is because they could have lost children, parents or relatives prematurely or tragically. They are looking for that closure that they weren’t able to receive or are just not able to let go of their loved ones. A reason why I came to this conclusion is found in our very first article given. The article by Robert Dale Owen discussing the story of the Fox sisters. In the beginning biography portion of the article, it states that Robert Dale Owen was believed to be an ardent supporter of Modern Spiritualism. He even believed that it would eventually lay a foundation for an involvement in religion. I did some digging on Robert Dale Owen outside of the article we were given. Turns out, Owen had six children, two of which died at an early age. As a father who lost two of his children at early ages, I am sure grieving and mourning was very well known to him. I am also willing to speculate that once Owen discovered early in the 1850’s that there were people or mediums who claimed they were able to converse with those who have passed before us, I am venturing an educated guess that he would be willing to do anything he could to find someone to help him with contacting his two children. I also find it interesting that when he writes
As stated in the beginning and throughout the paper, I disagree with the idea that spiritualism exists. I would stand relatively in the same category as Davenport, very skeptical that spiritualism is even a thing. I mostly disagree because it is just a non-realistic idea. The though of being able to talk to people who have already died just doesn’t seem plausible. I also think this could also be some big scam just for people to make money. Some medium on the streets of New York City that charges 25$ an hour for you to “talk” to you dead uncle is just stealing your money and she knows it. For example, in the Davenport piece, it talks about those who basically profited off of the whole spiritualism movement and how some of the avid believers in this movement were appalled and utterly shocked. This part really upset me. The idea that people would just use others for their own personal gain. One quote that I really liked from Davenport’s piece that was actually said by Margaret Kane was, “No matter in what form spiritualism may be presented, it is, has been and always will be a curse and a snare to all who meddle with it.” I like the idea of spiritualism being a snare. It is something that draws you in, gets you to believe in it and then entraps you in its false ideas and hopes. To me, the idea of spiritualism just isn’t realistic. I am a big scientific person. The idea that if it is