Modern Spiritualist movement

The Modern Spiritualist movement in the United States is usually cited as the origin of Spiritualism. Subscribers to the ideology cite the founding date of the movement as March 31 1848 the day when Margaretta and Catherine Fox of Hydesville, New York claimed to communicate with a poltergeist that had been haunting their house. They are often cited as the first "Mediums" in the US.

Related Topics:
United States - Spiritualism - Ideology - March 31 - 1848 - Margaretta and Catherine Fox - Hydesville - New York - Poltergeist - "Mediums"

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Andrew Johnson Davis is another founder of the movement. Davis was a practicing hypnotist, faith-healer and clairvoyant from Poughkeepsie, New York. He is alleged to have predicted the appearance of the Fox sisters year before the 1848 "haunting".

Related Topics:
Andrew Johnson Davis - Hypnotist - Faith-healer - Clairvoyant - Poughkeepsie

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Demonstrations of "mediumship" (seances and automatic writing, for example) proved to be a profitable venture. Seances and spirit consultations were soon a popular form of entertainment and spiritual catharsis. The Foxes were to earn a living this way and others would follow their lead.

Related Topics:
Seance - Automatic writing - Catharsis

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The US movement influenced a concurrent development in England. In 1853 the first Spiritualist Church was established in the British Isles by David Richmond at Keighley in Yorkshire. 1855 The first Spiritualist newspaper in Britain, The Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph, was published. By the 1870s there were numerous Spiritualist societies and churches throughout the US and England.

Related Topics:
1853 - Spiritualist Church - British Isles - David Richmond - Keighley - Yorkshire - 1855

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