WHAT
IS SPIRITUALISM?
Spiritualism is a universal religion which draws from the teachings of
Christianity and other world religions and philosophies, rather than rely on
any one tradition or particular book, ancient or modern. . . Although
Spiritualists differ on the context in which the survival hypothesis and the
afterlife should be interpreted, studied, and propagated, they remain loosely
united through a common belief in two basic tenets:
Survival beyond bodily death of some, as-yet-undetermined,
part of the personal human mind, intelligence, consciousness, or soul which is
referred to as "spirit"; and
The possibility under certain
circumstances of communication between spirit which has survived death and
spirit still in its earthly body.
Personal survival of death as demonstrated through mediumship
distinguishes Spiritualism from the many other psychic research groups which
exist today. . . .1
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1Walter
Meyer zu Erpen and Joy Lowe, "The Canadian Spiritualist Movement and
Sources for its Study," Archivaria,
no. 30 (1990): 71-84.