What is Spiritualism ?

Often people are unaware that some Spiritualists are not psychic, and some psychics are not Spiritualists although the 2 often overlap.

As an example, the well known TV psychic John Edwards until recently never referred to himself as a Spiritualist. In the last 2 years he has.

For a brief history of the beginnings of Spiritualism with the famous Fox Sisters in the USA go to the Wikipedia  website.

Most of the Churches in Australia are run independently of each other although most hold  the same types of services.

In England the religion has always been more organised with 2 umbrella groups -the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain-SAGB located in a beautiful building in London's Belgrave Square (although they are moving at present to a nearby more modern building) and the  Spiritualists National Union SNU headquartered at Stansted Hall, about 40 miles outside London.

In the USA many churches belong to the National Spiritualist Association of Churches NSAC at the wonderful Lily Dale in New York State.

It is difficult to work out the numbers of Spiritualists in Australia. In the UK Spiritualism is the 6th largest religion but with around 42,000 adherents it is still small compared to the population of approx 61 million people.

All Spiritualist Churches have the same 7 principals (from the NSAC ). However the wording may differ :

1. We believe in God.
2. We believe that God is expressed through all Nature.
3. True religion is living in obedience to Nature's Laws.
4. We never die.
5. Spiritualism proves that we can talk with people in the Spirit World.
6. Be kind, do good, and others will do likewise.
7. We bring unhappiness to ourselves by the errors we make and we will be happy if we obey the laws of life.
8. Everyday is a new beginning.
9. Prophecy and healing are expressions of God.

Stansted Hall

For a greater explanation of these principals go to their website here. 

The SNU gives this definition of Spiritualism :


" Spiritualism is a religion that gives an understanding of God and encourages us to act with a high sense of duty towards others. Spiritualism stimulates spiritual growth and prepares us for eternal existence in the spirit-world.

Spiritualism is a science because it is based upon proven facts that can be demonstrated and scientifically classified. Spiritualism is the science of life as it encourages the search for truth in every department of existence, in nature and in human psychology. 

Spiritualism is a philosophy that attempts to understand people, their physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual being. As Spirit is the moving force of the Universe, so Spiritualist philosophy embraces the whole realm of nature."