Spiritualism is not, as is commonly believed, a sinister cult, meeting in darkened rooms to “call up the dead”, but an officially recognised religious movement with its own churches and Ministers, who possess the same rights and privileges as other religions.

Spiritualism is a religion with no fixed creed or dogma; it embodies the main ideas of all religions – that there is life after death, an immortality and the existence of a God. The difference between Spiritualism and other religions is the ability through mediumship to prove that man survives the grave; that is to say, certain people called mediums are able to communicate with those who have passed over, thus furnishing conclusive evidence of their continued existence in another world. Mediums cannot call up these people as one would a friend on the telephone, they come to us, but only when they are ready, willing and able to do so.

Spiritualism is not only a religion in itself, it is a way of life. Neither is it just another new religion but has been with us since the beginning of time. Both the Old and New Testaments of The Bible are full of psychic phenomena. Many of the great writings of the past contained gems of spiritual philosophy.

We are all spirit here and now and part of a divine plan involving the whole Universe. Spiritualism teaches that we should live harmoniously doing unto others as we would have others do unto us.

Spiritualists are often accused of being atheists or anti-Christian. Spiritualists are not anti-Christian any more than they are anti-Jewish, anti-Hindu or anti-Moslem. Spiritualism is a universal religion recognising such leaders as Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, as well as Jesus. Another major difference between Spiritualism and the orthodox Christian religion is embodied in our fifth principle – Personal Responsibility. We do not accept that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. We hold that no one can do ths but ourselves. We are given free will and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and we alone are responsible for all our thoughts and actions. Further, we do not believe in a vindictive God sitting in judgement over us. We are our own judges here and now, and we shall receive compensation or retribution for whatever we have done, whether good or bad. Heaven and Hell are not places to which we are destined to go, but states of mind of our own creation.

We do not automatically become spiritual when we leave this world. We shall in fact retain our earthly characteristics while the opportunity will be given throughout eternity to make spiritual progress and so undo any wrongs we committed on earth, both free will and personal responsibility will still be with us in the world to come.

It is not difficult to prove that life is continuous, for this is done regularly every week in Spiritualist Churches. However, it is difficult to try and explain what is meant by “the next stage of existence” and what kind of place it is. Many spirit people have communicated their experiences and what they have found; there are similarities and there are also distinct differences. This is not as surprising as it might seem and the following analogy may help to explain this.

Imagine that a space ship sends down a dozen of its crew to explore our earth, each going to a different area. On returning, one will describe burning desert, another wild stretches of open sea; one, the tropical jungle, another the polar ice-cap; while yet another will talk of lush planes and another of mountain ranges, and so on. Each is describing accurately what he has seen. Based on each individual account, the earth could be described as all sea, or all ice, or all desert; but taking all the accounts together it can be seen that the earth is a very varied place.

What does come across about the spirit world is that there are some things which have a similarity to what we know and these will help us to relate to our new surroundings, but there are also some things which are very different.

We have to remember that it is a non-physical world so there will be the need to establish new ‘points of reference’. When we no longer need to concern ourselves with making a living or paying off the mortgage, or going out shopping, things are bound to be different. We shall have a different set of values and priorities.

We are living in a material age in which orthodox religion has lost its impact. Any religion therefore which can successfully overcome this materialist influence must be scientific, and Spiritualism is just that. It has turned the pious hope of a hereafter into a scientific fact. The advent of the spirit of man into this world and, in the course of time, his transition to another world is a scientific fact proved by mediumship.

What is a medium? Mediums are ordinary people who have, through training, developed their natural psychic ability to enable them to communicate with the Spirit world.

There are three main types of mediumship – mental, physical and healing. The reason for so many forms of mediumship is because our friends in the spirit world will use whatever means they can to get through and help us to understand the truth of everlasting life.

Mental mediumship is by far the most common, and the type normally witnessed in the Spiritualist church or public demonstration. It falls into two categories, perception and control. Perception is when the spirit communicator works through the medium’s mind and he or she is able to see (clairvoyance), hear (clairaudience) or sense pictures, sounds or feelings (clairsentience). They will perceive them either subjectively or objectively. In the contolled state the medium will go into trance, and this will enable the Spirit control to speak through the medium or to do automatic writing.

Physical mediumship is now quite rate, possibly because it takes many years to develop. This is a more direct form of mediumship as everyone present will witness the same phenomena. Spirits can speak directly with their own voice or even materialise for all to see. Objects can also be levitated and moved around the room with no visible means of support.

Among the great forces of Spiritualism is Spiritualist Healing, which is practised in our churches and centres. This can be done either by personal contact, the ‘laying on of hands’, or through absent healing. Spiritualist healing should not be confused with Faith Healing. Babies and our pets cannot have faith yet can respond well to Spiritualist Healing.

Many incurable diseases have been successfully treated. However, no healer can guarantee a cure, but at least he can alleviate suffering, ease a passing and possibly effect a complete cure.

You are not expected to accept these things blindly, but are invited to prove our claims for yourself.

The Seven Principles of Spiritualism

The Fatherhood of God

The Brotherhood of Man

The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels

The continuous existence of the human soul

Personal responsibility

Compensation and retribution hereafter for all

the good and evil deeds done on earth

Eternal progress open to every human soul