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Underground > Temple >

Spiritism

22:18 / 03.07.03

Maybe someone could give me some help about Spiritism, good old time spiritism, websites, books or something. I would realy like some help please.
Maybe someone done anything fun in that area.

I would be realy greatful for all help i can get.

07:45 / 04.07.03

Could you be a bit more specific? What do you plan on doing with it?

I've found myself that Ouija boards are a bastard to get to work, unless you have someone particularly sensitive to that sort of thing involved, or alternatively someone who cheats and moves the counter themselves (either consciously or unconsciously). Also, I've found that spirits often seem to get really wound up by them - it may be the case that it's easier for them to commuicate with you through sense impressions and suggestion of images in your head - rather than labouriously spelling out half-formed words on a planchete.

There's a few books around on the subject, you might want to check out some of the tacky Anna Riva hoodoo books such as 'How to conduct a Seance' - which can probably be ordered from Amazon. I haven't read this particular book, so I can't recomend it outright. But don't let the slightly tacky hucksterism put you off - it's what you make of it that counts. The old time hoodoo gear runs on that sort of thing.

I think the best introduction to working with Spirits would be to set up and ancestral altar - which can be as simple as surface covered by a white cloth, with a candle and a glass of water - or as complex as you like. Make offerings of food and alchohol on a regular basis and chat to them. See what happens. See where it leads. This sort of thing will help to develop the 'psychic muscles' required for communication with other Spirits, and the fact that they are your ancestors might ensure a less bumpy ride than working with any random dispossessed spirit you might find in your locality.

08:16 / 04.07.03

I'd also add there's a well developed network of Spirist churches in the UK that might be worth contacting. I went to one once- it was bizarre - kind of like the Anglican church but with added ancestor worship. They also publish a weekly newspaper "Psychic News".

trouser the trouserian

12:08 / 04.07.03

Spiritualism is still very much a popular movement - as Illmatic says, there are a network of 'churches' up and down the UK (some of which are 'Christian Spiritualists' - others not). Much like modern magic, Spiritualism is a huge hodge-podge of beliefs, ranging from the basic belief in an afterlife (so Spiritualists don't 'die' - they get promoted to the spirit world, to channelled wisdom (Silver Birch is one of the more popular ones), and of course mediumistic communications - which tends to take the form of speaking to the dead - the movement's early passions for squirting ectoplasm and making trumpets fly around the seance room has faded, and only a few mediums seem to do it nowadays. In the mid-90s, a medium did demonstrate the skill of making a trumpet fly around a darkened room. Unfortunately, some naughty person turned on the lights, whereon everyone saw the medium standing on the chair, holding the trumpet! "Medium caught holding trumpet" was the story in Psychic News. I thought there'd be some major embarrasment over this, but apparently, a spokesperson for the Arthur Findlay College (where the seance was held) stated that "we don't know why ****'s spirit guide caused him to stand on the chair." I once met a spiritualist who used to travel around doing exorcisms, and asked her what she did when she encountered something 'malevolent' - she replied that she brought a 'magician' in, which I thought was interesting as the majority of Spiritualists I've met tend to distance themselves from the 'occult'. One Spiritualist author I think is worth checking out is Harry Edwards, who wrote a lot of stuff on the subject of spiritual healing. Check out the Spiritualist's National Union website for more details.

Err, if by "spiritism" you were referring to something other than "spiritualism", then just ignore all my rambling.

12:40 / 05.07.03

i´m inrested in talking to dead people and the ectoplasm thing seems like fun... Some girl who lived in the apartment right under mine says there lives a ghost there, i would like to talk to that one.
I always had this feeling of having dead people around me, dead relatives and stuff, but i would like to find out ways of doing that kind of stuff in a more controled way. its always good to know what youre doing. Its a good thing to read what peopel say on the subject if not just to say they are all full of shit... and then figure out it all for youre self.

thanks for all answears.

14:15 / 05.07.03

i´m inrested in talking to dead people and the ectoplasm thing seems like fun...

These are the kind of quotes that make me love this place.

18:42 / 06.07.03

How about taking spiritualism and mixing it with some shamnism? Good idea? Can it be a good idea to take shamanist ways of working and using them for spiritualist work? ...maybe thats what them psychics are doing but dont know it...

trouser the trouserian

09:59 / 08.07.03

Well, IMO there are a lot of similarities between spiritualists and shamans - certainly in terms of helping people deal with bereavement, or in healing, exorcism - or just providing plain old comfort where it's needed. For me, doing shamanic work is very much about working with a community (and not just doing it on your own or restricted to the 'workshop' circuit). Spiritualism might come across as a bit 'twee' at times, but many people are more comfortable with going along to a Spiritualist church than they are with booking a private session with a 'shaman' or whatever. As as for whether or not what them psychics are doing but dont know it... I would say that some of them, quite clearly, are aware of the parallels between what they do, and what occurs within a shamanic context.
If you really want to investigate spiritualism, find out if there's a local group or church near you. Pop along. Read the books, buy Psychic News - some spiritualist orgs like the SNU offer 'courses' in mediumship or spiritual healing. You may be pleasantly surprised.

10:11 / 08.07.03

Psychic News actually used to get sold on the London Occult scene, I think becuase the person(s) flogging it wanted to get the cliquely occultists more involved with the public/other communities. Shamanism, at least as it's practiced indigenously, is something that should have a community function after all, be it healing, divination or helping out in a more practical way - and talking with the ancestors might well be part of this.

Unconditional Love

16:48 / 23.09.05

I just picked up a battered old copy of allan kardecs the book of mediums before going of to watch george romeros land of the dead. From the little research ive done so far, he seems to of started from a very sceptical view point and slowly become convinced there was something in it all. I know he has an influence in espiritismo which sometimes part of brazilian based candomble( not sure i have the right reference for that word), the two doctrines seem to be seperate, but they do overlap in practice from what i can make out, anybody aware of any other areas kardecs spiritism has had an influence. I ve started a brief read while waiting for a friend at the cinema, the language is intresting and the man himself seems very well educated. Has anybody else come into contact with his work.