Victorian+Spiritualism

[1] The Victorian era was a time of huge change, amazing discoveries and an ever-growing reliance on science. Yet it also was a time in which there was a fascination with the supernatural. [2] The supernatural pervaded all aspects of Victorian society, from literature, drama, and art, to the domestic sphere and even religion. [3] From this interest in the supernatural, Spiritualism was born and the séance became a regular practice.

Victorian Spiritualism, sometimes called the Spiritualism movement, was a religious/scientific movement that occurred in the late 19th century. This movement drew people from different social classes; Elizabeth Barret Browning, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and even Queen Victoria herself were widely known spiritualists.[4] The core belief of Spiritualism was that one could communicate with the dead through the help of a medium, one who was endowed with a supernatural gift. Within the culture of spiritualism, women who were usually expected to be passive and quiet gained some power and authority as they led many of the séances as skilled mediums.[5]

The séance was an important aspect of this belief system as the seemingly unexplainable events that occurred during the gathering provided many doubting Victorians with what they believed to be proof that the supernatural was real. Such things as table tippings, rappings on the wall, the levitation of objects, and spirits speaking through mediums are some of the many occurrences that led many Victorians to believe in spiritualism. Also, the séance was an activity that allowed for a bending of societal rules of propriety.[6] It usually took place in a home, in a fairly dark room and with the participants being of both sexes. The participants would hold hands throughout the event while sitting in close quarters. Little wonder this sort of activity was a popular form of social gathering for all classes.

Although spiritualism became a religious movement, strengthening Christian beliefs for some and calling them in to question for others, spiritualims also had a strong scientific aspect as exemplified by the founding of the Society for Psychical Research in 1882.[7] Many Victorian scientists, believers and nonbelievers alike, set out to prove whether or not supernatural phenomena experienced at séances could be explained by the natural laws that had recently been discovered. Test séances would be done with machines that had been specially made to measure supernatural phenomena in order to provide evidence for the many witness accounts that were widely spread in newspapers, pamphlets and word of mouth.

-A.G./Engl335/WhittierCollege/Fall2012

[1]

[2] Gregory, Candace. "A Willing Suspension of Disbelief." //A Willing Suspension of Disbelief//. Loyola University, 1990. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. .

[3] Bown, Nicola, Carolyn Burdett, and Pamela Thurschwell. Introduction. //The Victorian Supernatural//. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2004. 1-19. Print.

[4] Lamont, Peter. "Spiritualism And A Mid-Victorian Crisis Of Evidence." //The Historical Journal// 47.4 (1999): 897-920. Print.

[5] Holloway, Julian. "Enchanted Spaces: The Séance, Affect, and Geographies of Religion." //Annals of the Association of American Geographers// 96.1 (2006): 182-87. Print.

[6] Holloway, pg. 183

[7] Luckhurst, Roger. "Knowledge, Belief and the Supernatural at the Imperial Margin." //The Victorian Supernatural//. By Nicola Bown, Carolyn Burdett, and Pamela Thurschwell. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2004. 197-216. Print.