Spiritualist Mediums Must be Deranged

Over the past four years I’ve been spending much of my spare time researching 19th century spiritualism. I can’t seem to get enough of it. The connections in particular between the sufferage movement, spiritualism and the emerging notions of sanity are enthralling.

The budding scientific psychology of the 19th century was keen to show that both spiritualist mediums and believers were mentally deranged, in fact that spiritualism actually attracted the insane. No doubt the popularity and buzz value of spiritualism was affording the new psychologies a weigh-in to centre stage.

Proof of Afterlife

Any religious experience that involved the suspension of everyday consciousness, including ecstatic divine communion or mediumship, was reducible to a pathological model. Sadly this remains an insidious barrier to authentic research in this field. Considering that spiritualism is a gift to prove the existence of afterlife, this obnoxious and pseudo-scientific pronouncement has effectively kept spiritualism off the radar for most people.

It was a well-established fact for example that women dominated the mediumship field by more than 100 to 1 male. Of course this salient fact didn’t fail the notice of the medical profession. In females who were diagnosed with insanity, the disease was aligned with their reproductive system. This explained why so many women succumbed to the pathological condition of mediumship (an interesting circular argument favoured by the Victorian mind). Vibrancy and femininity were virtually contradictory notions.

Sexist Influences

There were a few gifted mediums in that time that truly challenged the notion that only males were manifestations of the divine. On the heels of the witch burnings of course there had to be an inordinate degree of prudence applied as the miracles performed by these mediums came into the public forum of debate.

All mediums were urged by their worried supporters to emphasize their Christian roots and use language familiar and comfortable to the Christian majority. There remain vestiges of this caution evident in many spiritualism adherents to this day.

Cora L. V. Richmond

Mrs. Cora L. V. Richmond should be the first trance medium on your list to study. She was born in 1840 in Cuba N.Y. and died in Chicago in early 1923. When she was a young child people were coming from miles around to sit with her and be healed. By the time she was 15 years old she was on the stage going into trance and bringing forth messages that would affect the course of American history. The highest celestial beings spoke through Cora. She attracted thousands of followers from around the world, inspired the brightest minds of the 19th century and was the first American woman to earn her own income.

She organized the first Parliament of Religions in Chicago (yet was soon banned from attending!). The first Spiritualist Church was built for her followers in Chicago called the Church of the Soul.

She wrote many books, and her discourses under trance were all published. She taught the most gifted mediums and attracted thousands to Cassadaga Camp every year (later called Lilydale).

Many ask me who is my spirit guide. She is Cora.  To read more about Cora Richmond go to my psychic web site Best Psychic in Canada.