Contemporary man,is blind to the fact that, with all his rationality and efficiency, he is possessed by "powers" that are beyond his control. His gods and demons have not disappeared at all; they have merely got new names. They keep him on the run with restlessness, vague apprehensions, psychological complications, an insatiable need for pills, alcohol, tobacco, food and, above all, an impressive array of neuroses." Carl Gustav Jung As a comparative study of religions demonstrates, the guiding principle is that there are many pathways to God (The Tao) but there is only one God. Tao, the One. One The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of ten thousand things. Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery.

Contemporary man is blind to the fact that, with all his rationality and efficiency, he is possessed by "powers" that are beyond his control.  His gods and demons have not disappeared at all; they have merely got new names.  They keep him on the run with restlessness, vague apprehensions, psychological complications, an insatiable need for pills, alcohol, tobacco, food and, above all, an impressive array of neuroses.  Carl Gustav Jung

As a comparative study of religions demonstrates, the guiding principle is that there are many pathways to God (The Tao) but there is only one God. Tao, the One.

Spiritualism is a religion of discovery of the multidimensional personhood of the individual. Its presence on the world scene is one reason the spiritual but not religious are seeking their own way to God outside the church. No institutional church is necessary. Spiritualism is only one kind of belief, or practices among many within the orbit of the spiritual but not religious is based upon the belief, that departed souls hold intercourse with mortals, usually through a medium by means of physical phenomena or during abnormal mental states such as trances. Lets get started taking a look at "being in touch with the departed”.

An important later development of spiritualism has been in the direction of "spirit healing.” Unorthodox healings have in the past been associated with sacred places and religious rites. Medical science is inclined to attribute all such healings to the normal process of suggestion working under favorable conditions. But it is also claimed that there is a genuine power of paranormal healing found in certain persons. From the spiritualist point of view these healers are regarded as mediums who acts as agents of or channelers of spirit doctors. Healings are claimed for a variety of conditions, some of which have been regarded as incurable by orthodox medicine. A famous example of a respected reader/healer was Edgar Cayce's who did thousands of reading for many people during the 20th century. His grandson, Charles Thomas Cayce, is the director of the Edgar Cayce Foundation and the Institute for Enligtenment at Virginia Beach, Va., USA. Contact: www.arebookstore.com

The attempt to communicate with discarnate spirits seems to be one of the forms that religion takes in human societies. There is a long history of this work widely distributed in space and time over the Earth. Practices very like those of a modern spiritualistic séance have been reported in various parts of the world. For example, Indonesia, Haiti and among the North American Indians. There is no reason for supposing that these are of recent origin. The record of a materialization séance of long ago is preserved in the account in the Old Testament of Saul's visit to the witch, or medium, of Endor. In the course of which a materialization appeared that was regarded by the king as the prophet Samuel (I Sam. 28:7–19).

Certain mediumistic phenomena were reported in the witch trials of the Middle Ages, particularly the appearance of spirits in quasimaterial form and the obtaining of knowledge through spirits. It may be supposed that many of those persecuted for the practice of witchcraft were what would now be called mediums—although their mediumship was colored by the fact that they were forced to organize into forbidden cults. The church regard spiritual communication devils. On the other hand, if the person experiencing the phenomena was a devout member of the church such as Teresa of Avila, then the experience was hailed by the church as a miracle of God. Some mediumistic phenomena were also found among those regarded in the Middle Ages as possessed by God speaking in languages unknown to the speaker and levitation or partial levitation. Teresa of Avila was reported to experience levitation on more than one occasion. Herbalists were burned at the stake for doing the same. God knows you figure.

Although spiritualistic practices seem to be widespread, they were virtually unknown in modern civilized society until March 1848, when odd happenings were reported at the house of a farmer named Fox in a small town in New York state. Previous occupants of the house had been disturbed by unexplained raps at night. After a severe disturbance by raps during Mr. Fox's tenancy, his youngest daughter, Kate, was said to have successfully challenged the supposed spirit to repeat the number of times she flipped her fingers. Once communication had apparently been established a code was agreed upon by which the raps given could answer questions, and the spirit was said to have identified himself as a man who had been murdered in the house.

The practice of having sittings for communication with spirits spread rapidly from that time. Kate Fox (afterward Mrs. FoxJencken) and one of her sisters gave much of their later lives to acting as mediums in the United States and in England.Toward the end of their lives one of the Fox sisters confessed that they had used “signals” to fool those who believed their communications which were a fraud.Many other mediums gave similar sittings, and the movement became widespread. The attempt to communicate with spirits by table turning became a popular pastime in Victorian drawing rooms. Much of this activity was motivated by mere curiosity and the fascination of the supernatural, but it also had a more serious intention. Many inquirers wished to convince themselves as to human survival of bodily death; others suffered from the loss of loved relatives and friends and found consolation in the belief that they were able to communicate with them; others wanted information about the future life. To promote these serious ends, spiritualist associations or churches were formed.

The rise of these new cults were not allowed to take place without opposition. There was not only verbal condemnation with accusations of fraud but also mob violence. This was, no doubt, partly a popular reaction to a novel system of ideas and practices that were suspected of being based on either fraud or evil. The suspicion of evil was perhaps strengthened by a conjectured relationship to the discarded system of witchcraft. Although individual spiritualists were often members (or even ministers) of Christian churches, the general tendency of the established religious bodies was to suspect the movement and its claim to a new revelation that would either supplement or replace the Christian revelation. The spiritualist practices seemed also to some religious bodies to be a part of the forbidden activity of necromancy. Though there was no evidence. A decree of the Holy Office of the Roman Catholic church in 1898 condemned spiritistic practices, although permitting legitimate scientific investigation of mediumistic phenomena.

For those who had lost their faith in traditional Christianity, there was offered a new religion based not on an ancient tradition but on fact that could be observed by anyone.

For those to whom materialistic ways of thinking had closed the possibility of a life after death, there was offered a new hope of immortality.

To those suffering from grief after the death of their loved ones, there was offered the possibility of communicating with them. There were strong emotional involvements in both the rejection and the acceptance of spiritualism that have made difficult an impartial appraisal of the evidence. The great escape artist, Harry Houdini, promised that if at all possible he would contact his wife, family or others on Earth after his death. No contacts by him after his death are known.

There were lecturers on the Chautauqua circuit who preached evolution and the debunking of Bible thumping preachers who were not able to stand up to their withering debates. One of the most famous was Robert Ingersoll who was an American politician and orator known as "the great agnostic.” He popularized the higher criticism of the Bible, as well as a humanistic philosophy and scientific rationalism. He always emphasized that he was a "doubter” not an atheist. He brilliantly defended the position that the existence of God was not proven. He was obviously a polymath and autodidact of great intellect and learning. Although Ingersoll had little formal education, Ingersoll was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1854, and he subsequently enjoyed a lucrative law practice in Peoria, Ill., New York City, and Washington, D.C. After service in the American Civil War (1861–65), he became a staunch Republican, serving as Illinois attorney general (1867–69) and as a party spokesman in presidential campaigns. In spite of his outstanding contribution to his political party, his unorthodox religious views deterred Republican administrations from appointing him to the Cabinet or to the diplomatic posts that he desired. Nationally known as a lecturer, Ingersoll was in great demand and received as much as $3,500 (inflation adjusted to over $70,000.00 in 2000) for a single evening's performance. By way of his brilliant oratory and wit he sought to expose the orthodox superstitions of the times.

Spiritual Mysticism

In general, a spiritual quest (see spiritual mysticism)for hidden truth or wisdom, the goal of which is union with the divine or sacred (the transcendent realm). Forms of mysticism are found in all major world religions, by analogy in the shamanic and other ecstatic practices of nonliterate cultures, and in secular experience.