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 SPIRITISM

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SPIRITISM

rontrasted with the life of mere sense-porcpption and passion. Tlio hitter is intrinsirally dependent on matter and conditioned by its hiws; the former is characterized by freedom or the power of self-de- termination; "spirit" in this sense is essentially per- sonal. Hegelianism, indeed, in its doctrines of Subjec- tive, Objective, and Absolute Sjnrit, tries to maintain the categories of spiritual jjlulo.sopliy (freedom, self-consciousness and the like), in a Monistic frame- work. But such conceptions demand the recogni- tion of individual personality as an ultimate fact.

In Theology, the uses of the word are various. In the New Testament, it signifies sometimes the soul of man (generally its highest part, e. g., "the spirit is willing"), sometimes the supernatural action of God in man, sometimes the Holy Ghost ("the Spirit of Truth Whom the world cannot receive"). The use of this term to signify the .supernatural life of grace is the explanation of St. Paul's language aboutthe spiritual and the carnal man and his enumeration of the three elements, spirit,. soul, and body, which gave occasion to the error of the Trichotomists (I Thess., V, 23, Eph., iv, 23).

Matter has generally been conceived as in one sense or another the limitation of spirit. Hence, finite spirits were thought to require a body as a principle of individuation and limitation; only God, the In- finite Spirit, was free from all admixture of matter. Thus, when we find the angels di-seribed as iadiiMToi or duXoi, in the writings of the Fathers, this properly means only that the angels do not possess a gross, fleshly body; it does not at all imply a nature ab- solutely immaterial. Such Scripture expressions as "bread of angels", "they shall shine as the angels", as well as the apparitions of the.se heavenly beings, were adduced as proofs of their corporeality. So speak Sts. Ambrose, Chrysostom, Jerome, Hilary, Origen, and many other Fathers. Even in Scholastic times, the degree of immateriality that belongs to finite spirits was ilisputed. St. Thomas teaches the comjjlele simplicity of all spiritual natures, but the Scotists, by means of their famous materia primo prima, introduced a real composition, which they con- ceived to be necessary to a created nature. As re- gards the functions of spirits in the world, and their active relations to the visible order of things, see Gu.\RDi.\N Angeis and Demonology. Scripture abounds in instances of their dealings with men, chiefly in the character of intermediaries between God and His servants. They are the heralds who announce his commands, and often too the ministers who execute His justice. They take a benevolent interest in the .spiritual good of men (Luke, xv, 10). For these reasons, the Church permits and encour- ages devotion to the angels.

Berkeley, .Siri,'f in Works, II. See also bibliographies, Spirit- um.ism: SotL.

Michael Maher. Joseph Bolland.

Spiritism is the name properly given to the belief that the living can and do conununicate with the spirits of the departed, and to the various practices by which such communication is attempted. It should be carefully distinguished from Spiritualism (q. v.), the philo.sophical doctrine which holds, in general, that there is a spiritual order of beings no less real than the material and, in particular, that the soul of man is a .spiritual substance. Spiritism, moreover, has taken on a religious character. It claims to prove the preamble of all religions, i. e. the existence of a spiritual world, and to establish a world-wide religion in which the adherents of the various traditional faiths, .setting their dogm;us aside, can unite. If it has formulated no definite creed, and if its representa- tives differ in their attitudes toward the behefs of Christianity, this is simply because Spiritism is ex- pected to supply a new and fuller revelation which

will either substantiate on a rational basis the essen- tial Christian dogmas or show that they are utterly unfounded. The knowledge thus acquired will naturally affect conduct, the more so because it is hoped that the discarnate spirits, in making known their condition, will also indicate the means of attain- ing to salvation or rather of progressing, by a contin- uous evolution in the other world, to a higher plane of existence and happiness.

The Phenomena. — These are classified as physical and psychical. The former include: production of raps and other sounds; movements of objects (tables, chairs) without contact or with contact insuflicient to explain the movement: "apports", i. e. apparitions of objects (e. g. flowers) in a closed room without any visible agency to convey them; moulds, i. e. impres- sions made upon paraffin and similar substances; luminous appearances, i. e., vague glimmerings of light or faces more or less defined; levitation, i. e. raising of objects from the ground by supposed supernormal means; materialization or appearance of a spirit in visible human form; spirit-photography, in which the features or forms of deceased persons appear on the plate along with the likeness of a living photographed subject. The psychical, or significative, phenomena are those which express ideas or contain messages. To this class belong: table-rapping in answer to ques- tions; automatic writing; slate-writing; trance-speak- ing; clairvoyance; descriptions of the spirit-world; and communications from the dead. ' History. — For an account of Spiritistic practices in antiquity see Necromancy. The modern phase was ushered in by the exhibitions of mesmerism and clairvoyance. In its actual form, however. Spirit- ism dates from the year 1848 and from the experi- ences of the Fox family at Hydesville, and later at Rochester, in New York State. Strange "knock- ings" were heard in the house, pieces of furniture were moved about as though by invisible hands, and the noises became so troublesome that sleep was impossible. At length the "rapper" began to an.swer questions, and a code of signals was arranged to facilitate communication. It was al.so foimd that to receive messages special qualifications were needed; these were possessed by Catherine and Margaret Fox, who are therefore regarded as the first "mediums" of modern times. Similar disturbances occurred in other parts of the country, notably at Stratford, Con- necticut, in the house of Rev. Dr. Phelps, a Presby- terian minister, where the manifestations (1850-51) were often violent and the spirit-answers blasphemous. In 1851 the Fox girls were visited in Buffalo by three physicians who were professors in the imiversity of that city. As a result of their examination the doc- tors declared that the "raps" were simply "crackings" of the knee-joints. But this statement did not lessen either the popular enthusiasm or the interest of more serious persons. The subject was taken up by men like Horace Greeley, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, I^obert Hare, professor of chemistry in the University of Pennsyl- vania, and John Worth Edmonds, a judge of the Su- preme Court of New York State. Conspicuous among the Spiritists was Andrew .lackson Davis, whose work, "The Principles of Nature" (1S47), dic- tated by him in trance, contained a theory of the uni- verse, closely resembling the Swedenborgian. Spirit- ism also found earnest advocates among clergymen of various denominations, especially the T^niversalists; it appealed strongly to many people who had lost all religious belief in a future life; and it was welcomed by those who were then agitating the question of a new social organization — the pioneers of modern Socialism. So widespread was the belief in Spirit- ism that in 1854 Congress was petitioned to appoint a scientific commission for the investigation of the phenomena. Thepetition, which bore some 13,(X)0 sig- natures, was laid on the table, and no action was taken.