Ghosts and Spiritualism: Fact or Fiction?
by Ghost, according to tradition, is a spirit of a dead person that visits the living. Most people do not believe in ghosts, but some do. Reports of seeing or hearing ghosts have been common throughout history–more so in ancient and medieval times than today. There have been many stories, books, motion pictures, and plays about ghosts. In most stories and reports about ghosts, the ghost resembles its living form. Many ghosts are transparent or shadowy. Some ghosts are pictured as white sheets shaped somewhat like a body.
Spiritualists believe that human beings are made up of body, soul, and spirit. At death, the body ceases to exist, but the spirit continues to exist because it is encased in the soul. According to spiritualists, communication between the physical and spiritual world does not end with physical death. Spiritualists also claim that after death the spirit moves through several extraterrestrial levels of existence-that is, levels outside of the earth. These levels range from purgation (punishment) for the wicked to freedom from all suffering for the good. During this extraterrestrial state, the spiritual being can improve and move upward toward the highest plane of existence.
To communicate with departed spirits, spiritualists sometimes meet in small gatherings called seances. During a seance, several persons sit at a table and touch hands. Some seances take place in semidarkness. Others are held in well-lighted rooms. An individual, usually called a medium but sometimes called an instrument or a channel, leads the seance. The medium helps the group concentrate their thoughts on the person they wish to contact, usually a deceased friend or relative. The spirit of the deceased supposedly shows its presence by making rapping sounds, by moving objects in the room, or by speaking through the medium. A medium also may meet with one person to channel communication between a particular spirit and that person.
Some mediums claim to speak in the voice of the disembodied person or to interpret sounds produced by the spirit. Others offer healing prayers for people attending the seance. Mediums who communicate the words of the spirit sometimes use such devices as a Ouija board or a board called a planchette to spell out messages. Materializing mediums claim that their powers can make the spirit appear in solid form. Physical manifestation mediums supposedly enable the spirit to move objects or to play musical instruments. Physical manifestation mediums and materializing mediums were common in spiritualist meetings from about 1900 to 1950. However, today this type of communicating usually is seen only at spiritualist centers.
Although many scientists dispute spiritualist claims, spiritualists defend their beliefs. They claim that communication between the living and the dead has been scientifically verified. Spiritualists regard their beliefs as an authentic religion based on moral and philosophical principles. Many attend churches that belong to the National Spiritualist Association of Churches. Some spiritualists also consider themselves in agreement with Christian tradition. But most forms of Christianity do not agree with spiritualism’s main teaching that the spirits of the dead communicate with people on earth.
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Post CommentGoodselfme
On November 28, 2008 at 11:19 am
I found this a good read. I have heard from the dead myself without any provocation.