Spiritualism Has The Facts On Life - Higginson

I can reinstate this after Zerdini's removal from other web sources.

FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH

Wise spirits who have lived on earth teach us that God is Universal Power not an individualised spirit. Heaven is a reaching out to perfection.

Man is a spirit being that survives death. Man is ageless with an infinite mind that cannot be destroyed.

Each one of us can find the life force within that can be used in every aspect of our life. We can love every living creature and find that we are in touch with the very essence of life.

By releasing the power of the mind and by directing it to things that are beautiful we can talk to the great spirits in the spirit world. We must remember that like attracts like.

ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSIBILITIES

We must learn to be aware of all life through our consciousness and link with the super consciousness. In this way we can think for ourselves and direct our life. We should not constantly seek the advice of spirit people who in their turn have learned to be aware to enable them to live their lives. They accept their responsibilities and do not call upon spirits from another world to live their lives for them.

Sensitives if really aware, and in touch with the super consciousness, could be of service in addition to linking with these in the spirit world.

ALL WORLDS ARE ONE

Because we understand this fact we are working to unite people in fundamental truth, setting aside man made creeds. The Spiritualists’ National Union aims to bring into unity people who are ready to proclaim and live by the simple truth of Spiritualism. We aim to see an end to the fragmentation of religion. We see truth in all religion but Spiritualism can overcome differences because it is in accord with the nature of life.

Adding anything to Spiritualism is an apology for it.

Those who are not ready for Spiritualism should stay in their own religion until they are ready. It is where they belong, it is being honest. A Spiritualist can however, enter any church, of any religion and worship, without wanting to change it, because a Spiritualist can link wherever he may be with that which is God.

Men and women are spiritual beings that cannot conform to man-made creeds. God calls to us to play a part. Once we are brought into Spiritualism we accept that responsibility. If we set it aside then we suffer in conscience in the spirit world.

Spiritualists will bring happiness upon the earth. There must be a coming together of people who feel responsible for each other. We can create heaven upon earth. The Spirit world is already here; all worlds interpenetrate each other, nothing dies.

SPIRIT GUIDES

These are spirit people who can ‘control’ or inspire us; those who can work with us. They do not belong to us. They do not want us to exalt them. They are being of service. There is only one guide — God.

Guides often appear to remain as children for many years. We accept and love them as children yet recognise their great skill and wisdom. Their joyful nature is important in achieving the right atmosphere, relaxing tension and often introducing humour. It is clear that they are trained for the work they have chosen to do. When we have the opportunity to meet them in their matured state we are invariably disappointed and can hardly believe that they are the lively children we have known. Not all guides are children but all teach us by their loving service and co-operation with others that there is no colour bar in the spirit world for many, although by no means all, are of nationalities other than our own.

From 'COMMUNICATOR' Aug/Sept 1976.

Thanks Z for posting this - most interesting as always.

Thanks Z great stuff and it is a message we really need to remind people of as the basic Principles of our movement are encroached upon by others who want to add back bits of Christianity or ods and ends of New Age ideas.

Indeed it seems out thre as if those who try to stand up and speak out for this come under increasing attack.

Jim

I'm very much out of touch with Spiritualism, the movement, so is there anyone even approaching the stature of Gordon Higginson nowadays?

It's thirty years since this piece was written and although the ideas there are as meaningful now as they were then, it seems the world has moved on without Spiritualism as a movement and as a philosophy.

Am I right in feeling this...???

mac wrote:I'm very much out of touch with Spiritualism, the movement, so is there anyone even approaching the stature of Gordon Higginson nowadays?

It's thirty years since this piece was written and although the ideas there are as meaningful now as they were then, it seems the world has moved on without Spiritualism as a movement and as a philosophy.

Am I right in feeling this...???

No-one that I know of, Mac.

"Cometh the hour cometh the man".

zerdini wrote:

mac wrote:I'm very much out of touch with Spiritualism, the movement, so is there anyone even approaching the stature of Gordon Higginson nowadays?

It's thirty years since this piece was written and although the ideas there are as meaningful now as they were then, it seems the world has moved on without Spiritualism as a movement and as a philosophy.

Am I right in feeling this...???

No-one that I know of, Mac.

"Cometh the hour cometh the man".

It's a shame as a figurehead is desperately needed.
(Wow, z, you keep late / early hours! )

Hi Z and Mac,

Well when you look around how much of what we now offer as a movement would attract the thinkers likely to create these ideas. Equally with the state of the movement they are likely to be ignored or even attacked for saying something is wrong.

Like Lis I think the balance went to far to the phenomena, what makes this worse is then the delivery of the phenomena has detiorated in all types Mental and Physical. To cap it all what was left of the philosophy is in talks generally done by these same "Mediums" who have little or no idea of what Spiritualism is and its history.

Chuck in the latest fads and you have a situation which makes it almost untenable for serious Spiritualists. In the end it will come down to persuading people to raise the bar on talks thinking and mediumship. This is down to training, sadly it appears the results of the existing methodology as identified by the falling standards show they are not working.


Oh well we just have to keep trying.

This is an interesting subject for debate and really comes down to whether Spiritualism in its current form is meeting the needs of today’s audience.

I feel Spiritualism is one of the best kept secrets and is the only religion that fits right for me in that it demonstrates survival, allows free thinking and offers us the truth without the need to blindly follow creed or dogma.

For me where Spiritualism is lacking is in its presentation. In the UK, many of our churches have fallen into disrepair and the format of Spiritualist services is usually closely akin to that of orthodox Christian services with dreary hymns, the Lords Prayer, saying the 7 Principles by rote and many other hangovers from a bygone era.

Equally the standards of mediumship and philosophy demonstrated on many of the public platforms falls short and church committees and congregations get used to mediocre mediums. In many cases, Sunday attendances are very low since people do not want to come and listen to the address, only to get a “message”. As has been said many times before, our churches are becoming little more than “message shops” or a cheap night out.

Our churches must change to meet the changing needs of today’s audience. People are now more free thinking than ever and in a society where information is freely accessible on the internet, the churches need to offer more. Today in the UK, someone can watch mediums work on TV and in comfortable theatres up and down the country. Why should they go to a dilapidated old Spiritualist church that smells of damp, is poorly attended and makes them sing dreary hymns all to watch a mediocre medium? If the churches do not offer what today’s audience need, then they will slowly die.

What has to change is the quality of mediumship and philosophy and this comes down to development and training. We need to raise the standards of work displayed. It is not to say that there are not excellent mediums out there because there are and I know of quite a number who regularly work to very high standards. However, church booking secretaries must choose quality over convenience and audiences must be educated as to what is good mediumship. Too many prefer weak psychic messages to tangible survival evidence.

Those churches that are thriving offer something different that attracts a younger congregation. They need to be a bright, clean, attractive and welcoming environment to go to. Some like my own church have abandoned the dreary hymns for more upbeat ones and brought in contemporary songs and music as part of their services. The well attended churches try to book the best mediums for both philosophy and mediumship. They should also offer a wide range of circles and classes of the highest standard to develop the next generation of mediums.

At my home church in Hampton Hill, we had a special demonstration of mediumship on Saturday to a packed house (70 people) with a young 24-year old medium where the evidence given was incredibly specific and quite astounding. For me, it was very much like watching a young version of Gordon Higginson. The telling sign was that the applause at the end of the demonstration seemed like it would never end and all who attended were amazed at what had taken place. So there are high quality mediums coming through but they do need to be nurtured, encouraged and above all booked by the churches.

Perhaps we have too many mediocre churches and not enough quality mediums. Perhaps it is time for a period for evolution of our churches where only the fittest survive and the weak fall by the wayside. Perhaps we would be better off in the UK with 200 quality churches providing the high standards rather than 500 churches of variable quality providing mediocrity. Perhaps we need 20 centres of excellence as Gordon Higginson proposed where people can go and see mediums of the highest calibre and get the best teachings.

One thing is for sure, the Spiritualist movement in the UK must change to survive. It is run by those who have age and experience on their sides but this is often a double edged sword as such people tend to be resistant to change. The largest organisation in the UK (SNU) has hardly changed in the last 80 years and decisions take an age to make and implement. Attempts to improve its running have often met with resistance and few people are attracted into it to change it from the inside given the amount of politics and bureaucracy.

The future of Spiritualism in the UK and worldwide now hangs in the balance. The Union and the churches face a choice. Adapt and change to survive or cling to the old ways and face a long lingering death. The message that we survive physical death is a constant truth but what must change is the way we deliver that message to a constantly evolving audience.

All who call themselves Spiritualists each have their part to play. We must choose whether we are part of the solution or whether we are part of the problem. Our actions will shape the future survival of the movement.

For me the philosophy has to be augmented with effective evidence. I can get any kind of philosophy, and much better presented through virtually any organised religion. The key to having spiritual philosophy is the authority of the person or organisation offering it. What authority does Spiritualism have? The only thing that would induce me to become involved in Spiritualism is evidence and this seems hard to find other than historically.

I am actually well-disposed towards mediumship on the basis of what I have read but to interest others, organisations within Spiritualism willl have to do much better. Much better than they imagine, I suspect.

The added complication, at least in the UK, may be the Christian overtones in many churches - I don't think this will appeal to the majority in today's (thankfully) multicultural and more secular society. I don't get the feeling of any real identity in the SNU churches I visited. That, together with the 'evidence-free clairvoyance' referred to in a recent edition of Psychic News, makes me wonder whether Spiritualist Churches are a busted-flush destined to attract on a regular basis only those who are 'believers', or have had good evidence themselves in the past (and this will be an ever-decreasing number if the present trend continues), or those members of the public who are not able or willing to examine the Church's claim objectively and either prefer to simply 'believe' what others tell them or are unable to assess any proferred 'evidence' rationally.

Very well-put Martin.

mac wrote:
I'm very much out of touch with Spiritualism, the movement, so is there anyone even approaching the stature of Gordon Higginson nowadays?
**********************************************************
In terms of outstanding evidence, Gordon Smith is absolutely suberb but as far as intellects go ......
It might be appropriate to consider the wider effects of the Law of Attraction
as we can only obtain what has been earned.

Perhaps ALL churches have had their day for similar reasons.

obiwan wrote:Very well-put Martin.

agreed - very well presented

Hi Martin,

Very well put and absolutely accurate in some countries it may be too late to make changes. At our mission last week we had a Circle no demo. Because it involved everyone it was enjoyed by all. We are also showing videos and presenting other events to educate using Sundays.

This takes away the pressure of having to have a demonstrator and speaker every week. Exactly in line with the Geoff Griffith's article in PN on the 25th July. Reducing the demand for Mediums allows a focus on trying to give the best available. I agree in training but whilst teh Medium does the talk it becomes vital they do understand what Spiritualism is and its history. The address is also a vital part of that training or an acknowledgement that maybe the Mediumship skill is seperate to the talks.

Music is a good idea but I agree about the hymns we use none and just some meditation music. Love to know what the more modern music you are using is Martin.

I agree about looking like another church and am greatful our mission does not resemble one in the slightest no crosses no pictures of Jesus and no hymns. If they are desired there are many Christian Spiritualist Churches. However, music and singing is good the problem is how to put it back in.

Good topic and discussion.
The wee Church I founded in 1995 was an attempt to modernise local Spiritualist presentation without losing the essentials.
Starting with virtually a clean sheet, there were no hymns, which were never missed. Religion of any kind was rarely mentioned, with a quiet ushering in of the principle of 'Personal Responsibilty' and the acknowledgement of reaping what has been sown.
A strong 'spiritual' atmosphere was detectable by all who attended - this was most important.
Services were of the Address, followed by Clarvoyance type, but not always.
Unannounced change was sometimes forced, but proved educational and popular. We invited Speakers from various organisations, an occasional open circle, a Q & A evening with discussion, a try your psychic ability evening, plus mock services where embryo mediums found their courage to work. Wherever possible, participation was encouraged.
There were also workshops taken by established Mediums and Healers on a separate evening.

A typical audience would likely consist of a few convinced Spiritualists, many curious enquirers, some sussing things out for themselves and the occasional clergy bod in disguise. (I had some good discussions with the latter)
Each category of visitor was seeking a different aspect - ie. Survival, Communication, Healing, information generally, or just to bask in the wonderful restoring atmosphere. It was a time of great learning for all.

It was difficult to provide exactly what the individual was seeking, but the inspired Speakers were magnificent in unfailingly and unknowingly touching on the topics that appeared to be uppermost in the minds of those attending.

HI all
as Hiorta said a very good topic. If Spiritualism is to survive and come back as a convincing movement then these are the key issues to think about.

I have known Hiorta a long time now and these ideas with what Martin T has said is where we need to move too.

Spiritualism ia a great philosophy, science, truth and religion let us fight back for what we are losing if we do not,

As Dylan Thomas said Let us not go quietly into the night let us rage

I’m glad I published that short speech by Gordon Higginson as it has sparked off, as other have said, an extremely interesting debate.

As a side issue Jim has referred to Dylan Thomas's poem, written in 1940, addressed to his father as he approached blindness and death. Nevertheless it is an appropriate quotation in relation to the subject under discussion. The whole poem is worth reading.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Interesting to hear everyones views. I do feel very strongly that we have reached a turning point in Spiritualism (and with most orthodox churches also) where if we do not evolve we may face extinction.

I do question whether the word “church” has now had its day and whether we should be renaming our Spiritualist churches as Spiritualist centres or sanctuarys. Many of the Spiritualist churches were set up as Spiritualist Societies and I wonder whether this is not a better word for longevity. The term church has too many orthodox connotations and I feel it is part of the reason we end up with Christian paraphernalia in our churches.

The format of our services does need to move with the times but has to include the philosophy of Spiritualism. Perhaps we need a shift away from the demonstration to the address being the most important aspect of the service. There are some churches I serve which have an address as part of every service and this allows all attendees to learn about the philosophical basis of Spiritualism. Perhaps we should also consider the need to move back to a separate speaker and demonstrator since not all demonstrators make good speakers and this was well recognised in the past.

In changing the format of our services, we must take care not to “dumb down” the message of Spiritualism and weaken the philosophy by focussing on only one or two aspects. We also need to be careful not to dilute the philosophy of Spiritualism by introducing elements from New Age thinking such as ascended masters, past lives, the 2012 prophecies etc. The philosophy of Spiritualism is strong enough to stand on its own and can be woven into any address by a skilful and knowledgeable speaker.

With the songs and music, I do feel that the dirgy “Christian” based hymns of the past have had their day. At our own church we have introduced contemporary songs from the SNU Spirit of Youth songbook for all services. For the Sunday service we use “spiritual” songs such as Louis Armstrong’s ‘Wonderful World’, John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ and the Beatles ‘All You Need is Love’. We are also looking to introduce some music just for the audience to listen to the meaningful and uplifting words such as Josh Groban’s “To Where You Are”, Daniel O’Donnell’s “Our Special Absent Friends”, Leona Lewis’s “Footprints in the Sand” and Andree Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye”.

Jim, I totally agree that we must not go silent into the night otherwise it really will be time for us to say goodbye to the Spiritualist movement. Each of us must play our part whether it is within the established organisations or outside of them. Truth has no label and is eternal. Let us make sure the way we communicate the truth is relevant to today's audience.

Very interesting and constructive comments Martin.

It is great to read that the younger people in Spirtualism are full of ideas for change as we of the older generation are preparing to move into the next dimension of life.

The only constant is change.

Whether people are prepared to put philosophy first is another matter.

Evidence of survival is, in my view, what most people want first then the implications of survival. This will inevitably lead to a philosophy, or way of life, in preparation for the Higher Life.

In general I agree with your comments.

"Evidence of survival is, in my view, what most people want first then the implications of survival. This will inevitably lead to a philosophy, or way of life, in preparation for the Higher Life."

At a personal level I agree with this order of priority. Furthermore my understanding of survival et al changed almost every way I look at life on earth. That is LIFE! and not simply death.


For those seeking more, a broader understanding of the situation leading up to our entry into this world, and a clearer picture of what happens beyond the immediate dimension(s) following our passing, would be of great benefit.

I'm uncertain if Spiritualism's philosophy and science can provide that additional information...??

What say you?

Z and mac, I do agree that the evidence of survival is the cornerstone of Spiritualism and the fact that we provide this through mediumship does differentiate us from all other religions.

What I was thinking of was the sad fact that many churches are becoming message shops where people want psychic messages over and above survival evidence. When we have quality mediums who can demonstrate survival, the bigger question is "if you cannot die for the life of you and your actions in this lifetime will determine your next stage of life, then how will you live?" However, getting people to this realisation does need the philosophy that underpins Spiritualism.

These days it is pot luck with a lot of mediums whether they can even give survival evidence since the quality is so variable!

"What I was thinking of was the sad fact that many churches are becoming message shops where people want psychic messages over and above survival evidence." This is what I'm constantly finding in forum threads.

I have spent much of the past few months, in numerous threads, attempting to explain why psychic readings, mysticism etc. are not in themselves mediumship. Many seem unable, or unwilling, to grasp that or perhaps they think it's just me who's barmy - at times I reckon they're probably right

It often seems a pointless task as there's frequently just myself banging on about it with the occasional help of another contributor who I know to be a Spiritualist. That's where, eventually, I learned that channelling and certain psychic practices are thought of as mediumship...

On a related theme, over here there's a crummy programme called 'The Medium' in which the star gets psychic 'flashes' about all sorts of nonsense. There's nothing resembling mediumship as we'd define it.

It seems that psychism is the new mediumship....

"These days it is pot luck with a lot of mediums whether they can even give survival evidence since the quality is so variable!"

Yes indeed. As with our dear friend, obi (the duck! - look back a way) he's more knowledgeable than many who call themselves Spiritualists, yet he is still waiting for that personal evidence....

Totally agreed, Lis and I worked at one church where some of the people who received messages came up to us and said they did not realise there was anyone in Adelaide who could still do proof of survival Mediumship. Sadly it is run by a lady who I believe would think she was one of the top Mediums here.

One on one readings are almost always Psychic as there are probably only one or two in Adelaide who could do real proof of survival messages that do private readings. 90% of the rest that goes on is probably psychism of one type or another. The TV shows on ghost whispering and Medium do not help and on the whole the celebrity mediums like John Edwards are of no help yet he had over 5,000 per show in Sydney.

In the face of that how can we expect people to understand what they should expect when they turn up at Spiritualist Churches, especially when these seem so desperate to have a "medium" they ignore the number one rule. Mediumship is proof of survival and the Sunday demo should underpin the cornerstone of our movement by only demonstrating this. If it does not the church is behoven to the movement to explain that the demonstration is predominantly psychic. Sadly so many fail to understand that having a lady with the person who is telling them is not proof of survival but even that is better than advice given from unidentified sources purporting to be Spirit without proof (or even yellow auras, chestnut horses and the ubiquitous Frank).

In the UK the SNU have District Committees and reps. Time they got on their bikes and pushed that this trend (and the overt Christianisation of SNU churches) is reversed. Lets be honest I have contact with people who ran SNU churches that thought these were the Gestapo maybe time they behaved as that but in an appropriate way. A few may leave and others join the Greater World but it would mean attendance at any SNU centre should deliver that which really demonstrates what our movement (or the SNU style of Spiritualism) represents .

Looking back over the years I cannot recall one respected medium who was trained by the SNU or Greater World or even the Arthur Findlay College.

They all arose from home circles formed to develop their mediumship. Two examples spring to mind namely Estelle Roberts and Helen Hughes - their demonstrations filled churches and halls up and down the country - and their are many many more.

The SNU has been around a long time and is riddled with bureaucracy as are many spiritual organisations.

It's time to return to our roots as I feel that is where the mediums of the future will come from - they need to be nurtured in a harmonious environment.

Too often budding mediums go into a Spiritualist Church and think "I can do that" and before long they are on a public platform without any grasp of Spirit teachings with the inevitable result we see today.

True, we need centres where mediums can demonstrate their blossoming mediumship but the hard work of development and training should be within the home circle.

Mediumship development is a never-ending process which is often forgotten today. It is hard work and not something to be undertaken lightly.

It is better to have a few good mediums than a plethora of sub-standard mediums.

Mediumship development is a never-ending process which is often forgotten today. It is hard work and not something to be undertaken lightly.

It is better to have a few good mediums than a plethora of sub-standard mediums

Absolutely right it is not an instant event even for the very talented.

Just wish we had a few more of those home circles, as you would expect Z that is where Lis's mediumship was honed up in one running to improve existing platform mediums