🤓HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM🤓

[BigJohn]

It was Isaac Post who first suspected Leah Fox was a Medium.
The belief was later reinforced when the Fox sisters visited the home of Andrew Jackson Davis.

[BigJohn]

The Fox Family lived in Hydesville, New York in 1848. Today, Hydesville, New York no longer exists. The foundation of that house still exists and is part of a Museum located at 1510 Hydesville Road, Newark, NY.

Isaac Post and his wife lived about 32 miles west of Hydesville, NY at 36 Sophia Street in Rochester New York. That street is now known as North Plymouth Avenue. Not far from their home was the first house I ever 'bought'. It was a huge, 2 story home and may have been used by the underground railway to smuggle slaves from the South to Canada. As for the Post home, Isaac and Amy Post were part of that underground railway and their home was definitely used by the railroad. They were Abolitionists and they originally were Quakers. Because of their beliefs, they changed and became Hicksites. It should be noted that Susan B. Anthony's family were Quakers and they also changed to be Hicksites.

Isaac and Amy Post held meetings in their homes in which such people as Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth attended. Small World! Six years before the Fox family came on the scene, Isaac Post helped form and was an officer of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society.

[BigJohn]

Isaac Post wrote a book in 1852 titled "Voices From the Spirit World, Being Communications From Many Spirits by the Hand of Isaac Post, Medium" which might provide a clue to the type of mediumship that was going on between the Fox's sister (circa 1848) and Post's version of mediumship. In the book, Isaac Post refers to the prior mediums as "rapping mediums" whereas his mediumship took on a different appearance. He communicated with Spirit as a "writing medium" which we call today, Automatic Writing.

He channeled an assortment of people, some of them several times. He began writing down his channelings on July 4, 1851. One person he channeled on September 15, 1851 was George Fox. This Fox was not related to the Fox sisters/family. George Fox was the founder of the Quakers, a group that helped bring forth a lot of the concepts we have accepted that are attributed to Spiritualism. As previously mentioned, Isaac Post and his family had broken away from the Quakers in which the main issue revolved about slavery. Isaac Fox was an Abolitionist whereas the Quakers were neutral on the subject. When Isaac Post channeled George Fox on November 12, 1851, it was revealed that George Fox was not neutral as we had suspected but was involved in returning slaves to their 'rightful' owner.

The question as to when the Fox sisters and Mother became mediums seems to have been answered when they began talking back and forth to the Spirit in their home in which they communicated thru rappings.

[bobjob]

Anyone interested in a fully-curated history of individuals and events important in the movement, philosophy and religion of (Modern) Spiritualism could do worse than to look into the SNU's extensive - FREE - online resource.

Paul Gaunt curates their library and current and back issues of the online publication are readily available. Follow the link at the foot of this posting to open a FREE subscription.

Issues of 'Pioneer' are .pdf file downloads which can be viewed using standard built-in browser readers, free-standing readers such as Sumatra and Adobe Reader, or via free phone-apps from Google and Apple stores.

https://www.snu.org.uk/the-pioneer-journal

[BigJohn]

Why Isaac Post?

He was nearby and having a Quaker background, he was open to the Gifts from Spirit, where people can communicate with Angels, etc.

And then there was the rappings?

History is filled with people who got messages via rappings way before the Fox sisters and Mother came on the scene in 1848. An interesting science is Typtology, which is the scientific word for rapping.

[bobjob]

For a deeply researched, historical account of the history of Modern Spiritualism go to: https://www.snu.org.uk/the-pioneer-journal

What will be found is a FREE, downloadable resource covering in great detail the emergence of the movement, philosophy and religion of Spiritualism and all the pioneers whose dedication helped bring it about.

It is produced by Paul Gaunt, an expert on the history of Modern Spiritualism. He works at the SNU, the Spiritualists' National Union based in the UK.

[Miss Hepburn]

Thanks, bobjob! :)

[bobjob]

always a pleasure, Miss H

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by bobjob

Issues of 'Pioneer' are .pdf file downloads which can be viewed using standard built-in browser readers, free-standing readers such as Sumatra and Adobe Reader, or via free phone-apps from Google and Apple stores.

https://www.snu.org.uk/the-pioneer-journal

Thank you for the link. I subscribed to the e-mail version of the journal as it seems to contain some interesting articles.

[bobjob]

my pleasure

Paul Gaunt has an encyclopedic knowledge and many years practical experience in the fields of mediumship and Modern Spiritualism.

I'm not big on history but I do find his carefully researched work very impressive and interesting. He doesn't speculate about things or offer opinions but simply researches historical material and compiles what he finds in a highly readable way.

Separately from that he gives lectures at the Arthur Findlay College.