There are a lot of people these days protesting, that spiritualism is not a religion, spiritualism in the UK had to become a religion, so that practitioners such as mediums and healers were not prosecuted, under the outdated witchcraft Act 1735, and to gain charitable status medium Helen Duncan was convicted under the witchcraft act, in September 1944 for claiming to conjure spirits, whilst I agree that spirit never speak of religion as there is no religion in spirit, and spirit do not speak of a god, they speak of divine light, no one can deny who has studied and communicated with spirit, the existence of a universal life and law, that spirit communicate to us here on earth as above so below.
The driving force of universal life is love, and it is love that spirit communicate to us here on earth, and the teachers that mankind built religion around all taught love, many who come into spiritualism in the UK, have come from a Christian background, and the cross in a spiritualist church gives resonance and focus to those from a religious background, who wish to learn more through spirit communication, how things work in the life hereafter and how to progress spiritually, and so enhancing there humanity, spirit guides teach that a church is a building a medium for them to communicate there truths, a group of like minded people meeting in a building, to commune the teachings of spirit is by definition a religion.
It depends on the energy of love and attunement to spirit within the building, that we and spirit can create together, the creation of love with spirit, depends on the level of attunement of the people within the building, hymns and prayers help us to gain greater attunement to spirit, taking us out of our material physical minds, to higher levels of attunement to spirit, yes all of this is religious ritual, but what is prayer but emotion and thought, spirit communicate to us in emotion and thought, and it is our attunement to love, that spirit need to communicate with us successfully.
Spiritualism has been crusading to prove the existence of eternal life, through spirit communication the facts of the communication proving eternal life, there is far greater communication with spirit, in the teachings spirit pass on to us, the teachings are of universal life and law, for we are spirit living learning and growing in a physical material world, to be a spiritualist is to live and walk with spirit on our earth plane, practising the teachings of spirit, and to be the true messengers of spirit, we must practice love, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness, in our thoughts words and deeds in service to spirit, there is a lot more to mediumship than giving messages, this is what being a spiritualist means to me.
Stephen Rowlands 26/08/18
Stephen Rowlands 