ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the part played by illness in spiritualist belief and practice. It also examines spiritualists’ experience of and response to pain. Spiritualists lend themselves particularly well to such a study since they consider themselves beset by a variety of disabilities and are preoccupied with the problem of suffering and its communication. Much of spiritualist activity is concerned with healing and giving advice about sickness, which is described more fully later. However, before turning to the details of the activities a summary of the types of complaints managed by spiritualism and their relationship with orthodox medicine is necessary. Spiritualists refer to ‘the power of healing’ as the greatest gift which spirit can bestow on human beings. Most healers are men, although women can, in principle, become healers too. Spirit healing involves the mystical discovery and identification of pain and sickness. It penetrates other bodies and unearths information otherwise available only to the patient.
