ABSTRACT
Basically, spiritualism involves: a belief in the continuity of the personality after death—that is, the person is more or less the same after he has given up the physical body, can communicate in words, remembers events and people, is capable of conversation. The concept that contact with the dead is possible—the dead exist in some dimension not totally separate from our own and can be contacted there, or, alternatively, can come into our dimension to contact us. Spiritualism began in the USA in the second half of the nineteenth century and rapidly expanded throughout England and Europe. Although spiritualism has to some extent been scientifically investigated its religious overtones and tendency to require conditions that make scientific assessment difficult have precluded this. The philosophy and theology of spiritualism has been derived through the teachings of the spirits communicated through mediums, and accordingly different teachings given through different mediums tend to be different not only in emphasis but in information.
