Messages From Beyond
Spiritualism and Spiritualists in Melbourne's Golden Age
Al Gabay
- The
- Spiritualist
- movement
- had
- its
- beginnings
- in
- the
- United
- States
- in
- the
- late
- 1840s
- and
- within
- a
- few
- years
- had
- spread
- to
- Australia.
- With
- its
- séances,
- mediums,
- trances,
- 'magnetisers',
- table-tilting
- and
- other
- mysterious
- psychic
- phenomena,
- it
- attracted
- media
- frenzy
- and
- public
- furore,
- but
- also
- many
- deeply
- serious
- converts—often
- highly
- intelligent
- and
- talented
- people
- who
- rejected
- orthodox
- religion
- in
- favour
- of
- scientific
- rationalism,
- but
- were
- still
- vitally
- concerned
- with
- moral
- debates.
- One
- of
- them
- was
- the
- young
- Alfred
- Deakin,
- later
- to
- become
- Prime
- Minister.Spiritualists
- sought
- 'rational,
- discoverable
- answers'
- to
- life's
- mysteries.
- They
- sought
- to
- 'prove'
- empirically
- the
- continued
- existence
- of
- the
- human
- personality
- after
- death,
- while
- maintaining—somewhat
- paradoxically—that
- the
- movement
- was
- a
- genuine
- religion.
- In
- Messages
- from
- Beyond
- ,
- however,
- Al
- Gabay
- shows
- that
- for
- most
- believers
- the
- séance
- was
- not
- a
- 'scientific'
- enterprise
- but
- a
- religious
- and
- highly
- ritualised
- event.In
- this
- fascinating
- history,
- Gabay
- explores
- the
- origins
- of
- the
- Spiritualist
- movement
- and
- relates
- its
- rise
- and
- fall
- to
- the
- wider
- intellectual
- and
- religious
- currents
- in
- colonial
- Australian
- society.
- He
- argues
- that
- the
- atmosphere
- of
- Freethought
- and
- Secularism
- in
- colonial
- Melbourne,
- as
- well
- as
- the
- passionate
- debates
- of
- the
- time
- on
- the
- authority
- of
- the
- Bible
- and
- Evolution,
- were
- fundamental
- to
- the
- success
- of
- the
- movement,
- and
- that
- it
- was
- a
- cultural
- product
- of
- its time.
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