Hydesville
Day - 31st March
The
Hydesville Rappings are generally referred to as the beginning of Modern
Spiritualism, although, of course, no such description was given to these
events until many years later.It
can be argued quite effectively that such phenomena had existed and been
demonstrated at many points in history prior to 31st March 1848,
and indeed the gifts and powers of two important figures, Emmanuel Swedenborg
and Andrew Jackson Davis were well documented.
However the importance of the Hydesville events can be supported by
looking at the actual process that took place.
The rappings were manifesting in the house such that it was becoming
almost unbearable for the Fox family to stand, when the youngest sisters,
Margaret and Kate decided to create a game and addressed the sounds as though
they were being made by a living person. Kate
challenged the unknown person to "Do as I do" and clapped her hands.
These clappings were then echoed by a similar number of raps.
Communication had been established.
According to Conan Doyle's account*, Mrs Fox and a neighbour
took this forward by asking questions, to
be answered correctly with one knock for "no" and two for
"yes". The
events in the neighbourhood attracted great interest which rapidly spread
across the USA, and resulted in many others experimenting in the same way.
The Fox family appeared to be the first on modern record to hold a form
of conversation with Spirit, by devising a code whereby questions could be
answered. Previously those that
had communion with Spirit, such as Swedenborg, Davis and much earlier in
Biblical accounts had a direct connection which could not be witnessed in
process.
The
facts which emerged concerning the murder of the peddler Charles B. Rosna, who
maintained that his body was buried within the house, were not finally
confirmed until 1904, when the skeleton was found, and this proved that the
communication had been accurate, and that many doubts cast upon the sincerity
of the Fox sisters and family was unjust.
So the 31st March 1848 is an important landmark in the
history of Spiritualism, showing as it did that it was possible to communicate
with Spirit, that many people had the ability to carry out such communication,
and creating the environment which inspired thinkers to consider the
significance of the fact of survival. Charles
B. Rosna was motivated by the wish for vengeance, not a "holy"
thought, but the episode proved that the personality survived physical death,
that memories and emotions were retained and that a means of communication was
possible.
Modern
Spiritualism seeks to prove all of these things and the evolution of the many
types of mediumship flow from these humble beginnings.
* Reference:
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (1926) The History of Spiritualism Vol.1
Psychic Press Ltd (1989 ed.)
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