Redefining Shamanisms

Spiritualist Mediums and Other Traditional Shamans as Apprenticeship Outcomes

David Gordon Wilson

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781472579041
• eBook ISBN: 9781441158765
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Spiritualism and mediumship are often regarded as the product of lingering superstition in the Victorian era, and as having limited relevance in modern Anglo-American society. Scholarship to date which has considered Spiritualism as a distinct religious tradition has focussed on analysing the phenomenon in terms of spirit possession only. This volume analyses the development of shamanism (communication with the spiritual world) as a concept within North American English-speaking scholarship, with particular focus on Mircea Eliade's influential cross-cultural presentation of shamanism. By re-examining the work of Sergei Shirokogoroff, one of Eliade's principal sources, the traditional Evenki shamanic apprenticeship is compared and identified with the new Spiritualist apprenticeship.
The author demonstrates that Spiritualism is best understood as a traditional shamanism, as distinct from contemporary appropriations or neo-shamanisms. He argues that shamanism is the outcome of an apprenticeship in the management of psychic experiences, and which follows the same pattern as that of the apprentice medium. In doing so, the author offers fresh insights into the mechanisms that are key to sustaining mediumship as a social institution.

1

Introduction

A Spiritualist church service: Questions arising

It is a Sunday evening, about a quarter past six, as I enter. I am handed a hymn book as I walk into a hall with chairs laid out in rows for approximately 50 people, a centre aisle leading to a raised platform with three steps leading up to it,¹ furnished with flowers, a lectern and three chairs. A dozen or so people are seated, which increases to about 30 as we approach 6.30 p.m., when the service starts. I count five other men in the congregation. Various items adorn the walls: a cross; a picture of Jesus; pictures of countryside scenes, of a little girl surrounded by fairies and another of a native North American with full headdress and the name White Eagle beneath it and a board displaying what are described as the ‘Seven Principles’² set out in elaborate gold lettering.

A minute or two after 6.30 p.m., three well-dressed women (chairperson, medium and reader) walk up the centre aisle to take their places on the platform and the service begins. The chairperson welcomes everyone, asks that they check all mobile telephones have been switched off and invites us to stand for the first hymn, which is sung without musical accompaniment.³ The hymn book⁴ includes a large proportion of Methodist hymns and a few other traditional Protestant favourites. The hymn is followed by the chairperson reading about 30 names from a healing book. The medium, who is visiting for the evening, is then invited to ‘open’ the service in prayer – an extempore prayer to ‘Divine Spirit’, followed by the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, in which the congregation joins. The third woman on the platform is then invited to give a reading; although there is a large Bible on the lectern, the reading is an extract from Eileen Caddy’s ‘Opening Doors Within’ (1987).⁵

The reader is thanked by the chairperson, and the congregation then invited to sing another hymn, this time ‘to welcome the medium and her inspirers for the address’. A short extempore talk follows, of about seven or eight minutes’ duration, during which the medium shares a mixture of personal reminiscences and what she describes as ‘lessons learned about the place of Spirit’ in her life, affirming that the ‘presence of spirit’ is something real in the life of everyone present, and that her experiences ‘just go to show how close our loved ones are’. At the conclusion of the address, the chairperson thanks the medium and invites the congregation to sing a further hymn ‘to raise the vibration in the church’ for the ‘demonstration’, which is described as that part of the service ‘where the medium will endeavour to bring forward messages⁶ from your loved ones in spirit’.⁷ This time, the hymn is new to me, with the first line as follows: ‘Open my eyes that I may see, Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me!’⁸

The demonstration then goes on to occupy the next 40–45 minutes, representing the bulk of a service that is a little over an hour in duration. During this part of the service, referred to as the demonstration (of mediumship), the medium gives a number of messages from spirit to various members of the congregation. By way of illustration, I offer the following message delivered to me:⁹

It is a Sunday in mid-February 2006 and I am sitting in the back row at Portobello Spiritualist Church when I am called to by the medium, a middle-aged lady whom I do not know and who, so far as I know, does not know me.

Can I speak to the gentleman at the back in the lovely red, please?

Yes, bless you.

Gentleman, I have the name of Arthur on the father/grandfather’s side. I also have a grandmother and grandfather coming forward together, the male passed with cancer. You’ve had a wee dip recently, you’ve been there before, you always bounce back like a Jack-in-the-Box. I’m seeing lots of packing boxes, some still to be unpacked, shelves to do, painting, a long list of jobs, putting up curtains, it will be a good move for you. Money – more going out than coming in is a bit of a worry – employment will change, you have the means or will realise it shortly. A silver sixpence is being handed over. Grandmother is saying there was not always a lot of money, but there was a lot of love, bringing forward a horseshoe. The eyes, one lens not quite right, a gentleman is talking about one eye, the left, being weaker than the other. I also have a baby coming forward – do you have a brother in Spirit? The next eighteen months will be very interesting. You are talking, Spirit are listening. I have a gentleman with a hearing aid, says he didn’t always need it, selective deafness. You are quite aware of Spirit. There is writing to be done & the sooner the better. A gentleman is coming forward, painter & decorator, he will be helping you with the painting. A cross is also being brought forward for you – it will be a fruitful time ahead. A passport is being held over your head, travel, choose somewhere warm, as this lady always felt cold. Take the love & blessing from Spirit. Thank you.¹⁰

In the space of a typical 30- to 40-minute demonstration, some six to eight such messages might be expected. At the conclusion of the demonstration, the medium is thanked for her hard work, the reader is thanked and the service concludes with the chairperson reading out a few church notices, the taking of a collection, standing to sing the first verse from ‘The day Thou gavest, Lord, has ended’¹¹ and a closing prayer by the medium, again extempore, with everyone joining in the ‘Amen’ at the end. Following a reminder to the congregation to ‘remain seated while the medium leaves the platform’, the platform party walks up the centre aisle to the back of the hall, where tea, coffee and biscuits are served for everyone. A separate table with sandwiches and other extras is laid out for the medium, who is kept company by the chairperson and the reader.

After about 30 minutes, a few people start rearranging the chairs in front of the platform into a circle in preparation for a healing service, and those who wish to stay for this are invited to do so. There are two seats placed in the centre of the circle. The lights are dimmed and about a dozen people take their seats in the circle. A man stands and welcomes everyone, invites us to join in what he describes as ‘the healing hymn’ and leads the group in a short prayer, again extempore, and this time addressed to ‘loving Father God’. The first words of the healing hymn are: ‘Gracious Spirit, of Thy goodness, Hear our anxious prayer!’¹²

The man leading the circle then invites the healers forward and two of the people in the circle, a woman and a man, take their places, each standing behind one of the chairs in the centre; those who wish healing are then invited to come forward ‘whenever a seat is free’. A compact disc player is switched on and gentle instrumental music is played quietly but audibly. Each person coming forward is greeted by the healer, asked if there is anything they would like the healer to concentrate on or to be aware of, and then invited to relax as the healer proceeds. The healers then place their hands on the patients, around the head, shoulders and, in one case, the knees; in another, the lower back, before finishing by holding the patient’s hands for a moment or two. The patient then returns to the circle and another comes forward; altogether, six of the people in the circle come forward for healing. Apart from the brief and hushed conversations between patients and healers, everyone sits quietly. When it is clear no-one else wishes to come forward, the man who first stood rises again, invites everyone to join him in a ‘closing prayer’, and proceeds to deliver another extempore prayer. People rise, the chairs are returned to their former positions and people begin their goodbyes before the hall is closed for the evening.

This is not a description of any actual service I have attended but is instead a ‘cameo’, drawing together elements that seem to me to be typical of Spiritualist services I have participated in. That said, this portrait of a ‘typical’ service is very close to some I have actually witnessed, particularly those at Portobello Spiritualist Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. My experience of this community forms the basis of the ethnography set out in Chapter 4.

The setting, format and language of the meeting is that of the Christian tradition(s), particularly nonconformist Protestantism. The medium is a visiting medium, meaning that she maintains a circuit of churches by which she is invited to work. The convention of having visiting speakers and demonstrators was adopted from Methodism in the nineteenth century, to address the problem of having available only a limited number of mediums of sufficient calibre to give public demonstrations of mediumship. As well as drawing upon Protestant Christian forms, we see indications of traditional Western folk beliefs in fairies and other ‘little people’, as well as an interest in native North American traditions. With the ‘Seven Principles’, we see some attempt to articulate a specifically Spiritualist identity, but it is one that clearly draws upon these varied strands. This is an identity that combines concepts of God, spirit(s), angels, soul, personal development and responsibility to others, together with communication between the inhabitants of a populated spirit world and the inhabitants of the natural world.¹³

As to the service itself, the central focus is the demonstration of mediumship. This takes place in the context of a setting that involves demonstrator(s) and audience. The medium is not the only person to whom the audience is responding, and is therefore not the only person responsible for the success of the demonstration. The chairperson’s welcome to the medium serves to introduce the medium to the congregation. There may be a short explanation of how to respond to the medium, what to expect from the medium and a reminder to the audience that the medium is simply an intermediary for people in spirit. There may be mention of the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Spiritualism: A modern movement
• 3 Understanding mediumship
• 4 Case study I: Portobello Spiritualist Church, Edinburgh
• 5 Shamanism: The development of a model
• 6 Case study II: The Evenki
• 7 An apprenticeship model of shamanic practice
• Appendix: Principles of Spiritualist organizations
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index