Spiritualists believed that after shedding the body in death, the spirit would continue on a celestial journey and help those on Earth create a more just world.
Investigative seances held by Canadian physician Thomas Glendenning Hamilton and his wife, Lillian Hamilton, attracted a visit from British author Arthur Conan Doyle.
(University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections)
An art exhibit, ‘The Undead Archive: 100 Years of Photographing Ghosts,’ sees contemporary artists contextualize uncanny photographs taken between the World Wars in Winnipeg.
When Teya and Salena take to the Eurovision stage next week, their song may be new, but their story of ghostly authorship and spirit possession comes straight from Poe’s work.
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In her new memoir, Stella Prize winner Heather Rose reflects on overcoming childhood trauma and adult pain with spiritual work. But our reviewer wishes it allowed moments of ‘pause or ambiguity’.
Beth Saunders, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Alternative beliefs like spiritualism seem to experience resurgences in times of crisis. Taggart has spent the past 20 years exploring the oft-misunderstood religion.
David Vincent of death metal band Morbid Angel in Washington, D.C., in September 2012.
(Metal Chris/flickr)
Today viewers may be preoccupied by the methods used by spirit photographers, but spirit photographs had a notable impact on the bereaved who commissioned the portraits.
Spirit photograph from 1901.
(Library of Congress/John K. Hallowell; S.W. Fallis, photographer)
Researchers unearthed the 105,000-year-old artefacts from a spiritual site in southern Africa. Although far from the coast, the area is associated with stories of a great water snake.
A number of U.S. mediums have claimed contact with the spirit of the late George Floyd. Their ‘channelling’ continues a tradition of white spiritualists whitewashing black lives.
Valley of the Dawn members celebrate ‘Day of the Indoctrinator’ at their temple complex in Brazil on May 1. This year’s event is postponed due to coronavirus.
Márcia Alves
Brazil’s Valley of the Dawn faith is often dismissed as a cult. But many of the group’s fantastical rituals are a recognizable reaction to this harsh world of inequality, loneliness and pandemics.