Antonette Matteson: Clairvoyant Herbalist

Researching Antonette Matteson has been a very fun experience for me, because I can relate to her system of healing. For the most part, when one identifies as a 'Healer' in American Spiritualism, the understanding is that of someone that practices a form of Spiritual Healing involving a system of energy passes over the body (reiki, magnetic healing, etc). Mrs. Matteson's gift of healing was a bit different, she relied on the wisdom of her guides to impart their knowledge of herbal medicine to Heal.
Antonette Matteson (sometimes spelled Antoinette) was born July 12th, 1847 in Baden, Germany. Her obituary in the Evening Star Newspaper of North Tonowanda states:

Antoinette Wealthy was born in Baden, Germany, in 1847. Her parents came to the United States when Antoinette was five years old, and they located in Water Valley, where they lived for five years, removing to Buffalo in 1857. The daughter in 1867 married Judah H. R. Matteson, a musician, and lived in Dunkirk for two years. They then went to Buffalo to live.

Matteson was a member of the First Spiritualist Temple of East Aurora, as well as the New York State Association of Spiritualists (now known as the General Assembly of Spiritualists).

Matteson became quickly known for her gifts of Mediumship, specifically as a Trance Medium. She became known as a "Clairvoyant Doctor," in that she would go into a trance state and allow her guides to speak through her to prescribe herbal remedies and recipes to those who sought her advice.

Her obituary in the Buffalo Express states: For 40 years Mrs. Matteson was a clairvoyant doctor. Thousands and tens of thousands of people gladly bore witness to her healing and curing powers, which she exercised unselfishly and effectively until her last sickness.

A passage in the National Cyclopedia of American Biography by James Terry White further comments: Her control called itself a chief of the Mohican Indians, and its ability to discover diseased conditions of the system and to instruct in regard to normal and abnormal physiological states excited the astonishment of all who had an opportunity to note the phenomena. A large medical practice was built up as a result of these revelations and Mrs. Matteson employed the remedies particular to the Indian Tribe of which her controlling influence was chief, securing the various roots, herbs, and barks from the Seneca Indians of Western, New York.

The same text continues to comment: Several attempts were made to prosecute her for illegal practice, without avail. No greater eulogy upon her work can be pronounced than the statement of a leading jurist of Buffalo, who declared that it would be impossible to get a jury in Erie county to indict her, since nearly every family in the county had one or more members who had been successfully treated by her.

In 1894 Matteson published her only book known as The Occult Family Physician and Botanic Guide to Health. The work is still in print today, and can also be found online. The book starts off with a brief introduction to Matteson's spiritual unfoldment as a Medium, and touches upon the importance of Herbal Medicine.

The book then shifts to describe lists of various herbs and roots, and gives their medical and healing properties. In the last sections the work is divided into different sections organized by ailment which lists various herbal remedies she received from her guides that individuals could prepare themselves.

I picked out a few selections of her book to share. I'd like to comment though, that while the ones I chose are completely harmless, it's pretty important to be aware of what kinds of herbs you are taking and the dosage level, some of her remedies include herbs, roots, and minerals that could do some serious damage if taken incorrectly, so if you try anything from her book, do some research first.

Mint. Peppermint: It is a garden plant, much like wild mint. The whole plant is used fresh or dried. It is good for flatulency, allays, nausea, and vomiting, and will often cure colic almost instantaneously, and drank freely is good against gravel.

Chamomile: they are very useful in weak stomachs, and if taken freely will remove a slight cold.

Mrs. Mattesons Composition Powder: Pleurisy Root, powdered 2 ounces. Bayberry powder, 2 ounces. Cinnamon Powder, .5 ounce. Ginger Powder, 1.5 ounces. Cayenne Pepper, .5 ounce. Cloves, powdered, .5 ounce. 

"This composition is intended for cold, chills, cramps, and in the less violent attacks of disease. It is a remedy of much value, and may be safely used in all complaints of male or female, as well as for children." This particular remedy goes on to explain how it should be taken after a foot soak in warm water, and prepared as a tea with one teaspoon of the mix, and one teaspoon of added sugar.

Matteson was also the President of the Women's Progressive Union of Buffalo. In an article published by the Buffalo Times some of the achievements of the society are mentioned:

The association, during the hard times of 1894, started a soup kitchen on North Division Street, where hundreds of people were fed daily, and distributed clothing among the poor, besides assisting and caring for the sick and exercising a general supervision over a large territory at that time when there was so much suffering through destitution in the lower city. For its noble work at that critical time, the Women's Progressive Union received the thanks, publicly expressed, of the Common Council and the Mayor of Buffalo. Mrs. J.H.R. Matteson is the president and leader of the Union. 

After a lifetime dedicated to healing others and public service, Antonette Matteson passed away in her family home at the age of 66 after a long battle with mental and physical health issues on October 11th, 1913.

In my own practice, healing is virtually always linked with herbalism, to quote Antonette Matteson "for such is our confidence in the benevolence of the Creator, that within the vegetable kingdom may be found remedies for all the maladies of mankind."

Paschal Beverly Randolph: The Timely Aid to Spiritualists

Paschal Beverly Randolph is a figure in Spiritualism that most people have heard of, but whose teachings very few people have actually taken the time to study. Mark Twain's quote, "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." comes to mind."

Paschal Beverly Randolph was a free person of color* born in New York City in 1825. He was a famous Spiritualist Medium & Occultist; he was founder of the earliest known Rosicrucian Order in the United States. He was extremely well versed in Eastern Mystical Traditions, was a world traveler in an era where most people rarely left the town they were born in, and was well versed in traditions of folk magic, including African-American Rootwork.

[*Randolph's own perception of his racial identity seems to have been very fluid and complex at various times identifying as Creole, White, Mixed Race (claiming English, French, German, Native American and Malagasy ancestry), and later on, as African-American.]

While I'm not going to go too deeply into his life as this isn't the purpose of this particular post, he was a bit of an eccentric, and his life was filled with paradoxes.

A clearly brilliant thinker with a massive scope of knowledge, it's somewhat difficult to pin down any a clear opinion of his on anything, because he would often change opinions, or present different views depending on the audience or situation. He seemed to very much enjoy flustering social norms, and forcing others to confront their beliefs head on as brilliant minds often do. A Socrates or Diogenes comes to mind, a bit mad, but brilliant, and possibly inspired.

In his 1861 book Dealings with the Dead, Randolph presents what is essentially an alternative to the Harmonial Philosophy developed by Andrew Jackson Davis. Andrew Jackson Davis is considered the Father of Spiritualist Philosophy among American Spiritualists, and his works such as The Principles of Nature published in 1845, and his Great Harmonia published between 1850 and 1861, were almost immediately accepted as near divine revelation by most American Spiritualists, and quickly became the standard theological, and philosophical banner of Spiritualism; even if many did not credit Davis with their reliance on his texts, Spiritualists would generally still teach within the framework of his teachings. Although Spiritualism was still in it's early years, and open to Free Thought and open discussion, to critique these teachings put one outside the established status quo; to do so was a very bold claim at the time, if not slightly almost heretical.

Randolph wrote, "Not a human being, whom I ever saw, was fully satisfied with either Modern Spiritualism, or what is called Harmonial Philosophy; for the more a man bases his hopes of a life hereafter upon either of them, the more he stands on slippery ground."

He goes on to critique that the arguments presented by popular Spiritualists, and those more versed in Harmonial Philosophy. He claims that most Spiritualists are misguided by the current teachings of the day, and that they often lead to feelings of doubt, and cause many to either return to a Christian Church, or lead to atheism.

Paschal instead presents his own philosophy of Spiritualism: a deeply mystical path where one focuses on inner cultivation of the soul, where Mediumship and Psychic Phenomena are secondary, the true Clairvoyant is nearer to an individual that has worked towards enlightenment or a beatific vision. He did not dismiss Spiritualist phenomena, but felt they were only stages along the way of development, and that one would move beyond communing with the dead, to communing to higher orders of spirits, and eventually achieving a kind of mystical union with the the Spirit of God.

Both men, Davis and Randolph clearly drew from the same shared tradition that included the teachings of Swedenborg, Mesmerism, Christianity, and American Transcendentalism. They both were also trained doctors, and had several things to say on scientific theories of health, wellness, and human biology that are fairly antiquated and honestly come off today as being extremely bizarre, if not boarding on offensive.

Their doctrines aside, both men are remembered today for their brilliance, writing, and immense spiritual creativity that helped build early Spiritualism into a movement that accepted Free Thought and exploration of the Spiritual Worlds.

Although Randolph is not largely studied today, there was a period of time for the Spiritualists in Rochester, New York where Randolph's book Dealings with the Dead made an fairly large impact in the Spiritualist community. Randolph's work became considered a weapon for Spiritualist teachers and writers to use against their biggest competitor of the day, the Church of Christian Science.

In the early 1900s Christian Science was one of the fastest growing religions in the country. Founded by Mary Baker Eddy in the late 1800s, Christian Science offered a metaphysical Christianity, that promoted the concept that all illness was an illusion centered in incorrect thoughts, and offered spiritual healing through prayer, and the reading of scriptures along with their text book Science and Health.

Many of the outward practices such as spiritual healing, affirmative prayer, the conceptions of God as Spirit, and Jesus as a wise Teacher and Healer are incredibly similar to Spiritualist teachings, as such both religions tended to resent another as misguiding followers with incorrect teachings.

Educated Spiritualists who had studied both Eddy's work, Science and Health, and had been familiar with Randolph's book, Dealings with the Dead. Quickly discovered that many of the passages in Dealings with the Dead were incredibly similar to Eddy's work, to the point that many believed that she may have plagiarized parts of his work, as his book predated hers by several years. Dealings with the Dead  quickly became the defense of Spiritualists in Rochester against the arguments of Christian Science.

 The work was mentioned by Rev. Benjamin Austin, of Rochester, NY in an essay discussing Christian Science,

"Science and Health is a compilation from Berkeley and Swedenborg, from Dealings with the Dead, and from Dr. Quimby, and Evan's Mind Cure. There are original features, it is true, but they are not numerous or important."

The work is also sited immensely in the novel, Timely Aid by Mrs. Delia Horn. Delia Horn was a Rochester Spiritualist who according to a reference by Rev. Austin, was at one point a pubil of Mrs. Eddy. Timely Aid is a work of Spiritualist teachings and apologetics written in the format of a popular  novel. In the book Spiritualism, Protestantism, and Christian Science are weighed, with Spiritualism coming out as the victor. In this novel almost every argument given in favor of Christian Science is contrasted with a quote, or in some cases entire passages from Dealings with the Dead.

As happens, the fighting between the two denominations passed into history. But the memory of Paschal Beverly Randolph as a brilliant Spiritualist thinker persists.

To end with a passage from Timely Aid, which quotes from Paschal Beverly Randolph's Dealings with the Dead:

"Turning to my old book Dealings with the Dead, penned by Paschal Randolph, we find: "God who made us well knows that there is more of good than evil in our hearts, by virtue of our ancestry - Nature and Himself"

Espiritismo: the Good Spirits Watch Over Us

I received a few questions about my previous post explaining myself as a Spiritist, so I wanted to write a part two. First, the simple summary of Spiritism that I give to people, is that all Spiritists are Spiritualists, but not all Spiritualists are Spiritists.

Spiritism, is a branch of Spiritualism, that follows (to varying degrees) the teachings codified by Allan Kardec, a French Educator and Writer who lived in the 1800s. These teachings are found in a series of books known as the Spirits Codification. These include works such as the Spirits Book, the Mediums Book, and the Gospel According to Spiritism.

If you want to see a great movie about the beginnings of Spiritism, I highly recommend watching the movie Kardec on Netflix.

Spiritism, like other forms of Spiritualism, spread rapidly around the world, and as it did, developed in different ways as it interacted and blended with local populations. As the teachings and publications of Spiritism became extremely popular throughout Europe, they were brought by intellectuals and students studying abroad in European countries to the Caribbean, South America, and Central America.

Spiritism, or Espiritismo in Spanish, rapidly became a popular alternative to the Catholic Church in the island nations, and in the particular instance that I'll be focusing on, in Cuba. In Cuba, the upper and middle classes continued to practice Espiritismo along the lines and structure codified by Kardec, while followers of African diaspora religions such as Lukumi (Santeria, or Ocha), Vodu, and Palo Mayombe began to also practice Espiritismo. 

These ancient systems of healing, divination, worship, song, dance, and ancestral practices were blended with Espiritismo, creating a tradition (actually, several traditions) that is both completely Spiritualist, and completely Caribbean. 

To add one more layer of complexity, these spiritual traditions have over the years become particularly popular in Mexico. In Mexico, these Cuban religious practices such as Espiritismo Cruzado, Lukumi, and Palo are very freely blended and mixed with traditional Mexican spiritual practices of Folk-Catholicism, Curanderismo, and Mexican Spiritualist and Spiritist practices. This highly mixed spiritual system, has then been brought by immigrants to the United States, especially in Southern California.  

It was this highly mixed Folk Spiritism that I first encountered.

One of the Botanicas that I would visit had a row of small spaces set up to some of their Spirits that they would work with: two very popular Saints in Cuban traditions, St. Lazarus and St. Barbara, were next to two very popular Saints in Mexican traditions, St. Martin Caballero, and St. Jude. Each had a little glass of water, and a lit piece of incense near them; there was a little stoop in the corner with a curiously watchful stone head of the Orisha Ellegua, surrounded by candy, and all of these were under the deep, hollow, watchful eyes of a huge statue of Santa Muerte on a high up shelf.

It took me awhile to sort out the individual parts of these different traditions I was presented with, and it has been a pleasure to respectfully learn about each one on it's own terms. I'm still continuing to learn about different aspects of them, but I'm much more self aware of how I relate to them as an individual. Being introduced to this eclectic mix of Folk Spiritism and other Spiritual traditions not only gave me a great appreciation for my own ancestral practices, but also helped me develop a framework that I could use to better understand how to relate to the world in a spiritual way.

I am a Spiritist: I draw on the wisdom and teachings of Kardec, a life of Faith, Hope, and Charity is absolutely something we should strive for. I am not, however, a Kardecist, or Scientific Spiritist. I am a folk Spiritist through and through. 

This approach to Spiritism allows me in my own way to follow those teachings that Kardec codified. The Good Spirits, as Kardec says, guide us to progress, by helping others. I've been guided to learn the properties of herbs, to make spiritual baths, to read cards, to give messages from the dead, to set candles, and to offer prayers to the Saints and Good Spirits for elevation and light. All of this, as part of a calling to help others. 

We're all called by God to help in some way, and this is the way that I have been called and feel the most at home with. 

A Mere Disciple of Kardec

For those of you that may not know me personally, this past December I made the very difficult choice to leave the Spiritualist Church I had been attending for about three years. I was very active in this church, in several different capacities: Historian, Secretary, Lyceum Director (basically a Sunday School teacher), the occasional volunteer Medium, and friend. It was an incredibly difficult choice, but something that I felt very deeply was for the best, and was something that my own Guides wanted me to do.

Late this past summer, I started to read through the works of Spiritism, this was originally part of small outreach I was doing on my Instagram with sharing different Spiritualist texts, but more and more the focus seemed to be on Kardec and the Spiritist books. The wisdom in the books helped me through several stressful events during the late summer, and I carried on in studying them more.

I'm not a stranger to Kardec and the Spiritist Codification. I had read selections from the Spirits Book and Gospel, and the Mediums Book was the first textbook on mediumship I studied when I was about 16. It was a huge help in understanding my own mediumship, and the importance of assisting others; it helped me, and I did understand the major points, but I certainly didn't give it the kind of study it deserved. I largely set aside Kardec's books afterwards.

When I was attending my church, I wanted to assist with education as much as possible, so I spent the bulk of my time in studying Spiritualist texts and books and coming up with different things to share that might be interesting to the congregation. I had largely avoided Kardec because of this, but by late Fall this past year I was reading small portions of Kardec almost daily.

Coming back to Spiritism, and the works of Kardec, was like reading a letter from an old friend. As I worked through the books my sense of purpose felt much more like myself than it had been, and I felt a great relief to some of the anxiety that I had been having from so many different aspects of life.

In early December I cam across a very old, out of print book called Two Appeals to The Leaders of Spiritualism in England and America by Giorlamo Parisi, a Disciple of Allan Kardec. I'm sure it's not a coincidence that this book came to me then. Giolamo Parisi was an Italian Spiritist from Florence in 1873. The small book lays out specific reasons why he feels that American Spiritualism at the time, while good, was lacking in the depth and spiritual fulfillment provided by the teachings of Spiritism, and that American Spiritualism would flourish if they took a few points from Spiritism. Although things have certainly changed since the writing of his book, I found that many of the points Parisi made, were the same as some of my own issues with the state of Spiritualist Churches today.

Reading this little book helped me reaffirm to myself that I am very much a Spiritist; to be clear, I am far from a strict Scientific Spiritist, or Kardecist. But in terms of principles, I am very much a Spiritist. I absolutely agree that we should live in Faith, Hope, and Charity; help one another, offer healing, prayer, and kindness to everyone in the Spirit of Charity. These are things I can stand for.

To quote Giorlamo Parisi, I am "under the banner of Love and Charity, unfurled by Allan Kardec" As a fellow 'mere disciple of Allan Kardec' I absolutely agree, to progress, to develop as our true selves, we must live our lives with "charity in thought, in words, and in acts."