Spiritualist Baptism: Crowned With Flowers

American Spiritualism as a religious institution really doesn't have that many rituals. Most Spiritualist Churches were largely organized by philosophically minded Spiritualists who felt that rituals were at best a distraction from pure spiritual worship, and at worst, a superstitious hold over from the Dark Ages. 

However, despite the mission of some Spiritualists to have a religion free of ritual, the vast majority of Spiritualists very much wanted it. To this day most Spiritualist rituals are largely private, however, the concession was made for the ritual of Baptism. 

Possibly the first recorded Spiritualist Baptism took place in 1896 in Pittsburgh, PA. The ceremony was performed by a Mrs. Ida Whitelock from Boston, MA. The ritual was described as almost exactly as a Christian Baptism "save for the omission of the name of Christ." The child was instead Baptized "In the name of All Good." 

Although this was similar to a Christian ceremony, one unique difference that we shall see repeated in Spiritualist Baptisms is the central importance of flowers. In this first ceremony, the baptismal water was sprinkled on the child using a white rose, and a small white carnation was placed in the infant's hand. Those participating in the ceremony, the child's parents and godparents, were asked to hold a chain of flowers throughout the ceremony. 

In 1897 the Times-Picayune described the first Spiritualist Baptism occurring in New Orleans where "several young ladies and little children will be baptized with flowers, according to Spiritualist ritual" In this case we see an interesting transition to where the individuals are actually described as being Baptized with flowers. 

In 1911 another large Baptismal event was recorded in the South Bend Tribune which states that the Indiana Association of Spiritualists held a large Camp meeting at Camp Chesterfield which included "the baptismal with flowers of several children." This instance again repeated the Baptism specifically with flowers, but added another element: each child was crowned with a wreath of roses and was actually blessed by the Spirit Guide of each child. 

The Spiritualist Baptism is unique in these two aspects: 1. the individual is baptized with flowers (either petals or petals in water), and 2. a blessing of their Spirit Guides or Guardian Angels are prayed to during the ritual, to guide and keep them over the course of their life. These two parts form most of the standard form of the rite you will see in most Spiritualist Manuals. 

[Update]

When I wrote this in 2021 I explained that "baptism of children in Spiritualist Churches these days is somewhat uncommon, and adult baptism even less." I have actually seen the number of Spiritualist baptisms go up in recent years, and even had the privilege to officiate one.

Regarding adult baptisms, I wrote "Although I haven't seen many written instances of Adult baptism, I have been informed by a few individuals that it exists" I very recently came across a rare Spiritualist Manual that was probably published in the 1970s that has information going back to at least the 1950s or earlier that actually included a complete layout for the service of an adult Spiritualist Baptism. 

A few years ago when I was serving at a Spiritualist Church a friend suggested that we bring back this practice and also allow adults to participate and receive Spiritualist baptisms. I absolutely am for the idea, and I hope this beautiful ceremony might catch on again some day.