Fire Mediumship: Tried With Fire

Spiritualism is a religious tradition that takes the biblical adage to "try the spirits" fairly seriously. Spiritualists are encouraged to be skeptical, to question the value of the messages brought by spirits, and to test the demonstrations of mediumship put before them.

Spiritualists often use the phrase "evidential" to refer to the factual accuracy of a message given by a spirit through a medium. Today, in most Spiritualist communities, this "evidential mediumship" generally means various forms of mental mediumship (such as clairvoyance) conducted in message services and circles, where the messages given by spirits through a medium are analyzed for facts, as well as the mediums' descriptions of the spirits' appearance and behavior. 

While much emphasis now is placed on clairvoyant gifts, in the past many more Spiritualist mediums were more likely to work as trance mediums. Trance mediumship occurs when a spirit blends their auric body with that of a medium, and the spirit is able to speak and act through the medium's physical body and speak with their voice.

There are varying levels of trance mediumship ranging from full conscious awareness of the medium, to a complete unconscious trance state where the medium enters a "magnetic sleep" and is completely unaware of what takes place until the trance has ended. 

In the past certain mediums would be put to what was called the "fire test." The test was relatively simple, it was assumed that if the Medium was indeed in a genuine controlled state by a spirit guide, they would be guarded from harm by the higher forces of the spirit world, and would not be effected by the physical effects of fire while in trance. The mediums who passed this test were known as "fire mediums"

E.W. Sprague in his textbook on mediumship wrote, "a fire medium is one whose powers are such that he may handle fire, or heated articles that would burn other people, without his being burned. If one possesses this phase of mediumship, when under the influence of certain spirits, his flesh becomes impervious to fire, and the cuticle is not injured by contact with it."

An artist's sketch of Isa Wilson Kayner

One of the most well known fire mediums of early Spiritualism was Isa Wilson Kayner. Isa was born in a small town outside of Chicago in 1830. While she was still young her parents embraced the then new Spiritualist movement, however as a young adult she became dissatisfied with the Spiritualism of her parents and distanced herself from Spiritualist practices.

At age 25 her mother became seriously ill and near death. Having exhausted all other options, in desperation her father asked his spirit guides for assistance to heal his wife, and his guides told him that Isa could help her mother if she embraced her mediumship. Although Isa at the time still viewed Spiritualism with disdain, she felt if this could save her mother's life she would put her views aside. 

During a séance it was revealed that Isa's primary spirit guide was the spirit of a Zoroastrian Priest who went by the name of Ashka. He stated that she was called to be a Spiritualist and she needed to dedicate her life to Spiritualism and mediumship, only then would she be able to heal her mother. She agreed and fell into a trance where Ashka was then able to heal her mother. 

Isa believed that because of Ashka's role as a Zoroastrian priest while he was alive, and his service in a Fire Temple attending a Holy Fire, that she was able to work particularly well as a fire medium. She is quoted saying: "When Ashka's spirit possess me I can bathe in fire and it cannot hurt me."  

An article described Isa falling into a trance by her guide Ashka and handling glass lamps heated by fire with her bare hands and placing them on her neck and face as if there was no heat. The lamps were then handed over to one of the observers selected at random by the audience and they immediately dropped the glass lamp the moment it touched their hand due to the heat. 

An article stated that during one of her travels teaching Spiritualism, a barn caught fire where race horses were kept, and were trapped by the flames. She called on her spirit guide and she was able to walk through the flames, throw her coat over a horse, walk it out of the barn, and repeated this six times with both herself and the horses untouched by fire. She stated "fire will not burn anything I touch so long as I touch it"

Although Isa was most famous for her role as a fire medium, she was primarily a spiritual healer. She stated that she believed that her connection to fire assisted her in being a better Healer. Isa dedicated her entire life to traveling throughout the United States practicing spiritual healing, offering demonstrations of Mediumship, and preaching the message of Spiritualism. 

Rainbow Bridge: Animal Afterlife & Spiritualism

A topic that I regularly write about is how Spiritualism was born and shaped in an era of Reform, and how most early Spiritualists were committed to various Reform movements such as Abolitionism, Women's Suffrage, and the Temperance movement. One movement that I have not seen covered that well however is the Spiritualist commitment to both Vegetarianism and Animal Rights. 

In the late 1800s we begin to see an organized movement of individuals that publicly advocate for the welfare of animals, as well as the promotion of a vegetarian lifestyle. Although these two movements often had mutual members, many early vegetarians were more often motivated from a perspective of health and hygiene rather than specifically animal welfare.

One of the roots of these movements can be traced to the popularity of the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, the Swedish mystic who's writings were a heavy influence on early Spiritualists. 

Emanuel Swedenborg's writings (as well as his own lifestyle) advocated a vegetarian lifestyle as a more pure and spiritual way of life, interpreting the bible that human beings were created to eat a plant based diet in the Garden of Eden, and that eating meat was a result of a fallen spiritual nature and resulted in unnatural cruelty. Thus by eating a plant based diet, we were actually returning to our original pure state of being, and becoming closer to God. 

These spiritual ideals influenced not only early Spiritualists, but also became the basis for the foundation of the Bible Christian Church founded by William Cowherd. William Cowherd formed his Church on the teachings of Swedenborg, and encouraged his followers to follow a vegetarian lifestyle, his teachings in both England and the United States increased awareness of Vegetarianism, and eventually lead to the founding of the Vegetarian Society. 

With regards to Animal Rights, we also see around this time period the organization of several other groups dedicated to the welfare of animals such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in 1886, The National Anti-Vivisection Society in 1875, and American Anti-Vivisection Society in 1883. 

During this time period, the combination of Vegetarianism, Animal Welfare Groups, and alternative Spiritual traditions such as Spiritualism and the teachings of Swedenborg began to slowly shift the public view of animals as things to animals as persons. 

In 1896 a Veterinarian (and Vegetarian) in New York City named Dr. Samuel Johnson was so moved by a grieving client whose dog had died, that he offered his apple orchard as a place of burial, because animal burials were not permitted within New York City. This ban extended to both public cemeteries, as well as religious cemeteries; most religions did not recognize animals as having a soul and it was not considered proper to give them a burial in a religious cemetery.

News of his act of kindness spread and soon Dr. Johnson was receiving hundreds of letters from grieving pet owners who wanted a place they could bury their animal friends. Eventually this land would become known as Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, the oldest and largest pet cemetery in the United States. The history of this is documented in Dr. Johnson's Apple Orchard: The Story of America's First Pet Cemetery by Edward C. Martin Jr. 

In 1901 Daniel Hull published a short work called the Manual of Magnetic Healing, which was a primer on how to practice Spiritualist Healing. This work included a short appendix titled Vegetarianism. He states that he included this to his work because "every healer will be more healthful, and therefore more successful for being a Vegetarian."

Although this work primarily discusses the health benefits of the vegetarian lifestyle, Daniel Hull explains that in his view, killing animals is immoral, and offers some thoughts on what this means to Spiritualists:

"There is a question among Spiritualists, whether animals live after the demise of their bodies. I will not discuss it here. In either case I could not afford to destroy their present lives for my selfish gratification. Their present lives, for aught I know, are worth as much to them as mine is to me."

The subject of animals in the afterlife would be fully elaborated on decades later in an amazing work titled When Your Animal Dies, by Sylvia Barbanell. 

The book was intended as a kind of self-help book for those grieving the loss of their pets, which may have been one of the first, if not the first, book on this subject. Aside from being a work of consolation, the book is really a masterpiece of spiritualist thought. The book contains hundreds of testimonies and anecdotes that testify that animals can demonstrate spirit communication and have an existence in the spirit world.

Although the book's intention is not explicitly philosophical, Sylvia Barbanell does give passing remarks on how animals exist in the afterlife, and she provides various pieces of philosophy from spiritualist authors as well as wisdom from spirit guides. 

The conclusions she reaches may not be what most spiritualists today would come to, given that this book was really the first of it's kind and written in 1940 it's her discussion of this topic is impressive.

She raises two points: one, that non-human animals, particularly non-domesticated animals, don't have individual souls, but rather have a united spirit and exist as a collection. The second point, is that animals develop a kind of individual identify because of their relationship with humans, and this allows certain animals to communicate in the afterlife. 

Personally, I find the first point fairly weak, and given that massive amount of evidence she provides on spirit communication from animals, both domesticated, and non domesticated, I almost wonder if she was not fully convinced of these arguements either. The concept of animals existing as persons is still a radical concept to many, and in the 1940s it may have been even more difficult to put into words. 

Her second point, I think does have some merit to it, and is an excellent example of the beautiful teachings of Spiritualism. That our loving connections to our friends and loved ones, be they animal or human, are not severed by death, and that Love can connect us across the Etheric and allow us to communicate. And this is demonstrated time after time, and story after story in her book.

Today there is virtually no question on whether or not animals participate as individuals in the afterlife among Spiritualists: the afterlife of animals is considered an established fact "scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism." 

Most Spiritualist have adopted the relatively modern tradition of the "Rainbow Bridge" as an accepted part of the Spiritualist tradition, which fits quite well with the Spiritualist belief in the afterlife as a Summer-Land. 

That there is a meadow "this side of Heaven" where animals go to rest in an eternal summer, free of pains and suffering, and can wait for their friends to cross over into Spirit, and see each other once more. 

Flowers from the Dead: The Spiritualist Flower Service

The importance of flowers in Spiritualism cannot be underestimated. Spiritualist Churches are often filled with flowers and floral imagery, and in many cases will be named after flowers. The Sunflower is a particular favorite and is one of the most popular symbols of Spiritualism. 

Flowers also have a special religious place among Spiritualists. In terms of Spiritualist doctrines the Spirit-World is often described as the "Summerland:" an eternal land of meadows and peace, an endless Summer. As Cora L.V. Scott poetically described, "the gardens of God."

The ritual use of flowers among Spiritualists can be traced to the Victorian tradition of the Language of Flowers. In the Victorian Era, when public and private expression was extremely strict, one could express a range of meanings encoded in a bouquet of flowers. One of the most popular uses for this was in courtship where one could express romantic intentions through flowers given as a gift, but it was also used to express a wide range of meanings and emotions: friendship, gratitude, faith, consolation, etc.

The early centers of Spiritualism were the homes of Spiritualists where seances took place in parlors around a family tea table, and flowers were an essential part of the Victorian home.  Spiritualism, and this tradition of meaningful floral arrangements began to overlap in these early Home Circles, and the presence of flowers began to be understood within a spiritual context. 

Spirits that were present during a séance would often use this flower language as a method of communication, if this was done through mental mediumship the Medium would clairvoyantly be shown flowers used to express specific meanings, this is still a very prevalent method of mediumistic communication used by Spiritualists today. More literally, in physical seances there are accounts of Spirits materializing flowers to the sitters present.

The presence of flowers actually grew to be considered a key component of Spiritualist meetings and seances. It became to be understood that their presence during a séance would give off positive vibrations that could assist in the production of spiritual phenomena and better assist the developing Mediums. Various Spiritualist writers began to offer their thoughts and observations over what sorts of flowers would best assist different kinds of mediumistic phenomena. 

As Spiritualist Churches began to develop, new forms of religious rituals were created that included the use of flowers. As I discussed in another blog, the ritual of Spiritualist Baptism was eventually developed and flowers became the most important aspect of this ritual: one would be sprinkled with flower petals, or in some cases crowned with flowers. 

What eventually would come to be known as a "Flower Service" is a natural outgrowth of these religious practices that originated in the early Home Circles of Spiritualists. 

During a Spiritualist Flower Service, if an individual wanted to receive a "Flower Message" from a Spirit through a Medium, they would be expected to bring a flower or bouquet of flowers to the service. The flowers would be placed on the altar or platform; in most cases it was unknown to the Mediums serving who brought which flowers, and individuals would sometimes add a ribbon or piece of paper to the flowers they brought so that they would know which message was meant for them. 

After prayers and hymns, the Medium will take the flowers in hand and deliver a message while holding them. A common misunderstanding is that the flowers themselves are read symbolically, this is not the case, rather, the vibrations from the flowers are supposed to assist the Medium in giving a message from the Spirits reaching out to the individual who brought them to the service. 

This method of Mediumship is generally known as psychometry, where the Spirits communicate clairvoyantly generated by the Medium's sense of touch while holding an object, in this case, flowers. 

An excellent example of a Flower Service was recorded by George F. Goerner, in his work A Record of Psychic Experiences. George Goerner was the President of the Los Angeles Society for Advanced Psychical Research. In 1922 he published his work which is a cumulation of his research that he collection while attending various seances and Spiritualist Churches services in California mostly during the 1920s. 

He recorded a Flower Service that took place at Peoples Spiritualist Church, Los Angeles California during the evening of November 13th 1921.

On the above date I again purchased four roses to take to the church, hoping to have another flower message from mother. I wrapped a piece of writing paper around the stems, on which I had written, "a rose for mother: one for sister Clara; one for sister Annie, and one for Minnie, from George." 

Mrs. Miller delivered the flower messages, as usual. She took up my cluster of roses and read the message as follows.

"These beautiful roses bring me the influence of a dear sweet mother. She comes so happy and is pleased to know that you thought to bring them. There are four who come and you brought a rose for mother, one for sister Clara, and one for each of the other two - I do not catch the names clearly but your mother says, we are all here to greet you; we saw you wrap them up and we know who they are for. You don't have to wait until tomorrow, my son. We can tell you know. We are all here." 

Mrs. Miller continued: "Your mother says, don't worry about anything, George. I am always with you and things are not going to remain so uncertain much longer. Be patient a little while and you will have much to be thankful for. We are here tonight."

After the conclusion of his account of attending the Flower Service he added some of his thoughts regarding the mediumship he observed from the mediums:

There were probably as many as 30 messages given out by the two mediums - Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Inez Wagner. While a few incidents of unconscious mind-reading seen apparent here and there, the greater part of the messages is so intimately related to events known only to one or two persons on earth and family members on the spirit side, that it would be out of the question to attempt to account for more than one-forth of the results by telepathy. 

About a hundred years later, Flower Services continue to be held among Spiritualists, who still even today, in moments of communion with the Spirit-World, incorporate flowers to assist them in raising spiritual vibrations, bringing to mind the verse by Cora L.V. Scott, "the spring-time, with its bursting buds and flowers, gives forth, in its wonderous way, the utterance of prayer."

A Shiver and a Shake, A Medium Does Not Make

I've come to learn that there are quite a few individuals now going around various Spiritualist and Metaphysical communities selling their "abilities" as Physical Mediums. 

I've been trying to figure out how I can address my own concerns about this situation with my own local community, so that even if people choose to attend one of these circles, they at least can be aware to be on guard. 

Pondering all this in the back of my mind, I was looking through one of my favorite old Spiritualist books, Genuine Mediumship  and I found this little gem of wisdom that I wanted to share:

"The earnest investigator of spiritualistic phenomena must always bear in mind that the mere production of mediumistic phenomena of the physical phase is not the real object of the investigation and sittings. These things, interesting as they may be in themselves, should be regarded as merely the incidents of the intelligent communication and reception of messages from the inhabitants of the higher planes of life and existence. The spiritualistic circle should be more than a mere "wonder shop" in which are exhibited strange and unusual physical phenomena; rather should it be regarded as the receiving end of the wireless system over which we may and do receive valuable communications from those who have passed on before us." 

"As a writer has said: 'It is not so much that the table moves with or without contact, or that strange rappings are heard, that is of paramount importance, but that by these means of communication actual and intelligent communication can be obtained and maintained with so-called dead people; and evidences of spirit identity, as well as loving and cheering messages may be obtained in that way from loved ones who were supposed to be gone forever. This is the important point to be established beyond all peradventure.'"