Hydesville Rappings
The Hydesville Rapping’s is considered to mark the birth of Modern Day Spiritualism.
The Rapping’s established that:
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It was possible to communicate with the spirit world
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That communications were made easy because of an easily understood code
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Certain people are mediums
The Hydesville Rapping’s were discovered by the Fox family who had just moved to the small town of Hydesville (New York State) USA. Noises (Rapping’s) were already being heard in the house but on the night of 31st March 1848, the noises had escalated to such a level that the whole family could not sleep. The two young daughters, Kate and Margaretta, clapped their hands and said to the noise “Come on Mr Splitfoot, Do as I do”. The children were surprised when raps could be heard after their claps and when they asked for their ages they were given the correct answer as well. Kate and Margaretta also made soundless claps as well and these too were repeated. The family then realised that the entity could see as well as hear.
The mother of the Fox family, Margaret, asked how many children she had and their ages. The answer she received included one child that had died in infancy that no one knew about. By this time the whole neighbourhood had joined them!
The rapping’s were important as they demonstrated that is possible to communicate with those on the “other side of life”. The Fox sisters established an alphabet type code and thus allowing conversation / communication. By using this code, the Fox family discovered that the spirit making the raps was a peddler called Charles B Rosna who had been murdered in 1843 by a man called John C Bell who used to live in the house and his body had been hidden in the cellar walls along with the peddler’s tin box. A skeleton later found in the basement confirmed this. This established that not only can the spirit world communicate with us but that we could in turn communicate back to them.
The full story of the Hydesville Rapping’s was published in a non spiritualist newspaper that year.
It is interesting to note that on the same day initial contact had been made in Hydesville, the “Poughkeepsie seer”, Andrew Jackson Davies , then in New York City, heard a voice he described as “Tender and Strong” that told him “Brother, the good work has begun – behold a living demonstration is born”.
Spiritualism
The philosophy of SNU Spiritualism is founded upon our Seven Principles. These are our fundamental core principles and yet, unlike other religions, Spiritualists can interpret them as they think best. The concepts and original wording of the Seven Principles came through the mediumship of Emma Hardinge Britten, one of Spiritualism's greatest mediums and speakers. Emma was inspired in 1871, by the communicating spirit of Robert Owen, to summarise the philosophy of Spiritualism in principles that all Spiritualists would agree.
