The Spiritualists, by Shannon Taggart
© Shannon Taggart
Following text and images by Shannon Taggart.
I asked these spirit figures if I was seeing them or if I was seeing what was in my own brain.
They answered “both.”Eileen Garrett, twentieth century medium
Spiritualism is a loosely organized religion based primarily on a belief in the ability to communicate with spirits of the dead. I first became aware of Spiritualism as a teenager after my cousin received a reading from a psychic medium. The woman revealed a strange family secret about my grandfather’s death that proved to be true. Since then I have been deeply curious about how someone could possibly know such a thing.
© Shannon Taggart
Spiritualism began just outside of Rochester, New York in 1848 when two young girls, Kate and Margaret Fox, claimed to be in contact with the spirit of a murdered man buried underneath their home. This small act developed into a movement that grew to preoccupy a broad spectrum of the American and British public during the second half of the nineteenth century. It also managed to seduce, enrage and affect some of the most influential people of the time including William Butler Yeats, Carl Jung, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony and Harry Houdini.
Spiritualism became the religion of the rebellious and its platform anticipated the social revolutions of the 1960’s. It played an enormous role in the success of the women’s suffrage movement. It also supported the abolition of slavery, sexual freedom, marriage reform, health reform (including vegetarianism and homeopathic medicines) and children’s rights. The exact number of Spiritualists is unknown but it is estimated that those participating in Spiritualist séances at its height number around eleven million in America. Spiritualism’s popularity began to wane near the end of the nineteenth century with the exposure of many respected mediums as frauds. Although it never fully regained its credibility, Spiritualism has enjoyed numerous cycles of rebirth and is still being practiced today.
© Shannon Taggart
In 2001 I began photographing at Lily Dale, the world’s largest Spiritualist community. In 2003 I traveled to the Arthur Findlay College for Psychic Science in England and later focused on churches in Rochester, New York. Since this venture began, I have immersed myself in the history and philosophy of Spiritualism, experienced numerous spiritual healings, had more readings than I can count, took part in a myriad of circles and séances, attended classes, witnessed a multitude of church services and sat in a medium’s cabinet, all with my camera. Despite this exposure, I find I am no closer to any definitive answer of what it all means. I feel as if I’ve peered into a mystery.
© Shannon Taggart
