Spiritualism
Spiritualism is the system of religious beliefs centered on the presumption that communication with the dead, or spirits, is possible (Grolier '97). Spiritualism challenged dominant cultural beliefs of the 19th century (Paul) and is still in practice today.
Spiritualism has been documented in existence from ancient Egyptian and Indian cultures, but its modern form began in 1848. Margaret Fox and her younger sister Catie grew up in Hydesville, a small town in western New York, a section of America well known for its deviant behavior in this time period (Moore, p.5). These girls heard thumping noises in their farmhouse, and developed a system of communication with the spirit by clapping. They learned the ghost was Charles Rosa, who claimed his throat was slit by the home's former owner, John Bell, and he had been buried in the cellar (Guiley). When they dug up the cellar floor, it contained teeth, hair, and bones.
Margaret and Catie's oldest sister Leah smelled a gold mine and opportunistically took her younger sisters on tour doing stage shows. When their story reached Rochester, they quickly gained fame at the ages of fourteen and eleven, and the spiritualistic movement swept through the United States quickly.
Many factors contributed to the rapid popularity spiritualism received. Two movements that preceded spiritualism were Mesmerism and Swedenborgianism, named after the men who started them (Guiley). Mesmer's ideas demonstrated that doors could open to the spirit world and Swedenborgianism, a religion in Sweden, dealt with the immortal soul and combined religion and science(Washington, p.14). Spiritualism gained acceptance because these beliefs were already in existence.
Spiritualism offered a...
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...d in the 1980s (Guiley). Spiritualism purported evidence of survival after death along with spirits performing cool paranormal activity. Its activity spread across America and developed deep roots in Great Britian as well. People back then, as they are today, succumbed to the mystery and power Spiritualism had to offer.
Works Cited
Grolier Encyclopedia. "Spiritualism." 1997. CD-ROM
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience. Harper Collins Publishing, New York City. 1991.
Moore, R. Laurence. In Search of White Crows. Oxford University Press, New York. 1977.
Moore, R. Laurence. The Occult in America. University of Illinois Press, Chicago, IL. 1983. Pages 135-161.
Paul, Angus. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Sept. 1, 1988. p.A9
Washington, Peter. Madame Balvatsky's Baboon. Schocken Books Inc., New York. 1993.
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most widely read comedies about love. This seems somewhat strange, however, in light of the fact that so few of its characters seem to display any kind of full or true love. A close examination of the actions and words of each of the players will reveal that only one of them, by the end of Act V, should be considered a "lover".
Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning reasonable people into fools. Out of love, ridiculous emotions arise, like jealousy and desperation. Love can shield us from the truth, narrowing a perspective to solely what the lover wants to see. Though beautiful and inspiring when requited, a love unreturned can be devastating and maddening. In his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare comically explores the flaws and suffering of lovers. Four young Athenians: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, are confronted by love’s challenge, one that becomes increasingly difficult with the interference of the fairy world. Through specific word choice and word order, a struggle between lovers is revealed throughout the play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses descriptive diction to emphasize the impact love has on reality and one’s own rationality, and how society’s desperate pursuit to find love can turn even strong individuals into fools.
In conclusion, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare effectively uses the motifs of the seasons, the moon, and dreams to show that love, irrationality, and disobedience directly cause chaos. By calling to mind the seasons in unnatural order, describing the moon behaving strangely, and discussing the dualistic, irrational nature of dreams, Shakespeare effectively evokes a sense of chaos and disorder. Linking each of these motifs to the themes of love, irrationality, and disobedience allows Shakespeare to illustrate the disarray that is bound to result from any romance.
Love plays a very significant role in this Shakespearian comedy, as it is the driving force of the play: Hermia and Lysander’s forbidden love and their choice to flee Athens is what sets the plot into motion. Love is also what drives many of the characters, and through readers’ perspectives, their actions may seem strange, even comical to us: from Helena pursuing Demetrius and risking her reputation, to fairy queen Titania falling in love with Bottom. However, all these things are done out of love. In conclusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream displays the blindness of love and how it greatly contradicts with reason.
Society needs order because it is the keystone that keeps modern civilization from collapsing in on itself. Once removed, society succumbs to its most basic state: emotions. Pure, raw emotions fill the void where logic once dictated and the world falls into chaos. It is this very situation where Shakespeare drew his inspiration for his play, A Midsummer’s Night Dream. In a world with four lovers, hoodwinked by the lord of the fairies and his loyal servant Robin, disorder ensnares the human race and chaos ensues. Through the use of prosody, Shakespeare was able to juxtapose the Athenian nobles, the working class, and the fairy world to create a sense of disarray that demonstrated the human need for order.
...o discover the truth. Theosophists hoped that the tenets of their beliefs would be taken on by humanity, with the expectation that a ‘brotherhood of man’ spirit, would fill the void that science had left religious believers with. Theosophy had elements of evolution within its doctrine that may have tempted those who wanted to ‘move with the scientific ideas of the day and at the same time retain a belief in life after death. With a cursorary eye, it would be easy to view mesmerism, spiritualism, the actions of the SPR and Theosophy as completely different pursuits. But on closer inspection, one can see that there is a sameness that runs through each order. Mesmerism, spiritualism, the SPR and Theosophy all share interchangable traits. The sciences were affected by religion and spirituality questions and the occult pursuits were influenced by the age of science.
As long as one can remember, paranormal beliefs have always existed in human society. They are living in every man’s childhood and in every corner of human’s life. From the burning belief about Santa Claus’s gifts under a Christmas’s tree in the morning to a scary game about Bloody Mary and her coming back from the dead, it seems that people cannot help but draw themselves to these stories. Even when these beliefs fade, there would be a new one that eventually shows up. No matter how much science has progressed, the belief in paranormal phenomena still remains in society. Eventually, the question about paranormal phenomena seems pale in comparison to the human’s undying belief about such things. It is really hard to pinpoint an exact cause for human’s belief in the paranormal for only one cause is not enough; however, it is sure that psychological, sociological, and biological factors play an enormous role that contributes to this belief.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander. Helena, hearing about their plans, tells Demetrius, and all four of them end up in the woods where Lysander’s quotation, “The course of true love never did run smooth”(28), becomes extremely evident due to several supernatural mix-ups, authority, and jealousy.
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In William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he strides to portray the tides of love! But even for Shakespeare, It’s quite hard to grasp the understanding of love, for there is always arising complications, that get in the way of lustful love; Throughout the play, Shakespeare, undermines the notion that true love ever existed.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by William Shakespeare is a play that offers an interesting insight into the conflicting emotions of the human psyche. Throughout the play Shakespeare uses his settings to provide us insight into human conflict; rational versus the irrational and more emotional characteristics we encounter. The logical, more rational side would be the palace, with its society and rules. The fun yet wild emotional side is represented by the woods, where human logic is overtaken by magical things that do not make sense and appear more dream like.
The term mysticism has Ancient greek origins, with a variety of, historically determined meanings. Derived from this Greek, meaning "to conceal", it called the biblical, the liturgical plus the spiritual or contemplative proportions in early and also medieval Christianity, and became regarding "extraordinary experiences and also states of mind" from the early modern period of time.