Mediums
Writing mediums, trance speakers, clairvoyants, psychometrists, magnetic healers, homeopathic physicians, and spirit artists, musicians, and photographers...
Mediums were essential in providing evidence to Spiritualists that the soul lived on after death. A central belief of Spiritualism was that the dead could be contacted through human mediums. Mediums used many methods to reach those in the Spirit World, including seance circles, trance speaking (see the speakers page for more), and automatic writing (see the authors page to learn how writing mediums published books through spirit authorship). They frequently advertised through newspapers to reach customers.
Women were especially drawn to mediumship. “Feminine” characteristics, like passivity, religious sensitivity, and innocent virtue, qualified one for mediumship skill. This gave women the opportunity to take on influential roles in the movement, a point Ann Braude argues: “[a]s mediums, women became sources of religious truth and, as such, assumed the authority of religious leaders.” Furthermore, “[b]y communicating directly with spirits, mediums bypassed the need for education, ordination, or organizational recognization,” things that patriarchy kept out of reach [1].
Some mediums were dependent on the written word for spirit communication. Spirits moved the hands of mediums, which wrote across a page. Or, mediums used tools like “planchettes” (a precursor to the ouija board). An 1888 ad for a “Psychograph or Dial Panchette [sic]” is an example of how women used these tools to produce words:
“This is the perfection of the instrument used by Prof. Robert Hare in his investigation on Spiritualism, and has gained astonishing results, both as to communications given, and development of mediumship. A well-known lady in San Francisco writes that she obtained valuable communications at the first sitting, and has by the means become a writing medium…Full instructions with each instrument. It is admirably designed for the home circle. Sent post paid for $1.00. Address, Hudson Tuttle, Berlin Heights, Ohio.” [2]
Newspapers advertised mediums’ services or printed accounts of readings. A few examples are shown below.
This full-page "Local Medium's Directory" was printed in The Carrier Dove in 1888. Varieties include "clairvoyant," "business medium," "test medium," "magnetic healer," "psychometrist." Included is an ad for artist Allie S. Livingstone and her spirit portraits.
Mme. Clara Antonia, M.D., a "business and medical clairvoyant, physician, and independent medium" advertised her mediumistic healing services in this 1867 issue of Banner of Progress. She offered consultations in English, French, German, and by correspondence.
These 1874 ads appeared in the Elevator, a prominent African American newspaper that ran in San Francisco from 1865-1898. Madam C. Burr advertises that she "locates mines, gives reliable information on the fluctuation in stocks, recovers lost and stolen goods, tells of absent friends, and gives luck when her directions are followed."
In an 1887 issue of The Carrier Dove, Julia Schlesinger's husband Dr. Louis Schlesinger wrote this account of a sitting with artist medium Allie S. Livingstone, who advertised spirit portraits.
Sources
Images:
​
[“Local Mediums’ Directory”] Carrier Dove, February 25, 1888 (San Francisco, California). The International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals (IAPSOP), http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/carrier_dove/.
​
["Clairvoyance"] Elevator, August 8, 1874 (San Francisco, California), page. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=EL18740808&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1.
​
["A Sitting with Mrs. Allie S. Livingstone"] Carrier Dove, April 1887 (San Francisco, California), page 147. The International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals (IAPSOP), http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/carrier_dove/.
​
["Mme. Clara Antonia, M.D."] Banner of Progress, December 1, 1867 (San Francisco, California), page 3. The International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals (IAPSOP), http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/banner_of_progress/.
​
[1] Ann Braude, Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America, 2nd ed. (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2001), 84.
​
[2] Carrier Dove, August 11, 1888 (San Francisco, California), page 525. The International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals (IAPSOP), http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/carrier_dove/.