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My Story
OK so this is what
this site is really all about. Its about me and my spiritual beliefs and values. Not many people realise that spiritualism
is actually a religion. It still seems to have a great stigma attached to it with what we would class as the "main"
religions all to eager to debunk it. Unlike them, I feel others are entitled to an opinion and if they can't, won't
or don't believe in the things I do then so be it. In the words of Catherine Tate.."Am I bothered?"
The Beginning
The thing
I want to cover here is how did I find spiritualism (or did it find me?). The story begins on Sept 29th 1983 when I was on
my holiday in sunny Spain. Salou to be precise. At around 6.30 in the morning I woke to "hear" a mans voice in my
ear. The voice was saying goodbye. Slightly unnerved by this I dug Loraine in the ribs to ask if she could hear it too. The
reply was what I'd kind of expected "No, it must be all that Bacardi you had last night!". Cutting a very long
story short I spent the rest of that holiday wondering what was going on. Even I expected the men in white coats to be waiting
at the airport. Upon my arrival home, I was greeted with news I did not want to hear, but news that explained what had happened.
A friend of mine, Martin, just two days younger than myself had collapsed and died on his way to work on Sept 29th. Taking
the time zones into account it would have been 6.30 ish to me in Spain.
Looking For The Answer
Trying
very hard to put my mind around what had happened I started visiting psychic evenings at pubs around the Birmingham area.
Well its an awful job but someone had to do it. (I say had because I am now teetotal and have been since 1985.) This certainly
built up an interest in what you may call the paranormal, but I still felt I was going nowhere with it. That isn't saying
I wanted to go anywhere with it but I felt a little like that Richard Dreyfus character in "Close Encounters". Finding
an answer had become an obsession. The answer didn't come along until 1996. It came with more tradgic circumstances. My
sister Tracy had her second child, a little boy named Corry. When only two weeks old he was rushed into Birminghams Childrens
Hospital with a heart condition. It turns out he had been born with a condition called Cardiomyopathy. This was literally
killing him. My sister asked me to go to a church with her to pray, not something I normally did but drastic times call for
drastic measures. The church was a Spiritualist one. I did not know of their existence until that point. A few days later
Corry was taken off life support and is still with us today. The church was going to see a lot more of me.
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Development
I started
to attend church on a regular basis getting involved with development groups and circles. I owe so much to a lady named Mary
Jones who encouraged me greatly in the early days at Oldbury Spiritualist Church. I gained a place
on the SNU (Spiritualists National Union) exponents course. It was a three year course to train mediums in platforn etiquette
and also to give them a background history to modern spiritualism. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the pioneers of the
modern ism. I have to be totally honest here and say that I did not complete the course because of personal circumstances.
Spiritualism
As My Religion
Spiritualism is a religion that gives an understanding of God and encourages us to
act with a high sense of duty towards others. Spiritualism stimulates spiritual growth and prepares us for eternal existence
in the spirit-world.
Spiritualism is a science because it is based upon proven facts that can be demonstrated and
scientifically classified. Spiritualism is the science of life as it encourages the search for truth in every department of
existence, in nature and in human psychology.
Spiritualism is a philosophy that attempts to understand people,
their physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual being. As Spirit is the moving force of the Universe, so Spiritualist philosophy
embraces the whole realm of nature. These
words are based upon a chapter entitled 'The Nature of Spiritualism.'
from the Spiritualists' Lyceum Manual
The
Seven Principles Of Spiritualism
These Seven Principles, which act as guidelines for the development of a personal philosophy of how
to live one’s life, are stated as follows:-
The Fatherhood of God.
The Brotherhood of Man.
The Communion of Spirits and
the Ministry of Angels.
The Continuous Existence of the human
soul.
Personal Responsibility.
Compensation and Retribution hereafter for all the good and evil deeds done on earth.
Eternal Progress open to every human soul.
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