Spiritualism

Taxonomy

Code

Scope note(s)

  • Special Collections & Archives carries collections related to Spiritualism. Spiritualism is a religious movement and philosophy rooted in the belief that spirits live on after physical death and that communication with those spirits is possible. Collections related to these areas include the typescript lectures and séance recordings of Thomas Lacey, a local voice and trance medium; the papers of William Cartheuser, an American medium; as well as the archives and books from the Maines Pincock family, which document the family’s interest in and engagement with Spiritualism. Other collections include an example of spirit photography, a manuscript notebook recording the details of séances, scrapbooks about Lily Dale, books about the German mystic Jakob Lorber, and a wide selection of rare books.

Source note(s)

Display note(s)

Hierarchical terms

Spiritualism

Spiritualism

Equivalent terms

Spiritualism

Associated terms

Spiritualism

12 Archival description results for Spiritualism

Only results directly related

William Herman Cartheuser collection.

  • SCA370-GA429
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1930-1986]

Material accumulated by the Survival Research Institute of Canada that is related to William Herman Cartheuser, an American Spiritualist medium. Includes records related to his work as a medium such as business cards and class announcements. Also includes material related to his personal life including photographs, a marriage certificate, a ration card, and other ephemera.

Survival Research Institute of Canada

Thomas Lacey séance collection : 2019 accrual.

The Thomas Lacey séance collection accrual includes several files of séance reports that contain details regarding the sitters involved in the séance circles and messages on various topics from spirits alleged to have communicated through the medium Thomas Lacey.

Lacey, Thomas

Thomas Lacey séance collection.

Audio reel recordings of séances held under the supervision of medium Thomas Lacey as well as other events, messages, and music. The séances were held primarily in Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario although some were held in other areas in Ontario and the Unites States of America. Prior to donation, some of the reels were transferred to audio cassettes. The audio cassettes are also included in the collection. Also includes a cue card index to the séances and a notebook listing séances held at 362 Frederick St. in Kitchener, Ontario.

Lacey, Thomas

Thomas Lacey lecture collection.

  • SCA97-GA67
  • Collection
  • 1934-1951

Typescript lectures given during séances held under the supervision of medium Thomas Lacey in Waterloo, Kitchener, and Hamilton from 1934 to 1951. Some lectures and a press clipping featuring a letter to the editor against capital punishment written by Thomas Lacey are contained within a scrapbook. Lectures range from various topics including life and death, peace, Gandhi, and spiritualism.

Lacey, Thomas

Spiritualist manuscript collection.

  • SCA372-GA431
  • Collection
  • 1924-1945, predominant 1924-1925

Includes a manuscript notebook that records the details of séances held by a group of individuals in Weston-super-Mare, England between April 16, 1924 and February 27, 1925. Also includes a handwritten poem and a photograph.

Pagesmith, Mr. and Mrs.

Spirit photography collection.

  • SCA371-GA430
  • Collection
  • 1897

Includes one stereograph that is an example of spirit photography.

Kilburn, Benjamin West

Sofie Gauthier collection.

  • SCA382-GA446
  • Collection
  • 1882-1977

The Sofie Gauthier collection contains records created and accumulated by Sofie Gauthier relating to Spiritualism. Records include lectures on Spiritualist practices, automatic writing, a newsletter from the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, and an OAHSPE bible.

Gauthier, Sofie

Maines Pincock Family fonds.

Fonds consists of material documenting the lives, interests and activities of Jenny Pincock, as well as her sister and brother-in-law Minnie and Fred Maines. The main focus of the fonds is the activities surrounding their interest in spiritualism. Includes correspondence; ms. and ts. seance transcripts and notes; ms. and ts. notes for and drafts of poems and other literary compositions by Jenny Pincock; clippings, ephemera, etc.

Arranged in series as follows:
Series 1: Correspondence;
Series 2: Manuscripts;
Series 3: Notebooks;
Series 4: Sittings : Notes;
Series 5: Topical Files;
Series 6: Clippings;
Series 7: Rev. F.T.J. Maines;
Series 8: Miscellaneous;
Series 9: Pincock, Jenny : Works By;
Series 10: Artifacts

Maines Pincock Family

Maines Pincock family : 2016 accrual.

Accrual consists of material created and accumulated by members of the Maines Pincock family primarily related to séances and the occult. Includes séance notebooks, sermons, ephemera, photographs, and more.

Maines Pincock Family

Lily Dale scrapbooks.

  • SCA300-GA336
  • Collection
  • 1890-1925

Collection consists of two scrapbooks maintained by William Phillips. The first includes clippings from newspapers and magazines that date from 1890 to 1914. Included are articles on topics relating to spiritualism, advertisements for mediums, and advertising for spiritualism products including the Ouija board. These materials are glued into "A History of Europe" and most clippings feature underlining of important sections.

The second scrapbook includes both clippings as well as handwritten notes from the spirit world. The notes were sent from friends and family of William Phillips including his wife Elizabeth, sister Fanny, brother John Edward and father Joseph. The notes primarily came through medium P.L.O.A. Keeler at Lily Dale. Most of the clippings are advertisements for publications relating to spiritualism and the occult.

Phillips, William

Gustav Seide Jakob Lorber mysticism collection

  • Book Collection
  • 1961-[2015]

Collected by Gustav Seide, this collection includes primarily works by 19th century German mystic Jakob Lorber and his circle such as Gottfried Mayerhofer. Also included are works by other mystics including Emanuel Swedenborg and religious texts including the Bhagavad Gita. Of particular note is a complete set of Lorber’s seminal work “Das große Evangelium Johannis” of the Great Gospel of John.

Seide, Gustav

Fred and Minnie Maines Library.

The collection is made up of approximately 600 books, periodicals, and ephemera related to spiritualism, psychic phenomena, and alternative religious movements. The book collection complements the archival portion of the donation, the Fred and Minnie Maines fonds.

The collection includes the library maintained by the Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre, established by Newton and Jenny Pincock in St. Catharines. Fred and Minnie Maines continued to add to the collection over the years.

Many titles in the field of spiritualism are represented, such as B. F. Austin's The Prophet of Nazareth and the Seer of Poughkeepsie (Los Angeles: B. F. Austin, n.d.); Albert Durrant Watson's The Twentieth Plane (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1918); Florence Marryat's There is no Death (London: Rider, 1920); Thirty Years Among the Dead, by Carl A. Wickland (Los Angeles: National Psychological Institute, 1924); and several works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Several copies of Jenny Pincock's seance accounts, Trails of Truth (Los Angeles: Austin, 1930), are available, along with the original manuscript and notes.

Also present are numerous journals from the spiritualist community, such as Light: a Journal of Spiritualism, Psychical, Occult and Mystical Research, The Occult Digest, and Two Worlds: Monthly Magazine Featuring Spiritualism and the Supernormal. A complete run of Progression, published by the Radiant Healing Centre is present. Other subjects represented include the Theosophical Society, psychic healing, numerology, and vegetarianism.

Titles of Canadian literary interest include several first editions of works by E. J. Pratt (many of which are dedicated to Jenny Pincock and her husband, Newton, a childhood friend of Pratt's), a copy of Elsie Pomeroy's Sir Charles G. D. Roberts: a Biography (Toronto: Ryerson, 1943) which contains a dedication inscription to Jenny Pincock from Roberts' widow, Joan, and Jenny Pincock's own book of poetry, Hidden Springs (Privately printed, 1950), with an introduction by E. J. Pratt.