page_title: Ghost
section_title: Spiritualist movement
hierarchical_section_title: Ghost / History / Modern period of western culture / Spiritualist movement
caption_attribution_description: English: downloaded from American Memory[1] (Sheet music cover page, for voice and piano) Rossington, W. W. and Garrett, J. Ellwood (Lyricist) Spirit rappings. Boston; St. Louis, Massachusetts; Missouri, Oliver Ditson &amp; Co.; John Gass, 1853. DIGITAL COLLECTION: Historical American Sheet Music: 1850-1920 CALL/REPRODUCTION NUMBER: Music A-8564 REPOSITORY: Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University
context_page_description: In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.
  The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals rather than humans have also been recounted. They are believed to haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say they have seen a ghost.
  The overwhelming consensus of science is that ghosts do not exist.
context_section_description: Spiritualism is a monotheistic belief system or religion, postulating a belief in God, but with a distinguishing feature of belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world can be contacted by "mediums", who can then provide information about the afterlife.
  Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries. By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes, while the corresponding movement in continental Europe and Latin America is known as Spiritism.
  The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. Many prominent Spiritualists were women. Most followers supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear. Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational Spiritualist churches in the United States and United Kingdom.
caption: By 1853, when the popular song Spirit Rappings was published, Spiritualism was an object of intense curiosity.
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