The 'Spiritualism' Fad
Poet involved
What happened
Spiritualism, a belief system involving communication with the dead through mediums and séances, became a massive and serious public fad beginning in upstate New York in 1848. The movement attracted millions of followers, including many prominent intellectuals and public figures, who sought proof of an afterlife through mysterious rapping noises and table-turning. It provided comfort and a sense of wonder but was widely debated and ridiculed, eventually being debunked by scientific investigation and stage magic.
Literary impact
Spiritualism deeply influenced Victorian and Modernist poetry, offering a new, mystical vocabulary for exploring death, loss, and the afterlife. The Symbolist poets in France, heavily influenced by the Decadent movement and figures like Baudelaire, were drawn to its themes of the occult and the unseen. The fascination with the spirit world provided a rich source of imagery and philosophical inquiry for poets exploring the boundaries of consciousness and the soul, from W.B. Yeats to the American poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Source: Wikipedia
