The Mystical Union
Mark A. Lause
University of Illinois Press April 20, 2017 DOI: 10.5406/illinois/9780252040306.003.0003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the Civil War forced spiritualists to abandon antebellum nonresistance and transformed spiritualism into a more coherent national force, with adherents treating the federal Union as a spiritual republic of near-mystical importance. Contends that, lacking any real organization, spiritualists channeled hopes into the Union's survival and gave the departed, particularly war dead, an increasingly public voice through spirits' commentary at free weekly meetings. |
Abstract
This chapter examines how the mystical Union came to represent a spiritual republic and of all the souls involved in the working out of a common destiny. It considers how the emergence of the Republicans and the crisis of civil war forced spiritualists to final reckoning with antebellum nonresistance and transformed spiritualism into an even more coherent national force. Without any real organization regulating the process, spiritualists poured their hearts and hopes into the survival of a federal union imbued with an almost mystical importance. In addition, the spiritualists concentrated their efforts on lending an increasingly public voice to the departed, particularly those falling in the war. The chapter also discusses the position of some spiritualists regarding secession and the potential of Southern Unionism to end the Civil War. Finally, it looks at the spirits' running commentary on the war and its experience at free public weekly meetings.