New Religious Movement
Spiritualism (mainstream)
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Mainstream Western mediumship religion (1848+) emerging from the Fox sisters' 'spirit rapping' phenomenon. National Spiritualist Association of Churches. Voluntary low-control.
CLCI radar
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Low Control
BITE breakdown
Behavior Control2/10
Information Control2/10
Thought Control3/10
Emotional Control3/10
Modifiers (+0)
0 — mainstream Western mediumship religion; voluntary low-control.
Profile facts
Founded
1848
Members
Estimated tens of thousands worldwide
Active in
USA, Global
In context
Spiritualism as an organised religion dates to the 1848 Fox sisters of Hydesville, NY. Distinctive belief in continued spirit communication after death through mediums. Mainstream Spiritualist congregations (NSAC, Lily Dale community) operate as voluntary low-control religious organisations.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
Thought Control
- Substantial fees for individual medium readings
- voluntary low-control
Timeline
- 1848Fox sisters' 'spirit rapping' phenomenon
- 1893NSAC founded
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- Ann Braude, 'Radical Spirits' (1989) search ↗
- The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind — http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&idno=ACA6166.0001.001&view=toc open ↗
- Socialist religion and the emergence of occultism: a genealogical approach to socialism and secularization in 19th-century France — Religion (2016) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0048721X.2016.1146926 open ↗
- The Scientific Aspect of the Supernatural — http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S118A.htm open ↗
- Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedish philosopher — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emanuel-Swedenborg open ↗
- Spiritism | Beliefs, Practices, & History — https://www.britannica.com/topic/Spiritism open ↗
- Mind the Gap: Spiritualism and the Infrastructural Uncanny — https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/686945 open ↗
- Mind the Gap: Spiritualism and the Infrastructural Uncanny — Critical Inquiry (2016) — https://dx.doi.org/10.1086%2F686945 open ↗
- Experimental Investigation of Table-Moving — http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016003238921738 open ↗
- Experimental investigation of table-moving — Journal of the Franklin Institute (1853) — https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FS0016-0032%2838%2992173-8 open ↗
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-60832007000700015 — https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-60832007000700015 open ↗
- Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism: A Genealogical Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France — http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0048721X.2016.1146926 open ↗
- Movimentos Religiosos: Espiritualismo — http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Spiritsm.html open ↗
- K01.844.799.679 — https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/K01.844.799.679 open ↗
- Medical Subject Headings — https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D013140 open ↗
- 저 '천계와 지옥' 스즈키정타로 (스즈키 다이세쓰) 역, 영국 륜돈스에덴보르그 협회, 1910년 — http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/994067%EC%8A%A4%EC%97%90%EB%8D%B4%EB%B3%B4%EB%A5%B4%EA%B7%B8 open ↗
- 10.20634/ellf.91.0_168 — https://doi.org/10.20634%2Fellf.91.0_168 open ↗
- 10.24544/ocu.20180403-134 — https://doi.org/10.24544%2Focu.20180403-134 open ↗
- 10.20716/rsjars.81.4_925 — https://doi.org/10.20716%2Frsjars.81.4_925 open ↗
- ドストエフスキーとスウェ-デンボルグ--Czeslaw Miloszの論文を読んで — https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/10925490 open ↗
- 10.18999/stulc.29.2.269 — https://doi.org/10.18999%2Fstulc.29.2.269 open ↗
- 科学と非科学 : 英国19世紀心霊主義からの教訓( 非科学・非合理-物理教育は何をなすべきか-) — https://doi.org/10.20653/pesj.49.4_388 open ↗
- 10.20653/pesj.49.4_388 — https://doi.org/10.20653%2Fpesj.49.4_388 open ↗
- 10.20716/rsjars.81.4_926 — https://doi.org/10.20716%2Frsjars.81.4_926 open ↗
- 10.15021/00001170 — https://doi.org/10.15021%2F00001170 open ↗
- 2.「精神世界」とオウム真理教 : スピリチュアリズムと神智学との関連から(II.「宗教思想」としてのオウム真理教,ワークショップ(2)「宗教」としてのオウム真理教) — https://doi.org/10.20594/religionandsociety.2.Suppl_59 open ↗
- 10.20594/religionandsociety.2.Suppl_59 — https://doi.org/10.20594%2Freligionandsociety.2.Suppl_59 open ↗
- スエデンボルグ 著 『天界と地獄』鈴木貞太郎（鈴木大拙） 訳、英国倫敦スエデンボルグ協会、1910年 — https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/994067 open ↗
- 10.18936/islis.25.1_81 — https://doi.org/10.18936%2Fislis.25.1_81 open ↗
- 津城寛文著『 の探究-近代スピリチュアリズムと宗教学-』春秋社二〇〇五年一〇月三〇日刊四六判ix+二七二頁二五〇〇円+税 — https://doi.org/10.20716/rsjars.80.3_721 open ↗
- 10.20716/rsjars.80.3_721 — https://doi.org/10.20716%2Frsjars.80.3_721 open ↗
- Расцвет и закат «экспериментального спиритизма» в России 80-90-х годов XIX века — http://www.academia.edu/1179542/_1880-1890-_%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B4%D1%8A%D1%8F%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2 open ↗
- Spiritualism — http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/560501/spiritualism/274868/History#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=spiritualism%20%3A%3A%20History%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
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Disclaimer. This profile is an educational summary based on publicly available reports. Many members of this group do not experience the patterns described. Individual congregations and chapters vary widely. If you or someone you know needs support, contact a licensed therapist or the International Cultic Studies Association.