- Spiritualists' National Union
The Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) is a
Spiritualist organisation, founded in theUnited Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is "Light, Nature, Truth".Over its history, it has organised test cases regarding the legal status of spiritualist mediums, with regard to such matters as exemption from
national service . In legal terms, spiritualist mediums were considered to violate such laws as theVagrancy Act 1824 , which outlawedfortune telling , and theWitchcraft Act 1735 . The Union campaigned against these laws for many years. [cite news | title = High Court of Justice. King's Bench Division. Spiritualists and Military Service. Oaten vs. Anty | work =The Times | pages = 6 | date =April 8 ,1919 ] [cite news | title = News in Brief | work =The Times | pages = 13 | date =July 5 ,1927 ] [cite news | title = Spiritualists and the Law: Mr Morrison's Statement | work =The Times | pages = 2 | date =December 16 ,1943 ] [cite news | title = Spiritualists and the Witchcraft Act | work =The Times | pages = 2 | date =July 20 ,1946 ] They were eventually repealed by theFraudulent Mediums Act 1951 , which legalised the practice of mediums unless it was shown that they were profiting financially from a fraudulent service.It has also performed more everyday services, such as organising war memorial services in the wake of the
First World War . [cite news | title = News in Advertisements | work =The Times | pages = 9 | date =April 17 ,1919 ]In more recent times, the Union has organised educational courses in spiritualism-related subjects, and has participated in scientific research into mediumship, which found that mediums appeared to operate purely based on
cold reading . [cite news
last = Henderson | first = Mark | title = Is there anybody out there? No, actually | work =The Times | pages = 3 | date =September 23 ,2004 | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article485688.ece]Mission Statement and GoalsIn 2000 the SNU adopted the following mission statement:
To Promote the Religion and Religious Philosophy of Spiritualism as based upon The Seven Principles
It also re-defined its goals as:
To procure perfect religious equalityTo assist in the formation of new Societies and ChurchesTo strengthen the fraternal relations between SpiritualistsTo increase all classes of membershipTo print, publish and distribute literatureTo promote mission workTo do all such lawful things as are for the advancement of Spiritualism
History
The SNU was founded on 18th October 1901 as the Association of the Spiritualists' National Union Ltd. In 1916, it campaigned to get government recognition for the religion of spiritualism.Fact|date=July 2008
The Seven Principles
The SNU has organised seven principles for its members to live by:
#The Fatherhood of God
#The Brotherhood of Man
#The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels
#The continuous existence of the human soul
#Personal responsibility
#Compensation and retribution hereafter for all the good and evil deeds done on earth
#Eternal progress open to every human soulThese were created by Emma Hardinge Britten, an early member, apparently after being devised through mediumship with a spirit called Robert Owen in 1871.These are the whole of the S.N.U. doctine. Many members also hold beliefs on matters such as
reincarnation and whether animals have spirits, but the Union has never made any official declarations. There is currently an Ethics Committee in the Union, which is researching the beliefs held by member churches.Recent Presidents
*1970 - 1993
Gordon Mons Higginson
*1993 - 1996 Eric L. Hatton
*1996 - 2000 Mrs J.J. Seaman
*2000 - todate D.P. Gascoyne*Hon. Presidents-in-Spirit: Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle ,Gordon Mons Higginson *Hon. President: E. Hatton MSNU.
*Hon. Vice-President: T. Horton MSNU, Mrs D. Hudson MSNU.
ee also
*
Spiritualists References
Links
* [http://www.snu.org.uk/ The Spiritualists' National Union]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
