Spirit of things Andrew Jackson Davis I have chosen Andrew Jackson Davis for this month’s column because he was an amazing man and pioneer for Modern Spiritualism. Modern Spiritualism is reported to have started with the Fox sisters, but it was Davis who actually predicted and wrote in his diary, on 31st March 1848, that a ‘living demonstration would be born’. This is the actual day that spirit started to communicate with the Fox Sisters in Hydesville, New York (NY).
“In this state, he found that he could read closed books.”
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Supernal Magazine
Andrew Jackson Davis was a seer and clairvoyant of the 19th Century and who later became known as ‘John the Baptist of Modern Spiritualism’. He was born on August 11th 1826 in Blooming Grove, Orange County, NY. His father was an unstable alcoholic and did odd jobs as a cobbler and weaver but did not earn much, so the family lived in poverty. His mother was very religious and illiterate. The family moved frequently, so Davis did not have much schooling. When he was 12, the family moved to Poughkeepsie. At the age of 17, he attended a lecture in his hometown on Mesmerism (hypnotism) by Dr J.S. Grimes. Davis experimented with what he had learnt but had no success until a local tailor, William Livingston who was
By Samantha Duly
also experimenting, put him into a trance. Davis, from this experience, found out that he was clairvoyant and could also gain information from a higher plane of consciousness. In this state, he found that he could read closed books, diagnose illnesses, as he saw the body as transparent and each organ stood out. In this way he was able to prescribe treatments for the patient’s condition. He also found that he understood the universe, cause and effects, plus the divine truths and with this, the laws of the universe were shown to him. Davis also claimed he could reach the spirit world at will, realising that all spirits continue to progress. He explained in detail what
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