February 22, 2022

Celebrating Historical Black Mediums

48 minutes

In honour of Black History Month, this episode highlights Black mediums in history, Sojourner Truth and Le Cercle Harmonique. Unlike my usual episodes where I riff on an inspiration or idea, I did a lot of research and prepared notes to ensure I was sharing accurate information about these amazing historical mediums.

Although I have an appreciation for the structure and awareness that spiritualism has brought to mediumship, my guides have ensured that my approach to mediumship has been through the lens of my Indigenous culture. I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from elders at my corporate position in Indigenous health and wellness. I reconnected to my culture through this experience since residential schools prevented me from being immersed in it growing up. It is important to remember that mediumship and spirit communication has existed as long as we have been here on earth. We have always communicated with our ancestors and I invite you to learn about your own culture’s history with mediumship.

As I reflected on my research for this episode and the impacts on society that these people had, I have been considering what I will leave behind as my own legacy through my work as a medium and inspirational speaker. Take some time to think about what you share of your beliefs and opinions and how you want to be remembered from your imprint on the world.

Sojourner Truth highlights:

Sojourner was born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in New York state in 1797

Isabella was the first Black woman to sue a white man and win in court when she fought for custody of her son

In 1843, Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth, declaring that she would travel to preach truth and work against injustice

Around 1856, she moved to Harmonica, Michigan where her spiritualism journey began

Anne Braude, a lecturer at Harvard Divinity School talks about how Spiritualism in America was informed by the traditions of enslaved African people in North America

Many abolitionists and feminists had a connection to spiritualism and most working mediums were women

At the time of her passing in 1883, Sojourner Truth had never learned to read or write, but her lectures changed the cultural fabric of the United States

Le Cercle Harmonique Highlights

Le Cercle Harmonique was a Spiritualist group of seven Afro-Creole men from affluent families in New Orleans founded by Henry Louis Rey in the early 1850s

These circles combined Spiritualism, radicalism from the Caribbean and France, and Andrew Jackson Davis’ Harmonial Philosophy.

Protocol included an emphasis on punctuality so as to not disturb the harmony created and the room needed to be dark so the mediums could concentrate

There were messages from deceased family members of the group and also well known spirits such as Voltaire, Vincent de Paul and Abraham Lincoln

“The Idea” was the foundational principle of the circle, representing egalitarianism, equality and brotherhood - a spirit world structure and model for the physical world

Unlike their white Spiritualist contemporaries, Le Cercle Harmonique received messages identifying a spirit world without race where bright spirits would replace raced bodies

𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗦

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/interview-2-margaret-washington/id1409481160?i=1000462567039 (a must listen if you love the history of spiritualism)

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/interview-1-ann-braude/id1409481160?i=1000461897236

https://nerdist.com/article/black-mediums-psychic-history-marginalization-misconceptions/

https://www.religion.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/EPerez-Spiritist-Mediumship-as-Historical-Mediation-.pdf

https://www.shondaland.com/live/a23652668/legacy-of-spiritualists/

https://religiondispatches.org/black-spirits-matter-a-spiritual-history-of-new-orleans-that-recognizes-afro-creoles/

https://spiritualpathspiritualistchurch.org/le-cercle-harmonique/

https://wrldrels.org/2017/06/12/le-cercle-harmonique/

https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/sojourner-truth-a-19th-century-symbol-of-strength-and-hope-10fb0715d842

https://works.swarthmore.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=sta-libraries

https://spiritualpathspiritualistchurch.org/sojourner-truth-slave-political-activist-spiritualist/

https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/truth/1850/1850.html

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀

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By Danielle Searancke

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