Andrew Jackson Davis

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Founder of the Spiritualists' Lyceum movement....

Many people regard the spirit phenomena of the 1848 events with the Fox Sisters as the birth point of Modern Spiritualism, it is equally important to consider the events surrounding Andrew Jackson Davis some years earlier as setting the foundation for acceptance of the phenomena. It was through Andrew Jackson Davis that Spirit brought a new revelation in their universal teachings and philosophy that would colour the nature of Spiritualism and give a deeper meaning to the evidence of the life beyond physical death.

Andrew Jackson Davis (1826 - 1910) born in Blooming Grove (Orange County), NY. This town is a small hamlet along the Hudson River. His father was unstable and did odd jobs as a cobbler and weaver. His mother was illiterate and strongly religious. The family frequently moved an he had very little schooling. At an early age he became an apprentice to a shoemaker for 2 years.

In 1838, the family moved to Poughkeepsie, NY. When he was 17 (in 1843), he attended a lecture in his town on Mesmerism given by a travelling Doctor (Dr. J.S. Grimes, Professor of Jurisprudence in the Castleton Medical College). At first, he had no success with it. A short time later, a local tailor (William Livingston), who was experimenting with mesmerism, threw him into a trance. He was called in his time the 'Poughkeepsie Seer' as he developed the ability to go into a trance state and could demonstrate his psychic ability. He called his altered state of consciousness, the 'superior condition and it is said to have induced within him a 'very active and intense psychic ability.'

It was through this ability Davis produced many volumes of philosophical writings including his work 'Nature's Divine Revelations' in 1846, the contents exceeded all knowledge of the philosophy and many branches in science of the time. Davis went on to refine his original work into a publication he entitled 'The Great Harmonia' twenty seven lectures and miscellanous articles. Later he went on to produce many other volumes of work expanding upon those that had gone before, including his important autobiography 'The Magic Staff'.

One further legacy from Davis, is the Lyceum movement. It was in a lecture at Dodsworth Hall on January 25th 1863; that he spoke to a Spiritualist audience in which he described a vision he had when in one of his 'superior condition' states of consciousness. He described seeing spirit children being taught and trained in the spirit-world and suggested that a similar system of learning would be of great benefit to children on the earth. This lecture inspired some members of the audience and, very shortly after, some of them met and established the first 'Children's Progressive Lyceum.' The primary objective of this first Lyceum was the cultivation and harmonisation of the individual by the development of the Physical, the Intellectual, the Moral and the Spiritual faculties of the young. The objectives were, the promotion of Truth, Justice, Fraternal Love, Purity, Beauty, Music, Art, Health, Science, Philosophy and Spirituality.

The first British Lyceum was opened in Nottingham, in June 1866 by Mr J Hitchcock.

Find out more about the Spiritualists' Lyceum Union past and present [more]