Messages from Beyond: Spiritualism and Spiritualists in Melbourne's Golden Age 1870-1890 (Sustainability & the Environment) (Paperback)

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Product Description

The Spiritualist movement had its beginnings in the United States in the late 1840s and within a few years had spread to Australia. With its séances, mediums, trances, `magnetizers', table-tilting and other mysterious psychic phenomena, it attracted media frenzy and public furor, but also many deeply serious converts-often highly intelligent and talented people who rejected orthodox religion in favor of scientific rationalism, but were still vitally concerned with moral debates. One of them was the young Alfred Deakin, later to become Prime Minister. In this fascinating history, Gabay explores the origins of the Spiritualist movement and relates its rise and fall to the wider intellectual and religious currents in colonial Australian society.

About the Author

Dr Al Gabay is Senior Lecturer in History and Religious Studies in the School of Arts and Education at La Trobe University (Bendigo campus). He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals on aspects of the spiritualist movement in Australia, and is the author of The Mystic Life of Alfred Deakin (CUP, 1992).

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Melbourne University Publishing; annotated edition edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0522849105
• ISBN-13: 978-0522849103
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,343,100 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)