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Spiritualism is a religious reform movement that gained popularity in the United States in the middle 1800's. It was officially recognized as a religion in 1848 and was prominent, especially in New York and other English-speaking areas around the globe, until the 1920's. The main aspect of Spiritualism is the belief that spirits of the dead can be contacted through mediums. These spirits lie on a higher plane than humans and are often contacted for guidance regarding any matter.

In the beginning, the movement was extremely individualistic, each person relying on his or her experiences to develop beliefs on the afterlife. Many Spiritualists would meet in their homes to conduct sances. Unfortunately, the mysteries surrounding Spiritualism gave way to greed and fraud, which are most responsible for the tainting of the religion today and coining it with the term, "pseudo-science". In spite of all this, it still survives today because of a plethora of documented proof that there is something "not of this world."

As compared to other religions, Spiritualism's afterlife is unlike Christianity because for Spiritualists it is a place where the soul continues to evolve. There is no heaven and hell. This belief leads into reincarnation as well, which relates to Hindu beliefs, but the only difference is that Spiritualists believe that the soul retains its personality, unlike Hindus who believe that the soul is wiped clean of any trace of its previous life. Unlike Paganism and other occult movements, Spiritualism's aim is not to contact spirits in order to gain special powers, which the exception of healing.

The overall philosophy of Spiritualism:
- God is infinite and permeates everything. All people are part of God.
- Service to other people is a way to improve one's spirit. Altruism is a must.
- The soul is immortal. The essence of human beings is their spirit, and this makes the spirits of the departed able to communicate with people.
- People are responsible for their own actions. Do unto other as you would have them do unto you.
- Karma. Evil doings will lead to painful struggles in either this life or the spirit world. Good doings will lead to happiness and spiritual advancement.
- There is always something to accomplish. A great struggle must be made and over come from the material world in order to reach a higher spiritual consciousness.

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