The Victorian Spiritualists’ Union and the Surprising Survival of Spiritualism in Australia

ABSTRACT The new religion of Spiritualism emerged in the mid-19th century. Through mediumship, Spiritualists contacted the dead, believing them to have “passed over” to another plane of existence. It spread from America to Great Britain before arriving in Australia in the 1850s. This article charts the history of the world’s oldest continuously running Spiritualist organisation, the Victorian Spiritualists’ Union (VSU, est. 1870), exploring the unexpected survival of the movement in Australia. It challenges the common idea that Spiritualism enjoyed only a brief revival in the interwar period and has maintained a tenuous status ever since. Rather, I argue that Spiritualism has experienced several peaks and troughs since its emergence in Australia, including a widespread revival in the 1970s, spearheaded by the VSU. Spiritualism in Australia survives due to the development of a church movement, the advocacy of groups such as the VSU, the generous volunteer efforts of individual Spiritualists, the acquisition of church buildings, and its geographic mobility, all of which have allowed Spiritualist churches to be responsive to changing social and cultural conditions for more than a century. It is one of Australia’s largest and most resilient alternative religious movements, not simply a Victorian-era curio.

(and its earlier incarnations, the Victorian Association of Progressive Spiritualists and the Victorian Association of Spiritualists), I show how the establishment of churches, generous volunteer efforts of individual Spiritualists, the acquisition of church buildings, geographic mobility, and agile forms of social organisation have allowed Spiritualist churches to be responsive to changing social and cultural conditions and survive for more than 150 years.Being authorised to legally preside over marriages and funerals has also helped consolidate the institutional identity and longevity of the movement.
In this way, the article represents a new contribution to limited accounts of Australian Spiritualism to date.Most of the previous historical work examines the movement's 19thcentury origins and focuses on developments in this "golden age".Foremost among these is Al Gabay's optimistic Messages from Beyond, which describes the emergence of the organisation that would become the VSU and discusses key figures in the movement, such as Alfred Deakin and W. H. Terry, founder of the Australian Spiritualist periodical The Harbinger of Light. 6Scholarship on contemporary Australian Spiritualism is predominantly ethnographic, exploring mediumship rituals or the experiences of participants. 7nsufficient attention has been given to how Australian Spiritualism has fared overall since its emergence.Spiritualism is one of Australia's most resilient and significant new religious and spiritual movements, and it is important to understand the reasons for its survival.
This article also contributes to the sparse recent scholarship on Australia's new religious movements (NRMs).Australia has a surprising number of these, yet scholars often ignore their social significance.In the 2021 Australian census, 8,879 people identified as Spiritualists, which is about half the number who follow the Baha'i faith, but more followers than Christian Science, Scientology, Satanism, Theosophy and Wicca. 8Unlike these NRMs, Spiritualist beliefs and practices have become part of the fabric of popular culture.Research suggests that many Australians who do not consider themselves to be religious hold ideas about the afterlife that are influenced by Spiritualist philosophy, imagining a "heaven" that is familiar, pragmatic and comfortable-ideas popularised by the Spiritualist movement of the 19th century. 9Other evidence of Spiritualism's influence abounds: international spirit mediums such as American John Edward perform at clubs and theatres throughout Australia, and several local mediums have significant profiles, all underpinned by an enduring market for private psychic reading services and psychic fairs. 10The VSU, like other Spiritualist groups, has sustained this interest among Australians in talking to the dead.
Spiritualism's 19th-Century Golden Age: From Spiritual and Social Movement to Organised Religion Then and now, Spiritualists believe that life after death is an empirical fact, that the dead retain their personality and appearance in the afterlife, and that the living can readily communicate with those who have "passed over".Those who can communicate with the dead are known as mediums.Talking to the dead takes place via both "mental" and "physical" mediumship, and mediums work in different settings, including parlour séances, stage and platform (church) demonstrations, and private sittings. 11piritualism emerged first in rural New York in 1848 and spread rapidly to Great Britain, Europe and parts of South America, arriving in Australia in the mid-1850s.Its popularity in the late 19th century, along with its social progressiveness (e.g.women's suffrage, abolitionism), is well documented.12Spiritualism resonated with the sensibilities of the Victorian age.The rise of the scientific world view, increasing individualism, and the development of secular philosophies challenged traditional Christian orthodoxies.Historian Hugh McLeod notes that "in the second half of the 19th century non-religious [and alternative] views of the world became a possibility for the mass of people, rather than only for small elite groups". 13People had greater freedom to explore spiritual alternatives, and Spiritualism was a popular choice for this kind of investigation.
Critical to the success of Spiritualist movement was the idea that Spiritualists could, through their séances and readings, provide proof of survival beyond death.For those who lost loved ones in the American Civil War, and then the First World War, this proof could offer great comfort in their time of grief.14Spiritualism took seriously its ability to provide proof, and this conviction remains an abiding feature of the movement.Theologically, it draws some inspiration from Christianity, but also from Transcendentalism, Mesmerism and Swedenborgianism.In Australia, some early Spiritualists saw themselves as both Christian and Spiritualist, while others did not, adopting Spiritualism exclusively (see below).Today, Spiritualism is a unique religion with its own churches and organisations.
This section describes the first steps of the Spiritualist "church movement" in Australia.As in Britain and America, the early exploration of Spiritualism in Australia occurred via ad-hoc lectures, debates, private séances, and stage demonstrations of mediumship. 15 more formal approach soon took hold.The middle class in the Victorian era had a predilection for a society or learned association and would readily come together for the advancement of a cause.As historian of Australian Spiritualism Al Gabay notes: "Associations of all kinds sprang up during the 1860s … to discuss religious, political and social issues, from temperance and anti-vaccination to cremation, women's rights and dress reform." 16The emergence of societies and associations investigating Spiritualism's possibilities and propagating its message was inevitable, and the evolution of these groups into a religious movement (with churches or congregations) is a key reason Spiritualism survives into the present.
The formal organisation of Spiritualist societies in Great Britain began in the 1860s.A group calling itself the Christian Spiritual Enquirers formed in London in 1861. 17By the mid-to late 1860s, several groups existed across Britain and continued to increase in number across the country.The emergence of a national body took much longer, even as regional and district groups prospered.
Spiritualists in the Australian colonies were not far behind.The VSU began life as the Victorian Association of Progressive Spiritualists (VAPS), formed in Melbourne in late 1870.Early participants included W. H. Terry (1836-1913), Dr Walter L. Richardson (1826-1879) and, famously, future Prime Minister Alfred Deakin (1856-1919). 18By 1871, there were also groups of Progressive Spiritualists in Stawell and Sandhurst (Bendigo).The objective of these groups was to defend, explore and promote the "remarkable" possibilities and scientific qualities of spirit communication.
The VAPS took time to get going, and activities were sporadic during the early years.In July 1877, the association regrouped and named themselves the Victorian Association of Spiritualists (VAS).At this meeting, it was proposed and carried "that the objects of this Society be the investigation & advancement of Spiritualistic truths & purposes". 19he association agreed to establish a permanent office (initially rented premises in downtown Melbourne) and a reading room.At the first meeting of the general committee for September 1879, the committee decided to form four sub-committees: debate, séance, library and social evening. 20In the next few years, the VAS was active in all four modalities.
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, the VAS also hosted Sunday evening guest lectures in some of Melbourne's big theatres.In August 1882, for example, they hosted a four-lecture series from Professor William Denton at the Bijou Theatre, which had a capacity of approximately 1,600 people. 21The VAS often paid large sums to the lecturers, leading to persistent financial troubles, and the association found itself on the brink of closure several times through the 1880s. 22Optimistically, members took out a lease in 1890 for rooms on Collins Street, Melbourne. 23Despite struggling financially, the VAS survived, often bailed out by benefactor W. H. Terry, and the American Thomas Stanford. 24ommittee meetings of the VAS regularly discussed ways in which Spiritualism might be advanced.One was the establishment of a stronger federation of societies and mediums.This national-level organisation did not eventuate.However, around this time, Spiritualist associations across the Anglosphere were morphing into a "church movement", more than just communities of likeminded thinkers and experimenters.This kind of religious organisation has been critical to Australian Spiritualism's survival.
The church approach developed because Spiritualism addressed religious concerns, albeit differently from the Christian church, but also because Protestant Christianity offered a blueprint of social organisation and propagation with which Spiritualists were deeply familiar.Nelson notes of this time: "Spiritualism was … seen as having its base both in the metaphysical and religious approach on the one hand and in the scientific method on the other." 25Core to the religious approach was the development of the Spiritualist message service: a regular (Sunday) gathering with a lecture, demonstration of mediumship, and bespoke Spiritualist liturgy, creeds and hymns.British associations developed message services in the late 1860s and early 1870s, although the precise origins of this practice have been lost in time.
Australian Spiritualists took the same path.They already understood themselves to be a movement with distinct religious elements and themes.In 1872, the Irish-Catholic Advocate newspaper in Melbourne reprinted a story from the Pleasant Creek News, describing an early Spiritualist funeral in Australia: A SPIRITUALIST'S FUNERAL.One of the most remarkable ceremonies ever witnessed in Victoria … The ceremony was the funeral of Mr. Wakeham, a spiritualist [sic], who was interred with spiritualistic rites … On the coffin being laid on top of the vault, Mr. James McLean, president of the Stawell Branch of the Progressive Spiritualists addressed the assemblage as follows: -"Friends, I think it a commendable custom that as to funeral services, the wishes of the departed on the subject should, as far as possible, be carried out when those wishes are known.Our departed brother during his last hours of earth life, and whilst perfectly conscious, urgently requested that the friends connected with the religious body to which he belongedviz., the Progressive Spiritualistsshould perform his burial service." 26ey sang a hymn with the first line "Death is the fading of a cloud", and McLean concluded with the words, "We commit his material body to the earth, in the sure and certain hope that he still lives."All this took place before a reported 3,000 mourners. 27resumably inspired by the British message services, this local version likewise appeared in Australia, although it is not clear which place or group came first.
The VAS minutes of the 1870s and early 1880s do not mention the development of Sunday message services or their private séances, concerned instead with administrative tasks, or financing the Sunday evening lectures.Gabay has little to say about how the VAS transitioned from an organisation exploring Spiritualism to a group offering religious services.That said, it does appear that as the VAS's ambitious hiring of larger venues for lectures stopped, a Sunday Spiritualist message service became their predominant offering.An advertisement in 1884 notes: "Victorian Association of Spiritualists -Sunday Service at Lyceum Hall.Trance Lecture tomorrow by a lady, 'J.H.' controlling. 25Nelson, Spiritualism and Society, 147. 26"A Spiritualist's Funeral," Advocate, 2 March 1872, 3 (Melbourne edition). 27"A Spiritualist's Funeral," 3. Commences at 7 pm." 28The "controlling" in this instance refers to the spirit guiding the lecturer.Singing was a part of these Sunday message services too, if only to stir the energies for a subsequent trance or demonstration.Gabay notes that the VAS had a choir around this time. 29piritualism operated in a religious free market, so anyone could set themselves up as a medium and offer a message service if they could afford rooms.The medium's ability to offer convincing proof of survival, and to attract followers and helpers, was critical to their success.By the early 1890s, alongside the VAS, other message services were taking place around Melbourne, advertised in the "Other Denominations" section of the church notices in local newspapers. 30It is around this time that "Spiritualist Church" or "Spiritual Church" appears to have become part of the Australian Spiritualist nomenclature.A group calling itself the Adelaide Spiritual Church incorporated in 1893. 31Each gathered in rented spaces-Spiritualist churches did not buy buildings until the early 20th century, as I discuss below.
In the next decade or so, the number of Spiritualist groups calling themselves "churches" grew, and the Sunday message service became the key part of Spiritualism more broadly.In 1904, for example, Melbourne counted the Richmond Spiritualistic Church and the Spiritualistic Church of Victoria, Carlton, among the six services advertised in the Age newspaper.The other four, all calling themselves "associations", offered a Sunday message service with the fundamentals of lecture and demonstration.The Melbourne Progressive Spiritualists had an afternoon service comprising "Addresses, Readings, Clairvoyance, Platform Tests". 32Around this time in Sydney, there were at least 15 Spiritualist message services, with churches including the so-called Spiritualistic Church of Brotherhood, Nazarene Spiritual Church, and Church of Spiritual Seers operating alongside groups such as the Psychic Society of NSW. 33Perth's Spiritualistic Church ordained its first minister in 1905. 34y the end of the Victorian era, Spiritualism had become a distinct and growing religious movement in Australia with churches and message services found in the major cities and regional centres.These were locale-specific volunteer groups, and meek efforts to form state or national confederations had come to nothing.While it had a conspicuous public profile, it attracted only a small band of dedicated followers: slightly more than half the country's 2,378 census-identifying Spiritualists lived in Victoria. 35piritualists' main fare was the Sunday message service, meeting in rented spaces, characterised by a demonstration of mediumship and an esoteric lecture.Spiritualists sometimes disagreed about philosophy and approach, organisational instability, and financial precarity; in fact, the VAS experienced several periods of inactivity, followed by a reset.The "charismatic", democratic nature of the movement meant that it was easy for mediums to establish a new church or meeting, and clearly this process was common.
In a fitting coda to the "Golden Age", Spiritualist pioneer and founding VAPS/VAS member W. H. Terry "passed over" in 1913.For his memorial service, the VAS asked that "all recognised Melbourne and Suburban Spiritualist Churches and Societies are to be closed Sunday Evening and Congregations of the Same are requested to attend". 36Fourteen churches and societies had representatives take part in the service, including one from NSW and one from New Zealand.The "Combined Spiritualistic Churches and Societies Choir" was to render "special anthems". 37abay, writing about the period 1870-1890, describes it as the "heyday of Australian Spiritualism", noting that it also enjoyed a "further peak in public interest following World War I". 38Given what took place in the interwar decades, this latter period represents the movement's halcyon days in Australia, especially for the church movement.

Ubiquitous Spirits? The Interwar Period and the Rise of the Spiritualist Churches
The First World War was an international catastrophe, a loss of young life that enveloped Australia, ushering in an "intense spiritual searching that perhaps only a war can bring". 39Scholars agree that American and English Spiritualism experienced sustained interest during and after the First World War.As G. K. Nelson notes, "there were thousands of persons who had lost relations and friends and who were attracted by the promise of a new message from the departed". 40Developments in Australia largely mirrored those overseas, in public and private.
In books and lectures, many public figures championed Spiritualism's potential.Foremost among these was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), whose long interest in psychic phenomena crystallised after he lost his son in the war.Doyle published several popular books on Spiritualism and embarked on extensive speaking tours, including a five-month tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1920-1921.He laid the cornerstone of the Brisbane Spiritual Church in Spring Hill on 11 January 1921, a congregation that still operates in the present day.Doyle's lectures were a catalyst for Christians, Spiritualists and sceptics alike to relitigate in the newspapers tendentious debates about fraud, Satanic influence, and spiritual truth.Evidence of public discussion is manifest in at least 1,400 references to Spiritualism, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne's Age newspapers during the interwar period, a slight dip from the 1880s to the 1890s, but sizeable coverage, even if much of it was hostile. 41cross the country, the number of message services and church groups grew.In December 1921, Spiritualists in Melbourne could choose from at least 19 different services, whether they were simple message services offered by Mrs Warde, Mrs Cohen 36 "Sunday Services," Age, 22 November 1913, 17. 37 "Sunday Services," Age, 22 November 1913, 17. 38  In 1931, the VAS amalgamated with Melbourne Progressive Spiritualism Lyceum (MPSL) and renamed itself the Victorian Spiritualists' Union (VSU).These two groups had split many years before (the Lyceum had been the VAS's Sunday school) and now chose to come together.They seemingly did so to secure their financial position and to ensure the "rejuvenation of Spiritualism in Melbourne". 45n a busy market, standing out was important.The Chiaro Church ("noted for accuracy") in Collins St, Melbourne, boasted of their service in 1933: "ARTICLE meeting Tonight.EXTRA LONG READINGS.No one knows whose article is being read, you are not asked to put your hand up.The warmth and comfort of this Hall is notable.Make Chiaro's meetings your SPIRITUAL HOME." 46 For the remainder of the 1930s, at least 30 churches and message services were conducted in Melbourne in any given month.(A count of newspaper advertisements in Sydney reveals about the same number of regular message services.) Figure 1 is a map showing the distribution of Spiritualist churches and message services in Melbourne in November 1938.Churches placed notices in the Age newspaper's church notices section, and this was the main source of information about public religious activities. 47even message services were given in the central business district, and others close by in Carlton and Richmond.The VSU was on the edge of the downtown area.A cluster of churches existed in the northern suburbs (Brunswick, Moonee Ponds, Northcote and Preston), and the southeastern suburbs (St Kilda, Glen Huntly, Prahran).The two churches in the eastern suburbs were in Camberwell and Malvern.Others had come and gone in this area.The western suburbs had churches in Ascot Vale and Footscray.Melbourne did not start its major urban expansion until the 1950s, 48 but even so, there was no Spiritualist church in what would have then counted as the suburban fringe. 49he location of these churches is suggestive of Spiritualism's demographic composition.Spiritualists were more likely to be women than men, and women were less or specific building, and I used these to identify the longitude and latitude of each location.In a very small number of cases where no location was specified (e.g.Glen Huntly), I established the location from earlier notices in the newspaper or other contextual clues. 48See Graeme Davison with Susan Yelland, Car Wars: How the Car Won our Hearts and Conquered our Cities (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2004). 49The Glen Huntly church was 14 kilometres from the city.Meeting near the train station, their church was approximately 30 minutes by train from the Melbourne city centre.
likely than men to be driving cars, so it helped that churches were near major public transport routes. 50This dispersion, from the city to the affluent eastern suburbs, to the industrialised west, suggests Spiritualism appealed to more than one social class.While some churches identified as "associations" (e.g. the VSU; Spiritual Research Society), in practice, these constituted single churches rather than umbrella organisations, all independent from one another.Others called themselves churches, missions or temples rather than "associations".A few (e.g.Windsor, South Melbourne) had no name, yet they were message services, advertised in the Spiritualism section of the church notices.
Of the Melbourne churches in 1938, only two met in buildings they owned-the VSU and the Brunswick Spiritual Lyceum.Building ownership was an important objective for these communities, conferring stability, visibility and legitimacy.Victoria's first dedicated Spiritualist building, owned by the Stawell Progressive Spiritualists, opened its doors in Stawell in late 1872 and was sold four years later to the Methodists.51By then, the Stawell Progressive Spiritualists had joined with the VAPS (forerunner of the VSU). 52The Brunswick Spiritual Lyceum was the next to own a church, buying property in 1910, followed in the early 1920s by the Enmore Spiritualist Church, Sydney, Brisbane Spiritual Church, and St John's Spiritual Church, Adelaide.The newly amalgamated VSU opened the W. H. Terry Hall in 1931 in Victoria St, Melbourne. 53By the late 1930s, therefore, five churches in Australia owned their meeting hall or church premises.As I show below, the ownership of property has left a legacy of institutional stability for these communities.
The apogee of Australian Spiritualism was the interwar period, typified by a conspicuous, albeit contentious, public presence and the proliferation of Spiritualist churches and message services.The loss of loved ones in war, and the vicissitudes of the Great Depression, contributed to this interest.For all of that, the number of resolute followers was small.The 1933 census records 589 Spiritualists in Melbourne, and 1,807 nationally, a 69 per cent decrease in Victoria from 1921. 54This figure is misleading, however.The government made the disclosure of religious identity on the census optional from 1933.The number of people not replying to the religion question duly increased more than tenfold between 1921 and 1933, and presumably many Spiritualists chose not to answer.Judging by the physical size of the bespoke Spiritualist buildings and rented halls, however, attendances at services numbered in the dozens rather than the hundreds.
The VSU reported falling attendances shortly after opening Terry Hall in 1931, citing rising competition from psychics, fortune-tellers and their ilk as the putative cause.At the 7 July 1931 committee meeting, Mr Lumley "gave reasons for the seeming apathy of the church and said that it was mainly due to the practice of advertising mediums". 55Clearly, abundant competition existed for clientele between various meetings, churches and those offering private sittings.Those providing private mediumship readings overlapped somewhat with a "fortune-telling" milieu that prospered around this time.According to Alana Piper, alongside psychics, "there were also 'seers' who did crystal-gazing, tea-cup reading or astrology, or who made a study of their clients' heads (phrenology), faces (physiognomy)" among other fortune-telling modalities. 56lmost all these practitioners were women.
This professionalism worried the VSU.Even with establishment of churches, Spiritualists faced aspersions about the authenticity and legitimacy of the movement and were often ridiculed in the press and from the pulpit. 57The VSU saw themselves as a serious religious enterprise and were worried that professional psychics only contributed to the problem of perception.Certainly, the women who did private readings were often subject to public opprobrium, derisively characterised as opportunists taking advantage of people for personal gain. 58Jenny Hazelgrove, writing about interwar Spiritualism in Britain, observes: "Like other ambiguous groups and individuals, mediums were often treated as if they brought harm in some way: they 'preyed' on the bereaved." 59The VSU committee meeting, held on 6 April 1933, noted: "Mr Waschatz spoke of the need for teaching genuine Spiritualism and questioned if the spurious forms were being given in our church.Mr Maygur in reply to same gave many opinions which were not creditable to some so-called mediums and thought that a firm stand should be taken and only good living & sincere mediums, who were not always looking for monetary rewards, and suggested some form of testing mediums be instituted." 60eemingly, they felt that formal accreditation of mediums could help mark Spiritualism as legitimate.None were implemented, but the VSU did-and still does-train mediums, and it vets those it allows to demonstrate on the platform.In that same meeting, members of the committee wondered what would happen if police were to visit.Mr Lumley pointed out that "the Government would not interfere with any religious service, but they can take action with a great deal of what passes for Spiritualism". 61ertainly, "fortune-tellers" (whether "pretending or professing") could be charged under the Vagrancy Act if they took money for their services, 62 which also included spirit mediums.While the VSU's mediums were never charged, others in the church movement periodically had trouble with the law.Some of the women running message services also offered private readings, and this practice made them a regular target of the police.In Perth in 1927, for example, police charged Mrs Maud McDonough with fraud, "described as a clairvoyant herbalist with a shop in William-street and as acting minister of the Spiritualistic Church". 63Undercover police had visited a message service at the church ("an incorporated association whose charter entitled it to hold seances"), with 20 others in attendance.McDonough was found guilty and fined £3. 64In early 1940, Mrs Ellis Harden, a medium from the Prana Chapel in Collins Street, Melbourne (see Figure 1), was fined £15 for her second offence of "fortune telling". 65Harden had provided a reading at the chapel for a fee (2/6) to an undercover policewoman.In her defence, her solicitor, Mr Mohr, said: "In this country religious beliefs were free, and Spiritualism, as distinct from witchcraft, should not be interfered with in any way."It would take several more decades for Spiritualism to be given a kind of formal recognition as a religion and for the threat of prosecution to abate.

The Australian Spiritualist Renaissance
The arrival of another world war was little help for the Australian Spiritualist movement in growing its institutional presence.Rather, the number of churches declined precipitously after the Second World War.In 1948, the number of message services advertised in Melbourne had halved from 10 years earlier, and there were just 17 churches now in operation. 66Almost all were old stagers, churches featured in the 1938 map (Figure 1).By 1958, approximately 14 churches seemed to be operating in Melbourne.Most of these were "legacy" churches from before the war, including the VSU. 67A few new churches had been started after the war, generally in the same locales as the 1930s.
In 1968, the number of churches advertising in the Age remained at about 14, but signs of strain were appearing.Chiaro Church in the city, known for the warmth of its hall, held its last service on 15 August that year.The church advertised 24 of their chairs for sale at $1 each. 68By 1976, only four of the legacy churches shown in the 1938 map were still operating: the VSU, Brunswick, the Spiritual Research Society, and the Heart of Spiritual Truth. 69The rest of the original churches were gone, 70 apparently suffering from abating interest among postwar Australians.Society had taken a decisive turn towards Christianity, and this pattern may have cooled interest in spirit communication.The 1950s and early 1960s represents the high watermark of Christian participation in Australia.
Despite the closure of many of these legacy churches, the movement soon surged in new locations, a "renaissance" of Australian Spiritualism.Impetus came from a younger, spiritually curious generation looking beyond the mainline churches for spiritual meaning. 71Social conditions were conducive to such a renaissance: Australia's population was growing rapidly due to the postwar baby boom, and affiliation with Christian churches was dropping. 72art of this spiritual exploration resulted in an "occult revival".Spiritual alternativesones that first emerged in the late 19th century, such as Spiritualism and Theosophyenjoyed renewed interest, catering to this new group of seekers. 73This was true across the Anglosphere and reflected in the VSU's membership numbers.In 1975, VSU membership stood at 750, 74 growing to about 900 in 1976. 75The 106th anniversary celebrations of the VSU, held in 1976, saw 750 people attend a celebration at the Kew Town Hall. 76The VSU achieved its record membership numbers-1,500 people-by the end of 1978, having had 326 new members join that year alone. 77The two events I described in the introduction to this article typify this interest.
VSU numbers swelled, and new congregations formed to meet this demand for spirit communication.In 1970s Melbourne, new congregations were founded in suburbs including Burwood, Fawkner, Hughesdale, Lilydale, Malvern, Monash, Ringwood, Seaford, Upwey and Williamstown, among other places. 78The Hughesdale church, formed in 1976, had 100 members by 1978. 79ome of these were independent churches, but the VSU became an umbrella organisation, "mother" to nine "branch churches".At the VSU Annual General Meeting (AGM), 25 November 1978, the president, George Eldred, said these were "Malvern, Ringwood East, Hughesdale, Monash, Seaford, Brunswick, Tumbetin [Upwey], Malcolm and Jackie Shear's group [location unknown], and the Animal Welfare Spiritualist Church [location unknown]". 80Another early affiliate, Dromana, folded two years after its opening in 1963. 81he renewed demand for Spiritualism seemingly came from people living in the middle and outer suburbs and regional cities, many of whom were born during or after the war, and driving the interest in exploring spiritual alternatives.Through to the present day, this is Spiritualism's heartland.
Figure 2 is a map showing the distribution of Melbourne's churches in 2018, approximately 80 years after the movement's peak in the 1930s. 82This map also shows the extent of the 1938 map, illustrating how the churches had moved outwards from the centre of Melbourne.This dispersion mirrors the large-scale suburban growth after the war.It is a similar story in other Australian states too. 83n effect, Spiritualism, buoyed by renewed cultural interest in the early 1970s, overcame its postwar stasis through a geographic reorganisation.Its followers now live mainly in suburban areas and in expanding regional towns and cities.These days, Spiritualists are more likely to live in areas characterised by relative social disadvantage. 84The church movement's non-hierarchical, "congregationalist" form of social organisation meant that mediums could straightforwardly set up churches and groups in these locations, and not remain wedded to older churches or locations.
Not all the churches that opened in the 1970s have survived.Indeed, the never-ending cycle of openings and closure that characterised earlier times persists.It is hard to keep track of the number of churches that were in existence between the 1970s and now, as so many have come and gone, most leaving very few traces of their existence.Others are easier to identify.In addition to those congregations that bought buildings in the early 20th century, several of the churches founded in the 1970s renaissance acquired a building for worship and community and remain open half a century later.In Victoria, one can visit bespoke Spiritualist church buildings in Brunswick (VSU affiliate), Morwell (VSU affiliate), the two VSU branches (Ringwood and North Melbourne), Upwey (VSU affiliate), or Williamstown.Having a place to "serve spirit" has been critical to the movement's survival.

Too Legit to Quit
Spiritualist Anna Quantock died in mid-April 1919, buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery, and her funeral was described in the Herald (Melbourne).She was "interred according to the rights of the section of spiritualists [sic] with which she was associated for many yearsthe Lyceum, whose headquarters are in the Oddfellows Hall". 85The article also notes that the VAS had a "prescribed form of [funeral] service".They preferred a white coffin adorned with a gold-and-white bow.While telling fortunes was illegal, the state would not interfere with the Spiritualists' burial practices.
Recognition as a religion was a long-harboured desire, and something especially precious to the VSU.On 5 July 1963, the VSU's president, George Eldred, sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth II: Enclosed you will find a petition signed by 1,350 persons belonging to and in sympathy with the Victorian Spiritualist's [sic] Union.We hope to petition the Victorian Government for recognition as a religion, enabling our great movement in Victoria, Australia to take its place in the world with the other great countries such as our Mother Country, England.Your father, His Majesty King George V1 [sic] favoured such a petition for English Spiritualists with his signature, helping to gain recognition from the House of Commons.I humbly beg to solicit Your Majesty's signature for the enclosed petition before submitting same to our Victorian Government.Thanking Your Majesty in anticipation, I have the honour to remain Madam, Your Majesty's most humble and obedient servant. 86e Queen's secretary, Martin Charteris, sent the letter to the Australian governor-general's secretary.The Queen would not join the VSU as a signatory on the petition.
The colonial and Australian censuses have counted Spiritualists as a religious tradition for more than a century (because Spiritualists could write that down on the form); the government recognises "religious denominations" to be as such only under the Marriage Act 1961.The Act permits religious groups to nominate ministers for celebrating and legalising marriages.As the attorney-general's department wrote to the VSU in 1989, "A declaration under this section does not in any way amount to a government endorsement of the organisation concerned or an acknowledgement that is has any particular standing in the community." 87For classification as a religion, a group must apply to the attorney-general's office and meet strict criteria.These include legal incorporation, substantial membership (numbers not specified), and being "established for a minimum of three years, with prospects of continuing existence". 88There is no prescription about what the "religion" of this group might entail.
The first group of Spiritualists to be proclaimed for the purposes of the Marriage Act was the Church of United Spiritualism in Australia in 1975 (which initially was a loose confederation of churches, mostly in NSW, but with the VSU as an affiliate), followed by the VSU under its own auspices in 1983, and the Associated Christian Spiritual Churches of Australia in 1987. 89Today, Spiritualist churches in Australia are either fully independent or affiliated with one of five currently proclaimed government-recognised religious organisations.At the time of writing, these are the three I mentioned above, along with the International Council of Spiritualists (Australia) and the One Light Federation.The VSU has the highest number of functioning affiliate churches, and the largest membership.

Conclusion
The Spiritualist churches are the institutional face of contemporary Australian Spiritualism, and key to the enduring interest in spirit communication.At the time of writing, 25 or more congregations exist Australia-wide, averaging between 5-50 attendees.While it is a smaller movement than during its interwar heyday, it remains intact, thanks in part to the mediums who serve in these churches.In turn, these churches promote Spiritualism through psychic fairs, workshops, readings days and home-development circles (mediumship training).
The VSU convened two AGMs in 2021.Both took place in their smart, two-storey headquarters in North Melbourne.The VSU sold their city property (A'Beckett Street, purchased in 1959) and moved there in 2017.The new headquarters has a downstairs library, meeting spaces and kitchen.Upstairs (accessed via lift or stairs) is the worship space, featuring moveable seating, a stage for lectures and demonstrations, and Spirit art decorating the walls.
It was necessary to hold two AGMs in one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.The 2020 AGM was carried over until February 2021, and the 2021 AGM was held at its usual time in November, with 24 people in attendance, in-person and on Zoom. 90An AGM is required by Australian law, as the VSU is an incorporated charity whose purpose is to "advance religion".The meeting heard from officer-bearers that the VSU made a financial loss in both years, mainly due to the impact of the pandemic.But the situation is not dire: the VSU owns three buildings (used for the churches in North Melbourne, Ringwood and Morwell) and has secure cash holdings.History shows that Spiritualist churches with material assets have the wherewithal to endure lean times.Money aside, the VSU handled the pandemic well.Readings and services were conducted via Zoom, with as many as 60 virtual attendees at the Sunday afternoon message services.Membership rose in the year 2020-2021, up 18 per cent to a total of 236 people. 91ore than 150 years into its existence, the VSU is one of the world's notable Spiritualist organisations and the sentinel of Australian Spiritualism.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Spiritualist churches and message services in Melbourne, November 1938.Map created by, and used with the permission of, CartoGIS at The Australian National University.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Spiritualist churches and message services in Melbourne, 2018.Map created by, and used with the permission of, CartoGIS at The Australian National University.
Gabay, Messages from Beyond, 217.39MargalitFox,TheConfidenceMen:HowTwoPrisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History (London:Profile Books, 2021), 56.Sister Kirkby, Spiritualist churches such as the Brunswick Spiritual Lyceum, or the Sunday fare at the VAS in downtown Melbourne.42BySunday29July1933, this number had more than doubled, and there were 42 different Spiritualist message services offered in Melbourne.43Illustratingtheprotean nature of churches, many of those "serving spirit" in 1921 were no longer in operation, while others were still going.The Malvern Spiritual Church opened in 1921 and celebrated its eighth anniversary in 1929, apparently with speeches from the premier of Victoria, Sir William McPherson, and the Major of Malvern, Cr.Hattan.44 40Nelson, Spiritualism and Society, 155.41Based on a count of articles and advertisements from the Age and Sydney Morning Herald between 1918 and 1939 inclusive.The count was conducted on 5 April 2022 using the online newspaper archive Newspapers.com (https:// www.newspapers.com/)andthe keyword "spiritualism".or 42 "Church Notices," Age, 31 December 1921, 6. 43 "Church Notices," Age, 29 July 1933, 22. 44 "Malvern Spiritual Church," Age, 4 July 1929, 13. 45 Minutes of the Committee Meeting, 8 March 1930, Victorian Association of Spiritualists, Melbourne. 46"Church Notices," Age, 29 July 1933, 22. 47 "Church Notices," Age, 19 November 1938, 38.In most cases, the church or message service noted a specific street name