Once the social and spiritual opening was created for women in the form of spiritualism, suddenly ambitious women who wanted to participate in the culture had a kind of a voice.
Mitch HorowitzAmericans were in love with mesmerism because it was something that you could do in your own home. You could mesmerize or hypnotize your aunt or your mother or your father and people would go into these trance states and you could introduction autosuggestions tot hem or as some people saw it, you could cure them of illnesses.
Mitch HorowitzI think spiritualism, mesmerism, the mental healing movement, provided some people with the most meaningful experiences of their lives.
Mitch HorowitzEven back in its colonial days, America developed a reputation as a safe harbor for people with unusual or radical religious beliefs.
Mitch Horowitz