Spiritualists' National Union

Hampton Hill Spiritualist Church

The Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) is a Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest Spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is Light, Nature, Truth.

Over its history, it has organised test cases regarding the legal status of spiritualist mediums, with regard to such matters as exemption from compulsory military National service. In legal terms, Spiritualist mediums were considered to violate such laws as the Vagrancy Act 1824, which outlawed fortune telling, and the Witchcraft Act 1735 (9 Geo. 2 c. 5). The Union campaigned against these laws for many years.[1][2][3][4] They were eventually repealed by the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 (14 & 15 Geo. 6. c. 33), which legalised the practice of mediums unless it was shown that they were profiting financially from a fraudulent service. This act was repealed in April 2008, and fraudulent mediums are now covered by consumer protection legislation, namely The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.[5]

It has also performed more everyday services, such as organising war memorial services in the wake of the First World War.[6]

The Union later organised educational courses in Spiritualism-related subjects, and has participated in scientific research into mediumship.[citation needed]

In 1995 the SNU acquired the publication Psychic News, which it ran until it was closed in July 2011, later reopening under different ownership.[7]

Mission Statement and Goals In 2000 the SNU adopted the following mission statement:

To Promote the Religion and Religious Philosophy of Spiritualism as based upon The Seven Principles

It also re-defined its goals as:

  • To procure perfect religious equality
  • To assist in the formation of new Societies and Churches
  • To strengthen the fraternal relations between Spiritualists
  • To increase all classes of membership
  • To print, publish and distribute literature
  • To promote mission work
  • To do all such lawful things as are for the advancement of Spiritualism

In November 2018 the SNU represented Spiritualism for the first time at the National Memorial Service, held at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London.[8] The SNU's presence built on other efforts in this area, including the obelisk built at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire[9] which is the focus of its annual Peace Service every July. The SNU operates The Arthur Findlay College based at Stansted Hall, Essex, UK.

  1. ^ "High Court of Justice. King's Bench Division. Spiritualists and Military Service. Oaten vs. Anty". The Times. April 8, 1919. p. 6.
  2. ^ "News in Brief". The Times. July 5, 1927. p. 13.
  3. ^ "Spiritualists and the Law: Mr Morrison's Statement". The Times. December 16, 1943. p. 2.
  4. ^ "Spiritualists and the Witchcraft Act". The Times. July 20, 1946. p. 2.
  5. ^ "BBC - Religions - Spiritualism: History of Modern Spiritualism".
  6. ^ "News in Advertisements". The Times. April 17, 1919. p. 9.
  7. ^ Stemman, Roy (Jul 10, 2010). "Death of 'Psychic News'?". Roy Stemman's Paranormal Review. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013.
  8. ^ "The Spiritualists' National Union | Armistice Day 2018". www.snu.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07.
  9. ^ "List of Memorials | the Memorials | National Memorial Arboretum".