Present Age Inner Life Mysteries Davis 1853 1st Ed. Occult Spiritualism Psychic For Sale

The Present Age and Inner Life: A Sequel to Spiritual Intercourse. Modern Mysteries Classified and Explained.DAVIS, Andrew JacksonPublication Date: 1853
853 SPIRITUALISM Davis Occult MEDIUMS Fortune-Telling Insanity Mystery Esoteric Andrew Jackson Davis was a 19th-century American spiritualist known for his works of philosophy, mesmerism, and spiritual mysteries! One such work was his Present Age and Inner Life a follow up to his studies in spiritual intercourse. In this book, Davis discusses human needs, the motivations of mediums, medical insanity, and the functions of the brains as it pertains to spiritualism.The Present Age and Inner Life (1853) by Andrew Jackson Davis is a foundational 19th-century spiritualist text that classifies and explains ancient and modern spiritual mysteries. As a sequel to Spiritual Intercourse, it explores the relationship between the material world and the spirit realm, advocating for a philosophy that balances scientific inquiry with intuition and inner spiritual development.
Key Details and ThemesPurpose: The book aimed to explain spirit manifestations through a \"higher philosophy\" that reconciles, rather than separates, science and spiritual belief.Content: It classifies various spiritual phenomena, arguing that modern \"mysteries\" (such as rappings and mediums) are part of a natural, discoverable law.Social Critique: Davis argues that the era (the 1850s) was characterized by a lack of spiritual connection, excessive focus on material possessions, and a need for deeper inner life.Topics Covered: The work explores clairvoyance, the nature of the human mind, the afterlife, and the intersection of theology and science.
The Present Age and Inner Life remains a significant text for understanding 19th-century American spiritualism and the intellectual, mystical, and scientific debates of the timeAndrew Jackson Davis (August 11, 1826 – January 13, 1910) was an American Spiritualist, born in Blooming Grove, New York.
Early yearsDavis was the son of a shoemaker and had little education.[2] From age 14, Davis claimed to be able to diagnose illness via clairvoyance.[2] In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, the precursor of hypnotism, and came to perceive himself as having remarkable clairvoyant powers. In the following year he received, he said, spiritual messages telling him of his life work.[3] He described himself as \"the Poughkeepsie Seer\".[4]Andrew Jackson Davis, about 1860WorkFor the next three years (1844–1847) he practiced magnetic healing, a form of therapy regarded as pseudoscience, and in 1847 he published The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind, which starting in 1845 he had dictated while in a trance, while being mesmerized by Dr. Silas S. Lyon to his scribe, William Fishbough. While in a trance he said that he renounced copyrights to this book, so the copyrights were given to Dr. Silas S. Lyon and William Fishbough. He lectured with little success and returned to writing books, publishing about 30 in all, including
The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind. (1847).The Great Harmonia (1850–1861), an encyclopaedia in six volumes;The Philosophy of Special Providences (1850), which with its evident rehash of old arguments against special providences and miracles would seem to show that Davis\'s inspiration was literary;The Philosophy of Spiritual Intercourse; Being an Explanation of Modern Mysteries. (1851).The Present Age and Inner Life; a Sequel to Spiritual Intercourse, Modern Mysteries Classified and Explained. (1853).The Penetralia; Being Harmonial Answers to Important Questions (1856), which allegedly predicted the development of the automobile, road systems, typewriter, and other modern technology years if not decades before they were developed, and claimed the speed of light was 200,000 miles per second 94 years before it was scientifically calculated by Louis Essen showing the true speed was 186,000 miles per second.The Magic Staff: An Autobiography (1857), which explains that he was not related to President Andrew Jackson but he was named after him at the recommendation of a neighbor and it was supplemented by Arabula: or, The Divine Guest. Containing a New Collection of New Gospels (1867), the gospels being those according to St. Confucius, St. John (John Greenleaf Whittier), St. Gabriel (Gabriel Derzhavin), St. Octavius (Octavius Frothingham), St. Gerrit (Gerrit Smith), St. Emma (Emma Harding), St. Ralph (Ralph Waldo Emerson), St. Selden (Selden J. Finney), St. Theodore (Theodore Parker), and others;A Stellar Key to the Summer Land (1868);Tale of a Physician, or, The Seeds and Fruits of Crime (1869)The Fountain with Jets of New Meanings (1870)[3]Views of Our Heavenly Home (1878)Influences and legacyDavis was much influenced by Swedenborg and by the Shakers, who reprinted his panegyric praising Ann Lee in the official work Sketch of Shakers and Shakerism (1884).[3]
In writing his 1845 short story \"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar\", Edgar Allan Poe was informed by Davis\'s early work after having attended one of his lectures on mesmerism.[5]
Davis\'s complete library is now housed within the Edgar Cayce Library.[6]
Davis described the concept of Summerland as an undefined location where souls go after death, the secular nature of which was attractive to some non-religious spiritualists.[2]
Critical receptionIn 1855, Davis\' spiritualism received an extensive critical analysis by theologian Asa Mahan: Modern Mysteries Explained and Exposed. In Four Parts. I. Clairvoyant Revelations of A. J. Davis... A defender of Davis published an 80-page pamphlet attacking Mahan\'s analysis.
Regarding Davis\' book The Principles of Nature, Joseph McCabe has noted \"There is no need to examine the book seriously. The scientific errors and crudities of it release any person from considering whether there was any element of revelation in it... Moreover, Davis was a palpable cheat. He maintained that up to that date he had read only one book in his life, and that book was a novel. We know from his admirers that this was not true, and any person can recognize in his pages a very crude and badly digested mess of early scientific literature.\"[7] Davis also plagiarised long passages from Swedenborg in The Principles of Nature, which some of Davis\'s believers take as proof that Davis was inhabited by Swedenborg.
Physician James Joseph Walsh was unconvinced Davis was a genuine clairvoyant. Walsh wrote that although Davis stated that he had only ever read one novel, this was not true as he had read Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation and there was evidence he had read books on sociology.[8]
The spiritualist writings of Davis have been criticized by scientists and skeptics for containing inaccuracies and false information. For example, in one case, Davis seemed unaware that water is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen. Researcher Georgess McHargue pointed out that the supposed \"scientific\" passages from his writings are filled with \"gobbledegook as to put it in the class with the most imaginative vintage science fantasy.\"Common terms and phrasesAndrew Jackson Davis angels appear asked beautiful behold believe body brain breath cause cerebrum circle clairvoyant communications condition DELEGATION demons discord divine doctors of divinity doctrine earth electricity Emanuel Swedenborg ence eternal evidence evil existence EXORDIUM experience explanation eyes facts faith feel flow Galen gray horse guardian spirit hand Harmonial Philosophy hath heard heaven human ical ignorance illustration immortal impressed Impressional individual influence inhabitants inquired insanity intelligence interior investigation laws Lempster live magnetic man\'s material medium mediumship ment mental mind miracle mortal vision mysterious nature never odic force organic pantomimic perfect persons phenomena physical planets present principles progress psychological question reader Reason religion replied revelations Saturn sectarian skepticism soul speak Spirit-Land spiritual intercourse spiritual manifestations Stahlhammer thee theology thine thing thou thoughts tion true truth uncon unfolded universe utter vision wisdom words write Zoroaster