Keeping in Touch: An Anthology of the Victorian SeanceMain MenuIntroductionFurther ReadingI - Spiritualism and Its BelieversII - Ambivalent SkepticsIII - Scoffers and FraudsIV - The Private SeanceV - The Public SeanceWork CitedMegan Brueningb3bbdc9bd1941527cc9ff27849ef1a643abdd7d3
12016-11-23T12:49:55-05:00Spiritualism in High Society3plain2016-12-16T21:09:50-05:00In 1876 a Mrs. Frederica Showers responded to an article in the Examiner that cast dispersion on the character of her own daughter who was known for her psychic abilities; the letter attempts to explain how her daughter’s abilities were discovered, advertised to Queen Victoria, and finally how other aristocrats encountered and then slandered Miss Showers. It was not uncommon for mediums to offer their services to royalty and the aristocracy; D.D. Home, a famous medium, “conducted séances for the British aristocracy and Continental royalty” (Lamont 898). The letter demonstrates how although a potentially valuable social skill, spiritualist abilities and practices could lead mediums, particularly women, into dangerous territory by exposing them to public critique.