The SPR Schism

'The Schism' in the SPR is recorded as first occurring in 1884, with the first publication of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. [1] The Schism emerged as the result of a split between the naturalists of the SPR and the Spiritualists. Naturalists wanted to reject Spiritualism in order to establish the societies scientific credentials. This led to poor relations with the SPR between Spiritualists and Naturalists. In 1885 the SPR denounced the Theosophical Society as fraudulent, adding to this rift. [2].

* More to come...

[1] Ghosts, Spirits, and Psychics: The Paranormal from Alchemy to Zombies, M. Cardin (ed.) (Santa Barba: ABC-CLIO, 2015), 295.

[2] Ghosts, Spirits, and Psychics: The Paranormal from Alchemy to Zombies, M. Cardin (ed.) (Santa Barba: ABC-CLIO, 2015), xxix, 244.