Arthur Findlay
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2009) |
| Arthur Findlay | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1883 |
| Died | 1964 |
| Occupation | Accountant, Stockbroker, Magistrate |
Arthur Findlay MBE JP (1883- July 1964) was a writer, accountant, stockbroker and Essex magistrate, as well as a significant figure in the history of the religion of Spiritualism, being a partial founder of the newspaper Psychic News and also a founder of the International Institute for Psychical Research. In his will he left his home, Stansted Hall, to the Spiritualists' National Union.
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Biography [edit]
Early life [edit]
Aged 17, he had become interested in the field of comparative religion, something of which his staunchly Christian parents disapproved of - they even burned many of his books on the subject.
In 1913 he was awarded the title of Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his organisation work for the Red Cross.
Spiritualism [edit]
In 1919, he began to believe in the practice of Spiritualism, after an encounter with a medium known as John Sloan. With his interest in various world religions, Findlay questioned the spirits that Sloan conjured, and came to the conclusions that most gods and other deities worshipped in religions were in fact simply spirits of deceased humans. His interest increased, and in 1920 he founded the Glasgow Society for Psychical Research.
In 1923 he took part in the Church of Scotland's enquiry into psychic phenomenon. In the same year, he retired from his profession and purchased Stansted Hall in Stansted, England, a manor house built in 1871.
In 1932, he became a founding member of Psychic News, a Spiritualist newspaper, along with Hannen Swaffer and Maurice Barbanell.
He also helped to found the International Institute for Psychical Research, of which he became the chairman. He also became an honorary member of both the American Foundation for Psychical Research, Edinburgh Psychic College and the honorary president of both the Institute of Psychic Writers and Artists and the Spiritualists' National Union.
In his will, he left Stansted Hall to the Spiritualists' National Union as a college for the advancement of Psychic Science, which was named the Arthur Findlay College of Psychic Science after him.
Bibliography [edit]
On Spiritualism [edit]
- On The Edge Of The Etheric: Being An Investigation Of Psychic Phenomena , 1931, in which Findley examines the theory that spirits are linked to subatomic physics.
- The Way Of Life
- The Unfolding Universe or The Evolution of Man's Conception of His Place in Nature, 1935
- The Psychic Stream, 1939
- Where Two Worlds Meet, 1951, about Findley's encounters with the medium John Sloan.
- Looking Back
On Other Religions [edit]
- The Rock Of Truth, 1933, a history of the persecution of mediums by Christianity
- The Curse of Ignorance Volumes I and II, 1947, the devastating effects of ignorance on the history of humanity, ignorance of our true nature as human beings, as well as what really leads to happiness and contentment; includes a criticism of various economic systems and organised religion like Christianity
- The Effect Of Religion On History (Booklet)
- A History of Mankind Volumes I and II
Fiction [edit]
- The Torch Of Knowledge
Information Sources [edit]
Nandor Fodor, An Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science, 1934.
