Rochester Spiritualist Society

10/28/2026

⭐️Time to collect names for Distant Healing⭐️

Every Thursday evening is an opportunity for you to receive distant healing from the energy healers of the Rochester Spiritualist Society.

Please feel free to request healing for this Thursday by placing your name or initials in the post. Distant healing will take place at 7:00pm.

If you wish to remain private, you are welcome to private message us with your request.

Feel free to add but not limited to:
* Your name
* Pets
* Loved ones
* the Earth
* Neighbors, coworkers, etc.
* Loved ones who are in Spirit or in transition to Spirit

How you can prepare to receive distant healing?
* Sit quietly and open your heart and mind to the Healing energy of Spirit.

*Think of the things in your life that need Healing; affirm Wholeness and Wellness, allowing Spirit to manifest wherever Healing is needed.

Set this designated time aside for yourself to cultivate a sense of Peace & Healing.

Rochester Spiritualist Society

10/27/2026

Emily French (1830–1912)

Throughout October, the Rochester Spiritualist Society is highlighting remarkable mediums from the history of the Spiritualist Movement. Today, we look at Emily S. French, regarded as one of the most remarkable mediums in the history of the Spiritualist Movement. Her mediumship encompassed a remarkable range of spiritual gifts, including clairvoyance and direct voice mediumship. Through her work, French became one of the best known mediums in the United States and gained an international reputation.

French’s mediumship became closely associated with Edward C. Randall, who documented many of the communications received through her sittings. Randall eventually published several books recording the teachings given by her Spirit guides, including The Dead Have Never Died and Frontiers of the Afterlife.

These works explore subjects ranging from God and the nature of the afterlife to prayer, spiritual development, and the relationship between the physical and Spirit Worlds. Randall’s writings also describe what he referred to as her “mission work,” which involved helping spirits who were lost or earthbound find peace and make their transition into the Spirit World.

French died in Rochester in 1912 and was laid to rest in Mount Hope Cemetery. Her life offers an important example of the calling of the Spiritualist medium and the many gifts through which communication with the Spirit World takes place. Her story reflects the larger purpose of the Spiritualist Movement: to explore the nature of Spirit, provide spiritual guidance and comfort, and affirm the continuity of life beyond physical death.

10/21/2026

Sunday Service, Masks of the Soul, Craig Coburn, 10/18/2026

Craig encourages us to explore the masks we wear every day!

10/14/2026

No Mediumship group at the Library tonight due to special event at The Union Tavern!!

10/14/2026

Antonette Matteson (1847–1913)

Throughout October, the Rochester Spiritualist Society is highlighting remarkable mediums from Spiritualist history. Today, we feature Antonette Matteson, a Spiritualist Medium and Healer who lived in Buffalo, New York. Born in Baden, Germany, in 1847, she became known for her trance mediumship, serving as a channel for her Spirit guides to share healing guidance.

For nearly forty years, Matteson served her community through her mediumship. Her principal guide was described as a Native American Spirit who communicated knowledge of medicinal roots, herbs, and barks. Matteson acted as the medium through which this guidance reached those seeking healing.

Authorities attempted to prosecute her, claiming she practiced medicine without a license. However, her community stood behind her. A Buffalo jurist reportedly observed that finding a jury in Erie County willing to indict her would be impossible because so many families had been helped by her or knew someone who had been healed by her.

Matteson belonged to the First Spiritualist Temple of East Aurora and the New York State Association of Spiritualists, now the General Assembly of Spiritualists. She published a book titled The Occult Family Physician and Botanic Guide to Health in 1894 and led the Women’s Progressive Union of Buffalo, which assisted people experiencing poverty.

Matteson’s life reflects the spirit of service at the heart of Spiritualism. Through mediumship, we have the opportunity to bring comfort, healing, and guidance to those in need, sharing the wisdom and assistance of the Spirit World. Her legacy reminds us that the ministry of Spiritualism calls us to serve others with compassion and charity.

10/12/2026

Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day!

Indigenous Peoples’ Day honors the histories, cultures, and perspectives of Indigenous peoples and their ancestors who lived on the land now known as the Americas.

Handsome Lake, or Sganyodaiyo, was a prophet from the Haudenosaunee people here in Western New York. After experiencing a life changing vision, he spent the rest of his life preaching the Gaihwiyo, or “Good Word,” a spiritual tradition that continues to be practiced by Haudenosaunee people today.

His teachings promote temperance, peace, and social and ecological awareness, values that continue to hold meaning within this living spiritual tradition.

Today, we honor Indigenous peoples, their living traditions, and their enduring contributions to our communities and the world we all share.

10/10/2026

Clifford Bias (1910–1987)

Throughout October, the Rochester Spiritualist Society is highlighting remarkable mediums from the history of the Spiritualist Movement. Today, we look at Clifford Bias, an American medium, Spiritualist minister, teacher, and author.

Born in West Virginia in 1910, Bias said that he had experienced communication with those in Spirit from the age of five. He later developed his abilities as a clairvoyant and medium and was ordained into the Spiritualist ministry in 1937.

Bias served Spiritualist churches in several cities, including Buffalo, New York, and became an important figure in Spiritualist education. He helped organize the Spiritualist Episcopal Church and the Universal Spiritualist Association and served as an educational leader at Camp Chesterfield and the Universal Spiritualist Institute.

In addition to his ministry and mediumship, Bias was a prolific writer whose work explored mediumship, spirituality, mysticism, and the Western Mystery Tradition. His book Trumpet Mediumship and Its Development reflects his particular interest in the development of physical mediumship and the practical training of mediums.

Clifford Bias represents a generation of Spiritualists who saw mediumship as both a spiritual gift and a discipline that could be studied and developed.