How did Spiritualists describe life after bodily death?

A core belief of Spiritualism is that individuals survive the death of their physical bodies by ascending into a spirit existence. Spiritualists maintain that a person's condition in the afterlife is directly related to the moral quality of their life on Earth.1

For those who have lost faith in traditional religious frameworks or hold materialistic views, Spiritualism offers a sense of hope regarding immortality. The movement emphasizes that the spirit world is accessible, and it posits that communication between the living and the departed is both possible and desirable. This interaction is typically facilitated by a medium, who acts as a bridge between the material and spiritual realms.12

While Spiritualism focuses on the survival of the soul, it is distinct from the related movement of Spiritism. Unlike Spiritualists, who do not necessarily believe in reincarnation, Spiritists hold that souls reside in the spirit world for a period before being reincarnated into a new physical body.34