In 1993 a survey of the followers of the six major Protestant denominations in America was conducted to find the percentage of the followers that agreed with seven main ideas of so called 'New Age' religions.  Those denominations were the Christian Church Disciples of Christ (CCDC), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Presbyterian Church of the USA (PCUSA), the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the United Methodist Church (UMC).  The seven main ideas were the following;

1. Human nature is basically good.

2. I believe in reincarnation, that I have lived before and will experience other lives in the future.

3. I believe in astrology.

4. Through meditation and self-discipline I come to know that all spiritual truth and wisdom is within me.

5. I am in charge of my life, I can be anything I want to be.

6. It is possible to communicate with people who have died.

7. An individual should arrive at his/her own beliefs independent on any church.

Belief	CCDC	ELCA	PCUSA	SBC	UCC	UMC	Average
1	75	71	72	47	79	76	70
2	7	10	10	3	11	7	8
3	13	8	10	4	9	9	9
4	34	31	30	47	33	34	32
5	57	54	54	40	59	56	53
6	6	8	6	5	8	7	7
7	34	29	31	28	36	32	31
Average	32	30	30	22	33	32	30

        Aside from the Southern Baptist Convention, most of the religions had a general acceptance of some of the "New Age" ideas around 30%.  The ideas of 2, 3, and 6 were very low when compared to the generally accepted ideas in the list.  Reincarnation, Astrology, and Talking to Dead are, not to anyone's surprise, ideas that have not been accepted by main stream American Protestant religions.  What if?
        The Spiritualist movement could be called the strongest movement in the "New Age" package of religions.  Dating back to the time of Franz Anton Mesmer and his animal magnetism and Scandinavian Swedenborg, it grew during Victorian New York and is a key component in many RPGs based on that time period.  Andrew Jackson Davis was the founder of American Spiritualism, and Reincarnation, Astrology and Talking to the Dead were all key parts of the movement.
        But although it is a large part of the "New Age" religions, it is still a small member of all the American religions.  What if it had been able to make a larger, much larger, impact on America, and drove the three above "New Age" ideas to higher acceptance throughout America?  Read on.

      1780. The Anti-Catholic Gordon riots in London.  Many Catholic Churches are attacked, along with the Bank of England, King's Bench Prison, Newgate Prison and Fleet Prison.  One group in the riots attack and burn the home of Robert Hindmarsh, a follower of Swedenborg and a future founding father of the Spiritualist movement in England.
      1787. Robert Hindmarsh and others found the first Spiritualist sect in Britain.
      1792. The British Government suspends Civil Rights and begins to actively prosecute people for sedition.
      1795. Parliament approves a law allowing the government to imprison without trial anyone who criticizes its policies.  A food riot in London again damages Robert Hindmarsh, as the meeting house of the Spiritualist sect is burnt to the ground in the chaos.  He and his followers will leave for America, seeing nothing but danger and oppression in Britain.  They will settle in Indiana.
    The Spiritualists in Indiana will convert a large number of Miami Indians and settlers alike.  Their ideas of Astrology, Reincarnation, and Mediumship are accepted by the Indians, and a number of settlers who feel like they are missing something in life.  Spiritualist sects will pop up across America, mostly along trade centers in the frontier, but sometimes in places like Charleston, Baltimore and New York.
      1812. The battle along the Mississinewa River between the Miami Indians the American soldiers does not happen because of the friendly relationship between the Miami Indians and the Spiritualist settlers in the area.  Descendants of Miami Indians will make up a large population of Indiana throughout history, almost all being Spiritualists.  Missionaries from the Spiritualists will attempt to convert the other Indian tribes of the Northwest, with less success.  Those that do are usually viewed as second class citizens, despite having converted to a Christian faith.  Traitors to their own tribes and still savages to the non-Spiritualists.
      1820's.  Immigration of Spiritualists from Britain and Scandinavia continues into the Old Northwest.  They will become a large voting bloc in Indiana, with sizable followings in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa.  Numerous butterflies have begun to spread across America, especially the 1824 Presidential Election.
      1824.  Presidential Election- Jackson 88, Adams 80, Clay 53, Crawford 40.  Clay will be selected by the House, despite having finished third out of four candidates.  The supporters of Jackson will not let this be forgotten.  After four years, Clay is defeated for re-election by Andrew Jackson, also know as King Andrew I to his foes.
      1840's. Spiritualists in Illinois side with the Anti-Mormon groups in the conflicts.  This move is able to prevent any repeat of the situation between the settlers and Spiritualists.  With the growth of Chicago, the Spiritualists make large inroads with the conversion there.
    The population of the Spiritualists is still small, but very powerful.  They are spread out across the Northwest, with most being in Indiana and Illinois.  New York, Boston, and other coastal cities have minor sects, usually a chapterhouse of only 20 or so, of rich men who think it is an interesting idea.
    In the South, Spiritualists have been able to make large additions to the religious ideas, but have been unable to actually convert people.  Most Spiritualists are abolitionists, hurting attempts to convert.  Astrology and Mediumship are popular to the Southern Upper Class, although it's viewed as a game and not as anything religious.
    Louisiana has a large Spiritualist population, however, in the Freedblack community and people of New Orleans.  Freedblacks are very open to converting to Spiritualism, and because of the abolitionist nature of the Spiritualists a large number of Underground Railroad code names and the like include Astrological terms.
      1848. Failed Revolutions in Germany and other parts of Europe.  The 48'ers, as they are called, are settlers from Germany across the Mid-west.  Mostly leftist in their views, some out right Communist, they are open to conversion to the Spiritualist movement, except for the extreme Communists who view all religious ideas as evil.  In 1860, they will vote for Lincoln and, some say, turn Iowa, Illinois and Indiana from Douglas to Lincoln, winning the election for him.
      1858. The Spiritualists support Lincoln in the state election, although he still looses.  It is greatly rumored, correctly, the Lincoln is a member of the Spiritualists.  Most Abolitionists are Spiritualists, or share some views of them.  Mainstream Churches have begun to be influenced by the Spiritualists, mostly in ideas of Mediumship and ideas of fate and destiny (Astrology).
      1859. Spiritualist John Brown leads a revolution of slaves at Harper's Ferry.  It fails.
      1860.  American Civil War.  Volunteers from the Midwest introduce ideas of Spiritualism to other groups of people.  1 out of 4 Union soldiers are foreign born, a majority of which are German Spiritualists.  One such German Spiritualist is Charles Schurz.
      April 14, 1865.  President Lincoln is assassinated.  That morning, he mentions to one of his Cabinet members not only his odd dream of previous nights, but that he has seen it in the stars, he will die tonight.  Spiritualists morn their lost President, but point to his predictions as proof of Spiritualism's power.
      Reconstruction. Freedblacks make up a large base for Spiritualists, in a religious movement similar to Pentecostal churches. The entire Spiritualist movement, never very centralized to begin with, has begun to fragment into true organized religions.  The Freedblack religion will be very similar to Pentecostal Churches of OTL, although far earlier than OTL.  In the Mid-west the church has split between heavily German influenced churches, with mostly left wing ideas, and the older establishment of Anglo-American settlers and Indians, which is still left wing but more moderate.  New England has a minor Spiritualist movement, closer to the older establishment in the Mid-West.
      Victorian Era.  The "Shadow Movement," as it is called by members of the Spiritualist movement, begins.  People claiming to be Spiritualists begin to set up shop in New York and other Victorian Cities, usually pretending to speak to dead husbands for rich old widows and the like.  Although it will add ideas of Astrology and the like into the minds of the Upper Class, it usually is a poor reflection of the Spiritualists.  Racists Atlantis-Aryan Cults also spring up, also claiming to be Spiritualists.
      The West.  The Spiritualist movement is still small across the West.  Settlers from the East into places like California, Oregon, and Washington were able to start up minor communities, but nothing grand. Conversion of the Natives is very difficult, and the Catholic Mexican community is against the Spiritualists.  The "Shadow Movement" is also strong here, usually stealing newly rich miners of their money the second they enter the towns for a fortune telling.  The old bitterness of the Mormons against the Spiritualists is evident in Utah.
      1900. Spiritualists across the world celebrate the new Century. Spiritualists make up a large amount of the religious communities in America.  The Freedblacks in the South, Radical German Leftists in the Midwest, an older Anglo-American establishment in the Midwest and New England, and now a Shadow Movement across America which is spreading some Spiritualist ideas but without real value in them.  The Roman Catholic Community has a large following that competes with the Spiritualists up North, while the South still is a mixture of Methodists and Baptists, each weaker without the large number of Freedblacks that joined in OTL.  Pentecostal Churches will probably not develop in this TL, as the Freedblacks in the South has already created it almost 50 years earlier than OTL.

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