Spiritualists National Union

The Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) is a Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest Spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is Light, Nature, Truth. Over its history, it has organised test cases regarding the legal status of spiritualist mediums, with regard to such matters as exemption from compulsory military National service. In legal terms, Spiritualist mediums were considered to violate such laws as the Vagrancy Act 1824, which outlawed fortune telling, and the Witchcraft Act 1735 (9 Geo. 2 c. 5). The Union campaigned against these laws for many years. They were eventually repealed by the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 (14 & 15 Geo. 6. c. 33), which legalised the practice of mediums unless it was shown that they were profiting financially from a fraudulent service. This act was repealed in April 2008, and fraudulent mediums are now covered by consumer protection legislation, namely The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. It has also performed more everyday services, such as organising war memorial services in the wake of the First World War. The Union later organised educational courses in Spiritualism-related subjects, and has participated in scientific research into mediumship. In 1995 the SNU acquired the publication Psychic News, which it ran until it was closed in July 2011, later reopening under different ownership. In November 2018 the SNU represented Spiritualism for the first time at the National Memorial Service, held at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London. The SNU's presence built on other efforts in this area, including the obelisk built at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire which is the focus of its annual Peace Service every July. The SNU operates The Arthur Findlay College based at Stansted Hall, Essex, UK.