Toward a Spiritualist Theology: The Counter-Esotericism of Frederick Willis, 1830–1914

            This paper examines Frederick Llewellyn Hovey Willis’s Spiritualist theology. Abandoning his family’s Calvinism over his belief in free will, Willis created a personal religion that fused Unitarianism, Bronson Alcott’s Transcendentalism, séance Spiritualism, mind cures, and possibly Theosophy. He consistently identified as a Christian Spiritualist—even after he was dismissed from Harvard for leading séances. Drawn to Spiritualism’s combination of metaphysical religion and liberal seeking, Willis found a supportive community and a compelling alternative to orthodox Protestantism. Yet Willis’s career challenges our understanding of Spiritualism as esoteric. Willis lectured and preached widely on Spiritualism and ran a Spiritualist church for several years. He wrote in liberal religious periodicals for decades. His private séances were not secret. His allies defended him publicly during the Harvard scandal. Ultimately, Willis’s Spiritualist ministry was counter-esoteric: Although it dealt with abstract ideas, it was never a hidden tradition of religious knowledge.