Defined Spiritualists / Spiritualism

"Spiritualism

Spiritualism is a system of belief which holds as a tenet the belief that contact is possible between the living and the spirits of the dead. For this reason, death, as an outcome of disease, may not seem as frightening to Spiritualists as it does to those who practice other religions. According to the 20th-century Spiritualist author Lloyd Kenyon Jones, "This does not mean that sickness is unreal. It is real enough from the mortal viewpoint.

The spirit feels the pain, senses the discomfiture of the flesh-body, even though the spirit is not ill." Spiritualism does not promote "mental" cures of the type advocated by New Thought;[citation needed] however, help from the "spirit world" (including advice given by the spirits of deceased physicians) is sought and may be seen as central to the healing process.

As with practitioners of New Thought, Spiritualists may combine faith healing with conventional medical therapies. As Jones explained it, "We are not taught to put the burden on our minds. We do not 'will away' illness. But – we do not fear illness. [...] When we ask the spirit-world to relieve us of a bodily ill, we have gone as far as our own understanding and diligence permit. [...] We have faith, and confidence, and belief. [...] If medicine at times will assist, we take it – not as a habit, but as a little push over the hill. If we need medical attention, we secure it.""

Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing#Spiritualism


Spiritualism

"Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living. Anyone may receive spirit messages, but formal communication sessions (séances) are held by "mediums," who can then provide information about the afterlife."

Source and More
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism

"Spiritualism’s main focus is to promote an individual’s personal experience with God.

Spiritualism is a religion that is not based on a relationship with a particular savior. It recognizes all prophets that have come to humankind throughout the ages, not setting one above the other. Rather, it is based upon the idea that we are all to form our own relationship with God, and to obtain guidance and accept responsibility for our actions based on our interaction with that personal guidance. 

We are able to have that instant and personal communication directly with God through no intermediary; hence the reason that we do  not give anyone a fixed idea of God, only that there is a God. Any attempt to personalize the idea of God only limits the totality of that Intelligence, which is the reason that Spiritualists sometimes refer to that idea of God as “Infinite Intelligence” or “Infinite Spirit.”

Another significant difference is the belief of survival of the personality after death, meaning that we still think of ourselves the same after death as during our physical life. This is proven by Mediumship, the bringing back of loved ones in evidential form who have gone through the change called death.

Belief in the survival of the personality also removes grieving when it is realized that our loved ones are still around us from time to time, are able to communicate with us and still care about us, and can be communicated with. Mediumship, when done in the true sense, will produce a real understanding of this existence and level of interaction to and from the spirit realm."

Source
http://www.cassadaga.org/whatitis.htm