These principles were the summary of faith of Emma Hardinge Britten, a pioneer for the UK's Spiritualist Movement and were adopted by the SNU. Emma was a medium and gifted orator and it was during her many speeches in trance state, that 'spirit communicators' gave various statements of faith. This resulted in the creation of the Seven Principles of Modern Spiritualism in the UK. Many believe that the influence of the 'spirit' of Socialist Robert Owen was paramount in this process, although Emma generally claimed they were "given by the spirits."