For those who didn't see it, yesterday, on the night of the Oscars 2022, Will Smith, when taking the stage, gave a big slap in the face of the presenter, Chris Rock. It turns out that, shortly before, he had made a joke, associating Will's wife, who suffers from hair loss due to an illness, with the protagonist of an old movie, where the protagonist has her hair shaved.

Will got up, walked towards Chris, “armed”, as we can see in his physical behavior and gave him a big slap in the face. No, it doesn't seem to have been a staging, as we can see in the video to the side and, even if it were, the reflection would remain, as we could do with a film.

And what does that have to do with our subject here? Well, actually, a lot, as with a lot of everyday happenings. Let's see:

First, we can justify Will's action?

Well, we are not here to judge anyone, but only to analyze actions that can give us a guide for timely reflections. We can, at first glance, raise the issue of defense: Will would only be defending the image and honor of his wife, which would justify the act.

If it had been just over a century, the case would have made a beautiful duel: there would be a challenge from which, probably, only one of them would come out alive. In fact, the “slap in the face” comes precisely from this past habit: the challenger, hit in his honor, with his hand or with a glove, hit the offender in the face, challenging him to a gun duel.

757. Can the duel be considered a case of self-defense?

"No; it is murder and an absurd custom, worthy of barbarians. With a more advanced civilization and more moral, man will understand that the duel is as ridiculous as the combats that were once considered to be the judgment of God.”

The Book of Spirits

Dueling, however it may be, is something that makes a man ridiculous. Lives are wasted and suffering unfolds in matters of banal disputes which, moreover, almost always have the honor as the central point of contention.

759. What value has what is called point of honor, in the matter of dueling?

“Pride and vanity: humanity’s double wound.”

The two excerpts above were taken from The Spirits' Book, by Allan Kardec. Of course, we are not here talking about a duel to the death — something that, in different ways, still happens — but we can refer to the Spirits' Book, in terms of the spirits' concurring opinion in this regard. If you don't know what Spiritism is all about, which is a science whose theory was born from the rational and methodological observation of spiritual manifestations and communications, Click here to access a master's thesis on the subject.

Remembering: we are not here taking this work as a sacred code, but rather bringing it to support, through the Doctrine of the Spirits, to our reflection. And we see, after all, what rationally becomes wide open to our eyes, but which we rarely want to admit: behind it all is wounded pride and threatened vanity. After all, in the case at hand, the answer could have been higher: Will could have taken the opportunity to give several moral lessons on the issues involved. But there are more of the aspects enclosed in the question; let's go to them:

the passions

In the past, back in the 19th century, it was very common and clear to use the term passion to designate the strong human attachment to an object, theme, person or feeling. So a man passionate, at that time, he would have been a man frantic in his attachment to a particular issue.

Today, it is more common to be the word emotion associated with that context. However, understanding the meaning of the first, I think that the second does not represent the high degree of attachment as well as the first. For example, a man may be feeling the emotion of anger, but this emotion can be in different degrees, and, to a certain extent, this emotion, which emanates from the instinct, is useful and beneficial (eg, when we feel angry when trying to open a screw-on lid that won't come off: anger gives us even more strength to open it, but if left unchecked, it often hurts us in the process). On the other hand, in saying that man is experiencing the passion from anger, it is very well understood that he is in a very high degree of attachment to this emotion that, despite emanating from instinct, which is always useful and balanced, arrived in a state of madness and incontainment.

And then follows, in the same sequence, a complement by Kardec to the previous question, in OLE:

[759] a) — But are there not cases where honor is truly pledged, and where a refusal would be cowardice?

“That depends on the uses and customs. Each country and each century has a different way of seeing it. When men are better and more advanced in morals, they will understand that the true point of honor is above earthly passions and that it is not killing, nor letting oneself be killed, that they will repair wrongs.”

It is “beautiful” to see that the Spirits themselves, when superior, do not judge us with contempt. They always denote that everything is in accordance with our evolution, that is, with our time and the customs of each people. A simple example: in the old days, Japanese samurai took their own life, with a dagger, when they recognized themselves guilty and without honor.

But the main point is at the end of the paragraph: “the true point of honor is above earthly passions and that it is not killing, nor allowing oneself to be killed, that they will repair grievances”. It is in overcoming the passions that we will find the true point of honor, the true feeling, the true charity. It is through this overcoming that we will advance to a new stage of society, but this is only done by will and individual choice. How, then, to arrive at this new state of earthly things?

Kardec, in A Genesis (chapter III), concludes: “He who does not master his passions can be very intelligent, but, at the same time, very bad. Instinct annihilates itself; the passions can only be tamed by the effort of the will.“. However, this chapter ends here, in the 5th edition of this work, which, we now know, has strong indications of having been tampered with. Taking the 4th edition, we have the following closure:

All men go through passions. Those who have overcome them, and are not, by nature, proud, ambitious, selfish, spiteful, vindictive, cruel, wrathful, sensual, and do good without effort, without premeditation and, so to speak, involuntarily, it is because they have progressed in the sequence. of their previous existences, having rid themselves of this uncomfortable weight. It is unfair to say that they have less merit when they do good, compared to those who fight against their tendencies. It turns out that they have already achieved victory, while the others have not yet. But when they do, they will be like the others. They will do good without thinking about it, like children who read fluently without having to spell. It is as if they were two sick people: one cured and full of strength while the other is still recovering and hesitates to walk; or as two runners, one of which is closer to the finish than the other.

This original ending is very important. It will precisely show the central point: we tame the passions through our will, in the effort made through many incarnations, in the face of trials and atonements.

So here, taking Will's case as an example, we could say: it was an impetus of passions that led him to act that way. Probably now he regrets, somewhere, for what he did. What if he had a gun and, in a rush, had taken Chris Rock's life? Well, maybe, at some point, he would feel enormous guilt. This guilt could stop you on your journey, because you are under an enormous weight of remorse and, especially, if you believe that you have sinned and deserve punishment. How to resume walking? Realizing, after all, that you have committed a error, precisely for not knowing how to deal with passions. Finally, we ask: what matters more: punishing oneself or looking for ways to exercise the learning to contain these passions? Since the second case allows for learning and evolution, while the first paralyzes, we are left with the second option. There is, then, one last thought:

Who was the cause of all this disagreement?

Well, we know from the study of Spiritism that we are all the time surrounded by a “cloud of witnesses”, as Kardec would say. Spirits are everywhere all the time and, as it is still a very backward planet, it is natural to assume that there are mostly imperfect Spirits.

In the Spiritist Magazine of October 1858, in the article “The evil of fear”, Kardec quotes a teaching from São Luís:

Evil spirits like to have fun. Watch out for them! He who thinks he is saying a pleasant phrase to the people around him and who amuses a society with jokes and acts, is sometimes wrong, and even many times, when he thinks that all this comes from himself. The frivolous spirits that surround him identify with him in such a way that, little by little, they deceive him about his thoughts, deceiving also those who listen to him. In this case, think you are dealing with a man of spirit, who is nevertheless an ignorant. Think carefully, and you will understand what I say to you.

Not that we are here claiming that the presenter is a ignorant in any aspect. We only highlight the passage because, many times, between jokes that make the audience happy, we are mentally fed by Spirits who aim at nothing more than having fun. When we are not aware of this and do not watch ourselves, we can carry this identification very far, until, at the expense of our unhappiness, we fall into traps like these. Now, it would be too much to suppose that, if we were seers, we would see a multitude of inferior spirits, beside the actor, if dying of laughter after seeing the slap caused by the bad suggestion they may have given, mentally, to the presenter?

And that takes the responsibility away from that presenter? Far from it. If we go to a bar and give in to the bad suggestions of frivolous “friends” who incite us to a fight, is it their fault or is it ours? We believe the question is already well answered.

It is thus, in short, that we take different lessons from the spiritist theory for everyday life, as, incidentally, Kardec often did in the Spiritist Magazine. We pray that this theory may spread more and more in order to positively influence society which, perhaps more than ever, seeks so many answers to the moral and social questions of humanity.

We have talked a lot about suicide according to Spiritism and, perhaps, our positions have not always been absolutely clear and concise. Because of this, we believe it is necessary to adopt a new approach, in a succinct and clear way.

by Paulo Degering R. Jr.

Read to the end

the suicidal, as long as you're aware of what you're doing, he will have some moral suffering when he realizes the loss of time that was to interrupt his own life. He said "as long as you're aware of what you're doing” because sometimes there is no such awareness. Furthermore, he will almost always have a greater difficulty in detaching himself from the body, which, far from being weakened, was at the fullest of its strength.

Kardec expressed himself like this, in The Spirits' Book:

This effect is not general; but in no case is the suicidal person exempt from the consequences of his lack of courage, and sooner or later he atones, in one way or another, for the guilt he has incurred. This is how certain spirits, who were very unfortunate on Earth, said they had committed suicide in the previous existence and submitted voluntarily to new tests, to try to bear them with more resignation.

Note the highlighted word: voluntarily. The suicidal person can, in a new incarnation, choose rough trials in order to try to overcome them, learning to bear the vicissitudes with greater resignation.

But then they will tell you: read the book “Memoirs of a suicide”

The book “Memoirs of a suicide”

In this book, very briefly, a Spirit talks about his extreme suffering after death. It was there that the image of the “valley of suicides” was created, something like a “place” where suicidal Spirits would be “purging” their faults.

It turns out that Spirits don't look for locations. Spirits seek Spirits or situations, according to their beliefs and ideas — consciously or not. Spirits — all of them — attract each other by affinity and feelings, as, for example, by love or hate, but also by the same tune of thoughts. Spirits that judge themselves guilty often throw themselves into a real hell mental, in a situation that is often shared by other Spirits in a similar situation, who, then, together, can form true landscapes of suffering, through mental action on fluidic matter.

So Yvonne do Amaral Pereira wrong or lied?

Not necessarily. When it comes to Spirits, we know that they are like us — with the same virtues and imperfections. Thus, they can speak with real wisdom, or with false ideas, in which they believe. They can often even trick. We do not know who this Spirit was who psychographed through Yvonne. He was probably a suffering Spirit, with very limited ideas about the spiritual world. What we know is that, without a shadow of a doubt, we cannot disrespect the basic principle of spirit science: the universal agreement of the teaching of the Spirits. Kardec would say, in A Genesis, right in the first lines:

General concordance in teaching is the doctrine’s essential character, the condition even of its existence. It is evident that all principles which have not received the consecration of general agreement can only be considered as a fractional part of this same doctrine, merely as a simple, isolated opinion for which Spiritism cannot assume the responsibility.

It is the concordant, collective teaching of the spirits who have passed beyond which constitutes the logical criterion, giving strength to the spiritual doctrine and assuring to it perpetuity.

The problems of false concepts in the Spiritist Movement

In spiritist circles, it is commonplace nowadays to hear statements such as “the suicide goes to the valley of suicides”, or “the suicide will encounter enormous suffering, as he will be trapped in his body and will feel the worms gnawing at him” or, even , “the suicide, in the next incarnation, will come with a defective body, to 'redeem' his faults”. None of this reflects the reality of suicide according to Spiritism, in a generic way.

The current spiritist movement began to adopt several false concepts and half-truths, obtained through individual and isolated reports from some Spirits, as if it were the unquestionable truth about all situations. A colleague of ours would say: modern spiritualists began to place a whole universe of variable possibilities in “little boxes”. For example: did you kill yourself? Go to the “box” in the suicide valley. Burned a person? It goes to the “death in fire in the next life” “box”. All this, as a general rule, it's not a truth.

Unfortunately, many of us - myself included - for lack of previous studies and, often, willingly, wanting to help, we release these phrases that often cause revolt and distance from people who come to seek, precisely in Spiritism, an answer different of what is being said out there.

It happens that, in the last year, after the beginning of our studies on the Spiritist Magazine, many concepts were clarified, others were replaced and many others were forgotten. Kardec, already in the first editions of RE, in 1858, makes evocations of at least three suicidal spirits, analyzing their individual cases. Others that were made on other occasions also appear in later issues, as well as in the book O Céu e o Inferno (from Editora FEAL, corresponding to the original, unadulterated). And, analyzing these communications, there is a very big lesson, which we will try to explain objectively below.

Rather, it is important to remember that Spiritism, as a Scientific Doctrine, does not stop man by imposing fear, because the brake of passions by this type of device is only temporary and without great results. No: Spiritism comes to present the truth based on the analysis of the facts, through the rational and concordant study of the communications of the Spirits given by all parts and for all times. When studying Spiritism, we are no longer guided by fear, but for the reason, and it is only when the Spirit enters the state of reason that it actually makes better and clearer decisions.

Well, well: on the subject of suicide, we repeat that, based on these studies, the results initially highlighted cannot be taken as a general rule. Yes, there are Spirits in enormous disturbance that believe being gnawed by worms, for his mind was still on the sight of the torn body. There are also those who find themselves in hellish places, because they believe that it should be so and because if throw themselves into hellish mental situations, where, alone or in a group, they create true diabolical or purgatorial scenarios. In addition to these, there are those who piously believe that death is the end of life and then fall into a more or less prolonged sleep, as there are also those rare who, after the fateful act, momentarily they see themselves freed from physical pain, believing themselves, then, to be free from moral pain, which they still do not know how to distinguish from the first.

Therefore, the situation of each one, after death by suicide, will vary much, on a case-by-case basis and according to the — degree of awareness of what they do. That is why a Spirit who takes his life in an impetus of despair almost always has a much lower degree of guilt - before his own conscience - than one who, knowing Spiritism and the doctrine of choice of proofs and expiations, after taking the life of his own body, he falls into a deep sense of guilt and heavy lamentations, for he regrets having given up the opportune proofs for his own advancement. Furthermore, it is important to say that, almost always, these acts cause pain in those who love us, which increases the bitterness of the Spirit when evaluating the extent of the results of their act.

What we seek to say, after all, is that the Spirit does not suffer materially, in any way. You may believe that you suffer and, mentally, create a false sense of physical pain, but in fact, suffering is moral and consistent with the degree of conscience and guilt you have, towards yourself, about the harm done to yourself. . We would say that, since suicide is the abandonment of the tests chosen by oneself, it will almost always accompany a lesser or greater moral suffering, but it will never represent an end in the opportunities granted by God for our evolution, nor will it, as a rule, cause a expiatory suffering in the next incarnation. Once again, depends on one's mindset, beliefs and knowledge.

But in the end, what's the point of killing yourself?

We know that, almost always, suicide is an attempt to escape from pain or despair that one does not know how to deal with. You see, however: the fact that that situation is happening is precisely an important learning opportunity, in order to deal with these situations. If we don't know how to deal with it, it's because we still have acquired imperfections or passions, that is, emotions that we still do not completely know how to deal with. Going to the extreme of taking life from the body will only prolong this state of ignorance or imperfection, with consequent suffering. moral, since we didn't win the test, that is, we didn't acquire experience and strength to overcome it.

Where, then, to find strength? Well, we are incarnated for a reason: to learn and to let go of possible imperfections created by ourselves. In the world of Spirits - Space - time does not exist, so that the Spirit who has developed imperfections is incessantly occupied with them, either in an illusion of pleasures, or in a self-persecution caused by remorse. Thus, if we have developed any imperfection, this imperfection will be, for us, the reason for worries that seem endless - this is the explanation why certain spirits, in a state of suffering, say that such a situation seems to them to have no end.

Well, I was talking about the reason for incarnation, which, far from the false idea of being a punishment, is, on the contrary, a divine blessing, as it offers an opportunity for common learning and detachment from acquired imperfections. Here, it is possible to put ourselves in contact with people of all kinds, carry out different activities, etc., everything that leads us to leave, or at least break the cycle, of these situations of moral suffering. What is, however, the first and greatest mistake that those who suffer morally usually make - also induced by imperfect spirits? isolate yourself. There is the first step towards the fall, because isolation will cause precisely this scenario of endless self-persecution. Do not make this mistake, and seek to help those who do, if possible following the reasoning above.

Faced with a difficult test, who says we have to go through it alone? Often, this thought of solitary confrontation also originates from false ideas or even from a certain pride, which turns into a shell, for fear of exposing yourself. Certainly we will not go out on the street telling anyone who passes by about our difficulties, but certainly, with the purpose of seeking help, you will find it, perhaps not in the first psychologist, perhaps not in the first friend, perhaps not in the first group of activities. any, but you will find it, because you are not alone: by your side, leading you towards good, there is a good Spirit, higher than you - your guardian angel or protective spirit. The important thing is not to isolate yourself, nor to isolate yourself. Seek. Look for a charity activity group, look for a morning walk group, look for, above all, be useful, and that will make you gravitate towards situations and people that can, slowly and progressively, help in its construction.

It is up to each of us to will to change or not, to learn or not, but this work is much favored by the development of reason — this is why we so defend the study of Spiritism. Through our modification, we will become stronger and advance several steps in a single life and, who knows, tomorrow we will not need to return to this same kind of painful situation, perhaps conquering the happiness of being able to live in better worlds or that, if here reincarnate, let us be much more strengthened and prepared.

I'm not talking lip service here: I'm talking about what I myself have lived and learned. I went through a kind of restlessness, I went through isolation, I went through self-persecution. I allowed myself, however, to be influenced by good spirits, and that moved me to various situations that, slowly and progressively, brought me here. One of these situations was very interesting: I decided to visit a nursing home close to my house, where I had contact with several elderly people who taught me a lot about perseverance; I was welcomed with great affection by a Catholic prayer group, whose leader was a medium and probably didn't know it; but the most interesting thing is that, on the shelf of that institution, where there was a predominance of Catholicism, there were, on the shelf in the common room, some copies of the Spiritist Magazine, which I got to pick up, I even leafed through, but I ended up not reading it at that time. I only came to know the Magazine about a year later. Evaluate for yourself the paths along which the good spirits lead us, leaving us the freedom to go ahead or not, open the door or keep it closed.

Remember, after all: no one can do us harm but ourselves. Interrupting your own life is a waste of time, which generates guilt and remorse and no stops the moral suffering caused by imperfections that may still exist in us ((Remembering that ignorance and imperfection are different things. Imperfection is acquired by the habit of repeating a mistake; ignorance can lead to error, but, as long as we overcome it, it's just a mistake)).

And if someone close to you is thinking about killing himself, bring that kind of thought to him. If someone has already taken their own life, in your prayers for that person, talk to this Spirit, so that he can leave the feeling of helplessness in the face of guilt, get up and resume the evolutionary path.

Let us study, precisely, in order to to throw, from people's minds and from the Spiritist movement, the false ideas that hinder more than help. A Spirit that does not want to leave the coffin, does so because it believes that only Jesus himself will come to take him by the hand, on the day of final judgment. Let us not act like those prisoners of conscience, let us not create false conceptions in people's thinking. Matter and sensations after death are not anything. All that matters is thought, will and reason. And finally, let's not take the opinion of isolated spirits as if they were the pure truth - regardless of the medium that made it possible.

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Today I was “philosophizing” about this subject, and I came up with the following ideas which, I highlight, are based on my way of seeing the topic and on my knowledge of Spiritism – which may not reflect the most complete reality. Below are my considerations:

Let us reflect: modification does not come from the top down, as an imposition, but from the bottom up, from the individual to society, as choice. Therefore, the planet will only be transformed by the change of its inhabitants. And when we talk about regeneration, what is a Spirit that regenerates itself, failing to undergo trials and atonements? In my understanding, it is the Spirit that starts to look within itself, moving from planning lives that only aim to bring “reparative sufferings”, to planning lives that give them more opportunities for learning to smother their imperfections. And how does this happen? Only by will, fueled by reason. Therefore, as I understand, it is precisely the knowledge reinforced by Spiritism that will enable us to conquer a new terrestrial “environment”.

As long as the spirits continue to be shackled to the old con- – an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. However, as they understand that what they really need is to strengthen themselves through learning and reason, in contact with valuable knowledge, in order to deal with their imperfections, they will, in my view, plan their lives more wisely.

After all, which causes more suffering: physical pain, which ends with death, or moral pain, which continues until the factor that caused it is resolved? Isn't that how we act here? When we make a mistake, we often want to be punished in order to relieve our conscience, so that we want to put aside the real problem, which is our imperfection and the moral suffering that originates from it, due to mistakes. The more mature individual, however, knows that punishment does not solve it, and seeks to face his own problems, which made him wrong.

For example: in that case of the Assassin Lemaire (RE – March 1858) he knew he had to deal with his imperfections. How did you think about doing this? He planned to be born in the midst of crime, but he failed in his attempt, as the environment was stronger than him, who still did not have much stronger will and reason. When he failed in his attempt, he was one more to spread criminality, allying other spirits to his intentions. What if – what if! – would he, more consciously, have planned a different life? What if, instead of putting himself under the environment of crime, to fight with his passions, he had chosen a firm and kind family, which would give him a better education and put him in contact with contents that could help him to strengthen his will to overcome your imperfections, through reason? Perhaps he had managed to overcome many of his imperfections, in addition to no longer being one of the criminals.

Isn't that, as a general understanding, generating better decisions, great for the planet? Wouldn't it cause a huge change to society? I think so. But this requires, in the foreground, that the Spirit faces itself: that it places itself under a critical perspective and that it faces its own “demons”. Now, in a society that insists on believing, because it is easier, in the imposition of divine punishments, we see how far we are still from this new era on this planet... , develop our virtues and seek to elevate ourselves, in the good, so that we can conquer the possibility of incarnating in happier worlds.

Who knows….

I finish with Kardec, in A Gênesis (4th edition, original – the excerpt was deleted in the 5th edition, which many say has not been tampered with):

To say that humanity is ripe for regeneration does not mean that all individuals are on the same level, but many have, by intuition, the germ of new ideas that circumstances will bring about. Then they will prove to be more advanced than one might suppose, and they will eagerly follow the lead of the majority. There are, however, those who are essentially refractory to these ideas, even among the most intelligent, and who will certainly not accept them, at least in this lifetime; in some cases, in good faith, out of conviction; others for interest. They are those whose material interests are linked to the current conjuncture and who are not advanced enough to give them up, as the general good matters less than their personal good – they are apprehensive at the slightest reform movement. The truth is a secondary issue for them, or, better said, the truth for some people lies entirely in that which does not cause them any trouble. All progressive ideas are, from their point of view, subversive ideas, and therefore they have an implacable hatred for them and make a stubborn war against them. They are intelligent enough to see Spiritism as an aid to progressive ideas and the elements of transformation that they fear and, because they do not feel up to it, they strive to destroy it.. If they thought him worthless and unimportant, they wouldn't worry about him. We have already said it elsewhere: “The more grandiose an idea is, the more it finds opponents, and its importance can be measured by the violence of the attacks to which it is the object”.

Kardec, The Genesis, 4th Edition – FEAL

Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > June > Confessions of Louis XI – Extracted from the life of Louis XI.

Poisoning of the Duke of Guyenne

…I got busy after Guyenne. Odet d'Aidies, lord of Lescun, who had quarreled with me, was conducting the preparations for the war with marvelous vivacity. It was with great effort that I fed the bellicose ardor of my brother, the Duke of Guyenne. He had to fight a fearsome adversary in my brother's mind: Madame Thouars, lover of Charles, Duke of Guyenne.

This woman only sought to take advantage of the power she exercised over the young duke, in order to divert him from the war, for she was not unaware that the war was aimed at the marriage of her lover. His secret enemies had affected, in his presence, to praise the beauty and brilliant qualities of the bride. This was enough to persuade her that her doom would be certain if that princess were to marry the Duke of Guyenne. Certain of my brother's passion, she resorted to tears, prayers, and all the extravagances of a woman lost in such a situation. The fainthearted Carlos relented and communicated his new resolutions to Lescun. Lescun immediately warned the Duke of Brittany and the interested parties, who, in alarm, sent representations to my brother. These, however, had only the effect of plunging him back into his doubts.

However, the favorite managed, not without difficulty, to dissuade him again from war and marriage. From then on, the death of the favorite was decided by all the princes.

Fearing that my brother would attribute it to Lescun, whose dislike of Madame Thouars was known to him, they decided to win over Jean Faure Duversois, a Benedictine monk, my brother's confessor and abbot of Saint-Jean d'Angély. This man was one of the greatest supporters of the Lady of Thouars, and no one was ignorant of the hatred he felt for Lescun, whose political influence he envied. My brother was not likely to blame his mistress's death on him, for that priest was one of his most trusted favourites. Since only the thirst for greatness connected him to the favourite, he was easily corrupted.

For a long time I tried to seduce the abbot, but he always rejected my offers. However, it left me with the hope of achieving my goal.

He easily understood the situation he would get himself into by rendering the princes the service they asked of him, for he knew that it was not difficult for them to get rid of an accomplice. On the other hand, I knew my brother's fickleness and feared becoming his victim.

To reconcile his safety with his interests, he resolved to sacrifice his young lord. Taking such a side, he had as much chance of success as he had of failure. For the princes, the death of the young Duke of Guyenne must have been the result of a mistake or an unforeseen incident. Even when imputed to the Duke of Brittany and his cronies, the death of the favorite would have gone unnoticed, so to speak, since no one would have discovered the reasons that gave it real importance, from a political point of view.

Granting that they could be blamed for the death of my brother, they would have been exposed to the greatest dangers, for it would have been my duty to punish them severely. They knew that it was not good will that I lacked and that in that case the people might turn against them. Then the Duke of Burgundy himself, oblivious to what was going on in Guyenne, would have been forced to ally himself with me, on pain of being accused of complicity. Even in the latter case, everything would have worked out in my favor. I could have Charles the Bold declared a criminal of lèse majesty and have Parliament condemn him to death for the murder of my brother. Such condemnations, pronounced by that high court, always had great results, especially when they were of indisputable legitimacy.

It is easy to see what interest the princes had in handling the abbot. On the other hand, nothing is easier than getting rid of him in secret.

But with me, the abbot of Saint-Jean had a greater chance of impunity. The service he rendered was of the greatest importance to me, especially at that moment, because the formidable league that was being formed and of which the Duke of Guyenne was the center must infallibly lose me. The only way to destroy it would be the death of my brother, which represented my salvation. He aspired to the favour of Tristan the Hermit, thinking that by this means he would rise above him, or at least share my good graces and my trust in him. Moreover, the princes had been imprudent enough to leave in his hands undisputed proof of his guilt: they were several writings, and as they were written in very vague terms, it was not difficult to substitute the person of my brother for that of his favourite, designated there between the lines. By handing me these documents, he removed from me any doubt as to my innocence; for that reason, he avoided the only danger he ran on the side of the princes, and, proving that I was in no way involved in the poisoning, he ceased to be my accomplice and exempted myself from any interest in having him killed.

It remained to prove that he himself was not involved. This was a minor difficulty. To begin with, he was assured of my protection; afterwards, the princes had no proof of their guilt, and he could return the charges to them, by way of slander.

The Abbot agrees to practice poisoning

All in all, he sent me an emissary who pretended to have come spontaneously to tell me that the Abbe de Saint-Jean was unhappy with my brother. I immediately saw the full advantage I could make of such an arrangement and fell into the trap set by the astute abbot. Not suspecting that this man had been sent by him, I dispatched one of my trusted spies. Saint-Jean played his part so well that the emissary was deceived. Based on his report, I wrote to the abbot in order to win him over. He appeared to be very scrupulous, but I triumphed, albeit with some difficulty. He agreed to take charge of the poisoning of my young brother. I was so perverted that I didn't hesitate to commit this horrible crime.

Henri de la Roche, squire of the Duke's repostaria, was charged with preparing a peach that would be offered by the abbot himself to Mme. de Thouars while having lunch at my brother's table. The beauty of this fruit was remarkable. She caught the prince's attention and shared it with him. As soon as they had both eaten, the favourite felt violent pains in her bowels and soon expired in the midst of atrocious suffering. My brother experienced the same symptoms but with much less violence.

Perhaps it seems strange that the abbot should have used such a means to poison his young lord. In fact, the slightest incident could jeopardize your plan. It was, however, the only thing that prudence could authorize: it admitted the possibility of a mistake. Touched by the peach's beauty, it was only natural for Mrs. de Thouars to attract the attention of her lover and offer him half; he couldn't help but accept her and eat a little, even out of consideration. Assuming that he ate only a little bit, this would be enough to provoke the first necessary symptoms; a later poisoning could determine death, as a consequence of the first one.

The princes were seized with terror as soon as they learned of the dire consequences of the favourite's poisoning. They had not the slightest suspicion of the abbot's premeditation. They thought only of giving every appearance of naturalness to the young lady's death and her lover's illness. None of them took the initiative to offer a counter-poison to the unfortunate prince, for fear of compromising himself. Indeed, such an attitude would imply that the poison was known and, consequently, that someone was an accomplice to the crime.

Thanks to his youth and the strength of his temper, Carlos resisted the poison for some time. His physical sufferings did nothing but bring him back to his old projects with more ardor. Fearing that illness would lessen the zeal of his officers, he wanted them to renew their oath of allegiance. As he required them to engage in his service, against all odds, even against me, some of them, fearful of their death, which seemed at hand, refused to do so, and passed over to my court.

Conclusion

In the previous issue, we saw the interesting details given by Louis XI regarding his death. The fact that we have just reported is no less remarkable from the double point of view of history and the phenomenon of manifestations. In fact, we only had difficulties with the choice: the life of this king, as dictated by himself, is indisputably the most complete we have and, we can say, the most impartial. Louis XI's state of mind allows him today to appreciate things at their fair value. From the three chosen fragments, one can see how he makes his own judgment. He explains his politics better than any of his historians. He does not absolve himself of his conduct, and in his death, so sad and so vulgar for a monarch a few hours before all-powerful, he sees an anticipated punishment.

As a phenomenon of manifestations, this work offers a special interest. He proves that spiritist communications can enlighten us about history, as long as we know how to place ourselves in favorable conditions. We hope that the publication of the life of Louis XI, as well as that of Charles VIII, which has also been completed, will soon be placed alongside that of Joan of Arc.

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This article provides an important complement to the article “Imposter Spirits – The False Father Ambrósio”, from July 1858, which served as the basis for the article called “The role of the researcher and the medium in communications with the Spirits“. Click here to read.

In this edition, Kardec begins by addressing the problem of certain contradictions in spiritist communications: “At first glance these contradictions really seem to be one of the main stumbling blocks of the Spirit Science”

Remembering that Spiritism is a science, not a religion, for a few reasons:

• It is a development of Rational Spiritualism[1]
• It is, objectively, a positive science – an expression always used by Kardec – in the sense of a knowledge formed from the methods of observation and experimentation of the facts.
• It can only be seen as religion from the point of view of natural religion, as approached by the ER, and the “moral” aspect comes from precisely this same origin!

Kardec emphasizes that all science, in its beginning, has its contradictions, which only disappear as this science develops and one begins to understand what was not understood before.

“By the way, the Spirits always told us not to worry about these small differences and that in a short time everyone would be taken to the unity of belief. In fact, this prediction is realized daily, as we penetrate more and more into the causes of these mysterious phenomena and as the facts are better observed. On the other hand, the dissidences manifested at the origin evidently tend to weaken. It can even be said that currently they are nothing more than isolated personal opinions[2].”

"Although Spiritism is in Nature and has been known and practiced since the highest antiquity, it is a fact that at no other time was it so universally spread as it is today..

[…]

It was reserved for our century, in which progress receives an incessant impulse, to bring to full light a science which, so to speak, only existed in a latent state. It was only a few years ago that the phenomena were seriously observed[3]. In fact, Spiritism is a new science, which is gradually implanted in the minds of the masses, hoping to occupy an official position.
At first this science seemed very simple. To superficial creatures it was nothing more than the art of moving tables. A closer look, however, revealed that it was, in its ramifications and consequences, much more complex than had been imagined. Turntables are like Newton's apple, which in its fall ends the world system.

Kardec points out that, for each new discovery, multiple hypotheses arise, not necessarily wrong, as each one sees according to their conceptions and their knowledge and reasoning. Unity can only emerge in a science when it advances through the scientific method: if a hypothesis is shown to be incorrect by the evidence, it must be abandoned in favor of the truth.

On which side is the truth?

It's what fits to the future[4] to demonstrate. But the general trend could not waver. Evidently, a principle dominates and little by little unites the premature systems. A less exclusive observation will unite everyone to a common origin and soon we will see that the divergence will definitely be more accessory than fundamental.

The various spiritist theories have, therefore, two sources: some were born from the human brain; others were given by the Spirits. The first ones emanate from men who, trusting too much in their own lights, believe they have the key to what they are looking for, when more often than not they have only found a lockpick.fake key]. This is not surprising, but that, among the spirits, some said one thing and others said another, it was less conceivable. However, this is now perfectly explainable.

At first, there was an absolutely false idea of the nature of spirits. They were imagined as beings apart, of an exceptional nature, having nothing in common with matter and having to know everything. […] On the news of the recent manifestations, the first idea which generally came to the minds of most creatures was, that this was a means of penetrating all hidden things; a new mode of divination less subject to doubt than ordinary processes.

Remembering that Kardec analyzed with depth and attention all the manifestations and communications with which he had contact, from which he obtained the Spiritist Scale, from which a simple study that could save many from the difficulties they get into.

Based on a study carried out with a lot of rationality and common sense regarding the communications of the different Spirits, Kardec continues the long article giving simple examples of how Spirits of different orders and classifications express themselves. The whole contradiction arises from the failure to observe this fundamental point, in addition to the insistence on obtaining answers that cannot be given, to whose questions inferior spirits answer, without any scruples.

Kardec gives the example of the possibility that “one day” man will reach the Moon and, there, find its inhabitants: how could they know humanity through the reports of a few.

The causes of the contradictions in the language of spirits can therefore be summarized as follows:

1st. ─ The degree of ignorance or knowledge of the Spirits to whom we address;

2nd. ─ The deceit of inferior spirits who can, through malice, ignorance or malevolence, taking a borrowed name, say things contrary to those that were said elsewhere by the Spirit whose name they usurped;

3rd. ─ The medium's personal faults, which can influence communications and alter or deform the spirit's thinking;

4th. ─ The insistence on obtaining an answer that a spirit refuses to give, and that is given by an inferior spirit;

5th. ─ The Spirit's own will, which speaks according to time, place and people and may not think it convenient to say everything to everyone;

6th. ─ The insufficiency of human language to express the things of the incorporeal world;

7th ─ The interpretation that anyone can give to a word or an explanation, according to their ideas, their prejudices or the point of view from which they view the matter.

There are many difficulties, which can only be overcome through long and assiduous study. We also never said that Spiritist Science is easy. The serious observer, who delves into everything maturely, with patience and perseverance, apprehends a lot of delicate nuances that escape the superficial observer. It is through such intimate details that he initiates himself into the secrets of this science. Experience teaches us to know spirits, as it teaches us to know men.

1 – Since 1832, at the Sorbonne University, Paris, the school of rational spiritualism has established itself as official philosophy, structuring the human sciences, which in France are called moral sciences. Moral because the object of their study are the facts derived from human action; sciences such as history, law, philosophy, letters, among others. Differing from the natural sciences, which are dedicated to the phenomena of nature.

Among the moral sciences, there was the group of philosophical sciences, with the proposal to understand the human being, through the following disciplines, divided into two classes: psychological (psychology, logic, moral, aesthetics) and metaphysical (theodicy, rational psychology, rational cosmology). (FIGUEIREDO, 2019)

2 – Same as today. Only by the honest scientific method will these contradictions, which have been widely installed in the spiritist movement, be able to be dissipated.

3 – The confidence of nineteenth-century researchers in the power of science to describe reality led to the investigation, through the observation of mediumistic phenomena, of the modern spiritualism (the study of the works of Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo largely complement this theme). Many scholars and freethinkers, based on the observation of the turning, dancing and talking tables, began to consider the possibility of scientifically investigating the post-mortem survival of the human being. (PIMENTEL, 2014 – click to read).

Kardec has his first contact with Spiritism in 1854, when a friend of yours, the magnetizer Auguste Fortier reports that the “magnetic fluid” employed by a magnetizer was now causing the tables to move. Kardec receives the news with disinterest, as he supposed that the magnetic or electric fluid could explain the phenomenon.

Months later, Mr. Fortier sought him out again, this time to say that the tables didn't just move, but they responded intelligently to the questions of the assistants. Kardec, skeptical, still saw it as a “tale to make us sleep standing up”.

About a year later, in 1855, another friend, Mr. Carlotti, speaks for the first time of the intervention of the Spirits in the sessions. This friend's enthusiastic statement increased Kardec's distrust. It was after some time, in the same year, that Mr. Pâtier, an educated man, serious, calmly and coldly, convinced Rivail to attend a mediumistic session.

“Using his vast erudition, as a professor, writer and member of several scientific societies, he carried out a broad approach to the cause of psychic phenomena arising from the turning tables. Kardec proposed an empirical and rational approach to the subject, until then, considered metaphysical, in which several pertinent discussions were produced on epistemological and methodological aspects of exploration of mediumistic phenomena” (Ibid.)

4. Let's see Kardec's humility, which Never He said, “The truth is with me.”

This is a recurring subject. It doesn't take much effort to find such a statement: a reluctant Spirit, that is, one who resists moving forward, could be “forced” into a compulsory reincarnation, understanding, in this concept, that superior Spirits would force him to face trials and expiations.” for your own good".

Well, my brothers, “calm down”! We need to be very careful with the statements we make out there, often based on concepts that have a basis of truth, but that become generically applied as “law” — and here we have already addressed several of these cases.

Firstly, we need to recover what we learned from the study of Spiritism — that science that many resist in studying and who formed, through Kardec's studies, the Spiritist Doctrine or Spiritism: firstly, Spiritism is based on the doctrine of the choice of evidence, that is, it states that, as long as we have the capacity, us ever we choose our trials and our atonements. It doesn't hurt to remember: test it is an opportunity to face a situation, to learn from that situation and overcome an imperfection; already the atonement it happens when the Spirit imposes any kind of suffering in order to face, in his own skin, an evil that he has imposed on others.

We said: “it imposes itself”, because no one, not any Spirit, not even God, imposes punishments on anyone. When, in Kardec's context, we say “God willed”, “God allowed”, “God punished”, it means that all of this occurs as an effect of Creation. Now, as we are his creatures, intelligent beings capable of free will, when we impose any ordeal on ourselves it means that, indirectly, God allows it, just as he allows evil – or, rather, the absence of good – to exist.

Well, we introduced the concept of proofs and atonements, which aim to bring a learning to the Spirit. However, we know that we only learn something when we really understand that we made a mistake, which brings us guilt, remorse and the desire to make amends – which may or may not happen with the victims of our mistakes. We also recall that the choice of proofs and atonements is a primordial principle, as taught by the Spirits. In fact, this is clearly exposed in The Spirits' Book:

258. When in erraticity, before starting a new corporeal existence, does the Spirit have awareness and foresight of what will happen to him in the course of his earthly life?

“He himself chooses the kind of tests he has to go through, and that is his free will.”

The) - Is it not God, then, who imposes on him the tribulations of life, as a punishment?

“Nothing happens without God's permission, because it was God who established all the laws that govern the universe. Go now and ask why he decreed this law and not that one! Giving the Spirit the freedom to choose, God leaves him fully responsible for his actions and the consequences they have. Nothing stands in the way of your future; open if thus the way of good is found, as well as the way of evil. If he succumbs, he will be left with the consolation that not everything is over, and that divine goodness grants him the freedom to start over what was wrongly done. Furthermore, it is necessary to distinguish what is the work of God's will from that of man. If a danger threatens you, it was not you who created it, but God. But yours was your desire to expose yourselves to him, because you saw in it a way to progress, and God permitted it.”

So where is this “forced reincarnation”?

Let's see, in question 262, the following:

262. How can Spirit, who in its origins is simple, ignorant and lacking in experience, choose an existence with knowledge of the facts and be responsible for that choice?

“God supplies him with inexperience, laying out the path he must follow, as you do with a little child. Little by little, however, as his free will develops, he leaves the master to make the choice, and only then does it often happen to him to go astray, taking the wrong path, by disregarding the advice of the Spirits. Good. This is what can be called the fall of man.”

The) - When the Spirit enjoys free will, the choice of bodily existence will always depend exclusively on its will, or this existence can be imposed on it ((Compulsory reincarnation)), as atonement, by the will of God?

“God knows how to wait, he does not hasten atonement. However, it can impose a certain existence on a Spirit, when this, due to its inferiority or ill-will, is not able to understand what would be more beneficial to it, and when it sees that such existence will serve for the purification and progress of the Spirit, by while serving as an atonement for him.”

Now, does God then impose the atonement? It's not like that. What happens is that when the Spirit is in denial or resistance, he cannot see the good that would provide him with facing his imperfections through trials and atonements. It cannot, therefore, choose lucidly…. But it keeps reincarnating. Let's see, still in OLE:

167. What is the end aimed at with reincarnation?

“Atonement, progressive improvement of humanity. Without this, where is justice?”

We easily understand that the incarnation is a need for the advancement of the Spirit and that, when he is still simple and ignorant, which easily gives him the state of resistance, can easily resist facing their own imperfections. It is there, therefore, that the mechanics of the Divine Law make up for your inexperience: through a “forced” incarnation, that is, a “common” incarnation, but without choices of tests and expiations, the Spirit will face the school of material life, which will, in one way or another, confront its imperfections , according to the way in which choose act on the matter. So, you can choose – deep down, there is always the choice, from the moment the Spirit enters the age of consciousness – to continue giving in to the passions, a practice from which it will reap bitter results (and that is the involuntary atonement), until, one day, this moral suffering motivate you to say: “enough! I'm tired of acting like this! I'm tired of suffering for being imperfect! I need to get rid of these imperfections!” It is at this moment that this Spirit returns to choosing tests and expiations.

Finally, we remind you that the knowledge brought by Spiritism is of substantial importance to leverage the process of evolution of the Spirit, because, at the moment when, through science, that is, through reason, he understands that he has to have will firm to overcome its imperfections, it can advance in years what it did not advance in successive incarnations.

Today and then, many disdain mentions of dwellings on other planets, such as Jupiter. We may have scorned the descriptions of tables running around the room before. Honestly, it is only when we refer to Science that we cannot deny what is presented in a clear, lucid and rational way.

This article is one of the letters received from Victorien Sardou regarding Jupiter.

"If here, in likelihood of explanations, the reader does not find sufficient proof of their veracity; if, like us, you are not surprised by the perfect agreement between these revelations of the Spirits and the most positives of Astronomy; If, in a word, you see nothing more than a skillful mystification in the details that follow and in the drawing that accompanies them, I invite you to explain yourself to the Spirits, of whom I am only a faithful echo and instrument”.

The author invites critics to evoke the Spirits themselves and discuss with them.

Sardou follows the article by giving some descriptions about the dwellings and inhabitants of Jupiter. According to him - and whose source of information is, of course, the Spirits - the bodily conformation of these beings would be like that of a vapor, although much more subtle than that, intangible and luminous, especially in the contours of the face and head, "for there intelligence and life radiate like a very burning focus”.

It is from this vision, says Sardou, that Christian visionaries would have drawn the images of the halos of the saints.

According to him, the Spirits on this planet are incarnated in such subtle matter that they move very quickly and easily detach themselves from the planetary attraction (gravity), according to the action of their own will.

“Thus, some characters that Palissy chose to make me draw are represented as skimming the ground or on the surface of the water or still very high in the air, with all the freedom of action and movement that we attribute to the angels. This locomotion is all the easier the more purified the Spirit is., which is easily understood. Thus, nothing is easier for the inhabitants of the planet than to determine, at first glance, the value of a passing Spirit. Two signs betray him: the height of his flight and the more or less brilliant light of his halo.“

Sardou says that the less advanced Spirits of this planet, when evoked, respond in a laconic way and with a certain haste, as if they had a lot to do: they still don't have the power to radiate themselves simultaneously on two points.

Regarding animals, he says that not even the inhabitants of Jupiter present consensus about their Spirits: if they are Spirits apart or if they are Spirits that will one day reach humanity... It seems to be an enigma for spheres. above of Jupiter. 

Be that as it may, he points out that these Spirits came from other inferior planets, where they spent multiple incarnations, passing through a scale of improvement.

On Jupiter, animals are the only working beings, working on construction and even planting and harvesting. They are not sacrificed, because we already know that everyone there is vegetarian.

From then on, Sardou – or, rather, the communicating Spirit – continues weaving a series of descriptions incredible about the city of Julnius, about how it was formed, etc. He says that there are material parts of cities, on the ground, and diaphanous and flying parts, moved by will, which serve as shelter for human beings on this planet.

Sardou writes that Jupiter, according to the Spirits, has a day and a night, both lasting five hours. Today's data points out that, in fact, they are just over nine hours each.

It is on the right bank of that river, “whose water, says the Spirit, would give you the impression of the consistency of a very light vapor” [we know, today, that there are true rivers of ammonia, from the highest to the most low atmospheres], that the house of Mozart is built, whose design Palissy was kind enough to have me reproduce on copper.

Finally, the article is of general interest. Kardec emphasizes Sardou's honesty and seriousness, noting that Spiritism “does not recruit among fools and ignorant people”.

Kardec takes up the subject of the engravings, reproduced by the medium Victorien Sardou, who, according to Kardec, does not know how to draw or record, about Jupiter's dwellings.

"Even assuming that this drawing is a fantasy of the Spirit that traced it, the mere fact of its execution would not be a phenomenon less worthy of attention. […] not to satisfy the curiosity of frivolous people, but as a subject of study for serious people who want to delve into all the mysteries of Spirit Science” – As far as is known, only through Sardou were these drawings obtained.

It would be a mistake to think that we make the revelation of unknown worlds the main object of the doctrine. This will never be for us more than one accessory, which we consider useful as a complementary study; the main thing will always be for us the moral teaching and communications from beyond the grave we will seek above all that which can enlighten Humanity and lead it to the good, the only way to assure you of happiness in this world and in the next.

ardec presents a case that happened around December 1761, in the city of Dibbelsdorf – Germany, whose documents were published in 1811. The original article, written by Dr. Kerner, was translated into French by Alfred Pireaux.

It is another article of interest about the spiritist facts, which have always occurred everywhere and at all times. However, science was not yet ready to seriously analyze them, even less in the case of Germany at that time. 

Despite the fact that the facts – clever knocks on a corner of the Kettelhuts' house – were analyzed from all possible aspects, reaching the point of demolishing walls and a deep hole, in addition to confining all the residents to their houses and placing in observation the suspects, nothing was found. The only possible answer was never accepted, and they ended up prosecuting and condemning, under a coercive confession, the Kettelhuts.

We highlight Kardec's observation, always surgical in his words:

OBSERVATION: If we pay attention to the date when these things took place and compare them with what is happening in our day, we will find in them perfect identity in the manner of manifestation and even in the nature of the questions and answers. Neither America nor our time discovered the scouting spirits, as they did not discover the others, as we will demonstrate by countless authentic and more or less ancient facts.

KARDEC, RE Aug/1858

There is, however, between current phenomena and those of the past, a major difference: the latter were almost all spontaneous, while ours are produced almost at the will of certain special mediums. This circumstance allowed them to be better studied and their cause more in-depth. To the judges’ conclusion that “perhaps the future will enlighten us in this regard”, today the author would not answer: “the future has not taught us anything yet.” If this author were still alive, he would know, on the contrary, that the future taught everything and that the justice of our days, more enlightened than a century ago, would not commit, in relation to spiritist manifestations, mistakes that remind those of the Middle Ages. Our own sages have penetrated far enough into the mysteries of Nature not to play with unknown causes. They are shrewd enough and do not expose themselves, like their predecessors, to a denial of posterity, to the detriment of their reputation. If something appears on the horizon, they don't run to proclaim, "This is nothing", for fear it might be a ship. If they don't see it, they shut up and wait. This is true wisdom.

In this article, São Vicente de Paulo brings a great reflection on the charity.

Let us analyze, in addition to the necessary moral application that this text brings, its form and content, since it is a communication attributed to this Spirit. What is in these but spiritual elevation? 

“See the multitude of good men, whose pious memory your history recalls. I could cite thousands of those whose morals were aimed only at improving your globe. Has not Christ told you everything concerning the virtues of charity and love? Why are your divine teachings set aside? Why are the ears closed to his divine words and the heart closed to all his soft maxims?

I would like the reading of the Gospel to be done with more personal interest. But they abandon that book; they transform it into an empty expression and a dead letter; leave this admirable code to oblivion. Your evils come from the voluntary abandonment in which you leave this summary of divine laws. Read, then, these fiery pages of Jesus' devotion and meditate on them. I myself feel ashamed to dare to promise you a work on charity, when I think that in this book you will find all the teachings that should lead you to the heavenly regions..”

Charity, in Kardec's context, was understood differently:

[…] rational morality is based on psychology and the definition of an active human being. That is, the moral act is characterized by a free and conscious act, which is defined as the act of duty. It is the morality of freedom, therefore absolutely free, by definition, from any reward or punishment. In this way, as defined by the thinkers of Rational Spiritualism, duty grounds charity as free and disinterested action. The beauty of charity lies precisely in its freedom, said Victor Cousin, the main leader of this school at the Sorbonne University in Paris. (Figueiredo 2019)

Does this mean that we only need the Gospel?

Assuming the Gospel of Jesus very well understood, without sophistry and adulteration, yes, we only need it. However, it is necessary to take into account that its teachings, even if scientific, have a moral aspect, according to the Moral Sciences. Therefore, it is a mistake to abandon this study to fall only in the Evangelical study, given the present needs of Spirits of our category.

Continuing in the article about Charity, according to São Vicente: “Strong men, arm yourselves; weak men, forge your weapons of your sweetness and your faith; have more persuasion, more constancy in the propagation of your new doctrine. We only come to bring you an encouragement; it is only to stimulate the zeal and virtues that God allows us to manifest to you. But if you wished, you would need only the help of God and your own will.. “

Does that mean that we don't need Spiritism?

Morally speaking, if we knew how to apply all the lessons presented so far, we wouldn't even be talking about it now. But that's not how spiritual progress happens – in jolts. It is slow and gradual and, as far as we know, it is everywhere in the Universe. Therefore, the Spiritist Science, which, in the limit, is the science of Creation, is a necessary part of our progress, as knowledge develops morality.

Let's look a little more critically at the content of this message. The following passage caught our attention:

“When you allow your heart to open to the supplication of the first unfortunate person who reaches out to you; when you give it to him without asking whether his misery is feigned or whether his illness has a vice as its cause; when you leave all righteousness in God's hands; when you leave to the Creator the punishment of all false miseries; finally, when you practice charity for the sole pleasure that it provides, without questioning its usefulness, then you will be the children that God will love and that he will call to himself.“

This Spirit, who goes on saying to congratulate himself on the beginning of a movement (São Vicente de Paulo Society), a very important and necessary movement, suggests that we must respond to any request, without verifying whether it is something faked or not. In reality, can we and should we do this, especially nowadays?

We must not blindly follow any Spirit, especially when it makes no sense to our own reason. But Kardec comes to our rescue:

Continuing the conversation with S. Vicente de Paulo, through the psychography of an assistant medium, Kardec informs himself that, in this previous passage, this Spirit speaks specifically of alms. The teacher then asks:

“[…] it seems to us that giving without discernment to those who do not need it or who could earn a living by honest work is to encourage vice and laziness. If lazy people found someone else's purse easily open, they would multiply to infinity, to the detriment of the truly needy.”

SVP responds:

"You can identify those who can work and then charity obliges you to do everything to provide them with work. However, there are also poor liars, who know very well how to simulate miseries that they do not suffer. These are the ones to be left to the righteousness of God.”

Kardec continues with some questions of interest:

6. – Jesus said: “May your right hand not know what your left hand is doing.” Do those who give out of ostentation have any merit? ─ They only have the merit of pride, for which they will be punished.

7. Doesn't Christian charity, in its broadest sense, also include sweetness, benevolence and indulgence towards the weaknesses of others? ─ Do like Jesus. He told you all this. I listened to him more than ever.

8. ─ Is charity properly understood when it is exclusive among creatures of the same opinion or of the same party? ─ No. It is above all the spirit of sect and party that must be abolished, since all men are brothers. That's what we focus our efforts on.

9. ─ Let us admit that a person sees two men in danger, but cannot save but one. One is your friend and the other your enemy. Whom should you save? ─ You must save your friend, because that friend could accuse you of not being friends with you. As for the other, God will take care of it.

It was a consensus that this last question (9.) seemed strange to us, but it must have a reason for being at that moment.