The article describes the evocation of the Spirit of a French suicide, by Kardec, in a state of moral suffering.

Read more about cases like this clicking here.

Published in the Revista Espírita of November 1858. In full:

Recently the newspapers reported the following fact: “Yesterday (April 7, 1858) at seven o'clock in the evening, a man of about fifty years old, decently dressed, presented himself at the Samaritana establishment and asked for a bath. The employee was surprised that, after two hours, the individual did not call; He decided to go into the bathroom to see if he hadn't felt unwell. He then witnessed a horrible spectacle: the unfortunate man had cut his throat with a razor and all the blood had mixed with the water in the bathtub. Since the identity could not be established, the corpse was transported to the morgue.”

We thought it would be possible to derive a useful lesson for our instruction from the conversation with the Spirit of this man. Therefore, we evoke it on April 13th, just six days after his death.

1. ─ I ask Almighty God to allow the Spirit of the individual who committed suicide on April 7, 1858, in the Samaritan baths, to come and communicate with us.

─ Wait... (After a few moments): Here he is.

NOTE: To understand this answer it is necessary to know that, in general, in all regular meetings, there is a familiar Spirit, from the medium or from the family, who is always present, without having to call him. He is the one who makes those who are evoked come and, depending on whether he is more or less elevated, he serves as a messenger or gives orders to the Spirits who are inferior to him. When our meetings are interpreted by Ms. Ermance Dufaux, it is always the Spirit of Saint Louis who voluntarily takes on this task. He was the one who gave the answer above.

2. ─ Where are you now?

─ I don't know... Tell me where I am.

3. ─ On Rue Valois (Palais-Royal), no. 35, at a meeting of people who are involved in spiritualist studies and who are benevolent.

─ Tell me if I'm alive... I suffocate in the coffin.

4. ─ Who invited you to come to us?

─ I felt relieved.

5. ─ What reason led you to commit suicide?

─ Am I dead?... No!... I'm in my body... You don't know how much I suffer!... I suffocate!... May a pious hand come and put an end to me!

OBSERVATION: Your soul, although separated from the body, is still completely immersed in what we could call the vortex of corporeal matter; Earthly ideas are still alive. He doesn't believe he's dead.

6. ─ Why didn't you leave any identification elements?

─ I'm abandoned. I fled suffering to find torture.

7. ─ Do you still have the same reasons for remaining incognito?

─ Yes. Don't put a hot iron on the bleeding wound.

8. ─ Could you give us your name, age, profession and address?

─ Not at all. No!…

9. ─ Did you have a family, a wife, children?

─ I was abandoned. Nobody loved me.

10. ─ What did you do to not be loved by anyone?

─ How many are there like me!... A man can be abandoned in the middle of his own family, when no heart loves him.

11. ─ Did you experience any hesitation when committing suicide?

─ I was thirsty to die… I was waiting for rest.

12. ─ How did the idea of the future not lead you to renounce that plan?

─ I no longer create in the future; I was hopeless. The future is hope.

13. ─ What reflections did you make when you felt life disappearing?

─ I didn’t reflect; I felt it... But my life was not extinguished... my soul is linked to the body... I did not die... however I feel that worms are gnawing at me.

14. ─ What feeling did you experience at the moment death was complete?

─ Is it complete?

15. ─ Was the moment when life ended painful?

─ Less painful than later. So only the body suffered.

São Luís continues:

─ The Spirit freed itself from a burden that crushed it. He felt the voluptuousness of pain.

(To São Luís): ─ Is this the state that always follows suicide?

─ Yes. The suicide's spirit remains linked to the body until the end of his life. Natural death is the weakening of life. Suicide stops her abruptly.

─ Will this state be the same in every accidental death that is independent of will and that shortens the natural duration of life?

─ No. What do you understand by suicide? The Spirit is only guilty of his works.

OBSERVATION: We had prepared a series of questions that we proposed to address to the Spirit of this man about his new existence. Faced with their answers, they lost their meaning. It was clear to us that he had no awareness of the situation. The only thing he could describe to us was his suffering.

This doubt about death is very common in the recently deceased and especially in those who in life did not elevate their soul above matter. At first glance it is a bizarre phenomenon, but it is very naturally explainable. If we ask a person who is sleepwalking for the first time if they are asleep, they will almost always answer that no, and your answer is logical. The questioner formulates the question poorly, using an inappropriate term. The idea of sleep, in common speech, is linked to the suspension of all sensitive faculties. Now, the somnambulist, who thinks and sees; who is aware of his moral freedom, does not believe that he sleeps and, in fact, does not sleep, in the vulgar meaning of the word. This is why he responds that he is not sleeping until he becomes familiar with this new way of understanding things. The same happens with the man who has just died. For him, death was nothing. Now, as with the sleepwalker, he sees and feels the speech. For him, therefore, life goes on, and he claims so, until he has acquired consciousness of his new state.

Cover photo: Daniel Reche: https://www.pexels.com/pt-br/foto/foto-em-escala-de-cinza-de-um-homem-cobrindo-o-rosto-com-as-maos -3601097/

The following article, about the suicide of a boy, in an act of uncontained emotions, was published in the Revista Espírita of November 1858. In full:

Seven or eight months ago, Luís G…, a shoemaker, was dating the young Vitorina R…, a boot stitcher, who he was supposed to marry soon, as the banns were being published. Things being at this point, the young people considered themselves almost definitely united and, as a cost-saving measure, the shoemaker came to have meals at the bride's house.

Having come last Wednesday, as usual, to have dinner at the seamstress' ((seamstress)) house, an argument ensued about something futile. They were obstinate, on both sides, and things got to the point where Luís left the table and went away, swearing never to return.

However, the next day, the shoemaker, very confused, came to ask for forgiveness. It is said that the night is a good advisor, but the worker, perhaps foreseeing, after the scene the night before, what could happen when there was no longer time to go back, refused to reconcile and neither the protests, nor the tears, nor despair could overcome her. However, as several days had passed since that outburst, hoping that his beloved would be more tractable, the night before last Luís wanted to try one last explanation: he arrived, knocked on the door in order to make himself known, but she refused to open. New pleas from the abandoned poor, new protests through the door, but nothing moved the implacable elected official.

“Then goodbye, oh wicked one!” finally exclaimed the poor boy, “Goodbye forever! Look for a husband who wants you as much as I do!”

At the same time, the girl heard a kind of muffled groan, then the sound of a body sliding along the door, and everything went silent. She thought that Luís had sat on the doorstep to wait for his first exit, but she promised herself not to set foot on the street while he was there.

After just a quarter of an hour, one of the tenants who was passing through the courtyard with a light shouted for help. Soon the neighbors arrived and Miss Vitorina, having also opened her door, let out a scream of horror when she noticed the body of her fiancé on the floor, pale and inanimate. Everyone rushed to help him and look for a doctor, but they soon found that everything was useless, as he had already ceased to exist. The unfortunate young man had buried the shoemaker's knife in his chest and the iron remained in the wound.

The fact that we found in Le Siecle April 7th awakened in us the idea of asking a superior Spirit some questions about its moral consequences. Here they are, with the respective answers, given by the Spirit of São Luís in the Society's session on August 1, 1858.

1. ─ Is the girl, the involuntary cause of her boyfriend's death, responsible? ─ Yes, because I didn’t love him.

2. ─ To avoid this misfortune, should she marry him, even though she didn't love him? ─ She was looking for an opportunity to separate from him; He did at the beginning of his call what he would have done later.

3. ─ So the guilt consists of having harbored feelings in him that he did not share and which were the cause of the boy's death? ─ Yes. That's right.

4. ─ In this case, your responsibility must be proportional to the fault, which must not be as great as if it had, in any case, caused death. ─ This is obvious.

5. ─ Is Luís’ suicide justified in the madness into which Vitorina’s obstinacy plunged him? ─ Yes, because his suicide, provoked by love, is less criminal in the eyes of God than that of the man who wants to free himself from life out of cowardice.

NOTE: Saying that this suicide is any less criminal in the eyes of God, evidently means that there is criminality, even though it is minor. The lack consists of the weakness that he did not know how to overcome. It is undoubtedly a test to which he succumbed. Now, the Spirits teach us that merit lies in fighting victoriously against tests of all kinds, which are the essence of earthly life.

Evoked on another day, the Spirit of Luís C… was asked the following questions, to which he responded:

1. ─ What do you think about the action you took? ─ Vitorina is ungrateful. I was wrong to kill myself for her, because she didn't deserve it.

2. ─ So she didn’t love you? ─ No. At first I thought so, but I was deluded. The scene I made opened his eyes. Afterwards, he felt happy with this pretext to get rid of me.

3. ─ And do you sincerely love her? ─ I had a passion for her. I believe it was just that. If I loved her with pure love, I wouldn't have wanted to hurt her.

4. ─ If she had known that you really wanted to kill each other, would she have persisted in refusing? ─ I don't know. I don't think so, because she wasn't bad. However, it would have been unfortunate. For her it was better that way.

5. ─ When you arrived at your door, did you intend to kill yourself if you were refused? ─ No. I didn't even think about that. I didn't think she was so obstinate. Only when I saw his stubbornness did I feel dizzy.

6. ─ It seems that you only regret the suicide because Vitorina did not deserve it. Is it your only feeling? ─ Right now, yes. I still find myself disturbed. It seems to me to be on your doorstep. However, I feel something that I cannot define.

7. ─ Will you understand later? ─ Yes, when I'm free... What I did was bad. I should have left her calm... I was weak and I suffer the consequences... As you see, passion leads man to blindness and to make absurd mistakes. He only understands when it is too late.

8. ─ You said you suffer the consequences. What punishment do you suffer? ─ I made a mistake by shortening my life. I shouldn't have done it. It should resist instead of ending everything prematurely. That's why I'm unhappy. I suffer. She's always the one who makes me suffer. It seems to me that I'm still on your doorstep. How ungrateful! Don't tell me about this anymore. I don't want to think anymore, because it hurts me so much. Goodbye.

The following article was published in Spiritist Magazine of November 1858, and deals with a case of spiritual obsession, onde um rapaz foi obsediado por um Espírito – por culpa dele mesmo – a ponto de ser levado a matar uma senhora:

One of our correspondents, a man of great knowledge and holder of official scientific titles, which does not prevent him from committing the weakness of believing that we have a soul and that this soul survives the body, which after death remains wandering in space and can still communicate with the living, all the more so as he himself is a good medium and maintains conversations with beings from beyond the grave, he sends us the following letter:

"Sir,

“Perhaps you thought it wise to include the following fact in your interesting magazine:

“I was a juror some time ago. The court was to try a young man, barely out of his teens, accused of having murdered an elderly woman in horrible circumstances. The accused confessed and told the details of the crime with an impassivity and cynicism that made the assembly tremble.

“However, it is easy to predict, due to his age, his absolute lack of education and given the encouragement he received from his family, that extenuating circumstances would be presented in his favor, especially since he was driven by anger, acting against a provocation due to insults. .

“I wanted to consult the victim regarding the degree of his culpability. I called her, during a session, through a mental evocation. She let me know she was present and I placed my hand at her command. Here is the conversation we had ─ me, mentally, she in writing:

“─ What do you think of your murderer?

“─ I won’t be the one to accuse him.

“─ Why?

“─ Because he was led to crime by a man who courted me fifty years ago and who, having achieved nothing from me, swore to take revenge. After his death, he maintained the desire for revenge and took advantage of the accused's dispositions to inspire in him the desire to kill me.

“─ How do you know that?

“─ Because he himself told me, when I arrived in this world that I inhabit today.

“─ I understand your reservation in the face of the stimuli that your killer did not repel as he should and could have. But do you not think that the criminal inspiration, to which he voluntarily obeyed, would not have had the same power over him if he had not nurtured or entertained, for a long time, feelings of envy, hatred and revenge against you and your family? family?

“─ Definitely. Without it he would have been better able to resist. That's why I say that whoever wanted revenge took advantage of that young man's dispositions. You understand that he would not have addressed someone who was willing to resist.

“─ Does he enjoy your revenge?

“─ No, because you see that it will cost you dearly. Furthermore, instead of harming me, he provided me a service, allowing me to enter the world of Spirits sooner, where I am happier. It was, therefore, an evil action of no benefit to him.
“Mitigating circumstances were admitted by the jury, based on the reasons indicated above, and the death penalty was discarded.

“Regarding what I have just said, a moral observation of great importance must be made. It is necessary to conclude, in fact, that man must watch over his slightest malevolent thoughts and even his bad feelings, however fleeting they may seem, as they can attract evil and corrupted Spirits to him, and expose him, weak and unarmed. , to their guilty inspirations. It is a door that he opens to evil, without understanding the danger. It was, therefore, with a deep knowledge of man and the spiritual world that Jesus Christ said: 'Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28).

“Tenho a honra, etc. SIMON M…”

One of the greatest Brazilian athletes, Walewska Oliveira (and not Valeska, Valesca, Walesca, Waleska, etc.) passed away on the night of 21/09/23, in São Paulo. The reason for her death was a fatal fall — likely suicide — from the 17th floor of the building where she lived with her husband, Ricardo Alexandre Mendes. The police report recorded the incident as a fall, and also recorded the existence of a piece of paper where, possibly, she had recorded a goodbye letter. The building's cameras recorded the moments in which the athlete went to this area, carrying a bottle of wine and a briefcase. The details of the case are not yet known, but the issue, precisely this month, marked by the campaign Yellow September, aimed at preventing suicide (we omitted the word to avoid problems with search engines) raises a reflection from the perspective of Spiritism, in what it actually says.

Antes de mais nada, devo dizer que acho lamentável qualquer opinião que busque julgar atitudes como essa (supondo que isso tenha acontecido) classificando-as como egoístas, “falta de Deus”, covardia, etc.

We wish Walewska's family, friends and husband a lot of strength to go through something so difficult and that, if they look for answers, they can find them in the right places. Furthermore, we hope that no supposed spiritist will inadvertently bring supposed communications, psychographed letters, exposing them to the public without reasoning about them. We feel that, if what we suppose was what happened, she did not have the opportunity to learn about a philosophy that gives certainty about the future and the ability to face life's pain from a different perspective.

Spiritist Doctrine and Spiritist Movement

It is worth remembering that the Spiritist Doctrine, as it really is, is a science, formed by methodological and serious studies, coordinated by Allan Kardec, analyzing communications, evocations and phenomena throughout the world. Its main characteristic, as a science, is that any doctrinal principle must be born from the scientific method, something that was abandoned at the end of the 19th century.

Contrary to spontaneous evocations and communications, at that time subjected to the double criteria of agreement and reason, today the Spiritist Movement in general believes blindly in practically what mediums and spirits say, forgetting or unaware that they are just opinions that should pass the aforementioned criteria. . Other times, they generalize individual situations, precisely because of a lack of knowledge. Thus, different narratives are created which, if not just absurd, sometimes offend reasoning and even disrespect individuals in their different conditions.

The Valley of Suicides

Podemos citar, dentre elas, e no aspecto aqui tratado, a ideia de que todo suicida irá para o “Vale dos Suicidas”, onde, segundo essa ideia, ficará sofrendo até que aceite o “resgate” de um Espírito que, muitos dizem, seria a própria Virgem Maria. Outros dizem que aquele que pratica esse ato renascerá em corpos mutilados pela culpa, onde deverão resgatar o crime realizado. Não passam, respectivamente, das falsas ideias oriundas de religiões que ensinam a queda pelo pecado.

I wonder: don't people who say such things put themselves in the shoes of those who hear them? Don't they reason? How would a mother, whose son was born with certain physical characteristics, feel when she heard the idea that the reason for that was due to the fact that he had committed crimes, if not against others, then against himself and against God? Wouldn't many be offended? Many others could come to see them with stigmas, perhaps? Worse: what would people who were born with such characteristics think? The fact is that many abandon Spiritism because of the Spiritist Movement which, in the information age, is reluctant to recognize the need to return to Kardec, not because of fundamentalism, but because of seeking scientific foundations.

We have already heard people say, within a Spiritist Center, from people involved in the institution's work, and even from speakers, that the reason the person was born blind was because they used their vision, in their past life, to bad. How many absurdities, how many nonsense, which only empty the banks of the Spiritist Movement, turned into religion.

Real Spiritism

But, thanks to Kardec's methodological studies, we can easily demonstrate the falsehood in the generalization of these ideas. It would be enough for every spiritist adept to read the first year of the Revista Espírita (1858), to verify that the situations of the Spirits of people who committed these acts are not unique, precisely because we cannot outline a “penal code of future life”, an idea introduced into adulteration of Heaven and Hell, in its fourth edition, released after Kardec's death, on which all known editions until recently were based (refer to edition of Editora FEAL to access the original and untouched content).

They would discover, with this study, that the future of the Spirit depends on its psychology, its knowledge, its ideas. That the extreme act is often taken in a state of madness, madness, thoughtlessness, inability to deal with unmonitored emotions. The article "Suicide for love“, de Revista de setembro de 1858, demonstra isso. Já o artigo “The Samaritan woman's suicide“, from June of the same year, demonstrates another case, where the Spirit, in a deep state of disturbance, believes, due to a state of moral suffering, that it is still linked to its body.

Facts

One fact is undeniable: remorse and repentance will be states that all Spirits will encounter, later, when they realize that they took such an attitude due to an inability to deal with pain, emotions (at that time known as passions), regrets, with dislikes, etc. Unfortunately, everything is generated by an inability to see life from another angle, a very broad, logical, and clear angle that Spiritism provides, in its originality. It does not try to impose the fear of punishment, but demonstrates the facts, the consequences and gives the individual a glimpse of the future, where attachments lead to evil and suffering, but the path to return to good will always be open, from the moment in which he understands the reasons for his suffering and, through his own will and efforts, decides to face the roots of his mistakes.

See: in the case presented in the Magazine of September 1858, the boy just carried out a thoughtless act. He states that he didn't even think about it, but that he was overcome by “vertigo”, that is, such a strong emotion that he didn't know how to deal with. In Spirit, he understood the foolishness (which is why everyone, without exception, will spend some time with the fateful scene repeating itself in their minds) and understood the need to correct himself in the future, so as not to commit this type of problem again. Who knows, according to your ability to understand, you will choose a life that will give you, from an early age, the fiber to deal with these emotions?

It remains to be said that the scenes that some suffering Spirits transmit in communications, such as dark valleys or even the idea of “threshold“, are born from their own minds. Perhaps they can materialize them on a scale, in a kind of tuned suffering, but they are no less temporary and definitely do not represent the generic condition of the suffering Spirit after death (read the Spiritist Magazine and you will see).

The obsession

We have one more aspect to address: the issue of obsession. The science of Spirits, treated seriously, was emphatic in demonstrating that individuals sometimes commit such acts in a state of madness, out of their mind. Often, but not always, this state has the determining influence of an obsessing Spirit.

Um artigo que demonstra isso é “The Spirit and the Juror“, de novembro de 1859. Nele, fica evidente que o papel de um Espírito obsessor, when it finds paths in the individual's own ideas, can influence you slowly. The latter, accepting this influence, which pleases him, even without knowing that he does so, slowly allows himself to be in tune with the obsessing Spirit, like a puppet whose strings are slowly being connected to the hands of its master. At a certain point, the individual starts to respond blindly, reaching a state of possession, as discussed by Kardec in A Gênesis (refer to the edition by FEAL).

Hence, a kind of shared guilt is born, of which each person will be their own judge. The one who allowed himself to be influenced, when he understands, will seek to create the strength to no longer allow himself to do so. The one who influenced, one day, will understand the harm he is doing to himself, deviating from the good, and will seek conditions to repair his deviation.

Final words

There is a lot to recover when it comes to the scientific principles of Spiritism. Its recovery, its restoration, free from dogmas and false ideas depends on this. daily disseminated and taught in spiritist centers, on tribunes and, now, on the Internet, where they find it regrettably easy to spread. We need to use this facility in favor of good and the restoration of true ideas, not attacking others, as many still waste their time doing, but recovering the truth and disseminating it, in true ant work, where each person needs to carry their grains . Take your initiative. Forget about romance for the moment. Study Spiritism where it really exists as a scientific doctrine.

Not long ago, I demonstrated, in article is at video, that the reason for the birth of Umbanda was due to an absurd attitude of a spiritist center that prohibited Spirits such as those of the “pretos-velhos”, recognized in Umbanda as one of its entities, from communicating. They mistakenly thought that mediumship belongs to Spiritism. Sad reality of a distorted doctrine, formed by the cooperation of groups and individuals even from Catholicism and Protestantism, who studied it, regardless of their religions.

Today, the Spiritist Movement, which accuses other religions of “mysticism”, also adopts several mystical ideas, to the detriment of existing doctrinal knowledge.

It turns out that this disagreement occurred, on both sides, due to a lack of knowledge of what Spiritism really is, which, at that time, was already distorted on Brazilian soil. On the side of the spiritists, who wanted to dictate the truth based on false concepts, if they had known the content of the Spiritist Magazine, they would know how unreasonable such an attitude would be, since Kardec demonstrated the usefulness of evoking all the Spirits, with one detail: not to hear them and believe in them without reasoning, but to be able to study their communications in a psychological way.

Before I continue, I need to say that if you believe you know enough and don't need to know anything else, this article is not for you. Otherwise, if you are interested in knowing the facts and thus judging by your own conscience, stay with me until the end.

I want to say, to make it clear, based on the knowledge acquired through the study: all Spirits have something to teach, although not in the same way, in the same way that we can learn from the words of the wise, which we seek to internalize, and from the examples of criminals, which we seek not to repeat. This is how, for example, Kardec and others found learning from the guiding Spirit of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, São Luís, to the study of the Spirit of the ragpicker on Noyers Street, who scared the people there and threw stones at the windows. (read Spiritist Magazine 1860 » August » The ragpicker on Rue de Noyers).

dissent

Unfortunately, with dissent, the first founders of the Umbanda religion not only moved away from the Spiritist Movement, with its errors, but also from the Spiritist Doctrine, which was the result of joint and collaborative efforts, coordinated by Allan Kardec, in the methodological and systematic of thousands of evocations, spontaneous communications and various spiritist phenomena. Umbanda was not the only case.

But I'm not here to point fingers at anyone. I am of the opinion that everything got tangled up by the “force of things”, that is, people just repeated what they were taught. It is not too much to repeat: Spiritism, when it really gained strength in Brazilian territory, arrived adulterated in principles and greatly influenced by the ideas of Jean-Baptiste Roustaing, who chose to blindly believe in Spirits who fed his vanity by declaring him the “revealer of the revelations” and who quickly turned against Kardec when he sought to warn him of the danger of doing so, instead of taking care to question the Spirits and his own reason. The FEB itself – Brazilian Spiritist Federation – self-proclaimed responsible for the direction of Spiritism in Brazil, adopted Roustaing's principles since its origins, and this is one of the biggest reasons why evocations were abolished in this country, an influence that is spreading today throughout the world and that turned the Spiritist Movement into a religion, very far from the science that Spiritism actually is.

Due to this distancing from Spiritism, substantially stigmatized by the actions, practices and words of Brazilian “spiritists”, there were countless dissents from the Spiritist Movement, sometimes towards other religions, sometimes towards disbelief. But, here, we come to the problem of the matter: mediumship, for those who had it, was almost never interrupted by the departure of the Spiritist Movement, which does not stop it. Thus, almost always, they began to live mediumship in the way they knew how and how they could, far from the knowledge generated by that collaborative work for which Kardec was responsible, as it was necessary to be at that time.

Stigma

This stigma, generated by the Spiritist Movement, meant that, for a long time, and still today – unfortunately – people from religions such as Umbanda, who practice mediumship, looked at Allan Kardec with prejudice and even with a certain anger, often believing , that he had founded a religion where he intended to adopt the truth. Nothing false anymore, but the truth was very difficult to reach behind so many false ideas that the Spiritist Movement cultivated (and still cultivates). Kardec never took the truth for himself. His role was that of a dedicated researcher, who always sought to act impersonally, always ready to modify his concepts and hypotheses when they proved to be wrong. Thus, through systematic and careful observation, carried out in collaboration with countless groups and people, it was possible to establish several doctrinal principles, which are not the absolute truth, but which reason indicates as the most rational and probable possible.

Umbanda entities

Behind the nomenclatures with African roots, which many still find strange and stigmatized, are the Spirits that communicate in the Umbanda religion. Below Olorum, the orixás of the Yoruba tradition are venerated as superior entities, and they vary according to each branch of the religion. These include Oxalá, Oxum, Oxóssi, Xangô, Ogum, Obaluaiê, Yemanjá, Oyá, Oxumaré, Obá, Egunitá, Yansã, Nanã and Omolu. Below the orixás, spiritual entities are grouped into lines and phalanges, covering different categories, such as the Caboclos, which are indigenous spirits; the Pretos Velhos, which represent the spirits of former Brazilian slaves; the Exus, who are benevolent spirits and messengers of the orixás; the Pomba Giras, identified as ladies of the night or sorceresses; and the Erês, who are childish spirits.

As we can see, they are just nomenclatures, and nothing more than that. Pashas, Zouaves (who were African soldiers), supposed sorcerers, etc. communicated with Kardec or were evoked. When they became more enlightened, they appeared detached from their previous personalities; At least, they said they presented themselves as they were or as they remembered or imagined.

Of course, I cannot help but remember that evocation for the purpose of empty curiosity or play will be reciprocated by the presence of Spirits of like mind. Serious evocations were carried out with the aim of developing the Doctrine.

It is from here that we will approach Spiritism in its reality, without impositions, since, as Umbanda is a religion, it is necessary to recognize the freedom of each person to believe in what they want, and how they want.

The rediscovery of true Spiritism

What I intend to demonstrate, finally, is that the mediumship practiced in Umbanda does not differ from the mediumship practiced by spiritists, or by Catholics, by Buddhists, by any religion, in short, or even by freethinkers, except for one detail: beliefs. And here, I need to be emphatic in repeating that Spiritism, being, from a spiritual point of view, in Nature itself, is thus characterized by a natural science, so that, to understand it well, scientific dedication is necessary. Note that here I am separating Spiritism from the Spiritist Movement: they are two different things.

Well then: the merit of Kardec and all those who seriously studied Spiritism in its first steps, was to analyze with methodology and scientific rigor the results of mediumistic communications and various phenomena, obtaining, as I mentioned, a theory composed of several doctrinal principles, exhaustively verified. Kardec, for example, several times questions how the Spirit got there so quickly, not being satisfied with the first answer. It was thus possible to understand who the Spirits are; how they find themselves after leaving the material body, after its death, etc., which later gave rise to Kardec's other works, including “The Book of Mediums or Guide to Mediums and Evocators”, a true practical treatise on the science of communication with the Spirits. With this, it was possible for the mediums and scholars of the time, who naturally came from different religions, apart from the freethinkers, to overcome several errors and become increasingly useful in the propagation of knowledge that every day converted more to good. and to reasoned faith criminals, depressives to the point of despair, disbelievers, etc.

If you've been following me, you'll understand what I'm saying. It's like saying: if there are studies on physics, which explains principles such as inertia, it would be unwise to practice base jumping without calculating the inertia that could cause the individual to fall to the ground, taking the necessary precautions to prevent this from happening. When we talk about mediumship, we say the same thing.

An example of errors made by modern spiritists is the one given at the beginning, when they wanted to prohibit the communication of a Spirit that presented itself under such a nomenclature. Another: it has already been demonstrated that we cannot blindly believe in what the Spirits say, as they do not gain wisdom by leaving the physical body, it is necessary to always reason about what they say and, if there is any room for doubt, it is necessary to investigate further , including through evocations, if necessary, if the Doctrine no longer provides sufficient answers to the subject in question.

One more example: it has already been demonstrated that it is not possible to dominate Spirits through rituals, formulas or objects, and that malicious Spirits often intensify their attacks even more when one tries to do so. This is the result of this methodological study on countless Spirits. Kardec, in fact, tries to make a bad Spirit go away through the force of God's words and name, during an evocation, without success. Still, there are those who deliberately choose to turn a deaf ear to these facts and who, not infrequently, end up magnifying their displeasures or, sometimes, becoming non-believers, who do not find a solution to their disturbances, despite all the formulas, signs, objects and rituals used.

Conclusion

Of course, Kardec did not end Spiritism. Quite the opposite: as a scientist, he always asserted the need to continue his studies. However, for this continuity, all the aspects previously highlighted are necessary. It is not enough to listen to isolated opinions from Spirits and take them as truth, and those who fight against this, deep down, just want to support their own vainly cultivated opinions.

The reflection, to conclude, is this: neither spiritists, nor dissidents, nor other people, religious or not, really know what Spiritism is today, although everyone is capable of practicing mediumship. Therefore, they suffer from various deceptions and harmful effects, the main one being obsession and even possession, in addition to the dissemination of false ideas that delay the development of humanity. Often, these bad results are found by people in good faith, for whom knowledge would be enough. Other times, they are reluctant people, who definitely don't want to open themselves up to the possibility of admitting that they are wrong or that they don't know everything – but this article is not for them.

Let us, therefore, as in Kardec's time, help recover this knowledge. Let's learn what Spiritism really is, through the study of the Revista Espírita from 1858 to 1869; let's practice healthy mediumship, free from false ideas; We will then resume the evocations, and then cooperate between the groups, as Kardec presents in Revista Espírita, not with mediumship restricted to “spiritist centers”, as we know it today, but rather with it spread across small groups and family groups, each one of them a “center”. It does not matter what religion each person has, to which everyone has the right: Spiritism is a natural fact, accessible to everyone.

For a long time, the Spiritist Movement and Umbanda were guided by mysticism, despite having such a rich and serious wealth of knowledge at their disposal. Whether you are a participant in the Spiritist Movement, or another religion, or even a freethinker who wants to know the facts, join this recovery effort. That's the invitation.

I suggest, as a great read, the work “Autonomy: the never told story of Spiritism”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo.

Thank you for accompanying me here.

Spiritism today, or rather what the Spiritist Movement knows and transmits about it, is very far from being reality, and this is very serious, as it is precisely because of these distortions that false ideas were created that repel individuals and create fights, not only internally, but also with spiritualist religions.

A very well-known case is that of Umbanda, which was created because an individual was prohibited from “receiving” a Spirit from an “old black man” in a spiritist center. Not only that: nowadays, people of any religion who have any interest in Spiritism are led to the question: “do I need to abandon my religion to be a Spiritist?”. This is because “being a Spiritist”, in modern times, means attending a Spiritist center which, according to false concepts, is where Spiritism “lives”.

I am here to demonstrate how wrong these conceptions are and that, far from a dispute of truths, it is possible to have union and that, in truth, this is how Spiritism developed.

The history of Spiritism like almost no one has known

It is logical to say that, before Spiritism became established as a doctrine, no one was a Spiritist. How was it possible, then, to form this science, with a philosophical aspect and moral consequences?

Anyone who says or thinks that it was Allan Kardec who created Spiritism is wrong. No: Spiritism is in nature, just like the other sciences. It would behoove someone to study, with scientific methodology and seriousness, the principles of this science, and that is what Kardec did. He never gave himself the right to take the truth for himself, simply because, as an honest scientist, he knew that science does not deal with truths, but with theories that come closest to the truth.

Thus, Kardec dedicated himself to studying the phenomena and communications of Spirits, using the main tool available: evocations, through mediums. And he didn't do it alone: at that time, study groups spread across France and other nearby countries and, in fact, preceded Kardec in evocations. When he became interested in Spiritism, there were already several evocations recorded on paper, which he gathered, analyzed and organized, which gave rise to the first edition of The Spirits' Book, about half the size of its second edition.

Kardec quickly realized that this initial effort in the Doctrine would require development, like all science. Thus, in 1858, the Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies, a monthly periodical where he presented to the public results of studies on evocations and spontaneous communications within the scope of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, as well as pertinent content sent by other groups. He also used the Magazine to reinforce the true face of Spiritism, often presenting counterpoints to opinions and articles full of ignorance and, at times, evil.

We talk about scientific methodology: well, Spiritism was born like all science: from a systematic and controlled observation of verifiable facts (although not under our will), from which hypotheses were created. From the hypotheses, a theory was created, which was then subjected to experiments (evocations). From the experiments, the results were verified and, from there, the hypotheses were evaluated: if they were corroborated, they were incorporated into the theory; if not, they were reevaluated and new observations were made.

Untruths

One of the biggest untruths that reign over the current Spiritist Movement is that evocations should not be carried out, which is in opposition to the historical characteristics of Spiritism. Anyone who studies the first year of Revista Espírita understands how indispensable for spiritist science, which, as it is a science, should not be taken as sacred content, which should remain untouched. On the contrary: Spiritism needs development, but this development can only be done through scientific methodology, which necessarily depends on the resumption of evocations. An example of a practice lacking method, or taken for false principles, is that it is enough to evoke one or more Spirits, in an isolated group, and ask (or listen) to them about everything, making this a doctrinal principle.

Another big untruth is the assumption that mediumship belongs to the Spiritist Doctrine. So much so, that we demonstrate that Spiritism was born through the joint effort of groups that could not be Spiritists, since the doctrine did not yet exist. At that time, people of various beliefs and religions practiced mediumship in their homes, in small groups, and reaped good or bad results from evocations depending on their efforts to reason about communications. Kardec mentions, in the Magazine, that the followers of Spiritism included Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists, etc., carrying out evocations and studies and often sending them to the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, where, together with other collaborators, they were evaluated, analyzed and separated those that could represent an interest for the general public.

Here we have two more untruths of the modern Spiritist Movement: the one that says that mediumship can only be practiced in the spiritist center and the one that says that we should just wait for the free communication of the Spirits. From these, perhaps, is born the biggest mistake of modern spiritists and followers: the blind and unreasoned acceptance of everything the Spirits say.

Another untruth, which we cannot fail to mention, is the one that says that Spiritism is a religion. We have already demonstrated that it is a science and that it can only be taken as a religion in the philosophical sense of natural religion, approached in a metaphysical and moral way by Rational Spiritualism, which we will talk about in a moment. This is the reason for finding, in Kardec's time, followers among religions, who did not leave their religions, with their particularities, to practice Spiritism. Regarding this, stay with us until the end, as understanding is extremely important.

Unfortunately, the Spiritist Movement erased science and transformed Spiritism into a religion, which started to create false ideas and dogmas that, if they please some, please for a while, but cannot face reason in the most critical moments of life, creating, thus, disbelievers. They forgot that Spirits do not become wise by leaving the material body and that, among them, there are good and bad, wise and ignorant, etc., and that it is above all when it is simply made available, without dialogue, that anyone presents themselves .

There are countless false ideas, which feed the Spiritist Movement and followers in general, which have not gone through the necessary screening, which have not been investigated and questioned, even if they were opposed to what, with method, was transformed in principle by psychological observation in thousands of Spirits, of all “types”.

We invite the reader, if they have not already done so, to start studying the Revista Espírita from 1858 and 1859 (it runs until May 1869). This publication, which should be taken as a laboratory where one can follow the development of the Spiritist Doctrine, through the method highlighted above, and not as a final idea in each article, demonstrates what Spiritism actually is and how much our society is far from this reality.

Notice what we say untruths, and not “lies”, since most of those who spread them, speak from what they were taught. But where did these untruths come from?

The materialist turn of the 19th century

Spiritism was not born out of nowhere. The ground was very well prepared before that and, at the beginning of the 19th century, the movement known as Rational Spiritualism was born, which, based on metaphysics, sought to study the human psyche through its most elementary and inseparable aspect: the soul. Authors such as Maine de Biran, Victor Cousin and Paul Janet were its main exponents.

You probably don't know, but Rational Spiritualism defined French Moral Sciences in the middle of this century, forming part of French teaching and defining its structure. I will leave information in the description. But ER approached this study only through metaphysics, and not in a practical way. As Spiritism, which was its development, Experimental Psychology was born (and now you know the reason for the subtitle of the Spiritist Magazine). I will not go into many details, which can be found in the book “Autonomy: the never told story of Spiritism”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo. The issue here is different.

At the end of the 19th century, German materialist philosophy overcame French spiritualist philosophy, which, according to some rulers, was the reason for France's failure in the war. Rational Spiritualism was swept under the carpet and Spiritism, which was already suffering from adulterations (we will talk about that in a moment) took the final blow, being practically forgotten in France, in Europe and, later, in the world. New icons of the philosophy of nothingness and materialist psychology (however paradoxical this idea may be), such as Nietzsche and Freud, were taken as idols, replacing rational spiritualist psychology with the perspective of the nullity of moral efforts and selfishness.

Adulterations in Spiritism

Very interesting details about the events after Allan Kardec's death can be gleaned from the books “O Legado de Allan Kardec”, by Simoni Privato, and “Ponto Final”, by Wilson Garcia. In short: the fateful and unexpected event shook spiritists everywhere, who struggled to regain some strength. Along with this, wars came and, in the Spiritist Society, Kardec's successor, Pierre Gaetan Leymarie, undermined scientific doctrinal principles, expelled old people, in the middle of winter, from homes created by Kardec for poor spiritists, burned correspondence carefully kept by the Professor and, for personal interests, he admitted to the Spiritist Magazine contents originating from the ideology of Roustaing, now deceased, who considered himself the revealer of truths, blindly believing in one or more obsessive Spirits who communicated through a medium. The care for rationality, for the general agreement of spiritist communications, ended and, to throw the last straw on French Spiritism, Leymarie was put on trial for publishing content originating from a charlatan, in what became known as “ Process of the Spiritists”.

Because of this whole scenario, Spiritism grew stronger in an already distorted Brazil. The origins of FEB, an institution that took the liberty of proclaiming itself the general leader of Spiritism in Brazil, in fact, are completely linked to these distortions. FEB was founded and guided by Roustaing's principles for a long time (read Ponto Final, by Wilson Garcia). This is the main reason for the distortions of the Brazilian Spiritist Movement.

Added to this, the Revista Espírita only came to be translated in the 1950s. Here, several false ideas were formed, with, as we have demonstrated, the assumption of not judging communications and not evoking Spirits for investigations being the most damaging of them.

The resumption

When we talk about resuming Spiritism, we talk about resuming it as a science. To do this, knowledge is needed, born from study, seriousness, will, purpose and collaboration. Mediumship, which does not belong to the Spiritist Doctrine or the Spiritist Movement, can be practiced by everyone, including outside of spiritist centers. Evocations are necessary and healthy, but here we need warn about some principles of the science of Spirits.

The Spiritist Doctrine, as a science, has the merit of having produced knowledge about the observation of phenomena and communications of Spirits, spread throughout the world. It was not born from Kardec's brain, but from thousands of evocations and facts, analyzed in a scientific way. We repeat this a lot, because this understanding is substantial.

Already in the time of Allan Kardec, mediumship was practiced everywhere. At first, with many errors; later, as knowledge became established, it became increasingly more serious and rational, leaving only dissidents and stubborn people who, not wanting to observe scientific principles and driven by self-love, insisted on banal errors, which almost always led them to obsessions. . We mentioned Roustaing a little while ago, who, preferring to blindly believe the words of Spirits that fed his ego, promptly turned against Kardec when he tried to warn him. It's like Icarus, who, warned that he couldn't approach the sun without getting burned, fed with his ego by his wings, ignored the warnings and ended up burned.

This general warning comes in line with the completion of this important call: Spiritism needs to be resumed, and this depends on knowledge and care. The evocations need to be resumed. The doctrine of Spirits needs to be developed again by small groups, cooperating with each other. This was the direction that Kardec sought to give to Spiritism, shortly before his death (read Spiritist Magazine — 1868 > December > Transitional Constitution of Spiritism), where Spiritism would start to be developed by scattered groups, coordinated among themselves, observing the principles already established by the method. People of any religion can do so, as mediumship does not belong to the Spiritist Movement. The centers need to return to being serious, controlled study centers. When resuming the evocations, it is clear that we will face different challenges; It is logical to assume that many will encounter difficulties and many others will fall into the error of vanity and personalism, struggling to establish false ideas, as is already the case. Unfortunately, we will find them mainly in the Spiritist Movement. But these are challenges that will be faced and, if they are done with the doctrinal knowledge that already exists, they will be quickly overcome, if they ever exist.

Let us envision a new future, where there is no fight between religions, but where individuals and groups cooperate with the restoration of evocations with a greater purpose: that of resuming the development of Spiritism. We will return to Spiritism in homes, as in Kardec's time, where family evocations consoled, taught and, at times, represented doctrinal interest. They will be spiritists, or their followers, people of any religion, any creed, or even non-believers, who, with the firm purpose of learning and with the full awareness of not being the holders of the truth, will seek, through evocations and collaboration, to restore the momentarily interrupted path of Spiritism, a doctrine capable of revolutionizing ideas and, thus, transforming individuals, families, groups and, finally, the world. The truth does not belong to anyone, but the theories that come closest to it can be found by that maxim expressed by Allan Kardec, representing the scientific method in Spiritism:

Generality and agreement in teaching, this is the character essential of doctrine, the very condition of its existence, from which it follows that any principle that has not yet received the consecration of the control of generality cannot be considered an integral part of that same doctrine.. It will be a simple isolated opinion, for which Spiritism cannot assume responsibility.

This collectivity in agreement with the opinion of the Spirits, passed on to the others, by the criterion of logic, is what constitutes the strength of the Spiritist doctrine and assures its perpetuity.

Allan Kardec – Genesis

We welcome your comments below.

Spiritism, as a science with a philosophical aspect and moral consequences (Spiritism can only be seen as religion From a philosophical point of view, said Kardec, precisely based on the philosophy of the time, the Rational Spiritualism, from where Spiritism developed.)), formed through the scientific method, experiences challenges from all sides. Placed in a figure, it looks like the most beautiful flower, with the sweetest perfume and the greatest healing properties, smothered by thorns and weeds.

The most diverse difficulties arise from all sides, arising mainly from a lack of commitment, zeal and care. Under this nomenclature, they admit any type of ideas, coming from the mouth or mediumistic intermediation of individuals who have become unquestionable icons. As if that were not enough, lacking knowledge about what science and about the necessary scientific method, responsible precisely for the unassailable strength of the Doctrine born from the studies coordinated by Allan Kardec, most modern researchers promote, in the spiritist environment, new ideas, new theories, distracting themselves from the essential point: the evocations, producing teachings that agree with each other, so subjected to rational analysis, in the face of human science and in the face of what had already been constructed by the same method.

Scientific Method

Let us return for a moment to the question of the definition of scientific method, exemplified in the attached figure. For those who dedicated themselves to studying at least the first year of Revista Espírita (1858), it will be very easy to identify the same steps taken by Kardec:

• the systematic and controlled observation of certain phenomena and, later, of evocations;
• verification of identified facts;
• the investigation of hypotheses, which form a theory, cohesive in itself, from which we obtain implications, conclusions and predictions;
• carrying out experiments, through evocations, from which new observations are obtained, analyzed rationally and logically;
• hence, the observation of new facts, which will or will not corroborate the theory;
• finally, add the results of these observations to the scientific theory, if they corroborate it, or recycle hypotheses, making new observations and going through the same method again.

A very notable fact, which denotes Kardec's scientific rigor and his indissoluble commitment to true science, is that he Never clung to any idea in the study of Spiritism. Anyone who has studied the Spiritist Magazine of 1858 and 1859 already understands this very well. An example of this is the study treated mainly from the RE of July 1859, starting with the article O Zuavo de Magenta and concluded (at least for the moment) in the articles of the following month. We highlight the study in the article Materiality from Beyond the Grave.

And it is precisely at this point, that of attachment to ideas, added to the absence of the necessary method, that the vast majority of modern researchers of Spiritism make mistakes.

The error of the modern spiritualist movement

The big problem arises when, abandoning the essential scientific method for spiritist science, the Spiritist Movement began to admit theories contrary to the principles already solidified by the same method, such as the ideas of spiritual colonies, thresholds, etc., falling into the most basic error of the excited spiritist: blindly believe in the opinions of Spirits.

We do not say that Spiritism, studied by Kardec, has already observed everything there is to be observed. Of course not. What we say is that the modern spiritist movement has created a large set of theories that cannot face the scientific method, because they have not gone through it!

We very often find even those dedicated and willing researchers — we will not take this true impetus from them — who, however, cling to the most diverse ideas and who very quickly become irritated by the contradiction of what, scientifically, is part of the principles doctrinaires of Spiritism.

The basis of the indispensable methodology in Spiritism

Let us return here to what is highlighted on our home page – a quote from Allan Kardec in A Gênesis:

Generality and agreement in teaching, this is the character essential of doctrine, the very condition of its existence, from which it follows that any principle that has not yet received the consecration of the control of generality cannot be considered an integral part of that same doctrine.. It will be a simple isolated opinion, for which Spiritism cannot assume responsibility.

This collectivity in agreement with the opinion of the Spirits, passed on to the others, by the criterion of logic, is what constitutes the strength of the Spiritist doctrine and assures its perpetuity.

Allan Kardec — The Genesis

The statement highlighted above, made by Kardec, is not a mere result of a personal systematization. Quite the contrary: it represents the necessary scientific method for the study and development of Spiritism. It is not enough for the same principle to be consecrated by generality (which requires the use of evocations, because it is not enough that we just put ourselves in the role of listening and accepting what the spirits say); it is not necessary, furthermore, that this consenting collectivity of opinion of the spirits be passed through the criterion of logic, which means comparing it to human science and the scientific method, so that, only then, it can be taken as a principle of Spiritism.

Note, furthermore, the term “opinion” used by Kardec, not by chance: what the Spirits say, through mediumistic communications, are their own opinions, born from their knowledge and their own observations, when they are not the result of a deliberate intention to mystify, that is, to promote false ideas . It happens in the best groups. The opinions of spirits, like the opinions of human beings, can be loaded with beliefs, false ideas, little knowledge, illusions, etc. How, then, to analyze them scientifically? Through the psychological observation of these communications.

The nuances in a psychological science

Anyone who has studied at least the first two years of the Spiritist Magazine notes that, even at the end of the second year, Kardec continues to frequently question the communicating spirit how he got there, how he presents himself, how he sees other spirits, etc. If an answer disagrees with the scientific theory or brings new facts, it will be investigated through evocations and according to the scientific method — which is not done nowadays.

Kardec investigated, among many things, the issue of pain in the Spirit. There were those who claimed to feel cold or hot; pains; hunger; worms gnawing his body, &c. It was through dedicated study, through rational analysis of the psychological nuances of these communications, that Kardec arrived at several doctrinal scientific principles. An example of this is the communication from the Spirit of the assassin Lemaire in the RE of March 1858:

6. Immediately after your execution, were you aware of your new existence? — I was plunged into an immense disturbance, from which I still haven't emerged. I felt great pain; looks like my heart felt it. I saw something roll at the foot of the scaffold. I saw the blood flow and my pain became more acute.

Kardec could easily, were it not for his scientific rigor, admit that the Spirit materially suffered from a pain in the heart. But he investigates:

7. Was it a purely physical pain, similar to that caused by a serious injury, such as the amputation of a limb? — No. Imagine remorse, great moral pain.

We could cite a huge diversity of cases that illustrate this scientific principle, but we leave the purpose of studying the Doctrine that it embraces to the reader's healthy curiosity.

Spiritism needs defense

Leaving aside the scientific method is a big mistake on the part of most modern researchers of Spiritism, who aim to construct new doctrinal principles without going through this process, when they should not only be practicing evocations, given the dedicated study of the Spiritist Magazine, but also should be encouraging the spiritist movement to do so at all times.

By not doing so, they throw another shovel of lime on Spiritism, producing a bad impression and a false idea in the scientific world, which does not recognize it as something born of science, but as a mere superstitious belief or a religion. It is not uncommon for me to come across allegations from people who, having not had the chance to know what really be it Spiritism, they distanced themselves from it because they could not admit, for reason, that, for example, a Spirit has to take a flying bus to get around.

We have a lot to do and you must have realized that the first step is studying.

Many of us, and I count myself among those, at certain times ask ourselves, about Spiritism: “I seem to have already understood the essentials. What is the point of continuing to study? Nobody seems to want to know about it anymore.”

My suggestion is that, whenever we find ourselves with a lack of answers, we evoke the good Spirits, through the internal disposition of our own thoughts. The answer, one way or another, will not be long in coming.

I don't consider myself a medium, per se, but I have, as every incarnated spirit has, the intuitive capacity. So today, without waiting, I thought of: Spiritist Magazine, August 1865. I leave you this wonderful reflection by Kardec himself:

What does Spiritism teach?

“There are people who ask what new conquests we owe to Spiritism. From the fact that he did not endow the world with a new productive industry, like steam, they conclude that he produced nothing. Most of those who ask such a question, not having taken the trouble to study it, only know fantasy Spiritism, created for the needs of criticism, and which has nothing in common with serious Spiritism. It is therefore no wonder that they ask what its useful and practical side can be. They would have had to look for it at its source, and not in the caricatures made of it by those who are only interested in denigrating it.

In another order of ideas, some find, on the contrary, the march of Spiritism too slow for their taste. It is astonished that he has not yet probed all the mysteries of Nature, nor addressed all the questions that seem to fall within his purview; they would like to see him teach new things every day, or be enriched by some discovery. As he has not yet resolved the question of the origin of beings, the beginning and end of all things, the divine essence and some others of the same magnitude, they conclude that he did not leave the a-be-ce; that has not yet entered the true philosophical path and that drags on in commonplaces, because it incessantly preaches humility and charity. They say: “Until today he has taught us nothing new, because reincarnation, the negation of eternal punishments, the immortality of the soul, the gradation through periods of intellectual vitality, the perispirit, are not spiritist discoveries per se; so it is necessary to move towards truer and more solid discoveries.”

In this regard, we believe that we should present some observations, which will not be new either, but there are things that must be repeated in different ways.

It is true that Spiritism did not invent any of this, because there are no true truths other than those that are eternal and that, for this very reason, must have germinated in all times. But it is not something to have taken them, if not out of nothing, at least out of oblivion; of a germ having made a living plant; of an individual idea, lost in the night of time, or muffled by prejudices, having made a general belief; to have proved what was hypothesized; to have demonstrated the existence of a law in what seemed exceptional and fortuitous; of a vague theory having made a practical thing; of an unproductive idea having drawn useful applications? Nothing is truer than the proverb, “There is nothing new under the sun,” and even that truth is not new. Thus, there is no discovery of which traces and the principle are not to be found somewhere. On account of this, Copernicus would not have the merit of his system, because the movement of the Earth had been suspected before the Christian era. It was such a simple thing, yet you had to find it. The story of the Columbus egg will always be an eternal truth.

Furthermore, it is indisputable that Spiritism still has much to teach us. It is what we have never stopped repeating, because we never pretended that he had said the last word. However, given that there is still work to be done, does it follow that he has not yet come out of the a-be-ce? His a-be-ce was the turning tables, and since then, it seems to us, he has taken a few steps; It really seems to us that such steps were great in a few years, if we compare it to other sciences that took centuries to reach the point where they are. None reached the peak in a first impulse; they advance, not by the will of men, but as circumstances put them in the way of new discoveries. Now, no one has the power to command these circumstances, and the proof is that every time an idea is premature, it aborts, to reappear later, in opportune time.

But in the absence of new discoveries, will men of science have nothing to do? Will Chemistry no longer be Chemistry if it does not discover new bodies every day? Will astronomers be condemned to sit idly by for not finding new planets? And so in all other branches of science and industry. Before looking for new things, don't you have to apply what you know? It is precisely to give men time to assimilate, apply and popularize what they know that Providence puts the march forward on hold. There is History to show us that the Sciences do not follow a continuous upward march, at least ostensibly. The great movements that revolutionize an idea only operate at more or less distant intervals. There is, therefore, no stagnation, but elaboration, application and fruition of what is known, which is always progress.

Could the human Spirit ceaselessly absorb new ideas? Doesn't the Earth itself need a period of rest before reproducing? What would you say about a teacher who taught his students new rules every day, without giving them time to practice the ones they learned, to identify with them and to apply them? So would God be less farsighted and less able than a teacher?

In all things, new ideas must fit in with acquired ideas. If these are not sufficiently elaborated and consolidated in the brain; if the spirit has not assimilated them, those that we want to implant there will not take root. We will be sowing into the void.

The same goes for Spiritism. Have the adepts so taken advantage of what he taught until today, that they have nothing else to do? They are so charitable, devoid of pride, disinterested, benevolent to their fellow men; they moderated their passions so much, they abjured hatred, envy and jealousy; finally, are they so perfect that from now on it will be superfluous to preach to them charity, humility, abnegation, in a word, morality? This claim alone would prove how much they still need these elementary lessons, which some consider tedious and puerile. It is, however, only with the help of these instructions, if you take advantage of them, that you will be able to elevate yourself enough to become worthy of receiving a superior teaching.

Spiritism has as its objective the regeneration of Humanity: this is a verified fact. Now, since this regeneration cannot operate except through moral progress, it follows that its essential, providential objective is the improvement of each one. The mysteries he can reveal to us are the accessory. Because he has opened to us the sanctuary of all knowledge, we would not be further advanced to our future state if we were not better. To admit us to the feast of supreme happiness, God does not ask what we know or what we have, but what we are worth and the good we have done. It is, therefore, in his individual improvement that every sincere spiritist must work, first of all. Only those who have mastered their bad inclinations have really benefited from Spiritism and will receive their reward. That's why the good spirits, by God's order, multiply their instructions and repeat them to satiety; only foolish pride can say: I don't need anything else. Only God knows when they will be useless and it is up to him alone to direct the teaching of his messengers and adapt it to our progress.

Let's see, however, if outside the purely moral teaching the results of Spiritism are as sterile as some claim.

1st – Initially, as everyone knows, he gives complete proof of the existence and immortality of the soul. It is true that it is not a discovery, but it is because of the lack of evidence on this point that there are so many incredulous or indifferent people about the future; it is by proving what was nothing more than a theory that he triumphs over materialism and avoids its disastrous consequences on Society. Having transformed doubt about the future into certainty, it is a whole revolution in ideas, the consequences of which are incalculable. If the results of the demonstrations were limited to this, these results would be immense.

2nd – Due to the firm belief it develops, it exerts a powerful action on man's morale; it leads him to good, consoles him in afflictions, gives him strength and courage in the trials of life and diverts him from the thought of suicide.

3rd – It rectifies all the false ideas that have been made about the future of the soul, about Heaven, Hell, penalties and rewards; radically destroys, by the irresistible logic of facts, the dogmas of eternal punishment and demons; in a word, it reveals to us the future life and shows it to us rational and according to the justice of God. It is still a thing of great value.

4th – It makes known what happens at the moment of death. This phenomenon, until today unfathomable, no longer has mysteries; the smallest particulars of this much-feared passage are now known. Now, as everyone dies, such knowledge interests everyone.

5th – By the law of the plurality of existences, it opens a new field to Philosophy; man knows where he comes from, where he is going, for what purpose he is on Earth. It explains the cause of all human miseries, of all social inequalities; it gives the very laws of Nature as the basis for the principles of universal solidarity, fraternity, equality and freedom, which were based only on theory. Finally, it sheds light on the most arduous questions of Metaphysics, Psychology and Morals.

6th – Through the theory of perispiritual fluids, it makes known the mechanism of sensations and perceptions of the soul; explains the phenomena of double sight, vision at a distance, somnambulism, ecstasy, dreams, visions, apparitions, etc.; opens a new field to Physiology and Pathology.

7th – Proving the existing relations between the corporeal and spiritual worlds, it shows in the latter one of the active forces of Nature, an intelligent power, and reveals the reason for a portion of effects attributed to supernatural causes that fed the majority of superstitious ideas.

8th – Revealing the fact of obsessions, it makes known the cause, hitherto unknown, of numerous affections about which Science had been wrong to the detriment of the sick, and gives the means to cure them.

9th – Making us aware of the true conditions of prayer and its mode of action; revealing to us the reciprocal influence of incarnated and disembodied spirits, it teaches us the power of man over imperfect spirits to moralize them and rescue them from the sufferings inherent to their inferiority.

10th – Making known spiritual magnetization, which was unknown, opens a new path to magnetism and brings a new and powerful element of healing.

The merit of an invention is not in the discovery of a principle, almost always previously known, but in the application of that principle. Reincarnation, without a doubt, is not a new idea, as much as the perispirit, described by São Paulo under the name of spiritual body, nor even communication with spirits. Spiritism, which does not boast of having discovered Nature, carefully looks for all the traces it can find, of the antecedence of its ideas, and when it finds them, it hastens to proclaim them, as proof in support of what it proposes. Those, therefore, who invoke this anteriority in order to denigrate what he does, go against his objective, and act incorrectly, as this could raise the suspicion of a preconceived idea.

The discovery of reincarnation and the perispirit therefore does not belong to Spiritism. It's known. But, until his appearance, what benefit had Science, Morality, Religion taken from these two principles, ignored by the masses, and kept in a state of dead letter? He not only brought them to light, proved them and made them recognized as laws of Nature, but he developed them and made them bear fruit; from them he has already produced numerous and fruitful results, without which it would not be possible to understand an infinity of things; daily leads us to understand new things, and we are far from exhausting this mine. Taking into account that these two principles were known, why were they unproductive for so long? Why, for so many centuries, have all philosophies run up against so many unsolvable problems? It's just that they were rough diamonds, which had to be polished: that's what Spiritism did. He opened a new path for Philosophy, or rather, he created a new Philosophy that daily conquers its place in the world. So, are these results so null that we should speed up the journey in search of truer and more solid discoveries?

In summary, a certain number of fundamental truths, sketched out by some elite brains, and preserved, for the most part, as if in a latent state, once they have been studied, elaborated and proved, from being sterile they were, become a mine fruitful, from which countless secondary principles and applications emerged, and opened up a vast field for exploration, new horizons for Science, Philosophy, Morals, Religion and the social economy.

Such are, until today, the main conquests due to Spiritism, and we have only indicated the culminating points. Assuming that they had to limit themselves to this, we could already be satisfied and say that a new science, which gives such results in less than ten years, is not accused of nullity, because it touches on all the vital questions of Humanity and brings to human knowledge a contingent that cannot be disdained. Until these points alone have received all the applications that are susceptible to them, and that men have taken advantage of them, a long time will still pass, and the spiritists who want to put them into practice for themselves and for the good of all, will not they will be idle.

These points are so many foci from which innumerable secondary truths will radiate, which it is a matter of developing and applying, which is done daily, because facts are revealed daily that lift a new edge of the veil. Successively, and in a few years, Spiritism provided all the fundamental foundations for the new building. It is now up to its supporters to put this material into practice before asking for new material. God will know how to supply them when they have completed their task.

They say that spiritists only know the basics of Spiritism. Whatever. To start, then, let us learn to spell this alphabet, which is not a matter of a day, because even reduced to these proportions alone, it will be a long time before we have exhausted all the combinations and collected all the fruits. Are there no more facts left to explain? By the way, don't spiritists have to teach this alphabet to those who ignore it? Have they sown the seed wherever they could? Are there no more unbelievers left to convert, obsessed to heal, consolation to give, tears to wipe away? Do we have reasons to say that there is nothing more to be done when we have not yet finished the task, when there are still so many wounds to close? There are noble occupations that are worth knowing better and a little earlier than others.

Let us therefore know how to spell our alphabet before wanting to read fluently in the great book of Nature. God will know how to open it to us as we go along, but it does not depend on any mortal to force his will, anticipating the time for each thing. If the tree of Science is too high for us to reach it, let's wait to fly over it until our wings are grown and solidly attached, so we don't have the luck of Icarus.

Spirit feels hungry, but calm down!

Contrary to what many affirm bluntly (and often in a very harsh way, the best formula to keep people who come from the spiritist movement as we know it from studying), a Spirit attached to matter can suffer from all the vicissitudes of matter, at most attached to her. You may suffer from hunger, cold, heat, fear, etc. Of course: it is a suffering that originates in him, in itself, that is, it is a suffering of moral origin, but that, for him, until you understand, has all the characteristics of suffering material.

It is Kardec and the Spirits who say this, not me:

“To anyone who does not know the true constitution of the invisible world, it will seem strange that Spirits who, according to them, are abstract, immaterial, indefinite, bodiless beings, are victims of the horrors of hunger; but the astonishment ceases when we know that these same Spirits are beings like us, who have a fluidic body, it is true, but which is still matter; that leaving their carnal envelope, certain Spirits continue their earthly life with the same vicissitudes, for a more or less long time. This seems singular, but it is so, and observation teaches us that this is the situation of Spirits who have lived more material life than spiritual life, a situation that is sometimes terrible, because the illusion of the needs of the flesh makes itself felt, and they they have all the anguish of a need that is impossible to satisfy. The mythological torture of Tantalus, among the Ancients, indicates a more accurate knowledge than is supposed, of the state of the world beyond the grave, especially more accurate than among moderns. Very different is the position of those who have dematerialized since this life through the elevation of their thoughts and their identification with the future life. All the pains of bodily life cease with the last breath, and soon the Spirit soars, radiant, in the ethereal world, happy as a prisoner free from its chains. Who told us this? Is it a system, a theory? Someone said it should be like this, and we take it at face value? No; It is the inhabitants of the invisible world who repeat it in all parts of the globe, for the teaching of the incarnates. Yes, legions of Spirits continue their bodily lives with their tortures and anguish. But which ones? Those who are still too overwhelmed by the subject to instantly stand out from it. Is it cruelty from the Supreme Being? No. It is a law of Nature, inherent to the inferiority of Spirits and necessary for their advancement; it is a mixed prolongation of earthly life for a few days, a few months, a few years, depending on the moral state of the individuals. “

[RE, June, 1868]

The communications that indicated such types of suffering are the most diverse, frequently presented in the Spiritist Magazine and in other works. Some of them:

10. Do you remember the moments of your death?

– A. It is something terrible, impossible to describe. Imagine being in a pit with ten feet of earth above you, wanting to breathe and gasping for air, wanting to scream: “I’m alive!” and feel your voice muffled; seeing yourself die and not being able to call for help; feeling full of life and crossed off the list of the living; being thirsty and not being able to drink; feeling the pangs of hunger and not being able to stop it; to die, in a word, in a condemned rage

[RE, August, 1862]

[…] As for the inferior Spirits, they are still completely impregnated with earthly fluids; therefore, they are material, as you can understand. That is why they suffer hunger, cold, etc., sufferings that cannot affect superior Spirits, since the earthly fluids have already been purified in their thoughts, that is, in their souls.

[LAMENNAIS, OLM, 1861]

[…] there is not a single [Spirit] whose matter does not have to fight with the Spirit that finds itself again. The duel took place, the flesh was torn apart, the Spirit became obscured in the instant of separation, and in the erraticity the Spirit recognized true life. Now I will tell you a few words from those for whom this state is a test. Oh! how painful it is! they believe they are alive and well, possessing a body capable of feeling and tasting the joys of the Earth, and when their hands touch, their hands disappear; when they want to bring their lips closer to a cup or a fruit, their lips annihilate each other; they see, they want to touch, and they can neither feel nor touch. When paganism offers a beautiful image of this torture, presenting Tantalus as being hungry and thirsty and never being able to touch his lips to the spring of water that murmurs in his ear, or the fruit that seems to ripen for him

[Saint Augustine, RE, 1864]

“It is a torment for the proud to see himself relegated to the last positions, while above him, covered in glory and celebrations, are those he despised on Earth. For the hypocrite, seeing himself penetrated by the light that reveals his most secret thoughts that everyone can read, without any means to hide and dissimulate. For the sensual, having all the temptations, all the desires, without being able to satisfy them. For the miser, seeing his gold dilapidated and not being able to keep it. For the selfish person, being abandoned by everyone and suffering everything that others have suffered for him: he will be thirsty and no one will give him something to drink, he will be hungry and no one will give him anything to eat.”

[Kardec, OCI, 1865]

The Spirit can feel a hunger greater than ours, due to moral suffering, this is of course due to material attachment. Because of this attachment, you will see yourself in the body, and not in the Spirit. It will materialize all sensations. You may even try to eat a “food”, created by your own mind, and this food may have all the characteristics of a material food… But, however, it will not satisfy you, since, in fact, the Spirit does not have a stomach. nor any other body. It does not depend on food to survive. Thus, he will remain in that state for a longer or shorter time, which will seem eternal to him, as long as he voluntarily remains in that mental state — to which, many times, compulsory reincarnation, as an act of divine mercy, given his inability to choose, the come steal. There is a way of acting, spreading among the studious spiritist movement, which is as harmful as that of the spiritists who believe in everything: it is to deny everything and harshly refute everything. That's what I've been trying to draw attention to. Many even tend to attack individuals and reject ideas with stones in their hands, as if they were all ridiculous, without understanding the nuances of the spiritual world and becoming doctors in subjects of which we are only apprentices, learning to babble the first letters of the alphabet. . I have been among them, and today I understand my mistake.

Perhaps, guided by an irresolute and almost rabid animosity towards certain statements frequently seen in the spiritist environment in general, and believing themselves to be masters of spiritual lights, many receive questions like these — “Spirits feel hungry” — with the same degree of animosity. Instead of clarifying, they push the individual away, who feels humiliated for having asked about something that, perhaps, they saw Kardec himself say.

It was not by chance (it is never by chance that a Spirit, of any elevation, acting with honesty, makes any kind of affirmation) that São Luís said, in the RE of 1866:

But if, thanks to the lights from above, you are more educated and understand more, you must also be more tolerant and use nothing but reasoning as a means of propagation., because every sincere belief is respectable.

Friends, Spiritism is science, and it has two parts: the part of the Spirits, which is more or less known to them and which we know through their manifestations, and the part of men, which is purely theoretical, although absolutely rational and logical (and the which doesn’t make it any less “science”). Theories come more or less close to the truth and, on our part, it is up to us to investigation, and not the foolish mania to affirm or deny everything. Kardec, indeed, was the extremely brilliant scientist who understood this principle, which made him, instead of discarding it, investigate the apparently most absurd statements coming from the Spirits, when, of course, he identified honesty in it, and not the clear purpose of mystifying.

Therefore, to the questions “Does the Spirit feel hungry? Feel cold? Sleep? Do you build houses?”, the answer is: depends on your elevation. You can feel or do all that, but rest assured, you have no need, you suffer and waste time when you are in that state, due to attachment to matter.

Spiritism is an essentially moral science. Therefore, those who claim to be his followers cannot, without committing a serious inconsistency, evade the obligations he imposes.

(Spiritist Magazine, Paris, April 1866 ─ Medium: Mrs. B…)

[emphasis added; read to the end]

These obligations are of two orders.

The first concerns the individual who, aided by intellectual clarity that doctrine spreads, he can better understand the value of each of his acts, better probe all the folds of his conscience, better appreciate the infinite goodness of God, who does not want the death of the sinner but that he convert and live, and who, in order to leave him the possibility of rising from his falls, gave him the long series of successive existences, in each of which, bearing the weight of his past faults, he was able to acquire new knowledge and new strength, making him avoid evil and do what is consistent with justice and charity. What can be said of the one who, thus clarified about his duties towards God, towards his brothers, remains proud, greedy, selfish? Doesn't it seem that the light blinded him because he wasn't prepared to receive it? Since then he walks in darkness, although he is in the midst of light. He is only a spiritist in name. The fraternal charity of those who really see must strive to cure him of this intellectual blindness. But for many of those who resemble him, the light that the tomb brings will be necessary, because their hearts are too attached to material pleasures and their spirits are not mature to receive the truth. In a new incarnation you will understand that the inferior planets, like the Earth, are nothing more than a kind of mutual school, where the soul begins to develop its faculties, its aptitudes, to then apply them to the study of the great principles of order, justice, love and harmony that govern the relationships of souls among themselves and the functions they play in the direction of the Universe. They will feel that, called to such a high dignity as that of becoming a messenger of the Most High, the human soul must not debase itself, degrade itself in contact with the filthy pleasures of voluptuousness; from the ignoble temptations of avarice that deprive some children of God of the enjoyment of the goods that he has given to all; they will understand that selfishness, born of pride, blinds the soul and makes it violate the rights of justice, of humanity, since it engenders all the evils that make the Earth a place of pain and atonement. Instructed by the hard lessons of adversity, your spirit will be tempered by reflection, and your heart, after being grated by pain, will become kind and charitable. This is how what appears to us to be evil is sometimes necessary to bring back the hardened. These poor retards, regenerated by suffering, enlightened by that interior light which we can call the baptism of the Spirit, will carefully watch over themselves, that is, over the movements of their heart and the use of their faculties, in order to direct them according to the laws of justice and fraternity. They will understand that they are not only obliged, themselves, to improve themselves, a selfish calculation that prevents the achievement of the objective aimed at by God, but that the second order of obligations of the spiritist, which necessarily follows from the first and completes it, is that of example. , which is the best means of propagation and renewal.

Indeed, he who is convinced of the excellence of the principles he is taught and which, if his conduct conforms to them, will bring him lasting happiness, cannot, if he is truly animated by that fraternal charity which is in the very essence of Spiritism, but wanting them to be understood by all men. Hence the moral obligation to conform your conduct to your belief and to be a living example, a model, as Christ was for Humanity.

You, feeble sparks from the eternal focus of divine love, certainly cannot claim such a vast radiance as that of the Word of God incarnated on Earth, but each one, in your sphere of action, can spread the benefits of good example. You can make virtue loved, surrounding it with the charm of that constant benevolence that attracts, captivates and finally shows that doing good is an easy thing; which generates the intimate happiness of the conscience that has placed itself under its law, since it is the fulfillment of the divine will that made us say, through His Christ: Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, Spiritism is nothing but the true application of the principles of morality taught by Jesus, because it is only with the aim of making it understood by all, so that through it all progress more quickly, that God allows this universal manifestation. of the Spirit, coming to explain to you what seemed obscure to you and to teach you all the truth. It comes, like Christianity well understood, to show man the absolute need for his interior renewal by the very consequences of each of his acts, of each of his thoughts, because no fluidic emanation, good or bad, escapes from the heart or mind. man's brain without leaving an imprint somewhere. The invisible world that surrounds you is for you this book of life where everything is inscribed with incredible fidelity, and the Scales of Divine Justice it is nothing but a figure that reveals each of your actions, each of your feelings. It is, in a way, the weight that weighs down your soul and prevents it from rising, or that brings balance between good and evil.

Happy is he whose feelings come from a pure heart. He spreads around him a soft atmosphere that makes virtue loved and attracts good spirits; its power of radiation is the greater the more humble it is, and consequently the more detached from the material influences that attract the soul and prevent it from progressing.

The obligations imposed by Spiritism are, therefore, of an essentially moral nature., because they are a consequence of belief; each is a judge and party in his own cause; but the intellectual clarity it brings to those who really want get to know yourself and working on its improvement are such as to frighten the faint-hearted, and that is why it is rejected by so many people. Others try to reconcile the reform that their reason shows them to be a necessity with the demands of today's Society. Hence a heterogeneous mixture, a lack of unity that makes the current epoch a transitory state.. It is very difficult for your poor corporeal nature to strip itself of its imperfections to put on the new man, that is, the man who lives according to the principles of justice and harmony desired by God. With persevering efforts, however, you will get there, because the obligations imposed on the conscience, when sufficiently clarified, have more force than human laws based on the constraint of a religious obscurantism that does not bear examination will ever have. But if, thanks to the lights from above, you are more educated and understand more, you must also be more tolerant and use only reasoning as a means of propagation, because every sincere belief is respectable.. If your life is a beautiful model in which everyone can find good examples and solid virtues, where dignity is combined with a gracious amenity, rejoice, because you will have understood, at least in part, what Spiritism obliges.

LOUIS OF FRANCE (Saint Louis)

=========================================

The problem with the current idea of “intimate reform” is not a matter of words, but that it has become a central point, as if the individual’s mission were to improve themselves, only. Every day, it is demonstrated that the true spiritist, because he understood the light that opened to him before the spiritual horizons, improves himself in a humble way, helping his neighbor with the same humility, not punishing his conscience with punches and knives. . The true face of good is cooperation, not dispute. The highest, serves.

Luís begins the text by stating: Spiritism is a science and, as such, spreads intellectual clarity. Spiritism serves knowledge, which is a necessary part for the individual's progress. But this is not enough: example is necessary, and we have several proofs of this in humanity, Christ being the most expressive of them. He, who came to wash our feet, demonstrated: the highest, serves, giving himself the selfless example.

In the end, Luís points out: if we are better educated, it is thanks to the “lights from on high”, not because we don't have the personal effort, but because, without the charitable cooperation of the one who is higher, we wouldn't learn! By the way, those who enter into the false idea and isolate themselves due to selfishness and pride, leave the possibility of this learning, for some time. This is the truest possible face of Creation, as Spiritism demonstrates! The dispute, the idea that the world is one of the smartest, selfishness, pride, in short, are all false conceptions, linked to false human ideas, which lead the being to the abyss that imprison him and from which it is only his effort. in escaping. Absolutely, these are ideas that do not represent the truth about Creation or relationships as Spirits!

This is a communication that must be read, reread, discussed and, who knows, placed at the head of the table.