In the article in question, as presented in the Spiritist Magazine of June 1858, Kardec talks about an annual banquet, in Paris, to commemorate Mesmer's birth anniversary.

At this banquet there were two types of “supporters”: those who mocked Spiritism, forgetting that Spiritism itself science that they embraced - and I emphasize the word because, in fact, it was an established and recognized science at the time - had, in turn, faced the same type of hurdle that, at that time, Spiritism also faced and, on the other hand, those who, even if they did not profess Spiritism, were of the opinion that it should be respected as a science of its importance.

The text itself does not go much further than that, in depth. We only take this opportunity to highlight a few important points:

 – Magnetism was a science cited several times by Kardec but never deepened, because, in its context, it was fully established and understood. He could never imagine that it would be put into oblivion by a strong materialist movement in the future.  

– Mesmer was a controversial scientist for a long time. By many, he was painted as crazy or a deceiver. Currently, however, his true face is being rescued: that of a sage, very cultured, who formulated the first theory about the Universal Cosmic Fluid and its influence on human health.  

– “Through” Mesmer, countless patients were cured of the most diverse illnesses, just by will, at a time when medicine performed bloodletting and cold-blooded surgeries, procedures from which few survived.

– Magnetism and Spiritism are sister sciences. One without the other is incomplete, limp.  

– We suggest that everyone read the book “Mesmer: the negated science of animal magnetism”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, just started by us.

In this article, Kardec evokes a Spirit who had committed bodily suicide just 6 days before. As can be seen in the original text, this man was not recognized by anyone, having been buried as a pauper. It is possible to raise several considerations about this article.

“The phone only rings from there to here”

The first of these considerations, we would say, is regarding the evocation itself: at a time when the motto “the phone only rings from there to here” reigns, that has a background of reason, but which is thoughtlessly repeated by so many, we are faced with the doctrinal basis of Spiritism, built largely under evocations - i.e, the phone also rings from here to there. Only that, like a telephone, who will answer and if will answer is the problem of the question, always addressed by Kardec.

The Suffering of the Suicide

It is important to understand that the Spirit of the suicide will not suffer divine punishment for a sin committed – not in this way. Any Spirit will always have forgiveness and new chances, as it all starts from ignorance regarding evolving Spirits.

There are infinite variations between each case, with the result that there are infinite effects related to each case, because, essentially, such effects will be linked to the general mentality of the Spirit who commits suicide. While some will throw themselves into a real hell, because they believe they have committed sin, others may even be relieved, In a first moment – because later, when you really understand everything, you will most likely regret the wasted life.

Anyway, as São Luis attests, we understand that the first effect for every suicidal person – or, at least, for most of them – will be a great difficulty to disconnect from the body, given the violence of the act, their mental state and the fact that the body is still saturated with vitality. This, however, is only what we can say at the moment, based on what we understand from the article, because, really, it is a subject that requires further development and investigation.

It is also important to emphasize that the Spirit does not suffer none kind of physical pain. It is always your morality, your conscience, that externalizes and places in external factors the pain that is, in fact, within yourself. The suicidal person (like other spirits), therefore, can claim to suffer from cold or thirst, when, in fact, he is suffering morally, and not physically. In fact, we do this ourselves, with the difference that, through psychosomatic processes, we can develop actual damage or illness in the physical body.

That is why, when we come in contact with any Spirit in suffering, we can and should have a natural and healthy conversation with him, clarifying these points. It helps enormously for them to understand that suffering is moral, internal, not external and imposed.

the valley of the suicides

To put it bluntly: there is no “the” valley of suicides, just as there is no “the” hell. It is important that the Spiritist learns to remove this type of concept from his imagination and, above all, to spread them to others, because we know that, as a not very enlightened Spirit, we seek environments and other Spirits that are in accordance with our mentality that, moreover, shape these environments of suffering together. Therefore, when a suffering Spirit says that he is “in” hell, he acts like an incarnate person who, in a very difficult situation for him, expresses himself in the same way, with the difference that the Spirit shapes, alone or together, his own hell. .

Once again, it is very important to seek to clarify such Spirits, when in contact with him.

Above all, it is important to remember that there is no such fateful connection between a suicide and the exile of the Spirit in a “valley”, as a penalty.

The effects of suicide on the next incarnation

There is something much wrong in the spiritist environment in general, currently, and which is not doctrinal - in fact, it is something anti-doctrinal, born from the lack of study of the Doctrine: it is to make the depressing claims that such an individual was born under such tests or deformations because in the previous life he did this or that.

In the particular case, about suicide, there is a terrible statement made out there: that the individual who has physical problems today is so because he would be “rescuing” a suicide committed in the previous life. Brethren, this statement is criminal, why:

1. keep away people who, suffering in their skin or having a loved one in these situations, feel (rightly) outraged by this type of statement.
2. it's fallacious, because it is not based on reality: we do know that for every effect there is a cause, but it is not for us to probe the evidence of each, both because of the imposition of charity, which we must practice, and because a Spirit can choose a deformed body not only as a test, in order to try to get rid of an imperfection, but also as a mission in front of other Spirits or also as an opportunity to learn other virtues that you still feel the need to exercise. Anyway, it's ever a conscious choice of the Spirit, not the effect of a divine mechanics of sin and punishment. We note, moreover, that in all the spiritual communications studied so far, they always assert, even for the case of the monomaniacal madman, that the proof is the result of a choice prior and personal.

Suicide is not fought by fear

Finally, we remind you that suicide will never be fought by imposing the fear of suffering, but, rather, through the clarification. Let us introduce such individuals to the essence of Spiritism. Let us try to lead them to the following reasoning:

Pains and joys are fleeting, related to incarnate life. Happiness, which is what we really seek, will only be achieved after we leave our imperfections behind – since, for example, someone who is too worried, or too anxious, or too angry, or too jealous, or too proud, or too sensual, etc., cannot be really happy. To do so, on the spiritual plane, when we are aware of our imperfections, we plan lives with opportunities and difficulties, sometimes quite heavy, which, in our judgment, can help us overcome such imperfections. Therefore, giving up a life, with the extinction of the corporeal life itself, will not result in any progress, because, having not taken advantage of the difficult test for learning, we will not have perfected ourselves and, therefore, we will need - by our own will and verification – restarting a new life, carrying an even greater burden, due to the feeling of guilt caused by giving up and, who knows, by the disastrous effects that such an act can cause in the incarnate spirits that surround us.

Nobody is saying it's easy. Everyone knows where the callus presses and when you squeeze it, it hurts a lot. But we need to learn to separate physical pains from moral pains, placing ourselves, before ourselves and before the Creator, naked of any mask of selfishness or vanity and of all the imperfections that arise from these. We need to seek, in each hard test, as well as in the abundant opportunities that are presented to us, the deep needs we have for learning and, not forgetting that we are never alone, trust in the good Spirits, who do not abandon us, to go through such difficult moments.

Here, by the way, a final thought arises, supported by Spiritism: God does not give us a greater burden than we can carry. Most of the time, life presents us with opportunities that would allow us to learn in a much “lighter” way, but we, almost always, driven by pride, try to wear a mask, confuse us from ourselves and, thus, we choose leave aside the straight path, in order to embark on the winding and tortuous paths of passions (not speaking here in love, but in the deep feeling provoked by sensations). This is how, for example, many choose leave aside the study of Spiritism, which can leverage our evolution so much, to live life in laziness.

Therefore, let us take advantage of the opportunities that life offers us for our learning and evolution. Sometimes they are prickly, chosen by ourselves; at others, they are fields of soft and smooth grass, full of teachings given by love. It is up to us to recognize them.

NOTE: This evocation is in the book Heaven and Hell by Allan Kardec, first report of Chapter V – Suicides, of Part Two. It is worth reading the entire chapter V with several reports of evocations of suicides with many considerations by the author.

Spiritist Journal — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > June > Theory of Physical Manifestations II

The continuation of physical manifestations

We ask the reader to refer to the first article we published on the subject. This is its continuation and would be barely intelligible if that beginning were not in mind.

As we said, the explanations we have given for the physical manifestations are based on observation of the facts and on their logical deduction: we conclude according to what we have seen. How, however, do the modifications that make it perceptible and tangible take place in etherized matter?

To begin with, we will let the Spirits whom we question about it speak, then add our comments. The answers that follow were given by the Spirit of São Luís and are in agreement with what we were previously told by other Spirits.

the fluid

1. ─ How can a Spirit appear with the solidity of a living body?

─ It combines a part of the universal fluid with the fluid that comes out of the medium suitable for this purpose.. This fluid takes the form that the Spirit desires, but usually this form is impalpable.

2. ─ What is the nature of this fluid?

─ Fluid. This says it all.

3. ─ Is this fluid material?

─ Semi-material.

4. ─ Is it this fluid that makes up the perispirit?

─ Yea, is the connection of Spirit to matter.

5. ─ Is this fluid that gives life, the vital principle?

─ Always him. I said Link.

6. ─ Is this fluid an emanation of the Divinity?

─ No.

7. ─ Is it a creation of the Divinity?
─ Yes. Everything is created except God himself.

8. ─ Does the universal fluid have any relationship with the electric fluid, whose effects we know?
─ Yes. It's your element.

9. ─ Is the ethereal substance that exists between the planets the universal fluid in question?
─ It involves the worlds. Without the vital principle, nothing would live. If a person were to rise beyond the fluidic envelope of the globes, he would perish, because his fluidic envelope of him would withdraw, to join the mass. This fluid animates you. It is he that you breathe.

10. Is this fluid the same on all globes?
─ It is the same principle, more or less ethereal, according to the nature of the worlds. Yours is one of the most material.

11. Since it is this fluid that composes the perispirit, there must be a kind of condensation state that, to a certain extent, brings it closer to matter.
─ Yes, to a certain extent, as it does not have its properties. It is more or less condensed, according to the worlds.

How Spirits Use Fluid

12. ─ Is it the solidified spirits that raise the table?
─ This question will still not lead to the point you want. When a table moves under your hands, the Spirit evoked by your Spirit will withdraw from the universal fluid that which will animate that table with an artificial life. The spirits that produce this type of effects are always inferior spirits not yet completely detached from their fluid or perispirit. The table, thus prepared at its will (at the will of the Beating Spirits), the Spirit attracts and moves it, under the influence of its own fluid, released by its will. When the mass he wants to lift or move is too heavy for him, he calls to his aid Spirits who are in conditions identical to his. I think I explained myself clearly enough to be understood.

13. ─ Are the spirits called to your aid your inferiors?
─ They are almost always the same. They often come by themselves.

14. - We understand that superior spirits do not deal with things that are inferior to them. But we ask if, because they were dematerialized, they would have the power to do so, if they wanted to?
─ They have moral strength, as others have physical strength. When they need that strength, they use those who have it. Have you not been told that they make use of inferior spirits as you make use of carriers?

Mr. home

15. ─ Where does Mr. man? [

─ From your organization.

16. ─ What is special about it?
─ The question is not precise.

17. ─ We ask if it is a question of your physical or moral organization.

─ I said organization.

18. ─ Among the people present there is someone who may have the same faculty as Mr. man?
─ They have it to a certain degree. Was it not one of you who moved the table?

The movement of objects and clothing

19. ─ When a person makes an object move, is it always with the help of a foreign spirit or can such an action be exclusive to the medium?
─ Sometimes the spirit of the medium can act alone. Most of the time, however, he is helped by the evoked Spirits. This is easy to recognize.

20. ─ How do Spirits appear with the clothes they wore on Earth?
─ Often she has only the appearance. Indeed, for how many phenomena among you you have no solution! How does the wind, which is impalpable, uproot and break trees, which are solid matter?

21. ─ What do you mean when you say that his clothing “is just an appearance?”

─ When you touch it, nothing is found.

22. ─ If we understand what you said correctly, the vital principle resides in the universal fluid; From it the Spirit extracts the semi-material envelope that constitutes its perispirit and it is through this fluid that it acts on inert matter. That's right?

─ Yes, that is, it animates matter by a kind of factitious life; matter is animated by animal life. The table that moves under your hands lives and suffers like an animal; obeys by itself to be intelligent. It is not he who directs it, as a man does with a burden. When the table rises, it is not the Spirit that lifts it. It is the animated table that obeys the intelligent Spirit.

23. ─ Since the universal fluid is the source of life, is it at the same time the source of intelligence?
─ No. The fluid just animates matter.

Final considerations

This theory of physical manifestations offers several points of contact with the one we have given, although it differs in certain respects. From one to the other, a capital point emerges: the universal fluid, in which the principle of life resides, is the main agent of these manifestations and this agent receives the impulse of the Spirit, whether incarnate or wandering. This condensed fluid constitutes the perispirit or semi-material envelope of the Spirit. When incarnated, the perispirit is united to the matter of the body; when in a state of erraticity, it is free.
Now, two questions arise here: that of the appearance of Spirits and that of the movement they impart to solid bodies.

As for the first, we will say that, in the normal state, the etherized matter of the perispirit escapes the perception of our organs; only the soul can see it, whether in dreams or in a somnambulistic state or even half asleep; in a word, whenever there is total or partial suspension of the activity of the senses. When the Spirit is incarnated, the substance of the perispirit is more or less closely linked to the matter of the body; more or less adherent, if we may say so. In some people there is a kind of emanation of this fluid, as a result of their organization and this is what properly constitutes the mediums of physical influences. Emanating from the body, this fluid combines, according to laws that are still unknown to us, with that which forms the semi-material envelope of a foreign Spirit. This results in a certain modification, a kind of molecular reaction that momentarily alters its properties, to the point of making it visible and, in certain cases, tangible. This effect can be produced with or without the help of the medium's will, and this is what distinguishes natural mediums from optional mediums. The emission of the fluid can be more or less abundant: hence the more or less powerful mediums. It is not permanent, which explains the intermittence of that power. Finally, if we take into account the degree of affinity that can exist between the fluid of the medium and that of this or that Spirit, it will be understood that its action can be exercised on some and not on others.

What we have just said evidently applies also to the mediumistic force, with regard to the movement of solid bodies. It remains to be seen how this movement operates.

According to the answers above, the question presents itself under an entirely new aspect. Thus, when an object is set in motion, snatched or thrown into the air, it will not be the Spirit that picks it up, pushes it or lifts it, as we would do with the hand: it, so to speak, saturates with its fluid, by combining with that of the medium and, thus momentarily vivified, the object acts as if it were a living being, with the difference that, having no will of its own, it follows the impulse of the Spirit's will. This will can be either of the spirit of the medium or of a foreign spirit and, sometimes, of both, acting in agreement, according to whether they are sympathetic or not. The sympathy or antipathy that may exist between the medium and the Spirits who deal with these material effects explains why not all are able to provoke them.

Considering that the vital fluid, somehow emitted by the Spirit, gives a factitious and momentary life to inert bodies and that the perispirit is nothing other than the vital fluid itself, it follows that, when incarnated, it is the Spirit that it gives life to the body, through its perispirit: it remains united to it as long as the organization allows it, and when it withdraws, the body dies.

Now if, instead of the table, the wood is carved into a statue, and if we act on it in the same way as on the table, we will have a statue that moves from the place, which will respond by movements and by blows; in a word, a momentarily animated statue of artificial life. What light does this theory throw on a host of hitherto unexplained phenomena! How many wonderful allegories and effects she explains! It's a whole philosophy.

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Article cited: Theory of physical manifestations I

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Spiritist Journal — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies founded in Paris on April 1, 1858

The extension, so to speak universal, taken daily by spiritist beliefs made the creation of a regular center of observations was strongly desired. This gap has just been filled. The Society whose formation we are pleased to announce, composed exclusively of serious people, free from prejudice and animated by a sincere desire for enlightenment, counted, from the beginning, among its associates, with men eminent for their knowledge and for their social position.

The Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies and Truth

We are convinced that she is called to render undeniable services to the verification of the truth. Its organic law assures it of a homogeneity without which there will be no possible vitality. It is based on the experience of men and things and on the knowledge of the conditions necessary for the observations that are the object of their research. Coming to Paris, strangers who are interested in the Spiritist Doctrine will thus find a center to which they can go for information and where they can also report their own observations [1].

ALLAN KARDEC

---

[1] For information regarding the Company, contact Mr. ALLAN KARDEC, rue Sainte-Anne, n. 59, from 3 am to 5 am; or to Mr. LEDOYEN, bookseller, Galleries d'Orléans, n. 31, at the Palais-Royal.

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Our previous article: Varieties: The False Mr. home

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Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Varieties: the fake Mr. home

Mr. Home is the victim of a scammer

Some time ago, in the Lyon newspapers, we read the following advertisement, which was also posted on the city walls:

“Mr. Hume, the famous American medium, who had the honor of experimenting before His Majesty the Emperor, from Thursday, April 1st, will give sessions on spiritualism in the great theater of Lyon. He will produce apparitions, etc., etc. There will be special chairs for doctors and scholars, so that they can make sure that nothing has been prepared. The sessions will be varied, with experiences of the famous seer, Mrs…, a very lucid sleepwalker, who will reproduce all the feelings one by one, at the will of the spectators. Ticket prices: 5 francs in first class, 3 francs in second.”

The antagonists of Mr. Home (some write Hume) did not want to miss this opportunity of exposing him to ridicule. In their ardent desire to find where to bite, they welcomed this gross mystification with an enthusiasm that undermines their balance and even more their respect for the truth, because, before throwing stones at others, it is necessary to verify that they will not hit another target. But passion is blind, it doesn't reason and it is often wrong when it tries to harm others. "Look," they exclaimed jubilantly, "this man so much praised, reduced to appearing on the stage, giving so many shows a head!" And your papers giving credence to the fact, without further scrutiny. Unfortunately for them, their joy didn't last long.

Soon they wrote to us from Lyon, asking for enough information to expose the fraud, which was not difficult, especially thanks to the commitment of the many adepts that Spiritism has in that city.
As soon as the theater director learned what it was about, he immediately addressed the following letter to the newspapers: “Mr. Editor. I hasten to inform you that the show announced for Thursday, April 1st, at the grand theater, will no longer take place. I thought I had given the theater to Mr. Home and not to Mr. Lambert Laroche, who calls himself Hume. Persons who have obtained friezes in advance will be able to present themselves at the theater box office for a refund.”

Mr. Lambert Laroche “justifies himself”

On the other hand, the aforementioned Lambert Laroche, born in Langres, questioned as to his identity, felt obliged to respond in the terms that we reproduce in full below, as we do not want to be accused of the slightest alteration.

“Vous m'avez soumis diversse extre de vous correspondence de Paris, desquellesil résulterez that a M. Home qui donne des séancedans quelque salon de la capítalle was trauve at the moment in Italy etne peut para conéquent se trauvir à Lyon. Monsieur gignore 1st la cannaissance de ce M. Home, 2nd je essait quellais son talent 3rd je nais ever rien nue de commun àveck ce M. Home, 4th jait tavaillez et tavaille sout mon nom de gaire qui est hume et dont je vous justi par les article de journaux étrangers et français que je vous est soumis 5th je voyage à vecque deux sugais mon genre d'experriance consists in spiritualism with evocation vision, and in a mot reproduction de ideis du spectateur par un sugais, ma cepécialité est d'operate par c'est proceede sur les personnes étrangere comme on la pue le voir dans les journaux je vien despagne et d'afrique. Seci M. le rédacteur vous démontre que je n'ais poin voulu prendre le nom de ce prétendu Home que vous dites en réputation, le min est sufisant connu par sagrande notoriété et par les expérience que je produi. Agreez M. le redacteur mes salutation empressait”. *

We believe it is useless to say that Mr. Lambert Laroche left Lyon with his head held high. You will certainly go to other places in search of fools to deceive easily. One more word to express our regret at seeing with what deplorable avidity certain creatures who claim to be serious welcome everything that can serve their animosity. Today, Spiritism is highly believed and there is nothing to fear from antics; it is no more debased by charlatans than true medical science by crossroads healers; he finds it everywhere, but mainly among enlightened, zealous people and countless defenders who know how to face the mockery. Far from harming it, the Lyon affair only serves to spread it, drawing the attention of the undecided to reality. Who knows if it was even provoked by a superior force for this purpose? Who can boast of sounding out the designs of Providence?

As for systematic opponents, let them laugh, but not slander. A few more years and we'll see who has the last word. If it is logical to doubt what one does not know, it is always imprudent to manifest oneself falsely against new ideas which, sooner or later, may offer a humiliating denial to our perspicacity. There's history to prove it. Would those who, in their pride, show pity for the adepts of the Spiritist Doctrine be as superior as they think they are? These spirits, whom they seek to ridicule, recommend that good be done and forbid evil, even to enemies; they tell us that we debase ourselves by the only evil desire. Which, then, is higher: the one who seeks to do evil or the one who has neither hatred nor rancor in his heart? Not long ago, Mr. Home has returned to Paris, but will soon leave for Scotland and from there to St. Petersburg.

French text translation

(Translation reproducing the writing and language of a semi-illiterate person)

* “You sent me several extras from your Paris correspondence, from which it appears that a Mr. The home which gives sessions in a salon in the capital is currently in Italy and therefore cannot be in Lyon. My lord, I ignore first the knowledge of this Mr. Home, 2nd I don't know what your talent is 3rd I never had anything in common with this Mr. Home, 4th I worked and I work with a name of war which is Hume and that name I justify by the article in the foreign and French pages submitted to you, 5th I travel with two companions my gene of ixpriença consists of spiritualism or evocation vision and, in a word, reproduction of the spectator's idea by a subject, my specialty is to operate through this process in strangers, as can be seen in the newspapers that come from Spain and Africa. With that, its editor, I show you that I never wanted to take the name of that supposed Home that I tell you that he has a reputation, mine is sufficiently known for its great notoriety and for the ixpriença that I have. Receive, sir, my kind greetings.”

A fact at the Civil Hospital of Saintes

L'Independant de la Charente-Inférieure reported, last March, the following event that would have occurred at the Civil Hospital of Saintes:

“For eight days, in this city, the most wonderful stories have been told and nothing is said except about the singular noises that, every night, sometimes imitate the trot of a horse, sometimes the steps of a dog or a cat. Bottles placed over the fireplace are carried across the room. One morning a bundle of rags was found twisted and knotted and impossible to untie. One night a paper was left on the fireplace, on which it had been written: “What do you want? What do you ask?” The next day, in the morning, there was the answer, written in unknown and indecipherable characters. Matches placed on the table during the night disappeared as if by magic. Anyway, all the objects change places and scatter everywhere. Such spells are only performed in the darkness of night. Once there is light, everything returns to silence; extinguishing it, the noises resume immediately. It is a friendly spirit of darkness. Several people, including ecclesiastics and former soldiers, lay down in that enchanted room and it was impossible for them to discover or explain what they were hearing.
“A hospital employee suspected of being the author of these pranks has just been fired. It is assured, however, that he is not only not guilty, but, on the contrary, was often the victim himself.

“It feels like this story started over a month ago. For a long time nothing was said, for each distrusted his senses and feared being laughed at. It wasn’t until a few days later that the comments came out.”

NOTE: We have not yet had time to verify the authenticity of the above facts. We publish them with due reservations. We note, however, that, if invented, they are no less possible and there is nothing more extraordinary than many others of the same kind, which have been perfectly verified.

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The previous article: Death of Louis XI (From the manuscript dictated by this to Miss Hermance Dufaux).

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Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Death of Louis XI (From the manuscript dictated by him to Miss Hermance Dufaux)

NOTE: We draw the reader's attention to the remarks made about these remarkable communications in our last March article.

Not feeling strong enough to hear the word death pronounced, I had often recommended to my officers that they only say to me, when they saw me in danger: “Speak little,” and I would know what that meant.

When there was no more hope, Olivier le Daim said to me harshly, in the presence of Francisco de Paula and de Coittier:

─ Your Majesty, we have to relieve ourselves of a duty. Have no more hope in this holy man, nor in any other, for you have come to an end. Think of your conscience. There is no more medicine.

At these cruel words a complete revolution took place in me. I no longer felt like the same man and I admired myself. The past quickly unfolded before my eyes and things appeared to me in a new light. I don't know what kind of strange thing was happening to me. Fixing me, Olivier le Daim's hard gaze seemed to question me. To escape that cold and inquisitive gaze, I replied with apparent tranquility:

─ I hope God helps me. It is possible, perhaps, that I am not as bad as you think.

The monarch dictates his last wishes

I dictated my last wills and sent those who still surrounded me to the young king's side. I found myself alone with my confessor, Francisco de Paula, le Daim and Coittier. Francis gave me a touching exhortation. It seems that with each of his words, my vices were erased and nature resumed its course. I felt relieved and began to regain a little hope in God's mercy.

I received the last rites with a firm and resigned piety. Every moment he repeated: “Our Lady of Embrun [1], my good Lady, help me!”

Tuesday, August 30th, at seven o'clock in the evening, I fell into a new prostration. All present judged me dead and withdrew. Olivier le Daim and Coittier, sensing the public execration, had stayed by my bedside, as they had no alternative.

I soon fully regained consciousness. I got up, sat on the bed and looked around. There was no one in my family; no friendly hand sought mine, in that supreme moment, to soothe my agony in a last contact. At that time maybe my children were playing while their father died. No one thought that the culprit could still count on a heart that understood theirs. I tried to hear a muffled sob and only heard the laughter of the two wretches who were next to me.

In the corner I saw my favorite greyhound, dying of old age. My heart throbbed with joy, for I had a friend, a being who loved me.

I signaled him with my hand. The hare dragged itself with effort to the bedside and came to lick my dying hand. Olivier noticed this movement; he jumped up, cursing, and clubbed the unfortunate dog with a club until she was killed. Breathing out, my only friend gave me a long, painful look.

Olivier pushed me violently onto the bed. I let myself fall and gave my guilty soul to God.

[1 ANDmbru is an ancient city in the south of France, located in the Rhône Basin, in Provence. His old Latin name was Ebraduno. It has about 4,000 inhabitants.

Spiritist magazine — Journal of psychological studies — 1858 > May > The heirs of spirits

One of our subscribers from The Hague, Holland, informs us of the following event, which occurred in a group of friends who were involved in spiritist manifestations. This proves, he says, once again, and beyond any possible dispute, the existence of an intelligent and invisible element, acting individually and directly on us.

The Spirits announce themselves by moving a heavy table and knocking. We ask for names: are they the late Mr. and Mrs. G…, very fortunate during existence. The husband, from whom the fortune came, had no children and disinherited his close relatives in favor of his wife's family, who died shortly before him. Among the nine people present at the session were two disinherited women, as well as the husband of one of them.

Mr. G… had always been a poor devil and a humble servant to his wife. After her death, his family moved into his home to take care of him. The will was made with a medical certificate, declaring that the dying person enjoyed the fullness of his faculties.

The husband of the disinherited lady, whom we will call R… took the floor in these terms: “How dare you present yourselves here, after the scandalous will you made?” Then, becoming more and more exalted, he ended up cursing him. Then the table jumped and threw the lamp hard at the speaker's head. He apologized to them for that first surge of anger and asked them what they were doing there.

─ We have come to give you an account of the reasons for our conduct.

(Answers were given by tapping indicating the letters of the alphabet).

Heirs and companions manifest themselves

Knowing her husband's ineptitude, Mr. R… told him brusquely that he should retire and that he would just listen to his wife.

Then the Spirit of Mrs. G… said that Ms. R… and his sister were quite wealthy and could deprive themselves of their share of the inheritance; that others were bad, and that others, in short, should undergo that test; that for such reasons that fortune suited his own family better. Mr. R… was not satisfied with the explanation and poured out his anger in insulting reproaches. Then the table shook violently, jumped, banged hard on the floor, and threw the lamp once more at Mr. A… After calming down, the Spirit tried to persuade that after his death he had been informed that the testament had been dictated by a superior Spirit. Mr. R… and the ladies, seeing the uselessness of an objection, sincerely forgave him. Soon the table rose beside Mr. R… and landed softly against his chest, as if to hug him. The two ladies received the same show of thanks. The table had a very pronounced vibration. Understanding restored, the Spirit lamented the current heiress, saying that she would end up mad.

Still Mr. R… reproached him, but affectionately, for not having done good in life, when he had so great a fortune, adding that it was not mourned by anyone. “Yes, answered the Spirit; there is a poor widow residing on the street… who sometimes thinks of me, because I have sometimes given her food, clothing and heat.”

As the Spirit had not given the poor woman's name, one of the assistants looked for her, finding her at the indicated address. And what is no less noteworthy is that after the death of Mrs. G…, she had changed domicile. The latter is what was indicated by the Spirit.

Read too: Family Lectures from Beyond the Grave: The Spirit of Mozart.

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Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > The Eternal Halves

The letter addressed to the Spiritist Magazine

The following passage is taken from a letter from one of our subscribers.

“…I lost, a few years ago, a good and virtuous wife and, although she had left me six children, I felt completely isolated when I heard about spiritual manifestations. Soon I found myself in a small group of good friends, who every night occupied themselves with this subject. I learned, then, through the communications obtained, that true life is not on Earth, but in the world of Spirits; that my Clemency there was happy and that, like others, she worked for the happiness of those she had met here.

“Now, here is a point on which I ardently desire you to enlighten me.

“One night I said to my Clemency: My dear friend, why, in spite of our love, it happens that we do not always have the same point of view in the different circumstances of our common life, and why are we so often obliged to reciprocate concessions? in order to live in good harmony? “She replied:

─ “My friend, we were good and honest; we lived together and, as best we could say, in this Land of trials, but we were not our eternal halves. Such unions are rare on Earth. Although they can be found, they represent a great favor from God. Those who enjoy this happiness experience joys that you do not know.

─ “Can you tell me if you see your eternal half?

─ “Yes, she replied. He is a poor devil who lives in Asia; you won't be able to join me until 175 years from now, according to your way of counting.

─ “Will your union be on Earth or in another world?

─ “On Earth. But listen: I cannot describe to you well the happiness of the beings thus gathered. I will ask Heloísa and Abelardo to come and inform you.

“So, sir, these happy ones have come to tell us about this unspeakable happiness.

─ “As we wish”, they said, “two do not make more than one. We travel through space; we enjoy everything; we love each other with an endless love, above which there is only the love of God and of perfect beings. Your greatest joys are not worth a single glance of ours and our handshakes.”
“The thought of eternal halves makes me happy. It seems that God, creating Humanity, made it double and, separating the two halves of the same soul, said to them: Go through this world and seek incarnations. If you do good, the journey will be short and I will allow your union. Otherwise, centuries will pass before you can enjoy that happiness. Such, it seems to me, is the first cause of the instinctive movement that drags Humanity in search of happiness, that happiness that people neither understand nor strive to understand.

“I ardently desire, sir, clarification on this theory of eternal moieties and I would be happy if I had an explanation on the subject in one of your next issues…”

The counter-argument of the letter

When asked about the matter, Abelardo and Heloísa gave us the following answers:

1. ─ Were the souls created double?

─ If doubles had been created, singles would have been imperfect.

2. ─ Is it possible for two souls to be reunited in eternity, forming a whole?

─ No.

3. Do you and your Heloísa form, from the beginning, two perfectly distinct souls?

─ Yes.

4. ─ Are you still two distinct souls?

─ Yes, but always together.

5. ─ Are all men in the same conditions?

─ As they are more or less perfect.

6. ─ Are all souls destined to unite, one day, with another soul?

─ Each spirit tends to look for another spirit that is similar to it. It is what you call sympathy.

7. ─ Is there a condition of sex in this union?

─ Souls do not have sex.

São Luís opines on eternal halves

Both to satisfy our subscriber's wish and for our own instruction, we address the following questions to Espírito de São Luís:

1 - The souls that must unite are predestined, from the beginning, to this union and each one of us has, in any part of the Universe, the your half, to which one day it will fatally unite itself?

─ No. There is no particular and fatal union of two souls. There is union between all spirits, but in different degrees, according to the position they occupy, that is, according to the perfection acquired: the more perfect, the more united. From discord all human ills spring; from concord comes complete happiness.

2 - In what sense should we understand the word half, what do some spirits sometimes use to designate sympathetic spirits?

─ The expression is inaccurate. If a Spirit were half of another, separated from it, it would be incomplete.

3 – Once united, do two perfectly sympathetic Spirits remain united for eternity or can they separate and unite with other Spirits?

─ All spirits are united among themselves. I speak of those who have reached perfection. In the lower spheres, when a Spirit rises, it is no longer sympathetic to those it has left.

4 ─ Are two sympathetic spirits the complement of each other or is this sympathy the result of a perfect identity?

─ The sympathy that attracts one Spirit to another results from the perfect agreement of their inclinations and their instincts. If one were to complete the other, it would lose its individuality.

5 ─ Would the identity necessary for perfect sympathy consist only in the similarity of thoughts and feelings, or also in the uniformity of acquired knowledge?

─ In the equality of the degree of elevation.

6 ─ Will the spirits who are not friendly today be able to be so later?

─ Yes, everyone will be. Thus, the spirit that today is in an inferior sphere will reach, through perfection, the sphere where another one resides. His meeting will take place more readily if the higher Spirit, having barely endured the trials to which he has submitted himself, remains in the same state.

7 ─ Could two sympathetic spirits cease to be sympathetic?

─ Certainly, if one of them is lazy.

These answers perfectly solve the question.

The theory of eternal halves is a figure referring to the union of two sympathetic Spirits; it is an expression used even in common language, in the case of spouses, and which should not be taken literally. The spirits who used it certainly do not belong to the highest order. The sphere of their knowledge is necessarily limited. They expressed their thought in the words they would have used in corporeal life. It is therefore necessary to reject this idea that two Spirits, created for each other, will one day have to unite in eternity, after having been separated for a more or less long period of time.

Revista espírita — Jornal de estudos psicológicos — 1858 > Maio > Problemas morais – Perguntas dirigidas a São Luís

Question 1: opulence and work

 ─ Of two rich men, the first was born into opulence and never knew need; the second owes his fortune to his work. Both employ it exclusively for personal satisfaction. Which one is the most culpable?

Response

─ The one who knew suffering. He knows what it's like to suffer.

question 2: accumulation of goods without doing good

─ Will someone who accumulates continuously, without doing good to anyone, have an acceptable excuse in the idea of accumulating in order to leave enough to the children?

Response

─ It is a commitment to an evil conscience.

question 3: the misers receive according to their works

─ Of two misers, the first deprives himself of what is necessary and dies of privation over his treasure; the second is only avaricious towards others: he is prodigal towards himself. While he shuns the slightest sacrifice in order to render a gift or do something useful, he does not limit his personal pleasures. He gets annoyed when asked for a favor; he wants to surrender to his whims, which he never lacks. Who is the most guilty and which one will have the worst place in the world of spirits?

Response

─ What you enjoy. The other has already received its punishment.

Question 4: can fortune be used for good after death?

─ Does he who in life not use his fortune usefully find relief in doing good after death, by the fate that it gives him?

Response

─ No. The good is worth what it costs.

Spiritist magazine — Journal of psychological studies — 1858 > May > Pride – Moral dissertation dictated by São Luís to Miss. Hermance Dufaux

Case I – Pride and humility

A superb man owned a few acres (agrarian measure with 0.2 hectare) of good land. He was proud of the heavy ears that covered his field, and he cast a disdainful glance over the barren field of the humble. This one got up at the crowing of the rooster and stayed all day bent over the ungrateful ground; patiently picked up the pebbles and threw them on the side of the road; he turned the earth deeply and pulled out with difficulty the thorns that covered it. Why, his sweat made the field fruitful, and he gathered the best wheat.

However, the tares grew in the proud man's field and smothered the wheat, while the owner boasted of his fecundity and looked with pity on the silent efforts of the humble.

Truly, I say to you, pride is like tares that drown the good grain. He among you who thinks himself more than his brother and who boasts is a fool. Wise is he who works for himself, like the humble in his field, without being proud of his work.

Case II – The rich man and the poor woodcutter

There was a rich and powerful man who enjoyed the prince's favor. He lived in palaces and numerous servants tried to guess his wishes.

One day when his packs were cornering a deer deep in the forest, he spotted a poor woodcutter bending under the weight of a bundle of firewood. He called him and said:

─ Vile slave! Why do you pass by the way without bowing to me? I am equal to the Lord: in councils my voice decides peace and war, and the great ones of the kingdom bow before me. Know that I am wise among the wise, mighty among the mighty, great among the great, and my elevation is the work of my hands.

─ “Sir! ─ replied the poor man, ─ I feared that my humble greeting would offend you. I am poor and the only good I have is my arms, but I do not desire your deceitful grandeur. I sleep my sleep and I fear not, as you do, that the pleasure of the Lord will make me fall into my obscurity.

Now the prince was weary of the pride of arrogance. The great humiliated rose up against him, and he was flung from the pinnacle of his power, like a dry leaf that the wind sweeps from the top of the mountain. But the humble man peacefully continued his rough work, without concern for the next day.

Case III – The superb

Proud, humble yourself, for the hand of the Lord will bend your pride to the dust!

Listening! You were born where fate cast you; you came from your mother's womb weak and naked like the last of men. Why do you lift up your brow higher than your fellows, who, like them, were born to pain and to death?

Listening! Your riches and your greatness, vanities of vanities, will escape your hands when the great day comes, like the shifting waters of the torrent that the sun evaporates. Thou shalt take from thy riches no more than the boards of the coffin, and the titles engraved on the tombstone will be empty words.

Listening! The gravedigger's dog will play with your bones, and they will be mixed with the beggar's; your dust will be mixed with his, for one day you will both be dust. Then you will curse the gifts you have received, when you see the beggar clothed in his glory, and you will weep for your pride.

Humble yourself, proud, for the hand of the Lord will bend your pride to the dust.

the parables

Why does Saint Louis speak to us in parables?

─ It seems that today the lesson should be given to us in a more direct way, without having to resort to allegory.

─ The human spirit likes mystery. The lesson is best engraved in the heart when we look for it.

─ You will find it in development. I want to be read, and morals need a disguise under the lure of pleasure.