Monologues and Dialogues
Received psychography:
Help! I need help! Darkness consumes me. I took my own life and now I feel persecuted by those who accuse me of being a sinner. My neck hurts a lot and my mind can't get out of that fateful scene, when I jumped off the stool, in the middle of the garden, with a rope around my neck. I suffer a lot! I feel really short of breath now... I'm at the bottom of the abyss! Will nothing stop this pain? I suffer in hell. Help, help...
Faced with this, the listeners soon associated the Spirit's speech with the idea of the Valley of the Suicides and went out to tell, everywhere, about this terrible communication from a Spirit who came to confirm this sad destiny for those who take their own lives. The leaders of the group put the name of this Spirit in prayers, hoping that they might be able to help him in some way.
The same communication, in another spiritist group, gives rise to the following:
We made the decision to evoke this Spirit, in order to clarify ourselves about his state and, who knows, help him in some understanding. For this, we use Kardec's method, based on the knowledge drawn from the Spiritist Doctrine.
Evocation:
Q. To the guiding Spirit of the group: would it be useful to evoke the Spirit of Dimas, who communicated with us on that day?
A. Yes, he will be able to offer a good learning opportunity, which will also be beneficial for him.
[To the Spirit of Dimas]
Q: We would like to understand your situation a little better, if you can describe it.
A: I suffer, I suffer a lot… Hell is all around me… I lack air…
Q: Could you tell us why you are in this situation?
A: I am punished for the sin of taking my own life.
P: You say you suffer pain, but how can you, if you no longer have the body?
A: I can't say, I just know that I feel the suffering come from the bottom of my soul.
Q: Do you regret what you did?
A: A lot, all the time! It's incessant suffering... My children accuse me and deplore the tragedy I imposed on them.
Q: Could you explain why this tragic ending was imposed?
A: I suffered in life, I suffered for having betrayed my family's trust. Shame overwhelmed my mind and I could no longer live with it.
P: And did you feel any relief after the act?
A: No, everything increased, it increased a lot! The vexatious scenes haunt me, and now this hell that tears me apart without ceasing…
Q: Have you already reflected on the reason for your mistake first, the one that causes you reasons for embarrassment?
A: No… Wait… I was very impulsive. I didn't know how to control my material impulses and I threw myself into the arms of another... I destroyed my home! Oh! I do not want to talk about this anymore.
Q: From your position, can you better assess our intentions?
A: A little. Your Spirit Guide assists me. I perceive that you are not idle curiosity and that you are benevolent.
Q: Maybe you think a little too highly of us. In any case, it is not our intention to judge you, as we have our own mistakes to regret.
A: Yes, I understand that. I feel more comfortable.
Q: We asked about your reflection on the error that haunts you. Forgive us for touching on this point, but did you do it willingly, that is, on purpose?
A: No… Not exactly. I was weak. I didn't reflect and let myself be carried away by the pleasures of the matter. Oh, what a shame!
P: You didn't do it on purpose. If you had more control and more knowledge, do you think you would have withstood that mistake and then the fateful mistake?
A: Most likely, but it's hard to say what I haven't accomplished.
Q: We want to say that, deep down, it seems to us that you made both mistakes for lack of greater knowledge and progress, and not for harm.
A: Yes. My last life was very focused on the material aspect, which was my only concern. I didn't dedicate myself to any spiritual development, nor did I know about this Spiritism they deal with... I didn't mean to do any harm, I was just ignorant.
Q: So you don't think that this suffering is self-created, that you pursue yourself out of remorse.
A: Yes, it is possible…
Q: You said you regret it, didn't you?
A: Yes, I wish I hadn't taken the actions I did, but I lacked the strength...
Q: We are sure that, with the help of the good Spirits, you will be able to find new strength and a new understanding to, in the future, choose a new life, where you will be able to dedicate yourself to working on what led you to the error. God is not vengeful, and punishment is simply a reflection of our own actions.
A: I begin to notice something new. Hope, maybe.
Q: Do you see any changes in your status?
A: It's still too early to say, but I feel something different. With the help of your Spirit Guide, I understand a little better what you told me.
Q: We are very happy to be able to share what comforts us and leads us back to good. Just tell us one more thing: that image described at the beginning, when you said it was at the bottom of the abyss, in hell… Did you mean a real landscape?
A: Not at all. I used figurative language, although the description of hell, for me, was very authentic to what I live. I realize now that it's all an effect of my moral situation.
Q: So it wasn't a material situation.
A: Your Spirit Guide assists me. Not at all, that is, it was not a material situation like the one you imagine, but, given that the Spirit materializes what it thinks, through the Universal Cosmic Fluid, it can shape disturbing realities, as long as it believes in them.
Q: We no longer wish to pester you with our questions.
A: Far from it. They helped me a lot and, who knows, they may have learned a little from my unfortunate story. Pray for me as my correction path has just begun.
Q: You will be in our prayers. Recognize in us sincere friends who are on the same evolutionary path, trying, getting it right and making mistakes. The important thing is to keep going.
Dear reader: the two situations are hypothetical and were only created to demonstrate the ways of acting of each group, the first being a group that is guided by what the Spiritist Movement has said, and the second a group very well penetrated by the study of the Spiritist Doctrine, on the works of Kardec.
Which group did good most deeply? Where was there a real learning situation for both sides? Could it be that the medium who served this communication ended up feeling sick, as they say, or, for serving the good, ended up like all the mediums that Kardec used — only, perhaps, fatigued by physical exercise? Should we take phrases out of context or lacking knowledge as rules? Have you ever seen that Kardec talked to the Spirits as if he were talking to any person, without ceremonies, without rituals, without far-fetched prayers, with words adorned with a love that is not even understood? Why do we treat spirits as if we were mute? Why don't we talk to them? Why, finally, do we not study when we are involved in a science as profound as Spiritism?
To studies. Good awaits!