Spiritism in Prisons

“Spiritism in Prisons” is an article originally published by Allan Kardec in the Revista Espírita of February 1864, and tells the story of a criminal who, having discovered Spiritism in his reality, transformed himself and even began to practice mediumship in prison – something inconceivable for the modern spiritist movement, which proclaims that it should only be practiced within spiritist centers, which is fake.

I leave the article in full for your reading:

In the November 1863 Magazine, we published a letter from a convict detained in a penitentiary, as proof of the moralizing influence of Spiritism. The letter transcribed below, from a convict in another prison, is an example of this powerful influence. It is from December 27, 1863. We transcribe it verbatim, in terms of style. We only correct spelling errors.

"Sir,

“A few days ago, when they told me for the first time about Spiritism and revelation from beyond the grave, I laughed and said that this was not possible. I spoke like an ignoramus, which I am. A few days later they were kind enough to entrust me, in my horrible position in which I find myself now, with your good and excellent Spirits' Book. At first I read a few pages with disbelief, not wanting, or rather not believing, in this science. Finally, little by little and without realizing it, I took a liking to him; then I took it seriously; Then I read your book a second time, but then with a different spirit, that is, calmly and with all the little intelligence that God gave me.

“I then felt the awakening of this old faith that my mother had placed in my heart and that had been dormant for a long time. I felt the desire to clarify myself about Spiritism.

From that moment on, I had a very determined thought, that of becoming aware, learning, seeing and then judging. I set to work with all the belief that one can have and that one must have in God and his power. I wanted to see the truth.

I prayed fervently and began the experiments.

“The first ones were null, without any results, but I wasn’t discouraged. I persevered in my experiences and, my word, I redoubled my prayers, which perhaps were not fervent enough, and I immersed myself in the work with all the conviction of a believing and waiting soul.

“After a few nights, as I can only carry out the experiments at night, I felt, for about ten minutes, trembling in the tips of my fingers and a slight sensation in my arm, as if I had felt a small stream of warm water running, which stopped at the fish. I was then well collected, all attentive and full of faith. My pencil drew some lines that were perfectly legible, but not quite correct enough to prevent me from believing that I was under the weight of a hallucination. I then waited patiently for the following night to begin the experiments again, and this time I thanked God with all my heart, as I had obtained more than I dared to hope for.

“Since then, every two nights, I have been entertained by the Spirits who are good enough to respond to my appeal and, in less than ten minutes, they always respond with charity. I write half a page or whole pages that my intelligence could not do alone, because, sometimes, they are philosophical and religious treatises that I have never thought of or put into practice; because he told me, at the first results: Aren't you the plaything of a hallucination or of your will? And reflection and examination proved to me that I was very far from that intelligence that had drawn those lines. I hung my head, I believed, and I couldn't go against the evidence unless I was completely crazy.

“I sent two or three of these communications to the person who had been kind enough to entrust me with your good book, so that he could confirm whether I was right. I come to ask you, sir, you who are the soul of Spiritism, to be kind enough to allow me to send you what I seriously obtain in my conversations from beyond the grave, if, however, you think it is good. If this is to your liking, I will send you the conversations held with Verger, the one who injured the archbishop of Paris. To ensure that the demonstrator was himself, I evoked Saint Louis, who responded affirmatively, as well as another Spirit in whom I have a lot of confidence, etc……………”

The moral consequences of this fact can be deduced by themselves. Here is a man who had abjured all belief and who, wounded by the law, finds himself confused with the rubbish of Society. This man, in the middle of the moral swamp, returned to faith. He sees the abyss into which he has fallen; he repents; he prays and, let's say, ah! He prays more fervently than many people who exhibit devotion. To do this, all he needed to do was read a book where he found elements of faith that his reason could admit, which revived his hopes and made him understand the future. Furthermore, what is noteworthy is that at first he read with caution and his disbelief was only overcome by the ascendancy of logic. If such results are produced by a simple reading, done, so to speak, in secret, what would it be if the influence of verbal exhortations could be added to it!

It is quite certain that, in the state of mind in which they find themselves today, these two men (see the fact reported in last November's issue), not only will they not engage in any reprehensible conduct during their detention, but they will enter the world with the resolution to live there honestly.

Considering that these two culprits were able to be led back to good by the faith they found in Spiritism, it is evident that if they had had this faith previously, they would not have committed evil. The Society is, therefore, interested in propagating a doctrine of such great moralizing power. This is what we begin to understand.

Another consequence to be drawn from the reported fact is that the Spirits are not detained by the locks, and that they go to the bottom of the prisons to take their consolations.

Therefore, it is not in anyone's power to prevent them from manifesting themselves in one way or another. If not through writing, it will be through listening. They face all prohibitions, they laugh at all interdictions, they cross all sanitary cordons. What barrier, then, can the enemies of Spiritism oppose?