Here, Kardec publishes the German-tomb conversation of the Schwabenhaus Password. She entered NDE days before she disincarnated. The article opens the field to, once again, talk about the phenomenon of ecstasy It's from sleep-walking, the former being a special class of the latter.

O ecstasy it is the state in which the independence of the soul, in relation to the body, manifests itself most sensitively and becomes, in a certain way, palpable.

At the dream and not sleep-walking, the soul wanders through earthly regions. In ecstasy, he penetrates an unknown world, that of ethereal Spirits, with whom he enters into communication […].

In the state of ecstasy, the annihilation of the body is almost complete. All that remains, one might say, is organic life. One feels that the soul is attached to it only by a thread, that one more tiny effort would break without remission.

Kardec, The Spirits' Book

“Many ecstatics are pawns of their own imagination and of mocking spirits who take advantage of the exaltation their. There are very few who deserve complete trust.”

The Mediums' Book, Kardec

444. What confidence can be placed in the revelations of ecstatics?

“The ecstatic is liable to be deceived very often, especially when he tries to penetrate what must remain a mystery to man, because then he lets himself be carried away by the current of his own ideas, or becomes the plaything of mystifying spirits, who take advantage of your enthusiasm to fascinate you.”

The Spirits' Book, Kardec

Briefly: Mrs. Schwabenhaus entered state cataleptic (or lethargic) and was judged dead. Then the funeral took place, while, in fact, she was in state of ecstasy and he glimpsed a whole consoling spiritual truth, together with his daughter, who died at the age of 7. it was you granted the gift of returning and saying goodbye to his loved ones, which he attended with extreme happiness. Shortly after, he definitively disincarnated. At the time, there was no knowledge about these states of the body.

At lethargy, the vital forces are dissipated and the body acquires the appearance of death, in a deep sleep. At catalepsy, this suspension of vital forces is sometimes localized. You lethargic and cataleptics they usually observe what is happening around them. The soul is aware of itself, but cannot communicate. It would be a near death.

Kardec evokes her on April 27, 1858 and clarifies some doubts, reinforcing the thesis of her ecstasy and other interesting points, in doctrinal agreement:

3. During your apparent death, did you hear what was happening around you and did you see the funeral apparatus? ─ My soul was very concerned about your coming happiness.

OBSERVATION: It is known that in general the lethargic see and hear what is going on around them and when waking up retain the memory. The fact that we portray offers the particularity of being lethargic sleep accompanied by ecstasy, which explains the diversion of the patient's attention.

5. ─ Can you tell us the difference between natural sleep and lethargic sleep? ─ Natural sleep is the rest of the body; the lethargic is the exaltation of the soul.

7. ─ How did your return to life take place?  ─ God allowed me to return to comfort the afflicted hearts around me.

8. ─ We would like a more material explanation.  ─ What you call perispirit still animated my earthly envelope.

OBSERVATION: It means to say that while the life of the body remains, the perispirit is connected to the cells. In OLE, we will see: 155. How does the separation of soul and body work? “The ties that held her are broken, she breaks free.” (it is the death of the body that causes the “exit” of the Spirit): a) – Does the separation occur instantly by a sudden transition? Is there a sharply drawn line of demarcation between life and death? "No; the soul gradually detaches, it does not escape like a captive bird that is suddenly restored to freedom. Those two states touch and confuse each other, so that the Spirit gradually breaks free from the bonds that bound it. These bonds are untied, not broken.”

Kardec comments on Ms. S., when he says that his daughter would be a pure Spirit. Of course it should be higher, but pure, here is relative.

In question 16, Kardec continues investigating the form by which spirits see each other. It is interesting how the response of a higher Spirit matches the response of the Spirit quoted in the article “The Drum of Beresina”, July 1858. Let us see Mrs. S.:

16. ─ Did you recognize her [the daughter] in any form? ─ I only saw her as Spirit.

In the article by Tambor de Beresina:

29. ─ How do you know that they are Spirits [the others you see]? ─ Among us, we see ourselves as we are.

32. ─ And do you see the other spirits with the forms they had in life? ─ No. We don't take on an appearance until we are evoked. Other than that, we are formless.

Question 31 (in the present article):

31. Since you have been here with the form you had on Earth, is it through the eyes that you see us? ─ No, the Spirit has no eyes. I only find myself in my last form to satisfy the laws that govern spirits when evoked and forced to resume what you call perispirit..

RE September /1858, Kardec

This affirmation of the evoked Spirit is one of the conclusions that Kardec reaches regarding the form of the Spirits:

88. Do spirits have a determined, limited and constant form?

“Not for you; for us, yes. The Spirit is, if you like, a flame, a flash, or an ethereal spark.”

a) – Does this flame or spark have color?

“It has a coloring that, for you, goes from a dark and opaque color to a brilliant color, like that of ruby, depending on whether the Spirit is more or less pure.”

Geniuses are usually represented with a flame or star on their foreheads. It is an allegory, which recalls the essential nature of Spirits. They place it on top of the head, because that is the seat of intelligence.

Book of Spirits, Kardec

Another cause of interest at the time, although it took place in 1572. O Saint Bartholomew's Night Massacreu or the night of Saint Bartholomew, was an episode, in the history of France, in the repression of Protestantism, engendered by the French kings, who were Catholics. These murders took place on August 23 and 24, 1572, in Paris, on St. Bartholomew's Day.[1] It is estimated that between 5,000 and 30,000 people were killed, depending on the attributed source.

Eight days after the São Bartolomeu Massacre, terrifying screams and groans were heard “in the air” by countless witnesses. The noise lasted about half an hour, then stopped. Himself King Charles IX he must have heard, for he looked somber, pensive, and wild.

Kardec brings the report only to demonstrate the similarity with the case of Mademoiselle Clairon (Feb/58) ee to demonstrate, once again, that the spiritist facts have always been in our history.

In this picture, which, if written in the Brazilian context, would probably be called “spiritist stories”, Kardec cites the cause reported by Patrie, on August 15, 1858:

an officer of French Directory(Name given to the Government of France), while traveling, he stayed in a hovel. During his sleep, he saw a terrible apparition: a “specter” that came out of the shadows, hair red with blood, throat cut, etc., came to him and gave him details of his own murder, indicating the place where his body was buried and the perpetrators of the crime. It evoked the officer's help to call the police and solve the case.

The officer did not listen, as he considered it to be his imagination. The next day, as he fell asleep, he had the vision of the Spirit again, this time more sad and threatening. He has ignored it again, the next day he saw the Spirit again, in sleep, now even more irritated and threatening. The officer thought it best not to ignore this time: he returned to the indicated place, called the officers and solved the case. This shows that this Spirit was very attached to material concepts, still, and that it had many imperfections, as it sought revenge.

Another apparition, this time with the contentment of the Spirit, more “kind” and affable. He said he would show himself again two hours before the officer's death, which he did years later.

Like all teaching, it is progressive. As humanity evolves its understanding changes. This article on Plato and Socrates is about that.

Remember the teachings of Last week's Sao Vicente de Paul? So, Saint Vincent de Paul spoke of the Gospel, that we should study it. Now, RE shows us something before Jesus, from the 5th and 4th century BC, from Plato and your mentor Socrates (remembering that it was Plato who wrote).

In the Spiritist Society, they had never imagined before:

“Today we will not discuss this theory, which was so far from our thinking when the Spirits revealed it to us, which surprised us strangely, because — we humbly confess — what Plato had written on this special subject was then completely unknown to us, new evidence, among others. so many others, that the communications given to us absolutely do not reflect our personal opinion. As for Plato's, we have only established the main idea, it being easy for each one to decide the form in which it is presented and to judge the points of contact that, in certain details, it may have with our current theory.

Kardec, Allan. Spiritist Magazine: first year: September/1858

The teachings of Socrates and Plato really carry the precepts of Jesus and are similar to those of the communicating spirits of Kardec's century.

In this article, RE presents as main ideas coming from Plato: the immortality of the soul, the succession of existences, the choice of existences as a result of free will, in short, the happy and unhappy consequences. Of course, Socrates, described by Plato, used parables to explain, because that was how they understood the lessons at that time. 

In his allegory of the Spindle of Necessity, Plato imagines a dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon, attributing to the former the speech of the RE, about the revelations of the Armenian Er, a fictional character, in all probability, although some take him for Zoroaster. worth reading.

Kardec presents the essence of an allegory by Plato, where a man would have had an NDE and came back telling “the other side”. It is very figurative, and it shows the idea of the Trial Choices before we reincarnate.

In these teachings, when Plato quotes the Daughters of Necessity, he is talking about divine laws. See what he says:

Passenger souls, you will start a new career and be reborn (reincarnate) in the mortal condition. Genius will not be pointed out to you; you will choose it yourself. You will choose the one that luck calls first, and that choice will be irrevocable. Virtue belongs to no one: it allies itself to those who dignify it and abandons those who despise it. Each one is responsible for the choice he makes, God is innocent.'

Kardec, RE September/1858

Then he goes on to describe how the rebirth takes place, which is very similar to what the Spirits in Kardec's times explain.

Therefore, each one is responsible for the choice! God is innocent in his free will!

In OLE, these issues are addressed in depth, as in  Part Two — On the Spiritist World or World of Spirits, Chapter VI — On the Spiritist Life, Choice of Evidence, as well as the questions 337 and 975. 

This RE article is Kardec's seed for the elaboration of the Gospel According to Spiritism (April 1864). in your introduction exposes the relationship with the ideas of Christianity and soon after the morals of Socrates and Plato.

Note: we also indicate this great video about the Morals of Socrates and Plato of the channel Spiritism for All

Definitely, I moved away from the discussion about proofs and evidence of tampering in your works. That is my opinion that they have become a huge waste of time. I explain:

At first, I had an opinion, that pieces of evidence regarding the adulteration were very overwhelming ((Facts presented in detail in “The Legacy of Allan Kardec”, by Simoni Privato, and “Nem Céu, Nem Inferno”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo and Lucas Sampaio .)).

Then, emerged the evidence that it could had been indicated could that there were no adulterations and that everything was the result of Kardec's own work, according to the interpretation of some, and this led by indications and evidence that he, Kardec, had the clear intention of publishing new editions, with alterations, of O Céu and Hell and Genesis. I emphasize that, in my opinion, so far, all the evidence indicates that Kardec, at least in A Genesis, would have started a work in this direction, a work that was never completed and that gave space, precisely, to whoever would have the intention to wreak havoc in the only way possible on an unassailable Doctrine: by tampering with its postulates, in their origin.

There are those who disagree, of course. But there's a big although, on this subject, which I cannot ignore: the question precisely linked to spiritist science and to Allan Kardec as the honest, insightful, patient, careful and honest scientist he was. Of two, one: either he wrote very important and serious things under an anxiety that he never had, having later retreated in his opinions - which would demonstrate a serious flaw in his method and would represent a great danger to the whole Spiritist Doctrine - or he he was very careful, until the end, and only concluded what had to be concluded, after years of research and under the guidance of superior spirits, as he always tried to do.

Now, he himself said, years before the publication of these works, that certain doctrinal matters still needed to wait a few years and that he would not publish anything very soon, without the development of the Doctrine giving way to this. Heaven and Hell and Genesis were precisely that conclusion. I do not see how, therefore, especially in the first work, to make changes that, at certain points, alter completely the understanding of the idea and that, in A Genesis, make the concept or doctrinal postulate incomplete or misunderstood. But that's not all: Kardec was very austere in these two works, precisely with regard to the most sensitive points, and which gave reason to fear in the opponents of Spiritism, and it was precisely at these points where the “alterations” took place.

Let's look at some examples:

In A Genesis, chapter III, item 19, from the 5th edition onwards, the text reads as follows:

“The man who only acted constantly by instinct might be very good, but he would keep his intelligence dormant. He would be like a child who didn't leave the walkers and didn't know how to use his limbs. He who does not master his passions can be very intelligent, but at the same time very bad. Instinct annihilates itself; the passions can only be tamed by the effort of the will.“

However, in the 4th edition, now recovered and translated into Portuguese by the publisher FEAL, there is the following complement:

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

Kardec, A Genesis, 4th edition — FEAL Publisher

Now, it seems believable that Kardec drew this conclusion so important, profound and liberating of this postulate?

A little further on, in chapter XVIII, “The times have arrived”, the following passage was deleted (removed) from the 5th edition of the work. Read with attention:

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

Kardec, A Genesis, 4th edition — FEAL Publisher

If the suppression of this passage doesn't seem like something carried out precisely by an opponent of the Doctrine, I don't know what would.

In O Céu e o Inferno, from the 4th edition onwards, we have, among other things, the suppression of important postulates, such as these (chap. VIII):

Through the examples that Spiritism places before our eyes, it teaches us that the soul in the invisible world suffers for all the evil it has done, as well as for all the good it could have done and did not do during its earthly life. That the soul is not condemned to an absolute, uniform, and time-limited penalty, but that it suffers the natural consequences of all its evil deeds, until it has improved itself by the efforts of its own will. It carries its own punishment within itself, and that wherever it finds itself, for which there is no need for a circumscribed place. Hell, then, is wherever there are suffering souls, as Heaven is wherever there are happy souls, which does not prevent one and the other from grouping together, by affinity of position, around certain points.

Heaven and Hell, Chap. IV, item 6, paragraph deleted in adulteration, p. 85

As all spirits are perfectible, by virtue of the law of progress, they carry within themselves the elements of their future happiness or unhappiness and the means of acquiring one and avoiding the other by working towards their own advancement.

Allan Kardec, Heaven and Hell, 3rd edition — FEAL Editor

We see, then, a great loss, for the suppression of these postulates. There are several other points, which, according to a certain understanding, can even be re-signified under a possible authorship by Allan Kardec, but the fact is that there are also strange changes in this work that do not make sense. Just compare the chapter "Future penalties according to Spiritism“, from Heaven and Hell, completely disfigured in the “alteration”.

There's more: admitting that all the existing alterations in these works were carried out by Kardec, means saying that he would have made a grotesque mistake, and not just once, but twice: not having obtained the necessary permission, from the government, to print new editions of these works. I've never met this careless and reckless Kardec that they've been showing around.

Knowing a little about Professor Rivail's extremely serious, conscientious and careful face regarding this science (as with others), I cannot admit the theories of alterations by his own hand, especially the deletions, and, from a scientific point of view, everything What I have seen so far, not counting the forced conclusions under chains of logic with some problems, at most, indicates an intention to publish a new edition, which was never completed and which, precisely, gave rise to adulterations subsequent to his death, by changing the movable type ((pieces used to make previous impressions, at that time. These impressions were analyzed and corrected, by changing the types (letters, punctuation, etc.) and, when it was verified that the work was finished, they were used for printing the headquarters, which is used for large-scale printing)) existing.

In fact, in possession of Kardec's manuscripts, made available by the CDOR, from FEAL, it was possible to identify that:

Some handwritten letters show that, in February 1868, Kardec was interested in adding excerpts in The Genesis, as it was his custom, after a while of release, to review his works. For this, he asked the spirits for advice to organize this work.

Some spiritual friends gave guidelines for a review of the work, with the express indication not to change the doctrinal issues in any way, as can be seen from the following excerpts from this communication:

"My opinion is that there is absolutely nothing of doctrine to be taken away; everything there is useful and satisfying in every way" and

"It is necessary to leave intact all theories that first appear in the public eye.”.

In this case, in addition to the legal demonstration of tampering with The Genesis, this communication also reinforces the fact due to the doctrinal changes identified in the work, with the suppression of several passages in which Kardec criticizes the heteronomous moral of religious fanaticism, among other manipulations.

Still in this communication, the spirit also suggested that he work without haste and without dedicating a lot of time:

"Above all, don't rush too much. (…) Start working immediately, but not in an exaggerated way. Do not hurry”.

https://espirito.org.br/autonomia/ncni-conselhos-sobre-a-genese/

Now, what do we observe in the alterations of Genesis, if not haste and carelessness?

This recommendation was justified because Kardec, in the midst of his difficult health condition, had priority issues to worry about, such as Spiritist Magazine and the project for the continuity of Spiritism through the collective direction phase.

That's my conclusion. However, we can even go so far as to say that these questions of adulteration or not are a mere “detail”, a “stumbling block”, which will be overcome when science is restored to its essence. Now, this essence remains unchanged and is available for our study. It is enough to study it, honestly, because the honest and humble man surrenders in the face of the results of scientific investigation. But, in conclusion, this study needs to be contextualized, and one of the greatest researchers of this context, Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, is being put under the rug, by many, just because he shares the opinion of adulteration. And that attitude is definitely not science.

This is a succinct article, bringing a reflection, I believe, important.

The subject in question has been around for a long time: the search for a unification of the Spiritist Movement. We know that, especially in Brazil, since the beginning of the spiritist movement, there have been splits, that is, divisions into groups of ideologies. There are even inside movement, political divisions, something that should never exist, since Spiritism aims, above all, at the transformation of the individual, by his own will and reason, and not by force majeure, that is, a social modification through the modification individual. Politics (seen from the simplistic point of view, according to what is generally done), on the other hand, aims at this transformation from the top down, by force of law.

We should note: this, of course, does not mean that the spiritist cannot get involved with politics. Quite the contrary: it should. But with which eyes? Certainly not those of vanity and pride of opinions, but based in the Spiritist Doctrine. Let us imagine what, with political force, people could do well-understood of the scientific, moral and philosophical essence of Spiritism, of the transformation by the base, of the pedagogy of autonomy, from kindergarten and, finally, those who understand, deeply, the well and its power of social transformation, respecting, however, ALWAYS (as long as the act does not imply direct harm to others and respecting the laws in force) the free will of each one, which is a principle fundamental of Spiritism? Now, the big problem has always been reserved opinions, when, on the one hand, some think they will solve everything with weapons and, on the other, some think they will solve everything. based on strength, taking from some to give to others.

But let's return to the fundamental point: with the divisions under the same flag, it is natural, then, to be born the various proposals for unification, even inspired by that famous and fair recommendation of the Spirit of Truth, in The Gospel According to Spiritism — “Spiritists!, love you, here is the first teaching. Instruct yourselves, here is the second”. How, then, to achieve this goal?

Now, recognizing that we are Spirits in different degrees of evolution, with different forms of understanding, with different knowledge and different ways of seeing the world - in short, each one, in itself, a true universe - it is clear that we cannot suppose that a unification mean a equalization of ideas. That would be impossible. It would also be impossible and even erroneous to suppose that this unification would be the brotherhood of all spiritists under the same regulatory entity, as has been tried for a long time, since Spiritism cannot be confined under hierarchies, entities or even people. Kardec himself, who so conscientiously led the first years of the formation of the Doctrine, knew this: after his death, who would assume his post? Who would take that right? Do not. From the beginning, Kardec proposed guidelines for what would very well lead Spiritism after his death, which, in short, would be:

1. As a basic principle of a science, Spiritism would never be closed to questioning, as long as it is born from the honest purpose of the individual who does not accept anything without reasoning, nor from curiosity, as long as it is born from the investigative principle of the search for knowledge; however, from the moment that the individual does not surrender to the logic of facts and evidence, abundantly supported by reason and by the scientific method, he cannot be taken seriously and, to spend time with this one, would mean wasting time with the one who, presenting If you are an apple, you will say that it is a lemon, simply because you want to cultivate pride and not humility.

2. From the point of view of doctrinal organization, Kardec, together with his collaborators, proposed, as presented in the Spiritist Magazine of December 1868 (about four months before his death) the “Transitory Constitution of Spiritism” (read by clicking on here) which, in short, recommended that Spiritism should no longer be constituted under any centralizing figure or entity, but through countless study and research groups, constituted around the world, and coordinated but not regulated, for one central committee, which, according to Kardec…

… will therefore be the head, the true head of Spiritism, collective leader who can do nothing without the assent of the majority and, in certain cases, without that of a congress or general assembly. Numerous enough to be clarified by discussion, it will not be enough to cause confusion there.

[…]

It is clear that here we are dealing with a moral authority, as far as the interpretation and application of the principles of doctrine are concerned, and not with any disciplinary power. This authority will be, in matters of Spiritism, what an Academy has in matters of science.

The brilliance, rationality, even genius of Professor Rivail is really worthy of a Spirit who prepared himself for the mission he had in front of him. THE unity of Spiritism, therefore, would not be represented by the strength of this or that individual, or group, of this or that entity: it would be in the whole, in the basic principles of science and spiritist doctrine. It would not be up to anyone, individually, to give rules, accept or reject the adoption of new principles and even new adepts.

Now, if this was published, by his own hand, when he was still alive, we ask: what happened to the spiritist movement to reach the current scenario, where dissidence occurs, everywhere, basically due to disrespect to the basic principles of the Doctrine and of this organization wisely proposed by Allan Kardec, shortly before his death? Well, there are four main points:

1. Doctrinal deviations after his death, by those who should have continued his work. This was due to personal interests, such as money, fame (vanity) and pride. Spirits contrary to good, because they are ignorant of it, found in human imperfections the necessary loophole to accomplish the only thing they could against such a strongly established doctrine. Thus, they obtained, through Pierre Leymarie or others ((Leymarie was not at the head of the Anonymous Society, which replaced the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, until 1872, the year in which the adulterated edition of Heaven and the Inferno)): the adulterations of O Céu e o Inferno and A Gênesis ((Facts presented in detail in “O Legado de Allan Kardec”, by Simoni Privato, and “Nem Céu, Nem Inferno”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo and Lucas Sampaio .)), Kardec's two final works that encapsulated the doctrinal principles of more than 15 years of learning and investigations; the facts that stained and shadowed the Spiritist Doctrine, such as the “Process of Spiritists“, the frequent dissemination of anti-doctrinal ideas, in the Revista Espírita, among others ((Facts extensively detailed in the aforementioned works and also in “Muita Luz” (Beacoup de Lumiere), by Berthe Fropo. The PDF can be easily found on Google.) ).
2. The wars that followed a few decades later and that plunged the world into materialism, either through the difficulties and misfortunes of the people or through armed struggles.
3. The personal interests or the inability to understand the true essence of Spiritism on the part of those who took the reins of the nascent spiritist movement in Brazil and who found, in Roustaing, a theory closer to their purposes or their capacities for understanding. These, linked to politics — look, once again politics — and/or the press and with the ability to penetrate, made these ideas widely spread across the country.
4. The lack of interest in the studies of the adepts of Spiritism who, if they had dedicated themselves to this need, would have found what we have just presented.

I would say that, of all, the fourth and last topic is the most serious of all, as any stumbles, consciously or not, would often be corrected by a dedicated study of the existing doctrinal content or by scientific research with the Spirits, as Kardec did.

Finally, we found that the existing splits in the Spiritist movement are much less due to doctrinal ideology, and much more due to the absence or presence of necessary scientific principles, following in the footsteps of Allan Kardec. On the one hand, there are those who understand the need for the method, the principle of universal agreement of the teachings of the Spirits, of not accepting an isolated opinion, from anyone, as if it were the expression of truth and wisdom and, therefore, part of the Doctrine and the importance, usefulness and necessity of spiritist evocations, with all due care always highlighted by Kardec; on the other, there are those who think that Kardec is outdated by time, that the Spirits have to be left in peace and that it is up to this or that person to prophet of revelation.

THE unity, then, in Spiritism, it is not impossible. However, as is clear, for it to exist, it is necessary to respect the constitution, method and postulates of this science. Differences of opinion and interpretations will always exist, but as long as the basic principles of this science are fulfilled, they will be progressively overcome or removed.

From everything, we take the following: unity should not be sought in the one who insists on saying that the apple is a lemon, but in the one who, even supposing it to be a lemon, in the face of reason, understands and agrees: yes, it is an apple . In other words: Spiritism is a very well established and grounded science. Let us look for unity, based on this science, in all those who want to study and research it as necessary, without the intention of uniting everyone under the same entity or a single leader, but spreading out, across the four corners of the world, the need the formation of groups of applied studies on this science. Over time, when we are ready, this will give space to the resumption of studies, instigated by the Spirits themselves, of the new principles of the Doctrine, with the coordination of a central committee or more.

Make no mistake: we are not looking for numbers, but quality. The true spreaders of this Doctrine will not be the majority, in principle, but will be those who will help in the process of recovering the essence of Spiritism, disseminating it to all who can. Although few, they are found everywhere, often waiting for a little push to resume their walk. As for those who insist on spiritism without the spirits, or on spiritism à la Roustaing, let us understand that they practice a new religion, and not the Spiritist Doctrine. As Kardec would say, let's leave them, because reason will prevail, and divergent opinions will be muffled by time and science, as has always happened in the history of humanity.

In “spiritists, love each other”, we need respect and understanding that can only be born from the humility that arises from scientific exploration and reason, which leads the individual to perfect; in “I instruct you”, we have reinforced the need to study the Doctrine, so that we can stop being blindly commanded by opinions.

March 31st. A date little known or little remembered in the Spiritist world, it is the day on which, in 1869, the beloved and emeritus professor, scientist, philosopher and scholar of Spiritist phenomena, Hypolite Leon Denizard Rivail, died - spelled that way, as he himself corrected , in a handwritten document, made available by CDOR. This was Allan Kardec, the one who dedicated the last years of his life and did, in little more than a decade, what few do in a lifetime: he obtained, through the rational and methodological observation of spiritist, natural and intelligent phenomena, an entire Doctrine, consoling in its essence and which, one day, will be recognized as the great revolution in human thought regarding life, society, charity and the truth about good.

the sad day

With a poetic beauty, Simoni Privato, in The Legacy of Allan Kardec, expresses it like this, about Kardec's death:

As he felt that his incarnation was passing quickly and he saw that his doctrinal tasks continued to increase, Allan Kardec avoided wasting time. […] There [at the Sainte-Anne Passage] worked from morning to night and often from night to morning, without even being able to rest, since he was just about to occupy himself with a work whose dimension can hardly be imagined and which increased as spiritism spread.

As the lease for the property on the Passage Sainte-Anne was about to expire, Allan Kardec intended to leave it on April 1, 1869 and retire to Villa Ségur, where he intended to concentrate more on the elaboration of doctrinal texts. On the same date, the office for subscription and dispatch of the Spiritist Magazine, as well as the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies would be transferred from Passagem Sainte-Anne to the headquarters of the Spiritist Bookshop, at 72 rue de Lille.

On Wednesday, March 31, Allan Kardec was at Passagem Sainte-Anne, organizing his books and papers for the move, which had already begun and should finish the next day. During the morning, he received an employee of a bookstore who wanted to purchase an issue of Revista Espírita. Upon handing him the copy, Allan Kardec suddenly lost consciousness and fell to the ground without having said a single word.

[…]

Until the last moment of his physical existence, Allan Kardec left deep teachings. He died as he lived: working for Spiritism. His industrious hands said goodbye to this world delivering the Spiritist Magazine — a periodical in which he recorded his teachings, his struggles, his victories and, in that last moment, his immortality.

[…]

In the cemetery, the curious tried to position themselves in the places where they could listen to the speeches. However, when the coffin descended to the bottom of the grave, emotion silenced the words; there was a great silence.

And this silence seems to have dragged on to the present day, in which most of the spiritist movement, in fact, does not know Allan Kardec and, much less, his work in the formation of the Spiritist Doctrine — Spiritism.

Allan Kardec forgotten

With great sadness, we can verify that, in the historical points that involve this great work, the name of Kardec does not exist, neither as Allan Kardec, nor as Rivail: it was erased by the time, as they did with all the scientists who dedicated themselves to study Spiritualism and Magnetism. There is no plaque dedicated to Kardec. There is no bust. There is no inscription on the wall or on the sidewalk, when, for much less, personalities of satirism or horror deserve a dedicated recording, under the light of the spotlight, on the sidewalks of fame that exist, around the world. Do not. On the streets of France, it seems that the only place where the dear professor deserves a memory is in the cemetery, as if out of obligation, and where, dead and buried, he doesn't attract anyone's attention with his “subversive” ideas.

But the big issue here is not just the forgetting of the figure of Allan Kardec, but his role as a spiritist scientist and his methodology, his honesty, his humility and his seriousness in the study of Spiritism. We do not worship Kardec, but we recognize his work and dedication. In a very pertinent parody, there are those who believe, today, that gravity is a great farce, for not having studied and understood the study of Isaac Newton, who started the physical sciences, as we know them today. It is the same with Spiritism.

An unknown doctrine

We said that the Spiritist Movement is unaware of Kardec and his work. Yes, in such a way that, in fact, to a large extent, they are unaware of the very Doctrine they claim to profess. Few know the enormous deviation that the Doctrine, or rather the Spiritist Movement, suffered after Kardec's death, at the hands of Leymarie and with the influence of Roustaing and his followers; few know that the works “A Genesis” and “O Céu e o Inferno” were tampered with, respectively in the 5th and 4th editions; few know that this influence spread and settled in the nascent Spiritist Movement, here in Brazil, right in its first steps; few know that Bezerra de Menezes himself, due to his religious inclinations, preferred Roustaguist ideas over spiritists and that, therefore, he spread them in Brazil; few know, still, that Kardec planned to start, from April 1869, a new phase of Spiritism, without centralizing figures or entities and without hierarchies, so that no one could dictate rules — a scenario totally different from what we live in our country. country, where, since the beginning of the Spiritist Movement, a Federation called itself centralizing and ruler — the same Federation that also put Roustaing above Kardec.

No Brasil, país onde o Espiritismo parece ter conquistado o maior número de adeptos, vivemos um movimento espiritista religioso, com rituais e paramentos, onde “o telefone só toca de lá para cá” virou lei e, pior, onde as ideias de pecado e castigo, carma, “lei de causa e efeito” ou “lei de ação e reação”, que Never were part of this Doctrine, they began to be taken as doctrinal.

I'm sorry, dear Chico, but, in the statement over the phone, he was wrong, or was misunderstood. However, the adepts err even more, who, due to lack of study and thoughtlessly, began to take the opinions of mediums and spirits as if they were the law or the unquestionable expression of truth and wisdom. That is why we reaffirm: the Spiritist Movement is unaware of Spiritism, since the fundamental point of the Doctrine is the one with which Kardec begins his latest work, A Genesis, presenting, right on the first page:

Generality and agreement in teaching, this is the essential character of the 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.

The Movement is much more unaware of the formation of the Doctrine, widely presented in the Spiritist Magazine (read This article), where Kardec, number after number, demonstrates several evocations of Spirits of the most diverse categories (according to the spiritist scale), asserting its usefulness. Kardec evoked assassins and scientists, wise and ignorant, suicides a few days after his death, kings and queens and, from all of them, he always obtained important teachings, which, progressively, through the method of seeking universal agreement, under the judgment of reason, common sense and human science, constituted a whole Doctrine and which later served as the basis for the formation of other works and for the complementation of The Spirits' Book.

The unknown tampering

But we cannot blame, at all, only the lack of commitment to study, as many studied, but studied without knowing that they were studying something adulterated, as was the case of A Genesis and Heaven and Hell[1]. Now, one of the most controversial points of OCI was born out of adulteration, as the following sentence did not exist in the original work, written by Kardec:

Every fault committed, every wrong done, is a debt that must be paid; if it is not so in one existence, it will be so in the next one or the following ones, because all existences are solidary with each other. He who discharges it in the present existence will not have to pay a second time.

Text inserted in the altered version of OCI, from the 4th edition

We know today, from historical documents, that not only these works, but the entire spiritist movement, under Leymarie's hands, was adulterated and subverted, in the name of money and vanity. One of the worst cases was the one known as “The Spiritist Process“, que manchou a reputação do Espiritismo na sociedade francesa.

The context of Allan Kardec

We also did not know the context of Kardec, where Rational Spiritualism and Moral Sciences gave base education, as we can largely verify in “Autonomia: the never-told history of Spiritism”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, a work that also presents the purely autonomous face of Spiritism, completely removed from notions such as karma, widely present in the current Spiritist Movement. Not only that, we also have the issue of Magnetism, constantly cited by Kardec as the twin science of Spiritism, so that one without the other would be incomplete. Now, Mesmer, “father” of Magnetism, only came to be understood recently, through the recovery and translation of his works, culminating in the book Mesmer: The negated science of animal magnetism, by the same author.

Anyway: we need to recover Kardec. We need to study him in his works and in the Spiritist Magazine; we need to understand the context in which it was inserted; we need to know Magnetism; we need to understand Spiritism as a science, which in fact it is, and not as a religion, which never was, but under the understanding of natural religion, according to the understanding of Rational Spiritualism. And, understanding Spiritism in its essence, we need to make it leave the closed circles of spiritist centers, to make it conquer society through its renewing and truly consoling ideas. But for that, change needs to start with the individual, then spread to the family and society.

Kardec overcome?

Muitos pensam e afirmam o seguinte: “Kardec está superado no passado, então esqueçamo-lo e sigamos com o estudo dessas novas concepções que temos hoje”, o que é um erro profundo.

Spiritism is a science, both from the point of view of the French moral sciences, in the context of its birth, and from the point of view of a science of observation, which deduces, infers, analyzes empirically, as is very clear to all who study it in its sources. As a science, it has a foundation, without which it cannot advance. The Nuclear Physicist also needs to go through Newton, to later reach Einstein and, later, the current scientists.

In Spiritism, there are at least two things that have not changed in relation to our current state: morality and the Spirits. The first needs to be studied since Jesus, and even before, being one of the central proposals of Spiritism. The Spirits, on the other hand, continue to belong to that entire scale, proposed by Kardec and refined by the Spirits, and continue to communicate with us, influencing and leading us in the same ways they have always used. Since there is undeniably a science in this, it is necessary to study and understand it.

It is by forgetting Kardec that, today, pernicious, irrational and anti-doctrinal contents are accepted in the spiritist movement.

Do we have a lot to learn? Well, of course it is! And the Spirits teach us what we are ready to understand, according to the progress of our material science. Kardec “scratched” on such profound scientific matters, but which could not yet be understood. Imagine what he could achieve if, back then, we knew what we know today? Imagine, moreover, what a serious, elevated and honest researcher like him could obtain, according to current science, regarding everything that could not be explored in depth at that time?

But that, my dear ones, will only be done at the right time. That's why I echo Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo's words: let's study, study, study, until we get tired. Let's understand Spiritism in the Spiritist Magazine and in its complements. Let us study the works of Kardec, those of Bozzano, those that, today, study the context of Spiritism, inserted in Rational Spiritualism, and let us also study Mesmer's magnetism.

When we are ready, as in the past, the Spirits themselves will look for us and, who knows, they will need to turn tables and play invisible drums again in order to get our attention.

More motivation to study

And, if you still lack a motivation to delve into these studies, I leave you with the following reflection:

What keeps us from real happiness are our imperfections, our moral vices, our unbridled passions. Only the Spirit that conquered its imperfections, through the tests, and that developed its reasoning, through knowledge, manages to progress on the path of spiritual evolution. We all will, sooner or later, but the speed depends on the will of each one, based on reason, because only the Spirit that really you see, rationally.

Diz Kardec, em A Gênese: “Aquele que não domina as suas paixões pode ser muito inteligente, porém, ao mesmo tempo, muito mau. O instinto se aniquila por si mesmo; as paixões somente pelo esforço da vontade podem domar-se”.

However, that chapter ends here, in the 5th edition of this work (which formed the basis for all translations and future editions), which, we now know, has strong indications of having been tampered with. Taking the 4th edition, we have the following closing, all-important, omitted for tampering:

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

Everything that we live, therefore, as the Doctrine shows us, it's never about punishment, but of opportunities for our evolution. Spiritism is autonomous in its essence — “In the eyes of God, repentance is sacred, because it is man who judges himself, o que é raro no vosso planeta” [RE — outubro de 1858].

If all that doesn't motivate you to study Kardec, we don't know what else would.

---

1. The FEAL publishing house already has the translations of these works, according to the original text. The context of the tampering of A Genesis can be understood by reading the work O Legado de Allan Kardec, by Simoni Privato; the adulteration of O Céu e o Inferno can be understood in the work “Nem heaven, nor hell: The laws of the soul according to Spiritism”, by Lucas Sampaio and Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo

French actor Alain Delon stated that he will perform euthanasia, as reported by Veja SP. Alain, who considers the suicide watched “the most logical and natural thing”, he said, in a post on Instagram:

“I made my decision a long time ago, I think my life was beautiful but also very difficult. I never liked getting old. All these everyday pains and challenges make me paralyzed.”

Unfortunately, the actor does not know Spiritism, which would be almost comical, if it were not tragic, for being, precisely, born in the land where the Spiritist Doctrine was born, more than 160 years ago. But I am not talking here about the Spiritualism-religion of the current spiritist movement, the one that says that the suicidal person will feel his body being gnawed by worms, or that he will suffer in the “valley of suicides”, or that he will be reborn in a defective body. We have already talked about the unreality of these generic claims. in this article.

No: here we speak of Spiritism in its scientific essence, a doctrine whose theory was born from the rational observation of the universally agreed teachings of the Spirits. This Doctrine, in its essence, shows us the following: life is an opportunity for learning and elevation. Finishing it ahead of time, on your own, is a great waste of time, as it distances you from the elevation and learning made possible by life's trials and opportunities.

It happens that every second on Earth, however difficult it may be, if well faced and overcome, brings us closer to the final goal, which is the happiness of the good and the just. How, however, to reach this state of happiness, without getting rid of imperfections and passions - which is only done through the tests of life, will and learning?

This, of course, is entirely different from the case of animal euthanasia.

The actor, unfortunately, is not aware of this fact of our spiritual reality. On the other hand, after committing the act, one day you will probably see the uselessness of it… And that's it. There is no punishment: there is error, born of ignorance. A better understanding of these issues leverages our progress, allowing us to reach happiness sooner, according to our commitment to elevate ourselves through our own effort. We wish him, and others, that they may soon understand these matters.

I close leaving the subject for reflection, as discussed in The Gospel According to Spiritism:

Is it lawful to shorten the life of a sick person who suffers without hope of cure?
28. A man is dying, prey to cruel sufferings. It is known that his condition is desperate. Is it lawful to spare him a few moments of anguish, hastening his end?

Who would give you the right to prejudge God's designs? Can he not lead the man to the edge of the ditch, to pull him out of it, in order to make him come to himself and entertain ideas different from those he had? Even if a dying man has reached the last extreme, no one can say with certainty that the last hour has struck him. Has science never been wrong in its predictions?

I am well aware that there are cases that can rightly be considered hopeless; but if there is no well-founded hope of a definitive return to life and health, there is the possibility, attested by countless examples, that the patient, at the very moment of exhaling his last breath, revive himself and recover for a few moments his faculties. ! Well then: this hour of grace, which is granted to him, may be of great importance to him. You do not know the reflections that your Spirit can make in the convulsions of agony and how many torments a flash of regret can spare you.

The materialist, who sees only the body and has no account of the soul, is unable to understand these things; the spiritist, however, who already knows what is happening beyond the grave, knows the value of a last thought. Lessen the last sufferings as much as you can; but beware of shortening your life, even for a minute, because that minute can save you many tears in the future.

St. Louis.
Paris, 1860

This will be a very succinct article, but of great reflections.

Religions, however far from the truth because of their dogmas, which aim to keep the people in ignorance, due to the thirst for power and control, have their uses. Of course, all of them advance - just compare, in general, the Catholic Church of 150 years ago, or even much less, with that of today - although they advance very slowly and only when they are forced to do so, most of the time. . With all this, they have always been receptacles of a certain truth, transmitted through the centuries, until the moment when man could understand and advance on these ideas.

It is a fact that, because of this thirst for control and dominion, the dogmas created for this purpose have long kept consciences under the thoughtlessness of fear and blind obedience, but, once again, the time has come. Let's look at the ranks of the churches: every day more, they are emptying. However, those who leave there, we don't find anyone who gives a better answer, they find the only answer that exists, which is in materialism.

We live exactly the same process faced between the 18th and 19th centuries, from which, in a short time (relatively speaking) we will see the emergence of a movement contrary to all this, seeking in spiritualism the answer that neither religions nor materialism can give.

However, today, we have an advantage. The very important studies on Rational Spiritualism, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo (mainly), can leverage this process; Spiritism, this time, does not need to be born from scratch, but only needs to be resumed in its original essence – what many recent studies, including those by Paulo, have helped a lot to accomplish. We are much closer to a revolution of ideas, which will not happen through politics, which is coercive, but through individual will, which responds to reason and free will.

My reader friend, I believe that in a few decades we will be able to see a new world. For this, however, the social foundations must be shaken - this time, not through force, but through the ideas of charity and good and, above all, autonomy through will and reason - and, for that, it is up to each of us to study exhaustively all these sources of knowledge in order to carry forward, in every possible situation, and outside the spiritist milieu, this consoling and transforming knowledge.

And we can start right now, weaving, for example, proposals to approach education, today predominantly heteronomous, experienced under the aspects of sin and punishment, with the Pestalozzi and Spiritist proposals, autonomous in all their essence.

We have a lot to do. And this process does not aim to derogate from religions, as it never did: it aims, above all, to bring about the strengthening of the truth that exists in them and to remove what there is of errors and untruths.

Recomendamos também a leitura do artigo “Spiritism and the world of regeneration: how will we get there?“

At the time of writing this article, we are entering the study of the 10th edition of Revista Espírita — October 1858. We started this weekly study (Click here to get to know it), broadcasting it live, knowing, by an intuition, that it would be very important and useful, but, in fact, we didn't know what to expect from this study. The truth is that, if not for reading some quotes from excerpts from this work, we didn't even know what the Spiritist Magazine was about.

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Today, then, after nine editions of this publication, among the 136 of which Kardec himself was at the forefront, from January 1858 to April 1869 (he died in March, but he had already finished this last and important edition, which we will talk about later) — and we keep asking ourselves where he found the time and disposition for this, something worthy of a missionary — we have already managed to glimpse a little of Rivail's brilliance in the logical sequence of the development of the themes that, now we understand a little, give basis and towards the growth and strengthening of the Spiritist Doctrine — let us remember that the next works were produced, in large part, precisely from many of the themes and studies developed in the Spiritist Magazine.

It is important to say, first of all, that the Revista Espírita, as the name demonstrates, was a monthly periodical, where Allan Kardec presented several themes, some of them totally doctrinaire, others related to social, historical and scientific issues and others in which we realized a growing and uninterrupted elaboration of researches and knowledge that were giving more and more basis to the Spiritist Doctrine.

Spiritist Magazine: Journal of Psychological Studies

Many do not know, but this is the full subtitle of this journal: study journal psychological. And this is important to be highlighted, because, by today's eyes, it doesn't seem that psychology has much to do with a spiritist journal, does it? This is where the valuable and important work of Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo comes in, one of the most prominent spiritist researchers of our time, who sought, in the past, for a forgotten knowledge, swept under the rug: in short, the one that was closed in the context of Rational Spiritualism, about which we have already spoken a little on here. It is only through the study of this forgotten knowledge that we can, we say, contextualize much of what is said in RE and, in this regard, we highlight the importance of the work Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism, by the same author.

In Kardec's context, Psychology did not have the materialistic therapeutic characteristic of today: it was a moral science, spiritualist, inserted in the context of Rational Spiritualism, and its main objective was to investigate and analyze the natural laws that govern human nature, including experimentally.

In this context, Psychology understood the human being as a being constituted of body and soul. The soul, which would survive the body, was the primary cause of the psyche, which was not just a material effect of chemistry and stimuli. We deal with this a little in the studies based on the article “The Psychological Period”, which you can read on here.

The birth of the Journal and its purpose

Kardec created the Spiritist Magazine based, in part, on the suggestions of a Spirit who communicated through Ms. Hermance Dufaux (it's with H, really) who, according to Canuto de Abreu, cooperated in transmitting valuable guidelines for this journal:

At the end of 1857, Kardec had the idea of publishing a spiritist journal and wanted to hear the opinion of the spiritual guides. Hermance was the chosen medium and, through her, a Spirit gave the Master of Lion many excellent directions. The organ was named “Revista Espírita” and was launched in January of the following year.

One of Kardec's greatest interests was to correspond, in an easy way, with the followers of Spiritism spread across Europe. Through the Magazine, a publication of easy circulation and of general interest — Kardec, in it, even addressed everyday facts and of great interest, involving the Spirits — the Doctrine quickly permeated the masses, who eagerly read its pages. There was no shortage of letters subscribers, thousands of them, many of which Kardec didn't even find time to answer.

We emphasize the word “subscribers” on purpose: Kardec, or rather the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, charged for a subscription to this journal, but never for self-enrichment, but with the aim of obtaining resources to reduce the costs of the works, provide social support, etc. We quote about this in the article Propagation of Spiritism.

We were talking about the purposes of the Magazine. We know very well that Kardec identified, right from the start, with his perspicacity as a researcher trained, since childhood, by the investigative method of Nature, by Pestalozzi, that…

… The isolated opinion of a spirit is just that — an opinion — therefore, it cannot be taken, in isolation, as if it were an unquestionable source of truth, since spirits of all types can communicate, and deceiving spirits take the names even of the saints and of Jesus, without shame, especially when they realize that they are not questioned.

Therefore, Kardec sought a way to strengthen the basic and inexorable principle of the Doctrine, which is that of universal agreement of the teaching of the Spirits, which must, in addition, comply with logic, reason, common sense and already formed science, both on the part of men and on the part of Spirits, by the same method. Now, as we can already see, through the Spiritist Magazine, where he received the various reports from various parts of the world, through his correspondents, the Lyonnais master obtained just that, in large part! We see an example of this in letter from Mr. Jobard, in July 1858, and in the observations of a correspondent in September 1858.

Kardec's Evocations

There is also an even more important aspect presented in the Magazine, which clearly demonstrates a very little known face of Spiritism in the current spiritist movement: that of the nature and usefulness of evocations of Spirits. Now, at a time when the famous phrase of dear Chico Xavier became law — “the telephone only rings from there to here” — about which we have already analyzed in the article “Spiritism without the Spirits” — which was our surprise (at least for those who did not know this reality) when we found that Kardec used evocations as naturally — but with the necessary seriousness — as the one we use to talk to people around us.

In practically all editions, Kardec presents evocations of Spirits, which he carried out in order to obtain better understandings about the morality understood in certain events, as well as to try to probe some scientific facts involving Spiritist phenomena, as happened in "A new photographic discovery", of July 1858.

This is how, number after number, Kardec presented the most diverse evocations, some made by himself and others made by his correspondents. Spirits of suicides, madmen, murderers, kings, commoners, people of great morals and benevolence and inferior spirits were evoked. Many of these, by the way, were very few days after their death, which contradicts what a large part of the current spiritist movement has said.

It is important to point out, of course, that the evocations were not intended to serve anyone's empty and inferior curiosity or fun: in addition to the teachings that could be gathered from all of them, for the superior spirits it was always a happiness to help us and, for the lower ones often provided precious moments of reflection and rebalancing.

Strengthening of the Doctrine and deconstruction of false or incomplete concepts

The form to the Spirit

To give a practical example, in these deconstructions of ideas that are widely rooted today, we have, even if in the beginning, one of them that began to draw our attention: the question of form for the wandering Spirit (between incarnations). It is customary, nowadays, the conception of a whole fantastic world and full even of automobiles in the spiritual plane… However, Kardec, from a certain edition, starts to probe what is form for spirits, through questions such as “how would we see him if we could see him with our eyes?” or “do you see other spirits? In what way?".

This is how, in July 1858, in the article “Berezina's Drum“, Kardec asks the following questions, after carrying out a series of inquiries trying to understand the moral and rational state of that Spirit, who was a soldier in his last incarnation:

28. ─ Do you see other spirits around you? ─ Yes, many.

29. ─ How do you know they are spirits? ─ Among us, we see ourselves as we are.

30. ─ How do you see them? ─ As spirits can be seen, but not through the eyes.

31. ─ And you, in what form are you here? ─ Under what I had when I was alive, that is, as a drum.

32. ─ And do you see the other spirits with the forms they had in life? ─ No. We don't take on an appearance until we are evoked. Other than that, we are formless.

The last answer was quite interesting, but so far it was just the opinion of a Spirit. Worthy of note is Kardec's methodology, probing matters of interest, instead of asking direct questions that could be answered in a biased way. Then, in September of the same year, in the article “Lectures from beyond the grave — Mrs. Schwabenhaus. Ecstatic Lethargy“, Kardec asks the following questions, getting the following answers. Please note:

29. ─ In what form are you among us? ─ Under my last female form.

30. ─ Do you see us as distinctly as if you were alive? ─ Yes.

31. Since you have been here with the form you had on Earth, is it through the eyes that you see us? ─ No, the Spirit has no eyes. I only find myself in my last form to satisfy the laws that govern spirits when evoked and forced to resume what you call perispirit.

Let's see, then: there are already two spirits, of different elevations, saying the same thing: for the spirit freed from matter, there is no form, like the one we understand. They assume the perispirit, attending to a natural law, only when they need to act materially, when, for example, they approach us to communicate (with materially I mean: they need to assume the perispirit to be able to put themselves in communication with us, which, above all, happens through this “clothes”. It is, therefore, matter, but a very subtle matter, extracted from the universal cosmic fluid[1]).

Does this mean that Kardec's studies belie André Luiz? Well, despite the fact that Kardec's methodology is quite logical, leaving little room for error, it would perhaps be hasty to draw conclusions based only on these two Spirits — we still don't know if there are, further on, more evocations that support this thesis — but we also don't know. we are saying that Chico Xavier was wrong, since he was a tool of the Spirits, nor that André Luiz lied, but rather that he spoke according to his conceptions and understandings. Who knows, he could be talking about a situation of “incarnation” of Spirits, in a more subtle matter? Nor do we rule out the existence of true cities, formed by Spirits still very dependent on matter and form — which, in short, is not good at all, but we understand that it is a phase.

the suicide

Another topic that has been largely deconstructed from its modern conceptions is that of suicide. Today, in the spiritist milieu, there are assertions that the suicidal person is on the “threshold” or “the valley of suicides”; that he will be attached to the body, “feeling” it being gnawed by worms; that he will be years in extreme disturbance, being impossible to communicate; and, also, that the suicidal person will be born tomorrow with physical defects in order to “redeem a karmic debt” (this last passage causes an aversion even to write).

Well, so far, Kardec has already evoked two suicides: The Samaritan Suicide, in June 1858, and Suicide for Love — September 1858 — where a young man killed himself on his girlfriend's doorstep, at the height of his emotions, as she had stubbornly refused to take him back after a big argument.

The first is evoked about two months after the fateful episode: “I ask Almighty God to allow the spirit of the individual who committed suicide on April 7, 1858, in the baths of the Samaritan woman, to come and communicate with us” — note the simplicity in evocation. This Spirit denoted great moral suffering, which had been going on since before his death, which he sought out of despair in not knowing how to deal with the heartbreaks and trials of life. São Luís ends the communication saying only that suicide abruptly interrupts life, which can cause a certain momentary difficulty in letting go of the body.

The second is evoked seven or eight months after the suicide. This spirit no longer suffers so much, because it understood the lack of usefulness in what it did, and that it did it by a thoughtless act driven by unrestrained passions (emotions). In this one, there is only a “mental imprisonment” at the moment of the act, which kept repeating itself in the mind of this Spirit, since it was linked to it with repentance.

In none of them, there is no mention of what has become commonplace in the Spiritist environment, which, in fact, are half-truths: there are different possibilities, according to the mentality of each one, but the current Spiritist insists on taking the exception as a rule. .

Autonomous Morality

Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo has spoken a lot and defended the essence of Spiritism as an autonomous morality. And much has been criticized by a few who have not yet been able to see this in the Doctrine. Here, there is one more current concept deconstructed by the study of Revista Espírita. I will not delve into the matter further, as in this article I have already introduced the concept. I just want to point out that, in the Magazine itself, we see this concept very well founded, and not just by Kardec, but by the Spirits.

In the first edition of RE, in January 1858, we have the article “a conversion", which presents the following sequence of questions and answers, made to the deceased father of a boy, by that same boy, who sought to believe in Spiritism:

15. — Will we be punished or rewarded according to our actions? — If you do wrong, you will suffer.

16. — Will I be rewarded if I do good? — It will advance on its way.

17. — Am I on the right track? “Do good and you will be.

Note the moral depth of this simple dialogue. There is no punishment and reward, but only ourselves, before our own conscience, according to our choices.

Later, in October 1858, in the article “Murder of five children by another twelve-year-old—Moral problem“, Kardec asks São Luís about the possibility of that Spirit, of the murderer, returning to incarnate on Earth, and not on an even more backward planet:

11. ─ So can he find on Earth the means to atone for his fault, without being forced to return to a lower world?

─ In the eyes of God, repentance is sacred, because it is man who judges himself, which is rare on your planet.

Dear friend, do you see the beauty of the Spiritist Doctrine, truly consoling and autonomous, shown in its original face? No karma. No “action and reaction”. No “law of return”. Let's study, let's study, because the current spiritist movement, flooded with narrow concepts and contrary to the Doctrine of Spirits, is far from its original essence and reality!

How to study the Spiritist Magazine

Very well: we have already presented the inestimable importance of this periodical by Kardec; we have also presented the depth it has and the logical and rational chaining of something that forms the body of a very well established Scientific Doctrine, which is Spiritism. It remains to be seen: how to study these 136 numbers of this publication?

We believe there are two main ways, on which, by the way, we are discussing and adapting, at the moment, in order to arrive at the best method. The first of them is the one that respects the chronological form, edition by edition; the second is the one that “crosses the line”, in a good way, in Kardec, and advances by subjects, in a more or less chronological way. I explain:

In the first modality, which is what we have done so far, we take the Revisa, edition by edition, and dedicate ourselves to studying it individually, in the first place, in order to extract the best understanding of each issue and subject, enriching the study. This is because there are, in it, accessory subjects, which do not present great gain in bringing to group study, as is the case of the phenomena presented by Kardec, in what we would call today “spiritist stories”. Not that they are not useful articles, as they greatly reinforce the understanding of the fact of spiritist phenomena, especially for those who still have doubts about them.

On the other hand, other subjects are so important and profound that they deserve special attention, sometimes seeking complements not only in Kardec, but also in complementary works by other researchers, contemporaneous or not with Kardec. Several times we have found it very useful to approach not only other works by Kardec that, if we were to base ourselves on the correct chronology, had not even been published, but also works such as those by Ernesto Bozzano and recent ones by Paulo Henrique.

Another way to carry out this study is, as we said, "outrun" Kardec and advance on the subjects in all the years of the Journal and the Professor's complete work. But this in a good way: Kardec, chronologically, which is obvious, is maturing his own understanding of the Doctrine of Spirits, through incessant research. Thus, we can see, for example, Kardec talking about vital fluid, in 1858, but, in A Genesis, discarding fluids and staying with Mesmer's thesis, Animal Magnetism and the vital principle. Therefore, one can disregard the chronological order in order to study the subjects covered in the Journal, complementing and remembering them as one advances through the numbers, in order.

At the moment, we are opting for a middle ground: we discard the deepening in the accessory subjects, focusing on the main subjects and, from them, doing the due deepening, as we see the need. Perhaps we will approach more than one edition in the same study, when we see that the subjects of more than one of them are built and complemented sequentially. We just don't think it's useful to go too far, because understanding the construction of Kardec's thought, his method, the teachings of the Spirits between the lines, is something that we consider very useful and important.

The end of the Spiritist Magazine under Kardec's tutelage

Finally, we come to the end of the article, citing the end of the Spiritist Magazine with the death of Allan Kardec. “But, Paulo, Revista Espírita continued to be published for many years after his death”. Yes, it continued… But, unfortunately, it was subverted by the petty interests of money and vanity. While it was under Kardec, it was a methodical, well-formulated publication and, above all, impersonal, focused on the interests of Spiritism, that is, of the Doctrine of Spirits, which does not belong to any incarnate and does not come out of the ideas of any of them, in isolation.

After Kardec's death, those who took over and subverted the Society (for more details read Allan Kardec's Legacy, by Simoni Privato) began to use this periodical to publish the most complete absurdities, among them, under the direction of Pierre Leymarie, articles promoting a false medium, who claimed to obtain photographs of the Spirits. The promotion was literal, because, in the Revista Espírita, it was even given the indication and the amounts charged to obtain a supposed photograph of a dead relative. The case resulted in a major lawsuit against Leymarie and her associates, in what became known as The Spiritist Process and which absurdly tarnished the Doctrine's reputation in society.

But it did not stop there. The Spiritist Magazine, after 1869, became a constant place for publishing absurd articles, many contrary to the Doctrine until then formed by the indispensable methodology applied by Kardec. That is why, together with the other damages caused to the Doctrine, that, today, we are with the Journal only for the time it was under the conscientious hands of Allan Kardec, and it is for all the above, so far, that…

… We invite everyone to set up study groups on this publication, adding to it the most current research, so that the learning of Spiritism, as a Scientific Doctrine that it is, can, every day, leave the circles of Spiritist scholars and spread its influences on society, which is desperate for answers once again.

For this, we recommend observing the recommended works for study, as well as accompanying the studies of the group Spiritism for All, in the YouTube.

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1. Says Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, in Genesis (FEAL, 2018):

“There was the theory of the universal cosmic fluid, initially adopted by Franz Anton Mesmer (in the Science of Animal Magnetism), according to which the Universe would be composed of a single generating element, fully occupying space, divided into innumerable phases of density, progressively, from tangible, liquid, gaseous matter, the ether and other even more subtle conditions, imperceptible to the senses. In this other theory, the forces would not be substances, but states of vibration at various subtle levels of the universal fluid. For example, light would be a state of ether vibration. By analogy, considering the adoption in this work of the theory of the single generative element as a universal explanation of physical phenomena, spiritual fluids would be among the most subtle states of the universal cosmic fluid”. We recommend the work Mesmer: the denied science of animal magnetism, by the same author.