Mr. Paul Auguez was a great French poet and intellectual of his time, as well as one of the first defenders of Spiritism, having met Kardec through the release of his first work as such – The Book of Spirits.

Mr. Paul Auguez responds in a dignified, serious, profound and rational way to the attacks suffered, which is why Allan Kardec defends him in the Spiritist Magazine of February 1858.

By numerous citations that attest to serious study and profound erudition, he proves that if today's adherents, despite their ever-increasing numbers, and the enlightened people of all countries connected with them, are, as the illustrious scholar claims, , unbalanced brains, such a disease is common to them with that of most geniuses who honor humanity.

Allan Kardec, [RE], 1858

It is important to emphasize that Spiritism is not a theory taken from a person's head, but it is a science whose theory is supported by the logical observation of facts. It is from this observation, rational, logical and serious, that the theory arises, and not the other way around.

Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo says:

Spiritism serves, mainly, those who, for having a rational thought incompatible with mysticism, want to understand the laws of spirituality through the use of reason. Also to those who, educated by the catechism in the churches in their first formation, are disillusioned by the dogmas, accepted by blind faith, which demand submission. The Spiritist Doctrine is a theory organized by fundamental concepts that form an irreproachable logical structure, explaining the phenomena of moral life through natural laws. Those who study it deeply, and understand its original message, find strength in difficult moments, courage to face their own misfortunes, have hope for the future and gain the certainty of a better world, where they will find their place.

Figueiredo, Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism, 2019

And he adds: “A theory based on facts is the very definition of science, because it represents what differentiates it from other ways of thinking, such as conjecture or religious faith.”

It is very common to hear that “Spiritism is religion”, including comparing it to other existing religions. Is it really a religion?

Well, for that, first, we need to conceptualize the term religion.

What is it religion

Although many understand it primarily as a set of beliefs in one or more deities, there are even atheistic or agnostic religions. So, to avoid further confusion, let's stick to two main ways of understanding the term religion:

1. A set of principles, beliefs and practices of religious doctrines, based on sacred books, commonly separated between priests and faithful, the former being organized through clearly distinct hierarchies that culminate, at the top, in a high priest, who represents all the Church and has the final, unquestionable word.

2. A system of rules and moral values established through beliefs that characterize a group of individuals.

In the first aspect, the religious doctrine is indisputable by the faithful and by the lower levels of the priestly hierarchy. A change, if it comes, comes from the top down. Very commonly, one finds in them ideas that are debated in front of human science, in an irrational way.

The second aspect is more in line with the idea of natural religion, which is understood by our natural connection to God and Spirituality.

And in which of these two aspects would Spiritism fit more?

We know very well that Spiritism, in its essence, never had any of the aspects of the first classification. But… What about the second? To discuss this, we need to conceptualize Spiritism in its historical moment.

Rational Spiritualism and Spiritualism

as we already talked in this article, Spiritism emerged in the midst of the movement called Rational Spiritualism, adopted in France from the third decade of the 19th century, mainly as an opposition to the materialist movement and the old religions that enslaved thought. According to Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, in the work Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism, the movement:

"is characterized by the adoption of scientific methodology, seeking to do with the human being what has been successfully achieved by studying the matter: the understanding of the natural laws that underlie it. In other words, it replaced blind faith with a rational faith, a requirement of the new times.”.

FIGUEIREDO, Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism

And, in another passage, he highlights:

In their time, rational spiritualists, away from formal religions, made use of the concepts of religion and natural morals to study the acts of the human soul and its social relationships.

ibidem

Thus, the concept of natural religion was something studied in a scientific way (by the moral sciences) in that historical context in which Spiritism was born. And so, and only for that, that Kardec admitted a religious aspect in Spiritism, since he was born as development of Rational Spiritualism, as Kardec himself highlights:

[…] every defense of Rational Spiritualism opens the way for Spiritism, which is its development, fighting its most tenacious adversaries: materialism and fanaticism.

KARDEC, [RE] 1868, p. 223

Not only was Spiritism never been a religion – according to the first concept – but, on the contrary, it was born and grew up as a moral science with a philosophical aspect, based on the observation of facts to support the logical and rational deduction on which the theory is based:

All science must be based on facts; but facts alone do not constitute science; science is born from the coordination and logical deduction of facts: it is the set of laws that govern them. Has Spiritism reached the state of science? If it is a question of perfect science, it would undoubtedly be premature to answer in the affirmative; but the observations are, as of today, numerous enough to be able, at least, to deduce the general principles, and that is where science begins.

KARDEC, [RE] 1858, p. 3

Spiritism was never a new religion

We see, after all, that Spiritism, being a development of Rational Spiritualism, and with the aspects of a rational science, was born diametrically opposed to the ideas of religious dogmatism that have always prevailed in humanity. The main purpose of the Doctrine of Spirits is precisely to take control of human faith from religious groups that, acting for different interests, enslaved consciences to their sacred books and rituals.

However, it is very important to say that Spiritism is not a Doctrine that was born to fight with others. It does not come to cast anathema on other beliefs, but, as a science, to provide a neutral ground where people of all faiths can take shelter:

Spiritism comes, in its turn, not like a religion, but as a philosophical doctrine, to bring its theory, supported on the fact of the manifestations; does not impose; does not claim blind trust; he stands and says: Examine, compare, and judge; if you find anything better than what I give you, take it. He does not say: I come to know the fundamentals of religion and replace it with a new cult; he says: I do not address those who believe and who are satisfied with their belief, but those who desert your ranks through unbelief, and whom you did not know or could not retain.; I come to give you, about the truths you reject, an interpretation of a nature to satisfy your reason and which makes you accept it. (Ibid.)

KARDEC, [RE] 1862, p. 70

But Spiritism is a religion

The contradiction is purposeful, because I want us to force ourselves to understand the distinction that is given to the term religion according to the understanding given to it. This is imperative. Depending on how we understand – if by the philosophical aspect of natural religion, relating to the historical context of Allan Kardec, or if from the aspect of a religious system, which comprises rituals, priests and dogmas – then Spiritism can be said to be a religion or not. Kardec conceptualizes this distinction very well in the Spiritist Magazine of 1868:

[…] so Spiritism is a religion?

“Why, yes, no doubt, gentlemen; in the philosophical sense, Spiritism is a religion[1], and we glorify ourselves for this, because it is the doctrine that founds the bonds of fraternity and communion of thoughts, not on a simple convention, but on the most solid foundations: the very laws of Nature.”

"Why, then, have we declared that Spiritism is not a religion?? Because there is no word to express two different ideas, and because, in the general opinion, the word religion is inseparable from the idea of worship; because it exclusively awakens an idea of form, which Spiritism has no. If Spiritism called itself a religion, the public would only see there a new edition, a variant, if you will, of the absolute principles in matters of faith; a priestly caste with its procession of hierarchies, ceremonies and privileges; he would not separate it from the ideas of mysticism and abuses against which public opinion has so often risen.”

“Since Spiritism does not have any of the characteristics of a religion, in the usual sense of the word, it could not and should not adorn itself with a title about whose value people would inevitably have been mistaken. That is why it is simply said: philosophical and moral doctrine.”

KARDEC, [RE], 1868

Where is the problem then?

Arriving here, to close, I need to reinforce my thinking, which compacts with Kardec: we should not call Spiritism a religion, much less present it as one, because, in people's minds, there is no such distinction of understandings. – especially nowadays. It is said that it is a religion and, promptly, the adept of some religious line will ask himself: “but then can I be a spiritist, since I am Catholic/Evangelical/Hindu/etc?”. Or, worse, he will say: “I already have my religion. That other I do not care" .

Now, we cannot deny that, when treating Spiritism as a religion, according to the popular understanding given to the term, we will be creating a great difficulty expansion of the Spiritist Doctrine in the masses, since they will understand that, if Spiritism is other religion, so they cannot leave their own religions to study it. Let us present it, however, as a science with a philosophical aspect – that he is and the difficulties are resolved: everyone can study Spiritism, sipping from the knowledge given by the Spirits everywhere and from the studies of Allan Kardec and others, on such knowledge, without the need to leave your religion, their rituals, etc. In fact, about this, Spiritism, whether in Kardec's words or in the words of the Spirits themselves, has always been very clear: it does not force anyone to believe or change; logically presents his ideas about causes and effects and leaves everyone the freedom to change or not.

By the way, Spiritism does not even place the need to visit or attend a spiritist center – although, of course, we do not deny the great use that spiritist centers can have – because Spiritism is a Doctrine to be studied and lived individually and in the family nucleus.

Conclusion

Here, in conclusion, we come to a crucial point: the way in which Spiritism spread in Brazil. For a series of questions, the main one being the lack of knowledge of the real face of Spiritism, for lack of study of Kardec's works, but also due to ignorance of the tampering suffered after Kardec's death, the Doctrine gained several aspects of religion, "going to live" in temples, attending to rituals and hierarchies and, mainly, leaving behind all the methodology of studies based in the evocation of Spirits, as we have already in this article.

However, just as Jesus Christ never founded a religion, but, on the contrary, dealt with all the morals brought by him in a natural way - then, yes, acquiring the traits of a "natural religion" - Spiritism never was and never will be a religion as we understand it today. It is up to us to understand it deeply, seeking to restore its true face, applying it in our own lives and spreading it, in a fraternal and clear way, to all those who can benefit from it in their lives.

We add, to enrich, the interview in this regard with Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo:

1. See that, when Kardec says that “in the philosophical sense, Spiritism is a religion“, he is referring to Spiritism as a moral science with a philosophical aspect, and such science, at that moment, addressed the natural religion, away from the dogmas of the old religions.

Today, October 3, is the birth anniversary of Allan Kardec – Hypolite Leon Denizard Rivail¹, his registered name – and, as we understand his fundamental role in the study of the Doctrine of the Spirits, which he called Spiritism, we are going to address a very important subject, which, for those who study Kardec’s works, may even sound puerile, unimportant: the “Spiritism without Spirits”.

Now, it will not be rare for someone who has already heard the most diverse statements or who is aware of the widespread thought that we should not disturb the spirits by evoking them. Many are based on the well-known phrase by Chico Xavier, “the phone rings from there to here”, attributing to it a distorted understanding and making it a stony clause in the mediumistic code: “we cannot evoke them. We must wait for them to look for us.” There is nothing further from the truth and even from the purpose of Spiritism.

Noteworthy, Chico's phrase can be interpreted as follows: “we can evoke them, but it depends on them, not on us, whether they will respond or not”. Furthermore, we need to remember that Chico was constantly surrounded by thousands of people in search of a message from their deceased loved ones. Chico could not guarantee that he could attend to all of them, being led to say, in my own words: “Brothers, I am just an intermediary and I cannot, by myself, attend to everyone. Therefore, I place myself at their disposal, allowing their communications, as the good spirits judge best”.

This opinion, however, that we should not evoke the Spirits, comes from very far away and, in fact, was very pleasant to those who, after Kardec, did not want that the method of universal agreement of the teachings of the Spirits remained standing, since it would put down their personal opinions. This is well known.

Allan Kardec, in the Spiritist Magazine of January 1866, in an article with the same title as ours, makes the following observation:

Let us now examine the matter from another point of view. Who made Spiritism? Is it a personal human conception? Everyone knows otherwise. Spiritism is the result of the teaching of the Spirits, in such a way that without the communications of the Spirits there would be no Spiritism. If the Spiritist Doctrine were a simple philosophical theory born of a human brain, it would only have the value of a personal opinion; coming from the universality of the teaching of the Spirits, it has the value of a collective work, and that is why in such a short time it has spread throughout the Earth, each one receiving for himself, or for his intimate relationships, identical instructions and the proof of the reality of the demonstrations.

And he goes on, criticizing the enemies of the Doctrine who, because they see in the universality of the teaching of the Spirits, a great enemy to his own ideas:

Well then! It is in the presence of this patent, material result that attempts are made to build into a system the uselessness of the communications of the Spirits. Let's agree that if they didn't have the popularity they acquired, they wouldn't attack them, and that it is the prodigious vulgarization of these ideas that raises so many opponents to Spiritism. Don't those who reject communications today look like those ungrateful children who deny and despise their parents? Is it not ingratitude towards the spirits, to whom they owe what they know?

Where the Spiritist Movement took a detour

After Kardec, as we already know, the Spiritist Movement suffered a huge deviation, practically putting the Lyonnais master and his method of study into oblivion. After that, when he arrived in Brazil, the Movement was already quite altered in its bases, forgetting that Spiritism without Spirits is just a system of personal ideas, ideas that proliferated among Spiritists for more than a century.

Roustaing, one of the first major opponents of Spiritism, a contemporary of Kardec, moved by enormous vanity, mainly through Pierre-Gaëtan Leymarie, inserted his contents in the spiritist environment which, if it were not enough to be contrary to the Spiritist Doctrine in many points, were obtained through of one Spirit--that is, no universality of teachings. If they had encouraged such a method, they would see such theories denied by the Spirits themselves, which would not be interesting to the personal vanity of the “chosen one”.

Astonished, I discovered recently that the FEB itself, at the beginning of the 20th century, defended Roustangist ideas as a complement to Allan Kardec:

And it was to understand its preponderant usefulness [of the Gospel] that the Federation instituted its study in the sessions on Tuesdays, preferring it to the Gospel according to Spiritism [by Allan Kardec], which only contains the moral teachings, The Four Gospels (Revelation of Revelation), dictations to J.-B. Roustaing, because this revelation is complete, containing not only the development of those teachings, but the explanation of all the acts of Jesus' life, with a new and enlightening orientation about nature and his messianic mission.

(FEB, 1902, p. 1)

We see, therefore, since when such harmful ideas have infiltrated Spiritism, especially in Brazil, where several mediums – not questioning their purposes and values – started to be taken as oracles or prophets - again, nothing universality of teachings.

But do we need it today?

Many, however, will say: this method of Kardec, based in evocations, it was only useful for the birth of Spiritism. Today, we don't need that anymore, because we already have a lot of content that serves as a teaching base.

Yes, unquestionably we have so much foundation of moral teaching today that, if we really understood them, we would be light years ahead in our spiritual evolution. However, it was not the same with the teachings of Christ who, even so, sent us the Promised Comforter – The Doctrine of the Spirits. Why? Because the Spirit advances first in intellectuality, to only later advance in morality. How, then, to reduce this distance? Only through the union of faith and science. And that was Kardec's mission, so well accomplished in the study of the Doctrine of Spirits.

Now, we cannot forget: Spiritism is a science moral and philosophical aspect, born of study and observation of the spiritist manifestations, obtaining, from them, the knowledge, based on the universality of the teachings of the Spirits – that is, the distribution of the teachings of the Spirits everywhere, obtaining, from these teachings, the agreement, under the light of reason. We thus arrive at a conclusion:

To remove the evocations from Spiritism is to remove its main characteristic: that of a science that, as Kardec has always demonstrated and defended, should go hand in hand with human science.

So, we are forced to note, too, that evocations, with a serious purpose, are still necessary and, perhaps, always will be. Or do we already know everything about our relationships with Spirits and the world of Spirits? Or has the advancement of human science not brought, on the one hand, so many confirmations and, on the other, new doubts, regarding these relationships and our spiritual nature? Or is it that the mystifications did not start to flood the Spiritist Movement?

Let's see, regarding the last question, the thoughts of Cláudio Bueno da Silva on the portal O Consolador:

When talking about mystification, about deviations from the route of the spiritist movement, it is impossible not to mention the famous and traumatic “isms”, which caused so many controversies: Ubaldismo, by Pietro Ubaldi; Ramatisism, by Ramatis; Roustainguismo, by JB Roustaing; Edgar Armond's Armondism; Divinism, by Oswaldo Polidoro, and other “isms”. All of them with a curious characteristic: in the midst of truths, many misconceptions that differ from the Spiritist Revelation, codified by Allan Kardec. Although some of these propositions did not really arise within the spiritist movement, they infiltrated it, leaving remnants that still persist in many centers and federations across the country.

But the onslaught of shadows don't stop. Some time ago, many spiritist houses were “invaded” by the theory of indigo children, an imported version about the reincarnation of many intelligent “little angels”, full of independence and malice, but also full of rebelliousness and aggressiveness who, according to the fantasy of their North American “creators”, have the mission of renewing (?) the Earth . Many spiritists were delighted with the news and for a long time there was nothing else to talk about inside the spiritist house.

CLÁUDIO BUENO DA SILVA – http://www.oconsolador.com.br/ano6/285/claudio_bueno.html

The Spirits themselves defend our communication with them

The reading and study of Allan Kardec's work demonstrates to us, without ceasing, that the Spirits come willingly, whenever possible, to respond to the evocations carried out. When kind or wise spirits are happy to transmit good teachings; when Spirits, still inferior, find relief in exposing their difficulties or in transmitting some word of comfort to their relatives. At other times, as permitted, they convey important advice, as we can see in the article “Mama, Here I Am”, by RE of January 1858:

Julia: Mother, why do you grieve? I'm happy, very happy. I don't suffer anymore and I always see you.

The mother: But I do not see you! Where are you?

Julia: Here beside you, with my hand on Mrs. X (the medium) to write down what I say. See my handwriting (the handwriting was really the girl's).

The mother: You say: my hand. So you have a body?

Julia: I no longer have the body that made me suffer so much, but I have your appearance. Aren't you happy because I don't suffer anymore and because I can talk to you?

The mother: If I saw you, would I recognize you then?

Julia: Yes No doubt; and you have seen me many times in your dreams.

The mother: I really saw you in my dreams, but I thought it was a figment of the imagination, a memory.

Julia: Do not. It is I myself who am always with you and I try to comfort you; I was the one who inspired you with the idea of evoking me. I have many things to tell you. Distrust Mr. Z… He is not sincere.

(This gentleman, known only to the mother, mentioned spontaneously, was a new proof of the identity of the Spirit who manifested.)

The mother: What can Mr. Z?

Julia: I can't tell you. This is forbidden to me. I can only warn you to be suspicious of him.

We need, therefore, to remember that mediumship serves exactly this purpose: exchange between the “two planes”. If it were not so, God would not give us this ability. Yes, it is a fact that we must try to walk with our own feet, without giving in to the urge to ask the Spirits about everything. But it is also a fact that, with seriousness and good purpose, they have much to help us, both in personal matters and in matters of general importance. And this, by the way, they do constantly, through our intuition.

But then, if we think we need clearer communications, what can we do? Live in doubt?

I think that we need to think very carefully about this in order to really not to occupy mediums and spirits with something that we ourselves can understand or do, including steeped in the teachings already existing in Spiritism. We should act like the student who, before asking silly questions, should always research the already existing knowledge, otherwise he could even be scolded by the teacher: “you didn't study carefully. The knowledge is there; go back and reread”.

For the rest, if there is serious purpose, they will answer us within the limits allowed. If, on the other hand, there is no serious purpose, the good spirits will be able to give us a good ear tug, in the best of cases; in others, malicious spirits may respond, with the intention of causing us difficulties and deviations, or just making fun of us.

Conclusion

Being a memorable date, in short, in the life of this Spirit that we know as Allan Kardec, we need, in recognizing his work so well done and so dedicated, to recover the real history of Spiritism, restoring its essence and removing the obstacles that took such a large part of it.

Spiritism without Spirits, that is, Spiritism without universal agreement of the teachings of the Spirits and therefore without the Wow search for communication with them is not Spiritism: it is just personal opinion.

1. Among Allan Kardec's own handwritten papers is an autobiographical sketch in which he corrects his first name, normally spelled Hippolyte, to the true spelling Hypolite. Canuto Abreu made considerations in an article, which can be accessed at https://espirito.org.br/autonomia/allan-kardec-data-e-nome. as well as Kardec's manuscript. Also the year of his birth was corrected in that same document, having been born in 1803 and not in 1804 as later biographies wrongly recorded. [Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo- Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism]

Mr. Home was a well-known personality at the time of Kardec. A powerful physical medium, Kardec attests to his moral integrity, his seriousness and his introspection in dealing with the subject. As for his fortune, there is no criticism, as it is something that only concerns him.

It is easy to see, by reading the article, that the departure of Mr. Home did not happen by chance, but by superior planning. Having ended up there for health reasons, he presented the "fatal blow" against the doubt that existed regarding spiritist manifestations - something very similar to what, years before, took place in the United States, as Ernesto Bozzano reports in " Spiritism and the Supernormal Manifestations”. Quoting Kardec,

France, still in doubt about the spiritist manifestations, needed a great blow to be dealt; it was Mr. Home who had this mission and the louder the blow, the greater its repercussion. The position, the credit, the enlightenment of those who welcomed him and who were convinced by the evidence of the facts, shook the convictions of many people, even among those who were eyewitnesses.

After commenting on some facts in the life of Mr. Home, evidencing the various indications that denote his seriousness and honesty, Kardec talks about the mediumship genre of this gentleman, very similar to those obtained by Jonathan Koons, as reported by Bozzano in the aforementioned work:

Mr. Home is a medium of the kind that produces ostensible manifestations, without excluding intelligent communications, but his natural predispositions give him a very special aptitude for the former. Under its influence the strangest noises are heard; the air stirs; solid bodies move, rise, transport themselves from one side to the other, through space; musical instruments produce melodious sounds; beings from the extracorporeal world appear who speak, write and sometimes hug us until they produce pain. He himself often found himself, in the presence of eyewitnesses, elevated, without support, several meters high.

Home's faculty does not exclude contact with Good Spirits. However, through the action of inferior spirits, he becomes a tool for the dissemination of Spiritism, a very valuable task, but not without dangers and tribulations, which he carried out with great resignation and perseverance.

The faculty of Mr. Home is innate and has manifested itself since his first months of life, when his crib rocked on its own and changed places. “In his early years he was so weak that he could barely sustain himself; sitting on the rug, when he couldn't reach the toys, they came within reach”. Kardec reiterates Home's nature:

If Mr. Home were, as those who judge without seeing claim, only a skillful juggler, he would, without the slightest doubt, always have magic ready in his bag. However, he is not the master of producing them at will. It would be impossible for him to give regular sessions, for often, at the exact moment when he needed his faculty, it might fail. Sometimes, phenomena manifest spontaneously, at the moment when least expected, while at other times it is not possible to provoke them, which is an unfavorable circumstance for those who want to make exhibitions by appointment.

Finally, Allan Kardec ends by mentioning an event that took place behind closed doors, spontaneously and without the various possible witnesses, other than his servant and a friend, a fact that demonstrates, in Kardec's eyes, that Mr. Home was not looking for a fuss and had no reason to deceive just two people.

These are the states of the Spirit, which can be incarnated, that is, connected to a physical body, or in a wandering or erratic state, that is, in the interval between one incarnation and another.

To err, in this context, means “to be without the right direction”. It is clear that the Spirit has a course, traced by God, but, as he does not know this course from his imperfection, he only experiences the learning of improvement, he is said to err or that he is in a state of erraticity while he is free from matter, but waiting for a new incarnation.

Pure Spirits, of course, do not fit into this classification, as they no longer need to reincarnate, since they have, theoretically, covered the entire evolutionary scale.

https://kardecpedia.com/roteiro-de-estudos/20/revista-espirita-jornal-de-estudos-psicologicos-1858/4367/fevereiro/mademoiselle-clairon-e-o-fantasma

Kardec brings the story of an actress, written by herself, already in her 60s. In it, Clairon tells that a man who fell in love with her, after dying, began to haunt her for two long years – out of anger at her indifference.

She says that, day after day, and witnessed by many other people, including police officers, she began to suffer several very unique episodes:

• Piercing screams under her window, almost every night, at 11 pm.
• At a certain point, the screams turned into “rifle shots” that, although they did not materially hit anything, not even the windows, they promoted sound and light disturbances, believing whoever witnessed them was the target of a sniper.
• Once, they would have been “hit” by a slap, delivered by the ghost:

“Accustomed to my ghost, who I considered a poor devil who limited himself to doing mischief, I didn't realize the time. As it was hot, I opened the bad window and, with the steward, we leaned over the balcony. Eleven o'clock strikes, the shot is heard and we are both thrown into the middle of the room, where we fall like dead. Coming back to ourselves and feeling that everything had passed, examining ourselves to see that we had both received - he on the left cheek and I on the right - the most terrible slap that could ever be applied, we laughed like madmen.

An anonymous writer commented attributing the reports to the girl's imagination, since everything would have happened at the time when "she was from twenty-two and a half to twenty-five years old, which is the age of inspiration and that this faculty in her was continually exercised and exalted by the way of life she led, in the theater and outside of it.”. The author follows: “It is also necessary to remember that she said, at the beginning of her memoirs, that in childhood she was only entertained with adventures of apparitions and sorcerers, who told her that they were true stories.”.

The unsigned comment seems to refer to the fact that Clairon demonstrated, in everything, that she was only exaggerating a fertile imagination. However, Kardec counters:

“We only know the fact through the account of Mademoiselle Clairon. Thus, we can only judge by induction. Now, our reasoning is the following: Described by the same Mademoiselle Clairon in its most minute details, the fact has more authenticity than if it had been reported by third parties. It should be added that when he wrote the letter where the fact is described, he was about sixty years old and, therefore, he had passed the age of credulity, of which the author of the note speaks. This author does not question Mademoiselle Clairon's good faith in relation to her adventure: he only admits that she was the victim of an illusion. That it had been done once is nothing extraordinary, but that it had been for two and a half years already seems more difficult to us. It is even more difficult to suppose that such an illusion was shared by so many people, ear and eye witnesses of the facts, including the police themselves.”

Kardec continues, saying that the report seems likely, but, as a good researcher, he does not accept it as absolute truth, since he could not analyze it more closely. Regarding the facts, we remember that no they are in disagreement with the spiritist teachings and the facts already known, such as those of different physical effects. In fact, we remind you that there are very serious studies on such facts, as reported and analyzed, very seriously, by the Spiritist researcher Ernesto Bozzano. We cite the works “Transport Phenomena” and “Spiritism and the Supranormal Manifestations”, recommending the reading, in addition to The Mediums' Book, which presents an important theoretical introduction to such phenomena.

Over the ghost, it is noted, says Kardec, that it is not a necessarily evil spirit, but a bottom (our word), full of passions and imperfections:

The violent passion under which he succumbed as a man proves that earthly ideas predominated in him. The deep traces of this passion, which survived the destruction of the body, prove that, as a Spirit, it was still under the influence of matter. His revenge, however harmless, denotes low feelings. If, therefore, we refer to our table of classification of spirits, it will not be difficult to determine its class: the absence of real evil naturally separates it from the last class, that of impure spirits, but evidently it had much of the other classes of the same order. , for nothing in him could justify a superior position.

Reading Suggestions

• “Transport Phenomena”, by Ernesto Bozzano
• “Spiritism and the Supernormal Manifestations”, idem
• The Mediums' Book, by Allan Kardec

The movement imprinted on inert bodies by the will is today so well known that it would be almost puerile to report facts of the kind.

Kardec starts this article like this, saying something like this: “that tables can be lifted off the floor by psychic force, this is already a known fact”. Today it seems very strange to us to think this way. Because?

The phenomenon was already widely accepted – and studied

We need to understand that Spiritism emerged in the midst of the movement called Rational Spiritualism, adopted in France, mainly, as an opposition to the materialist movement and the old religions that enslaved thought. According to FIGUEIREDO, 2019, the Movement, “It is characterized by the adoption of scientific methodology, seeking to do with the human being what has been successfully achieved by studying the matter: the understanding of the natural laws that underlie it. In other words, it replaced blind faith with a rational faith, a requirement of the new times.”¹. 

At that time and in that context, the moral sciences studied everything born of human action, and that included the study of phenomena psychological¹ of magnetism and somnambulism, among many others. Well then: Spiritism, having been born in a so favorable, unfolded easily and, precisely because of this, quickly conquered countless adepts, among whom many, perhaps the majority, were educated, serious and dedicated to the sciences. All this to bring the relevant understanding that Rational Spiritualism was already concerned, before the birth of Spiritism, of “supernormal” phenomena, as Bozzano calls them, among which the magnetization of a heavy object, such as a table, which then moved and rose, against the laws of known of Physics, was a known and studied fact.

The psychological sciences deal with the natural laws that govern human nature. And these laws are of two kinds, the experimental or empirical, expressing the results of the experience of the human spirit as it is, and the others being ideal, representing the end towards which we must direct our faculties by means of evolution, or as such. they should be. The study of the human being in its real state is experimental psychology itself. (FIGUEIREDO, 2019)

Kardec, Mr Fortier and the turning tables

In fact, at this moment, we interrupted to return to Kardec, who tells about his contact with Mr. Fortier, known magnetizer:

It was in 1854 that I first heard of turning tables. One day I met Monsieur Fortier, whom I had known for a long time, and who said: Do you already know about the singular property that has just been discovered in Magnetism? It seems that it is no longer only people who can be magnetized, but also tables, making them turn and walk at will. – 'It is indeed very singular,' I replied; but, strictly speaking, this does not seem to me radically impossible. The magnetic fluid, which is a kind of electricity, can perfectly act on inert bodies and make them move'. The reports, which the newspapers published, of experiences carried out in Nantes, Marseille, and in some other cities, did not allow any doubts about the reality of the phenomenon.

Kardec, A., Posthumous Works, Rio: FEB, 1964. p. 237

It is noted that Kardec calmly accepted the phenomena in question, and the turning table was not his first contact with magnetism. However, shortly afterwards, a new episode will mark forever its history with the nascent Spiritism: 

Some time later, I met again with Mr. Fortier, who said to me: We have something much more extraordinary; not only do you get a table to move, magnetizing it, but also to speak. When questioned, she responds. — This now, I replied, is another matter. I will only believe it when I see it and when they prove to me that a table has a brain to think, nerves to feel and that it can become sleepwalker. Until then, allow me not to see in the case more than a story to make us sleep on our feet.” [emphasis ours]

ibidem

Returning to the article in question…

All of the above is for us to understand, rationally, the logic that led Kardec to so calmly accept isolation (and motion) of heavy bodies. He continues to make an analysis similar to the one made before Mr Fortier's account, when he said that the tables responded intelligently: if there is intelligence, there is an intelligent cause. Where, then, is this cause?

It is important to highlight, as Kardec demonstrates in the article, that we need to be very calm to analyze such facts and their reports, so that the overexcited imagination does not make the phenomenon seem like “magic”: to reach the lifting of a heavy body , it takes a lot of concentration and several attacks, with which the phenomenon seems to gain more and more strength, not happening in a snap of the fingers.

It is also noteworthy that Kardec mentions that the facts obtained “at Mr. B…” took place repeatedly, even without the contact of hands and in the presence of several witnesses, including those “very unfriendly” and who would not fail to raise suspicion if they had reason to do so. The same type of phenomenon also occurred easily in several other houses.

Reading Recommendations

To deepen the study, we recommend, in addition to the works “Transportation Phenomena” and “Spiritism and the Supranormal Manifestations”, by Ernesto Bozzano, the study of The Mediums' Book, where, in chapters I, II, III, IV and V of the Second Part, an extensive theoretical approach on the subject is carried out.

We also recommend the book “Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism“, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo

1. That is why the Spiritist Journal is called “Journal of Psychological Studies”, in perfect agreement with the understanding of the moral sciences in the historical and social context of Allan Kardec.
2. FIGUEIREDO, Paulo Henrique de. Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism, 2019, editor FEAL

Kardec begins this article by contextualizing the reader in the environment of a room, as in countless others, where the phenomena occurred typological so common at that time. Removing the possibility of fraud, knowing the environment in which he found himself, in order to look for valid hypotheses for the cause of these phenomena, he continues to unfold a logical and rational sequence of ideas, in order to demonstrate the need to never accept any idea, positive or negative, blindly:

A young bachelor's student was in his room, studying points from his Rhetoric exam, when there was a knock on the door. I think everyone admits that it is possible to distinguish the nature of the noise, and especially in its repetition, whether it is caused by a crack of wood, by the stirring of the wind or by some other fortuitous cause, or if it is someone knocking, wanting to enter. In the latter case, the noise has an intentional character, which cannot be confused. That's what our student thinks. However, in order not to be unnecessarily bothered, he wanted to make sure, putting the visitor to the test. If it's somebody, he says, knock once, twice, three, four, five, six times; tap high, low, right or left; beat the musical time; ring the military call, etc., and to each of these requests the noise obeys with the most perfect exactitude. Surely, he thinks, it can't be the crack of wood, or the wind, or even a cat, no matter how clever. Here's a fact. Let us see what consequences the syllogistic arguments will lead to.

Thus, he made the following reasoning: I hear a noise, therefore, it is something that produces it. This noise obeys my orders, therefore, the cause that produces it understands me. Now, what understands has intelligence, therefore the cause of this noise is intelligent. If it's intelligent, it's not the wood or the wind; if, then, it is not the wood or the wind, it is someone. Then he went to open the door. Let us see that it is not necessary to be a doctor to reach this conclusion and we believe that our future bachelor is sufficiently attached to its principles to conclude as follows:

Suppose that when he opens the door he finds no one, and that the noise continues exactly as before. He will follow his sorites¹: “I have just proved to myself, without question, that noise is produced by an intelligent being, since it responds to my thought. I always hear that noise in front of me and it's certain that it's not me who knocks, so it's someone else. Now, if this other one I don't see, of course he's invisible. The corporeal beings that belong to Humanity are perfectly visible. This knocker, being invisible, is not a corporeal human being. Now, since we call incorporeal beings spirits, he who knocks, not being corporeal, is therefore a spirit”.

Although Kardec made a simplification, as he did not address the need to look for possible hidden causes responsible for the “knocking on the door” (which he always sought to do), a very clear and simple line of logical thoughts is evident that, if followed, it would make many stop falling into contradictions and denials in face of what is so clear and evident.

It was in this way, when the phenomena of typtology, that answers were obtained about the questions made to the Spirits: through blows, in a defined shape or number, letters, numbers, binary answers, etc., were indicated, in addition to, for a more developed, they often indicated, by a particular sign, that they wanted to write; “then the writing medium would take the pencil and transmit his thoughts in writing”.

Among the attendants, not to mention those around the table, but of all the people who filled the hall, there were genuine unbelievers, half believers and fervent believers who, as is well known, constitute an unfavorable mix. The first ones, we leave them at ease, waiting for the light to shine for them. We respect all beliefs, even unbelief, which is a kind of belief, when it is respected enough not to shock opposing opinions. So, then, we will not say that his observations are useless. His reasoning, much less verbose than that of our student, can generally be summarized as follows: I don't believe in spirits, therefore, they cannot be spirits, and since they are not spirits, it is a trick. Such an assumption leads them to admit that the table would have a mechanism, in the manner of Robert Houdin.

Kardec cites the assistants, or witnesses, highlighting those who were convinced that everything was a farce, presenting their logic of thought. The answer follows:

First, it would be necessary for all tables and all furniture to have machinery, since they are not privileged; second, no mechanism is known to be sufficiently ingenious to produce at will all the effects just described; Third, it would be necessary for Ms. B… had purposely prepared the walls and doors of his apartment, which is unlikely; fourthly, finally, it would have been necessary to prepare the tables, the doors, the walls of all the houses where similar phenomena occur daily, which is also not to be assumed, because then the skillful builder of so many wonders would be known. .

It can be seen that they do not want to take the path of a bachelor's degree and, in advance, they have already decided to discredit.

We also have the “half-believers”, to whom Kardec recommends returning to the arguments of the future bachelor.

And, among believers, there are still three nuances, three other types of believers: the curious, who do not take moral advantage of the phenomena in question; the learned and serious, who do; and blind faith believers, who believe in the table as they would in a oracle (priest in charge of consulting the deity and transmitting his answers), without reflecting on his answers, accepting them without submitting them to the sieve of reason and agreement.

Ending the article, Kardec goes back twenty-five centuries in the past, in the sacred forest existing in Epirus (Greece), where the oaks preferred oracles and where, adding “the prestige of the cult and the religious pomp”, it is easy to understand the veneration of an ignorant and gullible people. The hissing of the wind between the leaves, the sounds emitted by the statues and other phenomena, when true, were the beginnings of spiritist communications which, however, were taken as absolute truth and blindly followed.

1. Logic or reasoning composed of a series of propositions linked together in such a way that the predicate of one becomes the subject of the next, and so on until the conclusion, which has as subject the subject of the first and as predicate the predicate of the last previous proposition. the conclusion.

Noteworthy, the article in question, which we decided to approach in an anachronistic way, that is, out of the original order, brings some interesting themes, in lecture with the Spirit of Miss Clary, who died at the age of 13 and who became the genius, that is, the protective Spirit of the family. Among them, there is his reincarnation, without a defined date, in another world, the sensation of the body, caused by the memory, the displacement of the Spirit through space, with the speed of thought, the intrinsic question of the perispirit in this displacement and, finally, , the outcome of the article, when, when asked if they could see, there, her “body” (perispirit) as it is currently, they are answered that, for that, it would not depend on her, but on them, under the following conditions: “you retire for a time, with faith and fervor; to be outnumbered; isolate themselves a little and get a medium like Home”.

Understanding now that Mr. Home was a powerful medium of physical effects, donor of the fluids necessary for such phenomena, we understand very well the reason for this need.

We think it is important to highlight our own considerations about material phenomena, since they still raise many doubts and discredit, especially after Spiritism has gone through almost 150 years of misrepresentations and false understandings.

Material phenomena still exist, just as the mediums who produce them still exist, this is logical. However, we believe that such phenomena, today, may not have so much expression because, when they occurred, they were motivated to draw attention to spiritist phenomena, which, some claim, is no longer needed today.

This is one way of seeing. The other would be that these phenomena only diminished after the development of Kardec's studies because, then, they were no longer necessary, since it was much easier to communicate through psychography, mainly, than through blows. But even then, these phenomena did not stop completely, as we can see with the example of Mr Home and, later, with the example of the well-known medium Eusápia Palladino, studied by Cesare Lombroso with great seriousness and dedication.

Now, as Spiritism has been so misunderstood over time and methodological studies have been forgotten in the past, leaving room for mystifications and the unbridled growth of materialism, even among spiritualists, we ask: would such phenomena not come today? bring attention again to the spiritist facts? We dare not answer categorically, but only recall the several reports that are put to our eyes every day, in the various groups on the subject, on social networks, and about which, for the moment, we only highlight: “what if?”