Spiritual manifestations have always been a crucial point in Spiritist Doctrine. It was through these manifestations and their better understanding that Kardec was able to establish his moral philosophy. Thus, we highlight this 1859 study exposed in the Revista Espirita of August 1859.

He follows.

We extract the following passage from a letter that a correspondent of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies sent us from the Jura department:

“…As I told you, sir, the spirits liked our old dwelling. Last October (1858), the Countess of C…, a close friend of my daughter, came with her 8-year-old son to spend a few days at our mansion. The child slept in the same room as her mother, and the connecting door to my daughter's room was left open, in order to prolong the hours of daylight and conversation. The boy would not sleep and would say to his mother: 'What are you going to do with that man who is sitting next to your bed? He is smoking a big pipe. See how it fills the room with smoke! Send him away, he's rattling the curtains.'
“This vision lasted all night. The mother couldn't get the child to shut up, and no one could close their eyes. This circumstance did not surprise me or my daughter, as we know that there are spiritist manifestations. The mother, however, believed that the child was daydreaming or having fun.

RE 1859

Observation: The vision was mediumistic, so only the child saw it.

“Here is another fact that I witnessed personally and that happened to me in the same room, in May 1858. It is the case of the appearance of the Spirit of a living person, who was very surprised to have come to visit me. Here are the circumstances: I was very sick and had not slept for some time, when at ten o'clock at night I saw a friend of my family sitting next to my bed. I expressed my surprise at his visit at that hour. He said to me: “Do not speak, for I have come to watch over you; do not speak, for you must sleep,” and he stretched out his hand over my head. Several times I opened my eyes to see if he was still there, and each time he made a sign for me to close them and be quiet. He rolled the snuffbox between his fingers, and every now and then he took a pinch, as was his custom. Eventually I fell asleep, and when I woke up the vision was gone.

Idem

NOTE: Kardec briefly quotes the explanations on the facts of apparitions of incarnates and spirits (condensation of the perispirit or molecular modification).

He follows:

A molecular modification takes place in its texture, which makes it visible and even tangible, and which can give it, to a certain extent, the properties of solid bodies. We know that perfectly transparent bodies become opaque simply by changing the position of the molecules or by adding another body, equally transparent. We don't really know how spirits manage to make their ethereal body visible. Most of them do not even realize this, but, from the examples we have cited, we understand its physical possibility, which is enough to remove from the phenomenon what, at first sight, could seem supernatural. Therefore, the Spirit can do it, either by simple intimate modification, or by assimilating a portion of strange fluid that momentarily alters the appearance of its perispirit. It is, in fact, this last hypothesis that stands out from the explanations that have been given to us, and that we report when dealing with the subject (May, June and December).

So far no difficulty concerning the personality of the Spirit. We know, however, that they appear in clothes whose appearance changes at will; sometimes they even have certain toilet accessories, jewelry, etc. In the two apparitions mentioned at the beginning, one had a pipe and produced smoke; the other, a tobacco box and took pinches. Note, however, the fact that this spirit was from a living person and that his snuffbox was in everything similar to the one he usually used, and that he had stayed at home. What, then, do this tobacconist, this pipe, these clothes and these jewels mean? Would the material objects that exist on Earth have an ethereal representation in the invisible world? Does the condensed matter that forms such objects have a quintessential part, which escapes our senses?

OBSERVATION: Position of the true scientist, in search of the truth, without discarding anything.

This is an immense problem, the solution of which may provide the key to a number of things that have not yet been explained. It was this tobacco company that put us on the path, not only of the fact, but of the most extraordinary phenomenon of Spiritism: the phenomenon of pneumatography or direct writing, which we will talk about below.

All the theories that we present, regarding Spiritism, were provided to us by the Spirits, who many times contradicted our own ideas, as happened in the present case, proving that the answers were not a reflection of our thinking. But the way to obtain a solution is not unimportant. 

We know from our own experience that it is not enough to ask abruptly for something to get it. The answers are not always quite explicit; it is necessary to develop the subject with certain precautions; arrive at the objective progressively and through a chain of deductions that require prior work. In principle, the way of formulating the questions, the order, the method and the clarity are things that cannot be neglected and that please serious spirits, because they see a serious objective in this.

NOTE: This means that, of course, the researcher can have a prior idea, but that, acting in good faith, he cannot stick to it. And also, of course, that the intent of the question is just as important.

Here is the conversation we had with Espírito de São Luís, regarding the tobacco shop, with a view to solving the problem of producing certain objects in the invisible world. (Society, June 24, 1859).

1. ─ In Mrs. R…'s report, it is about a child who saw a man smoking a large pipe near his mother's bed. It is understood that this Spirit could have taken on the appearance of a smoker; it seems, however, that he really smoked, for the boy saw the room full of smoke. What was that smoke?

─ A look produced for the boy.

2. ─ Mrs. R… also cites the case of an apparition, seen by her, of the spirit of a living person. This Spirit had a tobacconist and took snuff. Could he experience the feeling one gets from taking a pinch?

─ No.

3. ─ This snuffbox had the shape of the one he habitually uses, and which was in his house. What was this snuffbox in the hands of the Spirit?

─ Always looks. It was so that the circumstances would be noticed, as they were, and so that the apparition would not be taken for a hallucination produced by the state of health of the seer. Spirit wanted this lady to believe in the reality of her presence and took on all appearances of reality.

4.1 – You say that it is an appearance, but an appearance has nothing to do with reality; it's like an optical illusion. I would like to know if this snuffbox was nothing more than an unreal image, like, for example, that of an object reflected in a mirror.

NOTE from AK: One of the members of the Society, Mr. Sanson observes that there is something real in the image reproduced by the mirror. If the image does not remain in the mirror, it is because nothing fixes it, but if it is projected onto a daguerreotype plate, it leaves an impression, evident proof that it is produced by some substance and that it is not just an optical illusion.

4.2 – Mr. Sanson's observation is perfectly fair. Would you be kind enough to tell us if there is any analogy with the tobacco box, that is, if there is anything material in that tobacco box?

─ Certainly. It is with the help of this material principle that the perispirit takes on the appearance of clothing similar to those that the Spirit wore when alive. 

NOTE from AK: Evidently the word appearance it must be taken here in the sense of image, of imitation. The real tobacconist was not there. What Spirit had was just a reproduction. Compared to the original, it was but an appearance, though formed by a material principle.
Experience teaches us that we should not take certain expressions used by spirits literally. Interpreting them according to our ideas, we expose ourselves to great mistakes, so we must deepen the meaning of their words, whenever there is a minimum ambiguity. Here is a recommendation constantly made by the Spirits. Without the explanation we provoke, the word appearance, repeated continuously in analogous cases, could give rise to a false interpretation.

OBSERVATION: Today, we know the principle of the image reflected in a mirror and its fixation in a photograph: the behavior of waves. The light, as electromagnetic energy, reflects off the mirror and impresses the photography device, whatever it may be. It seems that it is to this same principle (of wave) that the Spirit refers.

5. ─ Would there be an unfolding of inert matter? Would there be, in the invisible world, an essential matter, covering the form of the objects that we see? In a word, would these objects have their ethereal double in the invisible world, as men are represented there in Spirit?

AK's NOTE: Here's a theory like any other, and it was our thinking. The Spirit, however, did not take it into account, which absolutely did not humiliate us, because its explanation seemed very logical to us and because it rests on a more general principle, of which we find many explanations.
─ It doesn't happen that way. The Spirit has a power over the material elements disseminated throughout space, in our atmosphere, that you are far from suspecting. He can, at will, concentrate these elements and give them an apparent form, suitable for his designs.

6. ─ I ask the question again categorically, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Are the clothes with which spirits are covered something?

─ It seems that my previous answer settles the question. Don't you know that the perispirit itself is something?

7. ─ It follows from this explanation that the Spirits make the etherized matter undergo transformations at will and that, therefore, in the case of the tobacconist, the Spirit did not find it perfectly finished; he made it himself at the moment he needed it, and then undid it. The same should happen with all other objects, such as clothing, jewelry, etc.

─ But it is obvious.

8. ─ That tobacco box was so clearly visible to Mrs. R… to the point of deceiving her. Could the Spirit have made it tangible?

─ It could.

9. ─ In that case, could Mrs. R… have taken it in her hands, thinking she was getting an authentic tobacco box?

─ Yes.

10. ─ If I had opened it, I would probably have found snuff. If she had taken it, would it have made her sneeze?

─ Yes.

11. ─ Can the Spirit not only give the form, but even special properties?

─ If you want; It is in virtue of this principle that I have answered affirmatively to the preceding questions. You will have proof of the powerful action that the Spirit exerts on matter and which, as I have already told you, you are far from suspecting.

NOTE: Kardec has never been so clear in his questions over the course of this 1 year and a half of Revista Espirita. He is evidently working on both the new enlarged edition of The Spirits' Book and then what would become The Mediums' Book, published a few years later.

12. ─ Let us then suppose that he wanted to make a poisonous substance and that a person had taken it. Could this have been poisoned?

─ I could, but I wouldn't have done it, because I wouldn't have been allowed to do it.

OBSERVATION: We know, today, that Creation is far from being “each for himself”, and that, in fact, it is “one for all and all for one”, with those most inferior are always “led” by the higher. The thoughts of the highest spirits are irresistible to the lowest. We tend to think of ourselves as abandoned to our own devices, but, more and more, I understand that this is not true. Superior Spirits “lead” us towards good, that is, they offer an irresistible attraction, through thought. It is possible to understand why imperfect Spirits, inclined to evil, are unable to break this Law to do evil.

“Everything is linked in the Universe”

13. ─ Could you have made a salutary substance suitable for healing in case of illness? Has there ever been such a case?

─ Yes; often.

14. ─ In the same way he could make a food substance; let's suppose he had made a fruit or some snack. Could someone eat it and feel fed?
─ Yes, yes. But do not look so hard to find that which is easy to understand. A ray of sunlight is enough to make your gross organs perceptible to those material particles that fill the space in which you live. Do you not know that the air contains water vapour? Condense it and you will bring it to a normal state. Deprive it of heat and behold, its impalpable and invisible molecules will become a solid and very solid body. There are other matters that will lead chemists to present you with even more astonishing marvels. Only the Spirit has instruments more perfect than yours: his own will and God's permission.

NOTE from AK: The issue of satiety is very important here. How can a substance that has only temporary and, in a sense, conventional existence and properties produce satiety? By its contact with the stomach, this substance produces the sensation of satiety, but not the satiety resulting from fullness. If such a substance can act on the organic economy and modify a morbid state, it can also act on the stomach and produce the sensation of satiety. However, we ask pharmacists and restaurant owners not to be jealous, nor to think that the Spirits will come to compete with them. These cases are rare and exceptional and never depend on the will. Otherwise, food and healing would be very cheap.

15. ─ Could the Spirit manufacture coins in the same way?

─ For the same reason.

16. ─ Once made tangible by the will of the Spirit, could these objects have a character of permanence and stability?

─ They could, but this is not done. It's outside the law.

17. ─ Do all spirits have the same degree of power?

─ No, no.

18. ─ Who have this power more particularly? ─ Those to whom God grants it, when this is useful.

19. ─ Does the elevation of a Spirit influence this case?

─ It is certain that the higher the spirit, the more easily it obtains this power. This, however, depends on the circumstances. Lesser spirits can also get it.

OBSERVATION: And, in this case, they are supplied by the assistance of superior spirits, often without even knowing it. To see The Book of Mediums or Guide for Mediums and Evokers > Second Part — On Spiritist Manifestations > Chapter V — On Spontaneous Physical Manifestations > Throwing Objects.

20. ─ Does the production of semi-material objects always result from an act of the Spirit's will, or does it sometimes exercise this power despite its own?

─ This often happens in spite of you.

21. ─ Would this power then be one of the attributes, one of the faculties inherent in the very nature of the Spirit? Would it be, in some way, one of the properties, like that of seeing and hearing?─ Certainly. But sometimes he himself ignores it. Then another exercises it for him, in spite of himself, when circumstances demand it. The Zouavo's tailor was precisely the spirit I just mentioned and to which he alluded in his joking language.

OBSERVATION: We find an example of this faculty in certain animals, as, for example, in the electric fish, which radiates electricity without knowing what it does, nor how, and who does not even know the mechanism that produces it. Don't we ourselves sometimes produce certain effects through spontaneous acts of which we are not aware? Thus, it seems very natural to us that the Spirit operates in this circumstance by a kind of instinct. He works of his own free will, without knowing how, just as we walk without calculating the forces we bring into play.

22. ─ We understand that in the two cases mentioned by Mrs. R.., one of the spirits wanted to have a pipe and the other a tobacco box to impress the vision of a living person. I ask, however, if it had not managed to make her see, could the Spirit think that he had these objects, creating an illusion for himself?

─ Not if he has a certain superiority, because he will be perfectly aware of his condition. The same is not true of inferior spirits. 

AK'S OBSERVATION: That was, for example, the case of the queen of Oude, whose evocation appears in our issue of March 1858, who still thought she was covered in diamonds. (Click here for the article on Queen of Oude)

23. ─ Can two spirits recognize each other by the material appearance they had in life?

─ This is not how they recognize each other, as they will not assume that appearance for each other. If, however, under certain circumstances, they find themselves in the presence of each other, dressed in that appearance, why should they not recognize each other?

NOTE: this is important! In mediumistic novels, the fantastic world created is all material or materialistic, and the form, in these tales, is fundamental. Here, we have again the confirmation already made before that the form is not important for the Spirits in general, although it is predominant for the Spirits still very attached to the matter (that is, of very attached thought). It follows from this that it would make sense for a spirit in turmoil to “see itself” in a condition like that of André Luiz’s threshold, but the same could not happen when already detached from these ideas, which does not seem to be something so distant, according to the reports of several Spirits, given to Kardec.

24. ─ How can spirits recognize themselves in the midst of the crowd of other spirits, and above all how can they do it when one of them goes to look for in a distant place and often in other worlds, those we call?

─ This is a question whose answer would take a very long way. It is necessary to wait. You are not advanced enough. For the moment, content yourself with the certainty that this is so, for you have sufficient proof of this.

TO THINK ABOUT: I understand that he meant, at the end: “how can a Spirit recognize another who assumes another appearance, when visiting other worlds?”. IF we always forget that our world, where we live now, is material and needs eyes and light to see. in spirituality there is no need for appearance, much less do spirits have eyes to see. Is that it?

25. ─ If the Spirit can take from the universal element the materials to make all these things and give them a temporary reality, with its properties, it can also take from there what is necessary to write. Consequently, this gives us the key to the phenomenon of (( direct writing *Clarification: Direct writing happens when a Spirit, by will and with the utility of doing so, makes real writing appear on paper, sometimes in graphite, sometimes in ink, sometimes in print format. We recommend reading the following article, “Pneumatography or direct writing”, as well as the article with the same title, in May 1860, and also Chapter XII of The Book of Mediums — “On pneumatography or direct writing”.  Pneuma: among the ancient Greek thinkers, especially the Stoics, designation of the spirit, animating breath or creative force, used by divine reason to vivify and direct all things. )) .

─ You finally understand.

26. ─ If the material used by the Spirit is not permanent, how come the traces of direct writing do not disappear?

─ Do not judge by the words. From the start I never said never. In the cases studied, these were bulky material objects; here we are dealing with signs that should be conserved and are conserved.

TO THINK ABOUT: This involves a profound question. Kardec had understood that the fluidic matter that the Spirits serve is always impermanent, since, in the mentioned cases, it always dissolves. However, cases of direct writing do not disappear. How could that be?

*Clarification: Direct writing happens when a Spirit, by will and with the utility of doing so, makes real writing appear on paper, sometimes in graphite, sometimes in ink, sometimes in print format. We recommend reading the following article, “Pneumatography or direct writing”, as well as the article with the same title, in May 1860, and also Chapter XII of The Book of Mediums — “On pneumatography or direct writing”.  Pneuma: among the ancient Greek thinkers, especially the Stoics, designation of the spirit, animating breath or creative force, used by divine reason to vivify and direct all things.

The above theory can be summarized as follows: Spirit acts on matter; it takes from universal primitive matter the necessary elements to, at will, form objects with the appearance of the different bodies existing on Earth. He can also operate on elementary matter, at will, an intimate transformation that gives it certain properties. This faculty is inherent to the nature of the Spirit, which often exercises it, when necessary, as an instinctive act, which it does not realize.

The objects formed by the Spirits have a temporary existence, subordinated to their will or necessity. He can make and break them at will. In certain cases, in the eyes of living people, these objects can have all the appearances of reality, that is, become momentarily visible and even tangible. There is formation, but not creation, since the Spirit cannot bring anything out of nothing. (LM 130 and 131)

We presented in the last LIVE one of the Conversations Beyond the Grave from the Spiritist Magazine of 1859, dealing with the theme of Materiality beyond the grave.

This time they talk to a soldier killed in battle.

The government allowed non-political newspapers to report on the war*. As, however, reports are abundant in all forms, it would be useless to repeat them here. The biggest news for our readers is a story from another world.

Although it is not taken from the Moniteur's official source, it is nonetheless of interest from the point of view of our studies. So we thought to interrogate some of the glorious victims of victory, presuming that we could extract some useful instruction from them. Similar subjects of study, and mainly of current affairs, do not appear at every step. Not personally knowing any of the participants in the last battle, we prayed to the spirits who assist us to send us someone. We came to think that the presence of a stranger would be preferable to that of friends or relatives overcome by emotion. Given an affirmative answer, we obtained the following communications.

RE 1859 The Zuavo of Magenta

This took place in the Second Italian War of Independence. The war took place in 1859, and was fought between the Kingdom of Sardinia, led by Camillo di Cavour, and France, led by Emperor Napoleon III, against the Austrian Empire. We will expose some excerpts from this long conversation beyond the grave.

1. ─ We pray to Almighty God to allow the spirit of a soldier killed in the battle of Magenta to come and communicate with us.

─ What do you want to know?

2. ─ Where were you when we called you?

─ I wouldn't know.

3. ─ Who told you that we wanted to talk to you?

─ Someone smarter than me.

4. ─ When in life was it doubtful that the dead could come and converse with the living?

─ Oh! Not that.

5. ─ What sensation do you experience by being here?

─ This gives me pleasure. I am told that you have great things to do.

6. ─ To which army corps did you belong? (Someone says in a low voice: From the language it looks like a “zuzu”)

─ Ah! Well you say!

7. ─ What was your position?

─ Everyone's.

8. ─ What was your name?

—Joseph Midard.

9. ─ How did you die?

─ Do you want to know everything without paying anything?

10. ─ I'm glad you haven't lost your joviality. Say, say; we will pay later. How did you die?

─ From a plum [projectile] I received.

11. ─ Were you upset by death?

─ No! I'm right here.

12. ─ At the moment of death, did you realize what happened?

─ No. I was so stunned I couldn't believe it.[note below]

NOTE from AK: This is in line with what we have observed in cases of violent death. Not realizing its situation immediately, the spirit does not think it is dead. This phenomenon is explained very easily. It is analogous to that of somnambulists, who do not believe they are sleeping. Indeed, for the somnambulist, the idea of sleep is synonymous with the suspension of intellectual faculties. Now, as he thinks, he does not believe that he sleeps. Only later is he convinced, when he becomes familiar with the meaning attached to this word. The same happens with a spirit surprised by a sudden death, when nothing is prepared for separation from the body. For him, death is synonymous with destruction, with annihilation. Well, since he lives, feels and thinks, he understands that he is not dead. It takes some time to recognize yourself.

13. ─ At the time of your death, the battle was not over. Did you follow their adventures?

─ Yes, because as I told you, I didn't think I was dead. I wanted to keep hitting the other dogs.

14. ─ What sensation did you experience then?

─ I was delighted, as I felt very light.

15. ─ Did you see the spirits of your comrades leaving their bodies?

─ I didn't even think about it, because I didn't believe I was dead.

16. ─ What was the multitude of Spirits who lost their lives in the tumult of battle transforming into at that moment? ─ I believe they were doing the same as me

17. ─ Finding themselves reunited in this world of the Spirits, what did those who fought the hardest think? Did they still throw themselves at each other?

─ Yes. For a while, and according to his character.

18. ─ Do you recognize yourself better now?

─ Without this, they wouldn't have sent me here.

19. ─ Could you tell us if among the spirits of soldiers who died a long time ago, there were still some interested in the outcome of the battle? (We beg Saint Louis to help him with the answers, so that, for our instruction, they are as explicit as possible).─ In large numbers. It is good for you to know that these combats and their consequences are prepared well in advance and that our opponents would not have become involved in crimes, as they did, if they had not been compelled to do so by reason of the future consequences, which you will soon learn about.

20. ─ There must have been spirits there who were interested in the success of the Austrians. Would there then be two battlegrounds between them?

─ Evidently.

OBSERVATION: Doesn't it seem that we are seeing Homer's gods taking sides here, some for the Greeks, others for the Trojans? Indeed, who were these gods of paganism, if not the Spirits that the Ancients had transformed into divinities? Are we not right when we say that Spiritism is a light that will clarify various mysteries, the key to numerous problems?

21. ─ Did they have any influence on the combatants?

─ Very considerable.

22. ─ Can you describe to us how they exerted such influence?

─ In the same way that all the influences of the Spirits are exerted on men. [by thought]

NOTE: It is a fact, as it becomes more and more evident, that the mentality of the Spirit creates scenarios of fluidic matter around it. Another thing could also be possible: they continue on the earthly battlefield, probably with some “fluidic additions”. All these must be indistinguishable at first when in the state of disturbance. However, it is not a rule, that is, it does not constitute a general truth for every soldier killed in war (see O Tambor de Beresina, RE, July 1858). The mistake is always to take the words of any spirits without analyzing their background, especially when the spirit is in post-death disturbance or is little enlightened, which is denoted by their own ideas. Here is Kardec's long work of Experimental Psychology!

23. ─ What do you hope to do now?

─ Study more than I did in my last stage.

24. ─ Are you going to return as a spectator to the battles yet to be fought?

─ I still don't know. I have affections that hold me for the moment. However, I hope from time to time to make a break for it, to amuse myself with the subsequent beatings.

25. ─ What kind of affection still holds you back?

─ A sick and suffering old mother, who cries for me.

26. ─ I ask you to forgive me for the bad thought that crossed my mind, regarding the affection that holds it.

─ It doesn't matter. I say silly things to make you laugh a little. It's natural that you don't take me for a big deal, considering the mediocre regiment to which I belonged. Don't worry, I only got involved because of that poor mother. I deserve a little that they sent me to you.

27. ─ When you were among the spirits, did you hear the rumor of battle? Did you see things as clearly as in life?

─ At first I lost sight of her, but after a while I saw much better, because I understood all the tricks. [is speaking in the sense of thoughts]

28. ─ I ask if you can hear the roar of the cannon.

─ Yes.

29. ─ At the moment of the action, did you think about death and what you would become if you were killed?

─ I thought about what would become of my mother.

30. ─ Was it the first time you were set on fire?

─ No, no. And Africa?

31. ─ Did you see the entry of the French into Milan?

─ No.

32. ─ Are you the only one who died in Italy?

─ Yes.

33. ─ Do you think that the war will last a long time?

─ No. It is easy and therefore not very meritorious to make such a prediction.

34. ─ When you see one of your leaders among the Spirits, do you still recognize him as your superior?

─ If he is, yes; if not, no. [note below]

NOTE from AK : In its simplicity and brevity, this answer is eminently profound and philosophical. In the Spiritist world, moral superiority is the only thing recognized. Whoever did not have it on Earth, whatever their position, does not, in fact, have any superiority. There the boss can be under the soldier and the boss under the server. What a lesson for our pride!

35. ─ Do you think about God's justice and are you worried about it?

─ Who wouldn't think of that? Fortunately, I don't have much to fear. I rescued, for some actions that God considered good, the few levities that I committed as “zuzu”, as you say.

36. ─ Watching a combat, could you protect one of your companions and deflect a fatal blow from him?

─ No. We can not do that. The time of death is set by God. If it has to happen, nothing will stop it, just as no one will be able to reach it if its time has not rung.

37. ─ Do you see General Espinasse?

─ I haven't seen him yet. But I hope to see you soon.

SECOND CONVERSATION

(JUNE 17, 1859)

38. (Evocation).

─ Gift! Firm! In front!

39. ─ Do you remember coming here eight days ago?

─ Why not?!

40. ─ You told us that you hadn't seen General Espinasse yet. How could you recognize him, since he didn't take his general's uniform with him?─ No, but I know him by sight. Besides, don't we have a lot of friends around us, ready to reveal the password to us? It's not like the barracks here. People are not afraid to bump into someone, and I assure you that only rogues are left alone.

41. ─ Under what guise do you find yourself here?

─ Zuavo.

42. ─ If we could see you, how would we see you?

- In a turban and breeches.

43. ─ Well done! Suppose you appeared to us in a turban and breeches. Where would you have gotten those clothes, since you left yours on the battlefield?

─ Well, well! I don't know how it is, but I have a tailor who fits them for me.

44. ─ What are the turban and breeches you wear made of? Have you no idea?

─ No. That's right there with the ragpicker.

NOTE from AK: This issue of the clothing of spirits, as well as several other no less interesting ones, linked to the same principle, were completely elucidated by new observations made within the Society. We will report on this in the next issue. Our good Zouavo is not advanced enough to solve it alone. For that, we needed the concurrence of circumstances that fortuitously presented themselves and that put us on the right path.

45. ─ Do you know why you see us, while we cannot see you?

─ I think your glasses are too weak.

46. ─ Is it not for this same reason that you do not see the general in his uniform?

─ Yes, but he doesn't wear it every day.

47. ─ What days do you wear it?

─ Now that! When they call him to the palace.

48. ─ Why are you here dressed as a Zouavo if we can't see you?─ Simply because I am still a Zouavo, even after about eight years, and because among Spirits we conserve that form for a long time. But that's just between us. You understand that when we go to a very different world, like the Moon or Jupiter, we don't take the trouble to do all that toileting.

OBSERVATION: This here is very interesting. What I understand is that he is referring to the fact that the Spirit adopts a perispiritual form according to the world where they go and according to the existence of a personality in that world, without even realizing it. If he had lived in a distant world, for example, an animal seller, when evoked there, he would present himself in this way.

49. ─ You speak of the Moon and Jupiter. Were you there after he died?

─ No. You are not understanding me. After death we find out about many things. Didn't they explain to us a lot of problems of our Earth? Don't we know God and other beings much better than we did a fortnight ago? With death, the Spirit undergoes a metamorphosis that you cannot understand.

50. ─ Did you search the body left on the battlefield?

─ Yes. He is not handsome.

51. ─ What impression did this view leave you with?

─ Of sadness.

52. ─ Are you aware of your previous existence?

─ Yes, but it is not glorious enough for me to strut.

53. ─ Just tell us the kind of life you led.

─ Simple merchant of wild animal skins.

54. ─ We thank you for your goodness in coming for the second time.

─ See you soon. It amuses and instructs me. Since I am well tolerated here, I will gladly return.

OBSERVATION: Tolerance is one of the consequences of charity. The Zouave felt “welcomed” in the communication.

THE next post will bring the evocation of the superior officer who was in the same battle as this zuavo.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW OF SPIRITIST PHENOMENA is one of Kardec's not-so-publicized works (Click here For download). It was written in 1864, and would be a summary of the summary of the Book of Spirits and Book of Mediums, I think. Because it is a compact work, only 20 pages, it conveys the very general concept of what the Spiritist Doctrine and the Spiritist Phenomena are.

It is divided into 5 parts: Preliminary Observations, On Spirits, Manifestations of Spirits, On Mediums, On Spiritist Meetings.

I highlight, as an example, one of the items he makes belongs to the “Manifestations of Spirits” part:

23. Spiritist evocations do not consist, as some imagine, in bringing back the dead with a gloomy aspect of the tomb. It is only in novels, in fantastic tales of ghosts and in the theater that one sees the emaciated dead emerge from their tombs dressed in sheets and making their bones crack. Spiritism, which has never performed miracles, this one as well as others, has never revived a dead body; when the body is in the grave, it is definitely there; but the spiritual, fluidic, intelligent being is not involved with its gross envelope; he separated from him at the moment of death, and once the separation has been effected, it no longer has anything in common with him.”

Summary of the Law of Spiritist Phenomena, page 12, A. Kardec

It is worth knowing it or simply sending it to that friend who wants to understand what Kardec's Spiritism is in a nutshell...

Is it possible for someone to be in two places at the same time? Of course yes! This phenomenon is called BICORPORITY. This is what this article from the Spiritist Magazine of December 1858 is about.

It is the story of a young man who goes to bed, without leaving home, goes to London where he meets his friends, drinks coffee, plays and then returns home, without remembering anything.

Briefly, this happened:

A correspondent from the interior of France sent a letter saying that, after “by order of the Spirits”, he magnetized his son, he became a very rare medium.

One case, in particular, caught his attention: his son, after reading in a book of Baron Du Potet about the adventure of a doctor from America, whose Spirit went to visit a friend from a great distance, told his guide that he would like to do the same. His guide then told him: Tomorrow is Sunday. You are not required to get up early to work. You'll sleep at eight o'clock and walk around London until eight-thirty. Next Friday you will receive a letter from your friends, reproaching you for having spent so little time with them.

Said the father: Indeed, the next day, in the morning, at the appointed time, he fell into a deep sleep. I woke him up at eight-thirty. He didn't remember anything. For my part, I said nothing to him, waiting for events.

And as promised, a letter arrived in the mail: “the postman came to deliver a letter from London, in which my son's friends reproached him for having spent only a few minutes with them, the previous Sunday, from eight to eight-thirty, with a lot of details that it would be long here to relate, including the singular fact of having breakfast with them”

Having told the above fact, one of the assistants said that History narrates several similar cases. He cited Saint Alphonsus of Liguori, who was canonized before the required time, for having shown himself simultaneously in two different places, which was considered a miracle.

In the first, with a religious aspect, Alfonso left the convent of Ciorani for Pagani and at the same time was seen attending confessions in the Redemptorist church of Ciorani.

On the second occasion of a religious nature, the Saint preached popular missions in Amalfi, Italy. It was in 1756. During the mission, he was seen simultaneously preaching in Amalfi Cathedral and answering confessions in the house where the missionaries were housed.

Antonio Benedetto Maria Tannoia (II, c. 44), his biographer, comments: “An angel, wanting to continue his zeal in welcoming sinners, wanted to replace him in the pulpit”.

On the third occasion, this one of a social nature, the saint was in Naples and at the same time in Pagani, where every Saturday he used to help a former prostitute he had managed to convert. This happened in 1759.
The last occasion is of a political-religious nature. On September 22, 1774, Afonso was in Arienzo, a village in his diocese of Santa Ágata dei Goti, where he would go on those days when it was very cold. At the same time he was seen in Rome, beside the deathbed of Pope Clement XIV, watching him. (This case has been documented by the Catholic Church).

Note: The Church says that “bilocation” is an extraordinary manifestation of the power of God, consisting of the bodily presence of a person, at the same time, in two or more places. Physically, bilocation is impossible for material beings, by the very nature of things.

There are also some reports of bicorpority of Saint Anthony of Padua. His most famous was on the occasion of his father's accusation of murder: Once, while preaching in Padua, the saint felt a strong intuition that his presence was necessary in Lisbon at that very moment. He sat down beside the pulpit and, as he had done once before, covered his head with the capeio, the hood of the Franciscans. He then appeared at the Lisbon Court, where he made a strong defense of his father. To prove his father's innocence, he went with the authorities to the cemetery. To the astonishment of those present, he resuscitated the victim, who acquitted the accused of any responsibility for his death. He then allowed the murdered man to return to his rest. Soon after, far beyond, he regained consciousness and resumed his preaching.

The first time this happened was in Limoges, southern France, in the year 1226. On Holy Thursday, the friar preached in the Church of St. Peter. At the same moment, a few kilometers away, his Franciscan brothers were already singing matins in the convent. As Custos, he was responsible for reading a lesson in the trade to his brothers.

At the very moment when he was supposed to be present at the convent, the friar interrupted his sermon and leaned back in the pulpit, covering his face with his hood. To the surprise of the Friars Minor, the voice of the Portuguese friar rang out among the Franciscans' choir. He sang the lesson and fulfilled his task together with his brothers, to then disappear and wake up from his apparent nap in the Church of São Pedro.

Thus, to begin to clarify the phenomenon, Kardec evoked the aforementioned Saint Alfonso de Liguori. The following questions were asked:

1. ─ Is the fact for which you were canonized real? ─ Yes.

2. ─ Is this phenomenon exceptional?─ No. It can present itself in all dematerialized individuals.

3. ─ Was it just reason to canonize you? ─ Yes, because by my virtue I had raised myself to God. Without it I would not have been able to transport myself to two different places at the same time.

4. ─ Do all the individuals with whom these phenomena occur deserve to be canonized? ─ No, because not everyone is equally virtuous.

Comment: Liguori died in 1787 – quite recent, in terms of spiritist life. At the time of its evocation, it presents thoughts still quite imbued with Catholic ideas. We have just seen, and in OLM Kardec gives other examples, that bi-corporeity does not seem to depend that much on such high virtuosity. It is necessary to be sure if it was really this phenomenon, or if it was just the case of another person, a seer, seeing the Spirit semi-disconnected from the sleeping body.

5. ─ Could you give us an explanation of this phenomenon? ─ Yup. When man, by his virtue, is completely dematerialized; when he has raised his soul to God, he can appear simultaneously in two places, as follows: Feeling sleep, the incarnate Spirit can ask God to transport himself to any place. His Spirit or his soul, whatever you want to call it, then leaves his body, followed by a part of his perispirit and leaves the filthy matter in a state close to death. I say close to death because there is a bond in the body that connects the perispirit and the soul to matter, and this bond cannot be defined. The body then appears in the desired place. I believe that's all you want to know.

Comment: once again, a large number of concepts that have, in the background, Catholic ideas as a determining influence: “To ask God”, “Filthy matter”, “Neighbor to death”. At the same time, it characterizes the veracity of the communication.

Observation: The answer to question 5 characterizes a certain ambiguity in the communication in relation to the answer to question 2, because if bi-corporation can manifest itself in all materialized individuals, not only the virtuous can do it.

6. ─ This does not explain the visibility and tangibility of the perispirit. – Finding itself detached from matter, according to its degree of elevation, the Spirit can make matter tangible.

7. – However, certain tangible apparitions of hands and other parts of the body are evidently due to inferior spirits. - They are superior spirits who make use of inferior ones in order to prove the fact.

Observation: If it is true that superior spirits use inferiors in order to prove the fact, it would explain why inferior spirits cannot materialize in monstrous forms, to frighten the people. would explain the “God would not allow”! more explanations click here on this article

8. Is the sleep of the body essential for the Spirit to appear in other places? – The soul can be divided when it feels transported to a place different from that where its body is.

9. What would happen to a man sunk in a deep sleep, and whose Spirit appeared elsewhere, if he were suddenly awakened? – This would not happen, because if someone had the intention of awakening him, the Spirit would foresee the intention and return to the body, considering that the Spirit reads the mind.

Division is an inaccurate term. Better to say that the soul, that is, the perispirit, can extend to other places, when one has this capacity.

The perispirit, being extended, never leaves the body, except for its death. It is possible to understand that, therefore, the Spirit, being distant, perceives what happens around the body.

After this communication was given to us, several facts of the same kind, whose source is authentic, were told to us, and among them there are very recent, which occurred, so to speak, in our midst, and which presented themselves with the most singular circumstances. The explanations to which they gave rise have singularly widened the field of psychological observations.

In the RE of August 1859 we read the following:

Communications – Mr. Allan Kardec announces that he saw Mr. W… son, from Boulogne-Sur-Mer, who was an issue in the December 1858 magazine, regarding an article on the phenomenon of bicorporeality, and which confirmed the fact of his simultaneous presence in Boulogne and London.

Spiritism, in its turn, comes to give its theory. It relies on experimental psychology; he studies the soul, not only during life, but after death; he watches her in a state of isolation; he sees it acting in freedom, whereas ordinary philosophy sees it only in union with the body, subject to the constraints of matter, for which reason it often confuses cause and effect.

AK, in RE May 1864

Perhaps this is one of the most interesting reported communications of the year 1858, because it is the Spirit of a soldier killed in war, a Spirit with an appearance of tranquility and even kindness.

It happened like this: “Having gathered in our house some people with the purpose of verifying certain manifestations, in several sessions the following facts were produced: a Spirit manifested by blows, not beaten by the table foot, but in the very texture of the table. table." Then Kardec goes on to say that in addition to the answers to several yes and no questions, the blows played marches, imitated rifle fire, something completely unusual.

As they listened, they observed that the Spirit had a certain predilection for the drum roll.

In addition to a special medium of physical influence, a psychograph was present. Because of that, they got the conversation very explicit, like name, place of birth, date of death, etc. Spontaneous communication started like this:

1 – Write anything, whatever you want. – Ran plan plan, ran, plan, plan.

2 – Why did you write this? – I was a drummer.

He said he died in a battle, and he still takes on that drum beater characteristic, that's why he did those marching effects.

16- Are you reincarnated? - No, because I come to talk to you.

17- Why do you manifest yourself by blows, without you being called? – It is necessary to make noise for those whose hearts believe nothing. If you don't have enough, I will give you even more.

Observation: He demonstrates a certain moral superiority.

18 – Is it your own will that you came to knock, or did another spirit force you to do so? — I come of my own accord; there is another, whom you call Truth, who can force me to do this too. But I've wanted to come for a long time.

19 – For what purpose did you want to come? – To converse with you; it was what I wanted; But there was something that stopped me. I was forced by a familiar spirit in the house, who urged me to make myself useful to people who asked me questions.

19.1 – Does this Spirit, then, have a lot of power, since it commands other Spirits? — More than you can imagine, and he uses it only for good.

Note: Spirits are always assisted.

22- Which existence do you prefer: the current one or the terrestrial one? – I prefer the existence of the Spirit to that of the body. Because we are much better off than on Earth. Earth is a purgatory; all the time I lived there, I always wanted death.

25 – Would you be satisfied if you had a new bodily existence? – Yes, because I know that I must elevate myself.

26 – Who told you that? – I know it well.

27 – Will you reincarnate soon? - I don't know.

From question 28 onwards, for the first time in RE, those present ask the manifesting Spirit about other Spirits in Erraticity:

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.

RE July 1858

See how interesting: He sees the other Spirits around him without any form! He is not an advanced Spirit, but outside of the moment they are evoked, in erraticity, Spirits DO NOT have a form.

Spirits have no eyes, no ears, no touch... because they have no need in the spiritual plane for this type of manifestation. “Our form is only apparent,” says the drum.

The communication follows with questions about the manifestation of the knocking on the table, in which he says that he is beside her, that he does not get inside her.

37-How do you produce the noises you make heard? – I believe it is through a kind of concentration of our strength.

38 – Could you explain to us the way in which the different noises that you imitate are produced, the scratches, for example? - I wouldn't know much about the nature of the
noises; it's hard to explain. I know I scratch, but I can't explain how I make that noise you call scratching.

Then he was asked what he depended on to lift a table, to which he replied: – It depends on me, because I use the medium as an instrument. And besides, it has to be with specific mediums, which I am attracted to.

48 – What do you occupy yourself with in your existence as a Spirit, considering that you shouldn't spend all your time just knocking? – I often have missions to fulfill; we must
obey superior orders and, above all, do good to human beings.
humans who are under our influence.

49 – Certainly your earthly life was not free of faults; do you recognize them now? - Yes; and for that reason I expiate them, remaining stationary among the inferior spirits; I will only be able to purify myself enough when I take another body.

OBSERVATION: Here recognition of their faults and repentance is evident.

55 – Are you always on Earth, in your spiritual existence? – Most often in space.

56 – Do you sometimes go to other worlds, that is, to other globes? – Not to the more perfect ones, but to the inferior worlds.

57 – Do you sometimes enjoy seeing and hearing what men do? - No; however, I sometimes pity them.

65 – Were you immediately aware of your new existence? – No, but I no longer felt cold.

RE July 1858

NOTE: He was no longer aware of his body.

KARDEC'S COMMENT ON THE COMMUNICATION: – Little advanced in the spiritist hierarchy, as can be seen, the Spirit of the Drum himself recognized his inferiority. Your knowledge is limited; but he has good sense, praiseworthy feelings, and benevolence. As a Spirit, his mission lacked meaning, as he played the role of a Spirit beater to call unbelievers to faith; yet, even in the theater, cannot the humble attire of a partner involve an honest heart? His answers have the simplicity of ignorance; however, due to the fact that they do not have the elevation of the philosophical language of the superior spirits, they are nevertheless less instructive, especially for the study of spiritist customs, if we can express it that way. It is only by studying all the classes of this world that awaits us that we can get to know it and mark out in it, in some way, in advance, the place that each one of us will be given to occupy. Seeing the situation that, by their vices and virtues, created men, our equals here on Earth, we feel encouraged to elevate ourselves as quickly as possible from this life: it is the example next to the theory. In order to know something well, and to form an idea of it free from illusions, it is necessary to dissect it in all its aspects, just as the botanist cannot know the plant kingdom except by observing it from the humblest cryptogam, which the moss hides. , even the towering oak, which soars in the air.

Kardec takes up the subject of the engravings, reproduced by the medium Victorien Sardou, who, according to Kardec, does not know how to draw or record, about Jupiter's dwellings.

"Even assuming that this drawing is a fantasy of the Spirit that traced it, the mere fact of its execution would not be a phenomenon less worthy of attention. […] not to satisfy the curiosity of frivolous people, but as a subject of study for serious people who want to delve into all the mysteries of Spirit Science” – As far as is known, only through Sardou were these drawings obtained.

It would be a mistake to think that we make the revelation of unknown worlds the main object of the doctrine. This will never be for us more than one accessory, which we consider useful as a complementary study; the main thing will always be for us the moral teaching and communications from beyond the grave we will seek above all that which can enlighten Humanity and lead it to the good, the only way to assure you of happiness in this world and in the next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NVwXDL3HdA

Allan Kardec starts the Magazine of the month of May 1858 bringing to light a reflection on the Manifestations Physics of the Spirits, which, for many, is somethingsupernatural” and even impossible.

This is due to the fact that we think that the Spirit is an abstraction. Says Kardec: Asked if they are immaterial, the Spirits replied: “Immaterial is not the right term, because the Spirit is something; otherwise it would be nothing. It is material, if you like, but of a matter so ethereal that for you it is as if it did not exist”. 

Thus, the Spirit is not an abstraction, as some think; it is a being, but whose intimate nature escapes our gross senses.

According to observations, and not a system, the Spirit recently freed from the body keeps its physical characteristics of the immediate incarnation, involved, almost always, in a disturbance that follows for more or less time, depending on each one. After this period, the body becomes for them like an “old clothes”, which they no longer want.

Let us return, then, to the various accounts of tangible apparitions, as mentioned in the case of Mr Home, in the April issue. Kardec takes up this fact to conclude the following: that the soul does not leave everything in the coffin: it takes something with it.

There would, therefore, be, in us, two kinds of matter besides the Spirit: the gross matter, which constitutes the body, and a more subtle matter, which constitutes what Kardec called perispirit.

This subtle matter, as it were, extracted from all the parts of the body to which it was attached during life, retains its form. This is why all spirits are seen and why they appear to us as they were in life.

O perispirit, however, is not something rigid and compact like the body: it is an expandable and flexible matter, and that is not limited to the body, as in a shell: it expands around it, at the rate of centimeters or meters, and that is what gives origin of what many call the aura. In reality, the aura is like a field of energies of the solid body and not the perispirit.

Disentangling himself from this obstacle that was compressing him, the perispirit stretches or contracts; turns and, in a word, it lends itself to all metamorphoses, according to the will that acts upon it.

Observation proves - and we insist on the word observation, because our whole theory is a consequence of the facts studied - that the subtle matter, which constitutes the second envelope of the Spirit, only gradually detaches itself from the body, and not instantly.

The bonds that unite soul and body are not suddenly broken by death. Now, the state of disturbance that we observe lasts as long as the detachment takes place. Only when this detachment is complete does the Spirit recover the complete freedom of its faculties and the clear consciousness of itself..

Experience also proves that the duration of this detachment varies with individuals. In some it takes three or four days, while in others it is not completed until after several months. Thus, the destruction of the body and putrid decomposition are not enough for the separation to take place. This is the reason why certain spirits say: I feel the worms gnawing at me.

And we asked ourselves: Is there an explanation for the supposed Spiritual Hospitals? Watch the video with our discussion about it.

In some people, separation begins before death: they are those who, in life, were elevated by thought and by the purity of their feelings, above material things. In them death finds only weak bonds between soul and body, which are broken almost instantly. The more materially man lived; the more his thoughts have been absorbed in the pleasures and worries of the personality, the more tenacious are those bonds. 

It seems that subtle matter is identified with compact matter and that a molecular cohesion is established between them. This is why they only separate slowly and with difficulty.

the matter of perispirit is something subtle enough to escape our sight and pass through solid objects, but, according to the will of the Spirit, it can be condense enough, however momentarily, to become solid as rock. We have an example of this in Mr. Home of April, where hands are mentioned that came out of the middle of the table, but that became tangible. Bozzano also cites this in Spiritism and the Supernormal Manifestations.

THE an apparent, tangible hand offers resistance: it exerts pressure, leaves impressions, operates a traction on the objects we hold. There is, therefore, a force in it. Now, these facts, which are not hypotheses, can lead us to the explanation of physical manifestations.

Kardec continues, stating that these hands (or other bodily ones), when condensed, has sufficient strength, just as we would, he can also hit us, lift and knock down a table, touch a bell, pull a curtain and even give us an invisible slap.

Where could there be the capacity for such subtle matter to be capable of such material force?

But Kardec asserts: we don't want to test the Spirit with our laboratory instruments, especially after we've taken steam as a basis for comparison: It is a new order of ideas, outside the scope of the exact sciences. That is why these sciences do not offer us the special ability to appreciate them.

Kardec takes these comparisons just to be able to show others that the facts of physical manifestations are not something so inconceivable, nor so far from what we already know (or knew at that time).

At the Book of Spirits, there is an explanation about:

257. The body is the instrument of pain. If it is not the primary cause of this, it is at least the immediate cause. The soul has the perception of pain: this perception is the effect. The memory that the soul retains of pain can be very painful, but it cannot have physical action. In fact, neither cold nor heat is capable of disorganizing the tissues of the soul, which is not susceptible to freezing or burning. Do we not see every day the memory or apprehension of a physical illness producing the effect of that illness, as if it were real? Do we not see them until they cause death? Everyone knows that those who have had a limb amputated often feel pain in the missing limb. Of course, there is not the thirst, or even the starting point of pain. The only thing is that the brain has kept this impression. It will therefore be lawful to admit that something analogous occurs in the sufferings of the Spirit after death. An in-depth study of the perispirit, which plays such an important role in all spiritist phenomena; in vaporous or tangible apparitions; in the state in which the Spirit finds itself at death; in the idea, which he so often manifests, that he is still alive; in the very moving situations of the suicides, the tortured, those who let themselves be absorbed by material pleasures; and countless other facts, shed light on this question, giving rise to explanations that we now summarize. 

The perispirit is the bond that unites the Spirit to the matter of the body; it is taken from the environment, from the universal fluid. It participates at the same time in electricity, in the magnetic fluid and, to a certain extent, in inert matter. One could say that it is the quintessence of matter. It is the principle of organic life, but not of intellectual life, which resides in the Spirit. It is, moreover, the agent of external sensations. In the body, the organs, serving as conduits, locate these sensations. When the body is destroyed, they become general. Hence the Spirit does not say that it suffers more from the head than from the feet, or vice versa. However, do not confuse the sensations of the perispirit, which has become independent, with those of the body. The latter can only be taken as a term of comparison and not by identity. Freed from the body, spirits can suffer, but this suffering is not corporeal, although it is not exclusively moral, like remorse, since they complain of cold and heat. Nor do they suffer more in winter than in summer: we have seen them go through flames without experiencing any pain. Consequently, the temperature does not make any impression on them. The pain they feel is not, therefore, a physical pain properly speaking: it is a vague intimate feeling, which the Spirit itself does not always understand well, precisely because the pain is not located and because external agents do not produce it; it is more reminiscence than reality, reminiscence but equally painful. Sometimes, however, there is more to it than that, as we shall see.

Experience teaches us that, at death, the perispirit detaches more or less slowly from the body; that, during the first minutes after disincarnation, the Spirit finds no explanation for the situation in which it finds itself. He believes he is not dead, because he feels alive; he sees the body to one side, he knows that it belongs to him, but he does not understand that he is separated from it. This situation lasts as long as there is any connection between the body and the perispirit. A suicidal man once told us, "No, I'm not dead." And he added: However, I feel the worms gnawing at me. Now, undoubtedly, the worms did not gnaw at his perispirit and even less at the Spirit; they only gnawed at his body. As, however, the separation of the body and the perispirit was not complete, a kind of moral repercussion was produced, transmitting to the Spirit what was happening in the body. Repercussion is perhaps not the proper term, because it can lead to the assumption of a very material effect. It was rather the vision of what was happening to the body, to which the perispirit still kept it connected, which caused him the illusion, which he took for reality. So, then, there would be no reminiscence in the case, since he had not been gnawed by worms in life: there was the feeling of a fact of the present. This shows what deductions can be drawn from the facts, when carefully observed. During life, the body receives external impressions and transmits them to the Spirit through the perispirit, which probably constitutes what is called nervous fluid. Once dead, the body feels nothing, because there is no Spirit or perispirit in it. The latter, detached from the body, experiences the sensation, however, as it no longer reaches him through a limited channel, it becomes general to him. Now, since the perispirit is not really more than a simple agent of transmission, since the consciousness is in the Spirit, it is logical to deduce that, if a perispirit could exist without a Spirit, that one would feel nothing, exactly like a body that he died. Likewise, if the Spirit did not have a perispirit, it would be inaccessible to any painful sensation. This is what happens with completely purified spirits. We know that the more they purify themselves, the more ethereal the essence of the perispirit becomes, whence it follows that the material influence decreases as the Spirit progresses, that is, as the perispirit itself becomes less coarse.

But, it will be said, since it is through the perispirit that pleasant sensations, as well as unpleasant ones, are transmitted to the Spirit, since the pure Spirit is inaccessible to some, it must be equally inaccessible to others. So it is, in fact, with regard to those that come solely from the influence of matter that we know. The sound of our instruments, the perfume of our flowers make no impression on you. However, he experiences intimate sensations, of an indefinable charm, of which we can form no idea, because in this respect we are like born blind before the light. We know this is real; but by what means is it produced? This point eludes knowledge. We know that in the Spirit there is perception, feeling, hearing, seeing; that these faculties are attributes of the whole being and not, as in man, of a part of the being alone; but how does he have them? We ignore it. The spirits themselves cannot inform us about this, because our language is inadequate to express ideas that we do not have, precisely as the savages, for lack of proper terms, are used to translate ideas referring to our arts, sciences and philosophical doctrines.

In saying that spirits are inaccessible to the impressions of matter that we know, we are referring to very high spirits, whose ethereal envelope finds no analogy in this world. The same is not true of those with a denser perispirit, who perceive our sounds and odors, not, however, only through a limited part of their individualities, as happened to them when they were alive. It can be said that, in them, the molecular vibrations are felt throughout the being and thus reach the sensorium commune, which is the Spirit itself, although in a different way and perhaps also giving a different impression, which modifies the perception. They hear the sound of our voice, yet they understand us without the aid of the word, only through the transmission of thought. In support of what we say is the fact that this penetration is so much easier, the more dematerialized the Spirit is. As far as sight is concerned, this, for the Spirit, is independent of the light, which we have. The faculty of seeing is an essential attribute of the soul, for whom obscurity does not exist. It is, however, more extensive, more penetrating in the most purified. The soul, or the Spirit, therefore, has in itself the faculty of all perceptions. These, in bodily life, are obliterated by the grossness of the bodily organs; in out-of-body life, they unwind, as the semi-material envelope becomes ethereal.

Hauled from the environment, this wrap varies according to the nature of the worlds. When passing from one world to another, the spirits change their envelope, as we change clothes, when we pass from winter to summer, or from the pole to the equator. When they come to visit us, the higher ones take on the terrestrial perispirit and then their perceptions are produced as in the common spirits of our world. All, however, inferior as well as superior, do not hear or feel, but what they want to hear or feel. Having no sense organs, they can freely make their perceptions active or null. They are obliged to listen to only one thing: the advice of good spirits. The view, this is always active; but, they can make themselves invisible to each other. Depending on the category they occupy, they can hide from those who are inferior to them, but not from those who are superior to them. In the first moments that follow death, the vision of the Spirit is always troubled and confused. It clarifies as it comes off, and can achieve the clarity it had during earthly life, regardless of the possibility of penetrating through bodies that are opaque to us. As for its extension through indefinite space, future and past, it depends on the degree of purity and elevation of the Spirit.

They will perhaps object: “This whole theory is not at all reassuring. We thought that, once we were freed from our gross envelope, instrument of our pains, we would no longer suffer, and here we are informed that we will still suffer. One way or another, it will always be suffering.” Yea! it may happen that we continue to suffer, and a lot, and for a long time, but also that we stop suffering, even from the moment that our bodily life ends.

The sufferings of this world are sometimes independent of us; many, however, are due to our will. Trace each one back to their origin and you will see that most of such sufferings are the effects of causes which it would have been possible for you to avoid. How many evils, how many infirmities does man owe to his excesses, to his ambition, in a word: to his passions? He who always lived soberly, who abused nothing, who was always simple in tastes and modest in desires, would be covered for many tribulations. The same is true of the Spirit. The sufferings you go through are always the consequence of the way you lived on Earth. Sure, you will no longer suffer from gout or rheumatism; however, he will experience other sufferings that have nothing to do with them. We have seen that his suffering results from the bonds that still tie him to matter; that the more free you are from its influence, or, on the other hand, the more dematerialized you are, the less painful sensations you will experience. Now, it is in your hands to free yourself from such influence from the present life. He has free will, he has, therefore, the faculty of choosing between doing and not doing. Tame your animal passions; do not harbor hatred, nor envy, nor jealousy, nor pride; do not allow yourself to be dominated by selfishness; purify yourself, nourishing good feelings; do good; do not attach importance to the things of this world that they do not deserve; and then, although coated with the body wrap, it will already be purified, it will already be freed from the yoke of matter and, when it leaves this wrapping, it will no longer be influenced by it. No painful memory will come to him of the physical sufferings he has suffered; they will leave no unpleasant impression, because they will only have hit the body and not the Spirit. He will be happy to have freed himself from them, and the peace of his conscience will free him from any moral suffering. We questioned, by the thousands, Spirits who on Earth belonged to all classes of society, occupied all social positions; we study them in all periods of the spiritist life, from the moment they left the body; We followed them step by step in the life beyond the grave, to observe the changes that took place in them, in their ideas, in their sensations and, in this respect, it was not those who were here counted among the most common men who provided less precious elements of study. Now, we always notice that the sufferings were related to the course they had and whose consequences they experienced; that the afterlife is a source of ineffable happiness for those who have followed the good path. It follows that, to those who suffer, it happens because they wanted to; who, therefore, must complain of themselves alone, whether in the other world or in this.

There is, however, another [theory], of high philosophical scope, given by the Spirits themselves, which sheds an entirely new light on this problem. It will be better understood after you have read it. In fact, it is useful to know all the systems in order to be able to compare them.

It remains now to explain how this modification of the ethereal substance of the perispirit; by what process does the Spirit operate and, consequently, the role of mediums of physical influence in the production of these phenomena; what in such circumstances happens to them; the cause and nature of his faculties, &c.

That's what we'll do in the next article.

Allan Kardec was, above all, a scholar. At the beginning of the chapter of the Spirits' Book (Chapter II – General Elements of the Universe, 2. Spirit and Matter item 27.), new terms appear such as Universal Fluid, or UNIVERSAL COSMIC FLUID. It is about him that we intend to deal here.

Beforehand, we recommend that the reader study the work Mesmer: the denied science of animal magnetism, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo.

O Universal Cosmic Fluid it is a hypothesis that explains much of the spiritual manifestations and phenomena, that is why its understanding is so important for the student of the Spiritist Doctrine. In your latest book, Genesis, Miracles and Predictions According to Spiritism , Allan Kardec concluded the entire Spiritist Doctrine. It has a whole chapter dedicated to the fluids, chapter XIV. I suggest the new edition of FEAL as it contains a more faithful translation of Kardec's first edition of January 1868. It is worth reading. (note: Editions currently published in Brazil are from A Genesis from the 5th French edition onwards, which have been tampered with by a former helper involved with other ideas.)

O Universal Cosmic Fluid was first described by Frans Anton Mesmer, in 1784. He was a German physician who lived between 1734 and 1815. He developed the Animal Magnetism Theory.

In 1775, after many experiences, Mesmer recognized that he could heal through the application of his hands. He declares: "Of all the bodies of Nature, it is man himself who most effectively acts upon man." The disease would just be disharmony in the creature's equilibrium, he believes. Mesmer, who charged nothing for treatments, preferred to treat disorders linked to the nervous system. In addition to the imposition of hands on the sick, to extend the benefit to a greater number of people, he magnetized water, dishes, bed, etc., whose contact subjected the sick.

FEB article

His theory is that all phenomena in nature originate from a single principle, The original matter of the entire universe: O Universal Cosmic Fluid, because? Because all phenomena are explained from it.
And how does he explain?

It will grant the hypothesis that nature works through vibration states. each state of Universal Cosmic Fluid, which is for where is the vibration, it would have degrees of subtlety. And the vibration of each of these degrees would result in different phenomena. He talked about electromagnetic waves, but in other words... The “little problem” is that there was still no study on electromagnetic waves, nor was it known if they existed... At the time, in the 18th century, they believed that there was nothing between molecules. The Fluid would be where the transmission takes place.

note: Magnetism is the name given to the studies of phenomena related to the properties of magnets. The first magnetic phenomena were observed in ancient Greece, in a city called Magnesia. The first studies carried out in this area were carried out in the 6th century BC by Thales of Miletus, who observed the ability of some pebbles, which today are called magnetite, to attract each other and also to iron. The first practical application of magnetism was found by the Chinese: the compass, which is based on the interaction of the magnetic field of a magnet (the compass needle) with the earth's magnetic field. In the sixth century, the Chinese already dominated the manufacture of magnets. Studies on magnetism only gained strength from the 13th century onwards, when some work and observations were made on electricity and magnetism, which were still considered completely different phenomena. This theory was accepted until the 19th century. Experimental studies in the area were carried out by Europeans. Pierre Pelerin de Maricourt, in 1269, described a large number of experiments on magnetism. The names of the North Pole and South Pole to the ends of the magnet are due to him, as well as the discovery that the compass needle pointed exactly to the geographic north of the Earth. The great revolution in the study of magnetism was made by Oesterd in 1820. He discovered that electrical and magnetic phenomena are interrelated. According to this theory, called electromagnetism, moving electric charges generate a magnetic field, and a moving magnetic field generates an electric current. These studies were completed by Maxwell, who established solid theoretical foundations on the relationship between the electric and magnetic fields, that is, electromagnetic waves.

Dr. Mesmer believed that the ANIMAL MAGNETISM, that is, of vital principle, was an invisible natural force possessed by all living/animate beings (humans, animals, plants, etc.). He believed that such a force could have physical effects, including healing properties. This theory is known as MESMERISM.

He said that the denser matter is "vibrating" the waves materials through the fluid.

Let's exemplify, to illustrate: imagine the wind/pressure make water waves; then the waves of air, a little more subtle than those of water, would result in the phenomenon of sound; more subtle waves generate the phenomenon of light, which would be, for him, the vibration of matter in an even more subtle state. It's the most we can see.
So, Mesmer will grant a hypothesis: after the fluid of light, there would be something even more subtle, which would receive the vibration of our thoughts and our will. And these vibrations of thoughts and will, then, would extend throughout the Universe from a focus that is each one of us. and that the nervous system of other individuals could interpret that thought.

Note: Today it is known that the light it's a kind of wave visible electromagnetic field, formed by the joint propagation of an electric and a magnetic field. As is characteristic of electromagnetic radiation, the light it can propagate through different media and undergo changes in speed when passing from one propagation medium to another. Light can propagate in a vacuum with velocity of approximately 300 thousand km/s. The frequencies of light that are visible to the human eye are called visible spectrum, these waves have lengths between 400 no and 700 no. Electromagnetic waves that have frequencies lower than that of visible light are called infra-red, while those with higher frequencies are called ultraviolet. In Mesmer's time, there was no such understanding, yet... They believed that there was always a fluid, such as magnetic fluid, electric fluid, chloric fluid, etc. and the prevailing theory was mechanist, that is, everything was transmitted from one molecule to another.

Dr. Mesmer performed a series of experiments with applications of his hands to heal people. He realized that his patients, when awake, influenced perception at the time of healing. He then imagined the following: if I put this patient in a state of sleep, putting the body to sleep (this would be our hypnosis today), he would begin to perceive the subtlety of the vibration of the thoughts of others. This was his way of explaining somnambulistic lucidity by this method. It will grant the existence of a 6th. Sense, which, for him, would be in the our nervous system(I didn't think it was something spiritual). He will also perceive states of vibration above light, it would be a state of vibration of the universal cosmic fluid that would have thought waves. The Fluid is the medium through which the thought of the healing will reached the patient.

Mesmer says it like this: that's why, just thinking about the question, the sleepwalker, who is perceiving everything through the sixth sense, captures my thought.

quote from Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo in a lecture for the Spiritism For All Channel on 02/01/2021

Mesmer's hypothesis was that matter is the same in different states. And who acts on matter is the movement of this sixth Sense from our nervous system.
Mesmer spoke of conditions of matter veryuntessentialthe, most subtle, where thought can act. That would be the spirit world only he, at the time, didn't use the "spirit world" to explain...
He knew that at a certain point the matter was so subtle that it was possible for thought to act there.

When he did the healings he was talking to me out of matter. “He talked with the Spirit, by thought. Your proposal was very advanced.”

Kardec would say about Mesmer.

Around the 1850s, around 70 years later, Allan Kardec began his studies. He did not have access to all of Mesmer's work, but the Spirits knew, knew and talked with him about the Mesmer principle. The Spirits will explain that it is not an organ of the body's physiology that perceives the vibrations of thought, but our perispirit(which is a means by which the Spirit can communicate with the body). Kardec, then, developed the hypothesis that it is the Spirit who activates the fluid through thought-will and moves it. would be the smart principle.

So there is a difference between Mesmer, who conceived a Hypothesis, and Spiritism, which works from the observation of the Spirits of the reality of the spiritual world.

Mesmer never thought of perispirit. He couldn't "invent" something that far. He imagined that it was the nervous system that perceived the vibrations of thought. would never be a perispiritual fluid of a spiritual principle not belonging to the material world. Kardec, then, explained the phenomena from these hypotheses of Mesmer regarding matter. And the Spirits will explain to Kardec that no, “our thoughts really vibrate matter, but that matter does not belong to our universe”. This matter is spiritual.

This is very important for every spiritist to understand: the vibrations of our thoughts are not of our observable world. No device will be able to capture it. It is above the light. And light is our limit. Light and electromagnetic waves are at the limit of our observable universe. Thought vibrates above that. In other words, it belongs to another universe. And the Spirits explain this, they say: This is the spiritual universe. And there in the spiritual universe there is the “matter” that they will call perispiritual fluid and he who makes the matter of thought vibrate. And they go even further: that in the spiritual universe matter has various stages of subtlety, that as Spirit evolves, both Spirit and thought will vibrate in this higher range. That's why we're going to have a difference between the more evolved Spirits and less evolved Spirits.

So, the Spirits explained it like this: we have 3 things in the Universe: God, matter and Spirit. Matter is inert, and would be represented by the Universal Cosmic Fluid, because it is inert, it has no form. For a form to emerge, someone has to think. So the Spirit, in its simplest condition, when it thinks (or has a will), the form that appears in matter is the simplest particle.

And what is this unity of the Universal Fluid? She is like the thought of God. But as God created in all times, there are Spirits of all evolutionary scale: there are beings who live in the vegetable kingdom, in the animal kingdom, there are human spirits that range from the simple ignorant to the pure Spirit, all of this concomitant. And among us, Spirits in an evolutionary process, none is equal to the other. If an individual, with his characteristics, will reflect what he is, which is different than another form of another incarnate, with other virtues, other abilities, and so on. Each one completely different from the others, due to the choices and knowledge they made. In such a way that we present the most absolute variety. and everything inside Universal Cosmic Fluid.

Observation: We have to understand that Never does a Spirit manifest with a physical effect alone.. There has to be a medium, there has to be someone alive to mediate with a vital principle. There is no action in the world of the disembodied for the material world. The disembodied spirit acts in the intelligent principle of atoms, which is physical, that from there it effects motion. He acts in the THOUGHT of the incarnate. It is necessary that there be one or more mediums for this interference in the material world to happen. Spirit alone cannot transfer energy to us. You have to understand this very clearly. It is a animalized principle donated by the medium, human being. It can be conscious or unconscious. The spirit that wants the cure uses the vital principle of the medium. But that part is for another article… (coming soon)

So, the spiritual world is invisible, obscure, imponderable (we cannot measure).
We do not possess the foundations of the invisible and spiritual world… We do not know how it is made…

O The future holds for us the knowledge of new laws, which will allow us to understand what remains a mystery.
It may be that the Electromagnetism explain a lot of what mesmer theorized and then Allan Kardec explained with your hypothesis?

YEA!!!

But it may be that the future tells us that this mechanism is all different from that…

Source: Kardec, Allan, GENESIS – Miracles and Predictions According to Spiritism, chapter XIV – Fluids, chapter III, chapter I; Kardec, Allan Book of Spirits question 223 and following; Lecture given by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo on 02/01/2021; Channel Spiritism for All, Study of Genesis by Allan Kardec; FEB – https://www.feeb.org.br/index.php/institucional/artigos/372-biografia-de-mesmer ; Figueiredo, Paulo Henrique Mesmer. The denied science of animal magnetism ; https://kardecpedia.com/roteiro-de-estudos/2/o-livro-dos-espiritos/64/parte-primeira-das-causas-primarias/capitulo-ii-dos-elementos-gerais-do-universo

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.

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