278. An important question arises here, whether or not there is any inconvenience in evoking bad spirits. That depends on the end one has in view and the ascendancy one can exert over them. The inconvenience is null, when they are called with a serious purpose, which is to instruct and improve them; it is, on the contrary, very great, when called out of mere curiosity or for fun, or even when the caller puts himself at their dependence, asking them for some service.. The good spirits, in this case, can very well give them the power to do what is asked of them, which does not exclude the daredevil who dared to ask for help and suppose them more powerful than God from being severely punished later on. . It will be in vain if he promises himself, whoever does so, to make good use of the help requested from then on, and to dismiss the servant once the service has been rendered. This same service that was requested, however minimal, constitutes a true pact signed with the bad Spirit and he does not easily let go of his prey.. (See no. 212.)
279. No one exercises ascendancy over inferior spirits, except for moral superiority. Perverse spirits feel that good men dominate them. Against those who are only opposed by the energy of the will, a kind of brute force, they fight and are often the strongest. To someone who was trying to tame a rebellious Spirit, only by the action of his will, he replied to that one: Leave me in peace, with your air of slaughterhouses, which are not worth more than I am; one would say a thief preaching morals to another thief.
282. 11th. Is there any inconvenience in evoking inferior spirits? And is it to be feared that, by calling them, the summoner will come under their dominion? “They only dominate those who allow themselves to be dominated. He who is assisted by good spirits has nothing to fear. It is imposed on the inferior spirits and not the latter on him. Isolated, mediums, especially beginning ones, must refrain from such evocations.. (No. 278.)
Family lectures from beyond the grave: Mr. Morrison, monomaniac
Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > June
Mr. Morrison, Monomaniac
Last March, an English newspaper reported the following concerning Mr. Morrison, recently deceased in England, leaving a fortune of one hundred million francs. According to that newspaper, in the last two years of his life he was prey to a singular monomania. He imagined himself reduced to extreme poverty and had to earn his daily bread with manual work. Family and friends had recognized the futility of efforts to get it out of his head. He was poor, didn't have a penny and had to work for a living: that was his conviction. Every morning they put a hoe in his hands and sent him to work in his own gardens. In a little while they came to look for him, for the task was completed; they paid him a modest salary for the work done and he was content. His spirit was tranquil and his mania satisfied.
If they had thwarted him, he would have been the most unhappy of men.
1. ─ I ask Almighty God to allow the Spirit of Morrison, recently deceased in England, to communicate with us, leaving a considerable fortune.
─ Here he is.
2. ─ Do you remember the state you were in during the last two years of your corporeal existence?
─ It is always the same.
3. ─ After death, did your spirit resent the aberration of faculties during your life?
─ Yes.
Saint Louis completes the answer, spontaneously saying: “Detached from the body, the Spirit feels, for a while, the compression of its bonds.”
4. So, after death, did not your Spirit immediately recover the fullness of its faculties?
─ No.
5. ─ Where are you now?
─ Behind Ermance.
6. ─ Are you happy or unhappy?
─ Algo me falta… Não sei o que… Procuro… Sim, sofro.
7. ─ Why do you suffer?
─ He suffers for the good he has not done. (Reply from St. Louis).
8. ─ Why this mania of considering himself poor, when he had such a great fortune?
─ I was. Truly, rich is he who has no needs.
9. ─ Where did this idea come from that you had to work for a living?
─ I was crazy and I still am.
10. ─ How did this madness come to you?
─ What does it matter? I had chosen that atonement.
11. ─ What is the origin of your fortune?
─ What do you care?
12. ─ However, wasn't your invention aimed at relieving Humanity?
─ And enrich me.
13. ─ What use did you make of your fortune when you enjoyed the fullness of reason?
─ None. I think I enjoyed it.
14. ─ Why would God have given him fortune, since he was not to use it usefully for others?
─ I had chosen the test.
15. ─ Is not one who enjoys a fortune acquired in work more excusable for clinging to it than one who was born in the bosom of opulence and never knew the need?
─ Less.
St. Louis adds: “He knows pain, but does not relieve it.”
The monomaniac remembers his past life
16. ─ Do you remember your existence before the one you just left?
─ Yes.
17. ─ What were you then?
─ A worker
18. ─ You told us that you are unhappy. Do you see a term for your suffering?
─ No.
St. Louis adds: “It is too soon.”
19. ─ Who does this depend on?
─ From me. So the one who is there told me.
20. ─ Do you know the one who is there?
─ You call him Louis.
21. ─ Do you know what he was like in France in the 13th century?
─ Não… Eu o conheço por vosso intermédio… Agradeço por aquilo que me ensinou.
22. ─ Do you believe in another corporeal existence?
─ Yes.
23. ─ If you must be reborn in corporeal life, on whom will your future social position depend?
─ Me, I suppose. So many times I have chosen that this can only depend on me.
NOTE: The words so many times I chose are features. His current state proves that, despite numerous existences, he has progressed little, and that for him, it is always a fresh start.
24. ─ What social position would you choose if you could start over?
─ Low. Move forward more safely. You are only in charge of yourself.
25. ─ (To Saint Louis): Isn't there a feeling of selfishness in choosing a humble position, in which one should only be responsible for oneself?
─ Nowhere are you burdened only with yourself. Man is responsible for those around him and not only for the souls whose education has been entrusted to him, but also for others. The example does all the harm.
26. - (To Morrison): We thank you for the kindness with which you answered us and we pray that God gives you the strength to endure new trials.
─ You relieved me. I learned.
OBSERVATION: The moral state of the Spirit is easily recognized in the above answers. They are short and, when not monosyllabic, have something dark and vague about them. A melancholy madman would not speak otherwise. This persistence of the aberration of ideas after death is a remarkable fact, but it is not constant, or that sometimes presents a completely different character. We will have occasion to cite several other examples, where the different forms of madness are studied.
Conclusion
The question below from The Spirits' Book talks about greed and other trials:
261. Should the spirit, in the trials to which it must submit to reach perfection, experience all kinds of temptations?Must he go through all the circumstances that might excite pride, jealousy, avarice, sensuality, etc.?
The Spirits respond:
Certainly not, since you know that there are those who, from the beginning, take a path that frees them from many trials; but he who lets himself be led astray runs all the dangers of this road. For example, a spirit may ask for wealth and it may be granted; then, according to his character, he can become greedy or prodigal, selfish or generous, or else he can indulge in all the pleasures of sensuality; this, however, does not mean that you must necessarily experience all these tendencies.
The role of the researcher and the medium in communications with the Spirits
In this group study, we treated the article in question in a somewhat different way, as we noticed that it gave us the opportunity to go into a very important depth regarding mediumship and the differences between how it was treated in Spiritism, as a scientific doctrine born from the rational observation of facts and spiritist (spiritual) communications and how it is treated today. Thus, we cover the following main topics:
What is the medium's influence on communication?
Animism and the fear of being a psychic
Can and should we judge mediumistic communications? In what way?
Myths: we cannot summon spirits; Evoking Spirits Causes Obsessions
Lições aprendidas: a distância entre o “movimento espírita” atual e o Espiritismo original; a necessidade da retomada dos estudos
Based on the article “Impostor spirits — the false Father Ambrósio” — Spiritist Magazine, July 1858
We hope that both the video of our debate and this reading will be of great benefit to you!
The pitfalls of mediumship
We recognize: studying Kardec on your own is not always easy. It is a difficult language and, many times, full of references to neologisms and the context in which Professor Rivail was inserted, in a way that such contextualization¹ is very opportune, in the foreground, as the use of research in the web, while reading.
“Escolho” significa, no sentido figurado, uma dificuldade. E Kardec abre o referido artigo falando sobre tais dificuldades:
One of the pitfalls presented by spiritist communications is that of imposter spirits, who may mislead their identity and who, under a respectable name, try to pass the grossest absurdities. On many occasions this danger has been explained to us. However, he is nothing to those who scrutinize both the form and the content of the language of the invisible beings with whom he enters into communication.. […] Nothing is easier than to guard against similar frauds, however small our good will.
Kardec seems to make quite simple, even banal, this task of identifying the communication of an imposter Spirit, isn't it? But why, then, nowadays, so many absurdities have been accepted, via mediumistic communications, as if they were the legitimate expression of a serious and honest Spirit, knowing the absolute truths?
Acontece que o “movimento espírita” (eu chamo de movement in order to distinguish Spiritism from what its adherents, who are not always well-informed and knowledgeable about the Doctrine, do) has largely forgotten the most basic postulates of the Doctrine of Spirits. Now, right at the beginning of the second part of The Spirits' Book, in items 100 to 113, Kardec presents us, didactically, a general scale, nomeada por ele “Spiritist Scale“, where, grouping in a more or less general way, the dear professor shows us the general characteristics of the Spirits in their different evolutionary scales, grouping them into three main orders: Imperfect Spirits (third order), Good Spirits (second order) and Pure Spirits (first order).
It is verified, even by the logical observation of our evolutionary condition, that we put ourselves in contact mainly with the Spirits of the last two orders, especially with those of the third, with whom we are more easily attuned mentally. It is also a known fact that spirits differ from us, incarnates, only because they do not have the constriction of the physical body and, due to the absence of this, they have a more free thought, in general, from the smothering of the physical brain. Therefore, like us, they do not change their opinion or knowledge simply by leaving matter through disincarnation and, like us, they can speak what they know, what they believe they know, or else they may seek to deceive, either out of ostensible malice or out of pride in wanting to say what they admittedly do not know.
We have already reproduced the Spiritist Scale in a previous article, but we are going to highlight some important details of this third order of Spirits, which is where the problems in mediumistic communications are concentrated.
Como se comunicam os Espíritos da terceira ordem – Espíritos Imperfeitos
Tenth Class – Impure Spirits
They are inclined to evil, what they are worried about. They give treacherous, disloyal advice, blow away discord and distrust, and they mask themselves in every way to better deceive.
In language they are trivial, coarse, have baseness of inclination, and cannot long deceive with false wisdom.
Ninth Class – Levian Spirits
They are ignorant, malevolent, inconsequential and mocking. They meddle in everything, respond to everything, without worrying about the truth. They like to cause little annoyances and little joys; to produce discord; to maliciously mislead by mystifications and pranks.
His communications are almost always witty and lighthearted, but often lacking in depth.
Eighth Class – Pseudo-Wise Spirits
They have quite extensive knowledge, but they believe they know more than they really do.
It's a mixture of some truths with the most absurd mistakes, through which they penetrate the presumption, pride, jealousy and obstinacy, which they have not yet been able to undress.
Now, we have, here, a very important basic knowledge about the way these Spirits express themselves, don't we? And of course, as good spiritists, we will not stop here and will seek to study The Spirits' Book and other works, in order to acquire even more knowledge that can help in our contact with the Spirits. After all, it is not for nothing that Kardec, in the introduction to The Mediums' Book, begins like this:
Every day experience brings us confirmation that the difficulties and disappointments that many encounter in the practice of Spiritism originate from ignorance of the principles of this science, and we are happy to have been able to prove that our work, carried out with the objective of guarding the adepts against the pitfalls of a novitiate has borne fruit and that many people must have managed to avoid them after reading this work.
It is natural, among those who deal with Spiritism, the desire to be able to put themselves in communication with the Spirits. This work is intended to find the way for them, leading them to take advantage of our long and laborious studies, since a very false idea would form those who thought it was enough, to consider themselves an expert in this matter, to know how to put their fingers on a table, in order to to make her move, or to hold a pencil, in order to write.
One thing is certain: Kardec had no time to waste with empty words destined to embellish a pride or a vanity that, as it was very well demonstrated, he didn't have. So, what we have to do is put aside pride and dedicate ourselves to studying, instead of thinking that we know everything simply because we have any practical contact with the Spirits! That way it's much easier to judge a spiritual communication or trying to penetrate the real face of the Spirit that communicates – and Kardec, in that same article (by the fake Father Ambrósio) will give a simple and clear lesson on how to do it. We will deal with that later on.
How to deal with mystifying spirits?
To mystify means to deceive, to deceive. And we will highlight two questions asked by Kardec, directly to the mystifying Spirit (that of the false Father Ambrose, whom he had evoked) that raise important questions, which are discussed below.
“14. ─ Que pensas do que disseste em seu nome?
─ I think like those who thought of me listened.”
The question here is: who listened to them? The medium would be listening, necessarily? In other words: was that medium's fault that false communication?
“16. ─ Por que não sustentas a impostura em nossa presença?
─ 'Cause my language is a touchstone [material used to assess the purity of a material], with which you cannot be deceived.”
Why in that environment (Kardec's) did that Spirit say he couldn't deceive?
But in order to answer these questions, let's move forward in our reflections, which will make the answers very clear.
Animism
We think it is important to raise the question of animism, since it is something that persecutes and takes the sleep of many mediums and leaders of spiritist groups. Animism is the concept in which the medium presents his own content, his own thoughts, instead of presenting purely the thought of the Spirit who communicates.
It is something that actually happens a lot, being the reason for many fears, as we said, because the hypothesis was created that the medium needs to be a totally passive tool for spiritual communication. This is still true when we talk about the communication of a Spirit through a medium. However, it should not be turned into a tool of persecution or self-persecution. The importance of the question here is linked to the medium's honesty:
When the medium acts in a totally honest way, seeking to be a good tool for the Spirits, stripped of vanity and pride, his mediumship can be developed through practice and favored by study. Thus, in more or less time, the communications given through it will be more and more “clean”, expressing the original thought of the Spirit. Therefore, animism, in this case, should not be something to be feared, as it is related to the degree of development of mediumship, considering that, in the early stages, the medium will commonly complete thoughts or translate them according to their own ideas, which are not necessarily contrary to those of the Spirit.
When the medium consciously acts (under the gaze of material lucidity) expressing ideas that are not of a Spirit, that is, when he is not acting as a medium, but only by himself, in a waking state, but he tries to trick, as if it were a mediumistic communication, expressing the most terrible nonsense, yes this is a serious case, a problem directly linked to the medium's morals, which needs to be treated with fraternity but with firmness, so that this medium does not put the group's harmony in check. When it acts in isolation, in this case, it is only necessary that it is not taken seriously, as, unfortunately, many spiritists have done.
The honest medium must learn that, whenever he is unfocused or when no Spirit is communicated, he must inform the group, without any fear of being affected by a self-love that, in this particular case, should never exist. Unfortunately, the current spiritist centers, with the mediumistic meetings open to the public, have placed on the mediums' shoulders a deleterious responsibility of having to always be ready and available for mediumistic phenomena, which is not logical, since, mediumship being a capacity rooted in the organism, as a sixth sense, can also present several obstacles, just as a cold can take away our olfactory ability.
But there is a third aspect to consider: sometimes the animism may be welcome, as expressed in the following question from OLM (The Mediums' Book):
223 - 2nd. Can written or verbal communications also emanate from the Spirit incarnated in the medium?
“The soul of the medium can communicate, like any other. If he enjoys a certain degree of freedom, he recovers his qualities as a Spirit.[…] Because, you know, among the Spirits you evoke, there are some who are incarnated on Earth. They, then, speak to you as Spirits and not as men. Why shouldn't the same be done with the medium?”
In such a way, if the spirit of the medium itself can communicate - which happens more easily in states of somnambulism and ecstasy, as the answer to question 223-3a makes clear - it is clear that it can also bring valid and important knowledge, in the same way that a spirit freed from matter would do.
I believe that the subject of animism is relatively well understood from what has been exposed. But what about the fear that the medium may have of transmitting a communication of low content, that is, a communication frivolous, of indecent or deceptive language? We believe that the following approach will respond well in this regard.
The medium's moral influence
Having raised the issue of the fear that the medium may have of giving way to a communication of less high content, we need to reflect on the medium's role in this regard. Kardec addresses, of course, this questioning in OLM, seeking to identify the connection between the medium's morals and the mediumistic ability. Let's see:
226. 1st. Is the development of mediumship related to the moral development of mediums?
"No; the college itself takes root in the body; regardless of morale. The same is not true, however, with its use., which can be good or bad, according to the medium's qualities.”
5th. In the lessons given, in general, to the medium, without personal application, does he not appear as a passive instrument, for the instruction of others? “Often, warnings and advice are not addressed to him personally, but to others to whom we cannot address ourselves, except through him, who, however, must take his part in such warnings and advice, if not blind him. self-love.
The first question reinforces what we said about the mediumistic faculty being rooted in the organism, which means that both the good and the bad can be mediums of greater or lesser capacity. However – and therein lies the main objective of the mediumistic faculty – the good or bad use we make of it is what will guide our morals and the will to use it for our own progress, in the service of humanity, or not.
The fifth question goes like this: the medium, as much as he is a passive instrument, must always be attentive to the communications he intermediates, because, no matter how much they are directed to others, they can have personal application - which reinforces the previous thought.
226. 6th. Since the medium's moral qualities drive away imperfect spirits, how can a medium endowed with good qualities transmit false or rude answers?
“Do you know all the corners of the human soul? Moreover, the creature can be light and frivolous, without being vicious. This is also the case, because sometimes he needs a lesson in order to keep his guard up.”
The sixth question points out that, often, a low-level communication can occur through the sympathy of mediums with Spirits who think like him or who have the same inclinations, even if this is not visible in the medium, on a daily basis. They can also happen because he sometimes needs a lesson to keep himself on his guard, or else, we suppose, so that the study group remains on guard, because we suppose that a good medium can still mediate a communication of this content. in order to test the attention of that group.
All this, however, is very valid if the group or the individual is attentive and they treat communications seriously and honestly. Otherwise, such communications, which will happen more often, will lead to the downfall of one or the other.
226. 8th. Is it absolutely impossible to obtain good communications from an imperfect medium?
“An imperfect medium can sometimes obtain good things, because, if he has a beautiful faculty, it is not uncommon for good spirits to make use of him, in the absence of another, in special circumstances; however, this only happens momentarily, because, as long as the spirits find one that suits them best, they give preference to this one.”
Spirits communicate in a friendly environment, preferably.
Note. It should be noted that when good spirits see that a medium is not well assisted and becomes, due to his imperfections, the prey of deceiving spirits, circumstances almost always arise that reveal their defects and distance them from serious and well-rounded people. -intentioned, whose good faith could be lacquered. In this case, whatever faculties he possesses, his departure is not to be missed.
a moral medium complicated but with good mediumistic abilities, it can be used by good spirits in specific situations, such as when there is no other or when the spirits think that they will produce good or that they will be able to avoid evil by doing so. Other than that, they walk away.
Kardec's note says it all: if a medium, due to his inclinations, is no longer well assisted (by good spirits) and becomes prey to inferior spirits, he is, by the good spirits themselves, removed from serious and well-intentioned people.
Conclusions about the moral influence of the medium
A medium of good morals can be the target of a mystifying spirit. This can be a warning, as in the case that Kardec will address.
A medium of "questionable" morals can be used, if he has a powerful mediumship, by a high spirit. However, much more often he will be the target of inferior spirits, who will end up making him fall, especially when he uses his mediumship for “questionable” purposes.
The False Father Ambrose
Kardec, in order to study the problem, approaches the case that occurred at Spiritualiste de la Nouvelle-Orléans (Click here to download the original, in French), where two deceiving spirits had posed as Father Ambrósio and Clement XIV, weaving a dialogue that was too frivolous and empty.
Kardec then evokes the three Spirits: The real Father Ambrósio, the false Fr. Ambrose and the false Clement XIV, but rather declares:
Let us hasten, however, to declare that this circle does not only receive communications of this order; there are others of a very different character, in which we find all the sublimity of thought and expression of superior spirits.
As it is possible to verify in the original magazine and also in the free translation done by our collaborator, Ariane, in the second part (third page of the document), the communications of the real Fr. Ambrose are much higher and deeper.
Kardec's conversation with the Spirits and our reflections
To the Spirit of the true Fr. Ambrose:
5. ─ How could you allow similar things in your name? Why have you not come to unmask the impostors?
─ Because I can't always prevent men and spirits from having fun.
6. ─ We understand you about the spirits. But as for the people who collected the words, they are serious people; they were not looking for fun.
─ One more reason. They must have immediately thought that such words could not but be the language of mocking spirits.
Not always good spirits can prevent such situations, because, above all, they respect the free will of others. In addition, they may allow such situations to serve as a warning to the group or individual.
7. ─ Why don't the spirits teach in New Orleans, principles perfectly identical to those they teach here?
─ Soon the doctrine dictated to you will serve you. There will only be one.
8. Since this doctrine will have to be taught there later, it seems to us that if it were taught immediately it would accelerate progress and prevent some from having harmful doubts.
─ God's plans are always impenetrable. Are there not other things which, in view of the means which he employs to attain his ends, seem incomprehensible to you? It is necessary for man to get used to distinguishing the true from the false. Not everyone could receive light from a jet without being dazzled.
The Spirit of the true Fr. Ambrósio makes it clear: the Spiritist Doctrine found, in France and in the Kardec context, the necessary basis to make itself shine with full force, without overshadow, since the sciences were very well prepared to receive their teachings, treating them rationally and with a scientific method.
A great lesson from Kardec
We talked, before, about the need to seek to distinguish the communications of the Spirits, identifying if they are honest or products of deception and if they are of more or less wise Spirits (remembering that a communication can be serious and honest, but, even so, of little importance). or no wisdom). Let's see, then, the following questions and answers exchanged between Kardec and the real Fr. Ambrose:
9. ─ Would you be kind enough to give us your personal opinion regarding reincarnation?
Spirits are created ignorant and imperfect. A single incarnation would not be enough for them to learn everything. It is necessary that they reincarnate in order to enjoy the happiness that God has reserved for them.
10. Does reincarnation take place on Earth or only on other globes?
Reincarnation takes place according to the progress of the Spirit, in more or less perfect worlds.
11. This does not clarify whether it can occur on Earth.
Yes, it can happen on Earth, and if Spirit asks for it as a mission, it will be more meritorious to him than if he asked for it to advance more quickly in more perfect worlds.
Now, Kardec was talking about a completely different subject. Suddenly starts asking about reincarnation? Because?
Simple: because he was trying to probe the knowledge of that Spirit, in order to know if he was really talking with a wise Spirit or if he was talking with a deceiving Spirit. Brilliant, no? This is how we should proceed, even today and always, but for that, it is necessary that we are attentive, that we have knowledge and that we leave the condition of simple passive spectators of spiritual communications.
Kardec continues, now asking the false Foot. Ambrose:
15. ─ Why did you use a respectable name to say such nonsense?
─ In our eyes, names are worthless. The works are everything. As from what I was saying, they could see what I really was, I didn't attach importance to the name replacement.
Look: the deceiving Spirit knows that the “listeners” (we know that communication was through psychography) could judge who he really was, through what he expressed. Therefore, he did not attach any importance to using the name of Fr. Ambrose.
lessons learned
Vivemos um Espiritismo muito distanciado do Espiritismo “de Kardec” (entre aspas, pois sabemos que o Espiritismo não pertence a ele nem saiu de sua cabeça). E isso não é bom, porque o Espiritismo “de Kardec” é aquela doutrina científica, nascida com base na observação racional dos fenômenos espíritas e na concordância universal do ensinamento dos Espíritos.
Today, in the Spiritist milieu, on the one hand, the medium is persecuted for “animism”; on the other hand, many mediums are treated as oracles, as if their opinions – because any individual thought, in the face of the Doctrine, that has not passed through the sieve of reason and universal agreement, can only be taken as opinion — of themselves or of the spirits that communicate, could be taken as the supreme expression of truth and wisdom. We have just seen how false and dangerous this premise is.
Should we not evoke the Spirits?
In addition, several myths were created, such as the one that says that we should not evoke the Spirits (which is only valid in case of lack of good intentions, which would constitute, in Kardec's words, a true desecration) and how what says that evocations can result in spiritual obsessions. Now the spirits are all around us all the time, and they approach us according to their affinities with what we are and think, in the depths of our soul. To obsess us, it is enough that they want to use our unwillingness and our permission and, for that, do not need to communicate with us through mediumship.
It is worth noting that if a medium or mediumistic group becomes the target of spiritual obsession, it is because there is a moral problem there, linked to the imperfections of each one, over which they need to be vigilant. Kardec and countless other researchers used educated and balanced mediums to evoke all kind of spirit, without ever suffering from obsessions to do so. Just to reinforce: these evocations had a serious purpose and were made by serious people. If they were made out of mere idle curiosity or amusement, they would be related to a moral problem, and so there we have the highlighted problem.
This question, of the possibility and validity or not of evoking the Spirits, was already very well addressed by Kardec in his article “Spiritism without the Spirits”, in the RE of January 1866, about which we made some important considerations in an article namesake (Click here to access it).
Também, na Revista de 1858, no artigo “Obsessed and Subjugated” Kardec addresses the issue of the dangers of Spiritism in more detail. We suggest reading the article emerged from our studies.
Spiritism needs defense
Many claim that Spiritism does not need to be defended and, much more, that it needs updating, as it would be outdated. I begin by saying that Spiritism needs defense YES. Affirmations contrary to this seem to come from Spirits contrary to the propagation of this Doctrine, Spirits who, by the way, have never read Kardec, who should come out in defense of Spiritism whenever appropriate. It is not a defense that attacks religions or beliefs, but a defense that points out the inaccuracies and errors, in the face of Spiritism, in the so-called Spiritist affirmations and practices.
I've heard a lot, in the spiritist environment, in different parts: the times are come. For a long time I thought it was just a warning about the difficulties we are going through. However, today I reflect: analyzing it coldly, do we really live something very different from what we already lived in other times of humanity? Or could it be that the Spirits were informing that the time has come to restore what was corrupted?
One thing is a fact: it is time to start reorganizing thoughts and resume studies that have been forgotten or lost for a long time. Some researchers have brought very important information, based on documents and original works, hitherto unknown, allowing us to know not only Spiritism in its essence, but also the sciences that gave rise to it or that, together with it, form an inseparable set. .
Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, in the work Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism, brings us information about Rational Spiritualism. This formed the Moral Sciences of the time and which gave basis to Spiritism, which, according to Professor Rivail's own thought, was a development of the first; at work Mesmer: adenied science of magnetism, brings very important information about Magnetism, a science that is so often cited not only by Kardec, but by the Spirits themselves. As magnetism was a very well-established Science in its time, it never had in-depth explanations by Kardec, who could not imagine that it would be extinct in the following decades; and Simoni Privato, in Allan Kardec's Legacy, gives us information regarding not only an alleged adulteration of The Genesis, a subject that is still full of controversial discussions, but also gives very important information about the complete deviation that the Parisian Spiritist Society, later transformed into an Anonymous Society and led by Pierre Gaetan Leymarie, suffered at the hands of this gentleman.
Based on these studies and on Kardec's studies, Spiritists honestly interested in seeing the return of serious research work, together with Spirits, along the lines of Kardec, need to do their part in defending the Doctrine, disseminating it without accusing and, above all, , urging the mediumistic groups to re-register communications with the Spirits, delving into them and leaving the mere condition of patient spectators, living under the misunderstood phrase, which became the motto, “the telephone rings from there to here”, to resume serious evocations and produce important material that, one day, can be independently analyzed again (read this succinct article about this reflection).
Conclusion
Unfortunately, the spiritist movement is quite distant from Kardec and from Spiritism in its real face. It started to accept the most diverse blunders, allegedly transmitted by mediumistic sources, some well known, which has caused a lot of damage not only to the movement itself, which is increasingly emptied, but also to the image of Spiritism before the society, which has learned, in large part, to see Spiritism as that opinion that comes to the surface whenever any disaster happens to say that, there, people who were redeeming a collective debt were victimized, being, therefore, guilty and deserving of that event. And this kind of thinking is widely reproduced about individual or collective tragedies, causing aversion and distancing.
As if that were not enough, Spiritism, since Kardec's death (in 1869), began to be flooded with ideas roustaguists (de Jean-Baptiste Roustaing), “doutrina” essa que se instalou no meio espírita brasileiro desde antes do início do século XX, inclusive por great sympathy from Bezerra de Menezes às suas ideias. Embora a FEB, autointitulada “cúpula do Espiritismo no Brasil”, só tenha adotado a obrigação do estudo das obras de Roustaing a partir de 1917 (read more here), the Roustainguist (or Rustanist) influence was already strong in this environment for a long time.
Then came the influences Ramatists, following the same pattern: ideas of a clearly pseudo-wise Spirit (Ramatis), who believes he knows more than he knows and who wants to put himself with messianic characteristics, rewriting the truth and putting Kardec in the trash, contradicting the Spiritist Doctrine and Science itself in countless points and, finally, without citing several other examples, came the divinism, also with the same messianic content, this time through an individual who proclaims himself the reincarnation of Kardec and who also produces the most diverse types of ideas contrary to what was already established by the universal agreement of the teachings of the Spirits and by reason.
Anyway: the Spiritist Movement is forgotten by Kardec, to the point that there is almost no Spiritism in many points, but a religious spiritualism (in the sense of dogmatic religion and full of rituals, hierarchies and priests). We need, I repeat, to do our part, actively, but without contention, that is, looking for groups and individuals honestly interested in this task, in order to assist in the restoration work, because,
what is basic, cannot be surpassed!
Laziness: moral dissertation from São Luís to Ms. Hermance Dufaux
Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > June > The laziness
A man left very early and went to the square to hire workers. Now, there he saw two men of the people, sitting with their arms folded. He approached one of them and approached him like this: “What are you doing there?” To which he replied: “I have no work.” Then the one looking for workers said: “Take your tool and come to my field on the hillside, where the south wind blows; you shall cut the heather and turn the ground until nightfall. The task is hard, but you will get a good salary.” The man of the people put the hoe on his shoulder, thanking him for it, with all his heart.
Hearing this, the other workman got up and approached, saying: "Sir, let me go work in the field too." And having told them both to follow him, he marched ahead to show the way. Then, when they reached the side of the hill, he divided the work in two and left.
When he left, the last of the hired workers set fire to the weeds on the plot that he had been lucky enough to turn over the earth with his hoe. Under the scorching sun, sweat beaded on his forehead. The other imitated him, at first muttering, but soon he stopped his work and, putting the hoe in the ground, sat down beside him, watching his companion's work.
Now in the evening the owner of the field came and examined the work. Calling the diligent worker, he congratulated him saying: “You did well. Here is your salary.” And he sent him away, giving him a silver coin. The other also approached, demanding the price of his wages, but the owner said to him: “Bad worker, my bread will not satisfy your hunger, because you have left uncultivated the part of my field that was entrusted to you. It is not fair that the one who has done nothing is rewarded as the one who has worked well.”
Vineyards were treated as a work place for last-minute workers in the text of The Gospel According to Spiritism.
And fired him without giving him anything.
I say to you that strength was not given to man, nor intelligence to his spirit, to spend his days in idleness, but to be useful to his fellow men. Now, he whose hands are unoccupied and whose spirit is idle will be punished and must begin his task anew.
Truly I say to you, your life will be set aside as a worthless thing when your time is fulfilled. Understand this as a comparison. Which of you, having in the orchard a tree that bears no fruit, will not say to the servant, “Cut down that tree and throw it into the fire, for its branches are barren?” Now, just as that tree will be cut down because of its barrenness, so the lazy man's life will be thrown into waste, because he has been barren in good works.
Laziness: workers of the last work
The Gospel According to Spiritism is a book by Allan Kardec and the Spirits that was published in Paris on April 15, 1864, which used this text, but with a different guise.
It is good to know that Kardec made use of his studies with Revista Espírita to add part of them to his great work, recognized as basic to Spiritism, which, among them, gives greater focus to religious, ethical and behavioral issues of the human being.
Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > June > The Beating Spirit of Bergzabern II
The second article about the scout
In this second article on the subject, Allan Kardec takes it up again after the Filipina Sanger girl spent a season at Dr. Bentner, your doctor.
The passages that follow come from a new German paperback, published in 1853.
It is now known that phenomena of this kind do not result from a pathological state; rather, they denote an excessive sensitivity.
In the first brochure entitled The Beating Spirits saw that Filipina Sänger's manifestations have an enigmatic and extraordinary character. We relate these wonderful facts from its beginning until the moment when the girl was taken to the doctor. When the girl left Dr. Bentner and returned home, the knocking and scratching began again at the Sänger house. Until that moment, and even after his complete healing, the manifestations were more marked and changed in nature.
The phenomena also become musical
a small spindle is thrown from the bedroom.
a piece of cloth that had previously been dipped in a basin of water. without being shaken and not a single drop had landed on the table.
the bed pillows were tossed over a closet and the bedspread thrown against the door.
an iron weighing about six pounds had been placed at the girl's feet, under the covers. Soon he was thrown into the first room; the cable had been removed and was found on an armchair in the bedroom.
chairs placed three feet from the bed to be overturned;
windows being opened, when before they were tightly closed;
Another time, two chairs were carried over to the bed, without disturbing the covers.
One night, as he left his daughter's room, Sänger threw a chair cushion in his back. At other times it was a pair of old slippers, shoes that were under the bed, or clogs that found him.
They often blew out the lighted candle on the work table.
keys, coins, cigarette cases, watches, gold and silver rings. All, without exception, were suspended in his hand.
They had once left a harmonica on a chair. Sounds were heard. Rushing into the room, they found, as usual, the girl calm in her bed. The instrument was on the chair, but it no longer played.
Other Facts about Bergzabern's Beater Spirit
Usually, when the little sleepwalker was about to begin the session, she would call everyone present to her room. Often he only calmed down when everyone, without exception, was at his bedside.
After a time, the tapping and scratching was joined by a hum comparable to the sound produced by a thick bass string; a kind of whistling mingled with this hum.
Through the scratches, he called by name the people of the house or the strangers present. Everyone easily understood to whom the appeal was addressed. To this call, the designated person responded yea, to make her understand that she knew how to treat herself. Then, in his honor, a piece of music was played that sometimes provoked comic scenes.
The phenomenon's birthday
The anniversary of the day on which the scouting Spirit had first manifested has arrived: many changes had taken place in the state of Filipina Sänger. The beatings, scratches and buzzing continued, but to all these manifestations was added a special cry, which sometimes sounded like a goose, sometimes a parrot or any other large bird.
Some time before Christmas, the demonstrations were renewed with more energy: the blows and scratches became more violent and lasted longer. More agitated than usual, Filipina often asked not to sleep in her bed, but in her parents'.
Filipina gets sick
In a short time Filipina Sänger's condition changed to the point of causing apprehension about her health, because, being awake, she rambled and dreamed aloud. He didn't recognize his parents or his sister or anyone else. To this state was added a complete deafness, which persisted for fifteen days.
Filipina's deafness was manifesting itself, and she herself declared that she would be deaf for some time and that she would be sick. What is singular is that sometimes he recovered his hearing for about half an hour, with which he was happy. She herself predicted the moment when she would become deaf and when she would regain her hearing. Once, among others, he announced that at eight-thirty in the evening he would hear clearly for half an hour. In fact, at the predicted time, he heard again, which lasted until nine o'clock.
During the young Sänger's deafness, the fuss of furniture, the inexplicable opening of windows, the turning off of the lights on the work table were renewed a few times.
This was how things went on at Sänger's house, whether during the day or at night, during the girl's sleep or when she was awake, until March 4, 1853, when the demonstrations entered another phase. That day was marked by an event even more extraordinary than the preceding ones.
Comments
As it turns out, Filipina Sänger was a very complex natural medium. In addition to her influence on the well-known phenomena of noise and movement, she was an ecstatic sleepwalker. She talked with the incorporeal beings she saw; at the same time he saw the assistants and spoke to them.
It is likely that, in these moments of ecstasy, the girl's spirit would see herself transported to some distant place, where she would attend, perhaps in memory, a religious ceremony. We can be amazed at the memory he brought back when he woke up, but the fact is not unusual. In fact, we can see that the memory was confused and that it was necessary to insist a lot to provoke it.
If we carefully observe what happened during deafness, we will easily recognize a cataleptic state. As the deafness was only temporary, it is evident that it did not cause changes in Organs respective organs. The same happened with the obliteration of the mental faculties, which was not pathological, since, at a given moment, everything returned to the normal state. This kind of apparent stupidity was due to a more complete detachment of the soul, whose excursions were made with greater freedom and left the senses no more than organic life.
At this banquet there were two types of “supporters”: those who mocked Spiritism, forgetting that Spiritism itself science that they embraced - and I emphasize the word because, in fact, it was an established and recognized science at the time - had, in turn, faced the same type of hurdle that, at that time, Spiritism also faced and, on the other hand, those who, even if they did not profess Spiritism, were of the opinion that it should be respected as a science of its importance.
The text itself does not go much further than that, in depth. We only take this opportunity to highlight a few important points:
– Magnetism was a science cited several times by Kardec but never deepened, because, in its context, it was fully established and understood. He could never imagine that it would be put into oblivion by a strong materialist movement in the future.
– Mesmer was a controversial scientist for a long time. By many, he was painted as crazy or a deceiver. Currently, however, his true face is being rescued: that of a sage, very cultured, who formulated the first theory about the Universal Cosmic Fluid and its influence on human health.
– “Through” Mesmer, countless patients were cured of the most diverse illnesses, just by will, at a time when medicine performed bloodletting and cold-blooded surgeries, procedures from which few survived.
– Magnetism and Spiritism are sister sciences. One without the other is incomplete, limp.
– We suggest that everyone read the book “Mesmer: the negated science of animal magnetism”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, just started by us.
The Samaritan Suicide
In this article, Kardec evokes a Spirit who had committed bodily suicide just 6 days before. As can be seen in the original text, this man was not recognized by anyone, having been buried as a pauper. It is possible to raise several considerations about this article.
“The phone only rings from there to here”
The first of these considerations, we would say, is regarding the evocation itself: at a time when the motto “the phone only rings from there to here” reigns, that has a background of reason, but which is thoughtlessly repeated by so many, we are faced with the doctrinal basis of Spiritism, built largely under evocations - i.e, the phone also rings from here to there. Only that, like a telephone, who will answer and if will answer is the problem of the question, always addressed by Kardec.
The Suffering of the Suicide
It is important to understand that the Spirit of the suicide will not suffer divine punishment for a sin committed – not in this way. Any Spirit will always have forgiveness and new chances, as it all starts from ignorance regarding evolving Spirits.
There are infinite variations between each case, with the result that there are infinite effects related to each case, because, essentially, such effects will be linked to the general mentality of the Spirit who commits suicide. While some will throw themselves into a real hell, because they believe they have committed sin, others may even be relieved, In a first moment – because later, when you really understand everything, you will most likely regret the wasted life.
Anyway, as São Luis attests, we understand that the first effect for every suicidal person – or, at least, for most of them – will be a great difficulty to disconnect from the body, given the violence of the act, their mental state and the fact that the body is still saturated with vitality. This, however, is only what we can say at the moment, based on what we understand from the article, because, really, it is a subject that requires further development and investigation.
It is also important to emphasize that the Spirit does not suffer none kind of physical pain. It is always your morality, your conscience, that externalizes and places in external factors the pain that is, in fact, within yourself. The suicidal person (like other spirits), therefore, can claim to suffer from cold or thirst, when, in fact, he is suffering morally, and not physically. In fact, we do this ourselves, with the difference that, through psychosomatic processes, we can develop actual damage or illness in the physical body.
That is why, when we come in contact with any Spirit in suffering, we can and should have a natural and healthy conversation with him, clarifying these points. It helps enormously for them to understand that suffering is moral, internal, not external and imposed.
the valley of the suicides
To put it bluntly: there is no “the” valley of suicides, just as there is no “the” hell. It is important that the Spiritist learns to remove this type of concept from his imagination and, above all, to spread them to others, because we know that, as a not very enlightened Spirit, we seek environments and other Spirits that are in accordance with our mentality that, moreover, shape these environments of suffering together. Therefore, when a suffering Spirit says that he is “in” hell, he acts like an incarnate person who, in a very difficult situation for him, expresses himself in the same way, with the difference that the Spirit shapes, alone or together, his own hell. .
Once again, it is very important to seek to clarify such Spirits, when in contact with him.
Above all, it is important to remember that there is no such fateful connection between a suicide and the exile of the Spirit in a “valley”, as a penalty.
The effects of suicide on the next incarnation
There is something much wrong in the spiritist environment in general, currently, and which is not doctrinal - in fact, it is something anti-doctrinal, born from the lack of study of the Doctrine: it is to make the depressing claims that such an individual was born under such tests or deformations because in the previous life he did this or that.
In the particular case, about suicide, there is a terrible statement made out there: that the individual who has physical problems today is so because he would be “rescuing” a suicide committed in the previous life. Brethren, this statement is criminal, why:
keep away people who, suffering in their skin or having a loved one in these situations, feel (rightly) outraged by this type of statement.
it's fallacious, because it is not based on reality: we do know that for every effect there is a cause, but it is not for us to probe the evidence of each, both because of the imposition of charity, which we must practice, and because a Spirit can choose a deformed body not only as a test, in order to try to get rid of an imperfection, but also as a mission in front of other Spirits or also as an opportunity to learn other virtues that you still feel the need to exercise. Anyway, it's ever a conscious choice of the Spirit, not the effect of a divine mechanics of sin and punishment. We note, moreover, that in all the spiritual communications studied so far, they always assert, even for the case of the monomaniacal madman, that the proof is the result of a choice prior and personal.
Suicide is not fought by fear
Finally, we remind you that suicide will never be fought by imposing the fear of suffering, but, rather, through the clarification. Let us introduce such individuals to the essence of Spiritism. Let us try to lead them to the following reasoning:
Pains and joys are fleeting, related to incarnate life. Happiness, which is what we really seek, will only be achieved after we leave our imperfections behind – since, for example, someone who is too worried, or too anxious, or too angry, or too jealous, or too proud, or too sensual, etc., cannot be really happy. To do so, on the spiritual plane, when we are aware of our imperfections, we plan lives with opportunities and difficulties, sometimes quite heavy, which, in our judgment, can help us overcome such imperfections. Therefore, giving up a life, with the extinction of the corporeal life itself, will not result in any progress, because, having not taken advantage of the difficult test for learning, we will not have perfected ourselves and, therefore, we will need - by our own will and verification – restarting a new life, carrying an even greater burden, due to the feeling of guilt caused by giving up and, who knows, by the disastrous effects that such an act can cause in the incarnate spirits that surround us.
Nobody is saying it's easy. Everyone knows where the callus presses and when you squeeze it, it hurts a lot. But we need to learn to separate physical pains from moral pains, placing ourselves, before ourselves and before the Creator, naked of any mask of selfishness or vanity and of all the imperfections that arise from these. We need to seek, in each hard test, as well as in the abundant opportunities that are presented to us, the deep needs we have for learning and, not forgetting that we are never alone, trust in the good Spirits, who do not abandon us, to go through such difficult moments.
Here, by the way, a final thought arises, supported by Spiritism: God does not give us a greater burden than we can carry. Most of the time, life presents us with opportunities that would allow us to learn in a much “lighter” way, but we, almost always, driven by pride, try to wear a mask, confuse us from ourselves and, thus, we choose leave aside the straight path, in order to embark on the winding and tortuous paths of passions (not speaking here in love, but in the deep feeling provoked by sensations). This is how, for example, many choose leave aside the study of Spiritism, which can leverage our evolution so much, to live life in laziness.
Therefore, let us take advantage of the opportunities that life offers us for our learning and evolution. Sometimes they are prickly, chosen by ourselves; at others, they are fields of soft and smooth grass, full of teachings given by love. It is up to us to recognize them.
NOTE: This evocation is in the book Heaven and Hell by Allan Kardec, first report of Chapter V – Suicides, of Part Two. It is worth reading the entire chapter V with several reports of evocations of suicides with many considerations by the author.
Theory of Physical Manifestations II
Spiritist Journal — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > June > Theory of Physical Manifestations II
The continuation of physical manifestations
We ask the reader to refer to the first article we published on the subject. This is its continuation and would be barely intelligible if that beginning were not in mind.
As we said, the explanations we have given for the physical manifestations are based on observation of the facts and on their logical deduction: we conclude according to what we have seen. How, however, do the modifications that make it perceptible and tangible take place in etherized matter?
To begin with, we will let the Spirits whom we question about it speak, then add our comments. The answers that follow were given by the Spirit of São Luís and are in agreement with what we were previously told by other Spirits.
the fluid
1. ─ How can a Spirit appear with the solidity of a living body?
─ It combines a part of the universal fluid with the fluid that comes out of the medium suitable for this purpose.. This fluid takes the form that the Spirit desires, but usually this form is impalpable.
2. ─ What is the nature of this fluid?
─ Fluid. This says it all.
3. ─ Is this fluid material?
─ Semi-material.
4. ─ Is it this fluid that makes up the perispirit?
─ Yea, is the connection of Spirit to matter.
5. ─ Is this fluid that gives life, the vital principle?
─ Always him. I said Link.
6. ─ Is this fluid an emanation of the Divinity?
─ No.
7. ─ Is it a creation of the Divinity? ─ Yes. Everything is created except God himself.
8. ─ Does the universal fluid have any relationship with the electric fluid, whose effects we know? ─ Yes. It's your element.
9. ─ Is the ethereal substance that exists between the planets the universal fluid in question? ─ It involves the worlds. Without the vital principle, nothing would live. If a person were to rise beyond the fluidic envelope of the globes, he would perish, because his fluidic envelope of him would withdraw, to join the mass. This fluid animates you. It is he that you breathe.
10. Is this fluid the same on all globes? ─ It is the same principle, more or less ethereal, according to the nature of the worlds. Yours is one of the most material.
11. Since it is this fluid that composes the perispirit, there must be a kind of condensation state that, to a certain extent, brings it closer to matter. ─ Yes, to a certain extent, as it does not have its properties. It is more or less condensed, according to the worlds.
How Spirits Use Fluid
12. ─ Is it the solidified spirits that raise the table? ─ This question will still not lead to the point you want. When a table moves under your hands, the Spirit evoked by your Spirit will withdraw from the universal fluid that which will animate that table with an artificial life. The spirits that produce this type of effects are always inferior spirits not yet completely detached from their fluid or perispirit. The table, thus prepared at its will (at the will of the Beating Spirits), the Spirit attracts and moves it, under the influence of its own fluid, released by its will. When the mass he wants to lift or move is too heavy for him, he calls to his aid Spirits who are in conditions identical to his. I think I explained myself clearly enough to be understood.
13. ─ Are the spirits called to your aid your inferiors? ─ They are almost always the same. They often come by themselves.
14. - We understand that superior spirits do not deal with things that are inferior to them. But we ask if, because they were dematerialized, they would have the power to do so, if they wanted to? ─ They have moral strength, as others have physical strength. When they need that strength, they use those who have it. Have you not been told that they make use of inferior spirits as you make use of carriers?
Mr. home
15. ─ Where does Mr. man? [
─ From your organization.
16. ─ What is special about it? ─ The question is not precise.
17. ─ We ask if it is a question of your physical or moral organization.
─ I said organization.
18. ─ Among the people present there is someone who may have the same faculty as Mr. man? ─ They have it to a certain degree. Was it not one of you who moved the table?
The movement of objects and clothing
19. ─ When a person makes an object move, is it always with the help of a foreign spirit or can such an action be exclusive to the medium? ─ Sometimes the spirit of the medium can act alone. Most of the time, however, he is helped by the evoked Spirits. This is easy to recognize.
20. ─ How do Spirits appear with the clothes they wore on Earth? ─ Often she has only the appearance. Indeed, for how many phenomena among you you have no solution! How does the wind, which is impalpable, uproot and break trees, which are solid matter?
21. ─ What do you mean when you say that his clothing “is just an appearance?”
─ When you touch it, nothing is found.
22. ─ If we understand what you said correctly, the vital principle resides in the universal fluid; From it the Spirit extracts the semi-material envelope that constitutes its perispirit and it is through this fluid that it acts on inert matter. That's right?
─ Yes, that is, it animates matter by a kind of factitious life; matter is animated by animal life. The table that moves under your hands lives and suffers like an animal; obeys by itself to be intelligent. It is not he who directs it, as a man does with a burden. When the table rises, it is not the Spirit that lifts it. It is the animated table that obeys the intelligent Spirit.
23. ─ Since the universal fluid is the source of life, is it at the same time the source of intelligence? ─ No. The fluid just animates matter.
The objects moved, without external interference, before the eyes of the assistants.
Final considerations
This theory of physical manifestations offers several points of contact with the one we have given, although it differs in certain respects. From one to the other, a capital point emerges: the universal fluid, in which the principle of life resides, is the main agent of these manifestations and this agent receives the impulse of the Spirit, whether incarnate or wandering. This condensed fluid constitutes the perispirit or semi-material envelope of the Spirit. When incarnated, the perispirit is united to the matter of the body; when in a state of erraticity, it is free. Now, two questions arise here: that of the appearance of Spirits and that of the movement they impart to solid bodies.
As for the first, we will say that, in the normal state, the etherized matter of the perispirit escapes the perception of our organs; only the soul can see it, whether in dreams or in a somnambulistic state or even half asleep; in a word, whenever there is total or partial suspension of the activity of the senses. When the Spirit is incarnated, the substance of the perispirit is more or less closely linked to the matter of the body; more or less adherent, if we may say so. In some people there is a kind of emanation of this fluid, as a result of their organization and this is what properly constitutes the mediums of physical influences. Emanating from the body, this fluid combines, according to laws that are still unknown to us, with that which forms the semi-material envelope of a foreign Spirit. This results in a certain modification, a kind of molecular reaction that momentarily alters its properties, to the point of making it visible and, in certain cases, tangible. This effect can be produced with or without the help of the medium's will, and this is what distinguishes natural mediums from optional mediums. The emission of the fluid can be more or less abundant: hence the more or less powerful mediums. It is not permanent, which explains the intermittence of that power. Finally, if we take into account the degree of affinity that can exist between the fluid of the medium and that of this or that Spirit, it will be understood that its action can be exercised on some and not on others.
What we have just said evidently applies also to the mediumistic force, with regard to the movement of solid bodies. It remains to be seen how this movement operates.
According to the answers above, the question presents itself under an entirely new aspect. Thus, when an object is set in motion, snatched or thrown into the air, it will not be the Spirit that picks it up, pushes it or lifts it, as we would do with the hand: it, so to speak, saturates with its fluid, by combining with that of the medium and, thus momentarily vivified, the object acts as if it were a living being, with the difference that, having no will of its own, it follows the impulse of the Spirit's will. This will can be either of the spirit of the medium or of a foreign spirit and, sometimes, of both, acting in agreement, according to whether they are sympathetic or not. The sympathy or antipathy that may exist between the medium and the Spirits who deal with these material effects explains why not all are able to provoke them.
Considering that the vital fluid, somehow emitted by the Spirit, gives a factitious and momentary life to inert bodies and that the perispirit is nothing other than the vital fluid itself, it follows that, when incarnated, it is the Spirit that it gives life to the body, through its perispirit: it remains united to it as long as the organization allows it, and when it withdraws, the body dies.
Now if, instead of the table, the wood is carved into a statue, and if we act on it in the same way as on the table, we will have a statue that moves from the place, which will respond by movements and by blows; in a word, a momentarily animated statue of artificial life. What light does this theory throw on a host of hitherto unexplained phenomena! How many wonderful allegories and effects she explains! It's a whole philosophy.
Spiritist Journal — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies founded in Paris on April 1, 1858
The extension, so to speak universal, taken daily by spiritist beliefs made the creation of a regular center of observations was strongly desired. This gap has just been filled. The Society whose formation we are pleased to announce, composed exclusively of serious people, free from prejudice and animated by a sincere desire for enlightenment, counted, from the beginning, among its associates, with men eminent for their knowledge and for their social position.
Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies was the first entity of its kind and was founded by Allan Kardec
The Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies and Truth
We are convinced that she is called to render undeniable services to the verification of the truth. Its organic law assures it of a homogeneity without which there will be no possible vitality. It is based on the experience of men and things and on the knowledge of the conditions necessary for the observations that are the object of their research. Coming to Paris, strangers who are interested in the Spiritist Doctrine will thus find a center to which they can go for information and where they can also report their own observations [1].
ALLAN KARDEC
[1] For information regarding the Company, contact Mr. ALLAN KARDEC, rue Sainte-Anne, n. 59, from 3 am to 5 am; or to Mr. LEDOYEN, bookseller, Galleries d'Orléans, n. 31, at the Palais-Royal.
Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Varieties: the fake Mr. home
Mr. Home is the victim of a scammer
Some time ago, in the Lyon newspapers, we read the following advertisement, which was also posted on the city walls:
“Mr. Hume, the famous American medium, who had the honor of experimenting before His Majesty the Emperor, from Thursday, April 1st, will give sessions on spiritualism in the great theater of Lyon. He will produce apparitions, etc., etc. There will be special chairs for doctors and scholars, so that they can make sure that nothing has been prepared. The sessions will be varied, with experiences of the famous seer, Mrs…, a very lucid sleepwalker, who will reproduce all the feelings one by one, at the will of the spectators. Ticket prices: 5 francs in first class, 3 francs in second.”
The antagonists of Mr. Home (some write Hume) did not want to miss this opportunity of exposing him to ridicule. In their ardent desire to find where to bite, they welcomed this gross mystification with an enthusiasm that undermines their balance and even more their respect for the truth, because, before throwing stones at others, it is necessary to verify that they will not hit another target. But passion is blind, it doesn't reason and it is often wrong when it tries to harm others. "Look," they exclaimed jubilantly, "this man so much praised, reduced to appearing on the stage, giving so many shows a head!" And your papers giving credence to the fact, without further scrutiny. Unfortunately for them, their joy didn't last long.
Soon they wrote to us from Lyon, asking for enough information to expose the fraud, which was not difficult, especially thanks to the commitment of the many adepts that Spiritism has in that city. As soon as the theater director learned what it was about, he immediately addressed the following letter to the newspapers: “Mr. Editor. I hasten to inform you that the show announced for Thursday, April 1st, at the grand theater, will no longer take place. I thought I had given the theater to Mr. Home and not to Mr. Lambert Laroche, who calls himself Hume. Persons who have obtained friezes in advance will be able to present themselves at the theater box office for a refund.”
Mr. Lambert Laroche “justifies himself”
On the other hand, the aforementioned Lambert Laroche, born in Langres, questioned as to his identity, felt obliged to respond in the terms that we reproduce in full below, as we do not want to be accused of the slightest alteration.
“Vous m'avez soumis diversse extre de vous correspondence de Paris, desquellesil résulterez that a M. Home qui donne des séancedans quelque salon de la capítalle was trauve at the moment in Italy etne peut para conéquent se trauvir à Lyon. Monsieur gignore 1st la cannaissance de ce M. Home, 2nd je essait quellais son talent 3rd je nais ever rien nue de commun àveck ce M. Home, 4th jait tavaillez et tavaille sout mon nom de gaire qui est hume et dont je vous justi par les article de journaux étrangers et français que je vous est soumis 5th je voyage à vecque deux sugais mon genre d'experriance consists in spiritualism with evocation vision, and in a mot reproduction de ideis du spectateur par un sugais, ma cepécialité est d'operate par c'est proceede sur les personnes étrangere comme on la pue le voir dans les journaux je vien despagne et d'afrique. Seci M. le rédacteur vous démontre que je n'ais poin voulu prendre le nom de ce prétendu Home que vous dites en réputation, le min est sufisant connu par sagrande notoriété et par les expérience que je produi. Agreez M. le redacteur mes salutation empressait”. *
We believe it is useless to say that Mr. Lambert Laroche left Lyon with his head held high. You will certainly go to other places in search of fools to deceive easily. One more word to express our regret at seeing with what deplorable avidity certain creatures who claim to be serious welcome everything that can serve their animosity. Today, Spiritism is highly believed and there is nothing to fear from antics; it is no more debased by charlatans than true medical science by crossroads healers; he finds it everywhere, but mainly among enlightened, zealous people and countless defenders who know how to face the mockery. Far from harming it, the Lyon affair only serves to spread it, drawing the attention of the undecided to reality. Who knows if it was even provoked by a superior force for this purpose? Who can boast of sounding out the designs of Providence?
As for systematic opponents, let them laugh, but not slander. A few more years and we'll see who has the last word. If it is logical to doubt what one does not know, it is always imprudent to manifest oneself falsely against new ideas which, sooner or later, may offer a humiliating denial to our perspicacity. There's history to prove it. Would those who, in their pride, show pity for the adepts of the Spiritist Doctrine be as superior as they think they are? These spirits, whom they seek to ridicule, recommend that good be done and forbid evil, even to enemies; they tell us that we debase ourselves by the only evil desire. Which, then, is higher: the one who seeks to do evil or the one who has neither hatred nor rancor in his heart? Not long ago, Mr. Home has returned to Paris, but will soon leave for Scotland and from there to St. Petersburg.
The faker.
French text translation
(Translation reproducing the writing and language of a semi-illiterate person)
* “You sent me several extras from your Paris correspondence, from which it appears that a Mr. The home which gives sessions in a salon in the capital is currently in Italy and therefore cannot be in Lyon. My lord, I ignore first the knowledge of this Mr. Home, 2nd I don't know what your talent is 3rd I never had anything in common with this Mr. Home, 4th I worked and I work with a name of war which is Hume and that name I justify by the article in the foreign and French pages submitted to you, 5th I travel with two companions my gene of ixpriença consists of spiritualism or evocation vision and, in a word, reproduction of the spectator's idea by a subject, my specialty is to operate through this process in strangers, as can be seen in the newspapers that come from Spain and Africa. With that, its editor, I show you that I never wanted to take the name of that supposed Home that I tell you that he has a reputation, mine is sufficiently known for its great notoriety and for the ixpriença that I have. Receive, sir, my kind greetings.”
A fact at the Civil Hospital of Saintes
L'Independant de la Charente-Inférieure reported, last March, the following event that would have occurred at the Civil Hospital of Saintes:
“For eight days, in this city, the most wonderful stories have been told and nothing is said except about the singular noises that, every night, sometimes imitate the trot of a horse, sometimes the steps of a dog or a cat. Bottles placed over the fireplace are carried across the room. One morning a bundle of rags was found twisted and knotted and impossible to untie. One night a paper was left on the fireplace, on which it had been written: “What do you want? What do you ask?” The next day, in the morning, there was the answer, written in unknown and indecipherable characters. Matches placed on the table during the night disappeared as if by magic. Anyway, all the objects change places and scatter everywhere. Such spells are only performed in the darkness of night. Once there is light, everything returns to silence; extinguishing it, the noises resume immediately. It is a friendly spirit of darkness. Several people, including ecclesiastics and former soldiers, lay down in that enchanted room and it was impossible for them to discover or explain what they were hearing. “A hospital employee suspected of being the author of these pranks has just been fired. It is assured, however, that he is not only not guilty, but, on the contrary, was often the victim himself.
“It feels like this story started over a month ago. For a long time nothing was said, for each distrusted his senses and feared being laughed at. It wasn’t until a few days later that the comments came out.”
NOTE: We have not yet had time to verify the authenticity of the above facts. We publish them with due reservations. We note, however, that, if invented, they are no less possible and there is nothing more extraordinary than many others of the same kind, which have been perfectly verified.
