The harshest mediumistic communication received by Kardec: Campaign plan against Spiritism
No dia 10 de novembro de 1867, pelo médium Sr. T…, Kardec recebeu uma comunicação much seriously, regarding the role of enemies in the fight against Spiritism. We reproduce the article below, in full, given its importance for all those seriously interested in Spiritism, as it demonstrates the artifices of campaign plan against Spiritism.
Campaign plan — New era — Considerations on spontaneous sleepwalking
(Paris, 10 de novembro de 1867 — Médium: Sr. T… Em sono espontâneo)
NOTE: In this session, no previous question will provoke the subject that was discussed. At first the medium had been concerned with his health, then, little by little, he found himself led to reflections, the analysis of which we give below. He spoke for about an hour without interruption.
The progress of Spiritism causes its enemies a terror that they cannot hide. At first they played with the rotating tables, without thinking that they were caressing a child who was supposed to grow up... The child grew up... then they sensed their future and said to themselves that they would soon be right... But, as they say, the boy had a hard life. He resisted all attacks, anathemas, persecution, even mockery. Similar to certain grains that the wind carries, it produced countless shoots... For each one it destroyed, a hundred others appeared.
At first they used against him the weapons of another era, those that once worked against new ideas, because these ideas were just scattered flashes that had difficulty coming to light through ignorance, and that had not yet taken root among the masses... today it's something else; everything changed: customs, ideas, character, beliefs; Humanity is no longer moved by the threats that frighten children; The devil, so feared by our grandparents, is no longer scary: we laugh at him.
Yes, the ancient weapons have become distorted in the breastplate of progress. It is as if, in our days, an army wanted to attack a stronghold equipped with cannons, with the arrows, battering rams and catapults of our ancestors.
The enemies of Spiritism saw, through experience, the uselessness of the worm-eaten weapons of the past against the regenerating idea; Far from harming him, his efforts only served to give him authority.
To fight with advantage against the ideas of the century, it would be necessary to be at the height of the century; To progressive doctrines it would be necessary to oppose even more progressive doctrines, because less cannot overcome more.
So, unable to triumph through violence, they resorted to cunning, the weapon of those who are aware of their weakness... From wolves, they became lambs, to enter the fold and there sow disorder, division, confusion. Because they ended up causing disturbances in some ranks, they soon considered themselves masters of the square. This did not mean that the isolated supporters stopped continuing their work, and every day, the idea made its way without much fuss... They were the ones who made the fuss... You don't see it permeating everything, in the newspapers, in books, in the theater and even in the chair ? It works on all consciousnesses; it drags Spirits to new horizons; it is found in the state of intuition even in those who have not heard of it. This is a fact that no one can deny and that becomes more evident every day. Isn't this proof that the idea is irresistible and that it is a sign of the times?
Annihilating it is, therefore, an impossible thing, because it would be necessary to annihilate it not in one point, but in the entire world; and then, aren't ideas carried on the wings of the wind? And how to achieve them? You can pick up packages of goods at customs, but ideas are intangible.
What to do, then? Trying to take control of them, to accommodate them to your will... Well done! It is the party for which they decided. They said to themselves: Spiritism is the precursor of an inevitable moral revolution; before it is completely realized, let us try to divert it to our advantage; let us do it in a way that happens with it as with certain political revolutions; By denaturing its spirit, another course could be given to it.
Thus, the campaign plan has changed... You will see spiritist meetings being formed whose confessed objective will be the defense of the Doctrine, and whose secret objective will be its destruction; supposed mediums who will have communications ordered, suitable for the purpose they propose; publications that, under the cloak of Spiritism, will strive to demolish it; doctrines that will take some ideas from him, but with the thought of supplanting him. This is the fight, the real fight that he will have to sustain, and that will be fiercely pursued, but from which he will emerge victorious and stronger.
What can men do against the will of God? Is it possible to ignore what is happening? Isn't your finger visible in this progress that defies all attacks, in these phenomena that arise from all sides as a protest, as a denial given to all denials?... Isn't the life of men, the fate of Humanity in your hands? … Blind!… They do not count on the new generation that rises up and that daily surpasses the generation that passes away… Just a few years later and it will have disappeared, leaving behind nothing but the memory of its senseless attempts to stop the impulse of the spirit human, which advances despite everything... They do not count on the events that will hasten the blossoming of the new humanitarian period... with support that will rise in favor of the new doctrine whose powerful voice will impose silence on its detractors by its authority.
Oh! How the face of the world will be changed for those who see the beginning of the next century!... How much ruin they will see behind them, and what splendid horizons will open before them!... It will be like the dawn chasing away the shadows of night... The noises, the tumults, the roars of the storm will be followed by songs of joy; after anguish, men will be reborn into hope… Yes! The 20th century will be a blessed century, because it will see the new era announced by Christ.
NOTE: Here the medium stops, overcome by indescribable emotion, and as if exhausted with fatigue. After a few minutes of rest, during which he seems to return to the level of ordinary somnambulism, he resumes:
─ What did I tell you then? ─ You told us about the new campaign plan of the opponents of Spiritism; then you spoke of the new era. ─ I continue.
While they wait, they fight over the land inch by inch. They more or less renounced the weapons of other times, whose ineffectiveness they recognized; now they rehearse those that are omnipotent in this century of selfishness, pride and cupidity: gold, the seduction of self-love. Together with those who are inaccessible to fear, they explore vanity, earthly needs. He who resisted the threat sometimes gives a complacent ear to flattery, to the taste of material well-being... They promise bread to those who don't have it; work for the artisan; parish to the dealer; employee promotion; honors to the ambitious, if they renounce their beliefs. They hurt him in his position, in his means of existence, in his affections, if they are indocile; then, the mirage of gold produces its ordinary effect on some. Among these there are necessarily some weak characters who succumb to temptation. There are those who fall into the trap in good faith, because the hand that maneuvers them hides... There are also, and many, who give in to the harsh necessity, but who think no less about it; his resignation is only apparent; they bend, but to rise at the first occasion... Others, those who in the highest degree have the true courage of faith, face danger resolutely; These always win, because they are supported by good Spirits... Some, ah!... but these were never Spiritists at heart... they prefer the gold of Earth to the gold of Heaven; They remain, through form, linked to the doctrine, and under this cloak, they only better serve the cause of their enemies... It is a sad exchange that they make, and one that they will pay dearly for!
In the times of cruel trials that you are going to go through, happy are those over whom the protection of the good Spirits is extended, because it has never been so necessary!... Pray for the lost brothers, so that they can take advantage of the short moments of moratorium that are granted to them, before the justice of the Most High weighs on them... When they see the storm breaking, more than one will ask for grace!... But they will be answered: What have you done with our teachings? As mediums, haven't you written your own condemnation hundreds of times?... You had the light and you didn't take advantage of it! We had given you a shelter; why did you abandon him? So suffer the fate of those you preferred. If your heart had been touched by our words, you would have remained firm on the path of good that was marked out for you; If you had had faith, you would have resisted the seductions extended to your self-love and your vanity. So you believed you could impose them on us, as on men, through false appearances? Know, if you doubted, that there is not a single movement of the soul that does not have its counterattack in the world of Spirits.
Do you believe that it is for nothing that the faculty of clairvoyance develops in such a large number of people? May it be to offer food for the curiosity that today so many mediums spontaneously fall asleep in a dream of ecstasy? No. I disapointed you. This faculty, which has been announced to you for so long, is a characteristic sign of the times that have come; it is a prelude to transformation, because, as you have been told, this must be one of the attributes of the new generation. This generation, more morally purified, will also be physically so. Mediumship, in all forms, will be more or less general, and communion with Spirits a normal state, so to speak.
God sends the faculty of clairvoyance in these moments of crisis and transition, to give his faithful servants a means of frustrating the plot of their enemies, because the evil thoughts that they believe hidden in the shadow of the frills of conscience, reverberate in these sensitive souls as in a Mirror, and reveal themselves for themselves. He who only emits good thoughts is not afraid of being known.
Happy is he who can say: Read in my soul as in an open book.
OBSERVATION: Spontaneous somnambulism, which we have already talked about, is, in fact, nothing more than a form of clairvoyant mediumship, the development of which has been announced for some time, as well as the appearance of new mediumistic skills. It is remarkable that in all moments of general crisis or persecution, people endowed with this faculty are more numerous than in normal times. There were many at the time of the revolution; the Calvinists of the Cévènes, persecuted like wild animals, had numerous seers who warned them of what was happening in the distance; for this fact, and ironically, they were classified as enlightened; Today we are beginning to understand that vision from a distance and independent of the organs of vision may well be one of the attributes of human nature, and Spiritism explains it through the expansive faculty and properties of the soul. Facts of this kind have multiplied so much that we are less surprised; What once seemed like a miracle or spell to some is today considered a natural effect. It is one of the thousand ways through which Spiritism penetrates, so that, if a source is stopped, it resurfaces through other ways.
So, this faculty is not new, but it tends to become widespread, undoubtedly for the reason indicated in the communication above, but also as a means of proving to unbelievers the existence of the spiritual principle. In the words of the Spirits, it would even become endemic, which would naturally be explained by the moral transformation of Humanity, a transformation that should produce changes in the organism that will facilitate the expansion of the soul.
Like other mediumistic faculties, this one can be exploited by quackery. Therefore, it is good to remain on guard against charlatans who, for whatever reason, could try to simulate it and, by all possible means, to ensure the good faith of those who claim to possess it. In addition to material and moral disinterest and the person's notorious honorability, which are the first guarantees, it is important to carefully observe the conditions and circumstances in which the phenomenon occurs and see if they offer anything suspicious.
