This topic, always so present, came up in a Facebook group: according to Spiritism, is there a problem in sacrificing an animal in a terminal state, that is, in subjecting it to euthanasia?

I'll say no—and that's not my opinion. But first of all, it's important to remember that no we must make them suffer needlessly, in no case — and this corroborates the view presented here.

Here, we need to recover some postulates of the Spiritist Doctrine, obtained, as always, through a rational and concordant analysis of the teachings of the Spirits. In The Spirits' Book, we will find an important clarification in this regard:

Free will and moral suffering in animals

595. Do animals enjoy free will to perform their acts?

“Animals are not simple machines, as you suppose. However, the freedom of action they enjoy is limited by their needs, and cannot be compared to that of man. Being far inferior to him, they do not have the same duties as him. Freedom, they have it restricted to the acts of material life.”

Animals have a certain freedom, of course, and we can see that some of them have it in a way superior to others, as a species of more advanced intelligence, which, however, is still restricted to the acts of material life. Thus, animals are concerned with survival, and they do everything to do so. As difficult as it is to admit, there is more of a relationship of dependence, habit and need than of love, in them, in relation to us, because love is something that develops with the advancement of the Spirit. Of course: we cannot judge the point at which this spiritual ability begins to exist, so we cannot judge absolutely about it.

The most important point here is to note that animals do not have free will, that is, they do not have consciousness, as we do, about their actions. From the moment free will develops, even in the most latent states, the Spirit starts to have free will, that is, it starts to choose its actions and, from these choices, congratulates itself or suffers for its results. So, finally, we find that animals can't hurt: they kill each other, they attack the human being, they reproduce, but all subject to instinct. There is no harm in the lion that kills the zebra: there is an instinctive need to survive. There was also no harm in orca that drowned its trainer: there is curiosity, instinct, but not a thoughtful act.

We said that the animal still has no free will. if still doesn't have, one day he will. And what is free will, if not an attribute of the Spirit, the intelligent principle of Creation? So animals have souls? Yea:

597. Since animals have an intelligence that gives them a certain freedom of action, is there in them any principle independent of matter?

“There is, and that survives the body.”

The) - Is this principle a soul like that of man?

“It is also a soul, if you will, depending on the meaning given to this word. It is, however, inferior to that of man. There is between the soul of animals and that of man a distance equivalent to that between the soul of man and God.”

598. After death, does the soul of animals retain its individuality and self-consciousness?

“Keep your individuality; about the awareness of your I, no. Intelligent life remains in a latent state.”

We see that it is a Spirit – or a soul, which is the incarnate Spirit – still in an evolutionary stage very distant from that of the terrestrial human Spirit: as if it were the same distance, according to the Spirits, that separates us from God. don't even have consciousness of themselves. It's a huge distance, but the important information is: yes, they have Spirits. So one question remains: do animals suffer? In what way?

the suffering of the animal

We, Spirits in the human stage, suffer in two ways: morally, as a result of our choices, and materially, as a result of our choices. when incarnate (The Spirit does not suffer materially when disincarnated, so that all reports of the type are the result of a mental externalization of moral suffering).

Moral pain, as we said, is born from the realization of a mistake we have made. And there could be no mistake if we didn't have the ability to choose, because without it, we would only be responding to external stimuli, through instinct. Now, this being exactly the case with animals, it is rational to suppose that they cannot suffer moral pain because of their actions – after all, imagine the moral pain that a lion would have after killing, from time to time, another animal for food!

The Spirit in the animal stage does not even need the time in the erraticity that the human Spirit needs, where he analyzes his past, his choices, his difficulties, etc:

600. Surviving the body in which it inhabited, does the soul of the animal find itself, after death, in a state of erraticity, like that of man?

“It remains in a kind of erraticity, since it is no longer united with the body, but it is not a wandering spirit. The Wandering Spirit is a being who thinks and works of his own free will. The animals do not have the same faculty. Self-awareness is what constitutes the main attribute of the Spirit. The animal's, after death, is classified by the Spirits who are responsible for this task and used almost immediately; he is not given time to enter into relations with other creatures.”

We see, in the highlighted section, important information, which denies some theories of “dog heaven”, “animal paradise”, etc. The Spirit, in this evolutionary state, only needs to experience successive reincarnations, where they develop and, in no way, atone for their faults – because they do not commit them:

602. Do animals progress, like man, by the act of their own will, or by the force of things?

“By force of things, wherefore they are not subject to expiation.”

After all, is it okay to submit an animal to euthanasia?

Rationally, after the knowledge presented, it is easy to see that no, because, as the animal does not yet have moral suffering, does not need to go through material sufferings in order to obtain any kind of learning. This is exactly the opposite of the case of the Spirit in the stage of free will, because the physical pains, many times, planned for himself before incarnating, they offer precious crucibles of purification of the Spirit, which reflects on his acts, his choices, his mistakes and successes.

Note, however, that in no way are we saying that the Spirit must always go through pain to learn something, as is preached by the defenders of the doctrine of the "law of action and reaction", where, for these, the Spirit will always need to go through a pain of the same gender and of the same intensity in order to understand that the pain he has caused another to go through, hurts. They forget that the Spirit can see its error, suffer for it, but then, with more lucidity, plan a life with opportunities and trials - and, sometimes, atonements - where it can face its imperfections and seek to get rid of them through the apprenticeship.

Conclusion

We don't need to make the animal go through unnecessary pain – pain that is often the result of the lifestyles and diet to which we submit them – because it does not reap the moral fruits of this pain, which is only physical. The case is different for the human spirit, which should never be submitted to euthanasia., as the Spirits teach in The Spirits' Book:

Question 953 - When a person sees an inevitable and horrible end before him, will he be guilty if he shortens his sufferings for a few moments, voluntarily hastening his death?

“He who does not wait for the term that God has marked out for his existence is always guilty. And who can be sure that, despite appearances, this term has arrived; that unexpected help does not come at the last moment?”

by Marco Milani
Text published in Spiritist Leader Magazine, ed. 188 – Mar/Apr 2022, p. 9-11

This article reinforces our recent observations regarding the Spiritist Movement, and demonstrates that we are not alone in this path.

Despite the different sizes and complexities of the services offered, all effectively Spiritist institutions have, as a common identity characteristic, the theoretical structuring of their principles and values in the teaching of Spirits organized and presented by Allan Kardec. Much more than the formal denomination displayed on its facade and documents, it is the internal culture guided by the content of Kardec's works that becomes the central element that makes any spiritist center recognized as such.

Historically, one can point to the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies (SPEE), founded on 04/01/1858, as the first spiritist center in the world and served as a reference for the constitution of numerous groups focused on the study and practice of Spiritism.

Although it was the model for the formation of other centers, SPEE's organizational culture was unique, as the set of practices, routines, norms, needs, concerns and expectations of its members is something that cannot be reproduced. Likewise, each spiritist institution, past or present, reflects particular aspects of its founders, maintainers and collaborators that give it a unique characteristic and subject to changes over time, but always distinct from other organizations.

It can, therefore, be said that the spiritist center has a common identity in Kardec, shared with other spiritist institutions, and its own microculture, resulting from the direct action of its participants, which differentiates it to a greater or lesser degree from the other centers.

The microcultural plurality is also determined by the doctrinal maturity of the leaders of each house.

A critical identity problem is generated when the institution's microculture conflicts with the common identity that would make it recognized as a spiritist. In other words, when the spiritist principles and values start to be reinterpreted and re-signified due to doctrinal immaturity and/or the particular interests of the leaders, the house moves away from the Kardecian direction and approaches it to a spiritualist context, but not a spiritist one.

Doctrinal dynamism, the need to add new knowledge and conceptual updating are often misused to justify the subversion or abandonment of the teaching of the Spirits in Kardec's work. Isolated opinions of disincarnated authors come to be assumed as new truths that legitimize themselves because they were revealed by supposed mediumistic communications and by infallible mediums. The universal control method adopted by Kardec is also rendered useless or distorted by the novices, devaluing the care necessary to accept information as valid.

It is not by chance that the relationship between power and culture in organizations is widely explored in the scientific literature in the area of Applied Social Sciences. The influence exerted by leaders, mainly charismatic ones, in institutions can change and consolidate the organizational culture in the long term and make the spiritist doctrinal references migrate from their Kardecian base to new theoretical frameworks, generally syncretic and mystical.

It was precisely the syncretism with Theosophy, Catholicism and Orientalism, in addition to superstitious hints, some of the factors that negatively impacted the development of the French Spiritist Movement after the disincarnation of Allan Kardec. The reflection of the cultural distortion was the dissemination of Roustainguism, for example, in some nascent groups, including Brazilians. Once the syncretic microculture is implemented, its harmful impact on the spiritist identity issue is visible.

Mistakenly, some more daring and distant from the careful analysis under sociological methods, confuse the countless organizational microcultures with their own common spiritist identity, leading them to suppose that there are “various spiritisms”. What exists, in fact, is an expected microcultural heterogeneity that does not represent, by itself, the Spiritist Doctrine, which is unique. Thus, there is only one Spiritism, but different degrees of doctrinal maturity of its adherents.

The more coherent with the teaching of the Spirits presented by Allan Kardec, the closer to the spiritist identity is the profiteer. The coder himself recognized and classified the different types of spiritists, signaling that there is no strict uniformity nor that the isolated thoughts and acts of those who declare themselves adept will necessarily characterize the doctrine.

In the book The Gospel According to Spiritism, in its chapter XVII, item 4, the characteristics of the true spiritist are explained, but even in this item the hasty reading prevents the real understanding of its deeper meaning. The following excerpt stands out:

“He who can rightly be qualified as a true and sincere spiritist is in a higher degree of moral advancement. The Spirit, who dominates matter more completely in him, gives him a clearer perception of the future; the principles of the Doctrine make you vibrate fibers that in others remain inert (emphasis mine). In short: he is touched in the heart, so his faith becomes unshakable. One is like a musician that a few chords are enough to move, while another only hears sounds. The true spiritist is recognized for his moral transformation and for the efforts he uses to tame his evil inclinations.”

               As can be seen, it is a limited interpretation to characterize the true spiritist only through moral transformation and efforts to tame bad inclinations, since these attitudes, although extremely positive and necessary, can be done by any human being, be it whatever your philosophical belief or orientation, including atheists. To be good, you don't have to be spiritual. That's why the maxim is outside charity (not Spiritism) there is no salvation. There are morally higher atheists than many religious people.

On the other hand, to be a spiritist, one must understand and experience the doctrinal principles and, for that, one must study and learn about the nature, origin and destiny of Spirits, as well as their relationship with the corporeal world, according to the Spiritism. Science has, therefore, a prominent role in the production and advancement of knowledge about the reality that surrounds us, even entering spiritualist proposals, even if it displeases researchers still trapped in materialism.

Considering that it is not enough to be good to be a true spiritist, a spiritist organization must imperatively be conducted according to doctrinal principles and values. Conceptual deviations incorporated in organizational microculture under the claim that the only thing that matters is striving to transform morally generate spaces for subtle or clear anti-doctrinal infiltrations.

In summary, the spiritist movement, composed of thousands of institutions and activists, expresses a rich microcultural diversity and degrees of doctrinal maturity, but Spiritism is unique, expressing the teaching of the Spirits that were validated by the method of universal control and march, side by side. , with scientific advances as long as they are properly validated, overcoming the hypothetical stage. The organizational culture of the true spiritist center has, therefore, Kardec as ballast, it distances syncretic, mystical and superstitious postures, and welcomes the invitation to dialogue based on facts and on reasoned faith for the production and advancement of knowledge, which do not occur due to mere psychic opinion.

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
• Lessons learned: the distance between the current “spiritualist movement” and original Spiritism; the need to resume studies

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.

"I choose" means, figuratively, a difficulty. And Kardec opens the aforementioned article by discussing such difficulties:

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?

It turns out that the “spiritualist movement” (I call it 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, named by him “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.

How do third-order Spirits communicate – Imperfect Spirits

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. ─ What do you think of what you said in his name?

─ 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. ─ Why do you not maintain the imposture in our presence?

─ '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

We live in a Spiritism that is very distant from "Kardec's" Spiritism (in quotation marks, because we know that Spiritism does not belong to him nor did it originate from his mind). And this is not good, because "Kardec's" Spiritism is that scientific doctrine, born from the rational observation of spiritist phenomena and the universal agreement of the Spirits' teachings.

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).

Also, in the 1858 Magazine, in the article “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: a denied 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 (by Jean-Baptiste Roustaing), a “doctrine” that was established in the Brazilian Spiritist community since before the beginning of the 20th century, including by great sympathy from Bezerra de Menezes to his ideas. Although the FEB, self-proclaimed “Spiritism summit in Brazil”, only adopted the obligation to study Roustaing’s works from 1917 onwards (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!

We are, on this date, experiencing a new moment of apprehension in the world, with a new war starting between Russia and Ukraine. It will be very opportune, therefore, to remember some important concepts of Spiritism in the face of such situations, such as wars.

The situation of those who die in wars

In the first place, it is necessary to remember that any human evil is born from the imperfection inherent in Spirits who, like practically all of us, are still in the third order of life. spirit scale. The Spirit who practices evil, individually or in combination, does so because he is still ignorant of morals and acts according to his already conquered free will. Thus, I emphasize, never an action of perversity or evil, practiced by someone, arises from a divine collection of a past “debt”.

I believe it's very important to highlight this thought right from the start, because many still mistakenly think that the victim of a crime is "paying off past debts," which is not true. Now, what kind of God is this who collects debts through crimes and, in doing so, causes another Spirit—that of the criminal—to acquire a new debt?

Therefore, no, people who die victims of a crime, whether isolated, such as a homicide, or in a group, from smaller but no less expressive cases, such as the Kiss nightclub fire, which resulted in a criminal case, even the biggest, such as the cases of Nazism, which killed more than six million Jews, or the genocide committed by the Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, whose politics killed 50 to 80 million people, do not die because they are being charged for absolutely nothing in the past: they die as a result of the decisions of others, criminals - remembering that, of course, the Spirit that foresees life under such a condition can choose then reincarnate in order to atone for past mistakes and try to learn and get rid of the imperfections that made him wrong.

I already addressed this issue in another article, highlighting that collective deaths do not occur due to “collective rescues”, but because we are subject to such vicissitudes, inherent to the raw material we occupy today.

The “deadline”

Many have, with some fear, referred to a supposed “prophecy” attributed to Chico Xavier regarding the so-called deadline, where, from a certain date in 1969, the elevated Spirits who care for earthly progress would give an “ultimatum” to the earthly human being: if there were no war, within the next 50 years, we would enter a new phase of planetary evolution.

It so happens that we have some problems with the Doctrine:

1. Superior spirits do not usually give future predictions of this kind.
2. How could superior spirits give such an ultimatum knowing that the human being is still very imperfect and knowing the going and going in the human heart?
3. We know that the evolution of the Spirit does not respect dates. For the immortal Spirit, time does not exist, and what is not done today, nor here, will be done in decades, centuries or millennia. The urgency that exists lives in each one, because each lost day of detachment from imperfections will be one more day of suffering in this spiritual condition.

Another problem is that much of this subject has been discussed secondhand, through other people, not having come directly from Chico Xavier's mouth. Therefore, it is necessary to look at this matter very carefully.

War and Spiritism: The Spirits’ Book

In the cited work, Kardec also addresses the theme of wars. Let's review the questions and answers:

742. What is it that drives man to war?

“The predominance of the animal nature over the spiritual nature and the overflow of passions. In the state of barbarism, peoples only know one right: that of the strongest. That is why, for such peoples, war is a normal state. As man progresses, war becomes less frequent, because he avoids its causes. And when it becomes necessary, he knows how to do it with humanity.”

The human being, still very imperfect, wants to rule by force in order to enforce his selfish desires. As we progress, we will leave such imperfections behind and fight less, on any scale. The big problem is that, today, man is forgotten about morals and the soul.

743. From the face of the earth, will war ever disappear?

“Yes, when men understand justice and do the law of God. At that time, all peoples will be brothers.”

Unfortunately, in an absurdly materialistic society, we are quite forgetful about practicing the Law of God.

744. What did Providence aim at, making war necessary?

“Freedom and Progress.”

When it is said that Providence (God) made war necessary, it is important to understand that God would never make war a necessity in itself, but rather that He allows free will to the imperfect Spirit that, without a shadow of a doubt, will come into play. strife and wars of every kind. It's part of evolution. It is almost always necessary to know the bad, in its most advanced stage, for society to seek the good. In the past, the human being, in general, fought and killed for any petty reason. Today we are considerably far from that past.

There is also something important to note: larger-scale wars are always commanded by one or more tyrannical individuals or groups. At the end of the line is the soldier who, many times, has nothing to do with it and who would not even like to be there, but who is forced to follow the orders of his commanders. Divine Justice, of course, “takes into account” these differences, that is, the soldier who acts under command, without the will to do evil, will have, before his own conscience, much less sense of guilt than the commander. who sends them to murder.

744. a) — If war must have the advent of freedom as its effect, how can it often aim and result in subjugation?

“Temporary subjugation, for press peoples, in order to make them progress more quickly.”

It is the complement of what was said above. War presses for advancement, both scientific and moral.

745. What is to be thought of him who stirs up war for his own benefit?

“This is the big culprit and many stocks will be necessary for him to atone for all the murders he has caused, for he will answer for all the men whose death he has caused to satisfy his ambition.”

From the answer to this question, it seems then that the Spirit who provokes war to take advantage will indeed have to pay for each of those who have suffered for this reason. But that's not exactly it. It is necessary to read carefully and carefully, and Kardec's works, being based on science, are continually built on previous postulates.

Let us note here that the spiritual response speaks in atonement. Atonement, being a kind of penance, is not a punishment imposed directly by God, as a charge, but rather as an effect of the conscience that the Spirit takes on the evil done. From the moment the Spirit understands that what suffers from being far from the good, starts to suffer morally because of it and, then, starts to plan incarnations where it will atone for its imperfections, to overcome them. Nor does it mean that the Spirit will individually atone for each one sufferings or deaths that he has caused, but, yes, that he will go through a long reincarnation work, trying to get rid of the moral weight acquired with his mistakes. Hitler will certainly not be reincarnated more than six million times to die in the same way and "pay" for the death of every single Jew (and other victims of the war), but surely the moment he understand the extent of the evil he did and the size of the suffering he himself experiences, he will go through a long series of incarnations suffered, by his own choice, in order to seek to overcome the exacerbated imperfections that made him act in such a way.

Conclusion

War and contention, to a lesser or greater degree, are still inherent to our condition of very imperfect spirits, and will only cease to exist on the day we practice God's laws, that is, on the day when moral charity, benevolence, in short, the good in itself is installed in the heart of each one, as an obligation, as well as that each one makes his own effort to get rid of selfishness and pride, imperfections that give rise to all the others. And, for that, it is necessary that the man rises above the matter and understands that, as incarnate Spirits, the only thing that really matters and what we take from here is the progress we have made or not. And, in this, Spiritism, as a science, and education based on Pestalozzi's pedagogy (mainly), still has much to contribute.

Let us pray, yes, for our brothers. We know that thought has the power of transmission over infinite distances. They can, who knows, reach the most hardened hearts, as they can also do a lot of good to those who are victims of the despotic excesses of all those who want to rule by force and violence. And let's take the opportunity to study, not to teach Spiritism classes, but to make ourselves more useful to society through our own transformation and the propagation of ideas based on the preexistence of the soul and its infinite continuity.

This is an honest and open reflection. It so happens that, today, one only thinks about indoctrinate. We forget, however, that Spirits have a lot to teach us – even the most unhappy ones, because we can analyze their current state, the reasons for the complications in their lives and, from that, obtain a lot of important knowledge. Studying Kardec, we see that not only he, but also many groups distributed across Europe and North America carried out serious research on the subject through mediumistic communications – not just waiting for “the phone to ring from there to here”, but carrying out evocations with serious and useful purposes.

Furthermore, at that time, it was customary to annotate everything, generating large volumes of documents regarding these communications, which could then be studied independently by external researchers, through rationality, seeking to find agreement between them. It is practically what Kardec did, and it is what allowed the structuring of Spiritism as a Scientific Doctrine. Today this is rarely done, except in the production of “letters” from disembodied relatives (whose communications could be much better used). My point is: we will need to resume this methodology, after all, human science has advanced a lot, but Spiritism has practically stopped in time, and many concepts that are accepted today did not go through this necessary methodology. If, today, the various groups of studies or mediumistic practices spread out there resumed this task, taking care not to contaminate each other from the sharing of ideas not sanctioned by this method, we could once again have a large volume of production. of contents that, little by little, could be analyzed. This, however, requires at least the basic study of The Spirits' Book and The Mediums' Book.

Imagine, for example, the controversies and lack of information regarding "spiritual cities": we can't, of course, ask the Spirit in a mediumship session: "Hey, do you live in a spiritual city? Where is it?" This would almost always provoke a tainted idea as a response. Instead, we would ask: "Could you tell us about your arrival in the spiritual plane? What did you find there? What are you doing today? Do you get tired? [If so,] what do you do to rest?"

He understands? There is another very positive point: in addition to learning from such reports, with effects on ourselves, our thoughts and our attitudes, these communications are also very useful to Spirits, especially those in a state of disturbance, who, when contracted to the mediumistic connection, he focuses a little more, again and can, at that moment, reflect a lot on his condition, changing his life.

Anyway, that's it. It has to start over, somehow. We just cannot forget to study Kardec for this, in order to avoid the difficulties already known and dealt with very clearly by him.

It is time to recover Kardec.

A few days ago I got involved in a heated discussion – behind the keyboards – which ended up making me angry and indignant. The reason? The issue of tampering (or not) in Kardec’s two final works – Heaven and hell and The Genesis.

Here, the discussion itself about these adulterations being a fact or not is not relevant. My criticism goes towards the rude and sarcastic position with which some of the “partisans” of non-adulteration behave, directly attacking the people and the work of the researchers who raised this very important information and who gave strength to the need to investigate the past, with the mere intention of taking any and all credit or even the desire to study them with the seriousness that, I argue, deserve.

It turns out that, if, for some (but not for me) the adulterations of the cited works are still a reason for doubt, on the other hand, there can be no doubt about the adulterations that the Movement suffered after Kardec, with the total loss of direction of the initial purposes of the Spiritist Society and its means of communication - this is very clear in O Legado de Allan Kardec. It is an undeniable fact that Leymarie allowed, due to material interests, Roustaing's thoughts to take precedence in the Doctrine, promoting anti-doctrinaire ideals and disrespecting the immense and dedicated work of Kardec and his wife, Amélie Boudet, “the sweet Gabi”. The Spiritist Society of Paris, commanded by Leymarie, distanced itself from totally Kardec's purposes, letting this unfortunate gentleman succumb to the temptation of vanity and money. reached the point of kick out, from one of the apartments destined by Allan Kardec for charity purposes, an elderly couple, for simple delay in payments of the rent, when the same and the Society had large sums of possessions and money [Private, 2019]. Furthermore, put aside the plans for the continuity of the spiritist movement which, according to Kardec's project, should rely on the multiplication of study groups and spiritist "investigations", governed under the necessary methodology [ibidem] - well, how could those who would be denied by it apply such a medotology, right?

It is also a fact that Spiritism, since its arrival on Brazilian soil, has been affected by this line of thought, finding shelter even in Bezerra de Menezes, one of the first presidents of the FEB, an institution that, until 2019, had, as a clause stony, the orientation of the study of the Four Gospels, by Roustaing.

It is also a fact that today's Spiritism is completely mischaracterized and misrepresented. Spiritist centers, which were once meetings of confessed spiritists, dedicated to the study of mediumistic communications and their moral and scientific effects, today reproduce Catholic churches, where the faithful attend the sermon (lecture), receive the blessing (pass), say a prayer and leave. Mediums, in search of help, are placed in long courses, which sometimes reach 7 years in duration, almost always with complicated FEB primers, so that, at the end of that, if they are still minimally interested, they are “initiated” in the mediumistic group of the house. Honest mediums began to be persecuted for “animism”, while others are taken as oracles: everything they say, through mediumship or their own opinion, is taken as a summation of absolute truth and wisdom. And then we started to hear, left and right, the most outrageous ideas, which, continuously, have promoted scandals and the removal of people who, in the most diverse conditions, feel motivated to enter a spiritist center in search of hearing something different from what they say around.

The moment is serious. We have arrived, once again, at a new critical point in society, with materialism happily flourishing in the hearts of men. But, once again, the opposite movement begins to take shape, because, as we know, it is necessary for man to know the apex of evil in order to go back to seeking the good and the beautiful. And that's what these works are about. There are those who criticize Figueiredo for defending autonomy over heteronomy, that is, for defending the essence of the teaching of the Spiritist Doctrine: everything depends on our will and our choices, and not on the blind acceptance of punishments and rewards. Precisely he, the first researcher IN THE WORLD to look for the original works of several philosophers and scientists, in order to give a scientific and historical context to the birth of Spiritism, together with Magnetism, the sister science of Spiritism. Well, by not agreeing with your position – also based on proof and evidence – that there was tampering in Heaven and Hell, should we then discard everything else?

When I said that “it is time to recover Kardec”, I am not referring only to the very important study of his works, which are the basis of the Spiritist Doctrine, but I am objectively referring to “recovering Kardec” in his example, in his person, always, according to all records, so good and affable, but also so sensible and serious in the face of science studies. Kardec always recommended that, in order to criticize a certain subject, it was necessary to fully understand it, which is why, on several occasions, he failed to address in depth what he could not have given due attention to. When Kardec criticized The Four Gospels of Roustaing, he only did so after to read all four volumes. And he, with the time he didn't have, did it because he realized that it was a work full of important ideas, even if inaccurate or even contrary to the consistent teaching of the Spirits. Kardec always did that. And what we see today is that many do not want to reproduce the steps of the expert researcher. They cling to superficial issues and, with prejudice, stop delving into the content, going on to criticize or put such works into oblivion.

Before finishing, I would like to say that I read The Legacy of Allan Kardec from start to finish, with great attention and care. The facts presented there, regarding the adulteration of A Gênese, from the 5th edition onwards, I repeat, are too objective, complete and complex for such an opinion to be just the result of a misinterpretation. At the very least – and this is my position – it opens up a very large margin for suspicion that, there, there is a mixture of contents that Kardec would really change or insert, combined with contents inserted by another party, with the clear purpose of changing what was already established doctrinally.

I don't want, anyway, to force anyone to believe in anything. That's why our media, unlike many out there, will always be open to comments and the exchange of ideas. But I want to leave you, dear reader, an invitation to read the following works, so that you can take your position according to your own reasoning:

• The Legacy of Allan Kardec, by Simoni Privato
• Neither heaven nor hell: The laws of the soul according to Spiritism – by Lucas Sampaio and Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo
• Much Light, by Berthe Fropo (link to pdf on here).
• Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism – by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo
• About “the Genesis case” – article of my authorship.
• Tampering in Kardec's works and the "CSI of Spiritism" - article of my authorship

Recently, the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro suffered another shock, resulting in a few dozen deaths. At the outset, I wish to express my feelings and those of the Group towards all the victims of this scourge and towards their loved ones.

I need, however, to position myself in the face of some comments that, at these moments, with great misfortune, some so-called “spiritists” end up making, almost always supported by supposed mediumistic communications. In no way do I want to say that my observations represent the sum of the teachings of the Spiritist Doctrine, which I have just begun to study, but I just want to rely on the logic of facts and on reasoning based on what this same study gives us.

lack of charity

It is enough for any disaster, of any proportion, to occur for someone, claiming to bring a mediumistic communication, to attribute it to a supposed action of “karma”, the “law of action and reaction”, the “redeeming of past debts”, without, first, reflecting on the complete lack of charity with which they act when they say so.

In the Kiss Nightclub disaster, unfortunately, several “spiritist” media outlets spoke out, linking those sad deaths to the Nazi Holocaust, stating that those people were “soldiers who killed Jews by burning them or asphyxiating them with cyanide” (see here a little more about it).

About the Gol plane crash in São Paulo, at Congonhas airport, in 2007, a book, called “O Voo da Esperança”, was produced, supposedly attributed to a Spirit, through the medium WF. This work, a true disservice to Spiritism, is enough to mention the following, as highlighted in Folha:

“It is the law of action and reaction […] Divine providence, in its infinite wisdom, did not place innocent spirits on this plane, but souls seriously committed to a past of errors […]”

“This group, of more than two hundred people, committed to the past of lack of compassion towards others […]”

This work resulted in at least one lawsuit against the publisher and the medium (see more).

And, in the case of the recent disaster in Petrópolis, there are already people publishing mediumistic communications claiming that it is a “collective rescue”.

The spiritist movement is crumbling from the inside out

My brothers, let us reflect! It's errors about errors, causing enormous damage to Spiritualism, committed by people who stopped being guided by the necessary rational method in the analysis of mediumistic communications and who began to allow any kind of concept, transmitted in this way, to be taken as true and doctrinal! Now, Kardec always called everyone's attention to the fact that imposter, deceiver or pseudo-wise spirits communicate everywhere, even in serious mediumistic groups, and that, because of this, we cannot accept the communication of any Spirit, under any name that presents itself, as an expression of the truth (read more by clicking here)!

You, who are reading, can put yourself in the position of that mother, who turned the mud in search of his daughter, 17 years old, hearing from someone who declares themselves a spiritualist the words “your daughter died like this because she is paying for past mistakes”? It achieves? Well done! If you succeed, it is for this reason – for charity – in the first place, and for the following reasons, that never we must express that kind of thinking!

Not everything is atonement for past mistakes

Anyone who studies Kardec – a study that is largely absent nowadays – knows very well that individual tragedies can occur for four main reasons: atonement, when the Spirit choose go through a certain test, with a view to overcoming an imperfection; test, which is when the Spirit goes through any difficulty, planned or not, and that promotes learning and progress; mission, when the Spirit chooses to perform a task in order to promote good for others; and force of nature, when, for example, an inevitable natural scourge affects thousands or millions of people simultaneously. Therefore, how can we give ourselves the right to point to a situation like these above, collective or individual, to infer, wrong and ruthlessly, that it occurs due to a “recovery” of past mistakes? That’s definitely not up to us!

Let's think about the following: imagine that you, as a Spirit, before incarnating, choose a type of evidence and, maybe, of atonements. Your incarnation takes place under this plan, until you move to any city, summoned by a job opportunity. You live there for some time when, by a fortuitous action of nature, a meteorite falls on this city, killing you and thousands of others around. See: it is an inevitable scourge of nature, to which we are subject by the simple fact of being incarnate. We will die and restart another incarnation, continuing our evolution.

Another example: in the case of Nightclub Kiss, could it be that everything happened due to someone else's irresponsibility? Well, we know that everything happened because they used combustible materials in a closed environment, with difficult exit (several exits were locked) and without an efficient fire extinguishing system. That is, there was negligence, which is the result of other people's choices. Many of those who were there, at that moment, were victimized by this chain of events – or can we suppose that the band that played was intuited to use the pyrotechnic materials (fire) in order to fulfill a “collective karma”? This is irrational!

Many do not know, but, geologically, the mountainous region of Serra da Mata Atlântica, which passes through SP and Rio, is very old, formed by the deposit of lighter matter (earth) on rocky elevations. Over the millions of years, this surface layer is getting more fragile and, when heavy rains occur, they cause landslides and disasters like these. The human being, being incarnated in the same dense matter, is subject to these occurrences, as he is part of a world whose nature is quite unstable, renewing itself day after day. Such scourges are not the result of God's impiety: they are actually necessary to accelerate our scientific and moral advancement (see The Spirits' Book, Part Three, Chapter 5 - Destroying Scourges - Click here).

Planetary Transition?

Much is said that such scourges are accelerating because of the so-called "planetary transition", where the Earth will cease to be a world of trials and atonement for a world of regeneration. In essence, this transition is still true, but we need to be very careful, once again, with the implication of what we say, as many attribute to such scourges, including pandemics, the effect of “separating the wheat from the chaff”, as if they were taking from here the Spirits that will no longer be able to be part of this planet in its new phase. This is yet another wrong and merciless thought.

We need to remember that scourges have always existed. Since before the time of the pharaohs, the globe has been plagued by immense tragedies, which demonstrates that they are not linked to such a transition. They have always occurred and always will occur, in this phase of materiality, in order to make us advance scientifically and morally. The transition will take place through the modification of ideas, from the individual to society, and not through the simple separation of Spirits who still have a lot to learn and contribute on this planet.

No benevolent spirit publicly accuses others of wrongdoing

We live a sad moment in the spiritist environment, where Kardec is relegated to the past, as if he had been overcome (everything that is the basis of a doctrine cannot be overcome, because it is a basis) and his method and all the rationality that he demonstrated to be necessary in communication with the Spirits, they are forgotten and buried as if they were unnecessary. The current “Spiritist Movement” (which has almost nothing of true Spiritism, and it is necessary to separate the Doctrine from what its adherents do) started to accept practically any and all mediumistic communication as an expression of wisdom and truth and, in this way, it is allowing anti-doctrinal concepts to be crumbling, little by little, the movement, on their bases.

Let us observe: when we see, in Kardec, the cases of atonement of the same kind, as in the case of Antonio B, we need to remember that it is an evocation, where the Spirit itself reports its choice to go through that. It is very clear that it is never an external imposition of a supposed law of sin and rescue, and it is also very clear that no minimally benevolent Spirit uses communication to point out the faults of others and link the present sufferings as a way of “redeeming them”. them.”

Spread the information and come study with us

Once again I come to ask you, who reads this article, to, as a Spiritist, inform everyone who can that It is not our place to point the finger and say that someone goes through certain suffering to pay off past “debts”. This distances people from the Doctrine and, especially when it starts with the blind acceptance of spiritual communications, it has been destroying the spiritist movement from the inside out.

And, finally, regarding the role of the medium and the researcher in mediumistic communications, as well as “animism”, we will address all of this in the next live, on 02/24/2022, about the article “Impostor Spirits – The False Father Ambrósio”, in the Revista Espírita of July 1858. read the article and do not forget to present your considerations, in our facebook group, so that we can enrich our study.

Spiritism does not need to be defended, and the time has come for us to do our part.

In the article in question, as presented in the Spiritist Magazine of June 1858, Kardec talks about an annual banquet, in Paris, to commemorate Mesmer's birth anniversary.

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.

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:

1. keep away people who, suffering in their skin or having a loved one in these situations, feel (rightly) outraged by this type of statement.
2. 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.

Dear friends, brothers who are attached to this initiative,

Once again, we invite each of you to participate actively in our group and to spread the essential ideas of Spiritism that, little by little, are beginning to be rediscovered and understood. It is in the interest and responsibility of all of us to restore, peacefully and patiently, but persistently and firmly, the original truths of this Doctrine born from the rational observation of the Spiritist teachings given everywhere and for all times! No longer an adulterated Spiritism, after Kardec's death, in order to give space to the retarding ideas of sin, fall and punishment, of karma, of rescues, but the Doctrine in its essence, based on the realization of free will, of choice of proofs and atonements, finally, the Doctrine that shows us that our step is always towards learning and spiritual progress, making part of this journey the mistakes and setbacks of each one, the same Doctrine that showed us, in its essence , not a pure soul created and deviated by sin, a simple and ignorant created Spirit and that, as it advances in its experiences, through mistakes and successes, joys and sufferings, it purifies itself of its imperfections and its materiality towards the true happiness of the superior spirits, already detached from these same imperfections and materiality through the acquisition of better habits and moral values.

It is natural, however, that such liberating and renewing ideas find resistance both in proud ignorance, closed to the reform of ideas, and in knowledge interested in keeping the class of faithful to the old doctrines under their wing. Even within Spiritism, such ideas of fall, sin and redemption are deeply rooted, as the adulterations come from a few months or years after the death of the worthy professor Rivail.

It will not be on the basis of wars and disputes, however, that we will discover this path full of briars and thorns, but on the basis of lucid understanding and a firm but friendly word. Let us avoid wasting time with those who make up the classes highlighted above, because both have no interest in changing their ideas in the face of irrefutable truth. For these, only time will have an effect. Let us invest our time, however, in the class of all those to whom these ideas not only please, but to whom they are substantial: those who no longer see any pleasure in life, those who think of giving it up, those who do not understand a vengeful God, who, in short, do not understand the reasons for day-to-day difficulties, or even to those who, of good will, wish to study Spiritism in its essence, in order to transmit, to all who can, the reforming and consoling ideas of this Doctrine in its originality.

Let us roll up our sleeves, therefore, dear brothers. Inaction does no one any good. Let's do our part. I, the author of this text, am here today, for a much loved Spirit who reached out to me in the most difficult moment of my life and for another, incarnate, who insisted on, daily and without any thanks, to spread a spiritist reflection in a WhatsApp group that was and still is forgotten why they formed a family in the spiritist center that, because of the pandemic, is now closed.

A gesture is often enough to change a life, an opinion, and, from there, start a movement. Onward, dear ones, and may God enlighten us all so that, in this process, we never let ourselves be contaminated by personalism, vanity, selfishness and pride.

The path is winding, long, rocky and full of thorns, but we have to walk it and clean it for the next generations, of which we will probably be a part again.