Pierre Paul Broca, Dr. Broca, is recognized in medical circles for being a major contributor to the field. Child prodigy, he was a great French surgeon and anthropologist. But there is an absolutely unknown facet of his experiences, linked to Mesmer's Magnetism (read “Mesmer: the negated science of Animal Magnetism”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo), at that time known only by one of his “children”: hypnotism.

Addressing the experiences of several renowned scientists and doctors of the time, Allan Kardec – himself – presents, in the Revista Espírita of January 1860, the article “magnetism towards academia“, of which we highlight the following parts:

“Mr. Azam, substitute professor of clinical surgery at the Bordeaux School of Medicine, having successfully repeated Dr. Braid's experiments, exchanged ideas with Dr. Paul Broca, who imagined that hypnotized people were perhaps insensitive to the pain of surgical operations. The letter you have just addressed to the Academy of Sciences is a summary of your experiences in this regard.

“First of all, he had to assure himself of the reality of hypnotism, which he achieved without difficulty.

“Visiting a lady of around forty years old, somewhat hysterical, and who was bedridden due to a slight indisposition, Dr. Broca pretended that he wanted to examine the patient's eyes and asked her to stare at a small golden bottle that he was holding about fifteen centimeters away. from the root of the nose. After three minutes his eyes became a little red, his features were still, his responses were slow and difficult, but perfectly rational. Dr. Broca lifted the patient's arm and it remained in the left position; he positioned his fingers in the most extreme situations and they kept them; He pinched the skin in several places, with some force, and, apparently, the patient felt nothing. Catalepsy, insensitivity! Dr. Broca did not continue with the experiment, as it had already taught him what he wanted to know. A rub on the eyes and a blow of cold air on the forehead brought the patient to a normal state. She had no memory of what had happened.

“It remained to be seen whether hypnotic insensitivity would withstand the test of surgical operations.

“Among the patients at the Necker Hospital, in Dr. Follin's service, was a poor lady of 24 years old, victim of an extensive burn on her back and both right limbs and an extremely painful abscess. The smallest movements were an ordeal for him. Exhausted by suffering and, moreover, very pusillanimous, this unfortunate woman thought with terror about the operation that was necessary. It was there that, according to Dr. Follin, Dr. Broca decided to complete the hypnotism test.

“They put her on a bed in front of the window, preventing her from going to sleep. After two minutes his pupils dilated. They raised his left arm almost vertically above the bed and he remained motionless. In the fourth minute his responses are slow and almost painful, but perfectly sensible. Fifth minute: Dr. Follin pinches the skin on her left arm and the patient does not accuse him; new, deeper bite, which produces blood, and the same impassivity. They raise their right arm, which remains in the air. Then the covers are lifted and the lower limbs moved away, to reveal the seat of the abscess. The patient consents and calmly says that, without a doubt, they will hurt her. Once the abscess is opened, he lets out a weak scream. It was the only sign of reaction, and it lasted less than a second. Not the slightest tremor of muscles in the face or limbs, nor a movement in the arms, always elevated vertically above the bed. The slightly bloodshot eyes were wide open and the face had the immobility of a mask...

“Lifted, the left foot is suspended. They take away the shiny object, a spyglass, and the catalepsy persists. For the third time they sting her left arm, the blood bubbles and the operated woman feels nothing. For 13 minutes, the arm has kept the position it was given.

“Finally, a rub on the eyes and a breath of fresh air awaken the young lady almost suddenly. Relaxed, the arms and left leg immediately fall onto the bed. She rubs her eyes, regains consciousness, remembers nothing and is surprised that they had operated on her. The experience had lasted 18 to 20 minutes. The period of anesthesia, from 12 to 15.

“Such are, in summary, the essential facts reported by Dr. Broca to the Academy of Sciences. They are no longer isolated. A large number of surgeons in our hospitals have had the honor of repeating them, and have done so successfully. The objective of Dr. Broca and his illustrious colleagues was, and should be, surgical. Let us hope that, as a means of provoking insensitivity, hypnotism has all the advantages of anesthetic agents, without having their drawbacks. But Medicine is not our domain and, in order not to deviate from its responsibilities, our Journal must only consider the fact from a physiological point of view.

KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Magazine of January 1861.

This article aims to address, very succinctly, the topic of the curse according to Spiritism. Knowledge for this can be gleaned in abundance from Revista Espírita and other works by Allan Kardec.

If someone puts a curse on you, there are 5 possibilities:

1. No Spirit participates in this, but you, knowing about the “curse”, believe in it and suggest yourself;

2. One or more evil Spirits participate, and you, knowing about the “curse”, believe, self-suggest and allow yourself to be influenced by the Spirits;

3. You have no idea about the curse, but there are evil spirits involved in it. They seek to reach you through your thoughts, attacking you for possible imperfections. As imperfection is born from attachment, the thoughts please you and you, by not fighting them (the thoughts), slowly become obsessed.

4. You have no idea about the curse, and you don't allow yourself to have bad thoughts, attachments, etc. Nothing happens to you other than, who knows, a temporary inconvenience.

5. You know about the curse, whether there are bad Spirits involved or not, but you studied Spiritism in the works of Kardec, you know how things happen and you are always trying to watch yourself. He knows, moreover, that whoever does evil is doing it for himself. You say prayers for those people and Spirits, and they, not finding an open door in you, quickly give up.

The Spirits' Book gives the essential

552. What should one think of the belief in the power of certain people to bewitch?

“Some people have great magnetic power, which they can misuse if their own Spirits are bad, in which case it becomes possible for them to be supported by other bad Spirits. However, do not believe in an alleged magical power, which only exists in the imagination of superstitious creatures, ignorant of the true laws of nature. The facts they cite as proof of the existence of this power are natural facts, poorly observed and above all poorly understood.”

553. What effect can formulas and practices produce through which people pretend to dispose of the will of the Spirits?

“The effect of making them ridiculous, if they proceed in good faith. Otherwise, they are scoundrels who deserve punishment. All formulas are mere illusion. There is no sacramental word, no Kabbalistic sign, nor talisman that has any action on the Spirits, as they are only attracted by thought and not by material things.”

The Book of Spirits

Conclusion

Remove the idea that the curse is the transfer of bad energy. it is necessary to study Spiritism, in Kardec's works. Spiritual fluids have their role, of course, but they depend on attunement. Also, get rid of the idea of “hereditary curses”, because inheritance is of the flesh, but it is clear that the role here is spiritual. You would only “inherit” a “curse” if the Spirits find reason and acceptance in you to continue bothering you too.

And, of course, do not believe in magical formulas, rituals or any material objects to solve the case, as none of these have power over the Spirits, as has already been demonstrated. in this article. To “reverse” a curse, it is necessary to act on morality, that is, to understand, analyze yourself and try to change what takes you away from good.

Study the Spiritist Magazine (1858-1869)

Cover photo: Fariborz MP: https://www.pexels.com/pt-br/foto/acessorios-adulto-aventura-facanha-11009468/

One of the greatest Brazilian athletes, Walewska Oliveira (and not Valeska, Valesca, Walesca, Waleska, etc.) passed away on the night of 21/09/23, in São Paulo. The reason for her death was a fatal fall — likely suicide — from the 17th floor of the building where she lived with her husband, Ricardo Alexandre Mendes. The police report recorded the incident as a fall, and also recorded the existence of a piece of paper where, possibly, she had recorded a goodbye letter. The building's cameras recorded the moments in which the athlete went to this area, carrying a bottle of wine and a briefcase. The details of the case are not yet known, but the issue, precisely this month, marked by the campaign Yellow September, aimed at preventing suicide (we omitted the word to avoid problems with search engines) raises a reflection from the perspective of Spiritism, in what it actually says.

Antes de mais nada, devo dizer que acho lamentável qualquer opinião que busque julgar atitudes como essa (supondo que isso tenha acontecido) classificando-as como egoístas, “falta de Deus”, covardia, etc.

We wish Walewska's family, friends and husband a lot of strength to go through something so difficult and that, if they look for answers, they can find them in the right places. Furthermore, we hope that no supposed spiritist will inadvertently bring supposed communications, psychographed letters, exposing them to the public without reasoning about them. We feel that, if what we suppose was what happened, she did not have the opportunity to learn about a philosophy that gives certainty about the future and the ability to face life's pain from a different perspective.

Spiritist Doctrine and Spiritist Movement

It is worth remembering that the Spiritist Doctrine, as it really is, is a science, formed by methodological and serious studies, coordinated by Allan Kardec, analyzing communications, evocations and phenomena throughout the world. Its main characteristic, as a science, is that any doctrinal principle must be born from the scientific method, something that was abandoned at the end of the 19th century.

Contrary to spontaneous evocations and communications, at that time subjected to the double criteria of agreement and reason, today the Spiritist Movement in general believes blindly in practically what mediums and spirits say, forgetting or unaware that they are just opinions that should pass the aforementioned criteria. . Other times, they generalize individual situations, precisely because of a lack of knowledge. Thus, different narratives are created which, if not just absurd, sometimes offend reasoning and even disrespect individuals in their different conditions.

The Valley of Suicides

Podemos citar, dentre elas, e no aspecto aqui tratado, a ideia de que todo suicida irá para o “Vale dos Suicidas”, onde, segundo essa ideia, ficará sofrendo até que aceite o “resgate” de um Espírito que, muitos dizem, seria a própria Virgem Maria. Outros dizem que aquele que pratica esse ato renascerá em corpos mutilados pela culpa, onde deverão resgatar o crime realizado. Não passam, respectivamente, das falsas ideias oriundas de religiões que ensinam a queda pelo pecado.

I wonder: don't people who say such things put themselves in the shoes of those who hear them? Don't they reason? How would a mother, whose son was born with certain physical characteristics, feel when she heard the idea that the reason for that was due to the fact that he had committed crimes, if not against others, then against himself and against God? Wouldn't many be offended? Many others could come to see them with stigmas, perhaps? Worse: what would people who were born with such characteristics think? The fact is that many abandon Spiritism because of the Spiritist Movement which, in the information age, is reluctant to recognize the need to return to Kardec, not because of fundamentalism, but because of seeking scientific foundations.

We have already heard people say, within a Spiritist Center, from people involved in the institution's work, and even from speakers, that the reason the person was born blind was because they used their vision, in their past life, to bad. How many absurdities, how many nonsense, which only empty the banks of the Spiritist Movement, turned into religion.

Real Spiritism

But, thanks to Kardec's methodological studies, we can easily demonstrate the falsehood in the generalization of these ideas. It would be enough for every spiritist adept to read the first year of the Revista Espírita (1858), to verify that the situations of the Spirits of people who committed these acts are not unique, precisely because we cannot outline a “penal code of future life”, an idea introduced into adulteration of Heaven and Hell, in its fourth edition, released after Kardec's death, on which all known editions until recently were based (refer to edition of Editora FEAL to access the original and untouched content).

They would discover, with this study, that the future of the Spirit depends on its psychology, its knowledge, its ideas. That the extreme act is often taken in a state of madness, madness, thoughtlessness, inability to deal with unmonitored emotions. The article "Suicide for love“, de Revista de setembro de 1858, demonstra isso. Já o artigo “The Samaritan woman's suicide“, from June of the same year, demonstrates another case, where the Spirit, in a deep state of disturbance, believes, due to a state of moral suffering, that it is still linked to its body.

Facts

One fact is undeniable: remorse and repentance will be states that all Spirits will encounter, later, when they realize that they took such an attitude due to an inability to deal with pain, emotions (at that time known as passions), regrets, with dislikes, etc. Unfortunately, everything is generated by an inability to see life from another angle, a very broad, logical, and clear angle that Spiritism provides, in its originality. It does not try to impose the fear of punishment, but demonstrates the facts, the consequences and gives the individual a glimpse of the future, where attachments lead to evil and suffering, but the path to return to good will always be open, from the moment in which he understands the reasons for his suffering and, through his own will and efforts, decides to face the roots of his mistakes.

See: in the case presented in the Magazine of September 1858, the boy just carried out a thoughtless act. He states that he didn't even think about it, but that he was overcome by “vertigo”, that is, such a strong emotion that he didn't know how to deal with. In Spirit, he understood the foolishness (which is why everyone, without exception, will spend some time with the fateful scene repeating itself in their minds) and understood the need to correct himself in the future, so as not to commit this type of problem again. Who knows, according to your ability to understand, you will choose a life that will give you, from an early age, the fiber to deal with these emotions?

It remains to be said that the scenes that some suffering Spirits transmit in communications, such as dark valleys or even the idea of “threshold“, are born from their own minds. Perhaps they can materialize them on a scale, in a kind of tuned suffering, but they are no less temporary and definitely do not represent the generic condition of the suffering Spirit after death (read the Spiritist Magazine and you will see).

The obsession

We have one more aspect to address: the issue of obsession. The science of Spirits, treated seriously, was emphatic in demonstrating that individuals sometimes commit such acts in a state of madness, out of their mind. Often, but not always, this state has the determining influence of an obsessing Spirit.

Um artigo que demonstra isso é “The Spirit and the Juror“, de novembro de 1859. Nele, fica evidente que o papel de um Espírito obsessor, when it finds paths in the individual's own ideas, can influence you slowly. The latter, accepting this influence, which pleases him, even without knowing that he does so, slowly allows himself to be in tune with the obsessing Spirit, like a puppet whose strings are slowly being connected to the hands of its master. At a certain point, the individual starts to respond blindly, reaching a state of possession, as discussed by Kardec in A Gênesis (refer to the edition by FEAL).

Hence, a kind of shared guilt is born, of which each person will be their own judge. The one who allowed himself to be influenced, when he understands, will seek to create the strength to no longer allow himself to do so. The one who influenced, one day, will understand the harm he is doing to himself, deviating from the good, and will seek conditions to repair his deviation.

Final words

There is a lot to recover when it comes to the scientific principles of Spiritism. Its recovery, its restoration, free from dogmas and false ideas depends on this. daily disseminated and taught in spiritist centers, on tribunes and, now, on the Internet, where they find it regrettably easy to spread. We need to use this facility in favor of good and the restoration of true ideas, not attacking others, as many still waste their time doing, but recovering the truth and disseminating it, in true ant work, where each person needs to carry their grains . Take your initiative. Forget about romance for the moment. Study Spiritism where it really exists as a scientific doctrine.

Many of us, and I count myself among those, at certain times ask ourselves, about Spiritism: “I seem to have already understood the essentials. What is the point of continuing to study? Nobody seems to want to know about it anymore.”

My suggestion is that, whenever we find ourselves with a lack of answers, we evoke the good Spirits, through the internal disposition of our own thoughts. The answer, one way or another, will not be long in coming.

I don't consider myself a medium, per se, but I have, as every incarnated spirit has, the intuitive capacity. So today, without waiting, I thought of: Spiritist Magazine, August 1865. I leave you this wonderful reflection by Kardec himself:

What does Spiritism teach?

“There are people who ask what new conquests we owe to Spiritism. From the fact that he did not endow the world with a new productive industry, like steam, they conclude that he produced nothing. Most of those who ask such a question, not having taken the trouble to study it, only know fantasy Spiritism, created for the needs of criticism, and which has nothing in common with serious Spiritism. It is therefore no wonder that they ask what its useful and practical side can be. They would have had to look for it at its source, and not in the caricatures made of it by those who are only interested in denigrating it.

In another order of ideas, some find, on the contrary, the march of Spiritism too slow for their taste. It is astonished that he has not yet probed all the mysteries of Nature, nor addressed all the questions that seem to fall within his purview; they would like to see him teach new things every day, or be enriched by some discovery. As he has not yet resolved the question of the origin of beings, the beginning and end of all things, the divine essence and some others of the same magnitude, they conclude that he did not leave the a-be-ce; that has not yet entered the true philosophical path and that drags on in commonplaces, because it incessantly preaches humility and charity. They say: “Until today he has taught us nothing new, because reincarnation, the negation of eternal punishments, the immortality of the soul, the gradation through periods of intellectual vitality, the perispirit, are not spiritist discoveries per se; so it is necessary to move towards truer and more solid discoveries.”

In this regard, we believe that we should present some observations, which will not be new either, but there are things that must be repeated in different ways.

It is true that Spiritism did not invent any of this, because there are no true truths other than those that are eternal and that, for this very reason, must have germinated in all times. But it is not something to have taken them, if not out of nothing, at least out of oblivion; of a germ having made a living plant; of an individual idea, lost in the night of time, or muffled by prejudices, having made a general belief; to have proved what was hypothesized; to have demonstrated the existence of a law in what seemed exceptional and fortuitous; of a vague theory having made a practical thing; of an unproductive idea having drawn useful applications? Nothing is truer than the proverb, “There is nothing new under the sun,” and even that truth is not new. Thus, there is no discovery of which traces and the principle are not to be found somewhere. On account of this, Copernicus would not have the merit of his system, because the movement of the Earth had been suspected before the Christian era. It was such a simple thing, yet you had to find it. The story of the Columbus egg will always be an eternal truth.

Furthermore, it is indisputable that Spiritism still has much to teach us. It is what we have never stopped repeating, because we never pretended that he had said the last word. However, given that there is still work to be done, does it follow that he has not yet come out of the a-be-ce? His a-be-ce was the turning tables, and since then, it seems to us, he has taken a few steps; It really seems to us that such steps were great in a few years, if we compare it to other sciences that took centuries to reach the point where they are. None reached the peak in a first impulse; they advance, not by the will of men, but as circumstances put them in the way of new discoveries. Now, no one has the power to command these circumstances, and the proof is that every time an idea is premature, it aborts, to reappear later, in opportune time.

But in the absence of new discoveries, will men of science have nothing to do? Will Chemistry no longer be Chemistry if it does not discover new bodies every day? Will astronomers be condemned to sit idly by for not finding new planets? And so in all other branches of science and industry. Before looking for new things, don't you have to apply what you know? It is precisely to give men time to assimilate, apply and popularize what they know that Providence puts the march forward on hold. There is History to show us that the Sciences do not follow a continuous upward march, at least ostensibly. The great movements that revolutionize an idea only operate at more or less distant intervals. There is, therefore, no stagnation, but elaboration, application and fruition of what is known, which is always progress.

Could the human Spirit ceaselessly absorb new ideas? Doesn't the Earth itself need a period of rest before reproducing? What would you say about a teacher who taught his students new rules every day, without giving them time to practice the ones they learned, to identify with them and to apply them? So would God be less farsighted and less able than a teacher?

In all things, new ideas must fit in with acquired ideas. If these are not sufficiently elaborated and consolidated in the brain; if the spirit has not assimilated them, those that we want to implant there will not take root. We will be sowing into the void.

The same goes for Spiritism. Have the adepts so taken advantage of what he taught until today, that they have nothing else to do? They are so charitable, devoid of pride, disinterested, benevolent to their fellow men; they moderated their passions so much, they abjured hatred, envy and jealousy; finally, are they so perfect that from now on it will be superfluous to preach to them charity, humility, abnegation, in a word, morality? This claim alone would prove how much they still need these elementary lessons, which some consider tedious and puerile. It is, however, only with the help of these instructions, if you take advantage of them, that you will be able to elevate yourself enough to become worthy of receiving a superior teaching.

Spiritism has as its objective the regeneration of Humanity: this is a verified fact. Now, since this regeneration cannot operate except through moral progress, it follows that its essential, providential objective is the improvement of each one. The mysteries he can reveal to us are the accessory. Because he has opened to us the sanctuary of all knowledge, we would not be further advanced to our future state if we were not better. To admit us to the feast of supreme happiness, God does not ask what we know or what we have, but what we are worth and the good we have done. It is, therefore, in his individual improvement that every sincere spiritist must work, first of all. Only those who have mastered their bad inclinations have really benefited from Spiritism and will receive their reward. That's why the good spirits, by God's order, multiply their instructions and repeat them to satiety; only foolish pride can say: I don't need anything else. Only God knows when they will be useless and it is up to him alone to direct the teaching of his messengers and adapt it to our progress.

Let's see, however, if outside the purely moral teaching the results of Spiritism are as sterile as some claim.

1st – Initially, as everyone knows, he gives complete proof of the existence and immortality of the soul. It is true that it is not a discovery, but it is because of the lack of evidence on this point that there are so many incredulous or indifferent people about the future; it is by proving what was nothing more than a theory that he triumphs over materialism and avoids its disastrous consequences on Society. Having transformed doubt about the future into certainty, it is a whole revolution in ideas, the consequences of which are incalculable. If the results of the demonstrations were limited to this, these results would be immense.

2nd – Due to the firm belief it develops, it exerts a powerful action on man's morale; it leads him to good, consoles him in afflictions, gives him strength and courage in the trials of life and diverts him from the thought of suicide.

3rd – It rectifies all the false ideas that have been made about the future of the soul, about Heaven, Hell, penalties and rewards; radically destroys, by the irresistible logic of facts, the dogmas of eternal punishment and demons; in a word, it reveals to us the future life and shows it to us rational and according to the justice of God. It is still a thing of great value.

4th – It makes known what happens at the moment of death. This phenomenon, until today unfathomable, no longer has mysteries; the smallest particulars of this much-feared passage are now known. Now, as everyone dies, such knowledge interests everyone.

5th – By the law of the plurality of existences, it opens a new field to Philosophy; man knows where he comes from, where he is going, for what purpose he is on Earth. It explains the cause of all human miseries, of all social inequalities; it gives the very laws of Nature as the basis for the principles of universal solidarity, fraternity, equality and freedom, which were based only on theory. Finally, it sheds light on the most arduous questions of Metaphysics, Psychology and Morals.

6th – Through the theory of perispiritual fluids, it makes known the mechanism of sensations and perceptions of the soul; explains the phenomena of double sight, vision at a distance, somnambulism, ecstasy, dreams, visions, apparitions, etc.; opens a new field to Physiology and Pathology.

7th – Proving the existing relations between the corporeal and spiritual worlds, it shows in the latter one of the active forces of Nature, an intelligent power, and reveals the reason for a portion of effects attributed to supernatural causes that fed the majority of superstitious ideas.

8th – Revealing the fact of obsessions, it makes known the cause, hitherto unknown, of numerous affections about which Science had been wrong to the detriment of the sick, and gives the means to cure them.

9th – Making us aware of the true conditions of prayer and its mode of action; revealing to us the reciprocal influence of incarnated and disembodied spirits, it teaches us the power of man over imperfect spirits to moralize them and rescue them from the sufferings inherent to their inferiority.

10th – Making known spiritual magnetization, which was unknown, opens a new path to magnetism and brings a new and powerful element of healing.

The merit of an invention is not in the discovery of a principle, almost always previously known, but in the application of that principle. Reincarnation, without a doubt, is not a new idea, as much as the perispirit, described by São Paulo under the name of spiritual body, nor even communication with spirits. Spiritism, which does not boast of having discovered Nature, carefully looks for all the traces it can find, of the antecedence of its ideas, and when it finds them, it hastens to proclaim them, as proof in support of what it proposes. Those, therefore, who invoke this anteriority in order to denigrate what he does, go against his objective, and act incorrectly, as this could raise the suspicion of a preconceived idea.

The discovery of reincarnation and the perispirit therefore does not belong to Spiritism. It's known. But, until his appearance, what benefit had Science, Morality, Religion taken from these two principles, ignored by the masses, and kept in a state of dead letter? He not only brought them to light, proved them and made them recognized as laws of Nature, but he developed them and made them bear fruit; from them he has already produced numerous and fruitful results, without which it would not be possible to understand an infinity of things; daily leads us to understand new things, and we are far from exhausting this mine. Taking into account that these two principles were known, why were they unproductive for so long? Why, for so many centuries, have all philosophies run up against so many unsolvable problems? It's just that they were rough diamonds, which had to be polished: that's what Spiritism did. He opened a new path for Philosophy, or rather, he created a new Philosophy that daily conquers its place in the world. So, are these results so null that we should speed up the journey in search of truer and more solid discoveries?

In summary, a certain number of fundamental truths, sketched out by some elite brains, and preserved, for the most part, as if in a latent state, once they have been studied, elaborated and proved, from being sterile they were, become a mine fruitful, from which countless secondary principles and applications emerged, and opened up a vast field for exploration, new horizons for Science, Philosophy, Morals, Religion and the social economy.

Such are, until today, the main conquests due to Spiritism, and we have only indicated the culminating points. Assuming that they had to limit themselves to this, we could already be satisfied and say that a new science, which gives such results in less than ten years, is not accused of nullity, because it touches on all the vital questions of Humanity and brings to human knowledge a contingent that cannot be disdained. Until these points alone have received all the applications that are susceptible to them, and that men have taken advantage of them, a long time will still pass, and the spiritists who want to put them into practice for themselves and for the good of all, will not they will be idle.

These points are so many foci from which innumerable secondary truths will radiate, which it is a matter of developing and applying, which is done daily, because facts are revealed daily that lift a new edge of the veil. Successively, and in a few years, Spiritism provided all the fundamental foundations for the new building. It is now up to its supporters to put this material into practice before asking for new material. God will know how to supply them when they have completed their task.

They say that spiritists only know the basics of Spiritism. Whatever. To start, then, let us learn to spell this alphabet, which is not a matter of a day, because even reduced to these proportions alone, it will be a long time before we have exhausted all the combinations and collected all the fruits. Are there no more facts left to explain? By the way, don't spiritists have to teach this alphabet to those who ignore it? Have they sown the seed wherever they could? Are there no more unbelievers left to convert, obsessed to heal, consolation to give, tears to wipe away? Do we have reasons to say that there is nothing more to be done when we have not yet finished the task, when there are still so many wounds to close? There are noble occupations that are worth knowing better and a little earlier than others.

Let us therefore know how to spell our alphabet before wanting to read fluently in the great book of Nature. God will know how to open it to us as we go along, but it does not depend on any mortal to force his will, anticipating the time for each thing. If the tree of Science is too high for us to reach it, let's wait to fly over it until our wings are grown and solidly attached, so we don't have the luck of Icarus.

Spirit feels hungry, but calm down!

Contrary to what many affirm bluntly (and often in a very harsh way, the best formula to keep people who come from the spiritist movement as we know it from studying), a Spirit attached to matter can suffer from all the vicissitudes of matter, at most attached to her. You may suffer from hunger, cold, heat, fear, etc. Of course: it is a suffering that originates in him, in itself, that is, it is a suffering of moral origin, but that, for him, until you understand, has all the characteristics of suffering material.

It is Kardec and the Spirits who say this, not me:

“To anyone who does not know the true constitution of the invisible world, it will seem strange that Spirits who, according to them, are abstract, immaterial, indefinite, bodiless beings, are victims of the horrors of hunger; but the astonishment ceases when we know that these same Spirits are beings like us, who have a fluidic body, it is true, but which is still matter; that leaving their carnal envelope, certain Spirits continue their earthly life with the same vicissitudes, for a more or less long time. This seems singular, but it is so, and observation teaches us that this is the situation of Spirits who have lived more material life than spiritual life, a situation that is sometimes terrible, because the illusion of the needs of the flesh makes itself felt, and they they have all the anguish of a need that is impossible to satisfy. The mythological torture of Tantalus, among the Ancients, indicates a more accurate knowledge than is supposed, of the state of the world beyond the grave, especially more accurate than among moderns. Very different is the position of those who have dematerialized since this life through the elevation of their thoughts and their identification with the future life. All the pains of bodily life cease with the last breath, and soon the Spirit soars, radiant, in the ethereal world, happy as a prisoner free from its chains. Who told us this? Is it a system, a theory? Someone said it should be like this, and we take it at face value? No; It is the inhabitants of the invisible world who repeat it in all parts of the globe, for the teaching of the incarnates. Yes, legions of Spirits continue their bodily lives with their tortures and anguish. But which ones? Those who are still too overwhelmed by the subject to instantly stand out from it. Is it cruelty from the Supreme Being? No. It is a law of Nature, inherent to the inferiority of Spirits and necessary for their advancement; it is a mixed prolongation of earthly life for a few days, a few months, a few years, depending on the moral state of the individuals. “

[RE, June, 1868]

The communications that indicated such types of suffering are the most diverse, frequently presented in the Spiritist Magazine and in other works. Some of them:

10. Do you remember the moments of your death?

– A. It is something terrible, impossible to describe. Imagine being in a pit with ten feet of earth above you, wanting to breathe and gasping for air, wanting to scream: “I’m alive!” and feel your voice muffled; seeing yourself die and not being able to call for help; feeling full of life and crossed off the list of the living; being thirsty and not being able to drink; feeling the pangs of hunger and not being able to stop it; to die, in a word, in a condemned rage

[RE, August, 1862]

[…] As for the inferior Spirits, they are still completely impregnated with earthly fluids; therefore, they are material, as you can understand. That is why they suffer hunger, cold, etc., sufferings that cannot affect superior Spirits, since the earthly fluids have already been purified in their thoughts, that is, in their souls.

[LAMENNAIS, OLM, 1861]

[…] there is not a single [Spirit] whose matter does not have to fight with the Spirit that finds itself again. The duel took place, the flesh was torn apart, the Spirit became obscured in the instant of separation, and in the erraticity the Spirit recognized true life. Now I will tell you a few words from those for whom this state is a test. Oh! how painful it is! they believe they are alive and well, possessing a body capable of feeling and tasting the joys of the Earth, and when their hands touch, their hands disappear; when they want to bring their lips closer to a cup or a fruit, their lips annihilate each other; they see, they want to touch, and they can neither feel nor touch. When paganism offers a beautiful image of this torture, presenting Tantalus as being hungry and thirsty and never being able to touch his lips to the spring of water that murmurs in his ear, or the fruit that seems to ripen for him

[Saint Augustine, RE, 1864]

“It is a torment for the proud to see himself relegated to the last positions, while above him, covered in glory and celebrations, are those he despised on Earth. For the hypocrite, seeing himself penetrated by the light that reveals his most secret thoughts that everyone can read, without any means to hide and dissimulate. For the sensual, having all the temptations, all the desires, without being able to satisfy them. For the miser, seeing his gold dilapidated and not being able to keep it. For the selfish person, being abandoned by everyone and suffering everything that others have suffered for him: he will be thirsty and no one will give him something to drink, he will be hungry and no one will give him anything to eat.”

[Kardec, OCI, 1865]

The Spirit can feel a hunger greater than ours, due to moral suffering, this is of course due to material attachment. Because of this attachment, you will see yourself in the body, and not in the Spirit. It will materialize all sensations. You may even try to eat a “food”, created by your own mind, and this food may have all the characteristics of a material food… But, however, it will not satisfy you, since, in fact, the Spirit does not have a stomach. nor any other body. It does not depend on food to survive. Thus, he will remain in that state for a longer or shorter time, which will seem eternal to him, as long as he voluntarily remains in that mental state — to which, many times, compulsory reincarnation, as an act of divine mercy, given his inability to choose, the come steal. There is a way of acting, spreading among the studious spiritist movement, which is as harmful as that of the spiritists who believe in everything: it is to deny everything and harshly refute everything. That's what I've been trying to draw attention to. Many even tend to attack individuals and reject ideas with stones in their hands, as if they were all ridiculous, without understanding the nuances of the spiritual world and becoming doctors in subjects of which we are only apprentices, learning to babble the first letters of the alphabet. . I have been among them, and today I understand my mistake.

Perhaps, guided by an irresolute and almost rabid animosity towards certain statements frequently seen in the spiritist environment in general, and believing themselves to be masters of spiritual lights, many receive questions like these — “Spirits feel hungry” — with the same degree of animosity. Instead of clarifying, they push the individual away, who feels humiliated for having asked about something that, perhaps, they saw Kardec himself say.

It was not by chance (it is never by chance that a Spirit, of any elevation, acting with honesty, makes any kind of affirmation) that São Luís said, in the RE of 1866:

But if, thanks to the lights from above, you are more educated and understand more, you must also be more tolerant and use nothing but reasoning as a means of propagation., because every sincere belief is respectable.

Friends, Spiritism is science, and it has two parts: the part of the Spirits, which is more or less known to them and which we know through their manifestations, and the part of men, which is purely theoretical, although absolutely rational and logical (and the which doesn’t make it any less “science”). Theories come more or less close to the truth and, on our part, it is up to us to investigation, and not the foolish mania to affirm or deny everything. Kardec, indeed, was the extremely brilliant scientist who understood this principle, which made him, instead of discarding it, investigate the apparently most absurd statements coming from the Spirits, when, of course, he identified honesty in it, and not the clear purpose of mystifying.

Therefore, to the questions “Does the Spirit feel hungry? Feel cold? Sleep? Do you build houses?”, the answer is: depends on your elevation. You can feel or do all that, but rest assured, you have no need, you suffer and waste time when you are in that state, due to attachment to matter.

Spiritism is an essentially moral science. Therefore, those who claim to be his followers cannot, without committing a serious inconsistency, evade the obligations he imposes.

(Spiritist Magazine, Paris, April 1866 ─ Medium: Mrs. B…)

[emphasis added; read to the end]

These obligations are of two orders.

The first concerns the individual who, aided by intellectual clarity that doctrine spreads, he can better understand the value of each of his acts, better probe all the folds of his conscience, better appreciate the infinite goodness of God, who does not want the death of the sinner but that he convert and live, and who, in order to leave him the possibility of rising from his falls, gave him the long series of successive existences, in each of which, bearing the weight of his past faults, he was able to acquire new knowledge and new strength, making him avoid evil and do what is consistent with justice and charity. What can be said of the one who, thus clarified about his duties towards God, towards his brothers, remains proud, greedy, selfish? Doesn't it seem that the light blinded him because he wasn't prepared to receive it? Since then he walks in darkness, although he is in the midst of light. He is only a spiritist in name. The fraternal charity of those who really see must strive to cure him of this intellectual blindness. But for many of those who resemble him, the light that the tomb brings will be necessary, because their hearts are too attached to material pleasures and their spirits are not mature to receive the truth. In a new incarnation you will understand that the inferior planets, like the Earth, are nothing more than a kind of mutual school, where the soul begins to develop its faculties, its aptitudes, to then apply them to the study of the great principles of order, justice, love and harmony that govern the relationships of souls among themselves and the functions they play in the direction of the Universe. They will feel that, called to such a high dignity as that of becoming a messenger of the Most High, the human soul must not debase itself, degrade itself in contact with the filthy pleasures of voluptuousness; from the ignoble temptations of avarice that deprive some children of God of the enjoyment of the goods that he has given to all; they will understand that selfishness, born of pride, blinds the soul and makes it violate the rights of justice, of humanity, since it engenders all the evils that make the Earth a place of pain and atonement. Instructed by the hard lessons of adversity, your spirit will be tempered by reflection, and your heart, after being grated by pain, will become kind and charitable. This is how what appears to us to be evil is sometimes necessary to bring back the hardened. These poor retards, regenerated by suffering, enlightened by that interior light which we can call the baptism of the Spirit, will carefully watch over themselves, that is, over the movements of their heart and the use of their faculties, in order to direct them according to the laws of justice and fraternity. They will understand that they are not only obliged, themselves, to improve themselves, a selfish calculation that prevents the achievement of the objective aimed at by God, but that the second order of obligations of the spiritist, which necessarily follows from the first and completes it, is that of example. , which is the best means of propagation and renewal.

Indeed, he who is convinced of the excellence of the principles he is taught and which, if his conduct conforms to them, will bring him lasting happiness, cannot, if he is truly animated by that fraternal charity which is in the very essence of Spiritism, but wanting them to be understood by all men. Hence the moral obligation to conform your conduct to your belief and to be a living example, a model, as Christ was for Humanity.

You, feeble sparks from the eternal focus of divine love, certainly cannot claim such a vast radiance as that of the Word of God incarnated on Earth, but each one, in your sphere of action, can spread the benefits of good example. You can make virtue loved, surrounding it with the charm of that constant benevolence that attracts, captivates and finally shows that doing good is an easy thing; which generates the intimate happiness of the conscience that has placed itself under its law, since it is the fulfillment of the divine will that made us say, through His Christ: Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, Spiritism is nothing but the true application of the principles of morality taught by Jesus, because it is only with the aim of making it understood by all, so that through it all progress more quickly, that God allows this universal manifestation. of the Spirit, coming to explain to you what seemed obscure to you and to teach you all the truth. It comes, like Christianity well understood, to show man the absolute need for his interior renewal by the very consequences of each of his acts, of each of his thoughts, because no fluidic emanation, good or bad, escapes from the heart or mind. man's brain without leaving an imprint somewhere. The invisible world that surrounds you is for you this book of life where everything is inscribed with incredible fidelity, and the Scales of Divine Justice it is nothing but a figure that reveals each of your actions, each of your feelings. It is, in a way, the weight that weighs down your soul and prevents it from rising, or that brings balance between good and evil.

Happy is he whose feelings come from a pure heart. He spreads around him a soft atmosphere that makes virtue loved and attracts good spirits; its power of radiation is the greater the more humble it is, and consequently the more detached from the material influences that attract the soul and prevent it from progressing.

The obligations imposed by Spiritism are, therefore, of an essentially moral nature., because they are a consequence of belief; each is a judge and party in his own cause; but the intellectual clarity it brings to those who really want get to know yourself and working on its improvement are such as to frighten the faint-hearted, and that is why it is rejected by so many people. Others try to reconcile the reform that their reason shows them to be a necessity with the demands of today's Society. Hence a heterogeneous mixture, a lack of unity that makes the current epoch a transitory state.. It is very difficult for your poor corporeal nature to strip itself of its imperfections to put on the new man, that is, the man who lives according to the principles of justice and harmony desired by God. With persevering efforts, however, you will get there, because the obligations imposed on the conscience, when sufficiently clarified, have more force than human laws based on the constraint of a religious obscurantism that does not bear examination will ever have. But if, thanks to the lights from above, you are more educated and understand more, you must also be more tolerant and use only reasoning as a means of propagation, because every sincere belief is respectable.. If your life is a beautiful model in which everyone can find good examples and solid virtues, where dignity is combined with a gracious amenity, rejoice, because you will have understood, at least in part, what Spiritism obliges.

LOUIS OF FRANCE (Saint Louis)

=========================================

The problem with the current idea of “intimate reform” is not a matter of words, but that it has become a central point, as if the individual’s mission were to improve themselves, only. Every day, it is demonstrated that the true spiritist, because he understood the light that opened to him before the spiritual horizons, improves himself in a humble way, helping his neighbor with the same humility, not punishing his conscience with punches and knives. . The true face of good is cooperation, not dispute. The highest, serves.

Luís begins the text by stating: Spiritism is a science and, as such, spreads intellectual clarity. Spiritism serves knowledge, which is a necessary part for the individual's progress. But this is not enough: example is necessary, and we have several proofs of this in humanity, Christ being the most expressive of them. He, who came to wash our feet, demonstrated: the highest, serves, giving himself the selfless example.

In the end, Luís points out: if we are better educated, it is thanks to the “lights from on high”, not because we don't have the personal effort, but because, without the charitable cooperation of the one who is higher, we wouldn't learn! By the way, those who enter into the false idea and isolate themselves due to selfishness and pride, leave the possibility of this learning, for some time. This is the truest possible face of Creation, as Spiritism demonstrates! The dispute, the idea that the world is one of the smartest, selfishness, pride, in short, are all false conceptions, linked to false human ideas, which lead the being to the abyss that imprison him and from which it is only his effort. in escaping. Absolutely, these are ideas that do not represent the truth about Creation or relationships as Spirits!

This is a communication that must be read, reread, discussed and, who knows, placed at the head of the table.

Life is all about choices. Sometimes, they are lucid choices, that is, we know well that something is correct or not; other times, they are “ignorant” choices, that is, we don’t know enough to assume the results. From these, we can collect errors or successes and, in the case of error, there is no “sin”, as error is part of evolution. As long as you don’t get attached to it, “everything is fine”. Just move on and don't repeat the mistake. There is no condemnation, nor was there any intention of evil.

The big question is when the choice for what is wrong happens more consciously — and here I do not consider full conscience, because, if it existed, the bad choice would not be made. The individual, endowed with conscience and intelligence, acts in favor of attachment to what is wrong or that brings bad results. Yes, he acts enveloped in a confusion of ideas, which were born in the first place from his urge to satisfy himself in some respect — hence the assertiveness in saying that selfishness and pride are the mothers of all other imperfections — and, often, not even thinks of doing evil, but of satisfying his own desires or [false] needs. This is the problematic point of bad choices, where the individual condemns himself to a whirlwind of bad effects in which the cause is himself and no one else, and where he distances himself from the Good, which is the path, to take a detour that lasts forever. feathers will cost you to resume, as it requires the exercise of detachment.

That said, many will wonder: in both cases, but especially in the second, so how to make less mistakes? How can we better judge our own actions? How to avoid occasional mistakes and how to exercise detachment before a certain habit becomes a terrible imperfection?

Briefly, the answer is a rhetorical question: why do you think that the spirits of previously incarnated individuals — wise spirits and ignorant spirits; Kind spirits and evil spirits; Happy spirits and suffering spirits — did they take the time to tell us about their own adventures? Why do you think that an individual of sciences, dedicated philosopher of education and connoisseur of so many other sciences, having glimpsed something in these communications, dedicated, to exhaustion, about 14 years of his life, his finances, his joys, and your health in studying and disseminating this knowledge, which formed what we know as Spiritism or Spiritist Doctrine? WHY?

When the child sees his brother suffer a burn by putting his hand on hot coals, he will most likely think twice before doing the same. Imagine what an adult, full of his brain capabilities, can do with this knowledge?! And yet, how many people, going through years and years of foolishly cultivated suffering, CHOOSE to keep these works closed on the shelves, forgotten in their virtual places?

The passage of Zacchaeus, who, seeing Jesus pass by his door, climbed a tree to try to see him, without letting himself be seen interested by the citizens of the city, can be our same: just be interested. The difference is that we don't have to hide from anyone to read a book, except when WE CHOOSE our hiding from OURSELVES, out of a foolish fear of, seeing ourselves discovered by ourselves, having to carry out the correction movement. Well, at this point, if you act like that, I can already ask you: why do you like unhappiness so much?

Salvation is knowledge. Healing is done by yourself. And it's all as close as you want PLEASE. That's the message: to make better choices, you need to TO UNDERSTAND how the law works.

Happy new days to you.

We are just here to record our final position on the subject of adulterations in Kardec's works, which is no longer discussed, except in the face of unquestionable evidence or irrefutable proof, something that neither the “CSI of Spiritism” produziu. Apresentamos, sucintamente, os seguintes pontos:

1. The legal question: The Legal Deposit of A Gênesis was only made in 1872, about three years after Kardec's death; the DL of Heaven and Hell was made about three months after his death. This is already a sufficient legal fact to constitute a crime for the distribution of altered works, published after the fateful event, and there is no discussion about this, nor, to this day, any proof that Kardec has carried out the legal process necessary for this.

   This point is important, because, even though everything published there is actually by Kardec's hand - which would imply that he went back on his words, removed principles and formed works that were disconnected in themselves and among themselves - even though everything that is there is in Kardec's hands, yet we cannot even be sure that he would want all that to be published, due to the mere possible doubt that those editions might not be finished. This is what guarantees copyright.

   More than that: legally, it doesn't matter if letters were found (a letter) in which Kardec mentioned the production of these new editions. If there was no Legal Deposit of the work, by the hands of Allan Kardec, a crime against the law in force at the time was created and, given the fact that the DL was after his time, a crime against copyright was created.

2. Even though evidence indicates that Kardec was finalizing or even that he would have finalized these editions, nothing proves that the printed editions have not been tampered with. Doubt remains, in addition to the indisputable legal fact.
3. In addition, there remain the facts ascertained by reason, already discussed on here, on here, on here, on here, on here and on here.

Therefore, always repeating our desire to remain guarded against error, we prefer to follow Erastus' advice, dispensing with ten truths so as not to be left with just one lie, one mistake. There is doubt and, if there is doubt, reason tells us to stick with the original works, republished by Editora FEAL, where not only are we sure that all the commas come from Kardec's hands, but also where, through study, we realize that the connections intrinsic aspects of the works themselves and each other are intact and serve reason.

Thus, we declare the matter closed, making this decision part of our principles, not making it the stage of empty discussions, until irrefutable evidence is presented. Until then, we stick with what our reason tells us, of our own free will, respecting anyone who, for their reason, reaches another conclusion, however strange it may seem to us.

The group.

This article is very succinct and only serves to highlight our final position, as a group, on the issue of spiritual colonies, which many insist on dedicating precious time to endless debates. To be succinct, we will not dedicate time to long explanations or quotes from Kardec, since what we talk about here is based on Spiritism, from a scientific point of view — which almost completely ended with Kardec's death. So, let each person make, or not, the decision to study and reason.

I would like to say that this article is not for those who believe they already know everything and who prefer to follow what others say, but rather for those who seek to reason for themselves, based on scientifically produced knowledge.

Allan Kardec's studies

In the works of the dedicated scientist, obtained from the communications of the Spirits, passed through the method of double control — the generality of teachings, subjected to the sieve of reason — there are abundant assertions about the materiality of the spiritual world. It is not too much to assert that these were not ideas that came from his head., but quite the opposite: they were born from the observation of the Spirits themselves, thousands of them, by thousands of mediums, spread across the world. Many times, the Spirits themselves demonstrated the error of the hypotheses that Kardec considered.

The Spirits' Book gives the general principle, which is confirmed in the Spiritist Magazine and which is concluded in A Gênesis, after more than a decade of studies. We summarize:

1. A less evolved Spirit does not easily detach itself from the ideas of matter. Often, you don't even realize that the body has died. As, through thought, he is able to manipulate fluidic matter, he condenses, without even noticing it, his own creations, which, however, are ephemeral, that is, transient, and which last only as long as his thought is on them.
2. Together, kindred spirits create true scenarios, sometimes happier, sometimes truly infernal.
3. The scenarios, individual or collective, reflect the beliefs and atavisms of these Spirits, attached to material ideas. It is precisely for this reason, which is easy to see, that unhappy spirits, through time, transmitted ideas that reflected these ideas: hell, purgatory, nothingness, the deep valleys, the dark cave, etc. On the other hand, it is very easy to see that the happiest spirits convey ideas in a figurative sense, referring to the seventh heaven, the city of flowers, the spiritual feast, etc.
4. Unhappy Spirits externalize their moral pains and vices, but it is precisely because they are unable to attend to the latter that they suffer, as a “punishment”.

As far as the Doctrine has developed as a science, this is well established. After her, ideas of absolute materialism were born and strengthened in the world of Spirits, where even bathrooms can be used and soup can be eaten. A fantastic world was formed by spiritists and adepts who, little accustomed to study, allowed themselves to be dominated by fantastic ideas, narrated in mediumistic novels, the fault of which is neither the medium nor the Spirit, but rather those who did not judge such communications, did not question , as it should be – after all, we don’t go around taking anyone’s word for it, do we?

Ideas born from opinions

Today, this folklore is so established that many even ask themselves “where are the 58 spiritual colonies in Brazil”. There is already an established quantity. “Which spiritual colony do I go to?” is another frequently asked question…

We ask: why didn't the superior Spirits bring this truth to Kardec, who could very well explore it scientifically? The argument that “understanding at the time would not be possible” is completely false and cannot be sustained, because, in Kardec's time, cities, scientific and industrial development, intelligence, in short, all human scientific development were in its highest light. Why not then? If Kardec addressed all types of issues concerning the spiritual world, I repeat: why not? If this is such an important truth, since it would be directly linked to our near future, after death, why didn't the superior Spirits lead Spirits in the most diverse conditions to deal with this subject, through scientific exploration, as they did with all other subjects? ? Why did they lead those they did, in fact, to the opposite understanding, which leads to detachment from this materiality? Why?

Have the passionate supporters of the systems born of these novels never asked themselves these questions? Could it be that the absence of these ideas about spiritual colonies and others, in Kardec's scientific study, is precisely due to the fact that they do not reflect spiritual truth and are only transmitted by poorly developed Spirits or even by mystifying Spirits, who would be readily seen in error? , as happens in the Spiritist Magazine of July 1858 — The False Father Ambrósio?

16. ─ Why don't you support the imposture in our presence?

─ Because my language is a touchstone, with which you cannot be deceived.

Genesis, final work, bringing together more than 10 years of studies

In order not to leave out some of Kardec's very important conclusions, we will quote Genesis, in chap. XIV — The Fluids:

Spirits act on spiritual fluids, not manipulating them as men manipulate gases, but with the help of thought and will, which are for the Spirit what the hand is for man. By thought they impress this or that direction on the fluid; they agglomerate, combine or disperse them and form sets with a certain appearance, shape, color; they change their properties, as a chemist changes those of a gas or other bodies, by combining them according to certain laws. It is the great workshop or laboratory of the spiritual life.

Sometimes these transformations are the result of an intention, but often they are the product of an unconscious thought, because the Spirit just thinks about something for it to be done.

This is how, for example, a spirit appears to an incarnate spirit, endowed with spiritual vision, under the appearance he had when he was alive, at the time he met him, although he has already had several other incarnations. He presents himself with clothes, external signs, diseases, scars, amputated limbs, etc. who had; a beheaded one will present himself without his head. I do not say that they preserved such appearances; no, certainly, because, as a Spirit, he is neither lame nor one-armed, nor one-eyed nor decapitated. But his thought, referring to the time when it was like that, his perispirit instantly takes on this appearance, which also changes instantly. If he had been once black and once white, he will present himself as either black or white, according to which of the two incarnations he is evoked and where his thoughts go.

By an analogous effect, the thought of the Spirit fluidly creates the objects it was used to using. A miser will handle gold; a soldier will have his weapons and his uniform; a smoker, his pipe; a workman, his plow and his oxen; an old woman, her distaff.

These fluidic objects are as real for the Spirit as they would be in the material state for the incarnated man. But, because they are created by thought, their existence is as ephemeral as it is ((See about fluidic objects in the Spiritist Magazine, July 1859, page 184. Book of Mediums, 2nd part, chapter VIII. (Note by Allan Kardec .))).

It is also worth reading the article from the Spiritist Magazine, quoted by Kardec in the footnote. Read with attention. Question #22 and its answer sums it up:

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

─ No, if he has a certain superiority, because he will be perfectly aware of his condition. The same is not true of inferior spirits..

NOTE: This was, for example, the case of the queen of Oude, whose evocation appears in our issue of March 1858, who still thought she was covered in diamonds.

Conclusion

Far be it from us to deify Allan Kardec's personality, as if he were not subject to error. We just ask ourselves, once again: how is it that, in more than a decade of studies, where Kardec penetrated so many truths about the world of Spirits, he did not arrive at this truth, passionately defended by certain people? As, on the contrary, he was led, by the superior Spirits, to the understanding that the materiality of the spiritual world is linked to the ignorance of the Spirit and that, therefore, it is ephemeral, not being possible to consider, in this way, spiritual cities, erected and commanded by high spirits, made to to sustain materialistic ideas and delay your detachment, the cultivating, on the contrary? These are questions that cannot be answered by systems, but which are very clearly and peacefully answered by Spiritist science.

we know of all about the world of Spirits? No, far from it. But, from there to systematizing ideas that have not gone through the scientific method, it is a long (and crooked) step. We will not give it, as we prefer to stick with Erastus' advice, asserting that “It is better to reject ten truths than to admit a single lie, a single false theory“.

And with that, we are done with this subject, until it can return to the scientific field, if need be, to be continued.

O artigo presente, “Deus não se vinga”, foi extraído textualmente de Revista espírita — Jornal de estudos psicológicos — 1865 > Maio > Dissertações espíritas.

I – Preconceived ideas

We have told you many times to examine the communications that are given to you, subjecting them to the analysis of reason, and not to take without examination the inspirations that come to stir your spirit, under the influence of causes that are sometimes very difficult to verify by the incarnated, subjected to countless distractions.

The pure ideas that, so to speak, float in space (according to the Platonic idea), carried by the Spirits, cannot always lodge alone and isolated in the brain of your mediums. They often find the place occupied by preconceived ideas that flow with the jet of inspiration, which disturb and transform it unconsciously, it is true, but sometimes profoundly enough for the spiritual idea to be thus entirely denatured. .

Inspiration contains two elements: thought and the fluidic heat destined to warm the spirit of the medium, giving him what you call the verve of the composition. If inspiration finds the place occupied by a preconceived idea, from which the medium cannot or does not want to detach himself, our thought is left without an interpreter, and the fluidic heat is wasted in heating a thought that is not ours. How many times, in your selfish and passionate world, have we seen the heat and the idea! You disdain the idea, which your conscience should make you recognize, and you seize the heat for the benefit of your earthly passions, thus at times squandering the good of God for the benefit of evil. Thus, how many accounts will one day have to pay all lawyers in lost causes!

No doubt it would be desirable for good inspirations to always be able to dominate preconceived ideas, but then we would impede the free will of man's will, and the latter would thus escape the responsibility that belongs to him. But if we are only Humanity's auxiliary advisors, how many times do we have to congratulate ourselves when our idea, knocking at the door of a straight conscience, triumphs over the preconceived idea and modifies the conviction of the inspired! However, it should not be believed that our misused help does not betray a little the misuse that can be made of it. Sincere conviction finds accents that, starting from the heart, reach the heart; the simulated conviction may satisfy passionate convictions, vibrating in unison with the first, but it carries a particular chill, which leaves the conscience unsatisfied and denotes a doubtful origin.

Do you want to know where the two elements of mediumistic inspiration come from? The answer is easy: the idea comes from the extraterrestrial world, it is the Spirit's own inspiration. As for the fluidic heat of inspiration, we found it and took it from you; it is the quintessential part of the emanating vital fluid. Sometimes we take it from the inspired person, when he is endowed with a certain fluidic power (or mediumistic, as you say); most of the time we take him in his environment, in the emanation of benevolence with which he is more or less surrounded. This is why it can rightly be said that sympathy makes eloquent.

If you carefully reflect on these causes, you will find the explanation of many facts that at first cause admiration, but of which everyone has a certain intuition. The idea alone would not be enough for man if he were not given the strength to express it. Heat is to the idea what the perispirit is to the Spirit, what your body is to the soul. Without the body, the soul would be powerless to stir up matter; without heat, the idea would be powerless to move hearts.

The conclusion of this communication is that you must never abdicate your reason, in the examination of the inspirations that are submitted to you. The more acquired ideas the medium has, the more he is susceptible to preconceived ideas; he must also make a clean slate of his own thoughts, deposit the influences that agitate him and give his conscience the necessary abnegation for good communication.

II – God does not take revenge

The foregoing is just a preamble intended to serve as an introduction to other ideas. I have spoken of preconceived ideas, but there are others besides those which come from the inclinations of the inspired; there are those that are the result of an erroneous instruction, of an interpretation believed over a more or less long time, which had their raison d'être at a time when human reason was insufficiently developed and which, passed into a chronic state, cannot be modified unless by heroic efforts, especially when they have the authority of religious teaching and reserved books. One such idea is this: God takes revenge. That a man, wounded in his pride, in his person or in his interests, takes revenge, this is conceivable. This revenge, although culpable, is within the limits of human imperfections, but a father who takes revenge on his children raises general indignation, because everyone feels that a father, with the task of forming his children, can redirect them in their mistakes. and correct his defects by all the means at his disposal, but that revenge is forbidden to him, under pain of becoming a stranger to all the rights of fatherhood.

Under the name of public revenge, the Society that is disappearing took revenge on the culprits; the punishment inflicted, often cruel, was the revenge she took on the wicked man. She had not the slightest concern for this man's rehabilitation and left it up to God to punish or forgive him. It was enough for him to strike with terror, which he thought salutary, the future culprits. The Society they came from no longer thinks like that; if she still does not act with a view to amending the culprit, she at least understands what hateful revenge contains in itself; safeguarding the Society against the attacks of a criminal is enough for him, aided by the fear of a miscarriage of justice. Capital punishment will soon disappear from your codes.

If today Society feels too great before a guilty party to let itself go into anger and take revenge on him, how do you want God, sharing your weaknesses, to become irascible and strike out of revenge a sinner called to repentance ? Believing in God's wrath is a pride of Humanity, which imagines having a great weight in the divine scales. If the plant in your garden does badly, if it goes astray, will you get angry and take revenge on it? No; you will straighten it out if you can, you will give it support, you will force its bad tendencies by obstacles, if necessary you will transplant it, but you will not take revenge. So does God.

God take revenge, what a blasphemy! What a diminution of divine greatness! What ignorance of the infinite distance that separates creation from its creature! What forgetfulness of his goodness and justice!

God would come, in an existence in which you have no memory of your past mistakes, to make you pay dearly for the faults you may have committed in an era erased in your being! No no! God doesn't act like that. It checks the impulse of a disastrous passion, it corrects innate pride by a forced humility, it straightens out the selfishness of the past by the urgency of a present need that leads to the desire for the existence of a feeling that man has neither known nor experienced. As a father, he corrects, but also as a father, God does not take revenge.

Beware of these preconceived ideas of heavenly vengeance, scattered remnants of an ancient error. Beware of those fatalistic tendencies, whose door is open to your new doctrines, and which would lead you directly to eastern quietism. Man's share of freedom is no longer large enough to dwarf it further by erroneous beliefs. The more you feel your freedom, the greater your responsibility will undoubtedly be, and the more the efforts of your will will lead you forward, on the path of progress.

Easter