Dialogues from Beyond the Grave — Evocation of Ermance Dufaux

Ermance Dufaux de La Jonchère was a French medium and writer born in Cambrai on March 8, 1839, and died in Suresnes on March 3, 1915. She is recognized as one of the most important figures of the first generation of Spiritism. She manifested mediumistic abilities early on and, as a founding member of the Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies alongside her father, collaborated significantly with Allan Kardec in consolidating the doctrine, directly participating in its revision. The Book of Spirits and contributing with mediumistic communications that resulted in important spiritualist literary works. His output includes psychographic accounts attributed to historical spirits, and his active participation in the spiritualist circles of Paris consolidated his influence on the emerging spiritualist movement in the 19th century.

During the meeting of the Semear Mediumistic Group, our group, we thought it best to seek the evocation of this Spirit at the meeting on November 2nd, 2025. From this, we obtained the following dialogue:

– Evocation.
Ermance: Ask away.
A: Are you happy, Ermance?
Ermance: Yes, I am.
A: Are you incarnate or disincarnate?
Ermance: Disembodied.
A: Did you realize you were in the spirit world immediately after leaving your physical body?
Ermance: What do you mean by immediately?
A: Shortly after his death.
Ermance: I could already see my body, weak and immobile. I learned that I had already detached myself.
A: What were your first impressions immediately after the death?
Ermance: I had already explained what was happening to me. I can tell you that there was no suffering. I had already realized that I was already with the Spirit. But now, without my body. It was just a stage. Just a period.
M: How long did it take you to recognize yourself in the spiritual realm after your death?
Ermance: I'm going to draw an analogy with your time. It was fast. Maybe, a few days. Maybe, a few days.
M: Just a few days. Did you go to his funeral?
Ermance: Yes.
M: How did you feel there?
Ermance: I perceived my body as motionless. I realized I was no longer here. At some point, the spectral circle, because we come face to face with our body, which was our dwelling for a period, which served as our instrument, but I was already aware that I was no longer there.
M: That was precisely my question. When you saw your own funeral, you had already recognized that you were no longer part of this world. So, this disturbance, are you sure it only lasted a few days?
Ermance: Even when we see our motionless body and realize that we are no longer part of it, it is still difficult for us to understand that we are no longer there. That when we speak to our family, our friends, our loved ones, they do not answer us. There is always a disturbance, even if small, my brother. But I soon understood. I soon understood that I needed to follow my own path.
M: Now a more specific question, Ermance: What was the first topic that the spirit Joan of Arc dictated to you that only you two knew? Only you and Kardec?
Oh, excuse me, Ermance, the Friendly Spirit wants to say something, if you could. Just a minute, Ermance?
Ermance: Yes, of course.
EA: You need to remember that time is different in both worlds. When she speaks of days, for the Spirit it is a blink of an eye. For you it is different.
A: Thank you very much. Ermance, can you answer Joan of Arc's question? Which one did she dictate to you, the first topic?
Ermance: No, I can't.
A: What was the biggest mistake you made while practicing mediumship?
Ermance: I allowed myself to be deceived by some Spirits.
A: In your existence as Ermance, what definition would you give to this existence?
Ermance: I was happy.
A: And were you able to achieve the goal of this incarnation as Ermance?
Ermance: On our journey, we always have so many things planned. But we don't always manage to complete everything. Everything that was planned, everything that we chose through our free will.
A: When you were Ermance, were you already programmed to be a medium for that incarnation? Ermance: Yes.
A: So you followed a schedule, right?
M: Has the program you were able to implement put you in a better position on a spiritual level?
Ermance: Yes. Yes, I did put myself forward. I moved forward a little more, I evolved a little more. With each incarnation, even if we haven't completed our purpose, we always advance a little further. This one caused me a very significant advancement.
A: Since we're looking to bring you in to help our mediums, and any other mediums we may know, what is the greatest danger for a medium? What advice could you give us to help us?
Ermance: Fascination. Being fascinated by a spirit that dictates your thoughts, and the medium becomes enslaved by it, repeating its frequencies and thoughts. This is a big mistake and ends up influencing others.
A: This is not good at all.
M: Do you still inhabit Earth or another orb?
Ermance: No, I don't live on Earth.
M: Have you reviewed your past reincarnations, Ermance?
Ermance: Yes.
M: Was it immediately after his death or did it take some time?
Ermance: It took some time, but I saw them.
M: In those previous reincarnations, did you have direct contact with Professor Rivail?
Ermance: Yes. We communicated through thought in an attempt to organize what was to come.
A: Do you still stay in touch with him today?
Ermance: Yes.
M: So you can clearly remember your existences prior to Ermance, correct?
Ermance: Yes. Our past lives and our lessons are shown to us like a film.
M: Do you remember the details of those reincarnations?
Ermance: They are passed to us in a flash. I couldn't possibly deal with the details of the incarnations.
M: And just one more question. If you can remember those past lives, why wouldn't you remember what Joan of Arc dictated to you when she was incarnated as Ermance?
Ermance: As I said, I don't even remember the details of previous incarnations. They pass by like a flash. We acquire all the learning in each one, which is granted to us like a treasure. But it's not easy to remember the details of each one.
A: In the last mediumistic meeting we had, the communicating Spirit spoke through two mediums at the same time. How was that possible, sister?
Ermance: I can assure you that this cannot occur at exactly the same moment during a meeting between two mediums. But the same Spirit can give the communication to two mediums in the same meeting.
A: What made you prefer to communicate through this medium rather than the other? We have two mediums here now.
Ermance: I can perceive at this moment the Spirit that always guides the meetings. That is always present. It is this Spirit that meets with the medium.
A: Ermance, I am very grateful that you spoke with us and that you were willing to help. I am very grateful that you were able to come here and I would like you to give a final greeting and some instructions to our mediums. If you can, of course.
Ermance: My brothers and sisters, continue your work, continue your studies, your evocations; and always remember that each medium, each instrument, has its limitations. Within those limitations, as you said, goodwill and solicitude are essential. Never forget that. There is always learning in each communication. I thank you for the opportunity to be here and I bid you farewell.
A: May God be with you, Ermance… Thank you very much.

The dialogue presents some points of agreement, but also some inconsistencies, with what we have learned from Spiritist Doctrine. Two particularly incongruous points caught our attention: her not remembering what was published in the book about Joan of Arc, and her stating that Spirits cannot communicate through two mediums simultaneously, which is demonstrated as possible in Kardec's work (The Book of Mediums, item 282, sub-item 29).

This raised doubts for us as to whether it was truly the Spirit of Dufaux who presented himself. Here, we faced that dilemma: lacking other partner groups capable of conducting such research, performing the same evocations or asking pertinent questions, we were, in a way, left with our hands tied, leaving this communication in the realm of uncertainty, awaiting the day when we can see a collaborative group formed for this purpose.