I am increasingly happy to see that the amount of interest in Spiritism is growing among religions, and even among evangelical Protestantism. Today, I come to tell you about an evangelical studying Spiritism.

The friend, P…, with whom I had the grateful contact, says that he was born in the Protestant milieu and grew up in it. However, he says that his father, since his childhood, taught him not to blindly believe what the pastors said, recommending that, If in doubt, look for what was written in the Bible.. This is the principle of Spiritism, taught by an evangelical: the search for reason, blindly believing in nothing. It is always sad to note that, today, this principle is not found even in the spiritist movement itself.

See, friends, how much it is essential transmit the best values to children. I also give my example, because my father also taught me the same, reflecting Kardec's teachings, which are purely scientific. Even though I went through a period of disbelief, because what I once knew I was not established on this science that is Spiritism, I managed to find my way again, and today I study the Spiritist Doctrine where it resides in all its reliability: in the works of Allan Kardec.

Religious people studied Spiritism in the past

I want to highlight that Kardec, in the Revista Espírita of January 1869, gives the following statistics about spiritist followers:

Regarding religious ideas:

• Roman Catholics, freethinkers, not bound by dogma, 50%;
• Greek Catholics, 15%;
• Jews, 10%;
• liberal Protestants, 10%;
• Catholics linked to dogmas, 10%;
• orthodox Protestants, 3%;
• Muslims, 2%.

These are very interesting numbers, especially when compared to the current era, in which Spiritism, seen as a religion (a false idea) finds resistance and difficulty in proliferating. Protestant, at that time, is today's evangelical.

It is not too much to remember that Spiritism is the science of Creation itself, existing among all and taunting, with its phenomena, even those who deny it. Being, above all, a science, it can be studied by everyone, with great benefit, and it was only through adulterations that it stopped being so.

Read too: No more feuds, no more fighting: the time has come to collaborate!

The importance of questioning

But it is also a fact that many who come to Spiritism enter through the door of the false ideas that reign in the modern spiritist movement, which is very reluctant to take up Kardec, first of all. Here, I must once again recognize the willpower of P…, born in an evangelical milieu, but who never put reasoning aside and, having found material that demonstrates the spiritist science, he promptly found something in it that met his rational inquiries.

That's why I always highlight the importance of everyone doing their part, in the best way they can. But, to do so, solidifying knowledge in science is essential. Less mistakes are made by acting this way.

Safe harbor

The safe haven of Spiritism is in Kardec's works, not because he gave the last word, but because the words he gave were born from the scientific method. Today, having abandoned the method, there is an infinite number of false ideas, often contrary to doctrinal principles, born from the methodological study of thousands of Spirits, evoked or freely communicated, everywhere.

It is necessary to study and, from this solidified study, it is necessary to produce. Let us do our part, as there are many others like P…, – Protestants, Catholics, Umbanda, etc. – around the world, who just lack contact with true ideas.

Spiritism demonstrated the impossibility of the existence of Hell, as well as purgatory as a place after death. It is logical to note that, in doing so, it demonstrates the impossibility of modern constructions of ideas such as that of umbral. But, at the same time, it demonstrated the existence of these last two, not as a fluidic place, but as a material place: the planets themselves like Earth and lower, where, literally, purge acquired imperfections:

“It is, therefore, in successive incarnations that the soul gradually sheds its imperfections—in other words, that it purges itself—until it is pure enough to deserve to leave the worlds of atonement and go to more blissful worlds, from where it later departs to enjoy supreme happiness. ((At the beginning of its evolution, there are imperfections that are mistaken habits created by attachment, which result in pride and selfishness. This personal responsibility, only of those who choose this painful path, configures the condition of moral imperfection and suffering that must be overcome through atonement. However, on primitive planets, there are vicissitudes resulting from the lack of intelligence to create better living conditions and comfort, such as food, housing, and health. There is also a lack of opportunities for everyone to progress, such as education, work, and family. Therefore, everyone faces trials, which are opportunities for progress, both individual and collective. These are the planets of atonement and trials. (Ed. Note) )).

Therefore, Purgatory is no longer a vague and uncertain idea, it is a material reality that we see, touch and suffer. He is in the worlds of atonement, and the Earth is one of these worlds – on it men atone for the past and the present for the benefit of their future. But, contrary to the traditional idea of Purgatory, it depends on each person whether to shorten or prolong their stay there, depending on the degree of advancement and purity they reach through work on themselves. We leave these worlds not because our time has come to an end, or because of the merit of others, but because of our own merit, according to the words of Christ: – To each one, according to his works –, words that summarize all the justice of God .

…

Spiritism did not come, therefore, to deny the future penalty – it came, on the contrary, to confirm it. What he destroys is the localized Hell, with its furnaces and its irremissible penalties. It does not deny Purgatory, because it proves that we find ourselves in it, defining and detailing it, explaining the cause of earthly misery, thereby leading those who denied it to believe.”

KARDEC, Allan. Heaven and Hell – Editora FEAL

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.

Excerpts from an article about mediumship in animals, obtained from the Revista Espírita of August 1861.

To begin with, let's understand our facts. What is a medium? It is the being, the individual that serves the Spirits as a link, so that they can easily communicate with men, incarnated Spirits. Consequently, without a medium, no tangible communications, mental, written, physical, or of any kind.

Today I address the problem of animal mediumship, raised and supported by one of your most fervent followers. By virtue of the axiom who can do the most can do the least, he claims that we can mediate birds and other animals, using them in our communications with the human species. It is what, in Philosophy, or rather, in Logic, you call purely and simply a sophistry.

…

Men are always willing to exaggerate everything. Some ─ and I'm not talking about materialists here ─ refuse animals a soul and others want to grant them one, so to speak, similar to ours. Why would you want to confuse the perfectible with the imperfectible? No no. Be well convinced that the fire that animates animals, the breath that makes them act, move and speak their language has, until now, no ability to mix, to unite, to merge with the divine breath, the ethereal soul, the Spirit, in a word, that animates the essentially perfectible being, man, this king of Creation. Now, isn’t what marks the superiority of the human species over other earthly species this essential condition of perfectibility? Then! Recognize, therefore, that it is not possible to assimilate to man, the only person perfectible in himself and in his works, any individual of the other living races on Earth.

…

Certainly the Spirits can become visible and tangible by animals, often suddenly taken by that fear that seems unfounded to you, and which is caused by the sight of one or more of these Spirits with malicious intentions towards the individuals present or towards the owners of these animals. You often find horses that don't want to move forward or backward or that stall when faced with an imaginary obstacle. Well done! Be sure that the imaginary obstacle is often a Spirit or a group of Spirits who have fun preventing them from advancing. Remember Balaam's donkey, which saw an angel in front of him and, fearing his flaming sword, insisted on not moving forward. Before becoming visible to Balaam, the angel wanted to show himself only to the animal. But, I repeat, we do not directly mediumize animals or inert matter. We always need the conscious or unconscious assistance of a human medium, because we need the union of similar fluids, which we do not find in animals or in gross matter.

He says Mr. Thiry magnetized his dog. What happened? He killed him, because this unfortunate animal later fell into a kind of atony, of languor, as a result of the magnetization. In effect, flooding him with a fluid drawn from an essence superior to the special essence of his nature, it crushed him and acted upon him, albeit more slowly, in the manner of lightning. Thus, as there is no possible identification between our perispirit and the fluidic envelope of the animals themselves, we would crush them instantly if we were to mediumize them.

Having said that, I fully recognize that animals have different abilities; that certain feelings; that certain passions identical with human passions develop in them; who are sensitive and recognized, vengeful and hateful, depending on whether one acts well or badly towards them. It is because God, who makes nothing incomplete, gave animals companions or servants of man, qualities of sociability that are entirely lacking in wild animals that inhabit solitudes.

In short: mediumistic facts cannot manifest themselves without the conscious or unconscious assistance of the medium, and only among the incarnated, Spirits like us, can we find those who can serve us as mediums. As for educating dogs, birds or other animals to do such and such exercises, that is your business and not ours.

ERASTO.

Spiritist Magazine, August 1861 – The medium animals

Read more about mediumship.

In one of the last weekly studies of Revista Espirita in 1859, we studied this communication attributed to Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (Want to know more about this famous painter? Click here). He lived in Holland in the 17th century.

Here is the communication:

External communications, read in the Company

The goodness of the Lord is eternal. He does not want the death of his beloved children. But, O men! Think that it depends on you to hasten the Kingdom of God on Earth, as well as to push it away; that you are responsible for one another; that, by improving yourselves, you work for the regeneration of Humanity. The task is great; responsibility weighs on each person and no one can excuse themselves. Embrace with fervor the glorious task that the Lord imposes on you, but ask him to send workers to his fields, because, as Christ told you, the harvest is great and the workers are few.

But behold, we are sent as laborers of your hearts. In it we sow good grain. Be careful not to stifle it. Water him with the tears of repentance and joy. Of repentance, for having lived for so long in a land cursed by the sins of the human race, away from the only true God, worshiping the false pleasures of the world, which leave nothing but heartbreak and sadness at the bottom of the cup. Joy because the Lord has given you grace; because he wants to hasten the arrival of his beloved children to the paternal bosom; because he wants you all to be clothed with the innocence of angels, as if you had never been separated from him.

The only one who showed you the path by which you will return to this primitive glory; the only one you cannot blame, because he was never mistaken in his teaching; the only righteous before God; The only one, finally, that you should follow in order to be pleasing to God, is Christ. Yes, the Christ, your divine master, whom you forgot and despised for centuries. Love him, because he constantly asks for you. He wants to come to your rescue. As? Unbelief still persists! The wonders of Christ cannot overcome it! The wonders of all Creation are powerless before these mocking Spirits; on this dust that cannot prolong its miserable existence for a single minute! These wise men who think they are the only ones to possess all the secrets of Creation do not know where they come from; They don't know where they will go and yet they deny everything and defy everything. Because they know some of the most common laws of the material world, they think they can judge the immaterial world, or rather, they say that there is nothing immaterial; that everything must obey the same material laws that they discovered.

But you Christians! you know that you cannot deny our intervention without, at the same time, denying Christ; without denying the entire Bible, as there is not a single page in which you do not find traces of the visible world in relation to the invisible world. Then! Say it! Are you Christians or not?

REMBRAND

Obtained by Mr. Péc…

Like many of the communications in Revista Espírita, the communication is simple, short and full of constructive instructions for our learning.
We cannot say that it is really by Rembrant, as we do not have enough elements to know. However, what interests us most is its content, which corresponds to the teachings of Spiritist morality.

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/

Obtained from the Spiritist Magazine of February 1861

Mr. JB D…, evoked at the request of one of his relatives, was an educated man, but to the last degree imbued with materialistic ideas. He didn't believe in the soul or in God. He voluntarily drowned two years ago.

1. (Evocation).

─ I suffer! I'm a convict.

2. ─ We were asked to call you by one of your relatives, who wants to know your fate. Can you say whether this evocation is pleasant or painful?

─ Painful.

3. ─ Was your death voluntary?

─ Yes.

Observation: The Spirit writes with extreme difficulty. The handwriting is large, irregular, convulsive and almost illegible. At first he shows anger, breaks the pencil and tears the paper.

4. ─ Stay calm. We will pray to God for you.

─ I am forced to believe in God.

5. ─ What reason led you to destroy yourselves?

─ Boredom of life hopeless. 

Observation: Suicide is understood when life is hopeless. We want to escape unhappiness at all costs. With Spiritism the future unfolds and hope is legitimized. Suicide, then, has no objective; even more, it is recognized that by such means one cannot escape one evil except to fall into another one a hundred times worse. This is why Spiritism has already removed so many victims from voluntary death. Are those who seek, first and foremost, the moral and philosophical end in it, wrong and dreamers? Very guilty are those who, for scientific sophisms and in the supposed name of reason, They strive to honor the desperate idea, the source of so many evils and crimes, that everything ends with life. They will be responsible not only for their own mistakes, but for all the evils they have caused.

6. ─ You wanted to escape the vicissitudes of life. Did you achieve anything? Are you happier now?

─ Why doesn’t nothing exist?!

7. ─ Would you be kind enough to describe your situation to us as best you can?

─ I suffer from being forced to believe in everything I denied. My soul is as if in a brazier, horribly tormented.

8. ─ Where did the materialistic ideas you had in life come from?

─ In another existence I had been bad, and my Spirit was condemned to suffer the torments of doubt during my life. So, I killed myself.

Observation: There is a whole range of ideas here. We often ask ourselves how there can be materialists, since, having already passed through the spiritist world, we should have intuition about it. Now, it is precisely this intuition that is refused, as punishment, to certain Spirits who preserved their pride and did not repent of their faults. We must not forget that the Earth is a place of atonement. This is why it contains so many incarnated evil Spirits.

Note from me (Paulo): the word “punishment”, in French, can be read as “punishment”, which, according to Rational Spiritualism, from which Spiritism developed, is nothing more than the natural consequences of our mistakes. Thus, the very proud Spirit, as a result of this pride, is unable to keep the intuition of life in the world of Spirits, as it is too closed in on itself.

9. ─ When you drowned, what did you think would happen to you? What reflections did you make at that moment?

─ None. For me it was nothing. I saw later that having not exhausted my sentence, I would still suffer a lot.

10. ─ Are you now convinced of the existence of God, the soul and the future life?

─ Oh! I am terribly tormented by this!

11. ─ Have you searched your wife and your brother?

─ Oh! no!

12. ─ Why?

─ Why bring together our torments? We go into exile in misfortune and only come together in happiness. Alas!

Note from me (Paul): he must be saying that the suffering Spirit cannot escape its own sufferings, while the detached Spirit, working for good, becomes happy and meets with others in the same “tune”.

13. ─ Would you like to see your brother again, who we could call to your side?

─ No, no! I am really bad.

14. ─ Why don't you want us to call him?

─ He's not happy either.

15. ─ You fear his presence. However, could it not do you any good?

─ No. Later.

16. ─ Your relative asks if you attended your funeral and if you were satisfied with what he did at the time.

─ Yes.

17. ─ Do you want him to say something?

─ Please pray a little for me.

18. ─ It seems that in the society you frequent, some people share the opinions you had in life. Would you like to tell them something about it?

─ Oh! How unfortunate! May they believe in another life! That's what I can wish them for greater happiness. If they could understand my sad position, they would reflect a lot.

– Evocation of the previous brother, who professed the same ideas but did not commit suicide. Although unhappy, he is calmer. Your handwriting is clear and legible.

─ May the picture of our sufferings be a useful lesson for you, and persuade you that there is another life, in which we atone for our faults and our unbelief!

20. ─ Do you and your brother who we have just mentioned see each other?

─ No. He runs away from me.

21. ─ You are calmer than him. Could you give us a more accurate description of your sufferings?

─ On Earth, don’t your self-love and your pride suffer when you are forced to confess your error? Does your Spirit not revolt at the thought of humiliating yourself before someone who shows you that you are wrong? Then! What do you think the Spirit who throughout his entire existence has been convinced that nothing exists beyond himself and that he is right against everyone suffers? When, suddenly, he finds himself faced with the dazzling truth, he feels annihilated and humiliated. Added to this is the remorse of, for so long, having forgotten the existence of a God so good, so indulgent. Your condition is unbearable; finds neither calm nor rest; He will not find a little peace of mind except at the moment when holy grace, that is, the love of God, touches him, because pride takes hold of our poor Spirit in such a way that it envelops him entirely, and he still needs a lot of time to get rid of that fatal tunic. Only the prayers of our brothers help us to free ourselves from it.

22. ─ Do you want to talk about your brothers alive or in Spirit?

─ From both sides.

23. ─ While we were talking to your brother, one of those present prayed for him. Has prayer been useful to you?

─ It will not be lost. If you now refuse grace, it will come back to you when you are in a state of having recourse to this divine panacea.

The result of these two evocations was transmitted to the person who requested them. Then we received the following response:

“You cannot imagine, sir, how great was the good produced by the evocation of my father-in-law and my uncle. We recognize them perfectly. Above all, the lyrics of the first one have a remarkable analogy with the ones he had in life, especially since, in the last months he spent with us, they were captivating and indecipherable. There we find the same shape of the legs, the signature, and certain letters, especially the d, f, o, p, q, t. As for the words, expressions and style, they are even more remarkable. For us, the analogy is perfect, except for his greatest clarification about God, the soul and eternity, which he once so formally denied. We are therefore perfectly convinced as to the identity. God will therefore be more glorified by our firmer belief in Spiritism, and our brothers, Spirits and living, will become better. His brother's identity is no less evident. The immense difference between the atheist and the believer was recognized in their character, their style, their expressions. One word, above all, shocked us: panacea. It was his usual expression, which he said to everyone and at all times.

“I showed the two communications to several people, who were touched by their veracity. But the non-believers, those who share the opinions of my two relatives, wanted more categorical answers: for, for example, Mr. D… to specify the place where he was buried, where he drowned, how he acted, etc. To satisfy and convince them, you could well ask him the following questions: Where and how did he commit suicide? How long was it submerged? Where was his body found? Where was he buried? In what manner, civil or religious, was the inhumation carried out, etc.?

“I ask you, sir, to kindly demand categorical answers to these essential questions for those who still doubt. I am convinced of the immense good this will produce. I am proceeding so that this letter reaches you tomorrow, Friday, so that you can evoke it at the Society session to be held on that day… etc.”

We reproduce this letter due to the identity it establishes. We have put together our response for the instruction of people unfamiliar with communications from beyond the grave.

“… The questions that you wish to be addressed again to the Spirit of your father-in-law are certainly dictated by a laudable intention, that of convincing unbelievers, because in you there is no mixture of feelings of doubt and curiosity. However, a more perfect knowledge of Spiritism would have made you understand that they are superfluous.

“To begin with, asking your father-in-law to give categorical answers, you are certainly unaware that we do not govern Spirits at will. They respond when they want and how they want, and often how they can. Their freedom of action is even greater than when alive and they have more ways of escaping the moral pressure we try to exert on them. The best proofs of identity are given spontaneously, according to your own will or arising from circumstances and, in most cases, it is a waste of time to try to provoke them. Your relative has proven his identity in an irrefutable way, in your opinion. It is, therefore, more than likely that he will refuse to answer questions that he rightly considers superfluous and asked with the aim of satisfying the curiosity of people who are indifferent to him. Could he respond, as other Spirits have often done in similar cases, asking:

“What’s the point in asking me things you know?” I would also add that the state of disturbance and suffering in which he finds himself must make research of this kind more painful for him, exactly as if one wanted to force a patient who can only think and speak to tell us details of his life. . It would certainly be a lack of due consideration for his position.

“As for the result you expected, it would be null, rest assured. The identity proofs provided have an even greater value, due to the very fact that they were spontaneous and that nothing could indicate that path. If unbelievers are not satisfied with this, neither would they be satisfied by asking questions that could imply connivance. There are creatures that nothing can convince. They would see your father-in-law with their own eyes and say they were the victims of a hallucination. The best thing you can do for them is to leave them calm and not waste time with superfluous words. We can only regret them, because sooner or later they will learn for themselves how much it costs to have rejected the light that God sends them. It is above all against these that God manifests his severity.

“Two more words, sir, about your request for evocation on the same day you were supposed to receive the letter. Evocations are not done like that, in a hurry. Spirits do not always respond to our appeal. To do so, they need to be able or willing to do so. Furthermore, a medium is needed that suits them and has the necessary special aptitude; that this medium is available at any given time; that the environment is sympathetic to the Spirit, etc. These are all circumstances for which we can never respond, and which are important to know when we want to do things seriously.”

To read more about the topic, Click here.

In the fight against an obsessive Spirit, the knowledge brought by the Spiritist Doctrine, as it truly is, is crucial. Without the false ideas that reign over the current spiritist movement, we can reach the root causes and the method to combat the obsessive Spirits, through our own awareness.

Text obtained from part of the article Obsedados e Subjugados, from the Revista Espírita of 1858. Subtitles and highlights from us.

Excitement and vanity of the medium

Whether out of enthusiasm, or out of fascination with the Spirits, or out of self-love, in general the psychographic medium is led to believe that the Spirits that communicate with him are superior, and the more so, the more the Spirits, seeing their propensity, do not They stop adorning themselves with pompous titles, as necessary. Depending on the circumstances, they take the names of saints, sages, angels, the Virgin Mary herself, and play their role as actors, ridiculously dressing up in the clothes of the people they represent. Take away their mask and they become what they were: ridiculous. This is what one must know how to do, both with Spirits and with men.

Of blind and unreflective belief In the superiority of the Spirits that communicate, there is only one step to trust in their words, just as it happens among men. If they manage to inspire this confidence, they feed it through sophistry and the most specious reasoning, before which we often bow our heads. Gross Spirits are less dangerous: we recognize them immediately and they inspire nothing but repugnance. The most fearsome, in your world, as in ours, are the hypocritical Spirits: they always speak sweetly; flatter inclinations; They are sweet, sly, lavish in affectionate expressions and protests of dedication. You have to be really strong to resist such seductions.

Read too: Curse and Spiritism.

You will ask: Where is the danger if the Spirits are impalpable? The danger lies in the harmful advice they give, appearing to be benevolent, and in the ridiculous, untimely or disastrous attitudes that lead us to undertake. We have already seen some that made certain people travel from region to region in search of fantastic things, at the risk of compromising their health, fortune and life itself. We saw them dictate, with the appearance of gravity, the most ridiculous things and the strangest maxims.

Considering that it is appropriate to give an example alongside theory, we will relate the story of a person we know who was under the control of a similar fascination.

A young obsessed medium

Mr. F…, a well-educated young man, with a thorough education, with a gentle and benevolent character, but a little weak and indecisive, became a psychographic medium very quickly. The obsessive Spirit that took hold of him and did not give him rest, wrote incessantly. If a pen or pencil fell into his hand, he would take it in a convulsive movement and fill pages and pages in a few minutes. In the absence of an instrument, he would simulate writing with his finger, wherever he found himself: on the street, on walls, on doors, etc. Among other things, this was dictated to him: “Man is made up of three things: man, the bad Spirit and the good Spirit. You all have your bad Spirit, which is linked to the body by material ties. To expel the bad Spirit it is necessary to break these bonds, which means that the body must be weakened. When this is sufficiently weakened, the bond breaks and the bad Spirit leaves, leaving only the good one.”

As a result of this beautiful theory, they made him fast for five consecutive days and watch at night. When he was exhausted, they said to him: “Now the thing is done and the bond is broken. Your evil Spirit is gone: only we are left, in whom you must believe without reservation.” And he, persuaded that his evil Spirit had fled, blindly believed all his words. The subjugation had reached the point where if he had been told to throw himself into the water or head for the antipodes, he would have done so. When they wanted to force him to do something that was repugnant to him, he was dragged by an invisible force.

We give a small sample of his morals; From there you can judge the rest:

Absurdities of an obsessive Spirit that even uses the name of Jesus

“To have better communications it is first necessary to pray and fast for several days, some more, some less. Fasting weakens the bonds that exist between the ego and a particular demon attached to each to be human. This demon is linked to each person by the envelope that unites body and soul. This covering weakens due to lack of food and allows the Spirits to tear out that demon. Then Jesus descends into the heart of the possessed person, instead of the evil Spirit. This state of possessing Jesus in oneself is the only way to reach all truth and many other things.

When the creature managed to replace the devil with Jesus, it still does not possess the truth. To have it, you need to believe. God does not give the truth to those who doubt: it would be doing something useless and God does nothing in vain. As most new mediums doubt what they say and write, good Spirits, unwillingly, by God's formal order, they are obliged to lie and have no choice but to lie until the medium is convinced; but as soon as he believes one of these lies, the high spirits rush to reveal to him the secrets of heaven: the whole truth dissipates in an instant that cloud of errors with which they had been forced to envelop their protege.

…

We would fill a volume with all the nonsense that was dictated to him and the circumstances that followed. Among other things, they made him design a building of such dimensions that the sheets of paper, glued together, reached the height of two floors.

Note that in all this there is nothing coarse or banal. It is a series of sophistical reasonings linked together with the appearance of logic. There is indeed an infernal art in the means employed to deceive him, and if it had been possible for us to relate all these manifestations, one would have seen to what extent the cunning was carried and with what skill they used honeyed words.

A good Spirit sought to help

The obsessive Spirit who played the main role in this business gave the name François Dillois, when he was not covering himself with the mask of a respectable name. Later we learned what this Dillois had been like in life, and then nothing surprised us in his language. But in the midst of all this nonsense it was easy to recognize a good Spirit who was fighting, making from time to time hear some good words denying the other's absurdities. There was an obvious fight, but the fight was unequal. The young man was so subdued that the voice of reason was powerless over him. The Spirit of his father, notably, made him write the following words: “Yes, my son, courage! You suffer a harsh test, which will be for your good in the future. Unfortunately, at the moment, I can do nothing to free you, and it costs me a lot. Go see Allan Kardec; listen to him, and he will save you.”

The boy's will and Kardec's help

Indeed, Mr. F… came to look for me and, to begin with, I recognized without difficulty the pernicious influence he was under, whether in words or through certain material signs that experience makes known, and that cannot deceive us. He came back several times. I used all my willpower to call the good Spirits through you; all my rhetoric to prove to him that I was a victim of detestable Spirits; that what he wrote made no sense, as well as being deeply immoral. For this charity work I teamed up with a colleague, Mr. T… and little by little we got him to write sensible things. He became averse to that bad temper, willingly repelling it every time it tried to manifest itself, and slowly the good Spirits triumphed.

To change his ideas, he followed the advice of the Spirits, to give himself to a rough job, that did not leave him time to listen to bad suggestions.

The obsessing Spirit himself, Dillois, ended up confessing that he was defeated and expressed the desire to progress in a new existence. He confessed the evil he had tried to do and showed evidence of repentance. The fight was long and painful and offered the observer truly curious particularities. Today Mr. F. feels free and happy. It's as if he had laid down a burden. He has regained his joy and thanks us for the service we provided him.

The subject is on the agenda, because many say they evoke spirits. Unfortunately, many also believe that simply because they are evoking bad Spirits, they would readily contract connections with Obsessing spirits. We will see, in the following text, that this is not the case and that, if there is seriousness and good intentions, in fact, good is produced and, often, the connection with a Spirit who will never forget your gesture.

An old carter – Revista Espírita of December 1859 (full content)

The excellent medium Mr. V… is a young man who generally stands out for the purity of his relationships with the spiritist world. However, after moving into the rooms he currently occupies, an inferior Spirit interferes in his communications, even interfering in his personal work.

Finding himself, on the night of September 6, 1859, at the house of Mr. Allan Kardec, with whom he was supposed to work, he was hindered by that Spirit, which made him draw incoherent things or prevented him from writing.

Then Mr. Allan Kardec, addressing the Spirit, had the following conversation with him:

1. ─ Why do you come here without being called?
─ I want to torment him.

2. ─ Who are you? Say your name.
─ I won't say that.

3. ─ What is your objective, meddling in what does not concern you? This does you no good.
─ No, but I prevent him from having good communications and I know that this hurts him a lot.

4. ─ You are an evil Spirit, because you take pleasure in doing evil. In the name of God I order you to leave and let us work in peace.
─ Do you think you scare me with that deep voice?

5. ─ If it is not me you are afraid of, you will undoubtedly be afraid of God, in whose name I speak to you and who can make you regret your wickedness.
─ Let’s not get angry, bourgeois.

6. ─ I repeat that you are a bad Spirit, and once again I ask you not to stop us from working.
─ I am what I am, it is my nature.
Having been called a superior Spirit, who was asked to remove the intruder, so as not to interrupt the work, the bad Spirit probably left, because during the rest of the night there was no further interruption.

When asked about the nature of this Spirit, the superior replied: This Spirit, who is of the lowest class, is a former carter, who died near the house where the medium lives. He chose his own room as his home, and for a long time now he has been obsessing over him and tormenting him incessantly. Now that he knows that the medium must, by order of superior Spirits, change residence, it torments him more than ever. It is also proof that the medium does not write his own thoughts. So you see that there are good things, even in the most unpleasant adventures in life. God reveals his power by every means possible.

─ What was the character of this man in life?

─ Everything that comes closest to the animal. I believe his horses had more intelligence and more feeling than he did.

─ How can Mr. V… get rid of him?

─ There are two: the spiritual means, asking God; the material environment, leaving the house where it is.

─ So there really are places haunted by certain Spirits?

─ Yes, Spirits that are still under the influence of matter attach themselves to certain locations.

─ Can the Spirits that haunt certain places make them fatally disastrous or favorable for the people who inhabit them?

─ Who could stop them? Dead, they exert influence as Spirits; alive, they exercise it like men.

─ Could someone who was not a medium, who had never heard of Spirits and who did not even believe in them, suffer such influence and be a victim of harassment from such Spirits?

─ Undoubtedly. This happens more often than you think, and explains many things.

─ Is there any basis in the belief that Spirits preferably frequent ruins and abandoned houses?

─ Superstition.

─ So the Spirits will haunt a new house on Rua de Rivoli, in the same way as an old slum?

─ Of course. They may be attracted to one place rather than another, by the mood of its residents.
Having evoked, in the Society, the Spirit of the aforementioned cartman, through the intermediary of Mr. R…, he manifested himself through signs of violence, breaking pencils, thrusting them forcefully into the paper, and by coarse, shaky writing , irregular and barely legible.

1. (Evocation).
─ Here I am.

2. ─ Do you recognize God’s power over you?
─ Yes; and?

3. ─ Why did you choose Mr. V…’s room, and not another one?
─ Because this pleases me.

4. ─ Will you stay there for a long time?
─ As far as feeling good.

5. ─ So you have no intention of improving?
─ We'll see. I have time.

6. ─ Are you upset because we called you?
─ Yes.

7. ─ What did you do when we called you?
─ I was in the tavern.

8. ─ So you drank?
─ How foolish! How can I drink?

9. ─ So what did you mean when you talked about the tavern?
─ I meant what I said.

10. ─ When I was alive, did you mistreat your horses?
─ Are you from the municipal police?

11. ─ Do you want us to pray for you?
─ And would you do this?

12. ─ Certainly. We pray for all those who suffer, because we have pity on the unfortunate and we know that God's mercy is great.
─ Oh! Well, you really are good people. I wish I could shake your hand. I will try to deserve it. Thanks.

OBSERVATION: This conversation confirms what experience has proven many times, regarding the influence that men can exert on Spirits, and through which they contribute to their improvement. Shows the influence of prayer.

Thus, this brute and almost untamed and wild nature finds itself as if subjugated by the idea of the advantages that can be offered to it. We have numerous examples of criminals who spontaneously came to communicate with mediums who had prayed for them, thus testifying to us their repentance.

To the above observations we will add the following considerations, relating to the evocation of inferior Spirits.

We have seen mediums, rightly anxious to maintain their good relationships beyond the grave, refuse to serve as interpreters of the inferior Spirits that can be called. It is on your part a misunderstood susceptibility. Because we evoke a vulgar Spirit, and even a bad one, we will not be dependent on him.

Far from it, and on the contrary, we will dominate it. It is not the one that comes to impose itself, against our will, as in obsessions. We are the ones who impose ourselves. He doesn't order, he obeys. We are your judge, not your prey. Furthermore, we can be useful to them through our advice and prayers and they are grateful to us for the interest we show in them. Extending your hand to help is doing a good deed. To refuse it is uncharitable; even more so, it is pride and selfishness. These inferior beings, in fact, are a great teaching for us. It was through him that we were able to get to know the lower layers of the spiritist world and the fate that awaits those who make a bad use of their lives here.

Let us note, furthermore, that it is almost always tremendous that they come to serious meetings, where the good Spirits dominate.

They are embarrassed and remain at a distance, listening in order to educate themselves. They often come with this objective, without being called.

Why, then, would we refuse to listen to them, when their repentance and suffering are often a reason for edification or, at least, for instruction?

There is nothing to fear from these communications, as long as they aim for the good. What would happen to the poor injured people if doctors refused to touch their wounds?

The article describes the evocation of the Spirit of a French suicide, by Kardec, in a state of moral suffering.

Read more about cases like this clicking here.

Published in the Revista Espírita of November 1858. In full:

Recently the newspapers reported the following fact: “Yesterday (April 7, 1858) at seven o'clock in the evening, a man of about fifty years old, decently dressed, presented himself at the Samaritana establishment and asked for a bath. The employee was surprised that, after two hours, the individual did not call; He decided to go into the bathroom to see if he hadn't felt unwell. He then witnessed a horrible spectacle: the unfortunate man had cut his throat with a razor and all the blood had mixed with the water in the bathtub. Since the identity could not be established, the corpse was transported to the morgue.”

We thought it would be possible to derive a useful lesson for our instruction from the conversation with the Spirit of this man. Therefore, we evoke it on April 13th, just six days after his death.

1. ─ I ask Almighty God to allow the Spirit of the individual who committed suicide on April 7, 1858, in the Samaritan baths, to come and communicate with us.

─ Wait... (After a few moments): Here he is.

NOTE: To understand this answer it is necessary to know that, in general, in all regular meetings, there is a familiar Spirit, from the medium or from the family, who is always present, without having to call him. He is the one who makes those who are evoked come and, depending on whether he is more or less elevated, he serves as a messenger or gives orders to the Spirits who are inferior to him. When our meetings are interpreted by Ms. Ermance Dufaux, it is always the Spirit of Saint Louis who voluntarily takes on this task. He was the one who gave the answer above.

2. ─ Where are you now?

─ I don't know... Tell me where I am.

3. ─ On Rue Valois (Palais-Royal), no. 35, at a meeting of people who are involved in spiritualist studies and who are benevolent.

─ Tell me if I'm alive... I suffocate in the coffin.

4. ─ Who invited you to come to us?

─ I felt relieved.

5. ─ What reason led you to commit suicide?

─ Am I dead?... No!... I'm in my body... You don't know how much I suffer!... I suffocate!... May a pious hand come and put an end to me!

OBSERVATION: Your soul, although separated from the body, is still completely immersed in what we could call the vortex of corporeal matter; Earthly ideas are still alive. He doesn't believe he's dead.

6. ─ Why didn't you leave any identification elements?

─ I'm abandoned. I fled suffering to find torture.

7. ─ Do you still have the same reasons for remaining incognito?

─ Yes. Don't put a hot iron on the bleeding wound.

8. ─ Could you give us your name, age, profession and address?

─ Not at all. No!…

9. ─ Did you have a family, a wife, children?

─ I was abandoned. Nobody loved me.

10. ─ What did you do to not be loved by anyone?

─ How many are there like me!... A man can be abandoned in the middle of his own family, when no heart loves him.

11. ─ Did you experience any hesitation when committing suicide?

─ I was thirsty to die… I was waiting for rest.

12. ─ How did the idea of the future not lead you to renounce that plan?

─ I no longer create in the future; I was hopeless. The future is hope.

13. ─ What reflections did you make when you felt life disappearing?

─ I didn’t reflect; I felt it... But my life was not extinguished... my soul is linked to the body... I did not die... however I feel that worms are gnawing at me.

14. ─ What feeling did you experience at the moment death was complete?

─ Is it complete?

15. ─ Was the moment when life ended painful?

─ Less painful than later. So only the body suffered.

São Luís continues:

─ The Spirit freed itself from a burden that crushed it. He felt the voluptuousness of pain.

(To São Luís): ─ Is this the state that always follows suicide?

─ Yes. The suicide's spirit remains linked to the body until the end of his life. Natural death is the weakening of life. Suicide stops her abruptly.

─ Will this state be the same in every accidental death that is independent of will and that shortens the natural duration of life?

─ No. What do you understand by suicide? The Spirit is only guilty of his works.

OBSERVATION: We had prepared a series of questions that we proposed to address to the Spirit of this man about his new existence. Faced with their answers, they lost their meaning. It was clear to us that he had no awareness of the situation. The only thing he could describe to us was his suffering.

This doubt about death is very common in the recently deceased and especially in those who in life did not elevate their soul above matter. At first glance it is a bizarre phenomenon, but it is very naturally explainable. If we ask a person who is sleepwalking for the first time if they are asleep, they will almost always answer that no, and your answer is logical. The questioner formulates the question poorly, using an inappropriate term. The idea of sleep, in common speech, is linked to the suspension of all sensitive faculties. Now, the somnambulist, who thinks and sees; who is aware of his moral freedom, does not believe that he sleeps and, in fact, does not sleep, in the vulgar meaning of the word. This is why he responds that he is not sleeping until he becomes familiar with this new way of understanding things. The same happens with the man who has just died. For him, death was nothing. Now, as with the sleepwalker, he sees and feels the speech. For him, therefore, life goes on, and he claims so, until he has acquired consciousness of his new state.

Cover photo: Daniel Reche: https://www.pexels.com/pt-br/foto/foto-em-escala-de-cinza-de-um-homem-cobrindo-o-rosto-com-as-maos -3601097/