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.

For a strange idea, we adopted the principle that we cannot evoke the Spirits, and that the only one who could do that was Kardec, because he had the permission or a very peculiar purpose.

In the light of knowledge, we need to correct this idea a little, because, in fact, the only ones who could make the evocations were the thousands of individuals and small groups, spread around the world, not only at the time of Kardec, but even before him, because , when Kardec became interested in the new science and even before giving himself the pseudonym of Allan Kardec, Spiritism was already practiced in many parts of the world.

Interesting, isn't it? Why is it that today, then, we cannot or should not evoke the Spirits? I do not know this law, nor have I ever seen it written anywhere, except in a sentence taken out of context, metaphorical by Chico Xavier: “the phone only rings from there to here”. Quite the contrary, when studying the works of Kardec, we will find the recommendation of the practice of Spiritism by small groups, a practice that consisted, in his view, a science: the constant investigation, together with the Spirits, of the laws that govern Creation.

For this very strange idea, we started to put mediums in the position of the old automatic telephone secretaries, whose only mission was to answer a call and record the message, and nothing else. Mediums have turned into this:

Not only that: Spiritist groups, which today practically do not exist outside of Spiritist centers, began to adopt an even stranger idea: they began to listen to “telephone recordings” without questioning them! That's right: the message given is not questioned, they are simply taken for the principle that they are always endowed with truth and wisdom, and with good intentions. This idea is very, very strange, because yesterday my mother received a message from someone who claimed to be me, and who wanted three thousand reais to pay an urgent bill. Imagine if my mother adopted the practice of many spiritualist groups and simply trusted the interlocutor!

The systems

By an even stranger principle, certain individuals began to create and defend systems built precisely on these passively received and unverified communications, wasting precious time and causing enormous difficulties to the spiritist movement, which stopped studying Kardec to trust these systems. Incongruously, the individuals who act in this way are often those who would be fully capable, due to their scientific knowledge, to investigate these issues.

But not only from unchecked spiritist communications does this sad scenario form. Many others erect true systems of ideas about metaphors used by Kardec in his studies, failing to understand that scientists, especially at that time, envisioning new scientific aspects that they had no way of understanding, created metaphors to try to give light to the idea they sought to express, entrusting the continuity of science with better explanations. All great scientists have done this, above all in the philosophical aspect and especially in the metaphysical scope of these ideas. Kardec did this, for example, when trying to explain the divine presence as an ocean, where everything would be immersed. One metaphor((Even today metaphors are used to give scientific explanations, with certain cosmologists going so far as to say that Space is like shampoo or cheese! Poor guy who builds a system on these metaphors!))!

But not only human science used metaphors. The Spirits also used them, often. Wise spirits used wise metaphors to explain ideas that, scientifically, we could not yet understand. Jesus used metaphors to explain principles of the spiritist science that the men of that time could not understand. Ignorant spirits used metaphors to explain causes and effects that even they could not understand in a scientific way, but that they knew existed and worked.

The whole question here is one:

METAPHORS

Just to be very clear and there is no doubt, let's define the meaning of the term: metaphor is the “figure of speech in which a word denoting one type of object or action is used in place of another, so as to suggest a similarity or analogy between them; translation (by metaphor it is said that a beautiful and delicate person is a flower, that a color capable of generating strong impressions is warm, or that something capable of opening paths is the key to the problem); symbol.”((MICHAELIS. Modern Portuguese – Search – Brazilian Portuguese – Metaphor. Available at: https://michaelis.uol.com.br/moderno-portugues/busca/portugues-brasileiro/metafora. Accessed on: May 29th. 2023.)). From Greek, metaphora.

They are true systems of ideas erected, many times, on nothing more than metaphors, taking them as if they were literal. In the scope of spiritist communications, the study of the Zuavo soldier's communication ("Magenta's Zouavo“), in the Spiritist Magazine of July 1858, gives us an interesting perspective, because, when asked about his spiritual appearance in that evocation (or perispiritual), he replies:

42. ─ If we could see you, how would we see you?
- In a turban and breeches.

43. ─ Well done! Suppose you appeared to us in a turban and breeches. Where would you have gotten those clothes, since you left yours on the battlefield?
─ Well, well! I don't know how this is but I have a tailor who can get them for me.

44. ─ What are the turban and breeches you wear made of? Have you no idea?
─ No. That's right there with the ragpicker.

OBSERVATION: This issue of the clothing of the Spirits, as well as several other no less interesting ones, linked to the same principle, were completely elucidated by new observations made within the Society. We will report on this in the next issue. Our good Zouavo is not advanced enough to solve it alone. For that, we needed the concurrence of circumstances that fortuitously presented themselves and that put us on the right path.

Later, when asked about his general, who was also dead, he replied:

46. ─ Is it not for this same reason that you do not see the general in his uniform?
─ Yes, but he doesn't wear it every day.

47. ─ What days do you wear it?
─ Come on! When they call him to the palace ((The Spirits, ignorant of certain things, express themselves as best they can, and see the world of Spirits according to their ideas, just as a child, using mental images to describe something that he does not understand, talks about things which we impute only to the imagination, but which, deep down, has its meaning. The error here would be to take the “palace” as an expression of spiritual truth permanent.)).

We could take this communication as another support base for the system of spiritual cities. Kardec, however, acting in a scientific way, systematized about this idea, but just saw in it something very interesting to be researched. Hence, the hypothesis arose that, in the world of Spirits, terrestrial matter could have an “etheric double”. In the article “Furniture from beyond the grave”, in the Magazine of August 1859, he asks São Luis:

5. ─ Would there be an unfolding of inert matter? Would there be in the invisible world an essential matter, covering the form of the objects that we see? In a word, would these objects have their ethereal double in the invisible world, as men are represented there in Spirit?

─ It doesn't happen that way. The Spirit has a power over the material elements disseminated throughout space, in our atmosphere, that you are far from suspecting. He can, at will, concentrate these elements and give them an apparent form, suitable for his designs.

Not satisfied with the answer, he asks:

6. ─ I ask the question again categorically, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Are the clothes with which spirits are covered something?
─ It seems that my previous answer settles the question. Don't you know that the perispirit itself is something?

In the same article, just before, Kardec refers especially to the case of the Spirit of an incarnate person, who presented himself elsewhere, to a person, with the same characteristics of the physical body and carrying his tobacco box. We reproduce it, as it is self-explanatory:

3. ─ This snuffbox had the shape of the one he habitually uses, and which was in his house. What was this snuffbox in the hands of the Spirit?
─ Always looks. It was so that the circumstances would be noticed, as they were, and so that the apparition would not be taken for a hallucination produced by the state of health of the seer. Spirit wanted this lady to believe in the reality of her presence and took on all appearances of reality.

4. ─ You say that it is an appearance, but an appearance has nothing to do with reality; it's like an optical illusion. I would like to know if this snuffbox was nothing more than an unreal image, like, for example, that of an object reflected in a mirror.

(One of the members of the Society, Mr. Sanson, observes that there is something real in the image reproduced by the mirror. If the image does not remain in the mirror, it is because nothing fixes it, but if it is projected onto a daguerreotype plate, leaves an impression, clear proof that it is produced by some substance and that it is not just an optical illusion).

─ The observation of Mr. Sanson is perfectly fair. Would you be kind enough to tell us if there is any analogy with the tobacco box, that is, if there is anything material in that tobacco box?

─ Certainly. It is with the help of this material principle that the perispirit takes on the appearance of clothing similar to those that the Spirit wore when alive. OBSERVATION: Evidently the word appearance must be taken here in the sense of image, of imitation. The real tobacconist was not there. What Spirit had was just a reproduction. Compared to the original, it was but an appearance, though formed by a material principle.

Experience teaches us that we should not take certain expressions used by spirits literally. Interpreting them according to our ideas, we expose ourselves to great mistakes, so we must deepen the meaning of their words, whenever there is a minimum ambiguity. Here is a recommendation constantly made by the Spirits. Without the explanation that we provoke, the word appearance, repeated continuously in similar cases, could give rise to a false interpretation.

The mirror image is here taken as a metaphor. At that time, the physical principles of this image were not known, believing, in general, that it was something unreal, a “appearance“. The fair observation of Mr. Sanson demonstrates that the reflection in the mirror has something real, since, if instead of the mirror, it were a photosensitive plate, like that of the daguerreotype, that image would be recorded. They had no way to explain the phenomenon, so they used metaphors. The Spirit of São Luís responds with the accuracy confirmed by modern science: just as the reflection in the mirror and the recording of the photograph act as a result of the interaction with photons of light, the appearance that the perispirit takes results from the interaction of the Spirit's will on the element taken from the universal cosmic fluid. This is concluded in question nº 25:

25. - If the Spirit can take from the universal element the materials to make all these things and give them a temporary reality, with their properties, it can also take from there what is necessary to write. Consequently, this gives us the key to the phenomenon of direct writing.
─ You finally understand.

The purpose of this article

If the reader has followed us this far, he will understand that we are tracing a very clear line of reasoning: it is a mistake to build systems on metaphors. This is not scientific. Having put aside the spiritist science, modern spiritists have formed complex systems of ideas and principles that, many times, are fixed on a fragile stick stuck in the sand. The whole question is: do we we need resuming Spiritism as a science and, before demonstrating our view on it, let us make it very clear that, for this, one condition is essential: to study and know Spiritism and the principles of this science (therefore, it is logical, to study the works of Allan Kardec), as well as being focused on the subject you want to study.

The interesting point is that we have several people fully capable of taking up this science in the areas that interest them. We have great connoisseurs of Spiritism and the various human sciences, scattered around the world: physicists, biologists, philosophers, mathematicians, etc. The difference is that, at the time of Kardec, the sciences were all interconnected by metaphysics and that practically all scientists knew various areas of science ((Reading suggestion: Autonomy – The Untold Story of Spiritism, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo)). Furthermore, it is interesting to highlight that the principle that governs a good scientist is detachment from pride. One can have a prior idea, as Kardec had; one can question answers that differ from this idea, defending it, as Kardec did; however, faced with undeniable evidence to the contrary, when there is no doubt that the previous idea is not sustainable, the good scientist must leave this idea aside, choosing to stick with what meets reason and logic.

It is on this point that the good scientist and the good experimental science diverge from the systematic scientists, who want to impose on Nature the adaptation to their own ideas, as if that were possible. It is the latter who, based on metaphors, distorted and twisted at their convenience, elaborate intricate systems that, not infrequently, dominate humanity for an expressive time. We saw this in several areas, and the spiritist science did not escape this problem.

Finally, we come to the crux of this article.

The resumption of spiritist science

Imbued with the purpose of resuming the study; interested in reestablishing the spiritist science; adherents to the purpose of abandoning or, at least, questioning the systems; aware of the fact that Kardec relegated to the future the continuity and elucidation of the questions that he could not deal with except in a metaphorical way, we will give our vision on what the recovery of spiritist research requires from the point of view of experimental science, holders of understanding that, yes, we can and should evoke spirits for this purpose. However, we will base our ideas on the true guide to the spiritist laboratory given by Allan Kardec: the Spiritist Magazine.

It is very easy to understand, with the study of the first years of the Spiritist Magazine, the basic principles necessary for the scientific research of Spiritism. Let's divide them into two sections: moral principles and practical principles.

Moral principles

• Personal commitment to morals; detachment from one's own ideas.
• Interest in the legitimate investigation of the truth
• Humility and spirit of cooperation
• Seriousness and responsibility in research
• Formation of cohesive groups in ideas and principles

practical principles

• Elaboration of research and study groups, where only people truly knowledgeable of Spiritism participate
• Cooperation of mediums, preferably psychographers, with special interest in mechanical psychographers ((Because the control of the motor centers necessary for speech is more difficult and because “psychophonic” responses are more difficult to be analyzed in their independence in relation to the ideas of the individual medium.)), detached from their own personalities and their own interests in this work.
• Careful organization of studies, ability to analyze and separate what is metaphorical from what is literal in communications

Research through evocations

Endowed with legitimate principles and the will to seriously research a given topic, the small groups – which must operate in an environment closed to the general public – will be led by one or more higher spirits, whose moral authority can be easily established if the group is really penetrated by the spiritist science. This Spirit, which, in the case of Kardec, would be São Luís, is the one who will take care of assisting in the spiritual part, forwarding communicating Spirits, complementing ideas, etc.

Research on a particular topic or principle should follow, then, the following steps, where GS is the guiding spirit of the group:

I dared to summarize in a flowchart the complexity of evocations for scientific research purposes, but it is clear that the diagram only exemplifies the steps that Allan Kardec himself demonstrated to take, without demonstrating all the complexity behind it, in the sense of the need for knowledge, seriousness , moral commitment, etc.

The flowchart is very simple and self-explanatory, just follow the directional arrows. It demonstrates the steps of preparing questions in advance, selecting the Spirits to evoke (because evoking Spirits without a serious purpose is the same as being available to any Spirit, and it can be even worse), checking the evocability and the usefulness of evoking that Spirit in particular, carrying out the evocation and carrying out the questions and recording the answers, before which, in the face of specific questions present, new questions can be asked for clarification, to the Spirit itself or to the guiding Spirit and, finally, the documentation and subsequent analysis of the answers given, with the creation of a “database” of the group and with the availability, when pertinent, of the evocation and study for other groups, who will be able to analyze them and seek confirmations or refutations in their own studies. The medium is not part of the flowchart, but it is clear that he also has a fundamental role, treated with dedication in The Book of Mediums, by Allan Kardec.

It is evident that each answer will need to be analyzed with great care by the group, considering Psychology and knowing that Spirits, simply because they are free from the body, do not instantly gain full light - hence, always, the recommendation of the study of the Revisa Espírita, which evidences the fact that Kardec never formed systems on incomplete ideas or on a single Spirit, which would have condemned Spiritism to mysticism, right in its first year of studies.

And what can we ask? With seriousness, honesty and knowledge of Spiritism, everything. That is: it is clear that, satisfying the express conditions, we will not carry out an evocation to ask for the prediction of the lottery, nor to do evil, this is evident. But, for example, we could evoke some Spirits to seek to understand these ideas of fluids more deeply, in light of the knowledge of modern physics. Why not? Perhaps this can be deepened or, who knows, we will receive an answer like “there is still a lack of knowledge for human beings to understand these concepts”.

the false ideas

It is a mistake to think that modern times will hinder this work, imagining that the ease of communication will “contaminate” ideas between groups. Spirits do not exclusively reveal knowledge, but rather spread it everywhere, where there are people able to study. If a false idea is accepted by a group and disseminated to others, if the others are serious groups, they will easily reject it, because they will see the Spirits demonstrating their error. The ease of communication, first, will facilitate this work, as long as there is seriousness in communicating groups.

It is also false to assume that the spiritist researcher has to be a blank canvas. No! The researcher will always start with one or more hypotheses, which he will need to test in a population – in this case, that of spirits. He may have a prior idea because, based on his knowledge, that is where his reason points, and he may see this idea confirmed or refuted in the practice of evocations. If the researcher is not attached to his own ideas, that is, if there is no pride, he will abandon them when reason points in another direction, for new facts and evidence.

Here, friends, is all that is necessary for resuming spiritist research. Instead of clinging to the ideas erected about metaphors and figures, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work, which should begin with the study and understanding of Kardec's work, in its context. Very soon, we believe, we will have even more complete material for this correct understanding. No running over, so let's take the first step and let's study((Remembering that, according to what the facts show us, the works Heaven and Hell and Genesis were tampered with in their respective 4th and 5th editions, which is why we recommend reading the publisher's recent editions FEAL, which bear the term “original version” on the cover and with precious explanatory notes by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo and others)). What will come of this will be the consequence, as we know well that we are not left to our own devices.

the adulterations

Another important factor in this set is the adulteration of the works O Céu e o Inferno, from the 4th edition onwards, and A Gênese, from the 5th edition onwards. Those who want to turn evidence into proof can say what they like: for us, at this point, there is no other way of concluding than the adulteration of these works, since they do not match, in the altered editions, not even with what Kardec developed in the Revista Spiritist, in addition to introducing points that are disconnected from each other and that mutually contradict each other. Based on these editions, some systems were elaborated, one of the most harmful being the idea of paying debts through incarnation, as a punishment. The restoration of the original works, being carried out especially by Editora FEAL, was of substantial importance in this regard.

the main condition

For the doctrinal development to be resumed, it will be necessary to detach the personality, not only of the researcher and the medium, but also of the evoked spirit. The Doctrine demonstrates the collective condition of the Spirits and demonstrates that, by evoking, for example, Saint Louis, another Spirit can respond in his place. For this to be a good Spirit, which represents the same idea, it is necessary that the group be imbued with everything that we have demonstrated above, evoking the good Spirits and, under their tutelage, carrying out studies with Spirits that, by chance, are less elevated. In addition, for the resumption of Spiritism, in addition to the need to recover the Doctrine “in Kardec”, in a very well understood way (because the Spirits can only teach from true principles), it will be necessary for this to spread to different groups around the world, so that the conditions of universal agreement of the teaching can once again exist.

We are here, encouraging this process.

Remember of register your group contact in our directory, or if you have questions or want to talk, just get in touch!

Spiritual manifestations have always been a crucial point in Spiritist Doctrine. It was through these manifestations and their better understanding that Kardec was able to establish his moral philosophy. Thus, we highlight this 1859 study exposed in the Revista Espirita of August 1859.

He follows.

We extract the following passage from a letter that a correspondent of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies sent us from the Jura department:

“…As I told you, sir, the spirits liked our old dwelling. Last October (1858), the Countess of C…, a close friend of my daughter, came with her 8-year-old son to spend a few days at our mansion. The child slept in the same room as her mother, and the connecting door to my daughter's room was left open, in order to prolong the hours of daylight and conversation. The boy would not sleep and would say to his mother: 'What are you going to do with that man who is sitting next to your bed? He is smoking a big pipe. See how it fills the room with smoke! Send him away, he's rattling the curtains.'
“This vision lasted all night. The mother couldn't get the child to shut up, and no one could close their eyes. This circumstance did not surprise me or my daughter, as we know that there are spiritist manifestations. The mother, however, believed that the child was daydreaming or having fun.

RE 1859

Observation: The vision was mediumistic, so only the child saw it.

“Here is another fact that I witnessed personally and that happened to me in the same room, in May 1858. It is the case of the appearance of the Spirit of a living person, who was very surprised to have come to visit me. Here are the circumstances: I was very sick and had not slept for some time, when at ten o'clock at night I saw a friend of my family sitting next to my bed. I expressed my surprise at his visit at that hour. He said to me: “Do not speak, for I have come to watch over you; do not speak, for you must sleep,” and he stretched out his hand over my head. Several times I opened my eyes to see if he was still there, and each time he made a sign for me to close them and be quiet. He rolled the snuffbox between his fingers, and every now and then he took a pinch, as was his custom. Eventually I fell asleep, and when I woke up the vision was gone.

Idem

NOTE: Kardec briefly quotes the explanations on the facts of apparitions of incarnates and spirits (condensation of the perispirit or molecular modification).

He follows:

A molecular modification takes place in its texture, which makes it visible and even tangible, and which can give it, to a certain extent, the properties of solid bodies. We know that perfectly transparent bodies become opaque simply by changing the position of the molecules or by adding another body, equally transparent. We don't really know how spirits manage to make their ethereal body visible. Most of them do not even realize this, but, from the examples we have cited, we understand its physical possibility, which is enough to remove from the phenomenon what, at first sight, could seem supernatural. Therefore, the Spirit can do it, either by simple intimate modification, or by assimilating a portion of strange fluid that momentarily alters the appearance of its perispirit. It is, in fact, this last hypothesis that stands out from the explanations that have been given to us, and that we report when dealing with the subject (May, June and December).

So far no difficulty concerning the personality of the Spirit. We know, however, that they appear in clothes whose appearance changes at will; sometimes they even have certain toilet accessories, jewelry, etc. In the two apparitions mentioned at the beginning, one had a pipe and produced smoke; the other, a tobacco box and took pinches. Note, however, the fact that this spirit was from a living person and that his snuffbox was in everything similar to the one he usually used, and that he had stayed at home. What, then, do this tobacconist, this pipe, these clothes and these jewels mean? Would the material objects that exist on Earth have an ethereal representation in the invisible world? Does the condensed matter that forms such objects have a quintessential part, which escapes our senses?

OBSERVATION: Position of the true scientist, in search of the truth, without discarding anything.

This is an immense problem, the solution of which may provide the key to a number of things that have not yet been explained. It was this tobacco company that put us on the path, not only of the fact, but of the most extraordinary phenomenon of Spiritism: the phenomenon of pneumatography or direct writing, which we will talk about below.

All the theories that we present, regarding Spiritism, were provided to us by the Spirits, who many times contradicted our own ideas, as happened in the present case, proving that the answers were not a reflection of our thinking. But the way to obtain a solution is not unimportant. 

We know from our own experience that it is not enough to ask abruptly for something to get it. The answers are not always quite explicit; it is necessary to develop the subject with certain precautions; arrive at the objective progressively and through a chain of deductions that require prior work. In principle, the way of formulating the questions, the order, the method and the clarity are things that cannot be neglected and that please serious spirits, because they see a serious objective in this.

NOTE: This means that, of course, the researcher can have a prior idea, but that, acting in good faith, he cannot stick to it. And also, of course, that the intent of the question is just as important.

Here is the conversation we had with Espírito de São Luís, regarding the tobacco shop, with a view to solving the problem of producing certain objects in the invisible world. (Society, June 24, 1859).

1. ─ In Mrs. R…'s report, it is about a child who saw a man smoking a large pipe near his mother's bed. It is understood that this Spirit could have taken on the appearance of a smoker; it seems, however, that he really smoked, for the boy saw the room full of smoke. What was that smoke?

─ A look produced for the boy.

2. ─ Mrs. R… also cites the case of an apparition, seen by her, of the spirit of a living person. This Spirit had a tobacconist and took snuff. Could he experience the feeling one gets from taking a pinch?

─ No.

3. ─ This snuffbox had the shape of the one he habitually uses, and which was in his house. What was this snuffbox in the hands of the Spirit?

─ Always looks. It was so that the circumstances would be noticed, as they were, and so that the apparition would not be taken for a hallucination produced by the state of health of the seer. Spirit wanted this lady to believe in the reality of her presence and took on all appearances of reality.

4.1 – You say that it is an appearance, but an appearance has nothing to do with reality; it's like an optical illusion. I would like to know if this snuffbox was nothing more than an unreal image, like, for example, that of an object reflected in a mirror.

NOTE from AK: One of the members of the Society, Mr. Sanson observes that there is something real in the image reproduced by the mirror. If the image does not remain in the mirror, it is because nothing fixes it, but if it is projected onto a daguerreotype plate, it leaves an impression, evident proof that it is produced by some substance and that it is not just an optical illusion.

4.2 – Mr. Sanson's observation is perfectly fair. Would you be kind enough to tell us if there is any analogy with the tobacco box, that is, if there is anything material in that tobacco box?

─ Certainly. It is with the help of this material principle that the perispirit takes on the appearance of clothing similar to those that the Spirit wore when alive. 

NOTE from AK: Evidently the word appearance it must be taken here in the sense of image, of imitation. The real tobacconist was not there. What Spirit had was just a reproduction. Compared to the original, it was but an appearance, though formed by a material principle.
Experience teaches us that we should not take certain expressions used by spirits literally. Interpreting them according to our ideas, we expose ourselves to great mistakes, so we must deepen the meaning of their words, whenever there is a minimum ambiguity. Here is a recommendation constantly made by the Spirits. Without the explanation we provoke, the word appearance, repeated continuously in analogous cases, could give rise to a false interpretation.

OBSERVATION: Today, we know the principle of the image reflected in a mirror and its fixation in a photograph: the behavior of waves. The light, as electromagnetic energy, reflects off the mirror and impresses the photography device, whatever it may be. It seems that it is to this same principle (of wave) that the Spirit refers.

5. ─ Would there be an unfolding of inert matter? Would there be, in the invisible world, an essential matter, covering the form of the objects that we see? In a word, would these objects have their ethereal double in the invisible world, as men are represented there in Spirit?

AK's NOTE: Here's a theory like any other, and it was our thinking. The Spirit, however, did not take it into account, which absolutely did not humiliate us, because its explanation seemed very logical to us and because it rests on a more general principle, of which we find many explanations.
─ It doesn't happen that way. The Spirit has a power over the material elements disseminated throughout space, in our atmosphere, that you are far from suspecting. He can, at will, concentrate these elements and give them an apparent form, suitable for his designs.

6. ─ I ask the question again categorically, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Are the clothes with which spirits are covered something?

─ It seems that my previous answer settles the question. Don't you know that the perispirit itself is something?

7. ─ It follows from this explanation that the Spirits make the etherized matter undergo transformations at will and that, therefore, in the case of the tobacconist, the Spirit did not find it perfectly finished; he made it himself at the moment he needed it, and then undid it. The same should happen with all other objects, such as clothing, jewelry, etc.

─ But it is obvious.

8. ─ That tobacco box was so clearly visible to Mrs. R… to the point of deceiving her. Could the Spirit have made it tangible?

─ It could.

9. ─ In that case, could Mrs. R… have taken it in her hands, thinking she was getting an authentic tobacco box?

─ Yes.

10. ─ If I had opened it, I would probably have found snuff. If she had taken it, would it have made her sneeze?

─ Yes.

11. ─ Can the Spirit not only give the form, but even special properties?

─ If you want; It is in virtue of this principle that I have answered affirmatively to the preceding questions. You will have proof of the powerful action that the Spirit exerts on matter and which, as I have already told you, you are far from suspecting.

NOTE: Kardec has never been so clear in his questions over the course of this 1 year and a half of Revista Espirita. He is evidently working on both the new enlarged edition of The Spirits' Book and then what would become The Mediums' Book, published a few years later.

12. ─ Let us then suppose that he wanted to make a poisonous substance and that a person had taken it. Could this have been poisoned?

─ I could, but I wouldn't have done it, because I wouldn't have been allowed to do it.

OBSERVATION: We know, today, that Creation is far from being “each for himself”, and that, in fact, it is “one for all and all for one”, with those most inferior are always “led” by the higher. The thoughts of the highest spirits are irresistible to the lowest. We tend to think of ourselves as abandoned to our own devices, but, more and more, I understand that this is not true. Superior Spirits “lead” us towards good, that is, they offer an irresistible attraction, through thought. It is possible to understand why imperfect Spirits, inclined to evil, are unable to break this Law to do evil.

“Everything is linked in the Universe”

13. ─ Could you have made a salutary substance suitable for healing in case of illness? Has there ever been such a case?

─ Yes; often.

14. ─ In the same way he could make a food substance; let's suppose he had made a fruit or some snack. Could someone eat it and feel fed?
─ Yes, yes. But do not look so hard to find that which is easy to understand. A ray of sunlight is enough to make your gross organs perceptible to those material particles that fill the space in which you live. Do you not know that the air contains water vapour? Condense it and you will bring it to a normal state. Deprive it of heat and behold, its impalpable and invisible molecules will become a solid and very solid body. There are other matters that will lead chemists to present you with even more astonishing marvels. Only the Spirit has instruments more perfect than yours: his own will and God's permission.

NOTE from AK: The issue of satiety is very important here. How can a substance that has only temporary and, in a sense, conventional existence and properties produce satiety? By its contact with the stomach, this substance produces the sensation of satiety, but not the satiety resulting from fullness. If such a substance can act on the organic economy and modify a morbid state, it can also act on the stomach and produce the sensation of satiety. However, we ask pharmacists and restaurant owners not to be jealous, nor to think that the Spirits will come to compete with them. These cases are rare and exceptional and never depend on the will. Otherwise, food and healing would be very cheap.

15. ─ Could the Spirit manufacture coins in the same way?

─ For the same reason.

16. ─ Once made tangible by the will of the Spirit, could these objects have a character of permanence and stability?

─ They could, but this is not done. It's outside the law.

17. ─ Do all spirits have the same degree of power?

─ No, no.

18. ─ Who have this power more particularly? ─ Those to whom God grants it, when this is useful.

19. ─ Does the elevation of a Spirit influence this case?

─ It is certain that the higher the spirit, the more easily it obtains this power. This, however, depends on the circumstances. Lesser spirits can also get it.

OBSERVATION: And, in this case, they are supplied by the assistance of superior spirits, often without even knowing it. To see The Book of Mediums or Guide for Mediums and Evokers > Second Part — On Spiritist Manifestations > Chapter V — On Spontaneous Physical Manifestations > Throwing Objects.

20. ─ Does the production of semi-material objects always result from an act of the Spirit's will, or does it sometimes exercise this power despite its own?

─ This often happens in spite of you.

21. ─ Would this power then be one of the attributes, one of the faculties inherent in the very nature of the Spirit? Would it be, in some way, one of the properties, like that of seeing and hearing?─ Certainly. But sometimes he himself ignores it. Then another exercises it for him, in spite of himself, when circumstances demand it. The Zouavo's tailor was precisely the spirit I just mentioned and to which he alluded in his joking language.

OBSERVATION: We find an example of this faculty in certain animals, as, for example, in the electric fish, which radiates electricity without knowing what it does, nor how, and who does not even know the mechanism that produces it. Don't we ourselves sometimes produce certain effects through spontaneous acts of which we are not aware? Thus, it seems very natural to us that the Spirit operates in this circumstance by a kind of instinct. He works of his own free will, without knowing how, just as we walk without calculating the forces we bring into play.

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?

─ Not if he has a certain superiority, because he will be perfectly aware of his condition. The same is not true of inferior spirits. 

AK'S OBSERVATION: That 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. (Click here for the article on Queen of Oude)

23. ─ Can two spirits recognize each other by the material appearance they had in life?

─ This is not how they recognize each other, as they will not assume that appearance for each other. If, however, under certain circumstances, they find themselves in the presence of each other, dressed in that appearance, why should they not recognize each other?

NOTE: this is important! In mediumistic novels, the fantastic world created is all material or materialistic, and the form, in these tales, is fundamental. Here, we have again the confirmation already made before that the form is not important for the Spirits in general, although it is predominant for the Spirits still very attached to the matter (that is, of very attached thought). It follows from this that it would make sense for a spirit in turmoil to “see itself” in a condition like that of André Luiz’s threshold, but the same could not happen when already detached from these ideas, which does not seem to be something so distant, according to the reports of several Spirits, given to Kardec.

24. ─ How can spirits recognize themselves in the midst of the crowd of other spirits, and above all how can they do it when one of them goes to look for in a distant place and often in other worlds, those we call?

─ This is a question whose answer would take a very long way. It is necessary to wait. You are not advanced enough. For the moment, content yourself with the certainty that this is so, for you have sufficient proof of this.

TO THINK ABOUT: I understand that he meant, at the end: “how can a Spirit recognize another who assumes another appearance, when visiting other worlds?”. IF we always forget that our world, where we live now, is material and needs eyes and light to see. in spirituality there is no need for appearance, much less do spirits have eyes to see. Is that it?

25. ─ If the Spirit can take from the universal element the materials to make all these things and give them a temporary reality, with its properties, it can also take from there what is necessary to write. Consequently, this gives us the key to the phenomenon of (( direct writing *Clarification: Direct writing happens when a Spirit, by will and with the utility of doing so, makes real writing appear on paper, sometimes in graphite, sometimes in ink, sometimes in print format. We recommend reading the following article, “Pneumatography or direct writing”, as well as the article with the same title, in May 1860, and also Chapter XII of The Book of Mediums — “On pneumatography or direct writing”.  Pneuma: among the ancient Greek thinkers, especially the Stoics, designation of the spirit, animating breath or creative force, used by divine reason to vivify and direct all things. )) .

─ You finally understand.

26. ─ If the material used by the Spirit is not permanent, how come the traces of direct writing do not disappear?

─ Do not judge by the words. From the start I never said never. In the cases studied, these were bulky material objects; here we are dealing with signs that should be conserved and are conserved.

TO THINK ABOUT: This involves a profound question. Kardec had understood that the fluidic matter that the Spirits serve is always impermanent, since, in the mentioned cases, it always dissolves. However, cases of direct writing do not disappear. How could that be?

*Clarification: Direct writing happens when a Spirit, by will and with the utility of doing so, makes real writing appear on paper, sometimes in graphite, sometimes in ink, sometimes in print format. We recommend reading the following article, “Pneumatography or direct writing”, as well as the article with the same title, in May 1860, and also Chapter XII of The Book of Mediums — “On pneumatography or direct writing”.  Pneuma: among the ancient Greek thinkers, especially the Stoics, designation of the spirit, animating breath or creative force, used by divine reason to vivify and direct all things.

The above theory can be summarized as follows: Spirit acts on matter; it takes from universal primitive matter the necessary elements to, at will, form objects with the appearance of the different bodies existing on Earth. He can also operate on elementary matter, at will, an intimate transformation that gives it certain properties. This faculty is inherent to the nature of the Spirit, which often exercises it, when necessary, as an instinctive act, which it does not realize.

The objects formed by the Spirits have a temporary existence, subordinated to their will or necessity. He can make and break them at will. In certain cases, in the eyes of living people, these objects can have all the appearances of reality, that is, become momentarily visible and even tangible. There is formation, but not creation, since the Spirit cannot bring anything out of nothing. (LM 130 and 131)

This article is continuation OF THIS ARTICLE

After evoking the Magenta Zouavo, Kardec evokes another officer from the same battle. In this case, he was one of their acquaintances, as we can see in question number 4,

1. - (Evocation).

─ Here I am.

2. ─ Could you say how you responded so promptly to our appeal?

─ I was aware of your desire.

3. ─ By whom were you warned?

─ By an emissary of Louis.

4. ─ Were you aware of the existence of our society?

─ You know.

NOTE OF AK: The official in question had actually helped the society to be registered.

5. ─ Under what point of view did you consider our society considerable, when you helped in its formation?

─ I was not entirely decided, but I was very inclined to believe. Without the events that happened, I would certainly have gone to learn in your circle.

6. ─ There are many great notables who share spiritist ideas, but do not confess it publicly. Would it be desirable for influential people to openly fly that flag?

─ Patience. God wills it, and this time the expression corresponds to the truth.

7. ─ From which influential class of society do you think the example should come from? ─ Of all classes. Initially some, then all.

8. ─ From the point of view of study, could you tell us, although he died more or less at the same time as the Zouavo who was here just now, if your ideas are more lucid than his?

─ A lot. What he was able to tell you by witnessing a certain elevation was blown to him. He's very good, but very ignorant, and a little frivolous.

9. Are you still interested in the success of our weapons?

─ Much more than ever, because today I know the goal.

10. ─ Can you define your thinking? Has the objective always been publicly confessed and, especially in your position, should you know it?

─ Do you know the objective established by God?

NOTE FROM AK: No one will ignore the gravity and depth of this answer. When alive, he knew the purpose of men, as a Spirit, he sees what is providential in events.

11. ─ Generally speaking, what do you think about the war?

─ My wish is that you progress quickly, so that it becomes as impossible as it is useless.

12. ─ Do you believe that the day will come when it will be impossible and useless?

─ I think so, and I don't doubt it. I can tell you that that moment is not as far away as you think, although I don't give you hope that you will see it.

13. ─ At the moment of death, did you immediately recognize yourself?

─ I recognized myself almost immediately, thanks to the vague notions I had of Spiritism.

14. ─ Can you say something about Mr… also killed in the last battle?

─ He is still in the networks of matter. There's more work to get rid of. His thoughts had not turned this way.

NOTE from AK: Thus, knowledge of Spiritism in life helps the soul to detach itself after death and shortens the period of disturbance that accompanies separation. This is understandable, as the Spirit knew in advance the world in which it finds itself.

To think about: If this knowledge is so important, how can we conceive that precisely when Spiritism was being scientifically studied, at the best possible time, nothing was said about this materiality that today dominates communications?

15. ─ Did you watch our troops enter Milan?

─ Yes, and with joy. I was enchanted by the ovation received by our troops, at first out of patriotism, then for the future that awaits them.

16. ─ As a spirit, can you exert some influence on strategic plans?

─ Do you believe that this has not been done from the beginning and do you find it difficult to imagine by whom?

17. ─ How did the Austrians abandon a stronghold like Pavia so quickly?

─ Out of fear.

NOTE: Sardinia was looking to expand its territory and establish a stronger position on the European political scene, while France saw the war as an opportunity to increase its influence in Italy and consolidate its position as a European power. In turn, the Austrian Empire sought to maintain its dominant position in the region and avoid the fragmentation of its empire.

18. ─ So they are demoralized?

─ Completely. Furthermore, if we act on ours in one sense, you must think that an influence of another nature acts on them.

NOTE from AK: Here, the intervention of the Spirits in events is unequivocal. They prepare the way for the realization of Providence's designs. The Ancients would have said it was the work of the Gods. We say that it is the work of the Spirits, by order of God.

19. ─ Can you give your opinion about General Giulay as a soldier, putting aside any nationalist feelings?

─ Poor, poor general!

NOTE: Ferenc Gyulai de Marosnémeti et Nádaska (1 September 1799, Plague – 1 September 1868, Vienna) was a Hungarian general in the Austro-Hungarian army. In 1849 he was appointed Minister of War by Emperor Francisco José I, but he would remain in office for only one year. As a soldier, he stood out for his participation in the invasion of Piedmont during the reunification of Italy. Commanding his troops, he crossed the Ticino River on April 29, 1859, invading Piedmontese territory. In this invasion he suffered two severe defeats: in the Battle of Montebello and in the Battle of Magenta, losing thousands of men in both and the war hanging in favor of the Italian side. After the defeat at Magenta he was removed from his post, returning to Austria-Hungary, where he died nine years later.

20. ─ Would you gladly return if we asked you to?

─ I am at your disposal and I promise to come, even without your call. You must believe that the sympathy I had for you cannot but increase. Goodbye.

We presented in the last LIVE one of the Conversations Beyond the Grave from the Spiritist Magazine of 1859, dealing with the theme of Materiality beyond the grave.

This time they talk to a soldier killed in battle.

The government allowed non-political newspapers to report on the war*. As, however, reports are abundant in all forms, it would be useless to repeat them here. The biggest news for our readers is a story from another world.

Although it is not taken from the Moniteur's official source, it is nonetheless of interest from the point of view of our studies. So we thought to interrogate some of the glorious victims of victory, presuming that we could extract some useful instruction from them. Similar subjects of study, and mainly of current affairs, do not appear at every step. Not personally knowing any of the participants in the last battle, we prayed to the spirits who assist us to send us someone. We came to think that the presence of a stranger would be preferable to that of friends or relatives overcome by emotion. Given an affirmative answer, we obtained the following communications.

RE 1859 The Zuavo of Magenta

This took place in the Second Italian War of Independence. The war took place in 1859, and was fought between the Kingdom of Sardinia, led by Camillo di Cavour, and France, led by Emperor Napoleon III, against the Austrian Empire. We will expose some excerpts from this long conversation beyond the grave.

1. ─ We pray to Almighty God to allow the spirit of a soldier killed in the battle of Magenta to come and communicate with us.

─ What do you want to know?

2. ─ Where were you when we called you?

─ I wouldn't know.

3. ─ Who told you that we wanted to talk to you?

─ Someone smarter than me.

4. ─ When in life was it doubtful that the dead could come and converse with the living?

─ Oh! Not that.

5. ─ What sensation do you experience by being here?

─ This gives me pleasure. I am told that you have great things to do.

6. ─ To which army corps did you belong? (Someone says in a low voice: From the language it looks like a “zuzu”)

─ Ah! Well you say!

7. ─ What was your position?

─ Everyone's.

8. ─ What was your name?

—Joseph Midard.

9. ─ How did you die?

─ Do you want to know everything without paying anything?

10. ─ I'm glad you haven't lost your joviality. Say, say; we will pay later. How did you die?

─ From a plum [projectile] I received.

11. ─ Were you upset by death?

─ No! I'm right here.

12. ─ At the moment of death, did you realize what happened?

─ No. I was so stunned I couldn't believe it.[note below]

NOTE from AK: This is in line with what we have observed in cases of violent death. Not realizing its situation immediately, the spirit does not think it is dead. This phenomenon is explained very easily. It is analogous to that of somnambulists, who do not believe they are sleeping. Indeed, for the somnambulist, the idea of sleep is synonymous with the suspension of intellectual faculties. Now, as he thinks, he does not believe that he sleeps. Only later is he convinced, when he becomes familiar with the meaning attached to this word. The same happens with a spirit surprised by a sudden death, when nothing is prepared for separation from the body. For him, death is synonymous with destruction, with annihilation. Well, since he lives, feels and thinks, he understands that he is not dead. It takes some time to recognize yourself.

13. ─ At the time of your death, the battle was not over. Did you follow their adventures?

─ Yes, because as I told you, I didn't think I was dead. I wanted to keep hitting the other dogs.

14. ─ What sensation did you experience then?

─ I was delighted, as I felt very light.

15. ─ Did you see the spirits of your comrades leaving their bodies?

─ I didn't even think about it, because I didn't believe I was dead.

16. ─ What was the multitude of Spirits who lost their lives in the tumult of battle transforming into at that moment? ─ I believe they were doing the same as me

17. ─ Finding themselves reunited in this world of the Spirits, what did those who fought the hardest think? Did they still throw themselves at each other?

─ Yes. For a while, and according to his character.

18. ─ Do you recognize yourself better now?

─ Without this, they wouldn't have sent me here.

19. ─ Could you tell us if among the spirits of soldiers who died a long time ago, there were still some interested in the outcome of the battle? (We beg Saint Louis to help him with the answers, so that, for our instruction, they are as explicit as possible).─ In large numbers. It is good for you to know that these combats and their consequences are prepared well in advance and that our opponents would not have become involved in crimes, as they did, if they had not been compelled to do so by reason of the future consequences, which you will soon learn about.

20. ─ There must have been spirits there who were interested in the success of the Austrians. Would there then be two battlegrounds between them?

─ Evidently.

OBSERVATION: Doesn't it seem that we are seeing Homer's gods taking sides here, some for the Greeks, others for the Trojans? Indeed, who were these gods of paganism, if not the Spirits that the Ancients had transformed into divinities? Are we not right when we say that Spiritism is a light that will clarify various mysteries, the key to numerous problems?

21. ─ Did they have any influence on the combatants?

─ Very considerable.

22. ─ Can you describe to us how they exerted such influence?

─ In the same way that all the influences of the Spirits are exerted on men. [by thought]

NOTE: It is a fact, as it becomes more and more evident, that the mentality of the Spirit creates scenarios of fluidic matter around it. Another thing could also be possible: they continue on the earthly battlefield, probably with some “fluidic additions”. All these must be indistinguishable at first when in the state of disturbance. However, it is not a rule, that is, it does not constitute a general truth for every soldier killed in war (see O Tambor de Beresina, RE, July 1858). The mistake is always to take the words of any spirits without analyzing their background, especially when the spirit is in post-death disturbance or is little enlightened, which is denoted by their own ideas. Here is Kardec's long work of Experimental Psychology!

23. ─ What do you hope to do now?

─ Study more than I did in my last stage.

24. ─ Are you going to return as a spectator to the battles yet to be fought?

─ I still don't know. I have affections that hold me for the moment. However, I hope from time to time to make a break for it, to amuse myself with the subsequent beatings.

25. ─ What kind of affection still holds you back?

─ A sick and suffering old mother, who cries for me.

26. ─ I ask you to forgive me for the bad thought that crossed my mind, regarding the affection that holds it.

─ It doesn't matter. I say silly things to make you laugh a little. It's natural that you don't take me for a big deal, considering the mediocre regiment to which I belonged. Don't worry, I only got involved because of that poor mother. I deserve a little that they sent me to you.

27. ─ When you were among the spirits, did you hear the rumor of battle? Did you see things as clearly as in life?

─ At first I lost sight of her, but after a while I saw much better, because I understood all the tricks. [is speaking in the sense of thoughts]

28. ─ I ask if you can hear the roar of the cannon.

─ Yes.

29. ─ At the moment of the action, did you think about death and what you would become if you were killed?

─ I thought about what would become of my mother.

30. ─ Was it the first time you were set on fire?

─ No, no. And Africa?

31. ─ Did you see the entry of the French into Milan?

─ No.

32. ─ Are you the only one who died in Italy?

─ Yes.

33. ─ Do you think that the war will last a long time?

─ No. It is easy and therefore not very meritorious to make such a prediction.

34. ─ When you see one of your leaders among the Spirits, do you still recognize him as your superior?

─ If he is, yes; if not, no. [note below]

NOTE from AK : In its simplicity and brevity, this answer is eminently profound and philosophical. In the Spiritist world, moral superiority is the only thing recognized. Whoever did not have it on Earth, whatever their position, does not, in fact, have any superiority. There the boss can be under the soldier and the boss under the server. What a lesson for our pride!

35. ─ Do you think about God's justice and are you worried about it?

─ Who wouldn't think of that? Fortunately, I don't have much to fear. I rescued, for some actions that God considered good, the few levities that I committed as “zuzu”, as you say.

36. ─ Watching a combat, could you protect one of your companions and deflect a fatal blow from him?

─ No. We can not do that. The time of death is set by God. If it has to happen, nothing will stop it, just as no one will be able to reach it if its time has not rung.

37. ─ Do you see General Espinasse?

─ I haven't seen him yet. But I hope to see you soon.

SECOND CONVERSATION

(JUNE 17, 1859)

38. (Evocation).

─ Gift! Firm! In front!

39. ─ Do you remember coming here eight days ago?

─ Why not?!

40. ─ You told us that you hadn't seen General Espinasse yet. How could you recognize him, since he didn't take his general's uniform with him?─ No, but I know him by sight. Besides, don't we have a lot of friends around us, ready to reveal the password to us? It's not like the barracks here. People are not afraid to bump into someone, and I assure you that only rogues are left alone.

41. ─ Under what guise do you find yourself here?

─ Zuavo.

42. ─ If we could see you, how would we see you?

- In a turban and breeches.

43. ─ Well done! Suppose you appeared to us in a turban and breeches. Where would you have gotten those clothes, since you left yours on the battlefield?

─ Well, well! I don't know how it is, but I have a tailor who fits them for me.

44. ─ What are the turban and breeches you wear made of? Have you no idea?

─ No. That's right there with the ragpicker.

NOTE from AK: This issue of the clothing of spirits, as well as several other no less interesting ones, linked to the same principle, were completely elucidated by new observations made within the Society. We will report on this in the next issue. Our good Zouavo is not advanced enough to solve it alone. For that, we needed the concurrence of circumstances that fortuitously presented themselves and that put us on the right path.

45. ─ Do you know why you see us, while we cannot see you?

─ I think your glasses are too weak.

46. ─ Is it not for this same reason that you do not see the general in his uniform?

─ Yes, but he doesn't wear it every day.

47. ─ What days do you wear it?

─ Now that! When they call him to the palace.

48. ─ Why are you here dressed as a Zouavo if we can't see you?─ Simply because I am still a Zouavo, even after about eight years, and because among Spirits we conserve that form for a long time. But that's just between us. You understand that when we go to a very different world, like the Moon or Jupiter, we don't take the trouble to do all that toileting.

OBSERVATION: This here is very interesting. What I understand is that he is referring to the fact that the Spirit adopts a perispiritual form according to the world where they go and according to the existence of a personality in that world, without even realizing it. If he had lived in a distant world, for example, an animal seller, when evoked there, he would present himself in this way.

49. ─ You speak of the Moon and Jupiter. Were you there after he died?

─ No. You are not understanding me. After death we find out about many things. Didn't they explain to us a lot of problems of our Earth? Don't we know God and other beings much better than we did a fortnight ago? With death, the Spirit undergoes a metamorphosis that you cannot understand.

50. ─ Did you search the body left on the battlefield?

─ Yes. He is not handsome.

51. ─ What impression did this view leave you with?

─ Of sadness.

52. ─ Are you aware of your previous existence?

─ Yes, but it is not glorious enough for me to strut.

53. ─ Just tell us the kind of life you led.

─ Simple merchant of wild animal skins.

54. ─ We thank you for your goodness in coming for the second time.

─ See you soon. It amuses and instructs me. Since I am well tolerated here, I will gladly return.

OBSERVATION: Tolerance is one of the consequences of charity. The Zouave felt “welcomed” in the communication.

THE next post will bring the evocation of the superior officer who was in the same battle as this zuavo.

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.

The present article, “God does not take revenge”, was extracted verbatim from Revista espírita — Jornal de Estudos Cristãos — 1865 > May > 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

The 19th century was the Century of Reason! This means that there was no gap for mysticism, much less for dogmas. The dogma only disappears when we focus on dedicated and continuous study. This Article that we bring here is from the Spiritist Magazine, October 1862, "What should be the history of Spiritism“".

“With regard to this story, about which we have said a few words, several people have asked us what it would comprise, and for that purpose they have sent us various reports of demonstrations. To those who thought of bringing a stone to the building, we thank you for the intention, but we will say that it is something more serious than a catalog of spiritist phenomena found in many works. Since Spiritism has to be present in the face of Humanity, it will be interesting for future generations to know by what means it will have established itself. It will therefore be the story of the adventures that marked its first steps; the struggles you have faced; of the obstacles that will have opposed him; of its progressive march throughout the world.

True merit is modest and does not seek to impose itself. Humanity needs to know the names of the pioneers of the work, those whose abnegation and devotion will deserve to be inscribed in its annals; of the cities that marched in the forefront; those who suffered for the cause, that they might be blessed; of those who have caused suffering, that they may pray for them, that they may be forgiven. In a word, from his dedicated friends and his confessed or hidden enemies.

Intrigue and ambition must not usurp the place that does not belong to them., nor a recognition and an honor that are not due to them. If there are Judas, they must be unmasked.

One part, which will not be the least interesting, will be that of the revelations that successively announced all the phases of this new era and the events of all kinds that accompanied them.

To those who find the task presumptuous, we will say that we will have no other merit than that of having, due to our exceptional position, documents that are not in anyone's possession, and that are sheltered from any eventualities. Considering that Spiritism is incontestably being called to play a great role in History, it is important that this role is not denatured, and that let the authentic story be shown, as opposed to the apocryphal stories which self-interest might fabricate.

When will she appear? It won't be anytime soon, and maybe not in our lifetime, as it's not meant to satisfy the curiosity of the moment. If we speak of it in advance, it is so that no one is mistaken about its purpose and our intention is noted. By the way, Spiritism is in its beginnings, and many other things will happen until then. So you have to hope that everyone has taken their place, right or wrong.” (our emphasis)

Note: It is interesting to note how it seems that Allan Kardec already knew what would happen in the future. So much opposition in the apocryphal stories and so much personal interest fabricated on the back of Spiritism... As a guarantee, he kept documents for these eventualities that every now and then are published! Let's focus on what matters most

Today we realize that this story is still in full development. We are still slowly learning the teachings that the Spirits brought during Kardec's time. May we all use Will and Imagination to achieve this understanding so supported by Reason!

Look at spiritist centers: they are emptier every day. I myself could cite here, now, at least a dozen spiritist centers that are increasingly empty, struggling to keep their doors open, and you certainly know others like that. Those who are fuller, for the most part, tend to mysticism, which appeals to curiosity.

Every time a mother who lost a child comes in, looking for consolation, and receives a wrong answer, an alleged generic psychographics or even hears the thought that he went through what he went through to be rescuing past debts; every time a person hears that their family conflicts must be endured with resignation, as it is a matter of collective rescue; every time a person hears that if they don't go to the center they won't get better; each time, finally, that the MEB reinforces to the general public the very erroneous idea that the people who died in a disaster were “Nazi soldiers in their previous life, who burned Jews”, the MEB loses, to discredit, people who could be brought back to faith and hope through reason.

Não só: o MEB também perde ao tratar da caridade pelo viés puramente material. Entrega-se uma sacola de mantimentos, muitas vezes sob uma linda faixa onde lê-se “Distribuição dos Pobres”, ou algo assim, e diz-se “adeus, até o próximo mês”. Basta que essa pessoa encontre uma distribuição de alimentos mais próxima ao seu lar, e ela prontamente deixa de “visitar” o centro espírita. O espírita perde valiosas oportunidades de acolher uma pessoa e realmente consolá-la, because you don't know how to do it, because he does not really know Spiritism.

In no way do I accuse anyone of acting in this way on purpose. No. Most of the time, the action is done in the most good will, believing that one is doing good. However, if of our ancestors we could say that the lack of knowledge was due to inability, even, to access knowledge, today we can no longer apologize for this, since all of Kardec's work is about two clicks away from our reach.

Kardec, in the Spiritist Magazine of 1864, expresses himself (emphasis mine):

There is no spiritist center where you have not encountered a more or less large number of these pioneers of the work, these land clearers, these indefatigable fighters who, supported by a sincere and enlightened faith, by the conscience of fulfilling a duty, do not lose heart in the face of any difficulty, considering their devotion as a debt of recognition for the moral benefits they received from Spiritism. Isn't it fair that the names of those, of which the Doctrine is honored, are lost to our descendants and that one day they will be able to inscribe them in the spiritist pantheon?

Unfortunately, at their side, sometimes, are the terrible children of the cause, the impatient ones who, not calculating the importance of their words and their actions, they can compromise it; those who, out of unreflected zeal, untimely and premature ideas, unwittingly furnish our adversaries with weapons. Then come those who, not taking from Spiritism but the surface, without being touched in the heart, give, by your own example, an false opinion of its results and of its moral tendencies.

There is, without contradiction, the biggest stumbling block that the sincere propagators of the Doctrine encounter, because they often see the work they painstakingly outlined undone by those who should support them. It is a verified fact that Spiritism is more hindered by those who misunderstand it than by those who do not understand it at all, and even by its declared enemies.; and it should be noted that those who misunderstand him generally pretend to understand him better than others; It is not rare to see novices claim, after a few months, to be superior to those who have gained for them the experience acquired by serious studies. This pretense, which betrays pride, is itself a proof of ignorance of the true principles of the Doctrine.

KARDEC, Allan. Spiritism is a Positive Science. Spiritist Magazine - Journal of Psychological Studies, Paris, v. 7, no. 11, Nov. 1864. Available at: https://kardecpedia.com.br/pt/roteiro-de-estudos/898/revista-espirita-jornal-de-estudos-psicologicos-1864/5679/novembro/o-espiritismo-e-uma-ciencia-positiva. Accessed on: 28 Apr. 2023.

In the Spiritist Journey of 1862, he expressed the following (emphasis mine):

It is necessary to know that serious Spiritism becomes the patron, with joy and haste, of all work carried out with criteria, whatever the country from which it comes, but that, equally, repudiates all eccentric publications. All spiritists who, from the heart, are vigilant so that the doctrine is not compromised, must, therefore, without hesitation, denounce them, all the more so because, if some of them are products of good faith, others are the work of Spiritism's enemies, who aim to discredit it and be able to motivate accusations against it. This is why, I repeat, it is necessary that we know how to distinguish what is accepted spiritist doctrine from what it repudiates.

KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Journey in 1862. Translated by Wallace Leal V. Rodrigues. 4. ed. São Paulo: EDICEL, 2010.

Let's be careful, however, not to spend time in unnecessary clashes and to get stuck attacking certain figures, which would be a mistake, as we cannot judge their intentions. We must, rather, act when opportune. Clarify, whenever we can, about a wrong idea; warn of a principle that goes against the doctrine; but, above all, seeking for ourselves the fundamental knowledge, built up over the years, that allows us to do our part, in the most correct and complete way possible, that is, so that, slowly, the error born of opinion and misunderstanding gives way to what the Doctrine provides us. If, in this process, we find individuals or groups that decidedly resist knowledge, let's leave them to their fate, because time, the infallible time, will take care of clarifying them. Wrong ideas isolated and will wither when the majority opinion is supported by facts and knowledge.

“Não deem o que é sagrado aos cães, nem atirem suas pérolas aos porcos; caso contrário, estes as pisarão e, aqueles, voltando-se contra vocês, os despedaçarão”. O espírita active, by not studying, throws pearls before swine.