SUMMARY OF THE LAW OF SPIRITIST PHENOMENA is one of Kardec's not-so-publicized works (Click here For download). It was written in 1864, and would be a summary of the summary of the Book of Spirits and Book of Mediums, I think. Because it is a compact work, only 20 pages, it conveys the very general concept of what the Spiritist Doctrine and the Spiritist Phenomena are.

It is divided into 5 parts: Preliminary Observations, On Spirits, Manifestations of Spirits, On Mediums, On Spiritist Meetings.

I highlight, as an example, one of the items he makes belongs to the “Manifestations of Spirits” part:

23. Spiritist evocations do not consist, as some imagine, in bringing back the dead with a gloomy aspect of the tomb. It is only in novels, in fantastic tales of ghosts and in the theater that one sees the emaciated dead emerge from their tombs dressed in sheets and making their bones crack. Spiritism, which has never performed miracles, this one as well as others, has never revived a dead body; when the body is in the grave, it is definitely there; but the spiritual, fluidic, intelligent being is not involved with its gross envelope; he separated from him at the moment of death, and once the separation has been effected, it no longer has anything in common with him.”

Summary of the Law of Spiritist Phenomena, page 12, A. Kardec

It is worth knowing it or simply sending it to that friend who wants to understand what Kardec's Spiritism is in a nutshell...

The question was proposed in a discussion, on Facebook, regarding science's resistance to investigating the soul, attributing the matter to mysticism and the supernatural. I highlight below my considerations on the possibility of verifying the existence of the soul:

Tell me: is the atom observable? He will say yes, that's it and a fact: by means of an instrument, it is possible to observe the atom, whose behavior investigation leads scientists to theorize in several hypotheses.

Without the microscope, in the past, man, certainly, I would say that this is madness or supernatural. The point is always to attribute to the supernatural what we do not understand: that is the point.

Are we like that, so knowledgeable about everything, to the point that we can discard the body as an instrument of the soul?

Unfortunately, due to a materialist turn in philosophical paradigms, after the end of the 19th century, many truths were forgotten. Today, when we talk about Psychology, we don't quote Victor Cousin or Paul Janet; when the subject is quantum physics, nobody talks about Mesmer, who, labeled crazy in the past, envisioned theories in agreement with modern physics.

The mistake, always, is to associate Science only with what is observable, forgetting that scientific investigation also advances through the elaboration of theories based on hypotheses based on rational observations. Want to see?

“Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter that scientists believe exists in the universe due to astronomical observations. It is called “black” because it does not emit, absorb or reflect light or other forms of electromagnetic radiation, making it invisible to our telescopes.

Dark matter is believed to make up about 85% of matter in the universe, but has yet to be directly detected. Scientists infer its existence from the gravitational effects it causes on observed objects, such as galaxies and galaxy clusters.

Although many studies and experiments have been carried out to try to identify dark matter, its nature is still unknown. Several hypotheses have been proposed, including as yet undetected exotic particles, primordial black holes, and alternative theories of gravitation. Dark matter research remains one of the most important and intriguing areas of modern physics and astronomy.”

Would we say that scientists are crazy, chasing something that cannot be observable by our instruments (and may never be) simply because they observed certain effects? Starting from the common census, could we say that dark matter would be something supernatural?

And this is not to enter the scope of theories of parallel universes, which are a logical consequence of some theories of quantum mechanics.

You see: science seeks answers in something unobservable, based merely on effects. Seeks the cause of an effect. And is it really that the effects, in the human scope, are unobservable - or is the tendency to treat any form of spiritualism as mysticism or the supernatural just a prejudice in a field where prejudice should not enter?

Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo says, in “Mesmer: the denied science of animal magnetism”:

The magnetizers very soon proved the relationships of somnambulists with invisible beings. Deleuze, a disciple of Mesmer, in his correspondence maintained with doctor GP Billot for more than four years, from March 1829 to August 1833, was initially reluctant, but finally affirmed: “Magnetism demonstrates the spirituality of the soul and its immortality; it proves the possibility of communication between intelligences separated from matter and those still connected to them.” (BILLOT, 1839)”

[…]

In turn, Deleuze stated: “I see no reason to deny the possibility of the appearance of people who, having left this life, take care of those they loved here and come to manifest themselves to them, to give them healthy advice. I just had an example of this.” (Ibid.)

[…]

“Years later, the magnetizer Louis Alphonse Cahagnet (1809-1885), with courage and determination, spoke to the spirits through his somnambulists in ecstasy, mainly Adèle Maginot, recording in his work more than one hundred and fifty letters signed by witnesses who recognized the identity of the communicating spirits. Cahagnet anticipated this spiritist science research instrument by more than ten years.

We see, therefore, that the soul is as observable as dark matter: through its intelligent effects. The difference is that the Spirit (synonymous with soul) acts of its own will.

It seems that some Spiritists – those who did not understand the proposal of Spiritism – work by division, and not through collaborative construction. They find in every place and in every person an object of their criticisms which, although they may have some basis, are almost always lost due to the notorious lack of depth and of a real and solid argumentation, which presents point and counterpoint, not giving final judgment on nothing that cannot be proven or sufficiently elaborated by reason. Interesting, because, precisely, they are (we are) supporters of a Doctrine entirely based on logic and reason, where evidence and hypotheses corroborate theories, without giving ownership over the truth. Not acting like this, Carlos Seth Bastos, from the “CSI of Spiritism”, comes to say that the theme of Rational Spiritualism and Spiritism would be a new division in the spiritist movement, without having the courage (or the will) to mention the name of the author to whom it refers. refers.

History repeated itself between 2016 and 2020 now in the field of morality, with the release of books that sought to bring the thoughts of Kant, Maine de Biran and Victor Cousin into Spiritism, even if that meant distorting the ideas of Allan Kardec.

Its propagation, under the pretext of convincing people averse to religion, seems to us the same speech as Marius George (Surprised that the spiritist idea had recruited so few adherents from the army of republicans, he was finally led to see that the obstacle was entirely due to the disguise under which Allan Kardec had introduced him) and Émile Blin (Until we have brought to the Parisian Society a sufficient number of members to enter this path of research, we must, in order to see our ranks increase, invite to come to us the unbelievers and the unbelievers to, by word, let them know our intentions, prove to them our disinterest, and persuade them of our good faith and honesty; then, by experiments as simple as possible, to place in their hands the means of acquiring for themselves the certainty that everything we propose is real and, in fact, the immortalist doctrine is the only one that, without mysticism and without prayers, gives man consolation and courage in the present, and hope and faith in the future).

At least these speeches were not based on the fallacy of an improbable adulteration of Allan Kardec's works.

BASTOS, Carlos Seth. Added bonus – The ending. Spirits under investigation. Available at: <https://www.luzespirita.org.br/leitura/pdf/L193.pdf>. Accessed on: 04/15/2023.

Division in Spiritism?

In the first place, it is important to point out that Spiritism is not divided. Being a natural truth, it is one. Putting aside the difficulties encountered in communications made without control, Spiritism is one, at all times. What, yes, can be divided, is the Spiritist Movement – and this division is countless. Over time, after Kardec, it split with “roustainguization” and then with countless others, for various reasons that cannot be mentioned here, but which Simoni Privato, Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo and Wilson Garcia, among others, recount well in their works (see Recommended Works).

According to Carlos Seth, “head” of the CSI of Spiritism, the division now occurs in the moral field, because Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo – the author of the aforementioned works, from 2018 and 2020, to whom Seth does not even deign to make reference – would be distorting Kardec’s words to implant, in the Doctrine, something that has nothing to do with it. We'll see.

Secondly, it is important to address the sentence “on the pretext of convincing people averse to religion”. As if making legitimate and well-founded efforts to attract the interest of “people averse to religion” were a demerit, since (1) Spiritism is not a religion, (2) it developed from a science, as a science and (3) it was precisely in the non-religious milieu that it found, at its origin, the greatest adherence – precisely because a large part of the scientists who became followers of Spiritism were well penetrated by the development of Rational Spiritualism and its scientific findings.

The author ends by again attacking those who, based on other evidence and logical and rational arguments, conclude that adulteration is likely ((The theory of non-adulteration (from Heaven and Hell and Genesis) also has evidence and arguments, but does not present conclusive proof. It takes on one fallacy to attack another (as it defends), forgetting Kardec's valuable suggestions: never take as final anything other than what can be proven.))

Kardec defended Rational Spiritualism, but Seth doesn't seem to know that

First of all, however, we need to evoke Kardec and question why he defended Rational Spiritualism – a philosophical-scientific movement led by people like Maine de Biran and Victor Cousin ((By A + B, if Rational Spiritualism was officially established in French teaching and if it was a solid movement, founded mainly by the authors cited, it is easy to conclude, with certainty, that Kardec refers to the same movement, and not to any other)). Now, we see, in the Spiritist Review of 1868, that:

The work of Mr. Chassang is the application of these ideas to art in general, and to Greek art in particular. We are happy to reproduce what the author of the Patrie review says about it, because it is further proof of the energetic reaction that takes place in favor of spiritualist ideas and which, as we said, every defense of rational spiritualism opens the way to Spiritism, which is its development, fighting its most tenacious adversaries: materialism and fanaticism.

Mr. Chassang is the author of the story of Apollonius of Tiana, The which we refer to Magazine of October 1862.

“This book, of a very special character, was not made during the recent debates on materialism and, without the slightest doubt, it is regardless of the author's will that circumstances have given it a kind of topicality. Writing it, Mr. Chassang did not intend to do work of metaphysician, but simply literate. However, as the great questions of metaphysics are currently, as always, on the agenda, and every literary work truly worthy of the name always presupposes some philosophical principle, this book, of a very decided spiritualist inspiration, is found in correlation with the concerns of the moment.

KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Magazine, November 1868

Since metaphysics was one of the fields of study of the philosophical sciences, officially Instituted at the University of the Sorbonne:

And that's not all. Before that, in 1863, Kardec says, in the article entitled “Bibliographical News – The rational spiritualism by Mr. G.H. Love, engineer”:

This remarkable and conscientious book is the work of a distinguished scientist, who proposed to draw from Science itself and from the observation of facts the demonstration of the reality of spiritualist ideas. It is one more piece in support of the thesis that we support above. It is even more, because it is a first step, almost official, of Science, in the spiritist way; in fact, it will soon be followed - and of this we are sure - by other, even more resonant adhesions, which will lead deniers and opponents of all schools to seriously reflect

KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Magazine, October 1863

What nonsense, Mr. Kardec! Defending ideas that, according to some, have nothing to do with Spiritism! Claiming that Rational Spiritualism, which he refers to in the text merely as "spiritualist ideas" (which leads us to believe that in other similar references—"spiritualism," "spiritualists," etc.—he was referring to the same Rational Spiritualism) is something obtained through scientific observation of facts! Now, where have you ever seen science and spiritualism go hand in hand? Only in the past, during the time of the "crazy" Kardec.

The biggest nonsense, in fact, is that of Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, who decided to investigate in depth and discovered that metaphysics, at the time of Kardec, was one of the areas of study of the Moral Sciences officially taught at the University of Paris and also at the Normal School (refer to “Autonomy: the never told story of Spiritism”, by this author). All this contained in works that, until then, were unknown or forgotten by the modern world.

The great difficulty, however, will be that all of us, who follow the work of Paulo Henrique and himself, will have to deny reality, deny historical documents and existing works, censor the works of Paul Janet, deny Kardec, deny his conclusions and his statements, all so as not to cause a new split, “now in the moral field”. In other words: let us erase and adulterate the truth, so that morality, as they understand it, remains untouched. Well, this desire to take the truth for oneself, ignoring facts, seems like a habit of the WArlos seth Iinvestigates Spiritism, as we demonstrated in the article “CSI of Spiritism: the official organ of Truth“".

We also need to evoke the Spirit of Mr. Love and have a serious conversation with him, in order to clarify his audacity in, being a rational spiritualist, affirming that he found the same moral obtained in his observations, precisely in “Kardec’s” Spiritism:

Morality, as I understand it and deduce it from scientific notions - I am not afraid to admit it - has numerous points of contact with that transmitted by the mediums of Mr. Allan Kardec. I am also not far from admitting that if there are many pages written by them that do not go beyond the ordinary reach of the human spirit, including theirs, there must be, and there are, of such a scope that it would be impossible for them to write identical ones in the books. your ordinary moments.

LOVE, GH apud KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Magazine, October, 1863.

I don't think it's necessary to go any further. I leave the reader the freedom and the task, if he so wishes, of seeking to obtain information that will allow him to arrive, through his own reasoning, at his answers. I would just like to quote Carlos Seth once again:

The spiritist doctrine is progressive, but your study is the key. Let us know how to wait for new data instead of rejecting some of its aspects, such as the action of Spirits in natural phenomena. If, even so, a certain characteristic, such as the religious one, bothers us to the point that we are unable to put it aside, let us stop being Kardecist Spiritists and then follow any other sects originating from the original Spiritism. Despite recurring in history,
This is what we are witnessing once again today with secular, eclectic and syncretic people.

BASTOS, Carlos Seth. Ibid. My emphasis.

Oh, if Mr. Carlos had followed his own teaching and studied. If I had known how to wait, before jumping hastily to foolish hasty conclusions... I would have seen Paulo Henrique affirm, in Spiritist Revolution, how evident it is that Spiritism complements and develops what Rational Spiritualism was unable to study, in fact resolving many of its errors , contradictions and uncertainties. Ah, this rush from certain “renowned researchers”…

Why didn't Kardec give more details about Rational Spiritualism?

It should be noted that, to the objection of why Kardec did not give more information about something so important to him, we must answer the following: the same happened with Magnetism, a science that he claims to have studied for more than 35 years. He simply did not delve into something that was so deeply established in its context, in the same way that, today, to talk about astronomy, we do not dedicate time to narrate the entire current scientific context, limiting ourselves to talking, for example, of the theory of Big Bang. If, by chance, this theory were put into oblivion, because it was outdated or because of the adoption of another theory, not necessarily correct, any reader, in the future, would need to seek to recover this knowledge in order to better understand our theories, assumptions and doctrines.

I should just mention that, when pronouncing on the case, I am asked for evidence that Kardec would have, as I said, widely defended Rational Spiritualism. Here's my answer:

X, if the authors of the article (PDF), willingly, had dedicated themselves to studying the work of this author, before criticizing, they would have understood this whole context very easily, so that I would not have to repeat all the information here that already exists.

I've already mentioned one of the times Kardec emphatically cited "Rational Spiritualism," stating that any defense of it would be favorable to Spiritism. In October 1863 (RE), you'll find two very interesting articles on the subject. I quote the beginning of the second, at the end of the issue ("Rational Spiritualism by Mr. G.H. Love, Engineer"):

“This remarkable and conscientious book is the work of a distinguished scientist, who set out to extract from Science itself and from the observation of facts the demonstration of the reality of spiritualist ideas. It is one more piece in support of the thesis that we support above. It is even more, because it is a first step, almost official, of Science, in the spiritist way”.

Go to Google and type in: “site:kardecpedia.com spiritualism”, and you will find a lot.

Well, if Kardec was talking about fluids (vital, electric, magnetic, etc.) isn't it up to us to investigate what that is, instead of blindly adopting wrong theories? Let's then verify that it was a concept of the science of the time, surpassed by current science and, by all indications, abandoned by Kardec, after becoming convinced of the veracity of Mesmer's theory. Without doing this, I fall into the error of saying that Mesmer and Spiritism have nothing to do, not knowing that Kardec ALSO defended Mesmer's Magnetism.

After all, what line of research is this, to which they want to give so many airs of seriousness and confidence, but which makes such a serious and absurd error as such, with the aggravating factor of giving final sentences on this or that subject, influencing the spiritist environment? towards a new split that only exists in their minds, attached to an initial disagreement ((I'm referring to the disagreement between whether or not there were adulterations in the works Heaven and Hell and Genesis))?

Those who act in this way end up being ridiculed and discredited. Not that we are not free, on our part, from making similar or worse mistakes, but the study of Spiritism and Kardec's scientific approach has helped us a lot in this sense.

The monopoly of common sense

I will end with an observation by Kardec, made about the article “The Librarian of New York”, in the Spiritist Magazine of May 1860. It is not related to the main theme, but, who knows, it will serve as a reflection. The italics are mine, as always:

About the article, we will make a first observation: it is the indifference with which the deniers of the Spirits attribute to themselves the monopoly of common sense. “The spiritualists, says the author, see in this one more example of the manifestations of the other world. sensible people will not seek the explanation so far and recognize clearly the symptoms of a hallucination”. Thus, according to this author, only people who think like him are sensible; the rest have no common sense, even if they were doctors, and Spiritism counts them by the thousands. A strange modesty, indeed, which has as its maxim: no one is right but us and our friends!

KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Magazine, May 1860

The documents they found, corroborating a hypothesis of non-adulteration, they are, according to them, probative, they give final sentences – even though they are nothing more than evidence that does not explain many things. Beyond that, according to them, everything is disposable, fallacy or invention.

Questioning is natural, healthy and necessary. He encourages us to research, to reread, to study. But it would be even more productive if the dissenting opinion were always born from a deep bibliographic and scientific basis, so as not to end up like Messrs. Schiff and Jobert (Revista Espírita, June, 1859) who, having discovered in the snapping of a muscle confirmation of one hypothesis, ended up stating categorically, with the final word, against all spiritist phenomena. Well, just read the article to see how ridiculous they were when faced with the facts presented by Kardec.

This is science. This is detachment. This is commitment to the truth. For all this commitment, far from configuring it as an attack, but as a defense, I do what they did not do, and I give name and surname to those who frivolously attack the work of others.

Strangely, Seth sees a division when dealing with the movement that gave basis to the emergence of Spiritism, but he sees no problem in poking around and bringing up gossip of the time, launched by mediums who did not want to adapt to what the Spiritist Doctrine demanded. Go figure…

I'm going to give myself the luxury of “getting wet”, just because the subject is important and requires, I think, reflection and rationality. The attacks carried out in schools were regrettable, but even more regrettable is hearing the absurdities that speak in the name of Spiritism.

In the face of the events in question, we see again the search for “spiritualist” answers to the reasons why those children went through such tragedies, and it is not uncommon to come across speakers who, in the name of Spiritism, will say that “they are indebted spirits who came together to redeem past faults”. Having overcome the initial moment of true disgust due to the lack of empathy of someone who puts himself in the position of judge of the path of others, without putting himself in the position of a father or mother listening to such words – a real disservice to Spiritism – I feel it necessary to reiterate: no it is possible, much less reasonable, to point to anyone to say whether the situation that the person is going through is the result of their choices – I repeat: choices – or whether it is a simple result of natural law, that is, the result of being alive.

We've covered this a few times already (see Can a person die before his time or is it always fate or fate?, The Petrópolis disaster from the point of view of Spiritism: collective rescue? and Karma and Spiritualism. There is no karma, everything is the effect of the Spirit's choices, which, only in exceptional cases, due to lack of reasoning capacity, is subjected to compulsorily incarnate (ref. OLE, p. 262). God does not punish his children for making bad choices, because he knows that everything is the result of ignorance, and when that ignorance is so great as to obliterate his ability to judge, his laws make up for this momentary incapacity.

Let's say that participating in certain disasters, private or collective, could even be the effect of a lucid choice of the Spirit who believes that that will teach him something or who believes in the law of talion or karma, judging it necessary to go through the same kind of suffering to in order to "debug". This has its basis in logic and truth, and we will see some cases like this permeating Allan Kardec's studies.

Could all these children have chosen to be there voluntarily, as a result of a choice made in Spirit? Let's assume so, and analyze the logic of the assumption. For that, one of two things: either these Spirits would have to know, in advance, that that individual, practically of the crime, would choose that school where they would have have to study, to commit their crime, premeditated for years, or these Spirits would have to, through themselves or others, instigate this individual to commit a crime (taking on, in turn, a “debt”) just so that they could carry out your “rescue” – a true never-ending cycle.

Yes, a particular Spirit could have premeditatedly foreseeing the crime and managed to be there, to suffer its consequences, who knows why, just as another could have chosen to leave that place, that day, due to the same premonition. We see this all the time. It becomes inconceivable, however, to imagine that all those who are killed in any disaster chose to be there, often months or years before, just waiting for all the aligned circumstances to provoke the situation that would offer the opportunity of “rescue”. Furthermore, when Kardec or other Spirits speak of “rescue”, it is the rescue of oneself, through the process “repentance, expiation and reparation – in short: a serious, effective improvement, as well as a sincere return to the good“((KARDEC, Allan. O Céu e o Inferno. Translation by Emanuel G. Dutra, Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo and Lucas Sampaio. 2021.)), and not a redemption of reciprocal debts or with divine law – because God does not charge debts that, in truth, do not even exist.

Children who died in such tragic cases are not paying for anything. They died as a result of being incarnated and as a result of a bad choice by another individual. This individual, who already suffers as a result of his choices, even if he does not realize it, will suffer when his conscience awakens, either because of a feeling of guilt in the face of the crime committed, or because of the realization of his own condition of attachment, because of the effect of his actions, even who doesn't even remember the specific case in question. Children's Spirits may have already moved on, evolved a lot, by the time the criminal's Spirit becomes aware. There is no need to consider, therefore, a joint incarnation with the aim of any reciprocal rescue, but we can imagine the spirit of one of these children, touched with compassion for the other, choosing be born with him to help him on his way back to goodness. Or not. The spirit of the criminal can choose, if he is aware of it, to be born in the midst of a very good family, with great spiritual values, which can help him to learn... Or he can choose to be born in the midst of criminality, to put himself to the test of resistance. What is better? How to know who and for what reason made this or that choice? I don't know. Neither do you. The point is: any of the choices, for that Spirit, will be an atonement, and “atonement” does not mean punishment, but condition in which he has his “unceasingly concentrated attention on the consequences of this evil, understands its inconveniences better and is motivated to correct itself“((Ibidem)).

If you have already gone through something similar or if you have someone close to you who has gone through it, my message is this: the Spirit survives and will continue its journey. Those who go and those who stay need to make an effort not to get attached to what happened, understanding that whoever commits the crime will suffer alone, and that getting attached to him or the situation will lead you to suffer too. Sadness is part of it. Miss you, hurt. But attachment is unhappiness. Pray that you and the Spirit who passed away will not become attached to all of this, nor the personality that died with the body. Spirits that love each other communicate instantly, without intermediaries, and it is enough for one to think of the other for them to be together, without any need for this to be perceived as a sensation of presence. Thought reaches everything, anywhere in the Universe.

Finally: be careful when accepting “spiritist visions” without studying the foundations of Spiritism. Spirits, incarnated or disembodied, say what they want and, due to carelessness, often serve as a tool for the enemies of the Doctrine.

Our last virtual study meeting, on 04/06/23, was based on the article “Refutation of an article from L'Univers”, from the Spiritist Magazine of May 1859.

Kardec's article begins with a full citation of a publication by Abbot Chesnel in the aforementioned newspaper, a publication that is, by the way, somewhat complex to understand and, in fact, quite confused in its ideas. Despite citing several current ideas at that time, such as Spiritualism, Magnetism and Spiritism (although he confuses Spiritism with Rational Spiritualism), it is very easy to notice the confusion of concepts made by the Abbot, who, as a central point, defends the idea that Spiritism (Spiritualism) would be a new religion, presenting dangers and a threat to the Catholic religion.

The text, although written with some depth, is notably frivolous, in the sense of making several statements about Spiritism (which, I reiterate, he calls Spiritualism), without having read even The Spirits’ Book – which is certain, because, right at the beginning of the work, Kardec makes a clear distinction between Spiritism and [Rational] Spiritualism. But that is not the main point of this discussion.

What we noticed in our study, and about what we had already talked about other times, is the distance between the modern Spiritist Movement and Spiritism "of Kardec" - with great care when using this term, because Spiritism was never of Kardec, neither created nor imagined by him. Now, it is not possible to deny that the Spiritist Movement made Spiritism a religion, a definition that many defend fiercely, while Kardec makes, with all letters, an arduous rational defense to the contrary, demonstrating that Spiritism had no aspect of a religion, but that of a science. We already talked about this in the article “Spiritism is religion?", ”Science and Spiritism: matters in opposite dimensions?“, “The distance between Spiritism and the Spiritist Movement” and on other occasions, but we decided to return to the subject due to the new opportunity provided and the emphatic persistence of Kardec – which continues in the RE of July, with a reply to the Abbot’s response.

The more we study the Spiritist Magazine, the more we notice this enormous distance mentioned. We invite the reader to ask: why? Is "our" Spiritism, based on information from Spirits not verified in a scientific and controlled manner, "more correct" than the Spiritism studied so seriously, in a methodical and controlled manner, by Kardec and other members of the Parisian Society of Studies Spiritualists? Note the following:

Its true character is, therefore, that of a science and not of a religion, and the proof is that it counts as adherents men of all beliefs, who have not, for that reason, renounced their convictions: fervent Catholics, who practice all the duties of his cult; Protestants of all sects; Israelites, Muslims and even Buddhists and Brahmanists.

Kardec, Spiritist Magazine, May 1859

Let's look coldly at the Spiritist Movement and try to find people from other religions inserted in it: they practically don't exist. They are very rare and, almost always, they are people who say they have “no defined religion”. Is this normal, compared to what Kardec demonstrated? Another question: if a Census agent asks you what your religion is and you are a follower of Spiritism, what will you answer?

All these questions are not intended to attack the personal belief of each one (because, in fact, Spiritism is not made of beliefs, but of scientific investigation), but to raise a serious aspect that, perhaps, many do not notice : defining Spiritism as a religion has become the reason for the downfall of the Spiritist Movement, which is increasingly emptied. Read the article quoted right at the beginning – you can find it on here – at least from Kardec’s answer and try to analyze, for yourself, how much the definition of “religion” makes Spiritism lose in reach and help in the development of terrestrial humanity. See the Abbot's position, compatible with the modern position of most of his opponents: instead of understanding in this science support for your beliefs; instead of having it as an aid to their uncertainties, they have an enemy in it, as if the fact of filling the pews of a spiritist center means emptying the pews of a church. Sadly, very unfortunately, this has come to be true.

We are extremely happy to have, among our most active students, at least one person who identifies himself as a practicing Catholic, who goes to Mass, who takes Communion, who practices, in short, his religion, but who studies deeply and who, many times, understands better than us the moral, philosophical and scientific precepts of Spiritism, understanding its scientific character with clear distinction. Spiritism is the science of what we are and what creation is; religion is the choice of human, material practices, with a spiritualist meaning.

Finally, think about the following: while Kardec recommended the practice of spiritist studies at home, which was really common at that time, ask yourself: is there, today, Spiritism outside the centers? What is said about mediumistic practice outside the spiritist center?

Finally, the invitation is reiterated: study the Spiritist Magazine. Many well-known mediums did not have access to it. Today, we have it, and in a very, very easy and practical way. Leaving it aside to study mediumistic novels, without contestation or investigation, is attachment, and brings demerit, difficulties and errors to Spiritism, which, today, in the Spiritist Movement, has nothing.

Once again, and always with joy, we invite you, dear friend, to participate with us in our Spiritist Magazine study group, live, online. In this group, we are not teaching, but learning. If you are interested in the Spiritist Doctrine, come and study with us!

we gathered every thursday, at 7:30 pm (entering at 19:20), and the study lasts about 1:15h to 1:30h.

You will need:

– Camera and microphone, and a quieter corner to study

– Around 01:15h free

– detachment own opinion and interest in to help, cooperate and learn.

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“God will be ahead”; “God will not allow this or that fact to happen”. But then the fact, seen as negative, is consummated. And at that moment, the faith of many falters. “How could God allow such a thing?”, many will ask. We will approach and face this problem in the following lines.

Many, in moments of suffering, injustice, barbarism, fall into this questioning and, without having a concrete answer, see their faith almost crumbling, to the point where they often turn away from religion and spirituality, falling into the grip of materialism. This movement occurs only for one reason: because we are almost entirely based on false ideas. Now the false idea, being false, does not stand against the natural law. It is denied and collapses, before the course of the divine law, no matter our protests. Was this divine impiety? Or, worse, would all this demonstrate that God does not exist?

We talk about false ideas. Well, one of them is that God interferes with our choices. Another is that God would have an opposite, the Devil. Both are linked to the same problem: the false assumption that we are guided, either by God, or by the Devil, or by the “forces”, or by the stars or by the “universe”. It is the false idea of heteronomy, which, created on a philosophical doctrine that dominates society, makes us fall into these moral and intellectual traps.

Therefore, the question arises: is it wrong to reason if this reasoning leads us away from God? Would human science be reprehensible in this sense? I say: the problem is not in reasoning, but in reasoning on false principles. Since man is God's creation, his intellect is also. To deny the intellect, reasoning, would be to deny God. Reasoning is necessary – it is an imposition of the law – and when reasoning leads us to a denial of the law (here, referring to the natural, divine law) and of reason itself, it means that we are basing ourselves on a false idea, which leads to false results.

I will not spend time stressing the impossibility of the existence of a force contrary to God, or even the non-existence of evil. Allan Kardec has already done an excellent and unassailable job in the works Heaven and hell and The Genesis. We recommend the study to the reader, preferably based on FEAL editions. We also recommend that readers who have never studied Spiritism, and who only have inaccurate ideas about this doctrine, read the booklet “Spiritism in its simplest expression”, available for download using the button below.

Let's talk about the impossibility of the interference of God, Jesus or any superior being in our choices, asking: how is any learning really established in ourselves? By imposition, or by the exercise of reason? Of course, the answer can only be the latter, otherwise life itself would be meaningless, and all materialistic logic would be right.

Imagine the situation of a father and his son. The first is the best father we can imagine: centered, affable, sensible, fraternal, but energetic, as well as intelligent and very wise. The second is a rebellious son, with a “strong temper”, as some would say. Despite all his father's efforts, this son insists on making decisions contrary to his recommendations, always ignoring his thoughtful warnings. Once, the son says to his father: “I'm going to a party with Dona Maria's children”, to which the father replies: “Son, be careful. They, unfortunately, do not listen to reason. They are always involved with bad people, with drugs and I heard that, recently, they even got involved in some robberies”. The son responds, “Bullshit, dad. I'm going!".

This father would have two choices: the first would be to use his physical and moral strength to physically prevent his son from leaving home in such bad company; the other would be to always warn him, but leave it to his free and autonomous choice of what to do. It was always this second choice that she decided to make, since her son's childhood. He believes that it is only through his own choices and their results, and not through imposition, that the child will really learn what he is still unable to learn through reason and intuition.

The son leaves and, hours later, the father receives a call: it's from the police. They are saying that the son was involved in a case of armed robbery and, although he was not the one who drew the weapon, he was arrested for collaborating with the group, taking a woman's purse and necklace, a fact pointed out by the two sons. from Dona Maria, who wanted to see their feathers reduced. Sadness overwhelms this father, who, however, does not become unhappy: “I did everything I could do”, he has it on his conscience. Convicted after trial, his son spends the next eight years of his life behind bars, while he visits him weekly, advising and morally stimulating him. The other two are in the same prison and, formerly companions of vagrancy, now subject him to vexatious acts. The son says he regrets it, but if it's just remorse, for the punishment received, or if it's moral regret for the acts performed, only time will tell.

This small allegory demonstrates that God, incomparable to this father, whose morals and way of acting cannot be criticized on a single point, could not act differently, always leaving us free will and choice as fundamental tools of our evolution . And that, transposed to the social level, explains everything that affects us through these means. God gives us matter as a tool of the Spirit, but guarantees us free will, always. Of course, he does not abandon us – on the contrary: through his own creation, which is solidary, we are constantly influenced by spirits more advanced than ourselves, who, however, do not interpose obstacles in our choices:

“To rise, man must be tried. To impede their action and put an obstacle to their free will would be to go against God and in this case the tests would become useless, because the spirits would not commit faults. The Spirit was created simple and ignorant. To reach the happy spheres, it is necessary for him to progress and to rise in knowledge and wisdom, and it is only in adversity that he acquires an elevated heart and better understands the greatness of God.”

Quote from São Luis in the Spiritist Magazine of November 1858

Let's see: it was the people themselves – which is a mass of individuals, each with their choices – who elected and glorified Hitler, who, inflaming a materialistic pride, led the nation to that state of barbarism. It was, in fact, the people who, inflamed against the truths that hurt their pride or seduced by gold, chose to release Barabbas, condemning Jesus to martyrdom. And what followed from that, if not a lot of learning, in the midst of absolutely adverse conditions?

But how to explain, within this dynamic, the suffering of those who no fall into the bad choices? We speak of those who, by their own will and for a different state of spiritual progress, make better choices, more connected to the morality of the divine law.

Now, in the same way that that father suffered, limiting his life in many aspects, to be with his son, doing him the good of seeking to help him exercise his reason; in the same way that the apostles of Jesus suffered, who, far from throwing themselves at arms, threw themselves at good, through the propagation of the ideas of Christ. They are proofs, derived from natural law. They are not arbitrary impositions of a wrathful God, with the purpose of collecting debts, but only consequences of divine law, which imposes effects that, in one way or another, bring learning to the Spirit. the natural law imposes that a layer of the Earth's crust, under pressure from the mantle, may crack, causing earthquakes or the explosion of volcanoes, whose effects will inevitably bring difficulties. This same law imposes that our choices will produce effects, which, of course, are not the result of a system of sin and punishment, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” or “karma”.

Look: the father did not choose that the son make those decisions, any more than the Jews chose that Hitler was elected. A person, murdered by a criminal, did not choose to be murdered: it was the criminal who chose to commit the crime, without reflection. Because we are incarnated, we are subject to the choices of others, and that is not a penance imposed by God: on the contrary, it is a reflection of the natural law, which brings us, I repeat once more, learning, useful for our progress. Now, how many Jews, imprisoned and treated like animals, have not seen their souls lifted by the exercise of fraternity and faith, while they dealt with so many and suffered adversities? An example: Anne Frank, who lived for two years locked in an attic, with her family, without being able to make a sound, went from the state of hatred of her mother to the state of brotherly pity, and probably learned a lot from it. The Spirit of the person murdered by a criminal may learn a lot from this, or may become attached to the fact, which may cause him suffering. One way or another, you will learn, after all, as we know, the end of a life in matter does not represent the end of the Spirit's progress.

For the liberated Spirit, the suffering of the flesh is nothing more than a passing detail, which it gets rid of with happiness, when fulfilled in God's time, and with commitment to learning, or which it narrows even more, when fulfilled with rebelliousness. or terminated ahead of time, by the regrettable act of ending one's own life - and that, once again, not by an act of divine punishment, but by the very condition of connection to the matter in which that Spirit places itself.

God, after all, has not abandoned us, and he has no material suffering or a single injustice that demonstrates that he is not, in fact, “in charge”. It is enough for us to detach ourselves from the false idea that it interferes with our choices, individual and collective, as well as the idea that the individual who acts in evil would be guided by a power contrary to God. No: everything stems from choices, relative to the moral and intellectual state of each one. The evil that arises from these choices does not exist by itself, as the individual is only choosing with a view to satisfying his own desires and inclinations, which, at the root of the problem, is linked to selfishness and pride. Kardec would say, in the August 1863 Spiritist Magazine:

So why evil and how to explain it? Evil does not come from a primitive fall that would have changed all conditions of human life. He has because of the non-fulfillment of God's law and the disobedience of man, misuse of free will.

These very deep roots are not destroyed with an axe: they need to be slowly unearthed by a continuous effort, in which education and fraternity play a fundamental role.

God, far from seeing himself diminished by this, exalts himself in all his attributes, as he gives us autonomy, progress through his own effort and the opportunity for learning and teaching: those who are a little above, teach those who are a little below. , in all the infinite levels of evolution.

Thus, everything is connected, everything is linked in the Universe. Everything is subject to the great and harmonious law of unity, from the most compact materiality to the purest spirituality. The Earth is like a vessel from which a thick smoke escapes, which is rarefied as it rises, and whose rarefied parts are lost in infinite space.

The divine power shines in all parts of this grandiose ensemble, and yet they wanted, to better prove the power if God, that he, not content with this, come to disturb this harmony! Let him lower himself to the role of a magician with puerile effects, worthy of a conjuror! And they dare, in addition, to rival him in skill with Satan himself! Never has the divine majesty been lowered so low, and they are astonished at the progress of unbelief!

There is reason to say, "Faith is gone!" But it is faith in everything that shocks common sense and reason; faith similar to that which, in times past, caused them to say: “The gods are gone!” But faith in serious things, faith in God and immortality is always alive in the heart of man and has been smothered by the silly stories with which they oppressed. It rises stronger, as soon as it is released, as a plant in a dark place recovers when it receives the rays of the Sun again!

KARDEC, Allan. The Genesis, 1868. FEAL Publisher.

As for the question “Does God exist?”, we will answer that it is enough to look at everything we have said, with a look elevated above matter, and the finding cannot be otherwise. However, if your reason still struggles with the things you've learned, give the aforementioned works a chance, and study them. Most likely you will find there such a clear, brilliant rationality that you will find the answers you are looking for so much.

One last observation: we said at the beginning that, in the face of the fact, seen as negative, many faint. From our narrow earthly view, everything is negative, everything is bad, everything is retrogression. Let us look, however, to the past: how many advances, in all fields of humanity, were harvested from adversities? How much learning? This means that, although God does not interfere arbitrarily, his Law is perfect, and everything converges to a single point: progress, which is irresistible.

Optimism, therefore. Let's keep studying and doing our part. No individual, much less the world, will be changed by imposition or violence - and here is the collapse of many materialist systems and ideologies, which continue to seduce many unwary people - but only by autonomous will and conscious of each individual. Forward: the work is great, it begins with ourselves and spreads in fraternity to the next. I leave, on here, a suggestion of excellent studies.

Text fully reproduced from the Spiritist Magazine of July 1863, where Kardec graces us with a wonderful reflection on the power of the will and the responsibility of the Spirit. Emphasis and notes ours.

(Extract from the works of the Spiritist Society of Paris)

A young man of twenty-three years old, Mr. A…, from Paris, initiated into Spiritism just two months ago, so quickly assimilated its scope that, without having seen anything, he accepted it in all its moral consequences. They will say that this is not surprising on the part of a young man, and only one thing proves it: levity and unreflective enthusiasm. It is. But let's continue. This thoughtless young man had, as he himself recognizes, a large number of defects, the most prominent of which was an irresistible disposition to anger, from his childhood. For the slightest annoyance, for the most futile causes, when I entered the house and didn't immediately find what I wanted; if a thing was not in its usual place; If what he had ordered wasn't ready within a minute, he would go into a rage, to the point of everything breaking down. It got to the point that one day, in a paroxysm of anger, throwing himself at his mother, he said to her: “Go away, or I’ll kill you!” Then, exhausted by overexcitation, he would fall unconscious. It should be added that neither the advice of his parents nor the exhortations of religion had been able to overcome this indomitable character, which was compensated by vast intelligence, careful instruction and the noblest feelings.

They will say that it is the effect of a bilious-sanguine-nervous temperament, a result of the organism and, consequently, irresistible entrainment. It follows from such a system that if, in his folly, he had committed a murder, it would have been perfectly excusable, because it would have been due to an excess of bile ((Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, in “Mesmer: the negated science of Animal Magnetism”, says that "Galen was wrong to rigidly defend the theory of humours as an authentic doctrine of Hippocrates. He disseminated and developed this theory widely by commenting, exhaustively, on Polybius' treatise On the Nature of Men. According to Galen's interpretation, life was maintained by the balance between the four humors — blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, which came, respectively, from the heart, brain, liver and spleen. The imbalance would be the disease. According to the natural predominance of one of these humors In the constitution of individuals, we would have different physiological types: sanguine, phlegmatic, bilious or choleric and melancholic. “ To this day, when someone is happy and in a good mood, we say that he is in a good mood, and someone who is angry , we say he is in a bad mood.”)). It also follows that, unless he changed his temperament, changed the normal state of his liver and nerves, this young man would be predestined to all the disastrous consequences of cholera.

─ Do you know a remedy for such a pathological state?

─ None, unless, with time, age can attenuate the abundance of morbid secretions.

─ Now, what Science cannot, Spiritism does, not slowly and by force of a continuous effort, but instantly. A few days were enough to make this young man a gentle and patient being. The acquired certainty of the future life; knowledge of the purpose of earthly life; the feeling of man's dignity, revealed by free will, which places him above the animal; the liability arising therefrom; the thought that most earthly evils are the consequence of our actions; all these ideas, taken up in a serious study of Spiritism, produced a sudden revolution in his brain. It seemed to him that a veil had been lifted over his eyes and life had presented itself to him under another face. Certain that he had in himself an intelligent being, independent of matter, he said: “This being must have a will, whereas matter does not. So he can master matter.” Hence this other reasoning: “The result of my anger was to make me sick and unhappy, and it doesn't give me what I lack, so it's useless, because that's how I didn't progress. She produces evil for me and gives me no good in return. Furthermore, it can drive me to reprehensible and even criminal acts.”

He wanted to win, and he won. Since then, a thousand occasions have arisen that would have infuriated him before, but before them he was impassive and indifferent, much to his mother's astonishment. He felt the blood boil and rise to his head, but, of his own accord, it repressed it and forced it to descend..

A miracle could not have done better, but Spiritism has done many others, which our Magazine would not suffice to record them if we wanted to report all those that are of our personal knowledge, relating to moral reforms of the most inveterate habits. We cite this as a remarkable example of the power of the will and, moreover, because it raises an important problem that only Spiritism can solve.

By the way, Mr. A… asked us if his Spirit was responsible for his movements, or if he was simply influenced by matter. Here is our answer:

Your Spirit is so responsible that, when you seriously wanted it, you stopped the blood movement. Thus, if you had wished to do so before, the attacks would have stopped sooner and you would not have threatened your mother. Besides, who is angry? Is it the body or the Spirit? If the attacks came for no reason, they could be attributed to the blood flow, but, futile or not, they were caused by an annoyance. Now, it is evident that the body was not upset, but the Spirit, which was very susceptible. Annoyed, the Spirit reacted on an irritable organic system, which would have remained at rest, had it not been provoked.

Let's make a comparison. You have a fiery horse. If you know how to direct him, he submits. If you mistreat him, he shoots and knocks you down. Who is missing? Yours or the horse's?

It is evident to me that your spirit is naturally irascible, but as each one carries with him his original sin, that is, a remnant of his former inclinations, it is no less evident that, in your previous existence, you must have been a man of extreme violence that you probably had to pay dearly, perhaps with your life. In erraticity, your good qualities helped you to understand errors. You took the resolution to overcome yourselves, and for this to fight in a new existence. But if you had chosen a soft and lymphatic body, not encountering any difficulties, your Spirit would have gained nothing, which would result in the need to start over. It was for this purpose that you chose a bilious body, in order to have the merit of the fight. Now the victory is won. You have conquered the enemy of your rest and nothing can hinder the free exercise of your good qualities.

As for the ease with which you accepted and understood Spiritism, it can be explained by the same reason. You were a spiritist a long time ago. This belief was innate in you, and materialism was only the result of the false direction given to your ideas. At first muffled, the spiritist idea remained in a latent state and a spark was enough to awaken it. Bless Providence that allowed this spark to arrive at a good time to stop an inclination that perhaps would have caused you bitter grief, while you still have a long career to travel in the path of good.

All philosophies clashed with these mysteries of human life, which seemed unfathomable until Spiritism brought them its torch.

In the presence of such facts, one can still ask what it is for? Are we not in a position to send good omens about the moral future of Humanity when it is understood and practiced by everyone?

Ao fazermos o estudo do livro O Céu e o Inferno (( https://mundomaior.com.br/produtos/ceu-inferno-allan-kardec-feal/#:~:text=O%20C%C3%A9u%20e%20o%20Inferno%20%C3%A9%20uma%20das%20cinco%20obras,a%20respeito%20de%20seu%20destino. )), nos chamou a atenção a Nota do Editor 149 ((

With the spiritist autonomous moral theory, prejudices, privileges, pride, selfishness, fanaticism, incredulity, typical of the old world, no longer have any meaning. Competition, which highlights the most capable, proves to be unfair, and should be replaced by cooperation that integrates all of them in solidarity. The resources of education must be invested more widely among the simpler souls, so that they participate actively in society. On this path, humanity will find happiness: “Man is in solidarity with man. It is in vain that he seeks the complement of his being, that is, happiness in himself or in what surrounds him in isolation: he can only find it in MAN or in Humanity. You therefore do nothing to be personally happy, while the unhappiness of a member of humanity, of a part of yourselves, may afflict you.”

Allan Kardec. Heaven and Hell, NE 149 (p. 368). Kindle Edition.

This note he refers to an article that is in the Spiritist Magazine of March 1867. It is one of the Spiritist Dissertations of this edition.

He is particularly interesting for emphatically showing the importance of solidarity in our humanity. In addition, there is a good reflection on the paths that lead to happiness.

We fully share with you:

SOLIDARITY

(Paris, November 26, 1866 – Medium: Mr. Sabb…)

Glory to God and peace to men of good will!
The study of Spiritism must not be in vain. For certain
frivolous men, it's a diversion; for serious men it should be
for real.

First of all, I thought about one thing. you are not on earth
to live there in the manner of animals, to vegetate in the manner of
grasses or trees. The grasses and trees have life
organic, but they do not have intelligent life, as animals do not have
the moral life. Everything lives, everything breathes in Nature, but only the
man feels and feels.

How pitiful and foolish are those who
despise to the point of comparing themselves to a blade of grass or a
elephant! Let us not confuse the genera or the species. They are not
great philosophers and great naturalists who, for example, see in
Spiritism a new edition of metempsychosis and, above all, of
an absurd metempsychosis. Metempsychosis is nothing else

but the dream of a man of imagination. One animal, one
plant produces its congener, nothing more, nothing less. What is this
be said to prevent old false ideas from being again
believed, in the shadow of Spiritism.

Man, be man; I know where you come from and to
where do you go You are the beloved son of Him who made everything and gave you a
end, a destiny that you must fulfill without knowing it at all.
You were necessary to his designs, to his glory, to his own
happiness? Useless questions, because insoluble. You are; thirst
recognized for this; but being is not everything; it must be according to
laws of the Creator, which are your own laws. released on
existence, you are both cause and effect. at least how much
at present, you cannot determine your role, nor how
cause or effect, but you can follow your laws. Well, the
The main one is this: Man is not an isolated being, he is a collective being.
Man is in solidarity with man. It is in vain that you seek the
complement of his being, that is, happiness in himself or in what
surrounds him in isolation; cannot find it except in man or in
Humanity. So you do nothing to be personally happy, as much
as to the unhappiness of a member of Humanity, on a part
of yourself, may afflict you.

But, you will say, it is morality that you teach. Now, morality is a
old commonplace. Look around you: what else is there?
ordinary, more common than the periodic succession of day and
night, what need to feed and clothe yourself? IT IS
to this that all your cares, all your
efforts. And it is necessary, as the material part of the
your being But your nature is not double, and you are no longer spirit
than body? How, then, is it more difficult for you to hear remembering the laws
moral than physical laws, which you apply at all times? if you were
less preoccupied and less distracted this repetition would not be as
necessary.

Let us not stray from our subject. Well
understood, Spiritism is, for the life of the soul, what
Material work is for the life of the body. Take care of him with this
objective and rest assured that when you have done, for your
moral improvement, half of what you do to improve your
material existence, you will have made Humanity take a great step forward.

a spirit

The word psychology literally means “study of the soul” (ψυχή, psyché, “soul” – λογία, logia, “treatise”, “study”). This is not, however, what we see reflected in current – and long-standing – studies on the subject, because, as much as this area approaches the understanding of the soul as “the intelligent principle, rationality and thought”, it still seeks to in the cerebral matter the origin of all the characteristics of the individual

“Our brain, involuntarily, looks for elements to lean on, reinforce its convictions or interests, which leads to an individualized, own lifestyle. No matter what you use to strengthen or motivate your desires, your hopes, all the various forms are valid. People who don't believe in anything tend to be pessimistic and negative., because for them, nothing can happen to change their lives. For the dominion of reason binds man to what is earthly. Genetics explains the origin of faith."”

SOUZA, Andreia Maria S. “What is the soul: meaning in psychology and psychoanalysis”. Available at https://www.psicanaliseclinica.com/alma-o-que-e/. Accessed on 09/10/2022. Emphasis added.

As can be seen, even faith, for modern psychology, is still materialistic, conditioned, for it, to genetics and not to the soul (necessarily, therefore, in progress).

)).

The search area of to be human being, of his “psyché” (psyche) is predominantly characterized by the Aristotelian ideas that define the to be as a result of the body – ideas that, going through the centuries, created, contrary to the philosophy of Socrates and Plato, autonomous and spiritualist in essence, a regrettable heteronomous and materialist doctrine, which, in addition to removing from the to be the principles of autonomy and will gave rise to the absurd ideas of racism, eugenics and, in the individual field, heteronomy, which, from the individual, contaminates his social environment and, finally, defines social, philosophical and political structures.

Guided and contaminated by the Aristotelian idea, where the individual attributes, when purely materialistic, all his moral characteristics to the genetics of the body and, when “spiritualist”, to one or more beings acting as arbitrators (as if God, or “the gods” , whether vengeful, interfering) or evil-enhancing beings – the devil, demon(s), etc. – society mischaracterizes itself as social, becoming predominantly selfish and insulating the being in itself, aiming at the care of your material needs, instead of leading him to the understanding of his will as the principle of everything, in the daily exercise and in solidarity with the other.

Religions, finally, took away, for sectarian interests, the autonomy of the individual, to subordinate him to the whims and punishments of other beings, interfering, bellicose and vindictive, when not malicious, while science, not seeing rationality in the dogmatic principles of religions, denying it completely, denied human spirituality, only to fall into the same error, taking away the individual's autonomy by transforming him into a “ventriloquist's dummy” of body chemistry. It is not by chance that Darwinian eugenics was based on Aristotle, because, if on the one hand it is right in observing the natural fact of selection, on the other hand, it extends it to the human being, placing it, once again, as It is made of your body, and not as a determining factor about it. Darwin said: “Linaeus and Cuvier were my two deities, but they are nothing more than schoolboys compared to old Aristotle.”.

We did not know, however, that for an expressive amount of time, and in capital of the world From the 18th and 19th centuries, a philosophical current was born that resumed the concepts of the autonomy of the individual as a fundamental principle of existence and the definition of (or of) to be. a philosophy that defined at moral sciences French ((Says Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo in “Autonomia”: The first division of the sciences, presented in Paul Janet's Treatise on Philosophy, according to the structure prevailing at the Sorbonne University in the 19th century, was between:

a) The exact sciences or mathematics.

b) The natural sciences, which study the objects of the physical world (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.).

c) The moral sciences, which study the moral world, which comprises the actions and thoughts of the human race.

The moral sciences, in turn, were divided into four groups:

• The philosophical sciences, divided into two classes: psychological (psychology, logic, morals, aesthetics) and metaphysical (theodicy, rational psychology, rational cosmology).
• The historical sciences (history, archeology, epigraphy, numismatics, geography) study human events and development over time.
• The philological sciences (philology, etymology, paleography, etc.), whose object is language and human symbolic expression.
• The social and political sciences (politics, jurisprudence, political economy), which study the social life of human beings (JANET, 1885, p. 15-17).)) and which became a fundamental subject in the Normal School, in teacher training, and which later began to be adopted in lyceums and colleges, but which was surreptitiously erased from human history, together with two other philosophical sciences of the same foundation, as we will see below.

It was at the beginning of the 19th century that Maine de Biran and, later, Victor Cousin, among others, took up the concept of will as a principle psychologically elaborated by the soul, defining free will. For these thinkers – at a time when, as we have seen, philosophy was treated as a science – the autonomy of the individual is based on the will as a characteristic of the soul. From this fundamental principle, the principles that distanced the being from heteronomy were born, placing it as an autonomous agent of itself and, through its solidary action, of society. The individual was no longer a reflection of his genetics (or, as they thought at the time, their dispositions bile ((White bile defined good and black bile defined evil, in body chemistry. Based on this principle, many doctors performed bloodletting, often deadly, seeking to eliminate the black bile.)), but the primary reflection of its will.

This revolutionized the psychology of the time and totally transformed the moral sciences, as it placed the individual in the condition of being solely responsible for his moral conditions and choices. More: it started to deal with moral issues, under these principles, in order to separate what was external to the individual - the emotions (at the time called passions), pleasures, physical pain, etc. internal to the individual – the choices, born from the will of his soul (being that the soul would be, for them, the being that defines the will and that survives death, without, however, investigating it in that state) that, in the end, would determine your state of happiness or unhappiness.

This knowledge is fantastic and deserves to be recovered and studied! See: today, we define (or confuse) our state of happiness and unhappiness by external factors – if I don't have money to travel, or if I have a weakened body, or if I lost dear people, think unhappy, since happiness, for the current materialist thought, would be in the things of the world - parties, travel, money, etc. By understanding this morality defined by this spiritualist philosophy – rational spiritualism, as it became known – we begin to separate things: can I be unhappy because of a condition or event, or not having pleasures because of not having money, or having poor health, or physical limitations, but that is not what defines my happiness, for this is a construction of the will of my soul as far as morals are concerned, that is, in my striving for detachment of everything that arises from conditions external to my will. For example: as a condition external to my will, defined by my soul, there is the bodily impulse to react violently to a given situation; By allowing this impetus, which is born from the protective instinct, to dominate my will, I can perform actions that later make me regret (when I become aware), for what I will suffer. If I cling to such a way of acting, I will develop a habit and, hence, an addiction, which will make me suffer indefinitely, until, repenting, I consciously resolve to seek to detach myself from this error, in an effort that can only be autonomous. , and not imposed.

Perhaps the person who best defined these concepts is Paul Janet, in two main works: “Small Elements of Morals”, a very succinct and simple to read work (we recommend reading it!), available for download here and also available on Amazon Kindle, and “Elementary Treatise on Philosophy“, a much larger and more complex work.

But does not stop there. We mentioned the issue of black bile and white bile, which took over the medical concepts of the time and which, due to the absurd actions imposed on patients, such as bloodletting or “medicines”, which even mixed poison, weakened and sometimes killed the sick. Contrary to these ideas, still in the 18th century, Mesmer, observing some patients, arrived – in a very summarized way – to elaborate concepts that were also autonomous in the treatment of health, theorizing that the individual could also if heal by the action of your will. Hahnemann, with homeopathy, followed the same principle. For Mesmer, the external agent, acting through the will of the sick individual – what became known as magnetism – could help him to achieve, through persistent work, cures that, for many, would be impossible and, in some cases, almost miraculous (which, in fact, it was not: it is just an unknown science). Such was the accuracy of his theories that, already at that time, and against the scientific theories of the time, they were aligned with the concepts now in force and demonstrated by modern physics, such as those of the Quantum Field Theory and the existence of elementary matter, " quintessenced”, which gives rise to all matter (dark matter). It is all knowledge that would require a real book to treat it. As this book already exists, we recommend reading it: “Mesmer: the denied science of animal magnetism”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo.

We also mentioned the question that the study of rational spiritualists was limited to understanding the soul as an agent of the will, external to the body and dominant over it, surviving death (by mere rational inference from the previous postulates), but with an unknown subsequent fate, since unobservable. It turns out, however, that “something” was happening, gaining ground for the establishment of a new science, born, at the time, like all the others: through the rational and methodological observation of the facts of nature.

Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo says, in “Mesmer: the denied science of animal magnetism”:

“The magnetizers proved very early on the relations of somnambulists with invisible beings. Deleuze, a disciple of Mesmer, in his correspondence with Dr GP Billot for more than four years, from March 1829 to August 1833, was initially reluctant, but eventually stated: “Magnetism demonstrates the spirituality of the soul and its immortality; he proves the possibility of communication between intelligences separated from matter with those still linked to them..” (BILLOT, 1839)”

[…]

Deleuze, in turn, stated: “I see no reason to deny the possibility of the appearance of people who, having left this life, take care of those they loved here and come to express themselves to them, to give them healthy advice. I just got an example of this.” (Ibid.)

[…]

“Years later, the magnetizer Louis Alphonse Cahagnet (1809-1885), with courage and determination, talked to the spirits through his ecstatic somnambulists, especially Adèle Maginot, recording in his work more than one hundred and fifty letters signed by witnesses who recognized the identity of the communicating spirits. Cahagnet anticipated this spiritist science research instrument by more than ten years.”

FIGUEIREDO. Mesmer: the denied science of animal magnetism.

We have arrived, therefore, at the birth of the spiritist science, a science, and not, as many believe, a “religion”. Being aware of the facts that swarmed across Europe (and the world, in fact) and, removing, through investigation, the quackery that only aimed to attract curious people and their bags of money, Professor Rivail ((Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail.)) set out, after much insistence from some known people, to a study that culminated in what became known as Spiritism, which, instead of being born, like all religious doctrines, from the isolated opinion of an individual or a group, was born from the rational analysis of thousands of communications, obtained from all “corners” of the world, in the same way that the magnetizers who preceded him also obtained theirs: through individuals placed in a state of somnambulism, induced by magnetism (from Mesmer). A fact was established, supported by reason: the soul, previously uninvestigatable, could, by its will, communicate through the soul of the individual placed in a somnambulistic state.

Through these communications, Allan Kardec, the name adopted by Rivail in order not to confuse his work as an educator and scientist with his new studies, inaugurated a new era in psychological study, because now, fully aligned with the concepts already developed by rational spiritualism, he studied the soul in its state, after death, of happiness or unhappiness, fruits of its choices. Not only: against the preconceived ideas he had, along with other scholars, regarding the origin of the soul, communications from countless Spirits evidenced, by reason, the law of reincarnation as a necessary element for the incessant progress of the Spirit ((Highlights Kardec, in his Magazine:

“Undoubtedly, say some opponents, you were imbued with such ideas and that is why the spirits agreed with your way of seeing. It is an error that proves, once again, the danger of hasty and unexamined judgments. If, before judging, such people had taken the trouble to read what we write about Spiritism, they would have spared themselves the trouble of such a light objection. We will therefore repeat what we have already said about it, that is, that when the doctrine of reincarnation was taught to us by the spirits, it was so far from our thinking that we had built a completely different system on the antecedents of the soul, a system that we actually shared. by many people. On this point, the doctrine of the Spirits surprised us. We'll say more: it upset us, because it overthrew our own ideas. As you can see, it was far from being a reflection of them.

This is not all. We don't give in to the first shock. We fight; we defend our opinion; we raise objections and only surrender in the face of evidence and when we realize the inadequacy of our system to resolve all issues relating to this problem.

In the eyes of some people, it may seem strange to use the term evidence, in such a subject, however, it will not be inappropriate for those who are used to scrutinizing spiritist phenomena. For the attentive observer, there are facts which, although not of an absolutely material nature, nevertheless constitute true evidence, at least moral evidence.

This is not the place to explain these facts, which can only be understood through continuous and persevering study. Our aim was only to refute the idea that this doctrine is nothing more than a translation of our thinking.”

KARDEC, Allan. Spirit Magazine. 1858.

)), in their choices to return to the subject, to continue their learning and, in many cases, to, after the repentance process, through your choices, and not by an arbitrary imposition, give rise to the necessary evidence for the search for detachment from habits and vices that, transformed into imperfections, led them to suffering.

Such studies complemented what Rational Spiritualism could not explain and demonstrated that the autonomy of the being, defined by his will and his free will, was indeed a determining factor in his progress and, consequently, in his state of happiness or unhappiness, as happiness would be the closer to the law natural would be, while unhappiness would be in fighting it, developing attachments. In recognizing the state of unhappiness and its reason, the Spirit would choose new opportunities that would provide learning, not being, under any circumstances, the effect of a punishment imposed by the mistake committed.

Here, dear reader, are the facts of the true psychological and philosophical revolution that, for more than a century, remained unknown to society, swept under the rug by a strong materialist reaction. Once recognized as a science, today, under the empire of a materialist – and inexact – understanding of what is science, is treated as pseudoscience, discredited and discredited under this classification. Here are the facts that, currently, are inconceivable to be addressed in the classrooms of philosophy, medicine, psychology and similar classes. Here are the facts, finally, that led the whole world to dive or remain under the fearsome principles that take away autonomy from being and that transform man into a veritable mass of flesh, defined by his body chemistry and, consequently, by his DNA. . Today, in general, one does not seek to investigate the origin of unhappiness, depression or disturbances by investigating the soul and its will: on the contrary, one seeks to investigate what is the gene of psychopathy, not considering that the “anomalies ” would be defined by the soul, not the other way around.

It happens, however, that the human being, precisely through spiritual progress, which does not cease, more and more search autonomy, because, slowly and progressively, it approaches, by reason itself, the verification and understanding of these principles, since the progress of the Spirit does not occur only in the state of incarnation. Autonomous ideas are starting to gain strength, both in society in general and in scientific circles, which, every day, come closer to this truth arbitrarily erased from human knowledge in the past. That is why, vehemently, we recommend the study of the cited works to, later, indicate, to those who feel compelled to do so, the study of the Spiritist Magazine, prepared by Kardec, from January 1858 to April 1869, where it is exposed, very clearly, the formation of this philosophical and moral doctrine that, in order to be well understood, lacks the understanding of the context in which it was born and formed.

We spoke of truth arbitrarily erased from human knowledge. Spiritism, having been the only scientific and philosophical doctrine that deepened the study of the psychology of the Spirit after the death of the body – this is why the Spiritist Magazine received, as subtitle, “Journal of Psychological Studies” – studied the facts that they were given rationally and with scientific methodology (which can be very well understood through a serious study of the work of Allan Kardec, and about which we have spoken a few times in our articles).

Duly contextualized in its time, the Spiritist Doctrine was so rational and logical, clear and, in a way, simple, that it “converted” ((Of course, the meaning given here to “convert” is to adopt principles and ideas of a doctrine, and not of affiliating with any religious system.)) countless people, even atheists and materialists, from the working classes to those occupying the highest social positions. Today, however, the Spiritist Movement, contaminated, for more than a century, by adulterations in Kardec's two final works and by ideas instilled in his environment, has lost precisely this rational and logical characteristic of an observational science. Currently, many move away from the spiritist environment precisely because they see their reasoning clashing with false concepts of debt payment, karma, divine punishment through reincarnation and unreasonable acceptance of any supposed spiritist psychography, without subjecting it, as Kardec recommended, to the scrutiny of reason.

This is why there is a need to study and get to know Spiritism in the original works ((The works Heaven and Hell and Genesis were respectively adulterated in their 4th and 5th editions, but the publisher FEAL currently already has the original works, with a huge amount of contextualizing notes by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo.))] by Kardec. Spiritism Never it was a religion, nor was it born with the intention of competing with religions for a position that does not belong to it ((Kardec would say, in the Revista Espírita of 1862:

“With regard to the issue of the miracles of Spiritism that was proposed to us, and which we dealt with in our last issue, this is also proposed: 'The martyrs sealed the truth of Christianity with their blood; where are the martyrs of Spiritism?'

You are therefore very urged to see the Spiritists placed on the bonfire and thrown to the wild beasts! Which should make you suppose that your good will would not be lacking if that were still the case. You want, therefore, with all your strength to elevate Spiritism to the status of a religion! Note well that he never had that pretension; he never set himself up as a rival to Christianity, of which he claims to be the son; that he fights his cruelest enemies: atheism and materialism. Once again, it is a philosophy resting on the fundamental foundations of all religion, and on the morals of Christ.; if he denied Christianity, he would contradict himself, he would commit suicide. It is these enemies that show it as a new sect, which gives it priests and great priests. They will shout so much, and so often, that it is a religion, that one could end up believing in it. Is it necessary to be a religion to have its martyrs? Have not science, the arts, genius, work, at all times, had their martyrs, as have all new ideas?”

Allan Kardec – Spiritist Magazine of 1862

)). It is, first of all, a moral science, as we have demonstrated, but also a science born from the observation of the facts of nature. Studied as such, it removes prejudices and attacks the only real enemy of human autonomy, materialism, demonstrating it to be false and unsustainable.