From the newspaper O Tempo:

During the sect, herbs and alcohol were thrown on the child's body. Afterwards, the spiritual leader set her body on fire using a candle. The girl had almost 100% of the body burned. The child's grandparents, an aunt and her mother were at the ritual when the crime took place. The family members were left with burns for trying to put out the fire from Maria Fernanda's body. 

Unfortunately, this is one of the cases that we believed to have been in the past of human bestiality, but that still reproduce today, and even on Brazilian soil. Far from such an act being linked to Spiritism, it is diametrically opposed to it, because, from the study of the Doctrine, it appears that Spirits do not require any type of ritual, and the approach to the case would be totally different.

On the internet, information circulates that the child was sick and that the false spiritual leader would have promised a cure during the ritual, but this information has not yet been confirmed by the Civil Police.

I understand, therefore, that the case in question was a kind of exorcism, a practice condemned by the Spirits themselves:

477. Do exorcism formulas have any effect on evil spirits?

"No. The latter laugh and become obstinate when they see someone taking it seriously.”

The Book of Spirits

Let us not take long to remember, in conclusion, that superstition and mysticism have a very dark side, which is to instill in man the fear of natural things, for him inexplicable. By the action of these beliefs, cats, owls and other animals are killed, believing in “bad omen” and, unfortunately, even children, in irrational and absurd rituals.

Unfortunately, this is yet another case to tarnish the reputation of spiritualists, but also to motivate them to studying Spiritism in order to conquer, in this science, the important knowledge to move away from this type of scabrous situation.

One of the babies that Cristiano Ronaldo's wife was expecting died during childbirth. Another opportune situation not only to analyze coldly, but to take the philosophical vision of the Doctrine we embrace to the world.

First of all, it is necessary to remove the absurdities. There are those who say that this was due to the action of “karma”, which, as we already know, does not exist. So, how can God allow such disgrace to a soul that hasn't even taken the first steps in Earth's school?

On the one hand, there is the view of materialism: there is no God, there is no Spirit, there is no afterlife; there is only the flesh, and we are beings that live from dust to dust. A philosophical digression in this sense is not appropriate here, since this vision is totally removed from our ideas. It is only worth asking: if that were the case, we would be mere machines, for which good and evil represent nothing, and where the worst of murderers could be equated with the best of humanitarians. The good, in fact, would be nothing more than an illusion and life on Earth would be worth absolutely nothing.

Finding ourselves in the line of those who recognize the existence of God and the continuity of life after death, we need to make a distinction between those who assume that reincarnation is the explanation for everything and those who believe that the soul is created at the moment of birth or fertilization. . In the latter hypothesis, the child who dies before his first steps would be very lucky, for, having done neither good nor bad, he could not make mistakes, while the one who lived to old age, having almost always made several mistakes, may not have found time to correct them while still alive. We asked that God would be the one who would not give the repentant individual more chances.

No, our positions do not fall within any of these previous ones, but that of the doctrine of reincarnation, the only one in which it finds reason and logic that explains everything in a clear and sensible way. So, we will say: the individual who dies while still a child is a Spirit, who would only enjoy one more incarnation with a view to evolving. Having not avenged the baby, it will be born again in other conditions, continuing its evolutionary journey. There is, for him, neither advantage nor disadvantage.

It remains to be seen whether his death has anything useful or even necessary. In The Spirits' Book, there are the following questions and answers:

345. Is the union of the Spirit with the body definitive from the moment of conception? During this first phase, could the Spirit renounce inhabiting the body destined for it?

“The union is definitive, in the sense that another Spirit could not replace the one assigned to that body. But as the ties that bind it to the body are still very weak, they are easily broken. They can be broken by the Spirit's will, if the Spirit retreats from the test he has chosen. In such a case, however, the child does not succeed.”

346. What does the Spirit do if the body he has chosen dies before birth?

“Choose another one.”

The) - What is the use of these premature deaths?

“Most of the time, they are caused by the imperfections of the matter.”

347. What use will a Spirit find in its incarnation in a body that dies a few days after birth?

“The being is not then fully aware of its existence; the importance of death is almost none. It is often, as we have said, a test for parents.”

It is very clear: we are incarnate and, therefore, we are subject to the laws of matter. At the same time, premature death is a test (and not a punishment, under any circumstances) for the parents, who can gain a very important experience by going through this experience.

Today is the anniversary of the publication of The Spirits' Book.

Many still think that it is a book dictated by a Spirit; still others think that it is a work created by Allan Kardec. Few know, however, that the first version of OLE was, in large part, obtained through a systematic and rational study of countless communications, obtained in a more or less systematic and organized way, by other scholars of mediumistic communications – many of them rational spiritualists. – even before Kardec even dreamed of talking to the spirits of the dead.

After the first version, where Kardec sought a rational and consistent meaning for the content presented, the second edition came, almost three years later, and with practically twice the volume of questions, better organized and distributed. This second edition was born, above all, after the methodological study born of all that (and a little more) that is presented in the Revista Espírita, between 1858 and 1860, and with this publication, the objective of obtaining mediumistic information from everywhere from Europe (and the world) was very well attended w reinforced.

Therefore, no, The Spirits' Book is not a religious or philosophical work, produced by an individual or group: it is, in fact, a work produced through an observational and rational scientific method, and that never accepted any word from the Spirits as a unquestionable revelation. In fact, about this, Kardec states, in the Spiritist Magazine (about which we always recommend the study, for showing the most real possible face of Spiritist science) of November 1858:

“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 in fact 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 do not give in at the first shock. We fight; we defend our opinion; we raised objections and only surrendered in the face of the evidence and when we noticed the insufficiency of our system to solve all the questions related to this problem”

More than 50 years ago, Herculano Pires said:

We need to meditate in order to look for the way we lack to offer the world the spiritual solution to the social problem. Finally, we make spiritism fulfill its historical mission, overcoming the crisis that reduces it, for the moment, to a flickering light in the midst of dense darkness, to a kind of simple individual refuge for disappointments and human afflictions. For its destiny, as Sir Oliver Lodge has pointed out, is not only to comfort disheartened hearts, but to open up to the world the prospects of a new era. If dogmatic faith determined the religious fanaticism of the Middle Ages, with its sinister bonfires, reasoned faith will create the religious positivism of the third millennium, with the pyres of brotherhood lit in all quarters of the planet. Because, as Kardec had already said, the task of spiritism is to elevate the Earth on the scale of the worlds, transferring it from the expiatory category to that of a regenerating world. (PIRES, 1971)

What are we (not) doing? Why is Spiritist philosophy still not widely (re)known? In this search for a north, I answer, as my grandmother once answered me, in Spirit: “at least study”.

In this article, we are going to deal with a medal that one of the readers of Revista Espírita bought with interesting and enigmatic details. First of all, it is important to present what the cabalism and esotericism

THE Kabbalah or Kabbalah (in Hebrew: קַבָּלָה; romanize.: Kabbalah or Qabbalâ;^{[nt 1]} literally: “receiving/tradition”) is a method esoteric, discipline and school of thought at the jewish mysticism.^[1] The traditional Kabbalists of Judaism are called Mekubalim (Hebrew: מְקוּבָלים) or Maskilim ( משכילים; “initiates“). 

already the esotericism is the generic name that highlights a set of traditions and philosophical interpretations of doctrines and religions – or even of Initiatic Fraternities – that seek to convey a list of certain subjects that concern aspects of the nature of life in an esoteric, that is, occult way. . Only a certain part of people can have the teachings.

we see that cabalism, esotericism, mysticism and occultism, All the "Esoteric Sciences" are now mixed together in a great melting pot. This doesn't mean they don't have... anything for real: it happens that the sages they knew, in their own way, the truth about spirits and mediumship, but kept the knowledge within a restricted circle, leaving a mystical and fantastic face to the people. There were few initiates...

In this article, Kardec presents the history of that medal, the talisman, that his reader, Mr. M., bought in an antique shop, which was sold as a Luck charm…

Luck charm: object to which its bearer attributes the magical power to fulfill his wishes; object when used that can provide magical power and/or enchantment.

Interrogating Ms. J., a sleepwalking medium, it was said that this medal had belonged to cazotte and who owned the special power to attract Spirits and facilitate evocations.

Mr. Caudemberg, author of a series of communications that he says he received, as a medium, from the Virgin Mary, told him that it was an evil object, suitable for attracting demons. Miss de Guldenstube, medium, sister of Baron of Guldenstube, author of a work on pneumatography, or direct writing, told him that the medal had a magnetic virtue and could provoke somnambulism.

Not being satisfied, Mr. M. presented this medal, asking for a personal opinion about it, at the same time asking that a superior Spirit could speak about the reality of the influence of this object. Here are excerpts from Kardec's answer:

“Spirits are attracted or repelled by thought and not by material objects, which have no power over them. At all times, superior spirits have condemned the use of signs and cabalistic forms, and every spirit that attributes any virtue to them or that intends to give them talismans that denote magic, thus reveals their own inferiority, whether when they act in good faith. and through ignorance, carried away by ancient earthly prejudices, with which he is still imbued, either when he consciously enjoys credulity, as a mocking Spirit. […] Whoever has studied the nature of spirits will not be able to rationally admit the influence of conventional forms on them, nor of substances mixed in certain proportions. It would be to renew the practices of the witches' cauldron, of black cats, of black chickens and other secret machinations."”

Who uses the medal, the talisman, effectively, will have an uncontrollable, magical, fantastic force, external to our senses? Are they effective? Is it just mysticism? Or is it just a mental trigger to remind us that spirituality is all around us? There are several statements regarding these tools, which many, many religions and sects use.

So objects can't have any power? Kardec continues:

“The same is not the case with a magnetized object, since, as is known, they have the power to provoke somnambulism or certain nervous phenomena on the body. organic economy”.

Now, is there support in the power of talismans, crystals, etc?

“But then, the virtue of such an object resides solely in the fluid with which it is momentarily impregnated and which is thus transmitted, indirectly, and not in the form, in the color, nor, above all, in the signs with which it may be overloaded. ”

Here, we are specifically talking about the influence about the Spirit – including the red one. If we talk about the matter, then we cannot rule out the interference that material objects specifics may have about it. 

The central point of this discussion is: the object itself, like a color, a sign or a plant, has no magnetic power (speaking of magnetism, which is what acts on the perispirit). However, when used, even in an esoteric way (as always happened) by someone with magnetic power, they gain, momentarily, a “charge” of magnetism. 

Now, since today we have access to knowledge about magnetism (Magnetism and Spiritism, by Carlos Bernardo Loureiro; Mesmer: The Denied Science of Magnetism, by PHF) wouldn't it be more interesting to study this science, in order to increase its usefulness, no longer being attached to mysticism, which often hinders the understanding of truths and their practical use?

In other words: hypnosis works because of a magnetic power (to explain) of the hypnotist, who is a magnetizer (even if he doesn't know it). This theme has often been confused with occultism and magic.

What hypnotizes, after all, is not the clock that swings, but the magnetism from which it he can be impregnated, or from the magnetism direct from the magnetizer.

And Kardec follows:

“A spirit may say: “Draw such a sign and by it I will know that you call me, and I will come.” But in this case the traced sign is the expression of thought; it is an evocation translated in a material way. Now, whatever the nature of spirits, they do not need such means of communication. Superior spirits never use them. Inferior spirits can do it in order to seduce gullible people who want under their dependence.

General rule: For superior spirits form is nothing. thought is everything. Every spirit that attaches more importance to the form than to the background is inferior, and does not deserve any trust, even when, from time to time, say some good things, because good things are sometimes a means of seduction.

Such was, in general, our thinking about talismans, as a means of entering into a relationship with the Spirits. Needless to say, it also applies to other superstitiously employed means, such as preservatives from illness and accidents.”

Once again, the focus is to put aside mysticism to understand, for the reason, the mechanics of magnetism and thought. And that is faith: Jesus practiced it all the time. He said, "if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you would move mountains" and, let's see: who you see the spiritist science and the science of magnetism, has a faith unshakable, to the point that, by the time these sciences were established, even the tables were moving.

Kardec, then, to complement the studies, evokes the Spirit of Saint Louis, asking for observations about the talisman in question. He answers:

"You do well not to admit that material objects can have any power over manifestations, either to provoke them or to prevent them..

Very often we have said that the demonstrations are spontaneous and that, moreover, we never refuse to respond to your call. Why do you think that we are obliged to obey a thing made by creatures??”

Q. ─ For what purpose was this medal made? ─ It was made with the aim of drawing the attention of people who might believe it; but only by magnetizers could it have been made with the intention of magnetizing and putting a sensitive to sleep. The signs are mere fantasy.

Q. ─ They say it belonged to Cazotte. Could we invoke him to give us some information about it? ─ It's unnecessary. Occupy yourselves before more serious things.”

Here, Kardec publishes the German-tomb conversation of the Schwabenhaus Password. She entered NDE days before she disincarnated. The article opens the field to, once again, talk about the phenomenon of ecstasy It's from sleep-walking, the former being a special class of the latter.

O ecstasy it is the state in which the independence of the soul, in relation to the body, manifests itself most sensitively and becomes, in a certain way, palpable.

At the dream and not sleep-walking, the soul wanders through earthly regions. In ecstasy, he penetrates an unknown world, that of ethereal Spirits, with whom he enters into communication […].

In the state of ecstasy, the annihilation of the body is almost complete. All that remains, one might say, is organic life. One feels that the soul is attached to it only by a thread, that one more tiny effort would break without remission.

Kardec, The Spirits' Book

“Many ecstatics are pawns of their own imagination and of mocking spirits who take advantage of the exaltation their. There are very few who deserve complete trust.”

The Mediums' Book, Kardec

444. What confidence can be placed in the revelations of ecstatics?

“The ecstatic is liable to be deceived very often, especially when he tries to penetrate what must remain a mystery to man, because then he lets himself be carried away by the current of his own ideas, or becomes the plaything of mystifying spirits, who take advantage of your enthusiasm to fascinate you.”

The Spirits' Book, Kardec

Briefly: Mrs. Schwabenhaus entered state cataleptic (or lethargic) and was judged dead. Then the funeral took place, while, in fact, she was in state of ecstasy and he glimpsed a whole consoling spiritual truth, together with his daughter, who died at the age of 7. it was you granted the gift of returning and saying goodbye to his loved ones, which he attended with extreme happiness. Shortly after, he definitively disincarnated. At the time, there was no knowledge about these states of the body.

At lethargy, the vital forces are dissipated and the body acquires the appearance of death, in a deep sleep. At catalepsy, this suspension of vital forces is sometimes localized. You lethargic and cataleptics they usually observe what is happening around them. The soul is aware of itself, but cannot communicate. It would be a near death.

Kardec evokes her on April 27, 1858 and clarifies some doubts, reinforcing the thesis of her ecstasy and other interesting points, in doctrinal agreement:

3. During your apparent death, did you hear what was happening around you and did you see the funeral apparatus? ─ My soul was very concerned about your coming happiness.

OBSERVATION: It is known that in general the lethargic see and hear what is going on around them and when waking up retain the memory. The fact that we portray offers the particularity of being lethargic sleep accompanied by ecstasy, which explains the diversion of the patient's attention.

5. ─ Can you tell us the difference between natural sleep and lethargic sleep? ─ Natural sleep is the rest of the body; the lethargic is the exaltation of the soul.

7. ─ How did your return to life take place?  ─ God allowed me to return to comfort the afflicted hearts around me.

8. ─ We would like a more material explanation.  ─ What you call perispirit still animated my earthly envelope.

OBSERVATION: It means to say that while the life of the body remains, the perispirit is connected to the cells. In OLE, we will see: 155. How does the separation of soul and body work? “The ties that held her are broken, she breaks free.” (it is the death of the body that causes the “exit” of the Spirit): a) – Does the separation occur instantly by a sudden transition? Is there a sharply drawn line of demarcation between life and death? "No; the soul gradually detaches, it does not escape like a captive bird that is suddenly restored to freedom. Those two states touch and confuse each other, so that the Spirit gradually breaks free from the bonds that bound it. These bonds are untied, not broken.”

Kardec comments on Ms. S., when he says that his daughter would be a pure Spirit. Of course it should be higher, but pure, here is relative.

In question 16, Kardec continues investigating the form by which spirits see each other. It is interesting how the response of a higher Spirit matches the response of the Spirit quoted in the article “The Drum of Beresina”, July 1858. Let us see Mrs. S.:

16. ─ Did you recognize her [the daughter] in any form? ─ I only saw her as Spirit.

In the article by Tambor de Beresina:

29. ─ How do you know that they are Spirits [the others you see]? ─ Among us, we see ourselves as we are.

32. ─ And do you see the other spirits with the forms they had in life? ─ No. We don't take on an appearance until we are evoked. Other than that, we are formless.

Question 31 (in the present article):

31. Since you have been here with the form you had on Earth, is it through the eyes that you see us? ─ No, the Spirit has no eyes. I only find myself in my last form to satisfy the laws that govern spirits when evoked and forced to resume what you call perispirit..

RE September /1858, Kardec

This affirmation of the evoked Spirit is one of the conclusions that Kardec reaches regarding the form of the Spirits:

88. Do spirits have a determined, limited and constant form?

“Not for you; for us, yes. The Spirit is, if you like, a flame, a flash, or an ethereal spark.”

a) – Does this flame or spark have color?

“It has a coloring that, for you, goes from a dark and opaque color to a brilliant color, like that of ruby, depending on whether the Spirit is more or less pure.”

Geniuses are usually represented with a flame or star on their foreheads. It is an allegory, which recalls the essential nature of Spirits. They place it on top of the head, because that is the seat of intelligence.

Book of Spirits, Kardec

Another cause of interest at the time, although it took place in 1572. O Saint Bartholomew's Night Massacreu or the night of Saint Bartholomew, was an episode, in the history of France, in the repression of Protestantism, engendered by the French kings, who were Catholics. These murders took place on August 23 and 24, 1572, in Paris, on St. Bartholomew's Day.[1] It is estimated that between 5,000 and 30,000 people were killed, depending on the attributed source.

Eight days after the São Bartolomeu Massacre, terrifying screams and groans were heard “in the air” by countless witnesses. The noise lasted about half an hour, then stopped. Himself King Charles IX he must have heard, for he looked somber, pensive, and wild.

Kardec brings the report only to demonstrate the similarity with the case of Mademoiselle Clairon (Feb/58) ee to demonstrate, once again, that the spiritist facts have always been in our history.

In this picture, which, if written in the Brazilian context, would probably be called “spiritist stories”, Kardec cites the cause reported by Patrie, on August 15, 1858:

an officer of French Directory(Name given to the Government of France), while traveling, he stayed in a hovel. During his sleep, he saw a terrible apparition: a “specter” that came out of the shadows, hair red with blood, throat cut, etc., came to him and gave him details of his own murder, indicating the place where his body was buried and the perpetrators of the crime. It evoked the officer's help to call the police and solve the case.

The officer did not listen, as he considered it to be his imagination. The next day, as he fell asleep, he had the vision of the Spirit again, this time more sad and threatening. He has ignored it again, the next day he saw the Spirit again, in sleep, now even more irritated and threatening. The officer thought it best not to ignore this time: he returned to the indicated place, called the officers and solved the case. This shows that this Spirit was very attached to material concepts, still, and that it had many imperfections, as it sought revenge.

Another apparition, this time with the contentment of the Spirit, more “kind” and affable. He said he would show himself again two hours before the officer's death, which he did years later.

Like all teaching, it is progressive. As humanity evolves its understanding changes. This article on Plato and Socrates is about that.

Remember the teachings of Last week's Sao Vicente de Paul? So, Saint Vincent de Paul spoke of the Gospel, that we should study it. Now, RE shows us something before Jesus, from the 5th and 4th century BC, from Plato and your mentor Socrates (remembering that it was Plato who wrote).

In the Spiritist Society, they had never imagined before:

“Today we will not discuss this theory, which was so far from our thinking when the Spirits revealed it to us, which surprised us strangely, because — we humbly confess — what Plato had written on this special subject was then completely unknown to us, new evidence, among others. so many others, that the communications given to us absolutely do not reflect our personal opinion. As for Plato's, we have only established the main idea, it being easy for each one to decide the form in which it is presented and to judge the points of contact that, in certain details, it may have with our current theory.

Kardec, Allan. Spiritist Magazine: first year: September/1858

The teachings of Socrates and Plato really carry the precepts of Jesus and are similar to those of the communicating spirits of Kardec's century.

In this article, RE presents as main ideas coming from Plato: the immortality of the soul, the succession of existences, the choice of existences as a result of free will, in short, the happy and unhappy consequences. Of course, Socrates, described by Plato, used parables to explain, because that was how they understood the lessons at that time. 

In his allegory of the Spindle of Necessity, Plato imagines a dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon, attributing to the former the speech of the RE, about the revelations of the Armenian Er, a fictional character, in all probability, although some take him for Zoroaster. worth reading.

Kardec presents the essence of an allegory by Plato, where a man would have had an NDE and came back telling “the other side”. It is very figurative, and it shows the idea of the Trial Choices before we reincarnate.

In these teachings, when Plato quotes the Daughters of Necessity, he is talking about divine laws. See what he says:

Passenger souls, you will start a new career and be reborn (reincarnate) in the mortal condition. Genius will not be pointed out to you; you will choose it yourself. You will choose the one that luck calls first, and that choice will be irrevocable. Virtue belongs to no one: it allies itself to those who dignify it and abandons those who despise it. Each one is responsible for the choice he makes, God is innocent.'

Kardec, RE September/1858

Then he goes on to describe how the rebirth takes place, which is very similar to what the Spirits in Kardec's times explain.

Therefore, each one is responsible for the choice! God is innocent in his free will!

In OLE, these issues are addressed in depth, as in  Part Two — On the Spiritist World or World of Spirits, Chapter VI — On the Spiritist Life, Choice of Evidence, as well as the questions 337 and 975. 

This RE article is Kardec's seed for the elaboration of the Gospel According to Spiritism (April 1864). in your introduction exposes the relationship with the ideas of Christianity and soon after the morals of Socrates and Plato.

Note: we also indicate this great video about the Morals of Socrates and Plato of the channel Spiritism for All

Definitely, I moved away from the discussion about proofs and evidence of tampering in your works. That is my opinion that they have become a huge waste of time. I explain:

At first, I had an opinion, that pieces of evidence regarding the adulteration were very overwhelming ((Facts presented in detail in “The Legacy of Allan Kardec”, by Simoni Privato, and “Nem Céu, Nem Inferno”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo and Lucas Sampaio .)).

Then, emerged the evidence that it could had been indicated could that there were no adulterations and that everything was the result of Kardec's own work, according to the interpretation of some, and this led by indications and evidence that he, Kardec, had the clear intention of publishing new editions, with alterations, of O Céu and Hell and Genesis. I emphasize that, in my opinion, so far, all the evidence indicates that Kardec, at least in A Genesis, would have started a work in this direction, a work that was never completed and that gave space, precisely, to whoever would have the intention to wreak havoc in the only way possible on an unassailable Doctrine: by tampering with its postulates, in their origin.

There are those who disagree, of course. But there's a big although, on this subject, which I cannot ignore: the question precisely linked to spiritist science and to Allan Kardec as the honest, insightful, patient, careful and honest scientist he was. Of two, one: either he wrote very important and serious things under an anxiety that he never had, having later retreated in his opinions - which would demonstrate a serious flaw in his method and would represent a great danger to the whole Spiritist Doctrine - or he he was very careful, until the end, and only concluded what had to be concluded, after years of research and under the guidance of superior spirits, as he always tried to do.

Now, he himself said, years before the publication of these works, that certain doctrinal matters still needed to wait a few years and that he would not publish anything very soon, without the development of the Doctrine giving way to this. Heaven and Hell and Genesis were precisely that conclusion. I do not see how, therefore, especially in the first work, to make changes that, at certain points, alter completely the understanding of the idea and that, in A Genesis, make the concept or doctrinal postulate incomplete or misunderstood. But that's not all: Kardec was very austere in these two works, precisely with regard to the most sensitive points, and which gave reason to fear in the opponents of Spiritism, and it was precisely at these points where the “alterations” took place.

Let's look at some examples:

In A Genesis, chapter III, item 19, from the 5th edition onwards, the text reads as follows:

“The man who only acted constantly by instinct might be very good, but he would keep his intelligence dormant. He would be like a child who didn't leave the walkers and didn't know how to use his limbs. He who does not master his passions can be very intelligent, but at the same time very bad. Instinct annihilates itself; the passions can only be tamed by the effort of the will.“

However, in the 4th edition, now recovered and translated into Portuguese by the publisher FEAL, there is the following complement:

All men go through passions. Those who have overcome them, and are not, by nature, proud, ambitious, selfish, spiteful, vindictive, cruel, wrathful, sensual, and do good without effort, without premeditation and, so to speak, involuntarily, it is because they have progressed in the sequence. of their previous existences, having rid themselves of this uncomfortable weight. It is unfair to say that they have less merit when they do good, compared to those who fight against their tendencies. It turns out that they have already achieved victory, while the others have not yet. But when they do, they will be like the others. They will do good without thinking about it, like children who read fluently without having to spell. It is as if they were two sick people: one cured and full of strength while the other is still recovering and hesitates to walk; or as two runners, one of which is closer to the finish than the other.

Kardec, A Genesis, 4th edition — FEAL Publisher

Now, it seems believable that Kardec drew this conclusion so important, profound and liberating of this postulate?

A little further on, in chapter XVIII, “The times have arrived”, the following passage was deleted (removed) from the 5th edition of the work. Read with attention:

To say that humanity is ripe for regeneration does not mean that all individuals are on the same level, but many have, by intuition, the germ of new ideas that circumstances will bring about. Then they will prove to be more advanced than one might suppose, and they will eagerly follow the lead of the majority. There are, however, those who are essentially refractory to these ideas, even among the most intelligent, and who will certainly not accept them, at least in this lifetime; in some cases, in good faith, out of conviction; others for interest. They are those whose material interests are linked to the current conjuncture and who are not advanced enough to give them up, since the general good matters less than their personal good — they are apprehensive at the slightest reform movement. The truth is for them a secondary issue, or rather, the truth for certain people lies entirely in that which does not cause them any trouble. All progressive ideas are, from their point of view, subversive ideas, and for this reason they have an implacable hatred for them and an obstinate war against them. They are intelligent enough to see Spiritism as an aid to progressive ideas and the elements of transformation that they fear and, because they do not feel up to it, they strive to destroy it.. If they thought him worthless and unimportant, they wouldn't worry about him. We have already said it elsewhere: “The more grandiose an idea is, the more it finds opponents, and its importance can be measured by the violence of the attacks to which it is the object”.

Kardec, A Genesis, 4th edition — FEAL Publisher

If the suppression of this passage doesn't seem like something carried out precisely by an opponent of the Doctrine, I don't know what would.

In O Céu e o Inferno, from the 4th edition onwards, we have, among other things, the suppression of important postulates, such as these (chap. VIII):

Through the examples that Spiritism places before our eyes, it teaches us that the soul in the invisible world suffers for all the evil it has done, as well as for all the good it could have done and did not do during its earthly life. That the soul is not condemned to an absolute, uniform, and time-limited penalty, but that it suffers the natural consequences of all its evil deeds, until it has improved itself by the efforts of its own will. It carries its own punishment within itself, and that wherever it finds itself, for which there is no need for a circumscribed place. Hell, then, is wherever there are suffering souls, as Heaven is wherever there are happy souls, which does not prevent one and the other from grouping together, by affinity of position, around certain points.

Heaven and Hell, Chap. IV, item 6, paragraph deleted in adulteration, p. 85

As all spirits are perfectible, by virtue of the law of progress, they carry within themselves the elements of their future happiness or unhappiness and the means of acquiring one and avoiding the other by working towards their own advancement.

Allan Kardec, Heaven and Hell, 3rd edition — FEAL Editor

We see, then, a great loss, for the suppression of these postulates. There are several other points, which, according to a certain understanding, can even be re-signified under a possible authorship by Allan Kardec, but the fact is that there are also strange changes in this work that do not make sense. Just compare the chapter "Future penalties according to Spiritism“, from Heaven and Hell, completely disfigured in the “alteration”.

There's more: admitting that all the existing alterations in these works were carried out by Kardec, means saying that he would have made a grotesque mistake, and not just once, but twice: not having obtained the necessary permission, from the government, to print new editions of these works. I've never met this careless and reckless Kardec that they've been showing around.

Knowing a little about Professor Rivail's extremely serious, conscientious and careful face regarding this science (as with others), I cannot admit the theories of alterations by his own hand, especially the deletions, and, from a scientific point of view, everything What I have seen so far, not counting the forced conclusions under chains of logic with some problems, at most, indicates an intention to publish a new edition, which was never completed and which, precisely, gave rise to adulterations subsequent to his death, by changing the movable type ((pieces used to make previous impressions, at that time. These impressions were analyzed and corrected, by changing the types (letters, punctuation, etc.) and, when it was verified that the work was finished, they were used for printing the headquarters, which is used for large-scale printing)) existing.

In fact, in possession of Kardec's manuscripts, made available by the CDOR, from FEAL, it was possible to identify that:

Some handwritten letters show that, in February 1868, Kardec was interested in adding excerpts in The Genesis, as it was his custom, after a while of release, to review his works. For this, he asked the spirits for advice to organize this work.

Some spiritual friends gave guidelines for a review of the work, with the express indication not to change the doctrinal issues in any way, as can be seen from the following excerpts from this communication:

"My opinion is that there is absolutely nothing of doctrine to be taken away; everything there is useful and satisfying in every way" and

"It is necessary to leave intact all theories that first appear in the public eye.”.

In this case, in addition to the legal demonstration of tampering with The Genesis, this communication also reinforces the fact due to the doctrinal changes identified in the work, with the suppression of several passages in which Kardec criticizes the heteronomous moral of religious fanaticism, among other manipulations.

Still in this communication, the spirit also suggested that he work without haste and without dedicating a lot of time:

"Above all, don't rush too much. (…) Start working immediately, but not in an exaggerated way. Do not hurry”.

https://espirito.org.br/autonomia/ncni-conselhos-sobre-a-genese/

Now, what do we observe in the alterations of Genesis, if not haste and carelessness?

This recommendation was justified because Kardec, in the midst of his difficult health condition, had priority issues to worry about, such as Spiritist Magazine and the project for the continuity of Spiritism through the collective direction phase.

That's my conclusion. However, we can even go so far as to say that these questions of adulteration or not are a mere “detail”, a “stumbling block”, which will be overcome when science is restored to its essence. Now, this essence remains unchanged and is available for our study. It is enough to study it, honestly, because the honest and humble man surrenders in the face of the results of scientific investigation. But, in conclusion, this study needs to be contextualized, and one of the greatest researchers of this context, Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, is being put under the rug, by many, just because he shares the opinion of adulteration. And that attitude is definitely not science.

This is a succinct article, bringing a reflection, I believe, important.

The subject in question has been around for a long time: the search for a unification of the Spiritist Movement. We know that, especially in Brazil, since the beginning of the spiritist movement, there have been splits, that is, divisions into groups of ideologies. There are even inside movement, political divisions, something that should never exist, since Spiritism aims, above all, at the transformation of the individual, by his own will and reason, and not by force majeure, that is, a social modification through the modification individual. Politics (seen from the simplistic point of view, according to what is generally done), on the other hand, aims at this transformation from the top down, by force of law.

We should note: this, of course, does not mean that the spiritist cannot get involved with politics. Quite the contrary: it should. But with which eyes? Certainly not those of vanity and pride of opinions, but based in the Spiritist Doctrine. Let us imagine what, with political force, people could do well-understood of the scientific, moral and philosophical essence of Spiritism, of the transformation by the base, of the pedagogy of autonomy, from kindergarten and, finally, those who understand, deeply, the well and its power of social transformation, respecting, however, ALWAYS (as long as the act does not imply direct harm to others and respecting the laws in force) the free will of each one, which is a principle fundamental of Spiritism? Now, the big problem has always been reserved opinions, when, on the one hand, some think they will solve everything with weapons and, on the other, some think they will solve everything. based on strength, taking from some to give to others.

But let's return to the fundamental point: with the divisions under the same flag, it is natural, then, to be born the various proposals for unification, even inspired by that famous and fair recommendation of the Spirit of Truth, in The Gospel According to Spiritism — “Spiritists!, love you, here is the first teaching. Instruct yourselves, here is the second”. How, then, to achieve this goal?

Now, recognizing that we are Spirits in different degrees of evolution, with different forms of understanding, with different knowledge and different ways of seeing the world - in short, each one, in itself, a true universe - it is clear that we cannot suppose that a unification mean a equalization of ideas. That would be impossible. It would also be impossible and even erroneous to suppose that this unification would be the brotherhood of all spiritists under the same regulatory entity, as has been tried for a long time, since Spiritism cannot be confined under hierarchies, entities or even people. Kardec himself, who so conscientiously led the first years of the formation of the Doctrine, knew this: after his death, who would assume his post? Who would take that right? Do not. From the beginning, Kardec proposed guidelines for what would very well lead Spiritism after his death, which, in short, would be:

1. As a basic principle of a science, Spiritism would never be closed to questioning, as long as it is born from the honest purpose of the individual who does not accept anything without reasoning, nor from curiosity, as long as it is born from the investigative principle of the search for knowledge; however, from the moment that the individual does not surrender to the logic of facts and evidence, abundantly supported by reason and by the scientific method, he cannot be taken seriously and, to spend time with this one, would mean wasting time with the one who, presenting If you are an apple, you will say that it is a lemon, simply because you want to cultivate pride and not humility.

2. From the point of view of doctrinal organization, Kardec, together with his collaborators, proposed, as presented in the Spiritist Magazine of December 1868 (about four months before his death) the “Transitory Constitution of Spiritism” (read by clicking on here) which, in short, recommended that Spiritism should no longer be constituted under any centralizing figure or entity, but through countless study and research groups, constituted around the world, and coordinated but not regulated, for one central committee, which, according to Kardec…

… will therefore be the head, the true head of Spiritism, collective leader who can do nothing without the assent of the majority and, in certain cases, without that of a congress or general assembly. Numerous enough to be clarified by discussion, it will not be enough to cause confusion there.

[…]

It is clear that here we are dealing with a moral authority, as far as the interpretation and application of the principles of doctrine are concerned, and not with any disciplinary power. This authority will be, in matters of Spiritism, what an Academy has in matters of science.

The brilliance, rationality, even genius of Professor Rivail is really worthy of a Spirit who prepared himself for the mission he had in front of him. THE unity of Spiritism, therefore, would not be represented by the strength of this or that individual, or group, of this or that entity: it would be in the whole, in the basic principles of science and spiritist doctrine. It would not be up to anyone, individually, to give rules, accept or reject the adoption of new principles and even new adepts.

Now, if this was published, by his own hand, when he was still alive, we ask: what happened to the spiritist movement to reach the current scenario, where dissidence occurs, everywhere, basically due to disrespect to the basic principles of the Doctrine and of this organization wisely proposed by Allan Kardec, shortly before his death? Well, there are four main points:

1. Doctrinal deviations after his death, by those who should have continued his work. This was due to personal interests, such as money, fame (vanity) and pride. Spirits contrary to good, because they are ignorant of it, found in human imperfections the necessary loophole to accomplish the only thing they could against such a strongly established doctrine. Thus, they obtained, through Pierre Leymarie or others ((Leymarie was not at the head of the Anonymous Society, which replaced the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, until 1872, the year in which the adulterated edition of Heaven and the Inferno)): the adulterations of O Céu e o Inferno and A Gênesis ((Facts presented in detail in “O Legado de Allan Kardec”, by Simoni Privato, and “Nem Céu, Nem Inferno”, by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo and Lucas Sampaio .)), Kardec's two final works that encapsulated the doctrinal principles of more than 15 years of learning and investigations; the facts that stained and shadowed the Spiritist Doctrine, such as the “Process of Spiritists“, the frequent dissemination of anti-doctrinal ideas, in the Revista Espírita, among others ((Facts extensively detailed in the aforementioned works and also in “Muita Luz” (Beacoup de Lumiere), by Berthe Fropo. The PDF can be easily found on Google.) ).
2. The wars that followed a few decades later and that plunged the world into materialism, either through the difficulties and misfortunes of the people or through armed struggles.
3. The personal interests or the inability to understand the true essence of Spiritism on the part of those who took the reins of the nascent spiritist movement in Brazil and who found, in Roustaing, a theory closer to their purposes or their capacities for understanding. These, linked to politics — look, once again politics — and/or the press and with the ability to penetrate, made these ideas widely spread across the country.
4. The lack of interest in the studies of the adepts of Spiritism who, if they had dedicated themselves to this need, would have found what we have just presented.

I would say that, of all, the fourth and last topic is the most serious of all, as any stumbles, consciously or not, would often be corrected by a dedicated study of the existing doctrinal content or by scientific research with the Spirits, as Kardec did.

Finally, we found that the existing splits in the Spiritist movement are much less due to doctrinal ideology, and much more due to the absence or presence of necessary scientific principles, following in the footsteps of Allan Kardec. On the one hand, there are those who understand the need for the method, the principle of universal agreement of the teachings of the Spirits, of not accepting an isolated opinion, from anyone, as if it were the expression of truth and wisdom and, therefore, part of the Doctrine and the importance, usefulness and necessity of spiritist evocations, with all due care always highlighted by Kardec; on the other, there are those who think that Kardec is outdated by time, that the Spirits have to be left in peace and that it is up to this or that person to prophet of revelation.

THE unity, then, in Spiritism, it is not impossible. However, as is clear, for it to exist, it is necessary to respect the constitution, method and postulates of this science. Differences of opinion and interpretations will always exist, but as long as the basic principles of this science are fulfilled, they will be progressively overcome or removed.

From everything, we take the following: unity should not be sought in the one who insists on saying that the apple is a lemon, but in the one who, even supposing it to be a lemon, in the face of reason, understands and agrees: yes, it is an apple . In other words: Spiritism is a very well established and grounded science. Let us look for unity, based on this science, in all those who want to study and research it as necessary, without the intention of uniting everyone under the same entity or a single leader, but spreading out, across the four corners of the world, the need the formation of groups of applied studies on this science. Over time, when we are ready, this will give space to the resumption of studies, instigated by the Spirits themselves, of the new principles of the Doctrine, with the coordination of a central committee or more.

Make no mistake: we are not looking for numbers, but quality. The true spreaders of this Doctrine will not be the majority, in principle, but will be those who will help in the process of recovering the essence of Spiritism, disseminating it to all who can. Although few, they are found everywhere, often waiting for a little push to resume their walk. As for those who insist on spiritism without the spirits, or on spiritism à la Roustaing, let us understand that they practice a new religion, and not the Spiritist Doctrine. As Kardec would say, let's leave them, because reason will prevail, and divergent opinions will be muffled by time and science, as has always happened in the history of humanity.

In “spiritists, love each other”, we need respect and understanding that can only be born from the humility that arises from scientific exploration and reason, which leads the individual to perfect; in “I instruct you”, we have reinforced the need to study the Doctrine, so that we can stop being blindly commanded by opinions.