The Spiritist review — Journal of psychological studies — 1858

As much as the spiritist manifestations had happened at all times, it is incontestable that they are exceptionally produced these days. The spirits, when questioned about this subject, were unanimous in their answer: “The times, chosen by the Providence for a universal manifestation, have come. Their duty is to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and prejudice. It is the beginning of a new era which prepares the regeneration of humanity.” This thought is found notably developed in a letter we have received from one of our members, from which we extract the following excerpt:

“Everything has its time. The period that has just finished seems to have been specially destined by the Almighty to the progress of Physics and Mathematics and it is probably with the objective of disposing men to the knowledge of the exact Sciences which opposed them, for such a long time, to the manifestation of the spirits, as if that manifestation could be harmful to the positivism required by the study of Sciences. In one word, He wanted men to turn into a habit the search for the explanation of every phenomenon which could be produced before their eyes, in the Sciences of observation.”

“It seems that the scientific period is now over. After the immense progress which took place over that period, it would not be impossible that the new period, which must succeed the other, would be destined, by the Creator, to the initiations of psychological order. In the immutable law of perfectibility established to the humankind, what can He do after having initiated men in the physical laws of motion and revealed the engine with which men change the face of the globe?”

“Man has probed the most distant depths of space; the march of the globes and the general movement of the Universe are no longer secrets; men read the history of formation of our own planet in the geological layers; light is transformed, at will, into lasting images; man dominates lightning; with steam and electricity suppresses distances and man’s thought travels across the space with the speed of light. Arriving at this summit, to which history of mankind offers no similar, whatever the degree of advancement may have been reached in the remote eras, it seems reasonable to me to think that the psychological order opens up a new road in the path of progress to man. It is at least what would be deduced from the facts that are produced in our days and multiply everywhere. Let us then wait for the moment to approach – if it has not yet done so – in which the Almighty will initiate us in new, great and sublime truths. It is up to us to understand it and support Him in the duty of regeneration.”

This letter is from Mr. Georges who we spoke about in our first issue. We have only to congratulate him for his progress in the Doctrine. The eminent points of view he develops demonstrate that he understands it under its truthful prism. To him the Doctrine is not summarized by the belief in the spirits and their manifestations: it is a whole philosophy. As Mr. Georges, we believed that we have entered into a psychological period. The motives he presents are perfectly rational, as we do not think that the scientific period has given the final word; on the contrary, we suppose that it still reserves many more prodigies. We are in a transition period in which the characters of both periods blend.

The knowledge acquired by the antiquity about the spiritist manifestations did not serve as argument against the idea of the psychological period, which is in preparation. In fact, let us notice that in the antiquity such knowledge was limited to a strict circle of wise men. The people had only some idea about them, flawed by prejudice and disfigured by the charlatanism of the priests, who used them as a means of domination. As we have said elsewhere, such knowledge has never been lost; they remained as isolated facts, certainly because the time was not right for them to be understood. What happens today has a completely different character: the manifestations are general; shock society from top to bottom. The spirits no longer teach in the mysterious circles of the temple, inaccessible to the common ones. These facts happen in day light. They speak a language understandable by all.

Everything thus announce, from a moral point of view, a new phase to humanity.

Under the title “Le vieux neuf” Mr. Edouard Fournier published in the Le Siècle, a series of articles ten years ago, as much outstanding as interesting, from the erudition point of view, with respect to history. When commenting all modern inventions and discoveries the author proves that if this century has the merit of application and development, it does not have – at least in its majority – that one of precedence. Over the time that Mr. Fournier wrote this magnificent series, there was no understanding of spirits, not noticing that the events that take place today are a mere repetition of what was equally or better known by our ancestors. This is unfortunate, as his profound investigations would have allowed him to expose the old mystic just as he has exposed the ancient industry. We wish one day his extensive research may be directed to that spiritual side as well.

As for us, the personal observations do not leave any doubt relative to the ancient times and to the universality of the Doctrine taught by the spirits. The coincidence between what they tell us today and the beliefs of the remotest eras is a very important fact. We shall note, however, that if we find traces of the Spiritist Doctrine everywhere, we don’t see it completed anywhere else. It seems that the task of coordinating these sparse fragments among all peoples has been reserved for our times, so that we can arrive at the unity of principles, through a more thorough, and above all, more general set of manifestations which, as it seems, give reason to the author mentioned in the preceding article, about the psychological period in which humanity gradually enters.

Ignorance and prejudice have disfigured this doctrine almost everywhere as these fundamental principles blend with the superstitious practices of all times, exploited with the objective of subduing reason. Nevertheless, under this stack of absurdities the most sublime ideas have germinated like precious seeds hidden under the burning bushes, waiting for the vivifying sunlight to develop. Our generation, more universally informed, brushes aside the burning bushes. Such a cleansing, however, cannot be accomplished without transition. Let us then allow the necessary time for the good seeds to develop and the weeds to be eliminated.

The Druidic Doctrine offers a curious example of what we have just said. This doctrine, which we only know the exterior practices, rises to the most sublime truths on certain aspects. But these truths were only known to the initiated ones: frightened by the human sacrifices, the public harvested the sacred agarics of the oat with a sanctified respect and only saw the phantasmagoria. We will be able to assess it by the following text, extracted from a document as much precious as unknown, which sheds a completely new light onto the truthful theology of our ancestors.

We offer a Celtic text to the reflection of our readers, published not long ago, whose appearance has caused certain commotion in the educated world. It is impossible to be certain about its authorship as well as to which century it belongs. It is, however, incontestable that it belongs to the tradition of the Bardic Welsh and that its origin is sufficient to award it the highest value.

It is known, indeed, that Wales was, and still is in our days, the most faithful asylum to the Gallic nationality which has suffered, among us, profound modifications. It has been just touched by the weak and short roman domination; preserved from the barbaric invasions by the strength of its inhabitants and by the natural difficulties of its territory; submitted later to the Normand Dynasty which felt impelled to allow it a certain level of independence, retaining the name Wales as an always distinctive mark connecting it to ancient times.

The Welsh (Cymraeg or Gymraeg) language, once spoken all over the northern part of the Gaul, has never ceased to be used as many customs are equally still Gallic.

From all foreign influences, Christianism was the only one completely successful. But that was not achieved without difficulties, relatively to the supremacy of the Roman Church whose reform in the XVI century did not do more than determining its fall, articulated long before in those regions full of an indefectible independence.

One can even say that on converting to Christianism the Druids were not extinct in the Gaul, as they were in our Brittany and in other regions of Gallic blood. They had, as an immediate consequence, a very solidly constituted society, mainly dedicated, apparently, to the cult of national poetry but which, under the poetic blanket, preserved a notable fidelity to the intellectual heritage of the old Gaul: the Bardic society of Wales, after been kept as a secret society during the whole Middle Ages, by oral transmission of its literary monuments and doctrine, similarly to what the Druids used to do, then decided around the XVI and XVII centuries to confide the most essential parts of their inheritance to the writings.

It is from that collection, whose authenticity is attested by an uninterrupted chain of traditions, that the text we mentioned proceeds and its value, given those circumstances and as mentioned before, does not depend on the hand which had the merit of writing it, neither on the period when the writing was given a definite format. It is the spirit of the medieval Bards that transpire from it, Bards who were in turn the last disciples of a wise and religious corporation which, under the name of Druids, dominated the Gaul during the first period of its history; more or less like the Latin clergy did during the Middle Ages.

Even if we were removed from all clues regarding the origin of the analyzed text, we would surely be on the right path, given its agreement with the Greek and Latin authors who left us their teachings about the Druids’ religious doctrine. That agreement is reached out of indubitable points of solidarity as they are supported by the reasoning extracted from the very substance of those texts. Thus the demonstrated solidarity regarding the fundamental articles – the only ones we heard about from our ancestors – naturally extends to the secondary developments. Indeed, these developments, imbued with the same spirit, necessarily derive from the same source; they are part of the whole and cannot be explained by anything else but that way. At the same time that they refer to the primitive archives of the Druidic religion, by such a logic deduction, it is impossible to assign any other starting point to them. This is because, other than the Druidic influence, the region from where they originate has not suffered any other influence but the Christian that was totally strange to those doctrines.

The themes developed in the triads are so strange to Christianism that the rare Christian influences found here and there in the body of the text, at first sight, already distinguish them from the primitive structure. That influence, naively originated from the conscience of the Bardic Christians, could hardly interleave with the interstices of the Druidic tradition, if one can say so, incapable of blending with all that. Thus, the analysis of the text is as simple as rigorous, hence it can be simplified by leaving aside everything that contains the seal of Christianism and, once filtered, by considering as of Druidic origin all the rest, visibly characterized by a religion which is different from that of the Gospel or from the Catholic Councils.

Thus, in order to mention only what is essential, let us begin by the well-known principle that the dogma of charity to God and man is so peculiar to Christianism as the migration of the souls is to Druidism; a certain number of triads in which a spirit of love breathes, immediately revealing as indicators of a comparatively modern character, never known to the primitive Gaul, whereas the other triads, animated by a completely different breath, reveal even more markedly the distinguished character of the antiquity. Finally, one does not need to observe much to understand that the form of the teachings contained in the triads is of Druidic origin. It is a well-known fact that the Druids had a particular preference for the number three and used it in their lessons. This is additionally demonstrated through the Gallic monuments that contain the number three.

Diogenes Laertius has preserved one of those triads which succinctly summarize the duties of man to the Divinity, to their neighbors and to himself. “Honor the superior beings, do not commit injustice and do cultivate ones virile virtue.” The bard’s literature propagated aphorisms of the same kind, relatively to all fields of human knowledge: Science, History, Moral, Law, Poetry. One cannot find a more interesting or adequate work to inspire great thoughts than that of the text published below, according to the French version by Mr. Adolphe Pictet.

From that series of triads the first eleven ones are dedicated to the exposition of the characteristic attributes of the Divinity. It is this segment that had the greatest Christian influence, as it was easy to predict. If one cannot deny that the Druidism incorporated the principle of God’s unity, they had also conceived, in a confusing way, perhaps due to their disposition for the number three, something like the Divine Trinity. It is, nevertheless, incontestable that what complements such a high theological conception – that is, a distinction of the persons and particularly the third one – became completely strange to this old religion. All that contributes to prove that its former adepts were much more concerned with the establishment of man’s freedom than with charity. It was precisely a consequence of this false starting point that made it perish. It seems also reasonable to associate the whole prologue to a more or less determined Christian influence, particularly from the fifth triad.

Following the general principles, relatively to the nature of God, the text continues to expose the constitution of the Universe. The body of this constitution is authoritatively formulated in three triads which, showing the particular beings in an order absolutely different from that of God, complete the idea that has to be made of a unique and immutable Being. Under more explicit formulas, the triads just reproduce what was already known, by the witnesses of the ancient times, about the circulation of the souls, alternatively passing from life to death and from death to life. We can consider them like in a famous Farsalia verse, in which the poet exclaims, upon addressing the priests of Gaul, that if what they teach is certain, then death is nothing more than the median of a long life: “Longae vitae mors media est.”

I – There are three primitive unities and from each one of those there could not be more than one: a God, a truth and a point of freedom which is the point where the balance of the whole opposition resides.

II – There things proceed from the three primitive unities: the whole life, the whole good and the whole power.

III – God is necessarily three things: the greatest part of life, the greatest part of science and the greatest part of power. From each thing there could not be a greater part.

IV – God cannot stop being three things: what has to constitute the perfect good, what has to desire the perfect good and what has to practice the perfect good.

V – Three guarantees of what God does and will do: His infinite power, His infinite wisdom and His infinite love, as there is nothing that cannot be done, that cannot become truthful and that cannot be desired as an attribute.

VI – Three main objectives of God’s work, as the Creator of all things: diminish evil, reinforce good and clarify the whole difference, so as to know what should be or, on the contrary, what should not be.

VII – Three things God cannot stop conceding: what there is of more advantageous, of more necessary and of more beautiful for each thing.

VIII – Three forces of existence: it cannot be different; it cannot be necessarily another one and cannot be able to be better since its conception. This contains the perfection of all things.

IX – Three things will necessarily prevail: the supreme power, the supreme intelligence and the supreme love of God.

X – The three greatness of God: perfect life, perfect science, perfect power.

XI – Three original causes of the living beings: divine love, according to the supreme intelligence; the supreme wisdom, by the perfect knowledge of all means; the divine power, according to the will, love and wisdom of God."

XII – There are three circles of existence: the circle of the empty region (ceugant) where, with the exception of God, there is nothing alive nor dead and no being that God cannot penetrate; the circle of migration (abred) where every animated being proceeds from death, where man has lived; and the circle of happiness (gwynfyd), where every animated being proceeds from life and that man will live in heaven.

XIII – Three successive states of the animated beings: the state of humiliation in the abyss (annoufn); the state of freedom in humanity and the state of happiness in heaven.

XIV – Three necessary phases of every existence regarding life: the beginning in annoufn; the transmigration in abred and the plenitude in gwynfyd. Without these three things nothing else can exist but God.”

Thus, as a summary, about the capital point of the theology that God, as their Creator, takes the souls from the “emptiness”, the triads do not precisely enunciate. After showing God in an inaccessible and eternal sphere, they simply show the souls originating in the last layers of the Universe, in the abyss (annoufn); from there these souls pass to the migration circle (abred), where their destiny is determined through a series of existences, according to the good or bad use of their freedom; finally, they elevate to the supreme circle (gwynfyd) where the migrations stop, where there is no more death, where life takes place in happiness, preserving a perpetual activity and total consciousness of their individuality.

Truthfully, Druidism does not follow the same mistakes as Eastern theologies, which lead man to be finally absorbed into the centre of an immutable Divinity since, on the contrary, it distinguishes a special circle, a circle of the emptiness or infinite (ceugant), which forms the incommunicable privilege of the supreme Being and in which no creature, whatever the degree of holiness, will ever penetrate. It is the highest point of the religion because it establishes the milestone for everyone’s progress.

The most significant hallmark of that theology, given that it is a purely negative mark, consists in the absence of a particular circle, such as the Tartar of the pagan antiquity, destined to the endless punishment of the criminal souls. To the Druids there isn’t properly a hell. The distribution of penalties, to their eyes, occurs in the circle of the migrations, in more or less happy condition where always owner of their own freedom they expiate their faults through the suffering and prepare for a better future, by the reformulation of their vices. In certain cases it is even possible that the souls degenerate to the annoufn region where they are born and to which no other meaning can be given but the animality. By this dangerous side of the degeneration, which nothing justifies, as the diversity of conditions in the circle of humanity is perfectly sufficient to the penalties of all degrees, Druidism would have then slipped to the metempsychosis. But such an unpleasant extreme, to which no requirement of the development of the soul through the migrations leads, as it will be seen by the series of triads relatively to the regimen of the abred circle, it seems to have occupied a secondary place in the religious system.

Apart from some obscurities due perhaps to the difficulties of a language whose profound metaphysical origin has not yet been well understood, the declaration of the triads with respect to the circle of abred spread the most vivid lights over the body of the Druidic religion. One feels a slight breath of superior originality. The mystery which offers the spectacle of our current existence to the intelligence, acquires there a singular feature not found anywhere else. One would say that a great veil, tearing off before and beyond life, allows the soul to suddenly swim with an unexpected power, through an undefined extension, never suspected before in their prison, among the thick walls of birth and death.

Whatever the judgment we pass on the truthfulness of that doctrine, it should be profound. Thinking of the effect that these principles about the origin and destine of the soul should have on simple creatures, it is easy to understand the huge influence the Druids had over the spirit of our ancestors. Amidst the darkness of antiquity, those sacred ministers could not appear to be, to the eyes of the people, anything but revealers of Heaven and Earth.

Here the remarkable text under scrutiny:

XV – Three necessary things in the circle of abred: the least possible degree of the whole life, and from that its beginning; the matter of all things, and from there the progressive growth which only takes place in the state of need; the formation of all things of death, and from there the debility of the existences.

XVI – Three things that all living beings necessarily participate, through God’s justice: God’s help in abred, because without that nobody could know anything; the privilege of participating into God’s love; and the agreement with God who is fair and merciful regarding the realization of His power.

XVII – Three causes of the need in the circle of abred: the development of the material substance of every animated being; the development of the knowledge of all things; and the development of the moral force to overcome every Cythraul (evil spirit) opposition and to free the Droug (the evil). Without such a transition, per each state of life, there could not be the realization of any being.

XVIII – Three primitive calamities of abred: the need, the absence of memory and death.
XIX – Three necessary conditions to get to the plenitude of Science: transmigrate in abred,

transmigrate in gwynfyd and remember the past things, up until annoufn.

XX – Three indispensable things in the circle of abred: transgression of the law, as it cannot be different; redemption through death before Droug and Cythraul; the development of life and the good through the separation from Droug, in the redemption of death and that by the love of God, who embraces everything.

XXI – Three efficient ways of God in abred to dominate Droug and Cythraul and to overcome one’s position relatively to the circle of gwynfyd: the need, the loss of memory and death.

In summary, the beginning of the beings in the heart of the Universe happens at the lowest point of the scale of life. Without stretching the consequences of the declaration contained in the twenty- seventh triad, one can assume that in the Druids doctrine this initial point was in the mysterious and confusing abyss of animality. It does result, as a consequence, in the logic need of progress, as God has not destined the beings to remain is such a low and obscure condition since the origin of the soul’s history. However, in the inferior zones of the Universe, such a progress does not develop according to a continuous line. That long life, being born in such a low level and having so much to improve, breaks into segments, which are connected to each other at the basis of its succession, but whose mysterious solidarity escapes the individual consciousness, thanks to the lack of memory, at least for some time. Those periodic interruptions, in the secular course of life, form what we call death; hence death and birth, from a superficial consideration, make such distinct events, in reality being nothing more than the two faces of the same phenomenon: one related to the period that ends, and the other to the one that begins.

That is why death itself is not a real calamity but a benefit from God. Breaking the narrowest links that we had established with our present life, it transports us to new conditions, thus giving place to a freer elevation, to new progresses.

Thus, as with death, the loss of memory which follows it should not be taken as anything other than a benefit. It is a consequence of the first point because if the soul clearly kept the memories from one period to the other, in the course of this long life, the interruption would be merely accidental and there would not be death, as such, neither birth, as these events would then loose the absolute character which distinguish and give them strength.

Even from the point of view of that theology it is not difficult to directly notice, with respect to the previous periods, how the loss of memory could be considered a benefit relatively to man in his present condition, if in those previous periods, as with the current position of man in a world of suffering and trials, they were unfortunately stained by crime and mistakes, today’s primary cause of misery and expiation. It is evidently a great advantage to the soul to be free from the vision of so many faults and, at the same time, of the most distressing remorse which would then originate. As it does not oblige a formal repentance other than those relatively to the guilt of the present life, God really concedes an enormous grace, thus showing compassion for their weaknesses.

Finally, according to this mode of considering the mystery of life, the needs of all nature that we are submitted to and that since birth, by a fatal destiny, so to speak, determine the form of our existence in the present period, constitute a last benefit, as sensible as the other two. The most convenient character of our physical expiations is definitely given by those needs and our trials and, consequently, our moral development. It is still those same needs, as much with our physical organization as with the exterior circumstances, in whose environment we are placed, that forcibly drag us to death then dragging us, by the same reason, to our supreme liberation. In summary, as the triads imply in their energetic concision, one finds in them the three primitive calamities as the three efficient means of God in abred.

Which conduct allows the soul to really elevate in this life, deserving to achieve a superior state of existence after death?

The answer given by Christianism to this fundamental question is known by all: it is the condition of destroying pride and selfishness in oneself; developing in ones’ intimate substance the forces of humility and charity, the only efficient and meritorious to God’s eyes. Blessed are the humble!

Druidism’s answer is way different and clearly contrasts with the latest one. As from their teachings, the soul elevates on the scale of existences with the condition of, by working on itself, fortifying its own personality. This result is naturally obtained by the development of the strength of character, added to the development of knowledge. This is what the twenty-fifth triad says, stating that the souls fall on the need of transmigrations, that is, in the confusing and mortal lives, not only for feeding the evil passions but also by neglecting the realization of the fair actions; by the lack of strength to stick to what is prescribed by the consciousness; in one word, by the weakness of character. Besides this lack of moral virtue, the soul is still halted in its progress towards heaven by the lack of perfection of the spirit. Intellectual illumination, which is necessary to the plenitude of happiness, does not happen in the happy soul by a simple and absolutely gracious irradiation from heaven. It only happens in the celestial life if the soul endeavors, since this life, to achieve it. Thus, the triad does not only mention the lack of knowledge but also the lack of efforts to acquire knowledge, which in the end, as with the preceding virtue, is a precept of activity and movement.

In fact, in the following triads, charity is recommended as much as Science and moral strength. But in this, still regarding the Divine power, it is sensitive to the influence of Christianism. It is to Christianism that the preaching and enthroning of the law of charity in God and man, in this world, belong and not to the strong and tough religion of our ancestors.

If such a law shines over the triads it is the effect of an alliance with the Gospel, or even better, of a happy improvement of the theology of the Druids by the action of the theology of the Apostles and not by a primitive tradition. Just subtract that Divine ray and there we have the Gallic moral, in its rude greatness, moral which was capable of producing powerful personalities, in the fields of heroism and Science, but which could not unite them, neither among them nor with the crowds of the simple ones. *

The Spiritist Doctrine does not consist only in the belief of the manifestations of the spirits but rather in everything they teach us about the nature and destiny of the souls. If we then refer to the precepts contained in the Spirits’ Book, where we will find their complete teachings, we will be surprised by the identity of some fundamental principles with the Druidic doctrine, among which, one of the most notable, incontestably, is the reincarnation. In the three circles, in the three successive states of the animated beings, we find all phases of our spirits’ scale. What is in fact the circle of abred or the migration, other than the orders of spirits which depurate through successive existences? In the gwynfyd circle man no longer transmigrates; he enjoys supreme happiness. Isn’t that the first order of the scale, of the pure spirits who having passed through all trials no longer need the reincarnation and enjoy eternal life? Notice still that, according to the Spiritist Doctrine, man preserves the free will; which he gradually elevates by his will, by his progressive perfecting and by the trials he endured, from the annoufn or abyss to the perfect happiness in gwynfyd, with the difference, however, that the Druidism admits the possible return to the inferior layers, whereas according to Spiritism, the spirit may remain stationary but cannot degenerate. In order to complete the analogy it would be sufficient to add to our scale, below the third order, the annoufn circle, which characterizes the abyss or the unknown origin of the souls, and above the first order the ceugant circle, or God’s dwelling, inaccessible to the creatures. The table below will clarify the comparison.

Spirits' Scale[1]			Druidic Scale
			Ceugant. God' dwelling
1 st Order	1 st Class	Pure spirits. Will no longer incarnate	Gwynfyd. Home of the blessed ones. Eternal life.
	2 nd Class	Superior spirits*
2 nd Order 3 rd Order	3 rd Class 4 th class 5th class	Spirits of wisdom* Spirits of Science* Benevolent spirits*	Abred. Circle of the migrations or multiple corporeal existences, which the souls pass from annoufn to gwynfyd.
	6 th class 7th classe 8 th class 9 th class	Neutral spirits* Pseudo-wise spirits* Frivolous spirits* Impure spirits*
			Annoufn. Abyss, starting point of the souls
* Depurating and elevating through the trials of reincarnation

_________________________

* Extracted from Magasin Pitoresque, 1857

In the “Voyage aux sources du Nil”, in 1768, James Bruce tells the story we reproduce below, regarding Gingiro, a small Kingdom located south of Ethiopia, east of the Kingdom of Adel. The story is about two Ambassadors sent to the Pope around 1625, by Socinious, King of the Ethiopia, having the Ambassadors to cross the Kingdom of Gingiro.

“Then, says Bruce, it was necessary to notify the King of Gingiro about the arrival of the entourage and request an audience with him. But at that time he was occupied with an important operation of witchcraft, without which the sovereign would not dare doing anything else.”

“The Kingdom of Gingiro can be considered as the first, on this side of Africa, where the strange practice of predicting the future through the evocation of the spirits and via a direct communication with the devil has been established.”

“The King thought convenient to wait for eight days before conceding an audience to the Ambassador and his companion, the Jesuit Fernandez. Consequently, on the ninth day they got permission to visit the court, which they did in the same afternoon.”

“In Gingiro nothing gets done without resorting to magic. It can thus be seen how much human reason is degraded, a few leagues away. Do not tell us that such a weakness is due to ignorance or the heat of the region. Why would heat induce man to become wizards, which would not happen in a cold climate? Why would ignorance stretch man’s power to the point of making him transpose the limits of ordinary intelligence and giving him the faculty of communicating with a new order of beings, inhabitants of another world? The Ethiopians, who embrace almost all Ethiopia, are blacker than the Gingironeans. Their land is hotter and as the latter, they are indigenous to the lands they inhabit, since the beginning of the centuries. However, they neither worship the devil nor pretend to have any communication with him; they do not sacrifice humans in their altars; finally, one cannot find, among them, any trace of similar atrocity.”

“On those parts of Africa which have open communication with the sea, slave trading has been in place since the remotest centuries but the King of Gingiro, whose domains are almost entirely confined to the center of the continent, sacrifices to the devil the slaves he cannot sell to man. It is there that this horrific costume, of shedding human blood in all ceremonies, begins.”

“I ignore”, says Mr. Bruce, “its reach towards southern Africa, but I consider Gingiro as the geographic limit of the devil’s Kingdom, on the northern part of the peninsula.”

Had Mr. Bruce seen what we witness today, he would not have found anything frightening in those practices employed in Gingiro. He only sees a superstitious belief in them whereas we see their cause in the fact of falsely interpreted manifestations, which could be produced there, as anywhere else.

The role that the devil plays in their culture is not surprising. Firstly, it is necessary to observe that all barbaric peoples have attributed to a malefic power everything that they could not explain. Second, a sufficiently ignorant people, capable of sacrificing human beings, certainly could not attract superior spirits to their environment. By their nature, those spirits who visit them can only confirm them in their beliefs. Besides, one has to consider that the peoples of certain regions of Africa have preserved a large number of Jewish traditions, later mixed with some formless ideas of Christianism where they adopted the doctrine of the devil and the demons, as a result of their own ignorance.

NOTE: From previous evocations we knew that Bernard Palissy, a famous potter of the XVI century, lives in Jupiter. The following answers confirm, in all points, what we were told about that planet, in multiple occasions, by other spirits and through different mediums. We thought they would be read with interest as a complement to the classification we gave in our last issue. The identification of these descriptions, as with the previous ones, is a remarkable fact that serves as a presumption of accuracy.

1.Where did you go after leaving Earth? - I still remained here.

2.What was your condition here?
- Under the aspect of a lovely and dedicated woman. It was a simple mission.

3.Did that mission last long? - Thirty years.

4.Do you remember the name of that woman? - It was obscure.

5.Does the importance given to your work please you? Does it compensate the sufferings you had to endure?

- Why would I care about the material work of my hands? What is important to me is the suffering that has elevated me.

6.What was the aim of the admirable drawings you have produced about planet Jupiter, through the hand of Mr. Victorien Sardou?

- The aim was to inspire in you the desire to become better.

7.Considering that you frequently come to this Earth, which you inhabited many times, you must know very well its physical and moral states in order to establish a comparison between Earth and Jupiter. We would ask you to enlighten us about those points.

- I come to your globe only as a spirit. The spirit has no longer material sensations.

8.Is it possible to compare Jupiter’s temperature to that one of our latitudes?

- No. It is smooth and temperate; it is always the same whereas yours vary. Think of the Elysian Fields, whose description has already been given to you.

9.The picture given to us by the antiques about the Elysian Fields would be the result of an intuitive knowledge which they had of a superior world, such as Jupiter, for example?

- From the positive knowledge. The evocation was in the hands of the priests.


10.Does the temperature, like here, vary according to the latitude? - No.

11.According to our calculations, the Sun must be seen by Jupiter’s inhabitants as very small and, consequently, provide very little light. Can you tell us if the light intensity is like that on Earth or much weaker?

- Jupiter is surrounded by a kind of spiritual light, related to the essence of its inhabitants. The gross light of your Sun was not made for them.

12.Is there an atmosphere? - Yes.

13.Is Jupiter’s atmosphere formed by the same elements as of Earth’s atmosphere? - No. Men are not the same. Their needs change.

14.Are there water and seas in Jupiter? - Yes.

15.Is water formed by the same elements as ours? - More ethereal.

16.Are there volcanoes?

- No. Our globe is not tormented like yours. Nature there did not have its great crises. It is the dwelling of the blessed ones. Matter almost does not exist there.

17.Do the plants have analogy with ours? - Yes, but they are more beautiful.

18.Has the conformation of the bodies of its inhabitants a relationship with ours?

- Yes, it is the same.

19.Can you give us an idea of their height, as compared to the inhabitants of Earth?

- Large and well proportioned. Larger than your largest men. Man’s body is like the form of his spirit: beautiful when he is good. The covering is worthy of the spirit: it is no longer a prison.


20.Are the bodies opaque, diaphanous or translucent there?

- Some have a given property; others have another, according to their purpose.

21.We understand that, with respect to the inert bodies. But our question refers to the human bodies.

- The body surrounds the spirit without hiding it, like a translucent veil which covers a statue. In the inferior worlds the gross covering hides the spirit from his neighbors. But the good ones have nothing else to hide: each and everyone can read from the heart of the others. What would happen if it were like that here?

22.Is there a difference of sex over there?
- Yes, that is always the case where there is matter; it is a law of matter.

23.What is the basis of nourishment of its inhabitants? Is it animal and vegetal like here? - Purely vegetal. Man is the protector of the animals.

24.We were told that part of their feeding is extracted from the environment, whose emanations they inhale. Is that true?

- Yes.
25.Compared to ours, is life duration longer or shorter?

- Longer.
26.What is the average life span?

- How to measure time?
27.Could we take one of our centuries by comparison?

- I believe it is more or less five centuries.
28.Is the development of the infancy proportionally faster than ours?

- Man preserves his superiority: his infancy does not compress the intelligence neither does aging extinguish it.

29.Are men subjected to diseases?
- They are not subjected to your illnesses.

30.Is life divided between sleep and wake? - Between action and rest.

31.Can you give us an idea about the several occupations of men?

- I would have to speak a lot. Their main function is to encourage the spirits who inhabit the inferior worlds, so that they can persevere on the good path. Not having misfortunes to alleviate within their own element, they look for them where they do exist: they are the good spirits who support you and attract you to the good path.

32.Do they cultivate some arts there?
- They are useful there. Your arts are toys which distract your pains.

33.The specific density of the human body allows man to transport himself from one point to another, without staying attached to the ground, like here?

- Yes.
34.Is there the boredom and displeasure with life?

- No. The displeasure with life originates from the disregard of oneself.

35.Being the bodies of Jupiter’s inhabitants less dense than ours, are they formed by compact and condensed or airy matter?
- Compact to us but not to you. It is less condensed.

36.Is the body impenetrable, considering that it is made of matter? - Yes.

37.Do the inhabitants have, like us, an articulated language? - No. There is communication through thought among them.

38.Is the second sight, as we were informed, a normal faculty which stays among you? - Yes. The spirits do not have hindrance. Nothing is hidden from them.

39.If nothing is hidden to the spirits do they know the future? (We refer to the spirits incarnated in Jupiter).

- The knowledge about the future depends on the degree of perfection of the spirit: this has less inconvenient to us than to you; it is even necessary to us, up to a certain degree, for the accomplishment of the missions we are given. But to say that we know the future without restrictions would be the same as to level us to God.

40.Can you reveal to us everything you know about the future? - No. Wait until you have deserved to know it.

41.Do you communicate with the other spirits, more easily than us? - Yes, always. There is no longer matter between them and us.

42.Does death inspire the same horror and fear as with us?

- Why would it be frightening? Among us evil no longer exists. Only evil fears the last moment. It fears its judge.

43.What do the inhabitants of Jupiter become after death?
- Always growing towards perfection, without going through more trials.

44.Wouldn’t there be on Jupiter spirits who submit themselves to trials in order to accomplish a mission?

- Yes but it is not a trial. Only the love of good takes them to the suffering. 45.Can they fail in their missions?

- No because they are good. There is weakness only where there are defects.
46.Could you name a few spirits, inhabitants of Jupiter, who have accomplished a great mission on Earth?

- St. Louis.

47.Couldn’t you name others?
- Why does it matter? There are unknown missions whose objective is the happiness of only one. At times, these are the greatest and most painful ones.

48.Is the body of the animals more material than that of men? - Yes. Man is king, the god of the planet.

49.Are there carnivorous animals?
- The animals do not shred mutually. They all live submitted to man and love one another.

50.Are there, however, animals which escape the control of man, like the insects, fishes and birds?

- No. They are all useful to man.

51.We were told that the animals are the workers and the foremen who execute the material tasks, build the houses, etc. Is that exact?
- Yes. Man no longer lowers to serve his neighbor.

52.Are the animal servers connected to one person or a family or are they taken and exchanged at will, like here?

- They are all associated to a particular family. You change them looking for the best.


53.Do the serving animals live in slavery or in the state of freedom? Are they a property or can they change their masters, at will?

- They are in the state of submission.

54.Do the serving animals receive any compensation for their work?

- No.

55.Are the faculties of the animals developed by some sort of education?

- They develop by themselves.

56.Do the animals have a more precise and characteristic language than those of the Earthly animals?
- Certainly.

57.The dwellings you gave us as a sample in your drawings, are they arranged in cities like here?

- Yes. Those who love one another come together. Only the passions may establish solitude around man. If the evil man looks for his neighbor, who is an instrument of pain, why would a pure and virtuous man run away from his brother?

58.The spirits are the same or of several degrees?

- Several degrees but of the same order.

59.We ask you to refer to the spirits’ scale we provided in the second number of the Review and tell us to which order those spirits incarnated in Jupiter belong.

- All good, all superior. Sometimes good comes down to the evil but the evil can never blend with the good.

60.Do the inhabitants form different peoples, like here on Earth? - Yes, but all united by the bonds of love.

61.Thus, the wars are unknown? - Useless question.

62.Will man on Earth be able to arrive to such a degree of perfection, so that war would be unnecessary?

- He will arrive to that, no doubt. The war will disappear with the egotism of the peoples, at the same time as fraternity becomes better understood.

63.Are the peoples governed by rulers? - Yes.

64.What is the consistency of the ruler’s authority? - His superior degree of perfection.

65.What is the meaning of the superiority and inferiority of the spirits in Jupiter, considering that they are all good?

- They have a greater or smaller sum of knowledge and experience; they become free of impurities as they enlighten.

66.Similarly to Earth, are there more advanced peoples than others in Jupiter? - No, but among the peoples there are several degrees.

67.If the most advanced people from Earth were transported to Jupiter which position would they occupy?

- The one occupied by the monkeys among you.

68.Are the peoples ruled by laws?

- Yes.

69.Are there criminal laws?

- There is no more crime.

70.Who makes the laws?

- God made them.

71.Is there rich and poor? In other words, are there men who live in abundance and others

who lack the necessary?

- No. They are all brothers. If one had more than the other the former would share with the latter; he would not be happy when his brother was in need.

72.According to this all fortunes would be the same?

- I did not say that all are equally rich. You asked if there would be people with the superfluous while others would lack the necessary.

73.The two answers seem contradictory to us. We ask you to establish the agreement.

- Nobody lacks the necessary; nobody has the superfluous. In other words, each person’s fortune is related to their condition. Are you happy?

74.We understand now. But we asked, however, if the one who has less is unhappy with respect to the one that has more?

- He cannot feel unhappy if he is neither jealous nor envious. Envy and jealousy produce more unhappiness than misery.

75.What is the consistency of wealth in Jupiter? - Why does it matter to you?

76.Are there social inequalities? - Yes.

77.What are they founded in?

- In the laws of society. Some are more advanced than others in perfection. The superior have a kind of authority over the others, like the father over the children.

78.Are men’s faculties developed by education? - Yes.

79.Can man acquire enough perfection on Earth to deserve to immediately pass to Jupiter?
- Yes, but man is submitted to imperfections on Earth in order to be related to his neighbors.

80.When a spirit leaves Earth and must reincarnate in Jupiter, does he remain errant for some time, until he finds the body to which he should unite?

- Remains errant for some time until he frees himself from the Earthly imperfections.

81.Are there multiple religions?

- No. All profess the good and all adore one only God.

82.Are there temples and a cult?

- By temple there is the man’s heart; by cult, the good he does.

1. What has provoked you to attend our appeal?
- I came to instruct you.

2. Are you upset for having come to us and for having to answer our questions?

- No. I actually wish to answer those questions intended to instruct you.

3. Which proofs can we have of your identity? How can we know that it is not another spirit who took your name?
- What would be the advantage?

4. We know from experience that inferior spirits, many times, use hypothetical names. That is why we have addressed you with that question.

- They also take the elements of proof. But the spirit who wears a mask also reveals himself by his own words.

5. Under which form and in which place are you among us?
- Under that of Mehemet-Ali. Near Ermance.

6. Would you like us to give you a special place? - Yes. The empty chair.

Note: there was an empty chair that nobody had noticed.

7. Do you have a clear memory of your last corporeal existence?
- It is not clear since death has left some anxiety and lack of clarity.

8. Are you happy?
– No. I am unfortunate.

9. Are you errant or reincarnated? - Errant.

10. Do you remember what you were before the last existence on Earth?
- I was poor on Earth. I was the envy of Earthly greatnesses and was moved up to suffer.

11. If you can be reborn on Earth, which position will you preferably choose?
- The obscure: the duties are lesser.

12. What do you think now about the position you have lately occupied on Earth?
- Pure vanity! I wanted to command men. Did I know how to command myself?

13. It was said that your reason was altered for some time already. Was it true?
- No.

14. Public opinion appreciates what you have done for the Egyptian civilization and places you among the great princes. Does it make you happy?

- Why would I care? Men’s opinion is like the wind in the desert blowing the dust.

15. Are you satisfied that your decendents are following the same path you did? Do their efforts interest you?
- Yes, as their objective is a benefit of all.

16. However, you are accused of acts of great cruelty. Do you regret them now?
- I atone for them.

17. Do you see those who you ordered to be massacred?
- Yes.

18. Which feelings do they experience towards you?
- Hatred and pity.

19. Since you left this life have you ever seen Sultan Mahmud again?
- Yes. We run away from each other in vain.

20. Which mutual feeling do you experience? - Aversion.

21. What is your opinion about the penalties and rewards that await us after death?
- The atonement is fair.

22. What was the greatest hurdle you had to overcome to continue to progress towards your spiritual development?

- I reigned over slaves.

23. Do you think that if the people you governed were Christian it would have facilitated their advancement?
- Yes. The Christian religion elevates the soul. Mohamed’s religion only speaks to matter.

24. When alive, was your faith in the Muslim religion absolute?

- No. I considered God greater.

25. What do you think now about that religion?
- It does not form men.

26. In your opinion, had Mohamed a Divine mission? - Yes but he misinterpreted that

27. How did he misinterpret that?
- He wanted to reign.

28. What do you think about Jesus? - That he came from God.

29. In your opinion who did more for human happiness: Jesus or Mohamed?

- Why do you ask this? Which people were regenerated by Mohamed? Christian religion was pure since leaving God’s hands. Mohamed’s religion is the work of a man.

30. Do you believe that one of these two religions is destined to disappear from Earth?
- Man always progresses. The best will remain.

31. What do you think about the polygamy in the Muslim religion?
- It is one of the links to barbarism for those who profess it.

32. Do you believe that women slavery is in accordance with God’s wishes?
- No. Woman and man are the same since the spirit has no sex.

33. Some say that the Arabs can be conducted only by the rigor. Don’t you think that treating them badly instead of submitting them can only make them brutal?

- Yes. That is man’s destiny. He is degraded when enslaved.

34. Can you go back in time and tell us, when Egypt was flourishing, what were the causes of the moral decadence?
- The corruption of the customs.

35. It seems that you do not give much importance to the monuments which cover the soil of Egypt. We cannot understand such indifference from a prince who was a friend of progress.

- Who cares about the past? The present would not replace it.

36. Can you explain yourself more clearly?

- Yes. It was unnecessary to remind the oppressed Egyptian of a brilliant past, as he would not understand it. I showed disdain for something that seemed useless to me. Couldn’t I be wrong?

37. Did the priests of the old Egypt know the Spiritist Doctrine?

- It was theirs.

38. Did they receive manifestations?

- Yes.

39. Did the manifestations received by the Egyptian priests have the same source as those received by Moses?
- Yes. He was initiated by them.

40. Why then did the manifestations received by Moses were more powerful than those received by the priests?

- Moses wanted to reveal them whereas the priests wanted to hide them.

41. Do you think that the doctrine of the Egyptian priests had some connection with that of the Indians?

- Yes. All mother-religions are interconnected by almost invisible ties. They proceed from the same source.

42. From those two religions, the Egyptian and the Indian, which one is the original?
- They are sisters.

43. How can you who in life were so few are educated on these subjects, respond with such a depth now?

- Other existences taught me.

44. In the erratic state in which you are now, do you have complete knowledge of your previous existences?
- Yes, except the last one.

45. Have you then lived in the times of the pharos?
- Yes. I lived in the Egyptian land three times: as a priest, as a beggar, and as a prince.

46. Under which dynasty were you a priest?
- It was long ago! The prince was your Sesostris.

47. Therefore it seems that you have not progressed since you still expiate the errors of your last existence.

- Yes but I progressed slowly. Would I be perfect just because I was a priest?

48. Is it because you were a priest over that time that you could speak to us with such inside knowledge about the old religion of the Egyptians?

- Yes but I am not sufficiently perfect to know everything. Others can read the past like from an open book.

49. Can you explain to us the motive for the construction of the pyramids?
- It is too late.

Note: It was almost eleven o’clock in the evening.

50. We shall not ask you anything else but this. We kindly ask you to answer.

- No. It is too late. This question would bring others.

51. Can you do us a favor and respond on a different occasion?

- I cannot commit to that.

52. Nevertheless we thank the benevolence with which you responded to the other questions.
- It is fine. I will come back.

To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Home has not made appear any other body parts besides the hands. It has been reported, however, that a general who had died in Crimea appeared to his widow, visible only to her. We have not been able to confirm the authenticity of that report, since Mr. Home was involved with this case. As such, we limit ourselves only to what we can prove.

Why hands, instead of feet or head? This is what we ignore, as does Mr. Home.

Questioned about that, the spirits answered that other mediums could make the whole body appear. By the way, this is not the most important aspect: if the hands show up the other parts of the body are not less important, as we shall have the opportunity to see below.

Generally, the appearance of the hand happens initially under the table cloth, by ripples which run over the whole surface. Then it shows on the edges of the cloth which is raised by the hand; at times it comes to rest on the cloth, at the center of the table. On other occasions it grabs an object and takes it under the cloth. This hand, visible to all, is neither airy nor translucent. It has the natural color and opacity; it shows an indefinite termination towards the fist. If someone touches it with precaution, confidence and without a hostile second intention, it offers the resistance, solidity and impression of a live hand; it produces a soft heat comparable to that of a pigeon which may have died about thirty minutes ago. It is not absolutely inert, as it acts, produces movements which are imposed to them or resists, strokes or grabs us. If, on the contrary, we abruptly and by surprise try to grab it, we only find the emptiness.

A visual witness told us the following fact that happened to him:

He held a handbell between his fingers; an invisible hand, in the beginning, and visible later, came to try to take it away; as it was unsuccessful, it tried to pull it to make it slip through the fingers. The traction effort was noticeable, as it would be the one of any human hand. Having tried to violently grab that hand, his hand only found air; on opening the fingers, the handbell remained suspended in the air, slowing going down to rest on the floor.

Sometimes there are multiple hands.

The same witness described the following fact to us:

Several people are sitting down around one of the folding dining tables. Some raps are heard; the table agitates, opens up by itself and through the crease of the table three hands show up: one of normal size, another very large and a third very hairy. They touch and poke each other, shake hands with those around the table and then dissolve.

In the house of one of our friends who had lost a child at an early age, a hand of a newly born baby shows up. Everyone can see and touch it. That child sits on her mom’s lap who distinctly feels the impression of the whole body on her knees.

The hand frequently comes to rest on you. Then you see it and if not, it feels the pressure of the fingers. At times it strokes you; on other occasions it pinches you to the point of pain. In the presence of several people, Mr. Home felt that his fist was grabbed and the audience could see that his skin was stretched. An instant later, he felt someone biting him; the impression of the teeth remained for over an hour.

The hand that shows up can also write. Sometimes it stops at the center of the table, takes up a pencil and writes on a piece of paper previously prepared. Most of the time, however, it takes the paper under the table and returns it completely written. If the hand turns invisible the text seems to be produced by itself. Answers to multiple questions can be obtained in such a way.

Another not less notable kind of manifestation, explained by what we have just described, is that of the musical instruments which play by themselves. These are, in general, pianos or accordions. In such cases one can see the keyboard as well as the bellows moving. The hand that plays is sometimes visible, sometimes invisible. The aria that is played can be known and even requested. If the invisible artist is left alone, he produces harmonious tunes which resemble the smooth melody of a wind harp.

In the house of one of our members, where these phenomena were produced many times, the manifesting spirit was that of a young man who died some time ago, a friend of the family, who revealed an outstanding musical talent when alive. The nature of the arias he used to play left no doubt about his identity in all of those who knew him.

The most extraordinary fact, in such kind of manifestation, is not, in our opinion, the apparition. If it were always airy it would be compatible with the nature we attribute to the spirits. Well, nothing would oppose to the idea of having that kind of matter perceptible to our sight, by some sort of condensation, without losing its airy property. What is really strange is the solidification of that very matter, sufficiently resistant to leave a visible impression in our organs. In the next issue we will give an explanation about this singular phenomenon, according to the teachings of the spirits. Today we shall limit ourselves to the deduction of a consequence relatively to the spontaneous playing of musical instruments. In fact, since the eventual tangibility of that ethereal matter is an attested fact and, since the hand, visible or not, offers sufficient resistance to exert pressure over the solid bodies, it is not surprising that it can apply sufficient pressure to touch the keyboard of a musical instrument. Besides, not less positive facts demonstrate that the hand belongs to an intelligent being. It is not strange than the fact that such an intelligence manifest itself by the means of musical notes, since it can manifest by writing or drawing.

Once entering into such an order of ideas, the raps, the motion of the objects and all spiritist phenomena of the material type, are explained very naturally.

Malice has no limits in some individuals. Slander is always a poison against anyone who rises above the crowd. Mr. Home’s adversaries thought that ridicule was a very weak weapon: it should have turned against the respectable names that surround him with their protection. Since they could not make fun of him, they tried to denigrate him. They spread the rumor with the objective which we understand well – and the evil tongues repeat – that Mr. Home did not travel to Italy, as announced, but that he was in prison in Mazas, under grave accusations, which they use as anecdotes, to satisfy the enthusiasm of the lazy and friends of scandals.

We can assure that there is no truth in all those evil machinations. We have before us several letters from Mr. Home, stamped from Pisa, Rome and Naples, where he currently is located. We can then prove our statements.

The spirits are correct when they say that the real demons are among men.

A newspaper states: “According to the Gazette des Hopitaux * , at this very moment a group of 25 people were taken to the hospital of the “alienated” in Zurich, for losing their minds, thanks to the turning tables and the rapping spirits”. First, we question if it has been well established that all 25 alienated have lost their minds thanks to the rapping spirits, what is contestable, at least until authentic proofs are provided. Admitting that these strange phenomena have been able to negatively influence certain weak characters, we then ask if, on another hand, the fear of devil has not created more madness than the belief in the spirits. Well, considering that one cannot prevent the spirits from rapping, the danger is in the belief that all those who manifest are demons. Eliminating this idea, by showing the truth, there will no longer be any more fear than that of the fireflies. The idea that one is beset by the devil is perfectly cut to disturb reason.

Contrary to that we have different news from another newspaper which says: “There is a curious statistical document about the dismal consequences that follows the habit of intemperance and heavy drinking among the English.

Out of 100 individuals taken to the Hamwel hospitals of the effected individuals, 72 have mental disorders associated to drunkenness.”

***

We have received numerous reports of very interesting facts from our members that we will promptly publish in our forthcoming issues, since lack of space does not allow us to do that in the current issue.

Allan Kardec **

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* Gazette of the Hospitals