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The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1859 > September
September
Process to Send the Bad Spirits AwayThe intervention of deceiving spirits in the written communications is
one of the greatest difficulties of Spiritism. It is known from experience
that they do not have any scruples in taking supposedly pretense
and even respectable names. Is there a way of keeping them away? That
is the question. In order to keep them away certain persons employ what
we call processes, that is, particular formulas of evocation, or some sort
of exorcism, as for example making them swear in the name of God that
they are telling the truth, making them write something, etc. We know
a person who requires the spirit to sign their name, phrase by phrase. If
the spirit is truthful he writes without any difficulty; otherwise they stop
right in the middle, incapable of concluding. We have seen this person
receiving the most ridiculous communications, from spirits that signed a
false name with a clean face. Other people think that an efficient way is
to make them confess to Jesus or other principles of religion.
Well then, we declare that if some more scrupulous spirits stop before the idea of perjury or profanation, others swear whatever we want, signing all names, laughing at everything, profaning the most venerable signs, from which we can conclude that among those things called processes there is no formula or material action which can serve as an efficient antidote.
Well then, we declare that if some more scrupulous spirits stop before the idea of perjury or profanation, others swear whatever we want, signing all names, laughing at everything, profaning the most venerable signs, from which we can conclude that among those things called processes there is no formula or material action which can serve as an efficient antidote.
In such a case some may say that the only thing to do is to stop writing.
This would not be the solution. Far from that, in many cases that
would be worse. We have said, and it is never too much to repeat, that
the actions of the spirits upon us are incessant and not less real for being
supernatural. If it is going to be bad, it will be even worse by the simple
fact that the enemy is hidden. He has revealed through the written communications,
he is unmasked; we get to know whom we are dealing with
and we can fight it.
However, if there is no means of keeping them away, what to do then?
We did not say that there is no way but that most employed means are
inefficient. That is the thesis that we propose to develop.
One needs to keep in mind that the spirits form a whole world, a
whole population that fills up the space; that circulates around us; that
meddles into everything that we do. If the veil that hides them from us
were lifted we would see them around us, coming and going; following or
avoiding us, according to their degree of sympathy, some indifferent, true
vagabonds of the invisible world; others too busy with themselves or with
other men to whom they connect with a more or less worthy purpose, according
to their distinct qualities.
In one word, we would see a replica of our humanity, with good and
bad qualities, with their virtues and vices. Such involvement, from which
we cannot escape since there is no single corner sufficiently hidden to the
point of becoming inaccessible to the spirits, exert upon us, irrespective of
our will, a permanent influence. Some impel us to the good deeds, others
to evil, and frequently our attitudes are the result of their suggestions. We
are fortunate when our judgment is good enough to distinguish between
the good and the bad path to which they try to drag us.
Considering that the spirits are nothing else but men without the gross
envelope or souls that outlive the bodies, it follows that there are spirits
since there are human beings in the Universe. They are one of the forces
of nature and they have not waited for the mediums to act. The proof
is that people have committed inconsequences at all times, the reason
why we say that their influence is independent of the faculty of writing.
This faculty is a means of recognizing such an influence; of knowing who
are the ones wandering around us, attached to us. Thinking that we can
subtract ourselves from that by not writing is to act like the children who
think to be able to avoid danger by blindfolding themselves. By revealing
those that we have as companion, friends or enemies, the writing offers us
a weapon to combat the enemies, for which we must be thankful to God.
Instead of a clairvoyance to be able to recognize the spirits we have the
written communications through which they show what they are. That is
a sense that allows us to judge them. Denying such a sense is the same as
gladly accepting blindness and exposing oneself to uncontrolled mistakes.
Then, the intervention of the bad spirits with the written communications
is not a danger of Spiritism since if there is danger it continues and
will always continue to exist, despite all that. We need to be convinced of
the following: this is only a difficulty but over which it is easy to triumph,
if we address the issue conveniently.
We can establish as a principle the fact that the bad spirits will only
be where there is something attractive to them. Thus, when they meddle
into the communications it is due to the fact that they sympathize with
the environment where they present themselves, or they at least find weak
spots from which they expect to take advantage. In any case it is clear that
they do not find a strong enough moral force to repel them.
Among the causes which attract them we must include first the moral
imperfections of all kinds, since evil always sympathize with evil; second,
the excessive confidence with which their words are received.
When a communication indicates a bad origin it would be logical to
infer that there is parity between the spirit and the evokers. We frequently
see very honest persons exposed to the mockery of deceiving spirits, as
it does happen in the world with decent people, cheated by rascals; but
when we take precautions the rascals have nothing else to do. That is what
also happens with the spirits.
When an honest person is deceived by them this can happen for two
reasons: first, there is an absolute trust which fails an adequate examination;
second, the best qualities do not exclude certain weak spots which provide entry to the bad spirits, willing to discover the minuscule openings
in the armor. We do not speak of pride and ambition that are more
than hurdles. We speak of a certain weakness of character and particularly
about the preconceived ideas that these spirits skillfully exploit, flattering
them. That is why they wear all masks to inspire trust.
The open gross communications are the least dangerous since they
cannot trick anyone. The most deceiving ones are those with a false appearance
of wisdom or seriousness, in one word, those from the hypocritical
and pseudo-wise spirits. Some may deceive in good faith, due to their
ignorance; others only act malevolently. Let us see the means that we have
to unravel from them.
The first thing to do is not to attract them, avoiding everything that
may give access to them.
As said before, the moral dispositions are a fundamental cause.
However, abstraction made of this cause, the mode employed to communicate
with them has influence also. There are persons who have by
principle not to make evocations ever, waiting for the first communication
to come out of the medium’s pencil. Now, keeping in mind what we
said about the crowd of spirits that surrounds us, we can easily understand
that, by acting in such a way, we are offering ourselves to the influence
of the first one to show up, good or bad. As the bad ones outnumber the
good ones in that crowd, there is more opportunity to the bad ones. This
is the same as if we open the door of our house to everybody that walks in
the street, whereas through the evocation we make the choice and, while
surrounded by good spirits, we silence the bad ones, who may sometimes
try to sneak in despite all that. The good ones may even allow it in order
to exercise our sagacity in recognizing them. In such a case their influence
will be null.
The spontaneous communications have great utility when we are sure
about the quality of the spirits who surround us. In that case we must
congratulate ourselves for leaving the initiative to the spirits. The inconvenience
is only in the absolute system, consisting of an abstention of direct
appeal and questioning.
Among the causes that powerfully influence the quality of the spirits
who visit the centers, and which must not be omitted, is the nature of
the subjects that are discussed. Those who are associated to a serious and
useful objective attract serious spirits as a consequence; those who aim at
the satisfaction of a vain curiosity or their personal interests are at least
exposed to mystifications, or even to something worse. In summary, we
can take the most sublime and useful teachings from the spiritist communications,
as long as we know how to drive them. The whole secret lies
in not allowing ourselves to be driven by the astuteness of the jester or
malevolent spirits. Well, for that, we need to know whom we are dealing.
For starters, let us listen to the advices given by the spirit of St. Louis at
the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, through Mr. R…, one of its good
mediums. This is a spontaneous communication, received at his house,
with the mission of transmitting it to the Society.
“However great it may be the confidence inspired in you by the
spirits that preside over your activities, it is never too much to
repeat the recommendation that you must always have in mind,
when dedicating to your studies: thinking and reflection. Submit
every communication that you receive to the strictest control of
reason. As long as an answer may seem doubtful or obscure, do
not forget to ask for the necessary clarifications to guide you.
Know that the revelation has existed since the remotest times but
it was always adequate to the degree of evolution of those who
received them. Today there is no need to speak through parables
or images. You must receive our teachings in a more clear, precise
and unambiguous way. It would be too comfortable, however, to
limit oneself to question in order to receive the clarifications. As
a matter of fact, this would be to run away from the laws of progress,
which oversee the universal evolution. Don’t be surprised,
then, if in order to credit you with the merit of the choice and
the work, and also to punish the infractions against our advices,
it may sometimes be allowed that certain spirits, more ignorant than ill intended, may in certain cases come to answer your questions.
Instead of a reason for discouragement this must be a powerful
stimulus for an ardent search for the truth. Be then assured
that following this path you cannot fail to achieve happy results.
Be united through hearts and intentions; work everyone; seek,
seek always and you will find it.”
Louis.
The language of the good and serious spirits has a trait that makes it impossible
to be mistaken, however little tact, reason and habits of observation
we may have. However much they disguise their turpitudes by the
veil of hypocrisy, the bad spirits cannot play this role indefinitely. They
somehow always let it out. Otherwise, if their language were immaculate
they would be good spirits. The language of the good spirits thus gives
us the true criterion by which we can judge them. As the language is
the expression of thought, it always contains a reflection of the good or
bad qualities of the individual. Isn’t that also by the language that we
judge the persons that we don’t know? If we receive twenty letters from
twenty persons that we have never seen before, wouldn’t we be differently
impressed by their reading? Wouldn’t that be by the quality of style, by
the choice of expressions, by the nature of thoughts and even by certain
details of form that we would recognize the rustic man, the well educated,
the wise or ignorant, the proud or the humble? It is absolutely the same
with the spirits.
Let us pretend that it is men who write to us and let us judge them
in the same way. Let us be strict since the good spirits would never be
offended by such a scrupulous investigation, for they are the ones themselves
who recommend that as a control. We know that we can be deceived.
Hence, our first feeling must be that of suspicion. The bad spirits
that try to lead us to mistakes may fear the investigation because far from
provoking it they want to be accredited under oath.
The most efficient way of keeping the bad spirits away, preventing
ourselves from their malicious intents, is a very natural and logical consequence of that principle. A man that is not heard, silences; someone
who sees his mischievous acts always discovered moves somewhere else;
the thief, aware that we are always alert, does not make fruitless attempts.
That is how the deceiving spirits abandon the game when they know
that they can do nothing or when they find vigilant people that repel
everything that seems suspicious.
To finalize, let us review the main characters that indicate the origin
of the spiritist communications:
1. As we have already said on many occasions, the superior spirits
always have a dignified language, noble, elevated, without any
contamination by triviality. They tell us everything with simplicity
and modesty; never boast; never make exhibition of their wisdom
or position among the others. The language of the inferior
or vulgar spirits always has a reflex of human passions. Every expression
that indicates rudeness, presumption, arrogance, pride or
acrimony is an indication of inferiority and deception, as long as
the spirit bears a respectable and venerable name.
2. The good spirits only say what they know. They go quiet or confess
their ignorance with respect to what they don’t know. The
bad spirits talk about everything with confidence, not giving any
importance to the truth. Every scientific heresy or every principle
that shocks reason and common sense reveal fraud, as long as the
spirit considers itself an enlightened being.
3. The language of the superior spirits is always the same, if not in
the form but at least in the content. The thoughts are the same at
any place and at any time. They can be more or less developed,
according to the circumstances, to the needs and to the means of
communication, but will not be contradictory. If two communications
with the same signature are in opposition, one will necessarily
be apocryphal and the other truthful, will be the one in
which nothing may deny the known character of the spirit. When
a communication presents a character of sublimity and elevation, without any fault, it comes from an elevated spirit, whatever the
name. If it contains a mix of things, good and bad, it will be from
a common spirit, if presented as such; it will be from an imposter
spirit if presented with a name that cannot be justified.
4. The good spirits never give orders. They do not impose, but give
advice, and if they are not heard, they leave. The bad spirits are
dominant. Give orders and want to be obeyed. Every spirit that
imposes upon others betrays his origin.
5. The good spirits do not flatter. They approve the good actions but
always with reservations. The bad spirits praise in excess, stimulate
pride and vanity, even when preaching humility, and try to
exalt the personal importance of those who they want to capture.
6. The superior spirits are beyond all formal puerilities in all things.
For them, thought is everything, and the form means nothing.
Only the vulgar spirits give importance to certain details, incompatible
with the really elevated ideas. Every meticulous prescription
is a certain sign of inferiority and deception from the part of
a spirit who carries an important name.
7. It is necessary to be suspicious of any bizarre and ridiculous name
that certain spirits take, willing to impose its believability. It
would be a supreme absurd to take those names seriously.
8. One must also be suspicious of those who easily present themselves
with highly venerable names, not accepting their word but with
the greatest reservation. In such cases, particularly, it is necessary a
strict control since in general it is a mask that they adopt to make us
believe in supposed intimate relationship with spirits of high elevation.
It is how they flatter and exploit vanity, in order to frequently
encourage people to regrettable or ridiculous attitudes.
9. The good spirits are very careful with respect to actions that they
advise. In all cases they always have a serious and eminently useful
objective. We must then consider suspicious all those that do
not have that character and we must carefully think before adopting
them.
10. The good spirits only prescribe good deeds. Every maxim, every
advice which is not strictly according to the purest evangelical
charity cannot be the work of the good spirits. The same applies
to every malicious comment, tending to incite or feed feelings of
hatred, jealousy or selfishness.
11. The good spirits only give perfectly sensible advices. Every recommendation
that is away from the straight line of common sense or
from the immutable laws of nature indicates a limited spirit, still
under the influence of Earthly prejudices, thus not trustworthy.
12. The bad spirits or simply imperfect spirits are also betrayed by
material signs, with which one cannot be mistaken. Their action
upon the medium is sometimes violent, provoking jerk and irregular
movements in the writing process: a convulsive and febrile
agitation, contrasting with the calm and smoothness of the good
spirits.
13. Another sign of their presence is the obsession. The good spirits
never obsess. The bad ones impose themselves at all times. That
is why the medium must be suspicious about the irresistible need
of writing which occurs at the most inadequate times. It is never
from a good spirit and the medium must never give in.
14. Among the imperfect spirits who interfere with the communications
there are those that jokingly sneak in, who leave at the
first confrontation as easily as they came in. Others, on the contrary,
are tenacious. These spirits bond to the individual and only
yield after persistence and constraint. They control, subjugate
and fascinate the person, to the point of inducing them to the
grossest absurd, as if they were wonderful things. These persons
are fortunate when find calm and centered people who can open
their eyes, not always easy since these spirits have the skills of
inducing mistrust and distance from whoever can unmask them.
Therefore, we must suspect inferiority and ill intent from any
spirit that prescribes separation from individuals who can give
good advices. The medium self-love helps negatively since it is difficult to recognize that one was victimized by mystification,
recognizing as a scoundrel a spirit who honored the medium with
his protection. Such influence of the spirit is independent from
the writing faculty. In the absence of writing, the malevolent spirit
has a thousand and one ways of acting and deceiving. To the
spirit it is a means of persuasion but not a cause; to the medium it
is a means of enlightenment.
Passing all spiritist communications through the control of the preceding
considerations, we will easily recognize their origin and destroy
the malice of the deceiving spirits, who only target those who are easily
deceived. When noticing that we listen to them, they take advantage, as
the simple mortals would do. It is up to us then to prove to them that
they are wasting their time. We must add that prayer is a powerful help;
through prayer we attract God’s assistance and the assistance of the good
spirits, increasing our strength. The precept is known: help yourself and
heavens will help you. God wants to assist us but with the condition that
we pull our own weight doing what is necessary.
Let us add an example to that principle. One day I was visited by a gentleman
who I did not know before, saying that he was a medium. He was receiving
communications from a very elevated spirit who had assigned to him the
mission of coming to me, to make a revelation with respect to some secrets
that my enemies were plotting against me. And he added: “Do you want me
to write in your presence?” With pleasure, I said. But to begin with I must
tell you that those enemies are less fearful than you suppose. I know I have
them. Who doesn’t? The most bloodthirsty are in general those who we most
benefit. I know I have never voluntarily done harm to anyone. Those who do
me harm will not be able to say the same and God will be the judge before us.
However, let us hear the advice that the spirit wants to give me.
The gentleman then wrote the following:
“I have ordered C… (the name of that person), who is a beam of light
from the good spirits, from whom he received the mission of spreading it
among his brothers, to go to Mr. Allan Kardec’s house, who will blindly believe in what I say, for I am among the elected of God, watching the
salvation of people and because I come to announce the truth…”
“That is enough, I said; no need to continue. This preface is sufficient
to show the kind of spirit you are dealing with. I will say one word only: to
a spirit that pretends to be smart he is a bit too clumsy.” That gentleman
seemed stunned by the little importance I gave to the case of his spirit,
which he naively took by an archangel or at least a saint of first order that
specially came to him.
I said:
“This spirit betrays himself with the few words only that he has just
written. Let us agree that he cannot hide his game very well. To begin
with he commands. Therefore he wants to have you under his belt, a characteristic
of the inferior spirits; he calls you “beam of light from the good
spirits”, a painfully emphatic and ambiguous language, well dissociated
from the simplicity which characterizes the good spirits; through that language
he flatters your pride, exalting your importance, which is enough
to turn him into a suspect. He unceremoniously places himself among
the elected of God. This is arrogance, unworthy of a really superior spirit.
Finally he tells me that I should believe blindly. This crowns the work.
That is the style of the deceitful spirits, who want us to believe in them
under oath, once they know that they have everything to lose by a serious
examination. With a little more perspicacity he should have seen that I do
not bend to the beautiful words and that he was wrong by prescribing me
a blind trust.
Thus, I conclude that you are a toy in the hands of a spirit that mystifies
you, abusing your good faith. I advise you to pay serious attention to
this otherwise you can be victimized by a harmful action.”
I don’t know if he took the advice because I have no longer seen him,
or the spirit. I would never stop if I were to mention all the communications
of such a kind that have been submitted to me, sometimes very serious,
as if from the greatest saints, from the Virgin Mary and from Christ
himself. It would be really curious to see the turpitudes attributed to those
venerable names.
One needs to be blind to be mistaken with respect to their origin,
when many times an equivocal word only, a single contradictory thought
is enough to whoever takes the burden of reasoning, to discover the lie.
For remarkable examples supporting this, we advise the readers to
refer to the articles published in the Review, July and October 1858 issues.
Confessions of Voltaire
Regarding the interview of Voltaire and Frederic, published in the last
number of the Review, one of our correspondents from Boulogne
sent us the following communication, which we publish with as much
satisfaction, as it presents an eminently instructive aspect from the spiritist
point of view. Our correspondent made some previous reflections that
I don’t want to omit.
“If there is a man who, more than anybody else, must suffer the eternal penalties, that man is Voltaire. God’s wrath and vengeance will forever persecute him. That is what the old school theologians tell us.”
“What do the theologians of the modern school tell us now? It is possible, they say, that you don’t know the man as much as you don’t know the God that you talk about. Avoid the inferior passions of hatred and vengeance and do not stain your God with all that. If God is unhappy about this wicked man, if He touches that insect to remove his stinger, to straighten his exalted head and perverted heart. Let us say this still, that God reads the hearts differently from you, finding good where you see evil. If He bestowed that man with a great genius it was to the benefit of the human race, and not against it. What does it matter then, his first extravagant and sniper attitudes among us? Such a soul could hardly act differently: mediocrity was impossible to him, whatever its reach. Now that he has been redirected, that he threw away the paws and the fangs of the untamable horse in his Earthly pasture; now that he comes to God like an always great but sweet steed, he is a much wonderful to the good as he was to the evil.”
“If there is a man who, more than anybody else, must suffer the eternal penalties, that man is Voltaire. God’s wrath and vengeance will forever persecute him. That is what the old school theologians tell us.”
“What do the theologians of the modern school tell us now? It is possible, they say, that you don’t know the man as much as you don’t know the God that you talk about. Avoid the inferior passions of hatred and vengeance and do not stain your God with all that. If God is unhappy about this wicked man, if He touches that insect to remove his stinger, to straighten his exalted head and perverted heart. Let us say this still, that God reads the hearts differently from you, finding good where you see evil. If He bestowed that man with a great genius it was to the benefit of the human race, and not against it. What does it matter then, his first extravagant and sniper attitudes among us? Such a soul could hardly act differently: mediocrity was impossible to him, whatever its reach. Now that he has been redirected, that he threw away the paws and the fangs of the untamable horse in his Earthly pasture; now that he comes to God like an always great but sweet steed, he is a much wonderful to the good as he was to the evil.”
“In the following article we will see how such a transformation took
place. We will see our stallion of the deserts with his wavy mane to
the winds, chasing the open spaces of the universe. Thee, with his free
thought, he found the freedom inhaled to full lungs, the breath of life!
And what happened to him?”
“He got lost and confused. The great preacher of the nothingness
found nothing, at last, but not as he thought. Humiliated, self-abated,
disturbed by his littleness, the one who judged himself so great now annihilated
before his God. There he is, face on the ground, waiting for his
sentence that says: “Stand, my son! Or “Go, miserable! The sentence will
be found in the communication below.”
“’This confession of Voltaire will have more value in the Spiritist
Review for it shows him in both aspects. We saw that some naturalist and
materialist spirits, having as twisted a mind as their master, but without his
feeling, persisted with their puff-up, their cynicism. May they stay in their
hell while belittling everything that constitutes human being’s happiness; it
is logical since it is their place. However, we also find logical that those who
acknowledge their mistakes may be rewarded. Thus, we are not apologists
of the old Voltaire. We just accept him in his new role, happy for his conversion,
which glorifies God and vividly impresses those who were dragged by
his writings. There one finds the poison, here the antidote.”
“This communication, translated from the English, was extracted
from judge Edmonds’ book, published in the USA. It has the format of
a dialogue between Voltaire and Wolsey, the famous English Cardinal
from the time of Henry VIII. Two mediums served as intermediaries to
the reception of the dialogues.”
Voltaire – What an immense revolution in human thinking since I left
Earth!
Wolsey – In fact, that unfaithfulness then criticized in you has grown
immeasurably since those days. It is not that it maintains so much pretension
but it is more profound and universal, and, unless it can be stopped,
it threatens to swallow humanity into materialism, even more so than it
has done over the centuries.
Voltaire – Unfaithfulness to what and to whom? Regarding the laws
of God and man? Do you intend to accuse me of unfaithfulness because
I could not submit to the narrow prejudices of the sects that surrounded
me? My soul sought broader amplitude of thoughts, a beam of light beyond
human doctrines. Yes, my darkened soul was thirsty for light.
Wolsey – I wanted to speak only about the unfaithfulness attributed
to you, but unfortunately you don’t know how much such imputation still
burdens your shoulders. I do not wish to criticize you but manifest my sorrow,
as your disdain to the existing material doctrines, invented by man,
could not harm a spirit of your kind. However, the same charge brought
upon your spirit was also brought onto the others, too weak and small to
get to the same results as you did. That is why a denial of human’s dogmas
in you was translated into a denial of God in the others. It was from that
source that human’s doubt about the future spread so rapidly. That is also
why human beings yielded to egotism and hatred towards their neighbor,
limiting all their aspirations to this world. Yes, it is the cause, the cause
of this state of affairs that has to be sought, since the remedy will be easy
once the cause is found. Tell me: do you know that cause?
Voltaire – In reality, there was in my words, as they were given to the
world, a feeling of bitterness and satire. Notice, however, that my spirit
was broken, so to speak, by an internal fight. I saw humanity as inferior
in intelligence and perspicacity. I only saw puppets which could be driven
by anyone having a strong will, feeling stunned by seeing that humanity,
arrogantly expecting an immortal existence, molded by ignoble elements.
Could anyone believe that a being of such a kind were part of Divinity,
capable of taking immortality over into his petty hands? Such a blank
space those two so disproportionate existences shocked me and I
could not accept it. I saw only the animal in man and not God.
I acknowledge that in some cases my opinions had a dreadful influence.
I have the conviction, however, that from other points of view they
had their good side. Those ideas were able to lift some souls, degraded by
slavery. They broke the chains of thought and gave wings to great aspirations.
But ah! I who was flying so high, I got lost like the others.
Had I developed the spiritual side as I did with the material one, I
would have reasoned with more discernment. I confused them, lost sight
of this immortality of the soul that I badly sought and wished.. Thus,
carried away by that fight against the world, I denied the existence of a
future, almost against my own will. My opposition to the silly opinions,
to the blind credulity of human beings, impelled me to deny and, at the
same time, to contradict all the benefit which could be promoted by the
Christian religion. However incredulous I was, I felt superior to my adversaries;
yes, well beyond the reach of their intelligence. The beautiful
face of nature revealed the universe to me, inspiring the feeling of a vague
veneration, mixed with the desire of a boundless freedom, feeling which
they never experienced, squatting under the darkness of slavery.
Thus, my books had their good side because without them, evil that
would have reached humanity, by a lack of opposition, would have been
even worse. A large number of people no longer accepted slavery; many
freed themselves. If my preaching gave them a single elevated thought or
made them walk one step only in the path of Science, wouldn’t that be an
eye opener regarding their true condition? What I regret is to have lived
for such a long time on Earth not knowing what I could have been and
what I could have done. What wouldn’t I have done if I only had been
blessed by these lights of Spiritism, now shinning over the spirits of human
beings!
Skeptical and hesitant, that is how I got to the spiritual world. My
presence was enough to send away any spark of light that could have illuminated
my murky soul; my material side is what had been developed
on Earth. As for my spiritual self, that had been lost, led astray in search
of light; left behind bars, in prison.
Mocking and arrogant, that is how I initiated there, not knowing
nor trying to know this future against which I fought so hard when alive.
However, let us make this confession clear here: there was always a frail
voice in my soul, heard through the shackles of matter, asking for light. It
was an endless fight between the desire for knowledge and the obstinacy
in not knowing. Thus, my entry was far from pleasant. Had I not just
discovered the falsity and the nothingness of the opinions that I had sustained
with all my heart! The human being was immortal, after all, and
I could not but admit that a God must also exist, an immortal spirit who
would be in charge, governing such boundless space surrounding me. I
travelled incessantly, not allowing myself any rest at all, trying to convince
me still that this new world could well be a little material as well; my soul
fought the crushing truth! I could not see myself as a spirit that had just
left his material lodge! There was nobody to establish a relationship with
since I had denied immortality to everyone. There was no resting place for
me. I remained wandering and doubting. My murky and bitter spirit was
like a maniac, incapable of following guidance or stopping.
That is how, mocking and daring, as I said, that I entered the spirits’
world. In the beginning I was taken far away from the spirits’ dwellings,
and I wandered around the immense space. Then I was allowed to see the
wonderful habitations of the spirits, and they seemed amazing to me. I
was dragged from one side to the other by an irresistible force. I was forced
to see, see up to the point that my soul was stunned by the splendors and
crushed before the power that controlled such wonders. Finally, I felt like
hiding in the cavities of the rocks, but I couldn’t do it.
It was when my heart started to feel the need for expansion. It urged
for company of any sort, since I burned for the wishes of confessing how
much encouraged to err I was, not by the others, but by my own dreams.
There was no more illusion as for my personal importance because I felt
belittled in this vast world of the spirits. Thus, I had fallen so much from
tiredness and humiliation that I was allowed to gather with a few inhabitants.
It was from that moment on that I realized the position that I had established on Earth and the consequences of that in the world of the
spirits. Just imagine if such appreciation could be a pleasant one.
A complete revolution, a thorough transformation took place in my
spirit and, from the master that I was, I became the most ardent disciple.
With my intellectual expansion, what a progress I could make! My soul felt
illuminated and burned by the Divine Love. The aspirations to immortality,
from constrained that they were, took a gigantic expansion. I saw how
big my mistakes had been and the dimension of the reparation before me,
to atone everything I had said and done, by seducing or misleading humanity.
Oh! How magnificent these lessons of wisdom and the celestial beauty!
Much beyond everything I could have ever imagined on Earth.
In summary, I lived enough to acknowledge in my Earthly existence
a bloodthirsty battle between the world and the spiritual nature. I profoundly
regretted the opinions I had issued, which diverged so many;
however, at the same time, full of gratitude to the Creator, the infinitely
wise, I feel to have served as an instrument to help human beings’ spirits
to turn to evaluation and progress.
OBSERVATION: We will not add any comment to this communication,
whose depth and reach can be appreciated by all, where one can find
the whole superiority of the genius. It is possible that such a grandiose and
impressive picture of the spiritual world had never been given before, as
well as about the influence of the Earthly ideas on the ideas of beyond
the grave. In the conversation that we published in our previous number
one can find the same kind of ideas, although less developed and not so
poetically expressed. Those who only appreciate the form may say that
they don’t recognize these two communications as from the same spirit,
and that particularly the last one does not seem worthy of Voltaire. From
that they will conclude that one of them is not his.
It is certain that he did not bring his birth certificate when we called
him, but whoever may see above the surface will be touched by the identity
of points of view and principles between these two communications,
obtained at different times, far from each other and in different languages.
If the style is not the same, there is no contradiction in the thoughts, and that is essential. However, considering that it was the same spirit that
spoke on both occasions, why is he so explicit and poetic in one of them,
and terse and vulgar in the other? It is necessary that one did not study
the spiritist phenomena in order to not understand it. The fact is due to
the same cause that leads the spirit to dictate charming poems through
a medium and not be able to give a single verse through another. We
know mediums that absolutely do not write verses, but receive remarkable
poems, as we know others who have never learned to paint but who
produce wonderful paintings. It is thus necessary to acknowledge that
the mediums have special aptitudes that make them more or less flexible
or more or less adequate tools to certain spirits, abstraction made of the
intellectual qualities.
We say to certain spirits because they also have their preferences,
founded on not always known reasons. Hence, the spirit will be more or
less explicit pending on the medium that serves him as interpreter and,
above all, according to the habit in utilizing his service. Besides, it is certain
that a spirit who frequently communicates through the same person
does so with more easiness than another that communicates for the first
time. The transmission of thought can thus be stalled by many causes; but
when it is the same spirit, the underlying thought is the same, although
the form may be different, and the sharp observer can easily recognize
him through certain characteristic signs.
The following fact is reported with that respect:
The spirit of a sovereign, who had a distinct role in the world, was
evoked in one of our sessions. He showed rage at his arrival, tearing the
paper off and breaking the pencil. His language was far from benevolent
since he felt humiliated for being among us. He asked us if we thought
that he should downgrade himself to the point of answering our questions.
He agreed however that if he was responding it was by some sort of
constraint, obliged by a force superior to his own; if it depended on him,
however, he would not do so.
One of our correspondents from Africa, who knew nothing about the
fact, wrote to us about a meeting in which they wanted to evoke the same spirit. His language was identical in all aspects. He said: “Do you believe
that I would voluntarily come to this house of merchants, which perhaps
even one of my servants would refuse to inhabit? I do not respond to you.
This reminds me of my kingdom where I was happy and had authority
over my people. Now I have to submit.”
The spirit of a queen, who was not distinguished by her good heart
when alive, responded in the following way to the same group: “No more
questions, since you bother me. If I still had the power I enjoyed on Earth
I would make you regret the lot of you, but now that I have no power over
you, you laugh at me and my misery. I am very unhappy!”
Don’t we have here a curious study of the spirits’ habits?
Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave - Voltaire and Frederic
An Officer from the Italian Army (2ND CONVERSATION)
Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies July 1st, 1859 (see July 1859 issue)
1. (Evocation) - I am here.
2. You promised to come to us again and we will take the opportunity to request a few complementary explanations from you. - With pleasure.
3. Have you watched some battles after your death? - Yes, the last one.
4. When you witness a combat as a spirit, watching men killing one another, do you have any feeling of horror as we would, if we watched similar images? - Yes, I experienced that, even as a man, but then human respect was based on a feeling not worthy of a soldier.
5. Are there spirits that feel pleasure by watching such blood shedding? - A few.
6. What do the spirits of a superior order feel when witnessing that? - Great compassion; almost disdain. The same that you feel when you see the animals killing one another.
7. When you see a combat and people dying, do you see the separation between the soul and the body? - Yes.
8. At that moment do you then see two individuals, the spirit and the body? - No. What is the body then? - But the body is still there. It must be distinct from the spirit. - A cadaver, yes, but no longer a human being.
9. What is then the appearance of the spirit? - Light.
10. Does the spirit move away immediately from the body? I ask you to kindly explain things as explicitly as possible and how we would see them in case we witnessed them. - There are only a few really instantaneous deaths. The spirit who was hit by a bullet or a grenade, tells oneself most of the time: “I am going to die, let us think of God and heavens. Good-bye beloved land.” After that first feeling the pain extracts him from the body and it is when we can distinguish the spirit, moving around the cadaver. This seems so natural that the sight of the dead body does not produce an unpleasant effect. Since life has been totally transported to the spirit, it is the spirit that calls our attention; it is with the spirit that we talk and command.
OBSERVATION: We can compare this effect to the one that is produced by a group of swimmers. The spectator does not give attention to the clothes that were left at the beach.
11. Generally, when surprised by a violent death, the individual does not consider oneself dead, for some time. How can we explain one’s situation and how can the person has illusions, since one must feel all to well that one’s body is no longer material and resistant? - One knows and has no illusions.
OBSERVATION: This is not exact. We know that there are spirits that in some cases keep that illusion and think that they are not dead.
12. There was a huge thunderstorm at the end of the Battle of Solferino. Was it due to a serendipitous cause or a providential design? - Every serendipitous cause is the result of God’s will.
13. Such a storm had an objective then? What was that? - Yes, for sure: to cease the battle.
14. Was it provoked in the interest of any of the belligerent parts? Which one? - Yes, particularly in the interest of our enemies. - Why? Can you elaborate on that? - You ask me why? Don’t you know that without that storm our artillery would have annihilated the Austrians?
15. If the storm was provoked it must have been done by agents that provoked it. What were those agents? - Electricity.
16. Those is the material agent but are there spirits whose attribution is to drive the elements? - No. God’s will is enough. He does not need such common auxiliaries. (See an article later about the storms)
Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies July 1st, 1859 (see July 1859 issue)
1. (Evocation) - I am here.
2. You promised to come to us again and we will take the opportunity to request a few complementary explanations from you. - With pleasure.
3. Have you watched some battles after your death? - Yes, the last one.
4. When you witness a combat as a spirit, watching men killing one another, do you have any feeling of horror as we would, if we watched similar images? - Yes, I experienced that, even as a man, but then human respect was based on a feeling not worthy of a soldier.
5. Are there spirits that feel pleasure by watching such blood shedding? - A few.
6. What do the spirits of a superior order feel when witnessing that? - Great compassion; almost disdain. The same that you feel when you see the animals killing one another.
7. When you see a combat and people dying, do you see the separation between the soul and the body? - Yes.
8. At that moment do you then see two individuals, the spirit and the body? - No. What is the body then? - But the body is still there. It must be distinct from the spirit. - A cadaver, yes, but no longer a human being.
9. What is then the appearance of the spirit? - Light.
10. Does the spirit move away immediately from the body? I ask you to kindly explain things as explicitly as possible and how we would see them in case we witnessed them. - There are only a few really instantaneous deaths. The spirit who was hit by a bullet or a grenade, tells oneself most of the time: “I am going to die, let us think of God and heavens. Good-bye beloved land.” After that first feeling the pain extracts him from the body and it is when we can distinguish the spirit, moving around the cadaver. This seems so natural that the sight of the dead body does not produce an unpleasant effect. Since life has been totally transported to the spirit, it is the spirit that calls our attention; it is with the spirit that we talk and command.
OBSERVATION: We can compare this effect to the one that is produced by a group of swimmers. The spectator does not give attention to the clothes that were left at the beach.
11. Generally, when surprised by a violent death, the individual does not consider oneself dead, for some time. How can we explain one’s situation and how can the person has illusions, since one must feel all to well that one’s body is no longer material and resistant? - One knows and has no illusions.
OBSERVATION: This is not exact. We know that there are spirits that in some cases keep that illusion and think that they are not dead.
12. There was a huge thunderstorm at the end of the Battle of Solferino. Was it due to a serendipitous cause or a providential design? - Every serendipitous cause is the result of God’s will.
13. Such a storm had an objective then? What was that? - Yes, for sure: to cease the battle.
14. Was it provoked in the interest of any of the belligerent parts? Which one? - Yes, particularly in the interest of our enemies. - Why? Can you elaborate on that? - You ask me why? Don’t you know that without that storm our artillery would have annihilated the Austrians?
15. If the storm was provoked it must have been done by agents that provoked it. What were those agents? - Electricity.
16. Those is the material agent but are there spirits whose attribution is to drive the elements? - No. God’s will is enough. He does not need such common auxiliaries. (See an article later about the storms)
General Hoche
Society July 22nd, 1859
1. (Evocation) - I am with you.
2. Mrs. J… told us that you have spontaneously communicated with her. Why did you do that since she had not called you? - She is the one that brings me here. I wanted to be evoked by you and I knew that going to her house you would be informed and would likely call me.
3. You told her that you were following the military operations in Italy. That is natural. Can you tell us what you think about that? - They produced great results. In my time we would fight longer.
4. Do you have an active role by watching that war? - No, a simple spectator.
5. Have other generals from your time been there with you? - Yes, as you can figure out.
6. Could you let us know who some of them are? - It would be useless.
7. They say that Napoleon I was present, a fact that is not difficult to believe. During the first wars of Italy he was a simple general. Could you tell us if in this war he saw things from the point of view of a general or an Emperor? - From both, besides a third one: the diplomat.
8. When alive you held a similar position as his. Since he moved up the ranks a lot from the time of your death, could you tell us if you consider him as your superior, as a spirit? - Equality reigns here. What do you want to know about that?
OBSERVATION: No doubt that he understands that the spirits do not carry their Earthly distinction over, with which they are not much concerned, meaning nothing among them; however, moral equality it is far from existing there. There is a hierarchy and subordination among them, based on the acquired qualities and no one can avoid the ascendency of those who are more elevated and pure.
9. Did you foresee the near peace when following the events of war? - Yes.
10. Was it a simple prediction or did you have a previous and certain knowledge? - No; I was told so.
11. Are you sensitive to the memories we have of you? - Yes, but I did so little.
12. Your widow has just died. Have you immediately met her? - I waited for her. I will leave her now. The existence calls me.
13. Is it on Earth that you will have another existence? - No.
14. Do we know the world where you are going? - Yes. Mercury.
15. Is that world morally superior or inferior to Earth? - Inferior. I will elevate it. I will contribute to improve its classification.
16. Do you already know that world? - Yes, very well. Perhaps even better than I will know it when I inhabit it.
OBSERVATION: This answer is perfectly logical. As a spirit he sees the world in its wholeness. As an incarnate spirit he sees from a restrict point of view, limited to his personality and the social position that he occupies.
17. From a physical point of view, are the inhabitants of that world as material as those from Earth? - Yes, completely and even more.
18. Was it you who chose that world for your next existence? - No, no. I would have preferred a calm and happy land. I will find streams of evil there and the furors of crime to punish.
OBSERVATION: When our Christian missionaries travel to places where the barbarians live, sowing the germens of civilization on them, don’t they exert a similar function? Why then should we be surprised by the fact that an elevated spirit goes to an inferior world to make it advance?
19. Was such an existence imposed on you by constraint? - No. It was advised to me. I was led to understand that destiny, the Providence if you will, called me there. It is like death before heavens. One needs to suffer and I did not suffer enough.
20. Are you happy as a spirit? - Yes, without any issue.
21. What were your occupations as a spirit, since the time when you left Earth? - I visited the world, the whole planet Earth. That required a few years. I learned about the laws employed by God to drive all phenomena which contribute to the Earthly life. Then I did the same in several other spheres.
22. We thank you for having willingly accepted our appeal. - Good-bye. You will not see me again.
Death of a Spiritist
Society, July 8th 1859
Mr. J…, a businessman from the department of La Sarthe, deceased on July 15th, 1859, was a righteous man, of a boundless charity in every aspect. He had carried out a serious study of Spiritism and was one of its followers. He was in indirect contact with us as a subscriber to the Spiritist Review, although we had not met him in person. By evoking him we aim at not only satisfying his relatives and friends wishes but also to give him our personal testimony of sympathy, thanking him for the kindness of his thoughts and words about us. Besides, it would be an interesting object of study for us from the point of view of the influence that a deep knowledge about Spiritism may have on the state of the soul after death.
1. (Evocation) - I am here already for a long time.
2. I never had the pleasure of meeting you. However, do you recognize me? - I recognize you very well, since I frequently visited you and had more than one conversation with you in spirit, during my life.
OBSERVATION: This confirms the very important fact from that we have numerous examples about the communications among human beings, without knowing, during their lives. Thus, during the sleep of the body, the spirits reciprocally travel and visit one another. Awakening, they keep the intuition of the ideas that they acquired during those occult conversations, and whose source they ignore. Therefore we have a double existence during our life: the corporeal, which gives us the life of exterior relationships and the spiritual one, which gives us the life of occult relationships.
OBSERVATION: This confirms the very important fact from that we have numerous examples about the communications among human beings, without knowing, during their lives. Thus, during the sleep of the body, the spirits reciprocally travel and visit one another. Awakening, they keep the intuition of the ideas that they acquired during those occult conversations, and whose source they ignore. Therefore we have a double existence during our life: the corporeal, which gives us the life of exterior relationships and the spiritual one, which gives us the life of occult relationships.
3. Are you happier than you were when on Earth? - And that is you who is asking?
4. I understand. However, you enjoyed a fortune that was honestly acquired, which allowed you the pleasures of life. You were granted with affection and consideration attained by your goodness and benevolence. Can you tell us what is the latitude of your current superiority? - It naturally consists of the satisfaction I have from the memory of the little good I have done and in the certainty of the future that it promises me. Besides, don’t you take into account the absence of the uncertainty and difficulties of life; the corporeal sufferings and all those torments that we create to satisfy the bodily needs? During life the agitation, the anxiety, the endless anguishes, even when wealthy. Here we find tranquility and rest. It is calm after the storm.
5. Six weeks before you died you said that you still had five years to live. Where did that illusion come from considering that so many people foresee the nearing death? - A benevolent spirit wanted to keep that idea away from my mind; although I knew the future of the spirit, I had the unconfessed weakness of fearing death.
6. You did an in depth study of the Spiritist Science. Could you tell us if you found things as expected when you entered the spiritual world? - Almost exactly the same except for a few areas of detail that I had misunderstood.
6. You did an in depth study of the Spiritist Science. Could you tell us if you found things as expected when you entered the spiritual world? - Almost exactly the same except for a few areas of detail that I had misunderstood.
7. Have the careful reading of the Spiritist Review and The Spirits’ Book helped you there? - Undoubtedly. That was what really prepared me for my entry in this true life.
8. Were you afraid in any way when you got to the spiritual world? - Impossible to be otherwise. However, afraid is not a good word. It would be better to say awe. You are far from having an idea about the meaning of that!
OBSERVATION: Someone that before moving to a region had studied it from the books; familiarized with the customs and culture of its inhabitants; analyzed its topology and appearance through drawings, designs and descriptions, will certainly be less surprised than another one who had no idea. However, reality shows him a number of details that he had not foreseen, impressing him. The same must happen in the world of the spirits, whose wonders we cannot completely understand, for there are things beyond our understanding.
9. Once you left the body did you immediately recognize some spirits near you? - Yes, dear spirits.
10. How do you see now the future of Spiritism? - A more brilliant future than you think, despite your faith and wishes.
11. Your knowledge with respect to the spiritist subjects will undoubtedly allow you to respond to a few questions with precision. Can you clearly describe what happened to you at the time when your body exhaled its final breath and your spirit was free? Personally I find it very difficult to explain in a different way than what has already been done, that is, comparing the sensation we have when waking up from a heavy sleep. Such awakening is more or less slow and difficult in direct proportion to the moral situation of the spirit, always strongly influenced by the circumstances of death.
OBSERVATION: This is in agreement with every observation carried out about the status of the spirit at the time of separation from the body. We have always seen the moral and material circumstances of death powerfully influencing the condition of the spirit at the initial moments.
12. Has your spirit maintained the awareness of its own existence up to the last minute, immediately recovering it? Was there any moment in which there was a lack of awareness? What was its duration? - There was a time of perturbation, almost unnoticeable to me.
13. Was there anything painful in the awakening? - No, on the contrary. I felt, if I can say so, happy and fresh, as if I was breathing pure air after leaving a smoky room. OBSERVATION: Ingenuous clever comparison which can only be the pure expression of truth.
14. Do you remember the existence prior to this one that you have just left? How was that? - I remember that very well. I was a servant working for a good man who has, together with others, welcomed me on my arrival into this blessed world.
15. I believe your brother is less involved with the spiritist things than you were. - Yes, I will do something so that he may have more interest, if I am allowed to. If he only knew what we gain from that he would give more importance.
16. Your brother asked Mr. D… to communicate your death to me. Both wait anxiously the result of our dialogue. However, they will be more touched by a direct message from you, in case you wish to send them a few words through us, or even to other persons who miss you. - I will tell them through your intermediary what I would have told them directly, but I am afraid I no longer have influence over some of them as I had before. However, in my name and in the name of their friends, who I can see well, I urge them to seriously reflect and study this grave question of Spiritism, even if it is only for the help that it brings to go through this so much feared transition, feared by the majority of people, and so little feared by the one that has previously prepared himself by the study of the future and the practice of the good deeds. Tell them that I am always with them, in their environment; that I see them and that I will be happy if their determination may grant them a place which will make them always congratulate themselves, in the world where I am. Tell my brother in particular whose happiness is my profound wish, brother that I never forget although I am happier than he is.
16. Your brother asked Mr. D… to communicate your death to me. Both wait anxiously the result of our dialogue. However, they will be more touched by a direct message from you, in case you wish to send them a few words through us, or even to other persons who miss you. - I will tell them through your intermediary what I would have told them directly, but I am afraid I no longer have influence over some of them as I had before. However, in my name and in the name of their friends, who I can see well, I urge them to seriously reflect and study this grave question of Spiritism, even if it is only for the help that it brings to go through this so much feared transition, feared by the majority of people, and so little feared by the one that has previously prepared himself by the study of the future and the practice of the good deeds. Tell them that I am always with them, in their environment; that I see them and that I will be happy if their determination may grant them a place which will make them always congratulate themselves, in the world where I am. Tell my brother in particular whose happiness is my profound wish, brother that I never forget although I am happier than he is.
17. The sympathy that you have kindly showed towards me during your life, even not knowing me personally, gives me the hope that we will easily meet when I am in your world. Until then I will be happy if you want to assist me with my work in order to conclude my mission. - You judge me with great benevolence. Yet, be sure that if I can be of any utility I will always help, even unsuspectedly.
18. We thank you for having kindly attended our call and by the instructive explanation you have given us. - At your services. I will be with you many times.
OBSERVATION: This communication is undoubtedly one of those that describe the spiritual life with more clarity. It offers a powerful teaching with respect to the influence that the spiritist ideas have upon our condition after death. The dialogue, however, seems to have missed something to the friend who has participated us the death of Mr. J…, who said: “He has not preserved in his language the original traits he used with us. He maintained a reservation never shown to anybody. His incorrect, subtle style, used to reveal inspiration; he dared it all; he used to win over any argumentation about his beliefs, reducing us to nothing in order to convince us. In his psychological profile he does not show any particularity regarding the numerous relationships he had with a number of people close to him. We all would like to see our names mentioned by him, not to satisfy our curiosity but for our instruction. We wished he had clearly spoken about some ideas that we expressed before him, during our dialogues. He could have told me personally if I was right or wrong when insisting with this or that consideration; if what I had told him was right or wrong. He has not absolutely mentioned his sister who is still alive and so much worth of his interest.”
After this letter we evoked Mr. J… again and addressed him with the following questions:
19. Are you aware of the letter that I received in response to the communication you gave? - Yes, I saw when they wrote it.
20. Could you kindly give us some explanations about certain passages of that letter with an educational objective, uniquely to provide us with elements to give an answer? - Yes, if you consider that useful.
21. They find it strange that your language has not maintained its original trait. It seems that you showed an overwhelming argumentation when alive. - Yes but Earth and heavens are very different and here I have found masters. What do you want? They made me impatient with their absurd objections. I showed them the Sun and they did not want to see it. How to keep a cold blood? There is no need to discuss here. We all understand things.
22. Those gentlemen are surprised that you have not mentioned them by their names to refute them, as you did when alive. - Let them be surprised! I wait for them. When they join me they will see who is right. It is necessary that they come to this side, willing or not, some sooner than they think. Their arrogance will fall like the dust abated by the rain. Their swagger… (the spirit stops here, refusing to finish the sentence).
23. They infer that you don’t demonstrate all the attention they were rightfully supposed to get from you. - I wish them well but I will do nothing against their own will.
24. They are also surprised that you said nothing about your sister. - Are they in any way between her and me?
25. Mr. B… wished you had mentioned something that he confided to you. It would have been a means of clarification to him and the others. - What is the benefit of repeating what he already knows? Does he think that I have nothing else to do? Don’t they have the same means of enlightenment that I had? May they take advantage of that! I guarantee they will feel well. As for myself, I thank heavens for having sent me the light that opened the path of happiness to me.
26. But it is that light that they wish and which would make them happy had it come from you. - Light shines to all. Blind is the one who refuses to see. That one will fall from the cliff, cursing his blindness.
27. Your language seems very strict to me. - Haven’t they found me too soft?
27. Your language seems very strict to me. - Haven’t they found me too soft?
28. We thank you for having come and for the lessons given to us. - Always at your service since I know it is for the good.
The Storms - Role of the Spirits in the Natural Phenomena
Society, July 22nd, 1859
1. (To Mr. Arago) We were told that the Solferino storm had a providential objective, and several facts of that nature were pointed out to us, particularly in February and June of 1848. Did those storms had a similar objective during the combats? - Almost all of them.
2. Once questioned about that the spirit told us that it was only God acting, without intermediaries. We take the liberty of asking you a few questions in that regard, asking you to kindly respond with your customary clarity. We understand perfectly well that God’s will is the primary cause in this, as in everything else. However, we also know that the spirits are God’s agents. Well then, if we know that the spirits exert action upon matter, we cannot see why some of them would not exert influence over the elements, so as to agitate them, calm them down or drive them. - But that is evident. It cannot be different. God does not act directly upon matter. God has His dedicated agents on all degrees of the scale of the worlds. The evocated spirit said those things for having a limited knowledge about these laws, as also with respect to the laws of war.
1. (To Mr. Arago) We were told that the Solferino storm had a providential objective, and several facts of that nature were pointed out to us, particularly in February and June of 1848. Did those storms had a similar objective during the combats? - Almost all of them.
2. Once questioned about that the spirit told us that it was only God acting, without intermediaries. We take the liberty of asking you a few questions in that regard, asking you to kindly respond with your customary clarity. We understand perfectly well that God’s will is the primary cause in this, as in everything else. However, we also know that the spirits are God’s agents. Well then, if we know that the spirits exert action upon matter, we cannot see why some of them would not exert influence over the elements, so as to agitate them, calm them down or drive them. - But that is evident. It cannot be different. God does not act directly upon matter. God has His dedicated agents on all degrees of the scale of the worlds. The evocated spirit said those things for having a limited knowledge about these laws, as also with respect to the laws of war.
OBSERVATION: The communication of the officer mentioned
above was obtained on July 1st; this one only took place
on July 22nd, through another medium. The current question
makes no reference about the elevation of the first spirit who
was evoked then, just mentioned by the spirit in this current
evocation. This circumstance is characteristic and demonstrates
that the medium’s thought did not absolutely influence
the answer. That is how the spirit reveals in several serendipitous
circumstances his independence as well as his identity.
That is why we have said that it is necessary to observe and see
a lot. That is how we detect a number of nuances which otherwise
go unnoticed by the hastily and superficial observer. We
know that we need to capture the details as they present themselves
and that they will not be obtained when provoked. The
attentive and patient observer always finds food for thought.
3. The mythology is entirely founded on the spiritist ideas. There
we find all properties of the spirits with the difference that the
former peoples transformed them into gods. Well, mythology
presents those gods, or spirits, with special attributes. Thus, some
were in charge of the winds, others the lightning or vegetation,
etc. Is such a belief with merit?
- It is so much merit that it is very close to the truth.
4. In the beginning of our communications the spirits told us things
that seem to confirm that principle. We were told, for example,
that certain spirits inhabit more particularly the interior of Earth,
presiding over the geological phenomena.
- Yes, and it will not be long for you have an explanation of all
this.
5. The spirits who inhabit the interior of Earth, presiding over the
geological phenomena, are they of an inferior order?
- Those spirits don’t positively live on Earth but preside over
and drive the geological phenomena. They are from a completely
different order.
6. Have those spirits been incarnate in human beings like us?
- They have been and will be. I will momentarily tell you more
about that if you want.
The Home of a Spiritist Family
Mrs. G… , widowed three years ago, was left with four children. The
oldest son is a seventeen year old kind young man and the youngest
a charming six year old girl. This family has been dedicating to Spiritism
for a long time and even before this belief had become popular as in our
days, having the husband and wife had a kind of intuition developed by
a number of events. Mr. G…’s father had appeared to him several times
in his youth always to warn about important things and give him useful
advices. Similar facts had also taken place with his friends so that the existence
beyond the grave was not object of doubt to any of them, as well as
the possibility of communication with our beloved ones.
When Spiritism appeared it was only the confirmation of a solid and sanctified idea by the feeling of a clarified religion, since that family is an example of evangelical benevolence and charity. They learned about the most direct means of communication with the new science. The mother and one of the sons became excellent mediums. Far from employing such faculties in futile questions they considered it as a precious gift from the providence, which one could not use but to serious things. Hence, they never practiced it without respect and worship, and always far from the sight of the curious and unwelcome.
When Spiritism appeared it was only the confirmation of a solid and sanctified idea by the feeling of a clarified religion, since that family is an example of evangelical benevolence and charity. They learned about the most direct means of communication with the new science. The mother and one of the sons became excellent mediums. Far from employing such faculties in futile questions they considered it as a precious gift from the providence, which one could not use but to serious things. Hence, they never practiced it without respect and worship, and always far from the sight of the curious and unwelcome.
In the meantime Mr. G… fell ill. Predicting his near end, he gathered
the children and told them:
“My dear children and beloved wife: God calls me to his side. I feel
that I am going to leave you soon but I also feel that you will find the
strength to withstand such separation with courage in your faith in the
immortality, as I am taking with me the consolation that I may always
be among you, helping you with my advices. Thus, call me when I am
no longer with you. I will come to sit by your side and talk to you, as our
ancestors do. In reality we will be less separated than if I had gone to a
distant land. My dear wife I leave you with a huge task but the heavier it is
the more glorious it will be. I am certain that our children will help you to
bear it. Isn’t that true children? You will help your mother; you will avoid
anything that may make her suffer; you will always be good and benevolent
to all; you will reach out to your unfortunate brothers since you don’t
want to have one day to helplessly beg for that yourselves. May the peace,
union and concord always reign among you! May material interest never
split you apart since material interest is the greatest barrier between Earth
and heavens! Think that I will always be with you; that I will see you as I
see you now and even better since I will read your thoughts. Thus, don’t
make me sad after my death in the same way that you have not done in
life.”
The life of that benevolent family is a really inspirational spectacle.
Fed by the spiritist ideas those children did not consider themselves separated
from their father. To them, he is present. They are afraid of doing
the slightest thing that may displease him. They dedicate one evening per
week, and sometimes more, to talk to him. However, the daily needs must
be provided for, considering that this is not a wealthy family. That is why
such blessed conversations are scheduled to a specific day and anxiously
expected by all. Several times the little one asks: “Is it today that Dad is
coming?” That day is spent among familiar conversations and intelligent
instructions, sometimes childish ones, other times grave and sublime.
These may be advices about naughty little things that he observes. If, on
one side, there is praise, there is no lack of criticism and the naughty one turns the eyes down, as if in the physical presence of their father; asks
for his help that sometimes is granted only after a few weeks of trial. His
presence is awaited with avid anxiety. What happiness when their father
says: “I am pleased with you!” The most terrible sentence is: “I will not
come next week.”
The annual party is not forgotten. It is always a solemn day, to which
the grandparents and other family members who had passed on are invited,
not forgetting a little brother deceased a few years back. The family
pictures are adorned with flowers and each child prepares a small essay,
sometimes just a traditional salutation. The oldest writes an essay about a
serious subject; one of the girls plays a piece of music; the little one tells a
story. It is the day of the great communications, and each guest receives a
souvenir from the friends left on Earth.
How beautiful are these meetings, in their touching simplicity! How
much all that speaks to the heart! How can one leave those gatherings not
being saturated by the love of good? Not one look of mockery, not one
skeptical smile comes to perturb the devout worship. Some friends who
share the same convictions as the family, adepts of the same religion, are
the only ones allowed to participate into that feast of love.
You may laugh as much as you want, you who laugh at the most sacred
things. However arrogant and tough-hearted you are I don’t believe
that your pride may remain impassive and cold before such a spectacle.
One day, however, it was a real day of sorrow to that family: the father had
announced that he would be away for some time, actually for a long time.
He had been assigned to an important mission far from Earth.
The annual party was still celebrated but it was said since the father
was not there. When he left he said: “My children, may I find you all
worthy of me on my return”, and each one endeavors to be worthy of him.
They are still waiting!
Spiritist Aphorisms and Select Thoughts
When evoking a relative or a friend, whatever the affection we
have maintained towards them, we must not be carried away
by these moments of tenderness that would seem natural after a
painful separation. The affection is not less felt because it is calm
and it can be even more real than that translated by great emotions.
The spirits think but do not act like human beings. Two
friendly spirits see each other, love one another, are happy about
the mutual presence but have no need to be thrown in the arms
of the other. When communicating with us through the writing
one word is enough to them, and tell them more than emphatic
sentences.
ALLAN KARDEC
ALLAN KARDEC