The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1859

Several fragments of a poem by Mr. Porry from Marseille were read at the Society, in the session on September 16th, 1859 entitled Uranie. As noticed, the poem has plenty of spiritist ideas, apparently taken from the very source of The Spirits’ Book. It was attested, however, that the author had no knowledge of the Spiritist Doctrine when he wrote the poem.

Our readers would certainly be grateful if we provided some fragments. They certainly remember what was said with respect to the way Mr. de Porry wrote his poem, which seems to denounce a kind of mediumship (see Bulletin of the private session on September 16th, Review October 1859). As a matter of fact, the spirits who constantly surround us, and, without regard, exerting an incessant influence upon us, take advantage of the dispositions they find in certain individuals, transforming them into instruments of ideas which they want to express, bringing them to the public knowledge of people. Such individuals are, unknowingly, true mediums and do not need the mechanical faculty for that. All people of genius, poets, painters and musicians are in that category. Their spirits may certainly produce on their own, in case they are advanced enough for that, but many ideas may also come to them from a strange source. Don’t they seem to be making an evocation when asking for inspiration? Well then, what is inspiration other than a suggested idea? What we take from our inner self is not inspired. We have it and there is no need to receive it. If the genius took everything from himself why he would then lack ideas exactly when he is seeking them? Wouldn’t he be able to take them from his own brain, like someone that has money and take it from his pocket? If he does not find anything there at a given time it is because he does not have it. Why then, at the least expected moment, do the ideas sprout on their own? Could the physiologists explain that phenomenon? Have they ever tried to solve it? They say that the brain produces today but it will not produce tomorrow. Why is that? They limit themselves to say that it does happen because the brain has already produced before. According to the Spiritist Doctrine the brain can always produce what it contains. That is why the most inept person always finds something to say, even if just a silly thing. But the ideas over which we have no ownership, those are not ours. They are suggested to us. When there is no inspiration it is because the inspirer is not present or does not judge appropriate to inspire. It seems to us that this explanation is better than the alternative.

Swedenborg is one of those characters better known by name than in fact, at least by the public. His books are bulky and the text generally very abstract, almost exclusively read by the scholarly. Thus, most people who speak about him would be very embarrassed to define him. To some he is a great man, object of profound veneration, although they don’t know why. To others he is a charlatan, a visionary, a thaumaturge.

As every person who professed ideas contrary to the majority, particularly when those ideas harm certain prejudices, he had and still has his contradictors. Had the latter ones limited themselves to refute him they would be in their own right, but the spirit of faction respects nothing, not even the noblest qualities. Swedenborg could not be an exception.

His doctrine, no doubt, lacks a great deal. He himself is far from approving it in all its points today. Irrespective of how much it is refutable, however, it does not take from him the fact that he was one of the most eminent men of his century.

The information below was extracted from an interesting note sent by Mrs. P… to the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies.

Emmanuel Swedenborg was born in Stockholm in 1688, dying in London in 1772 at the age of 84 years old. His father, Joeper Swedenborg, Bishop of Scava, was distinguished for his merit and knowledge. His son, however, went much beyond him. He sticks out in all Sciences, particularly Theology, Mechanics, Physics and Metallurgy. His prudence, wisdom, modesty and simplicity gave him the high reputation he still enjoys these days. The kings invited him to their counsels. In 1716 he was appointed assistant to Charles XII in the School of Metallurgy of Stockholm. He was granted a nobility title by Queen Ulrika, taking with distinction the most important positions up until 1743, time when he had the first spiritist revelation. He was then 55 years old. He resigned, wishing to dedicate to his doctrine and to the establishment of the New Jerusalem. That is how he describes his first revelation:

I n the book entitled Les Six Nouvelles * by Maxime Ducamp, there is a touching story that we recommend to our readers. It is about an errant soul who tells her own adventures.

We don’t have the honor of knowing Mr. Maxime Ducamp, who we have never met. Consequently we don’t know if he used his own imagination or collected the teachings from spiritist studies. Nevertheless, he could not have been better inspired.

We can judge him from the fragment below. We will not speak about the fantastic ambience of the novel. That is an accessory without importance and purely formal.

“I am an errant, a lost soul. I wander through spaces, waiting for a body. I travel on the wings of the wind, across the blue skies, through the songs of the birds, in the pale clarities of moonshine. I am a lost soul…”

“Since the time God has separated us from Him, we lived many times on Earth, advancing from generation to generation, fearlessly leaving behind the bodies which were entrusted to us, and continuing the work of our own betterment through the existences to which we are submitted.”

“When we leave this troublesome host, which serves us so badly; fecundating and renovating Earth, its origin; when we are finally free, we open our wings. God lets us know our objective. We see our preceding existences; assess our progress over the centuries; understand the punishments and awards that came our way, through the joys and pains in our lives; we see our intelligence progress from birth to birth, aspiring to the supreme state by which we will leave this inferior homeland to reach radiant planets where passions are more elevated, love more ambitions and happiness more steady, the organisms better developed, feelings more abundant, sheltering souls who, by their virtues, approached beatitude more than us.”

One of our corresponding members, a man of great knowledge who holds scientific titles that do not preclude him from believing that we have a soul that outlives the body. A soul that remains errant in space after death and can still communicate with the living ones. This is notwithstanding the fact that he is a good medium himself and entertains conversations with creatures from beyond the grave. He addresses the following letter to us:

“Dear Sir, “You may find appropriate to accommodate the following fact in your Review:”

“Some time ago I was a juror. The court was supposed to try a young man, just coming out of adolescence, accused of having murdered an elderly lady under horrible circumstances. The accused confessed, giving details of the horrible crime with such a cold blood and cynicism that made the audience tremble.”

“It was, however, easy to predict the fact that attenuating circumstances would be presented in his favor, considering not only his age, the absolute lack of education and stimulus given by his family, but also the fact that he was led to a state of rage by injury and provocation.”

• “What do you think about your murderer?”

• “It is not me who is going to accuse him.”

• “Why?”

• “How do you know that?”

• “Does he enjoy his vengeance?”

The Officer from Crimea

The L’indépendance Belge, which cannot be accused of excessive benevolence with respect to the spiritist beliefs, reported the following fact, reproduced by several newspapers, and that we transcribe with all reservations since we did not have the opportunity of confirming its legitimacy.

“It might be that because our imagination invents and populates a world of souls besides us and above us; be it because the world in which we live and act does actually exist, there is no doubt, at least for me, that some inexplicable accidents do take place, provoking science and challenging reason.”

“During the Crimea war, in one of those sad and slow evenings that wonderfully serve imagination, nightmare and all heavenly and worldly nostalgias, a young officer suddenly stands, leaves his tent, looks for a comrade and says:

• “I have just been visited by my cousin, Ms. T…”

• “Are you daydreaming?”

• “No. She came in, pale and smiley face, just sliding her delicate feet on the hard and rough grounds. She looked at me, after wakening me up with her sweet voice, and said: It is taking you too long! Take care! We sometimes die at war not going to war! I wanted to speak with her, stand up and run to her but she backed up and placing her finger on her lips she said: Silence! Have courage and patience. We will see one another again. Ah, my friend! She was too pale. I am sure that she is sick and that she calls me.”

• “You are crazy and daydreaming, said the friend.”

PARISIAN SOCIETY, JULY 15th, 1859

News – Francois Paris, a famous deacon of Pâris, deceased in 1727 at the age of thirty-seven, was the eldest son of a Parliament Counselor. He should have naturally succeeded his father in that position but he preferred the ecclesiastic career. After his father’s death he left all assets to his brother. For some time he taught catechism at St. Cosmos Parish; he took over the direction of the clergy, giving them conferences. Cardinal Noailles, to whom he was bonded, wanted to nominate him as Curate of that Pâris, but an unforeseen obstacle came up. Father Pâris was entirely dedicated to seclusion. After having experienced several hermitages he secluded himself at a house in the neighborhood of St. Marcel. He gave himself totally to the prayers, to the most rigorous penitence and manual labor. He made socks to the poor who he considered his brothers. He died in that asylum.

Father Pâris had adhered to the Unigenitus bull, interposed by the four bishops. He had renovated his appeal in 1720. The opposing parties should then diversely describe it. As he had to make socks, the books he produced were mediocre. Those books gave explanations of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Romans, to the Galatians and an analysis of the epistle to the Hebrews that few people read. His brother erected a tomb to him in the small cemetery of SaintMédard, where the poor who were helped by the pious deacon went to pray, and some rich people who he had helped to elevate and some women who he had educated. There were healings seemingly miraculous and convulsions that were considered dangerous and ridiculous. The local authority felt obliged to stop that spectacle, determining the closure of the cemetery on January 27th, 1732. The same enthusiasts then carried out their convulsions in private houses. In the opinion of a large number of people the tomb of Deacon Pâris was the tomb of Jansenism. Some people, however, saw the hand of God in all that and associated even more to a sect that produced such wonders. There are many stories about that Deacon, which nobody would have heard from if they did not want to transform him into a thaumaturge. Below some among the strange phenomena presented by the Convulsive of Saint-Médard:

 The faculty of withstanding huge blows that human bodies should be smashed by;

 That of speaking unknown languages or forgotten by them;

 The faculty of an extraordinary development of the intelligence.

The faculty of reading the mind;

Mr. Mathieu, mentioned in our October issue regarding the miracles, addressed the following complaint to us, promptly attended:

“Dear Sir,

“If I am not in agreement with you in all points at least I have the opportunity to comment, as you did in the latest issue of your journal. Thus, I totally agree with you regarding the word miracle.”

“Notice that if I used it in my brochure I also was careful to say on page 4: “Convinced that the word miracle expresses a fact produced outside the known laws of nature; a fact that escapes every human explanation, every scientific interpretation”, I then supposed to have given the word miracle a relative and conventional value. It seems to me, since you took the burden of criticizing me, that I was wrong.”

“In any case I count on your impartiality so that these lines, which I am honored to address to you, are welcome in your next issue. I am not upset as long as your readers know that I did not want to give to the word in question the meaning that you criticize, and that there was inability on my side or misunderstanding on yours, perhaps a bit of both.” Yours sincerely, etc.

“Mathieu”

The abundance of material does not allow us to include the Bulletin of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies in this issue. We will provide it in the December number, in a supplement, together with other communications that we had to postpone for lack of space.

ALLAN KARDEC