(Extracted from the works of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies)
“Mr. A… from Paris, a twenty-three-year-old young man that was initiated in Spiritism, only two months ago, assimilated it with such a speed that even without seeing anything he accepted it in all its moral consequences. Some will say that there is no surprise given the age of the man and his tendencies towards lightheartedness and insensible enthusiasm. Be that as it may, let us continue.
That insensible young man had, as he acknowledges himself, a large number of defects of which the most important was an irresistible predisposition to rage since his childhood. The least upset and due to futile causes like when getting home and not finding what he was looking for; if something was not in its habitual place; if what he had ordered was not ready in a minute all that would make him fierce, to the point of breaking everything around him. It was so much so that one day, at the apex of his rage, he threw himself against his mother and said: “Go away or I will kill you!” Then, worn out by the hyper excitation he would fall unconscious. It must be added that neither the advices of his parents nor the exhortations of religion were able to stop that indomitable character yet opposed by a vast intelligence, a well-cared for education and the noblest feelings.
Others will say that it is the effect of a bilious-bloody-nervous temperament, resulting from his physical organization and consequently with an irresistible action. Such a system leads to the fact that if he had committed a crime during one of those fits of wrath he would be perfectly excusable because it would have been due to an excess of bile. It would also result that unless he changed his temperament, changing the normal state of liver and nerves, the young man would be predestined to all of the dismal consequences of rage.
- Do you know a medication for such a pathological state?
- None, unless with time and age may attenuate the abundance of the morbid secretions.
- Well! What science cannot do Spiritism does not slowly and following a continuous struggle but instantaneously. A few days were enough to turn this young man into a kind and patient person. The acquired certainty of a future life; the knowledge of the objective of the earthly life; the feeling of dignity of man through the free-will, placing him above the animals; the responsibility that stems out of that; the understanding that most evils of Earth are the consequences of our own actions; all these ideas drawn from a serious study of Spiritism produced a subtle transformation in his brain; he felt like a veil being removed from his eyes and a new face of life was presented to him. Certain that an intelligent being inhabited his body, independent of matter, he said to himself:
“That being must have a willpower that matter does not have. It can then dominate matter.” Followed by this other train of thought: “The result of my rage was to make me sick and unhappy and it does not give me what I need hence it is useless because it took me nowhere. It is bad to me and gives me nothing good in turn. Besides, it makes me do reproachable and even criminal things.”
He wanted to succeed and did so. Since then he faced a thousand situations that would have made him mad but instead he was calm and indifferent for the astonishment of his mother. The blood would boil in his veins and blow his head but his willpower would abate and force it down. A miracle would not have done better but Spiritism has done many others that our Spiritist Review would not be able to register if we wanted to report all of those that come to our personal knowledge related to moral transformations of the most inveterate habits. We mention this one as a remarkable example of the willpower and also because it raises an important problem that only Spiritism can solve. With that respect, Mr. A… asked us if his Spirit was responsible for the fits or if only suffered the influence of matter. Here is our answer:
Your Spirit is so much responsible that when you seriously wanted to stop the bloody actions, you did so. Thus, if you had wished to stop before the fits of rage would have ended earlier and you would not have threatened your mother. Besides you, who is the one that becomes enraged? Is it the body or the Spirit? If the fits would happen without reason, they could be attributed to the blood flow, however, futile or not, their cause was an upset. It is then evident that it was the Spirit and not the body that was troubled. The Spirit reacted on top of an irritable organic system that would remain quiet if it had not been provoked.
Let us offer a comparison. You have an impetuous horse. If you know how to ride the horse properly it becomes obedient. If you maltreat the horse it dashes away and takes you down. Whose fault is that? Yours or the horse?
To me, your Spirit is naturally bad-tempered but since each one brings their own original sin, that is, the remainder of the former tendencies, it is not less evident that in your preceding life you must have been an extremely violent man that may have paid a very dear price, even with your own life. In the spiritual world your good qualities helped you to understand your mistakes. I made the resolution to change this and fight against it in your new life. However, if you had chosen a weak and lymphatic body, your Spirit would not have found any difficulty and would gain nothing, resulting in the need of a new beginning. That was the reason why you have chosen a bilious body, so that you would have the merit of the battle. The victory has been conquered now. You won over your enemy and nothing can hinder the free exercise of your qualities. As for the easiness, with which you accepted, Spiritism that is explained by the same cause. You were Spiritist long ago. The belief was innate within you and materialism was only the result of the false direction given to your ideas. Muffled in the beginning, the Spiritist idea remained in a latent state and a simple spark was enough to wake it up. Praise the Providence that allowed that spark to arrive at the right time to stop an inclination that could have perhaps cause bitter displeasures whilst you now have a long road ahead to walk the good path.
All philosophies have been shattered against these mysteries of human life that seemed unreachable up until the time when Spiritism illuminated them with its focus. In the presence of such facts can one still ask the utility of Spiritism? Can’t we make good predictions about the future of humanity when it is understood and practiced by everybody?
