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A SHORT HISTORY OF THE "WEGBEGLEITER" GROUP
Andreas Sommer

It was in the spring of 1995 when the first ideas about a little journal on  Spiritism  began  to  be  considered. At  that time my friend Rudolf Passian was running a project for the benefit of   Indians   in   Brazil  (upper Xingu area in central Brazil) who were  suffering  from  diseases caused by their contact with white men. This project started in 1992 and was concluded successfully in 1997 based on donations by the readers  of  Passian who is a well known writer and researcher  of  Spiritualism  and  the paranormal in Germany and Switzerland. For more than twenty years he  has been doing research in Brazil where he has been to  almost  annually  to date. In 1978 he wrote an interesting  and  fascinating  book  on his experiences with Brazilian trance surgery and  introduced  mediums  like  Oscar de Wilde, Lourival de Freitas and other "Dr Fritz"-mediums to  the German and  Swiss  public.  He produced  some  striking  films  of their  operations. Passian is also well known to do his  research not  for  the  sake of sensation, but to demonstrate some of the phenomena described in Spiritism  confirming  its  truths.  In  his   books  and  lectures,  he permanently emphasizes the immense importance of Spiritism as an ethical basis and an approach to the Christian religion. During his study  trips  to Brazil he became a friend of Hernani G. Andrade and Divaldo P Franco.

Short before the Xingu project had come to its end,  Martin  Weber,  who was then an officer of the German army, contacted me  to donate for  the  project. The money was saved since there was no need for it anymore  and  we then studied another use of the money. I  suggested  to  establish  a newsletter dealing with Spiritism/Christian Spiritualism as  there  were  no journals on this subject in Germany at that time. I had contributed a few articles on Spiritism to  some  esoteric  journals  before  and  was  unsatisfied with the fact that our world view was not represented in the German media. After asking Rudolf Passian for advice concerning our idea, he wrote his readers for support. Prof. Dr. Werner  Schiebeler,  also  a well known Christian Spiritualist and Psychical  Researcher,  joined  us when Passian told him about our plans. Within a few weeks we  were  able to distribute our journal called "Wegbegleiter" (WB - path companion)  - of whom I am the editor - to about 250 subscribers. A few  months  later Martin Weber quitted his  service  in  the  army  and  founded  a  small publishing house that could only be kept running with the gazette he wassoon producing for the small town where he lives. As a  non-profit  work, the subscription to the WB journal is very low  and  its  production  required further donations of  our  readers. In  1996  another  friend  of  Passian,  the Swiss psychologist  Dr.  Beat  Imhof,  joined  us  as  the fourth permanent contributor to the WB and we were able to  open  a  new  column called "Counseling" that is directed by Dr. Imhof.  In  September 1997  we  uploaded  some  web sites  on  the  Internet  for the  sake  of  information and reference on the subject of Spiritualism/Spiritism. They are located at http://www.parapsychologie.ch.

In January 1998 we have about 800 readers and hope to keep on increasing the number of readers and propagating the truths of Spiritism. As it  is  already said in the English version of  our  web site,  a  WB  edition in English could be produced if we had about 100 readers interested in  the subscription. The more readers we have the more we can do  to  reproduce  some valuable standard works that were out of print for so long time. We are determined to continue the work of the publishing house Oswald Mutze in Leipzig which published books on  Spiritism/Spiritualism  exclusively  until the 2nd World War.  Today the WB is  known  within the  circle  of esoteric magazines as the only Spiritist/Spiritualist journal in Germany and German -speaking countries.

Andreas Sommer
Sommer.WB@t-online.de
http://www.parapsychologie.ch

SPIRITISM AND THE INTERNET (*)
David Williams

I have just received my first edition of 'The Spiritist  Messenger'  via email.

In answer to  Jacques  Mouton's  question  "What  can  the  web  do  for  Spiritism?" I personally think it can do quite a lot.

I came across the truth of Spiritism by accident  whilst  'surfing'  the web for something completely different and came across the Spiritweb.com site. It was here that I first read of Allan Kardec and  have  now  down loaded some of his books and various other documents from sites  on  the internet and am now proud to call myself a Spiritist.

I do agree with Jacque when he says that the Internet is a 'cold' medium and we do need human contact, and it was through the  Internet  I  found  the address of my local Spiritualist church.

It would be true to say therefore that if it wasn't for the  Internet  I would not have discovered  Spiritism  and  would  have  been  'lost'  in 'traditional religious dogma' for the remainder  of  my  earthly  exile. However I would consider it  only as a  'Literature  source'  and  would recommend the human touch every time.

I thank God for the chance to understand the truth of his word and to be able to loosen my materialistic bonds and find my true, Spiritual, self.

All my love and Blessings

David Williams

I am Truly 'Born Again'

(*) See the complete question in the previous report. (The Editors)

SPIRITIST BOOKS IN GERMAN
Rafael Peregrino

Dear friends,

We are presently involved in a important work in the lands where we  are living.

Our Spiritist group aims at the spreading  of  the  Spiritist  ideas  in Germany according to our limitations and possibilities. As many  already know several  books  not  necessarily   in   accordance   with  official ideologies were destroyed in   the   past in Germany.  As   a   result, starting from the existing sources, quite a few Spiritist books remained  in old library stands, so that a  Spiritist  bibliography  is  something hard to find in Germany.

A group of German spiritists in joined   work   is   running  a  careful research in order to  know  what  was  left  of  this  almost  forgotten bibliography. We have  found many books as you can see in our home page:

http://www.schlund.de/bsos/

After the books were found and a Publishing house was contacted, we have faced two main obstacles:

1 - The question of copyrights

2 - The demand of Spiritist books in German.

The first  problem  is  being solved but, as for the second we need your help. All  those who are interested in Spiritist books in German (now or in the future)  or  who know possibly interested people, please, contact us. We  need  to provide  a  list (containing numbers) to the publishing house in order to justify the required investment.

We sincerely thank all you for the collaboration.

Regards,

Rafael Peregrino

 14. There is various ways of practicing  charity,  which  many  of  you confuse  with  the  giving  of  alms.  However,  there  is  considerable  difference  between  the  two. Alms, my friends, are useful sometimes be cause they   can   bring  alleviation to those who are poor. But this is almost always humiliating, not only  for the  giver  but  also  for  the  receiver. On the other hand, charity joins the benefactor to the one who is receiving the benefit because it can be disguised in so many ways! It is possible to be charitable even to friends and  relations,  simply  by being indulgent to one another, by mutually forgiving all weaknesses and by taking care not to hurt anyone's self-respect. You who are Spiritists, can be charitable in the manner in which you behave towards  others  who think differently than  you  do,  or  by  inducing those  who  are  less enlightened  to  believe  without shocking them, without attacking their own  convictions. You can also attract them lovingly to our meetings, so they may listen to us and so that we may know how to discover a way into their hearts. All this is just one aspect of charity.

Listen  now  to  what  is  meant  by  charity  towards  the poor,  those disinherited of this world, who will be recompensed by God if they   are able  to  accept  their  miseries  without complaint, which in turn will  depend upon you and the way in which you offer help. You will understand what  I  mean  by the following example. Several times each week I go to watch  a meeting  of  ladies  of all ages. For us you know, they are all sisters. What  do  they  do?  They work quickly, very quickly with their agile  fingers. I   see   how radiant are their faces and note how their hearts  all beat in unison. But what is the purpose of all this work? It is  because winter approaches, which will be very hard for those who are poor.  During  the   summer   those   busy ants could not put by all the necessary  provisions  and most  of their utensils have been pawned. The needy mothers are anxious and frequently weep thinking of their children who  will  go  cold  and hungry during the long winter! Poor unfortunate women,  be  patient,  for  God  has  inspired  others  more wealthy than yourselves and they have joined together to make clothes!  One  of  this days, when the Earth is covered with snow and you  are  complaining  and accusing  God of being unjust, which is what you always do and say every time  you  suffer,  then you will see someone appear, sent by these good workers  who  have established themselves as labourers for the poor. Yes, it is for you that they work like that and your complaints will be turned into  blessings,  because   in  the heart of those who are unhappy, love follows close behind hate.

As  all  workers need encouragement, communications from the good Spirits come from all sides. The menfolk also take part in this society, bringing their  help   in   the   form  of readings, which are pleasing to all. As recompense  for the enthusiasm of everyone, and of certain individuals in particular, we the Spirits promise to bring these hard-working  labourers good customers, who will pay in the form of blessings, which after all is the  only currency acceptable in Heaven. We also assure them without fear of  contradictions, that this currency will never be lacking for any  one of these workers.
Caritas (Lyon, 1861)

* - In "The Gospel According to Spiritism", Chapter 13, Trans. by  Janet Duncan.