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ABOUT "TALKING TO HEAVEN"

Normally, we have few news in Brazil about the American Spiritualism in our days. Precise information is mostly  about  the  pioneers  of  the nineteenth century. Updated information is very  confuse,  giving  the idea of a chaotic situation, similar to the Spiritualists portrayed  in Hollywood films.

So it was a great surprise to find a book of  an  American  medium  of ours days, with precise information and good explanations. "Talking to Heaven" is the work of the medium James Van Praag and it is a book not much different of the Spiritists works  (The  Spiritist  Doctrine,  or Spiritism, is an vivid movement  here  in  Brazil  as  well  as  Latin America and  some  European  countries)  In  the  eleven chapters,  he presents transcriptions of  his  sessions  and  explanations  about  the spiritual world. Many  different  situations  are  studied,  including complex cases like discarnation by suicide.

However, the sessions described in the  book  differ  from  ours.  The Spiritist medium is always connected to a spiritist  study  group  or help  group.  Individual  actuation   or   particular   sessions   are suppressed.

I don't know if this is the case of the author of the book, but another great difference  between  Spiritist  mediums  and  new  Spiritualists mediums is the question of charging: It is very strange to us the idea of professional mediums or paid sessions.

Finally, the book is a great work and  I  recommend  its  reading.  If someone in the GEAE has more information about  this  medium  and  his work, please send us to study.

Best regards

Carlos Iglesia

THE QUESTION OF PROFESSIONAL MEDIUMSHIP

Question 550: How should we interpret the fantastic legends of persons who sell their souls to Satan in order to obtain certain favours?

Answer: Every fable contains a teaching and a moral. The mistake is to take fables literally. The  one  you  have  just  referred  to  is  an allegory, and it can be explained as follows. People  who  call  forth wrong-doing spirits to help them achieve wealth,  fame  or  any  other favor, rebel against Providence. They  abandon  their  own  life-plan. They seek  to  avoid  the  learning  experiences  they  were  to  have undergone in the earthly life. They will, needless to  say,  reap  the consequences of this rebellion in the  future.  We  do  not  mean,  of course, that their souls will be condemned to misery forever. The fact remains, however, that, instead of detaching themselves  from  matter, they have plunged deeper and deeper  into  it.  Consequently,  in  the spirit world, they will experience pain of conscience until they  have redressed their ill-fated choices through new trials. And these  tries will, more than likely, be even harder and more distressing  than  the ones  they  rebelled  against.   But   in   the   here-and-now,   they self-indulgence  brings  these  individuals  into  a  coalition   with unscrupulous spirits and creates between them a tacit  agreement  that will, if unbroken, lead to their moral ruin. Fortunately, if they have a firm determination to do so, it is always possible for them to break away with the help of good spirits.

In: "The Spirits' Book", by  A.  Kardec.  Published  by  Allan  Kardec Educational Society (1996).

The Spiritualist  movement  has  always  relied  on  mediums  for  the updating  and  development  of  the  Spiritualist  principles  in  the material world. A question of prime importance concerns the system  of work which a medium should obey. Should he (or she) be paid  for  his (her) work ?; should a medium  charge  for  his  channeling  with  the spirit world? I would like here to analyze such a problem by  exposing different lines of argumentation (the notion of medium "work" will  be particularly addressed) and by  showing  that  the  very  Spiritualist principles that we claim to believe do not allow direct  approval  of professional  mediumship.

The  most  common  argument  I  had   heard supporting  professional  mediums is that they can charge for the time
they spend in a  seance.  In  our modern world and specially in the so called  advanced  societies,  the  current  point  of view proposes to charge for everything you do and so, if a medium charges, he is in fact accounting for the time he dedicates in his "psychic" work.  Some  may say the medium is not profiting from  his  work  but  just  adjusting himself to a time consuming world.  From  this point  of  view  alone, professional mediums are well justified.

However,  when  dealing  with questions which concern the spirit,  it  is obligatory to apply spirit principles. If the case  were  to  judge  a material act, one would be on a  firm  ground  in  applying  material laws. A material  work  as the result of a contribution of several  hands or as an individual effort requires special skills which  deserve,  by their turn, special retributions. In the form of a  material  payment, the worker sees the consequence of his work, which allows him not only to live but also to continue working. A worker (and specially the good worker)  transforms the world around him and, therefore, has the  right to be sustained by the world he has  transformed.  The  material  help should be extended even to the  so  called  "intellectual"  activities because these  are generally related to an individual effort.  In   every  work  of  this world we can always locate the source of  work  which  is  either  the worker himself or partially the people around who  help  him.

Let  us then translate the principles above to a medium.  We  make   use  here of what we have learn from the Spiritist doctrine that  we   claim  is the most extensive research program on  the   "psychic".   Clearly   a medium can not be classified as a worker in  the  material  sense.  We could even go further and ask if mediumship can be taken as a kind  of work at all. It does not comes from a special effort of the medium but it is the result of his inner and inborn capabilities. If  the  person was born without them, he or she will never become a medium no  matter how much time and effort is dedicated  to  the  frequent  illusion  of mediumship development. However the most  important  argument  against professional  mediumship  is  related  to  the  source  of   "psychic" information. No one in this world can prove that a  medium  can  exist without spirit intervention. By definition, mediumship is  the  ability of a person to serve as the intermediary  stage  (therefore  the  name medium) between us and the spirits. The source is then  spiritual.  If one could charge for the mediums "work",  how  would  the  spirits  be paid? Could they bill a credit card?  If  mediumship  is  a  material work, what should they receive in return? Who will pay for the time of the spirits?

Charged mediumship also implies several negative ethical consequences. Mediumship  is  inherently  a  neutral  faculty.  It  is  similar   to intelligence, one should use it for the  good  or  for  the  bad.  The difference lies in the fact that mediumship requires spirit  influence while intelligence is the result of the person's effort (that  is,  of the spirit  development  after  countless  reincarnations).  Spiritism however has unveiled some ethical aspects related to the condition  of being a medium: The medium is, in general, an indebted person committed to repair several past mistakes. Once the law(*)  was  infringed,  the spirit receives the important mission of redeeming  itself  in  a  new life by helping the sufferer and its dear  fellows.  Consequently,  the medium is far from being  classified  as  a  privileged  creature,  a "super" version of a human person endowed  with  special  powers.  The proponents of  professional  mediumship  may  be  not  aware  of  such important hidden aspect. Therefore one must be  careful  in  defending professional mediums who may become favorable targets of the  inferior
spirit plane which is always ready to caught those  who  had  deviated from the right path; a path they had sworn  to follow. A  medium,  for instance, who insist in using his psychic capacity to make money  will be asked to account for the wrong use of his ability. As every  common creature in this world, a medium  should  work  and  profit  from  his material work alone. His spiritual "work" is the part  that  has  been added to him as a bonus from the Heaven. By helping in the right  way, he receives his part in spiritual advancement  and  liberates  himself from his ignominious past. Mediumship should therefore be  considered  as charity in action, a way for the Heaven to  distribute  its  treasures and, at same  time,  to  redeem  the  distributor.  Behind  gratuitous mediumship there is the subtle principle  that  material  retributions are transitory and can never account for the benefits of a well guided mediumship. The medium should be the first person to understand this.

There is also another important aspect.  Spiritualism  has  frequently suffered from the wrong behaviour of some of its members. Professional mediumship may be taken as another  way of making money (it  is  taken so indeed by the majority of non-Spiritualist people).  In  this  case there is no way to  call  attention  to  the  often  subtle  spiritual relations involved. In some parts  of  the  world,  payment  is  often required as a social need. It is interesting to note however  that  in such parts Spiritualism is often discredited, it loses its  objectives and adherents. Advancements in  the  acceptance  of  the  Spiritualist thesis will only happen if the mediums could definitely demonstrate the action of the spiritual  world  without  any  other  retribution.  The material payment adds leaven  to  the  negation  of  the  Spiritualist opponents.

We could also continue by arguing that professional mediums are sooner of later discredited by the very spirit world.  Serious  and  elevated spirits will hardly contribute with them who become instruments of the perturbing ones.

Mediumship  as  a  human  recent  sensibility  is  destined  to   ever increasing development and can reach a very high level provided it  is correctly treated. As a modern example of a successful and  thoroughly non-profit mediumship, the reader is invited to  study  the  life  and work of Francisco Candido Xavier (known as "Chico Xavier", he  is  now 88) who has "channeled" almost 500 books and  received  thousands  of detailed communications of recently departed people (the exact  number is  unknown).  His  work  is  so  vast  that  I  believe  only  future generations will be able to judge it properly. The important point  is that Chico not only has never  charged  for  his  work  but  also  has entirely donated his books' copyrights to several social  institutions which help sick and poor people.  But  how  Chico  lived?  He  is  now retired from his work as civil  servant  to  the  Minas  Gerais  state government. Chico Xavier and  also  other  notable  mediums  definitely proved that mediumship can peacefully coexist with a normal life  work, exposing, therefore, its non-profit character. Such character is not a question of choice or a cultural demand, but a continuous  requirement for the establishing of  the  Spiritualist  ideas  in  our  modern  but spiritually needy society.

Ademir

(*) The "law" is the set of ethical precepts which regulate the future state of the spirit according to its past acts. It is  a  natural  law and has very little to do with our personal or  social  judgement  and much less with our prejudices.

WHY DO WE NEED A  NEW INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR SPIRITUALISM  AND PSYCHICAL RESEARCH?

The number of publications dealing with the paranormal has subsided in  the last 50 years. Nowadays there are only a  handful  of  established papers which are sold at Spiritualist churches and  centres  or  which  are available on subscription. These papers focus exclusively  on  the state of non-speculative, alternative  philosophies  and  world  views such as Spiritualism in their respective countries, which is of course useful, reasonable and necessary.

+ What is missing,  however,  is  an  independent journal uniting people with common beliefs from all around the world and reporting on the development of Spiritualism with its successes or - in so many countries -  its  need of help.

+ What is missing is  a  journal  offering  the  exchange  of thoughts and experiences  across  national  and  cultural  divides;  a  journal which adheres to the historical roots of Spiritualism  and   in  which the   interested   reader   will   find    valuable    specimens of Spiritualist gems from  different  countries,  some  of  them  in  the English language for the very first time.

+  What  is  missing  is  a journal that  allows   contradiction   and intellectual  combat  on  the platform  of  psychical  research.  Here a   number    of    experienced  researchers  in  the  field  of   the paranormal will discuss in the  spirit of true  science  the  evidence for Spiritualism from the dawn of mankind until the present  day:  the evidence for and against the   personality's  individual  survival  of bodily  death.  Thus  it  will  not  always  be Spiritualists who  are involved in the discussions, and  the  challenge  will  be:  have  the courage of your  convictions  and  try  to   disprove  anything  which you cannot accept.

Contributors   from   the   following    countries     are     already involved: Austria, Brazil, England, Germany, Hungary, Iceland,  Italy, Scotland, Switzerland,  USA.  We  trust  that  the  list  of  renowned participants will increase.

If you are interested in getting this project off  to  a  good  start, please do not hesitate to support the SPIRITUAL  COMPANION  with  your subscription. Andreas Sommer Editor

Published quarterly, annual  subscription  UK  and  Europe: 15.00. Overseas:18.00. Each volume will contain approx. 400 -  480  pages; an index will be delivered with the last issue of each volume.

Andreas Sommer
Sommer.WB@t-online.de

What are we doing about the Gospel?

The disciple must search his conscience.  Let  us  look  out  for  our thoughts. We must be honest with ourselves. Sometimes, we are inclined either to work without confidence or to confide without working.  What kind of friends of Jesus are we? By some means or other do  we  really want to cooperate with Jesus in His job? Let us do it now, right now.

We are sinners. Christ knows our weaknesses. By the light of His love, Jesus removes our fears and troubles. For our own sake we must  listen to Him. The disciple of the Gospel becomes one with the  Master.  Each one of us can in his own heart be a shrine within himself  illuminated in His divine truth. Sometimes, we  cannot  remove  circumstances  and temptations under which our task should be done, but Jesus can do it.

Why seek to take out the strength of our Savior  from  within  us?  The subject brings back to our memory the words of Paul:"Your life is  hid with Christ in God".

Many times we have suffered defeats. Christ offers us the strength  to be a new kind of person. We should be  patient  in  all  tribulations. Faith is the result of daily  trust.  We  are  in  the  fellowship  of Christ, going from darkness to light.

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

Paul (Romans, 12:21)

Anderson
New York City NY, July 6 1965.

This message is part of the book "Entre irmaos de outras terras"  (ed. by FEB) and was written through the medium F.  C.  Xavier  during  his stay in the USA in 1968. It constitutes a vivid example of  xenoglossy (he writes in a language unknown to him). We remark here that Anderson was probably the nickname of Emmanuel, the spirit guide of the medium.