Advanced Study Group of Spiritism

http://www.geae.inf.br/
Founded on October 15th 1992
The Spiritist Messenger - Monthly Electronic Report of   the GEAE Group 
GEAE 12th year - Number 53 - distributed: August 2004
    "Unshakable faith is only that which can face reason face to face in every Humankind epoch." 
                                                                                                           Allan Kardec

CONTENT

EDITORIAL
CODIFICATION STUDY
ELECTRONIC BOOKS
TEXTS
UPCOMING EVENTS

"Man can alter his life by altering his thinking."
William James


EDITORIAL


The Dissemination of Spiritism

            The conquest of “heaven” may be illustrated by the following situation: 

A man wants to sell his products in a market. After leaving his home, he finds himself in front of several entryways along the main path and one of the paths looks very simple and straight but with no beautiful sights. Another path displays very beautiful flowers and trees but, some dark, maybe dangerous, parts. The man analyzes each path in accord with his knowledge and experience and decides to follow one of the available paths.

After some long and difficult moments, he arrives at the place where the products have to be presented to all people of the community.

We can certainly ask: Will people want to know the intellectual degree of the seller? Will they care from where or by which path the man came to the market, in order to accept and buy his products? Is it important to know how much time the man took to bring the products to the market? The answers to those questions are “no”. People will be interested in checking the qualities of the products, if they are fresh and good to consumption. People will see if the products have real value for them.

In analogy to this story, we can think of death as the moment we arrive at the “market”. When the time to come back to the spiritual homeland arrives, we will not be asked “from which way” we came, or in more direct words, “what degree of intelligence we have” or “which religion or doctrine” we followed. What will be most important is the quality of our feelings; the quality of our acts; the quality of our spiritual products, i.e. the quality of our spiritual treasures. That is the only important “product” we have to present and it has a real value in the spirit world.

We, Spiritists, have chosen the Spiritist Doctrine as our path to “heaven”. It has taught us several important things about life, both before and after death. It has shown us that “heaven” is a state of happiness our spirits can be in, no matter the physical place we are or the social status we have or the religion we follow. We have learnt that there exists a God in the sense of first Creator of everything in the Universe who acts like a Father for all of us. The Spiritist Doctrine shows the existence of the soul, created by God, which pre-exists and survives the death of the body; communication between the spirits and us; the reality of being born again (reincarnation); and many other very important things that give us guidance in how to conduct our lives to what is commonly called “heaven”.

Most Spiritists state to themselves that the best thing that happened to their lives was finding the Spiritist Doctrine. So, in the same way that we found Spiritism in its pure and simple form, it is our responsibility to disseminate it as pure and simple as we have learnt, which is nothing more than what the wise spirits gave to Kardec. It is a great responsibility and an act of respect to our brothers and sisters in humanity, to be careful of divulging ideas that are truly Spiritist.

It is our duty to disseminate Spiritism without mixing it with other doctrines, not because of the differences with other doctrines or because they are, or not good, but because all brothers and sisters in humanity have the right to learn what every doctrine really is. Every single person may then make his or her decision regarding the different options of doctrines or religions to follow (which path to follow). Could we imagine if one of the paths had a signal saying that it is a very safe when, in fact, it is not? Could we imagine what happens to somebody who decides to follow that path? What additional risks might the man run into because of the presence of the wrong dissemination regarding the information about the path?

We can think the same with respect to the dissemination of Spiritism. It can be presented to all people as it is, showing what it offers and showing the different aspects of its studies.

We’ve learnt that every one has freewill and that God respects each individual’s freewill. Some people prefer other religions or doctrines to look for the path to “heaven”. Spiritism says that this choice is not the condition for arriving in “heaven”. As in the history of the beginning of this Editorial, the qualities of the “products” are most important. The spiritual treasures we conquered by means of our efforts are the most important things we shall present in the spirit world. We, Spiritists, particularly know that “without charity there is no salvation” (Chapter 15 of the Gospel According to Spiritism). Spiritism does not say that out of Spiritism there is no salvation.

Therefore, in order to choose a path, everybody deserves to learn exactly what it is. And that is the reason why Spiritists should always be committed with the dissemination of the Spiritist Doctrine in the most pure and simplest way. It is not with the intention of convincing all the people. It is to porvide a profound feeling of respect to all our brothers and sisters within humanity, because they have the right to know about this Doctrine that really helps us to become better women and men.

Much peace with work for our spiritual progress,  

The GEAE Editors 


CODIFICATION STUDY


SPIRIT SCIENCE

Spiritual and Moral Laws

 
Compiled and edited by  Yvonne Limoges

The Spiritist Society of Florida

March 2004

5 - The Perispirit - Envelope of the Soul

-          The perispirit is the semi-material envelope of the spirit (even when it is in the spirit world) and it is this intermediate nature that enables the spirit and the body to act upon each other when it is incarnated in the material world. The perispirit is drawn from the universal fluid.

-          The perispirit unites the spirit with the physical body when the spirit is incarnated in the material world; the spirit has two envelopes then, the perispirit and the physical body when incarnated.

-          The spirit with its perispirit can radiate out beyond its physical body.

-          When a spirit in incarnating into the material world, its spirit with its perispirit, attaches itself at the moment of human conception in a process that is complete upon a live birth.

-          The perispirit disperses throughout the physical body and, upon physical death it removes itself, fast or slow, depending on the circumstances of death and the moral and spiritual elevation of the spirit involved.

-          The physical body, the perispirit, and the soul (or spirit) are all considered what we call “matter” but all are at different stages of evolutionary development. The physical body, of course, is of a more gross and solid nature in caparison to the perispirit and spirit that are both more ethereal and fluidic. All three evolve into a more refined state, as the spirit evolves intellectually, morally, and spiritually.

-          Spirits from the spirit world, through the force of their will, can (utilizing their perispirit) assume many different appearances (good and bad) to those in the spirit and material world. In the material world, spirits can use it to make sounds, make things move, and can make themselves visible and tangible to our touch.

-          The vital principle (taken from the universal fluid) under the action of a spirit can give artificial and momentary life to inert objects. Inferior spirits generally do not know how they really do this; they just do it through a force of their will.

-          Many people in the material world, especially mediums, can “read” or pick up a person’s thoughts, feelings, desires, and more, off of the perispirit of other individuals. Their own spirit is what “sees” or “feels” these things. This can be called “soul sight.”  When mediums, and others, see visions, they are generally seeing these things with their spirit not their material eyes. Superior spirits oversee what is allowed to be “seen” or “picked up” by mediums and/or any spirits.

-          What people call auras, chakras, and the like are manifestations of the perispirit and/or the vital principle. The exact nature of the perispirit is not known at this time but its effects have been studied by Spiritists over 120 years.

-          People can feel the effects of the perispirit fluids of other persons, whether in the material world or the spirit world. A person can meet some one for the first time and “feel” like they don’t like them without any reason to base this on. What is happening is that the person with its own spirit, is “feeling” the effects of that other person’s perispirit who may not be very nice. At other times, we may feel good around someone because that is the type of perispirit fluids they have around if they are generally a nice person.

-          Mediums in the material world (people who can see, hear, and communicate in more direct ways with spirits in the spirit world), in general, are much more sensitive to the perispirit fluids of others. Fluids of disturbed or malevolent spirits (whether in the spirit world or incarnated in the material world) can cause them to become “physically” ill and even feel physical pain, depending on the moral nature of the fluids. Mediums should be very careful of their environment and whom they frequent with (review “medium education” section on this same web site).

-          The fluids of the perispirit of a medium and those perispirit fluids of spirits in the spirit world, in conjunction with the universal fluid, are used in the process of spirit communications, spiritual healings, and in spirit materializations as well.

-          Our spirits (with our perispirit) have qualities of which not all can be manifested in the material world. It is only when spirits are in the spirit world where this can be accomplished.

6 - The Law of Cause and Effect

 -         Spirits (in their evolutionary process) start and end at the same place. In this regard we are all equals before the Creator. A spirit’s goal is to progress ever towards relative perfection, devoid of all materiality and towards superior morality and intellect. It accomplishes this through reincarnation (soul evolution), through successive incarnations in material worlds. It is only in the material world that a spirit can put into practice, through trials and tests, its good intentions and evolve to its final purified state. It cannot accomplish this after one material existence and then continue evolving solely living in the spirit world.

-         A purified spirit no longer suffers or must undergo reincarnations. They assist in the Divine order and harmony of the Cosmos and are the messengers of the Creator in the exercise of the Supreme Will.

-         Happiness belongs exclusively to a state of relative perfection; this is the state of a spirit’s complete purification. Every imperfection is a source of suffering and the deprivation of enjoyment.

-         The acquiring of knowledge and of goodness brings with it an increase of enjoyment and diminishes the sources of suffering.

-         Every imperfection of the spirit produces its own inevitable consequences of suffering. Every good quality of the spirit produces, by virtue of the same law, its own natural and certain fulfillment of happiness. This is the Law of Cause and Effect.

-         Therefore, the amount of a spirit’s suffering is exactly proportioned to the degree of its imperfection, and, the amount of a spirit’s happiness is exactly proportioned to the degree of its intellectual and moral advancement.

-         Each spirit, through the force of its will and the effort it makes, has the power to acquire the good qualities it lacks and rid it of the bad traits it has.

-         Each spirit receives the merits or suffers the consequences of all their deeds but the path to redemption and total purification is open to all.

-         We (spirits) find our own unhappiness (our “Hell”) or happiness (our “Heaven”) wherever we may be, whether in the material world or the spirit world.

-         The good or wrongdoing that we commit is the result of the good or bad qualities that our spirits possess. Not to do all the good which we have the power to do is also the result of an imperfection on our part. Consequently, since every imperfection is a source of unhappiness, we suffer not only for all the wrongdoing we commit, but also for any good we could have done but did not do.


Next Chapters: 7 & 8
ELECTRONIC BOOKS


MEMOIRS OF FATHER GERMAIN

Spirit Communication received through a medium from the Spiritist Center  La Buena Nueva,
of the former town of Gracia, Spain.
 
 Copied and annotated by AMALIA DOMINGO SOLER
    
Translated from the original Spanish by Edgar Crespo
Edited by Yvonne Crespo Limoges
The Spiritist Society of Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A.
First Electronic Edition by GEAE (2002)
 
Chapter 2

The Three Confessions


Beloved manuscript, faithful depository of the most ultimate secrets of my soul! After God, you are my confessor. The world does not know me, you do. To you, I present myself just as I am, with all my faults and regrets. Before you, I am a man.  In the eyes of society, I am a priest.

Many believe that I am faultless. Dear God, why do they ask for the impossible?  Why do they require from the anointed of God, the strength of a giant? Because I am but a pigmy, like the rest of the men on the earth!

Social laws, how absurd they are! I passed many years without knowing them, happy with my fortune; celebrating the mass, teaching the church doctrine to children, walking about with my faithful companion Sultan, delivering pious lectures, those were my only pleasures. Only when I had to fulfill one act of my sacred ministry, did I feel a cloud of sadness come over me. Oh, when I sat in the confessional! I looked with anguish at the faces of the penitents as they confessed their misfortunes, and at times terrible secrets, as I suffered a thousand deaths. When I would leave the confessional, I would flee to the countryside, running like a madman. There, I threw myself to the ground and asked God to take away from my memory what I had heard. At times, God heard my requests and a serene sleep would overpower my senses. Then my faithful Sultan would wake me up, pulling gently at my habit. I would then feel weak, as if I had just had a strong fever. Remembering vaguely the strange happenings, I then returned home, where my faithful companion Miguel, waited anxiously for me.  [Miguel was the caretaker of the church and his assistant]

Never did I like the tumult of the great cities, I always preferred my quiet parish. Nevertheless, as if it were my expiation and even though I refused to live in the great city of N..........,  it’s prominent inhabitants came to look for the priest in the parish, and women of noble birth and men of lordly social positions, would come to my humble church so that I would give them their nuptial blessings. As I would  look at those joyful couples smiling with happiness, without knowing why, I felt pain in my forehead and in my heart. When they all would leave, and I remained alone in my temple, it appeared to me like a grave, and I, the cadaver buried in it.

I kept to myself these impressions, telling no one, because the common people and my envious companions [other clergymen], would have said that the devil was tempting me, although I knew that Satan did not exist.

Educated in the most austere and rigorous surroundings, without ever knowing my mother who had died giving birth to me; [he had been told this] I was a child of the ministry. I grew up in a religious community, which is like a flower without water, like a bird without wings. I was obligated to always obey, without any right to ask questions. Till one day they told me,“You will be a minister of God, and you will flee from women, because they serve Satan to tempt man.” I was filled with superstitious terror because I wanted to look worthy in the eyes of God.

I started reading.  I read a lot and I discovered (albeit too late) that the sacrifice of Catholic priests is contrary to the laws of nature [celibacy], and everything that is against the laws of God is absurd. But, I remained silent. I admired the valor of the reformers [the Protestant movement was starting], but, I did not have the courage to follow them. So, I sacrificed myself to the institution I belonged  in order to fulfill my delicate mission.

The day that I became thirty five years old, the children of my parish entered into my church marching like a troop, and persisted in delivering to me, flowers, fruit and milk, honey and butter. While I was happy among my adoptive family, one I could never have created, there arrived a document from the city of N.........  from the director of a school for young ladies of nobility. It said that the next day he would be sending fifteen of his students so they could receive from me spiritual advice, be closer to God's table and so participate in the Eucharist. Without knowing why, my heart started beating fast, a warmth came over my cheeks, and even though I tried to control myself, that entire day a sadness overcame me.

The following morning, a line of coaches surrounded my humble church, and very pretty girls, from twelve to fourteen years of age, came forth like a flock of pigeons, flying to the cheerful nest of the Christian Church, where the simple altar had been adorned with pretty perfumed flowers. How appropriate it seemed to me, that like the wild flowers from the meadows, these girls were like white flowers in the garden of Life. Precious girls! Smiles of the world!  Hope of mankind! Why, had they been sent to this poor parish?

I looked at all of them, but only noticed one. She was a pale girl with long black, curly hair. When she walked, she seem to bend easily like wilted lilies. When she prostrated herself by the confessional altar, the scent of the white jasmines that crowned her forehead reached my senses, and it upset me. The girl looked at me firmly, and said with a sad voice, “Father, when a person is confessing, is it proper to say what they think to their confessor?”

“If it's something bad, yes. If good, no.”

“To love, is bad?”she asked.

To this, I could not give a quick answer. I looked at her and I did not know what I was reading in her eyes. Then I placed my hands on my chest, to contain the palpitations that I felt,
and replied with a grave tone,“To love is good, but, at times it is not always good. One should love God, we should love our parents, we should love our fellow man, but, there are other passions in the world which you now do not understand and in these, to love is a transgression.”

“I love God, I love my parents, and my brothers, and .........a man,” she said.

“You are too young to love any man,” I told her.

“I have read that for the heart there is no age, and it's been a year that I've loved him,”she said.

Instead of answering, I remained silent. The name of that man, I did not want to know. But the girl continued, “It was a year ago when my sister Adela was married, and wishing to be blessed by a saint, she received her marriage vows from you!”

“From me....!”

“Yes, from you. You are famous for being honorable. I came with my sister and since that day.......”

“What?”

“Since that day I think of you, and how to get to see you, and be able to talk to you. I am the one who insisted in coming here, so that I could ask you, if it is a sin to think of you?”

What happened to me then, I do not know. I closed my eyes but it was useless, that witch of a girl, that enchanting youth, full of ingenuity and passion, had revealed a world of happiness impossible for me. Her voice caressed my soul, but I had enough firmness to dominate my sentiments, and I told the young girl, “You cannot love a priest, my child, because he is a man who does not belong to the world. Pray with fervor, so that God will apart from you that fatal illusion, and ask God to pardon you, as I do.”

Feeling blinded and overwhelmed by diverse and contrary emotions, I left the confessional.  I asked God to rid me of sight, so that I would not suffer. But, I saw only her! The pale girl with the black curls stayed engraved in my mind and for a long time, this disturbed my sleep and my prayers, always reminded of her by the perfume of the jasmines which had crowned her brow.

Eight years later, a well dressed man arrived at my parish and asked to see me, and said, “Sir, come with me, my wife is dying, and she does not want any other confessor but you.”

I followed him and without knowing why, I thought of that girl with the black curls.

We came to a palace, where the young man accompanied me to an apartment covered with large purple curtains, and in the bed was a woman who cried weakly. They left me alone with the sick woman, and then she said, ”Look at me, do you not know me?”

My heart had already recognized her, and to be truthful, I had not forgotten her, but I
had the firmness of will to tell her,“The One who has to know you is God in His Kingdom, the men of the earth are nothing.”

She then said,“ I have not forgotten you. It's been eight years since I told you that I loved you. They say that I'm going to die, and I want to tell you that above all others upon this earth, I have loved you.”

I looked at her for a moment, looking into those eyes where passion still shined.  I mentally blessed her, and I crossed myself, trying to put something between myself and her. Fleeing that place of pending death, I ran, but actually from myself.  I returned to my parish where in silence, I pondered on that love which had been offered, and which I had no right to enjoy.

Two years later, a plague overcame that nearby city, and many families came to my parish in search of its healthy climate. But they brought the disease with them. The church bell pealed with melancholy, as if to say to the peasants, "Death is among us". Meanwhile, they continued coming.

Among them, one night, there arrived the coach of the Duke of ........, accompanied by his wife, and many servants. The following day, within a few hours the Duke died. When I arrived to give him the last rites, it was already too late. A Lady came out to me, crying silently.  I retreated, stupefied. It was she, that young girl of the black curls and pale skin, who I had thought dead for the past two years.

She understood my astonishment and said with a sad voice,”God has been good to me, I feel that now, I will die following my husband. You, who received my first confession, now more than likely, will receive my last. I have had only one secret during my lifetime, and only committed one sin, if to love is a sin.”

I could see by the color of her complexion that the fever of the contagious disease was already within her, and I ran like a madman to ask science for the life of that woman who had loved me so much, and, whom I also had loved. But science (thank God), did not listen to my imprudent pleas and two days later, the young Duchess died. Before her death, she told me, “I
wish to be buried in the churchyard of this town. I wish to be by your side at least in death, since I was not able to be with you during life!”

What mysteries guard the human heart!

When I threw a fistful of dirt on her grave during her burial, I almost felt happy. How egotistical is man!

When that pale girl, crowned with white jasmines full of innocence and love, had offered me the cup of Life, I rejected that nectar of happiness, and I envied the man who would eventually take her to the altar.

When that noble woman, surrounded by her rich family, told me that she was going to die still loving me, I envied them. They were able to receive her last breath and were capable of giving her remains, a luxurious and splendid funeral.

But when that woman, alone, surrounded by strangers who were afraid of being contaminated by her, asked me for a place in the cemetery of my parish, when I saw that no one could take from me her ashes, because in her will, under her own signature, she had left written that her body not be taken from that humble grave that she requested, I received her last words with a magical ecstacy.  Her first confession was to tell me she loved me, and her last confession was to tell me, she worshiped me all her life.

Not for an instant, did I part myself from her remains. The unfortunate inhabitants of my parish, decimated by the fever, frightened by the death toll, and since the gravedigger had also died, the few that remained alive did not want to touch the dead. Between Miguel and I, we deposited in a grave, the remains of the pale woman. After we were done, Miguel left me, while Sultan stayed and sat by my feet. It was then that I surrendered my heart to the happiness of love.

By loving a dead person, I did not break my sacred vows. I cried for my lost youth, my weakness in not protesting my vows and for not affiliating with the Lutheran church, uniting myself with the pale girl with the black curls in the bonds of matrimony. I would have created a family worthy in the eyes of God. Comprehending in a few hours, what I had not been able to in twenty years, I then breathed a tremendous sigh of relief.

I, who have known so many secrets! Who has seen so many women unmasked, when confiding to me their infidelities and straying! I, who has seen so much fickleness, can now appreciate with all its valor the immense love of that woman, who had only seen me four times in her life, and when she had learned to love, she had loved me!

I covered her grave, covered with flowers, with great pleasure!  I took care of it with saintly delight!  The heart of a man is always like child!  Not a day, not one day, did I ever fail to go to the cemetery because there was the love of my life!

Many winters passed, the snow covered her tomb, and also left white my head, but my heart always stayed young. Always the warmth of that most pure sentiment, maintained within me, the saintly fire of that immense love. Mother, sister, wife, and children, she comprised all of them for me! It’s only just, that one should pay with interest, ones’ sacred debts of love.

If I have progressed somewhat in this world, I owe everything to her, to the girl with the pale cheeks, and black curls.

Sitting by the side of her tomb, I learned the worth of the Lutheran reform while under the shadow of a willow tree by her grave. I erased the shadows that covered my imagination. I  recognized the insignificance of the church of man and, how great is the universal temple of God!

Love! Such a powerful sentiment and a creative force! You are the soul of Life, because you come from God.  Priests without families are like dry trees! And God does not want sterile sacrifices, only progress and universal Love!
                                                                                                                                      
Chapter 3

The Hooded One

Dear God, how sinful I must have been in my past incarnation!  I am sure that I have lived before and will live again tomorrow, there is no other explanation for the continued contrariness of my existence. God is Just and is Good, and He does not want the last of His sheep to go astray and, a spirit gets weary, like the weariness of my soul from having suffered so much.
       
What have I done in this world?  Suffer! What about my poor mother, she either died giving birth to me, or someone killed her, or she was told to remain silent regarding my birth!

Who knows?  A profound mystery has concealed the circumstances of my birth. Who gave me my first nourishment?  This I do not know. I do not even remember any woman rocking my cradle. My first laughter made no one smile; the only thing that I remember about my early years was having men dressed in black [monks] around my bed when I woke up. Not one word of tenderness did my ears hear, nor one caress did I receive. The only thing I recall is being left alone in a spacious room with the parents (beautiful dogs from Terranova) of my faithful Sultan, they were my only companions.

During the afternoon in the summer time, the hour of siesta,  my greatest pleasure was to lay my head on the body of Zoa [Sultan's mother] and that patient animal remained still and quiet the whole time that I rested.

These were the only pleasures of my childhood. No one ever punished me, but, no one ever told me, “I am pleased with you.” Only Zoa licked my hands, and only Lion [Sultan's father] pulled me by my habit and then started to run, as if saying, “Come run with me!”.  I ran with both of them, and then, that is when I felt the pleasures of life!

When I left the confinement of the monastery, not one tear was shed for me. They only told me, "Fulfill your obligations."  As a remembrance of my childhood, they gave me Sultan, then but a playful puppy. I then entered an era of my life that was less sad than my youth but still, was always sad.

Being a lover of justice, my honest ways upset my companions, who pointed their fingers at me as being contrary and bothersome. So they confined me to a parish where I spent more than half of my life. When calmness came over my mind, and a sweet melancholia left me submerged in mystical meditation, it is then that my soul enjoyed some hours of serene moral sleep.

Then, I would be called away to the neighboring city to bless a marriage, or receive a confession from some one dying, or render assistance to a criminal offender awaiting execution; always busy, never being able to carry out any plans of my own to conclusion, no matter how simple they might be. I have always been an inoffensive soul, loving children, consoling the grieved, and fulfilling faithfully the vows that I had taken. Why this dull struggle? Why do these conflicts continue?  If my spirit has no right to be like other individuals in this existence, why has God (Who is all Love) made me live this terrible lonely way? Oh, my own torments tell me I have lived before! If I did not believe in a past life, I would have to negate God! And I cannot negate Life. But, oh, how I have suffered! Only one time was I able to do what I wanted, giving vent to my spiritual energy, and how happy I was!

Oh God, the forces of my soul cannot be made useless in one short plane of existence. I will live tomorrow; I will return to earth again and be a man of my own free will! I proclaim that I will not be living among men subordinate to rigid methods. I will proclaim Your glory in the academies and universities, and in all the temples of knowledge, and in all the laboratories of science! I will be one of your priests, one of your apostles, without any other promises but to follow the laws of Your Gospel!

I will love, because You have taught us to love. I will create a family because You said ‘Grow and multiply’. I'll dress the orphans, as You dress the flowers of the valley. I will give shelter to travelers, like You shelter birds in the branches of Your trees.  I will spread the light of Your Truth, like You spread warmth and Life, with Your multiple suns in Your infinite universes. Oh yes, I will live again, because if I were not to live tomorrow, I would be denying Your Justice, dear God!

I cannot be but a simple instrument to carry out the will of others, because why have You given me knowledge and free will? If everything fulfills its job in the universe, then my initiative will fulfill its job as well. I have never been happy with man's laws! When, when, will I be permitted to live?

How many times dear Lord, have I gone to hear the confessions of accused felons awaiting execution? However, if I could have, I would have taken those poor men to my parish, and shared what little bread I had with them! How many suffering spirits have confided in me their secret thoughts? And many is the time that I've noted more ignorance, on their part, than criminality! Poor disadvantaged ones!

One night as I rested on my cot, with Sultan as usual at its foot, I was neither asleep nor awake, but all the time thinking of her, my adored deceased one, the pale girl with the black curls. When all of a sudden Sultan sprang up growling, and he put his paws on my pillow looking at me, as if saying with his intelligent stare,“Listen”, but I did not hear anything. I pulled on one of his ears and said, “You are dreaming my friend”, but he continued looking at me, when in the distance, I heard noise. Then, I heard the galloping of many horses which made the houses in the parish tremble.

I heard a hard knocking on the rectory door. Miguel, the caretaker, got up and hurriedly went to see who it was. He then came to me and said with some fright, “Sir, they are coming to apprehend us, there are many soldiers with their captain at the door, and he wants to see you!”

“Let them enter”, I answered.

Shortly, a captain with crude features, but honest-looking, came before me and said, “I am sorry to bother you Father at this inconvenient time disturbing your sleep, but a prisoner escaped from jail several days ago, he was to go to the town of Tolon to finish his sentence. We have been looking for him without any luck. So, we have come here to look for him at the foot of these mountains that are near your parish. We have been told that you own a dog that has a fine nose for scent, and that nothing can escape him. I am here to borrow your dog to see if he can find the prisoner. I also have been told that you love this dog very much, so I promise that he will come to no harm.”

I looked at Sultan and said to the captain, “No problem, we will wait till dawn, in the meantime rest the remaining two hours of the night here in my parish, and before the sun rises I will call you.”

“I have orders to waste not one minute in my search. And I will not do so!” said the captain.

I, who did not want them to find that poor soul,  looked at Sultan attentively. He seemed to understand my thinking and he moved his head as if agreeing with my thoughts, then he got his collar made of leather with steel points on it, and he pushed his head into it. The captain, looking at what he had done said, ”What a wonderful animal!” Shortly after they left, I remained behind praying to our Supreme Being, so that on that one occasion, my faithful Sultan would not discover any trace of the prisoner.

The following day in the late afternoon, the captain in a bad mood came to me and said, “I bring bad news, I have not found the prisoner and lost your dog!  In the one hour when we stopped to rest, he disappeared and that's something that I am really sorry for because he is a dog who is priceless. How intelligent he is! We could have been here hours ago, but we were looking for your dog.”

I asked the captain to have dinner with me, and he commenced to tell me about the task that lay ahead for him. During this time, not knowing why, I did not feel disturbed by the absence of Sultan. After awhile, we retired for the night. I left my door half open to my room and I laid down and started to read, when about nine in the evening Sultan presented himself. I took off his collar and he caressed me gently, afterwards he placed his head between my knees and started to growl softly, he pulled on my cassock and looked at me, as if saying, “Come with me!”

I thought of the escaped criminal, and said to myself, no matter what happens, I am going to follow Sultan and take some provisions with me. I took some bread, wine and a bottle of scented water, and a lantern which I hid under my cape. I left making the least noise possible.

Meanwhile, Miguel slept soundly.

When I found myself in the country, I felt my being overcome by extraordinary emotion. I stopped briefly, to give thanks to God for these moments in which He granted me complete liberty of action. I felt agile and my eyes could see farther than usual. It was a beautiful spring time evening, and the multiple stars in the sky, looked like an army of suns who were celebrating in the sky a ‘festival of lights’. They were so brilliant that their luminous rays came down to earth. It seemed as if Mother Nature was allying itself with me to do a good deed; everything seemed to be smiling and my soul did too. But Sultan was impatient, and he disturbed my moment of meditation by pulling on my cape with all his strength.  I followed him and soon found myself in some deep woods close to our local cemetery. All the while Sultan had been guiding me, my lantern and I, seemed so insignificant compared to all that darkness.

I followed him into a dark large cave, and within its depths was a pile of dry branches in the shape of a pyramid. And behind that foliage, was a man, who seemed dead, he appeared so still. He looked awful, almost nude, rigid and frozen!  The first thing that I did was to put the lantern down on the floor with the bread, the wine, and the water and, with great effort I tried to pull him from behind those branches. I succeeded in pulling him towards the center of the cave.

When I got him well situated with his head on a bunch of soft branches, Sultan had started to lick the chest of that poor creature. Then taking a cloth, I started to clean him, applying the scented water I had brought, to his face. I pressed my head to his chest and felt a weak heartbeat. Sultan in the meantime tried to do what he could to revive that poor man, licking him all over and rubbing against that sick one with his head. Finally, that almost dead creature opened his eyes, but closed them shortly thereafter, breathing with great anguish.

I then sat on the floor gently placing his head on my lap, and asked God for the resurrection of that poor creature. God heard me and the sick one opened his eyes, and feeling himself caressed looked at me with great astonishment. He also looked at Sultan who was warming his knees by laying on them. I placed by his mouth the gourd of wine I had brought and told him to drink. I did not have to ask again, he drank with eagerness, again he closed his eyes as if trying to organize his thoughts. He then tried to get up, and I helped him by holding him by his waist and placed his head on my shoulders. At the same time, I broke a piece of bread and presented it to him, telling him, “Make an effort to try and eat.” The sick one devoured the bread and drank feverishly.

Drinking again, he asked me, “Who are you?”

“A person that cares for you very much”, I said.

“Who likes me? How? No one has ever liked me.”

“I like you and I had prayed to God so that your pursuers would not find you because I believe you are the one who was to go to the prison in Tolon.”

The sick man was shocked and looking at me with firmness, told me with a hoarse voice filled with distrust, “Do not fool me because if you do, it will cost you dearly. I am a man of iron.”

And he wanted to get up but I held him down and told him, “Do not worry, I want to save you. Trust in me. Some day you will thank Providence for my help. But now, tell me how is it that you find yourself here?”

“Because I know these mountains well, and I told myself when I escaped from the jail, that I would hide out in one of its caves and live there for a while, but I did not count on hunger. Plus I don’t know what other sickness I may have, I have terrible headaches, like the pounding of hammers in my head. So I threw myself where you found me and covered myself with some branches that I found. After, I don’t remember anything and if it were not for you I would be dead.”

“Do you think that you have enough strength to walk?”

“Now yes, I do not know what has happened, since I have always been a man of steel.” And he briskly got up.

“Well hold on to me, and let’s get out of here. What is your name? ” I asked.

“John” he said.

“Well, look  John, make believe that this night you have been born again, so that you will be forever grateful before the eyes of God.”

Guided by Sultan, we left the cave which had many twists and turns. We passed the gorge and arriving on even ground, I extended my hand to my companion and told him, ‘‘Look, John, look at that expanse before you and bless the greatness of God.”

“But... where are we going? he asked with suspicion.

“To my house. I will hide you in my private room where no one ever enters. There you will rest and later we will talk.”

John let himself be led, and soon we arrived at the entrance of my rectory just before dawn. I took him to my room and made a bed for him, and told him to lay down. While I took care of him, with much concern, for three days. He would look at me but he did not realize what was happening around him.

On the third night, while the inhabitants of my parish slept, John and I, accompanied by my inseparable dog Sultan, went to where a hermit had been living. The place was now abandoned because of his demise many years ago, and in front of the ruins of the altar,  John and I sat on a rock, with Sultan by my feet.  John, who was a disagreeable type with a fierce countenance, was bewildered and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. But at the same time, he appeared contented with the way I had proceeded so far, because there were moments when with his eyes he showed he was humbly grateful to me.

I tried to dominate him with my will, and told him, “Listen, John. I believe myself to be very happy being able to save you from a sure death, where you would have either died of hunger or, been turned over to the authorities where you would have daily died a thousand deaths in Tolon. So, tell me about your whole life, and tell me the truth.”

“There is little to relate about my life. My mother was a prostitute and my father a thief. In the gang that my father led, there was an Italian who was very smart, who taught me to read and write when I was at an early age because he said that I would be good at falsifying documents. It’s true, I am a very good at it and have falsified a good many.”

He continued, “About ten years ago, I got to know this woman and told her what I have already confessed to you, and she, who came from an honorable family, rejected me. I pleaded with her to reconsider and I promised to take her to America where I would change for the better   but it was all in vain. She told me she hated me and would turn me in to the authorities if I kept bothering her. That's when I swore that I would kill her and a short time afterwards, I kept my promise. Vehement suspicions feel upon me, and for that crime and for other atrocities, I was condemned to hard labor for the rest of my life.”

“And has there ever been a time when you have thought of God?” I inquired.

“Yes, when I wanted Margarita. I prayed to God to soften that woman’s heart of stone. But, due to my crazy passion, nothing came of it but me becoming her murderer. Meanwhile, as I saw other men, sons of good families, get married, surrounded by their relatives, and respected by all, and while I, disdained by all, persecuted by the authorities, my mother died in prison and my father was killed trying to escape from prison,  I've hated the world and God, Who caused me to be born in such a low social status.”

“And now, what do you intend to do?” I asked.

“I do not know,” he said.

“Do you wish to remain here?  I will daily bring you food, clothes, books, a bed and whatever is necessary. I'll pass along the word that a nobleman, repenting of an immoral life, wishes to pass some time here doing penance. And under cover of the church’s authority, you can live a peaceful life. No one will disturb your repose. So that no one will recognize you, I'll get you some clothes with a cape and a mask with holes in it for your eyes, so you can use it in the day.
At night, when all is at rest, you may go about freely. You can elevate your prayers to God on top of this mountain, and lift your spirit with wings of faith.”

“If you abandon this haven of salvation you will find only a life of misfortune, and a violent death, but if you listen to my advice your soul will regenerate and your spirit will be enriched because it will be fortified by repentance.  And when you become a real man, when all that remains from your past is sorrow and shame for having committed offenses, then I will supply other means for you to pass your life so that you will be useful to society, because here alone you can only benefit yourself, and when one loves God, it is also necessary to love your fellow man and serve them. I will now leave you, but I will return tomorrow, and then you can give me your decision.”

John did not reply, but he wanted to place himself at my feet. I brought him up into my arms, and held him close to my heart. That poor man! He and I remained embraced for a long while. Blessed tears came forth for the first time from those dry and menacing eyes. Then I said, “John, you have already baptized yourself this night with your tears, and, have lost the name of criminal. In your new life you will be known as the ‘Hooded One’.”

A most satisfactory ending to this situation crowned my greatest desires. When after only two months in seclusion, John now looked like a different man. Religious mysticism empowered him, which I encouraged when I could, because for certain spirits formality is needed. When inspiration is lacking, routine does wonders for some. Where there is no spontaneous faith, superstition can create it, the point is, to accustom the soul to live in awe of God; for those who cannot love God, it is indispensable to fear Him. This is so they can recognize His Power, whether one is content or in sorrow. The idea of knowing God must be  awakened in humanity and according to the advancement of the spirit, different means must be used.

For John, isolation, gentleness, and repose, worked wonders for his unhealthy soul, so scorned by society and despised by a woman who had made him a murderer. Nevertheless, his attention to his unfortunate circumstances and its interpretation has conducted him to submit to God and to tremble humbly before His Grandeur.

In the afternoons, after my visits to the cemetery, I would go up to see him, and how happy was my soul, seeing him at peace in his solitude. In my mind, I imagined all the poor, desperate convicts, worn out with fatigue, cursing their existence without even remembering God, and I comparing them to him, that repentant criminal, who now daily blessed the mercy of the Creator.

When I felt that spirit was ready to place himself anew in contact with the world, I surrendered to him what limited savings I had in order to pay for his passage on a boat to the New World [America], also carrying thirty missionaries, and I recommended him to the head of that saintly expedition. I told John, as I gave him a departing embrace, “My son, work and raise a family, and fulfill your obligations in accordance with the Laws of God!”

I will never forget the look of gratefulness that John gave me as he left, because it has compensated me for all the bitterness I had gone through in my life.

Four years later, I received a letter from him, and after he related many interesting adventures, he said, “Father! My Father! I no longer live alone, a woman has joined her future to mine. I have a wife, a house, and soon we will have a child, if a boy, it will have your name. Oh, how much I owe you, Father Germain! If you would have turned me over to the authorities, I would have died cursing all who existed, but by you giving me time to repent, I now recognize the Omnipotence of God, and I've asked for His mercy. May you always be blessed, you who did not take away the inheritance of life that men are given by God. It is so important for man to make good use of the time he has been allotted here and use it for peace, not for accursed hours, in which the one who has been penalized, works under the whip of ferocious masters. There will always live within me the memory of the hermitage, home of the ‘Hooded One’, that name which you gave me that I will never forget. When my son arrives, I will teach him to bless your name, and bless God. I send love from my wife, myself and our coming child, your humble servant.” -  ‘The Hooded One.’

This letter will be buried with me, a precious reminder of the only time in my life I was able to act, with total liberty.

How blessed You are dear God! You who conceded me those few instants to be able to be Your vicar in this world, because by loving and helping the needy, pardoning the delinquents, and instructing the ignorant, is how a priest fulfills his sacred mission here on earth.

Oh, how happy I am dear God ! You permitted me to give sight to a blind one, agility to a cripple, voice to one who was voiceless, and they have seen and known You, and they have said, “Forgive us, dear God”, and, You have pardoned them because You love very much the children and those who have repented.

How happy I am! In the woods of that New World, I can picture that family, when in the afternoon, they get on their knees and raise a prayer for the poor priest of this parish.  Thank you, oh Lord, even though they are far from me, I still have been able to raise a family.

Next chapters: 4 & 5


TEXTS

MEASURING THE WEIGHT OF OUR SOULS

Michael Colmer

FOR SOME YEARS  now full length feature films coming out of Hollywood have been getting ever closer to the mainstream beliefs nurtured by Spiritualists. The watershed was perhaps "Ghost". more recently came "Sixth Sense" and similar offerings. The latest is released this month and titled "21 Grams" and is based upon the work of pioneering American medic Dr Duncan MacDougall who attempted to measure the weight of our souls at the turn of the last century.

Despite two Oscar and five Bafta nominations plus the fact its male lead, Sean Penn, is a current box office attraction the film itself may not leave a major mark. American critics were lukewarm on its release late last year.

Described as "an emphatic melodrama "  it's plot revolves around a recovering drug addict and widow who is drawn to an affair with a melancholic maths teacher suffering from terminal heart disease. Add to this a born again ex-convict terrorising his wife and two children with evangelical fervour it can hardly be described as a 'feel good' movie. Thus it comes as small surprise that immediately after its general release in the UK home versions in DVD format will also be available.

But what is important about this film is that it draws upon the now all but forgotten experiments with terminal patients carried out in 1907 by Dr MacDougall of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and which first appeared in the journal "American Medicine".

Dr MacDougall set out to discover "if the psychic functions contuinue to exist as a separate personality after the death of the brain and body". He built a special bed in his sanatorium "arranged on a light framework and balanced on highly sensitive scales " which could measure fractions of an ounce.

He won the co-operation of six of his terminal patients, one diabetic, two with TB and one unspecified. He then  set out to observe them in their terminal stages of quitting this earth and made copious notes. "Each patient's comfort was cared for in every way." One patient was recorded as being 'practically moribund' when placed on to the special bed. "He lost weight slowly at the rate of one ounce per hour due to evaporation of perspiration" .

"At the end of three hours and 40 minutes he expired and suddenly coincident with death the beam end of the bed dropped and recorded an unexplained weight loss of three quarters of an ounce". Similar weight losses varying from half an ounce to one ounce occured with at the moment of passing with his other terminal patients. But Dr MacDougall remained baffled by his measurements. He explored every other possible reason for this phenomena from bladder and bowel evacuation to residual air in lungs but could find no medical explanation. He then repeated this experiment  with fifteen dogs  but without any similar unexplained measurements.

When his findings were published  fellow medics scoffed and took him to task. But MacDougall stood by his research although admitting that to satisfy the medical community such experiments would need to be repeated on a larger scale. By 1911 he turned his attention to X-rays testing his theory that the human soul can be photographed.

Today - almost 100 years on - few , if any, researchers have tried to repeat Dr MacDougall's experiments but he did leave us a legacy that Hollywood has seized upon for a movie.

Perhaps their next foray into the two worlds of Spiritualism in search of heroic inspiration will draw upon the suffering of materialisation mediums.
UPCOMING EVENTS


Ist SPIRITIST LITERATURE FAIR
The First Spiritist Literature Fair in the United States will be held in the five Sundays of August, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 14 street & Broadway – Union Square – Manhattan – N.Y.

Trains W,N,R,L,Q & 4 e 6

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