| Year 16 | Number 97 | 2008 | July 15th, 2008 |
| "Unshakable
faith is only that which can face reason face to
face in every Humankind epoch." Allan Kardec |
|
"What is science but a collection of truths, suggestive of an
inference? According to John Stuart Mill, the language of science is,
'This is, or This is not; This does, or does not happen. Science takes
cognizance of a phenomenon, and endeavors to discover its law.' Surely,
under this ruling Spiritualism has a scientific basis in its proven
facts.
The man claiming to be scientific, who imagines that he knows all the laws of nature so thoroughly that occurrences like clairvoyance and direct writing cannot take place without transcending the boundaries of scientific recognition, is himself under a hallucination more serious than any which he affects to deplore. Rationally studied and interpreted, unmixed with delusions self-generated or imposed by others, Spiritualism is the one safeguard against all superstitions. It shows that the unseen world is as much within the sphere of universal nature as our own; it is the solvent of many mysteries that have perplexed philosophers and stultified historians; it shows that not spirits, but our own misconstructions and unchecked passions, are what we have most to fear. Objections to the existence of a fact of nature must needs be unscientific; but as they continue to be brought up against Spiritualism by persons otherwise well informed, I have devoted some space to their refutation. But the time has gone by when the facts of this volume could be dismissed as coincidences, delusions, of frauds. The hour is coming, and now is, when the man claiming to be a philosopher, physical or metaphysical, who shall overlook the constantly recurring phenomena here recorded, will be set down as behind the age, or as evading its most important question. Spiritualism is not now 'the despair of science,' ¹ as I called it on the title-page of my first book on the subject. Among intelligent observers its claims to scientific recognition are no longer a matter of doubt." EPES SARGENT
Extract from the Preface of Scientific
Basis of Spiritualism
[Colby and Rich, Publishers - Boston - 1881] ¹ Planchette; or, The despair of science. Being a full account of modern spiritualism, its phenomena, and the various theories regarding it. With a survey of French spiritism.
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| °EDITORIAL
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| PROFESSION OF FAITH - Léon Denis |
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| ° THE CODIFICATION
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| GENESIS:
The Miracles and the Predictions According to Spiritism |
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| CHRISTIANITY AND SPIRITUALISM by Leon Denis | |||
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| HEAVEN
AND HELL - FUTURE LIFE AND ANNIHILATION |
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PART SECOND - EXAMPLES [CHAPTERS II, III, V]
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| WHAT THE ADVANCED SPIRITS TOLD ALLAN
KARDEC THE DISSEMINATION OF SPIRITIST PRINCIPLES IN THE UNITED STATES |
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II US SPIRITIST MEDICAL CONGRESS - Bridging Medicine and Spirituality
|
| ° EDITORIAL |
BY Léon Denis
I
The
first principle is the idea of being – I AM! This affirmation is
indisputable:
one cannot doubt his own existence. But this idea alone does not
suffice;
it must be completed by the idea of action and progress. I am! And I
will
be! Always more and better. Life in me is conscious. The soul is the
only
living unity – the only monad, indivisible and indestructible in
matter,
for it exists but in ourselves. The soul remains invariable in its
unity,
through thousands and thousands of forms – bodies of flesh, which it
constructs
and animates for the needs of its eternal evolution. It is always
changing;
by the qualities acquired, and the progress realized, growing more and
more conscious and free in the infinite spiral of its planetary and
celestial
existence.
II
Nevertheless,
the soul belongs only half to itself. The other half belongs to the
universe
of which it is a part: that is why the soul cannot know itself
entirely,
save in studying the universe. The pursuit of this double knowledge is
the reason and the object of its life – of all its lives, death being
but
the renewing of the vital forces necessary to a new step forward.
III
The
study of the universe demonstrates, in the first place, that the action
of a superior Sovereign Intelligence governs the world. The essential
character
of this action is duration, by the mere fact that it perpetuates
itself.
It knows no limits, and is absolute – Hence – Eternity.
IV
Eternity,
living and acting, implies life eternal and infinite – God the first
cause
– the generating principle – source of all life. We say eternal and
infinite,
for ‘unlimited in duration’ leads mathematically to unlimited in extent
of time.
V
Infinite
action is linked to the necessity of duration. When there is a link of
union, a relation, there is a law – the law of the conservation order
and
harmony. From order flows good, from harmony beauty. The most lofty
goal
of the universe is beauty in all its aspects – material, intellectual,
and moral. Justice and love are its means. Beauty in its essence is
inseparable
from good; and the two, by their close union, constitute absolute truth
– supreme intelligence – perfection!
VI
The
aim of the soul, in its evolution, is to attain and realize in itself
and
about itself, through time and the ascending stations of the universe,
by the blossoming of the powers whose germs it contains, this eternal
conception
of beauty and goodness expressed by the idea of God – of
Perfection.
VII
GEAE's Editorial Council
Back to Content
| ° THE CODIFICATION |
GENESIS: The Miracles and the Predictions According to Spiritism
BY Allan Kardec
Author of "The Spirits' Book," "The Mediums' Book," and "Heaven and Hell."
Translated By The Spirit-Guides of W. J. Colville
[Colby & Rich, Publishers - 1883 - Boston - USA]
The spiritual doctrine is the result of the collective and concordant teachings of spirits.
Science is called in to make the statements in Genesis agree with the laws of nature.
God proves his greatness and power by the immutability of his laws, and not by their suspension.
For God the past and the future are the present.
CHAPTER I
CHARACTER OF THE SPIRITUAL REVELATION
The essential character of all revelation must be truth. To reveal a secret is to make known a fact. If the thing is false, it is not a fact, and consequently not a revelation. All so-called revelation contradict by facts is not revelation even if attributed to God. He not being able to tell an untruth or to deceive, we know it cannot emanate from him. It is necessary to consider it as merely a human conception. What is the attitude of the professor to his pupils if it is not that of a revealer? He teaches them that which they do not know, that which they would have neither the time nor the possibility to discover for themselves, because science is the collective work of centuries, and of a multitude of men who have each contributed the results of their observations, by which those who come after them profit.
Teaching is, the, in reality the revelation of certain scientific or moral, physical or metaphysical, truths given by men who know them to others who know them not, and who, without their aid, would have remained ignorant of them. But the professor teaches that which he has learned; he is a revealer of the second order. The man of genius teaches that which he has found for himself: he is the primitive revealer; he carries the light which, from one place to another, makes itself known. Where would be humanity without the revelations from men of genius who appear from time to time? But what are men of genius? Why are they men of genius? Whence do they come? What becomes of them? Let us observe that the greater part of them are born with transcendent faculties, and innate knowledge that a little labor suffices to develop. They belong really to humanity since they are born, live, and die like mortals. Where, then, have they obtained this knowledge which comes so mysteriously to them? Will one say with the materialist that chance has given to them cerebral matter in greater quantity and better quality? In this case they would have no more merit than one vegetable greater and more savory than another. Will one say with certain Spiritualists that God has given them a more favored soul or mind than those of common men? - a supposition also entirely illogical, since it accuses God of partiality. The only rational solution of this problem is in the preexistence of the soul, and in a plurality of existences. The man of genius is a spirit who has lived a longer time, who has consequently acquired more and progressed more, than those who are less advanced. In becoming incarnate he brings to earth what he knows; and, as he is much wiser than others without the necessity of learning, he is that which one calls a man of genius.
But that which he knows is the fruit of an anterior work, and not the result of divine preference. Before entering anew into earth-life, he was an advanced spirit. He is re-incarnated, it may be for the purpose of benefiting others, or possibly for the opportunity of acquiring more knowledge himself. Men progress incontestably by themselves by means of their intelligence; but, left to their own forces, progress is very slow, if they are not aided by more advanced minds, as the scholar is by his professors. All nations have among them men of genius who have appeared at divers epochs to give impulsion and draw men from their inertia. If we admit the solicitude of God for his creatures, why should we not also admit that the spirits are capable, by their energy and superior knowledge, to assist humanity to advance; that they are re-incarnated at the desire of God, with the view of aiding progress in a definite manner; that they receive a mission as an ambassador receives one from his sovereign? Such is the role of great geniuses. What come they to do, if not to teach to men truths of which they are ignorant, and of which they would not acquire the knowledge during still longer periods of time, had they not come to give the stepping-stone by which men are enabled to elevate themselves more rapidly? These geniuses who appear at different epochs like brilliant stars, leaving after them a long, luminous track for humanity, are missionaries, - or, better, Messiahs. If they taught men nothing new, their presence would be entirely useless. The new facts they bring to light, be they of a physical or philosophical order, are revelations. If God ordains revealers of scientific truths, he can, for a stronger reason, create them for moral truths, which are the philosophers whose ideas have lived through the ages. In the special sense of religious faith, revelation informs us more particularly of spiritual facts which man cannot know of himself, that he cannot discover by means of his senses, and of which the knowledge is given him by God or by his messengers in direct word or by inspiration. In this case revelation is always made to favored men, designated under the names of prophets or Messiahs; viz., ambassadors, - missionaries having a mission to transmit truths to men. Considered from this point of view, revelation implies absolute passivity. One accepts it without examination, without discussion.
All religions have their revealers; and, although all are far from having known all the truth, they sustained their claim for being providential; for they were appropriate to the time and place where they lived, to the particular genius of the people to whom they spoke, and to whom they were relatively superior. Notwithstanding the errors of their doctrines, they have at least awakened minds, and by so doing have sown seeds of germs of progress, which later became unfolded, or will yet blossom into a brighter day than the Christian Era. It is then wrong to anathematize the name of orthodoxy; for the day will come when all beliefs, however diverse in form, but which in reality repose upon the same fundamental principles, God and the immortality of the soul, when reason shall have triumphed over prejudice. Unhappily, religious systems through all time have been instruments of domination. The role of prophet has tempted the ambitious among those in subordinate positions, and a multitude of pretended revealers, or Messiahs, who, by reason of the prestige of this name, have taken advantage of credulity to satisfy their pride, their cupidity, or their indolence, finding it easier to live at the expense of their dupes than in any other way. The Christian religion has been a shelter for these parasites. On this subject let us call serious attention to chap. XXI. of the 'Gospel according do Spiritism," 'There will be false Christs and false prophets."
Are there direct revelations from God to men? This is a question which we dare not settle either affirmatively or negatively in an absolute manner. The thing is not radically impossible; but nothing gives certain proof of it. That which need not be doubted is that the spirits nearest God in perfection enter into his thoughts, and can transmit them. As to incarnate revealers, according to the hierarchical order to which they belong, and to the degree of their personal knowledge, they can draw their instructions from their own knowledge, or receive them from spirits more elevated, from messengers ordained of God. The former, speaking in the name of God, have been sometimes mistaken for God himself. These kinds of communications are not strange to those who are acquainted with spiritual phenomena, and the manner of establishing communication between embodied and disembodied spirits. Instructions can be transmitted by divers means, - by inspiration pure and simple, by the hearing of the word, by seeing spirit-teachers in visions or apparitions, be it in dreams or in a state of wakefulness, of which one finds many examples in the Bible, the Gospel, and in the sacred books of all nations. It is, then, rigorously exact to say that the greater part of revealers are inspired mediums, hearing or seeing; from which it does not follow that all are revealers, and still less intermediaries direct from God or his especial messengers.
Pure spirits alone receive the word of God, with the mission of transmitting it; but one knows now that all spirits are far from being perfect, and there are those who give false appearances. That is why St. John has said, "Believe not all spirits, but try the spirits whether they are of God" (1 John IV. 4).
There are serious, true, and deceitful communications, examples of which are found in Apocryphal Scriptures. The essential character of divine revelation is eternal truth. All revelation stained with error, or subject to change, cannot emanate from God. It is thus that the law of the Decalogue still maintains all its original importance; while other Mosaic laws that are essentially transitory, often in contradiction with the law of Sinai, are the personal and political work of the Hebrew legislature. The customs of the people becoming milder, their laws improved. These laws have of themselves fallen into disuse, whilst the Decalogue has remained standing like a beacon-star to humanity. Christ has made it the base of his edifice, whilst he has abolished the other laws. If they had been the work of God, they would have remained standing. Christ and Moses are the two great revealers who have changed the face of the world, and there is the proof of their divine mission. A work purely human could have no such power.
An important revelation is being given at this present epoch. It is that which shows to us the possibility of communication with beings of the spiritual world.
This knowledge is not new, without doubt; but it had remained until our day in a state of dead letter; that is to say, without profit for humanity. Ignorance of the laws which ruled these communications had stifled them by superstition. Man was incapable of drawing from them any salutary deduction. It was reserved for our day to disentangle them from their ridiculous accessories, to comprehend the power, and to cause to shine the light which is destined to illumine the future.
| ° ELECTRONIC BOOKS |
CHRISTIANITY AND SPIRITUALISM
The History of the Gospels
The Secret Doctrine of Christianity
Intercourse with the Spirits of the Dead
The New Revelation
Vitam Impendere Vero
By
LÉON DENIS
Author of
"Après La Mort, "Dans L'Invisible," ETC.
Translated from the French by
HELEN DRAPER SPEAKMAN
LONDON
PHILIP WELLBY
6 Henrietta Street Covent Garden
1904
This book is out of print indefinitely
1st Electronic Edition by
the
Advanced
Study Group of Spiritism
(GEAE)
2006
Note # 8
All antiquity admitted the existence of Gods, by which were meant pure and high spirits, and of demi-gods or heroes, and also spirits in general, which were called demons or genii.
The Christians themselves made use of these terms. St Paul says (1 Cor. VIII. 5,6): "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things."
In his commentaries on St John (Book II. No. 2) Origen says: "The eternal God has a right to more worship. He alone has a right to true adoration and not those other gods who live with Him and are His ministers and His subordinates, He being their God and their Creator."
St Augustine says: (De civitate Dei. 1, VIII. C. XXIV.) "The demons (bad spirits) cannot be the friends of the gods full of loving kindness whom we call the holy angels."
St Justinius, in his "Discourse to the Greeks" No. 5, says: "By following the faith we may become gods; and St Irinius (Contra haeresies 1, IV. C. XXXVIII.) "We are as yet only men, but one day we shall be gods."
The same St Justinius (Apologetica I. 18, edition of the Benedictines of 1742, page 54) writes thus on the subject of the manifestations of the dead: "Necromancy, the evocations of human souls... will prove to us that even after death, souls are gifted with sentiment; those who are possessed by the spirits of the dead are called by all demoniacs and furious (et qui ab animabus mortuorum correpti projiciuntur, doemoniaci et furioci ab omnibus appellati)."
This is how, in the seventeenth century, P. Fondet, approved by the most eminent ecclesiastical doctors of the Sorbonne, translated, or rather, perverted the sense of this passage: "and these poor unfortunates who are seized by the spirits of the dead, thrown to the ground and tormented as you know, in many manners, and who are usually called furious demoniacs, and agitated by the demons." It is true that in his preface the translator took care to warn his readers that, in St Justinius' writings, "there were to be found many passages which were rather obscure, particularly those touching the demons, about whom the author wrote according to the opinions of his times, which ceased to be those of the Churches, and which would now only bewilder the faithful. There will even appear in this apology some slight traces thereof, which we have carefully softened as much as it was possible, without injuring the veracity of the version? (P. Fondet, "Second Apology of St Justinius," p. 48, and preface, published by savreux, Paris 1670.) We also refer our readers to Tertullian - "Apologetic," chap. XXIII.
ON THE PERISPIRIT OR SPIRITUAL AND SUBTLE BODY;
THE OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
Tertullian declares that the materialization of the soul is affirmed in the Gospels: Corporalitas animae in ipso Evangelio relucescit," for, he adds, "if the soul has no body, the image of the soul would not have the image of the body." ("Treatise de Anima," chaps. VII., VIII. and IX., edition of 1657, p. 8.)
St Basil speaks of the spiritual body in the same terms as Tertullian. In his treatise on the Holy Spirit, he states that the angels render themselves visible by their own bodies, when they appear to those who are worthy. (St Basil. "Liber Spiritu Sancto," C. XVI., edition of 1730, vol. III., p. 32.)
This doctrine is also held by St Gregory, by St Cyril of Alexandria, and by St Ambrose. The latter expresses himself thus: "Let us not imagine that any being is exempt from matter in his composition, with the single exception of the Holy Trinity" (Abraham, Book II. 58).
St Cyril of Jerusalem writes thus: "The name spirit is a generic and common name; all that has not a dense and heavy body, is, in a general fashion, called spirit" (Catechesis," XVI. pp. 251, 252).
In other passages, St Cyril attributes to the angels, to the demons, to the souls of the dead, bodies more subtle than the earthly body.
Evodius, bishop of Uzale, writes in 414 to St Augustine to question him on the nature and cause of apparitions, of which he gives him several examples, and asks him if, after death: "When the soul has quited this gross and earthly body, its incorporeal substance remains united to some other body, not composed of the four elements, as this one is, but more, subtle, composed of the elements of air or of ether?:
He thus terminates his letter: "I believe that the soul cannot be without a body of some sort." ("Works of St Augustine," vol. II.) See also the letter of St Augustine to Nebride, written about 390, where he expresses himself thus: "It is needful that thou shouldst remember that we have often, in discussions which left us heated and out of breath, treated the question as to whether the soul has not a dwelling in some kind of body, or in something analogous to a body, which some, as thou knowest, cal its' vehicle." ("St Augustine," Op Cit. vol. II., letter 14.)
St Bernard says: "We attribute then in all assurance, to God alone the true incorporability, as well as the true corporeal nature, so that He needs the help of nobody to execute any work, since His spiritual will alone permits Him to do all things." (Sermo VI. in Cantica, vol. I., col. 1277.)
Finally, St John of Thessalonica sums up the question in these terms in his declaration to the second Council of Nicea (787) which adopted his views. "As to the angels, the archangels, and the powers, and, I must also add, the souls, the Church decides that these beings are in reality spiritual, but not completely deprived of bodies, but on the contrary, gifted with a tenuous, aerial or igneous body. We know that this is the opinion of many of the holy Fathers, among them, of Basil, surnamed the Great, of the holy Athanasius, and of Methodius, and those who were with them. God alone is incorporeal and without form. As to the spiritual creatures, they are by no means incorporeal." ("Histoire Universelle de l'Eglise Catholique," par l"Abbé, Rohrbacker, Doctor of Theology, vol. XI. pp. 109, 210.)
We have quoted these various opinions, because they are so many statements in favor of the existence of the perispirit, which is in reality nothing but the subtle body, the inseparable and indestructible envelope of the soul, which has been divined by the ecclesiastical authorities of all ages.
These statements are confirmed by the testimony of modern science. The successive inquiries of the Society of Psychical Research of London, have established 1600 cases of apparitions of "phantoms" of the living and the dead. ¹ The existence of the perispirit is also proved by the numerous mouldings of fluidic hands and faces; by the materializations of spirits obtained by Sir W. Crookes, Sir Russel Wallace, Aksakof, etc.; by the visions of mediums and somnambulists; by the photographs of the spirits of the dead; in a word by the whole imposing array of duly verified facts. ²
Certain Catholic writers purposely confound the action of the perispirit and its manifestation after separation from the human body, with the idea of the "resurrection of the flesh." We have already drawn attention to the fact that this expression is very seldom found in the Scriptures. We find rather the "resurrection of the dead." (See for example, Paul, in 1 Cor. XV. 21.)
The resurrection of the flesh is rendered impossible by the fact that the molecules composing our present bodies have belonged in the pasto to thousands of other human bodies, as they will belong in the future to other thousands of bodies. At the day of judgment, which one of all these could prove his right to these wandering molecules?
Resurrection is a spiritual fact, which spiritualism alone can render comprehensible. To explain it, Catholics are obliged to have recourse to miracles, that is, to the violation by God of the natural laws by Him established. How, without the existence of the perispirit, without the double corporalilty of man, can one explain the numerous cases of bilocation related in the annals of Catholicism.
Alphonse de Liguori was canonized because he was seen simultaneously in two different places.
St Anthony defends his father from an accusation of murder before the tribunal of Padua, and denounces the real culprit, at the same moment when he is preaching in Spain before a large number of the faithful.
St Francis Xavier shows himself several times, at the same hour, in places far removed from each other.
Is it possible to explain these facts, testified to by great numbers of witnesses, in any other way than by the disembodying of the human being and the action at a distance of his fluidic envelope?
It is thus in the numerous cases of apparitions of the dead, mentioned in the Scriptures. They are only to be explained by the existence of a form similar to that possessed by the spirit when on earth, but more subtle and tenuous, surviving the destruction of the earthly body. Without a perispirit, without a form, how could the spirit be recognized by men: How could they recognize each other in space?
¹ This was several years ago; many more have been recorded since then.
² See note No. 11.
| ° SPIRIT
MESSAGES |
HEAVEN AND HELL
Or
The Divine Justice Vindicated in the Plurality of Existence
Concerning
The passage from the earthly life to spirit-life,
future rewards and punishments,
angels and devils, etc.
Followed by numerous examples of the state of the soul,
during and after death.
BEING THE PRACTICAL CONFIRMATION OF "THE SPIRITS' BOOK"
BY Allan Kardec
Translated from the Sixtieth Thousand - By Anna Blackwell
[London: Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill - 1878]
Part First - Doctrine
CHAPTER I
FUTURE LIFE AND ANNIHILATION
1. It is certain that we live, think, and act; it is no less
certain that we shall die. But, on quitting the earth, whiter shall we
go? What will become of us? Shall we be better off? Shall we continue
to exist, or shall we cease to exist? "To
be, or not to be," is the alternative presented to us; it will
be for always, or not at all; it will be everything, or nothing; we shall live on
eternally, or we shall cease to live, once and for ever. The
alternative is well worth consideration.
Every one feels the need of living, of loving, of
being happy. Announce, to one who believes himself to be at the point
of death, that his life is to be prolonged, that the hour of his death
is delayed - announce to him, moreover, that he is going to be happier
than he has ever been - and his heart will beat high with joy and hope.
But to what end does the human heart thus instinctively aspire after
happiness, if a breath suffices to scatter its aspirations?
Can anything be more agonizing than the idea that we
are doomed to utter and absolute destruction, that our dearest
affections, our intelligence, our knowledge so laboriously acquired,
are all to be dissolved, thrown away, and lost forever? Why should we
lay any restraint on our passions? Why should we weary ourselves with
effort and study, if our exertions are to bear no fruit? If, erelong,
perhaps tomorrow, all that we have done is to be of no further use to
us? Were such really our doom, the lot of mankind would be a thousand
times worse than that of the brutes; for the brute lives thoroughly in
the present, in the gratification of its bodily appetites, with no
torturing anxiety, no tormenting aspiration, to impair its enjoyment of
the passing hour. But a secret and invincible intuition tells us that
such cannot be our destiny.
2. The belief in annihilation leads a man to concentrate all his
thoughts on his present life; for what, in fact could be more illogical
than to trouble ourselves about a future which we do not believe will
have any existence? And as he whose attention is thus exclusively
directed to his present life naturally places his own interest above
that of others, this belief is the most powerful stimulant to
selfishness, and he who holds it is perfectly consistent with himself
in saying: "Le us get the greatest possible amount of enjoyment out of
this world while we are in it; let us secure all the pleasures which
the present can offer, seeing that, after death, everything will be
over with us; and let us hasten to make sure of our own enjoyment, for
we know not how long our life may last." Such anyone is, moreover,
equally consistent in arriving at this further conclusion - most
dangerous to the wellbeing of society - "Let us make sure of our own enjoyment, no
matter by what means; let our motto be: 'Each for himself;' the
good things of life are the prize of the most adroit."
If some few are restrained, by respect for public
opinion, from carrying out this program to its full extent, what
restraint is there for those who stand in no such awe of their
neighbors? Who regard human law as a tyranny which is exercised only
over those who are sufficiently wanting in cleverness to bring within
its reach, and who consequently apply all their ingenuity to evading
alike its requirements and its penalties? If any doctrine merits the
qualifications of pernicious and anti-social,
it is assuredly that of annihilation, because it destroys the
sentiments of solidarity and fraternity, sole basis of the social
relations.
3. Let us suppose an entire nation to have acquired, in some way or
other, the certainty that, at the end of a week, a month, or a year, it
will be utterly destroyed, that not a single individual of its people
will be left alive, that they will all be utterly annihilated, and that
not a trace of their existence will remain; what, in a such a case,
would be the line of conduct adopted, by the people thus doomed to a
certain and foreseen destruction, during the short time which they
would still have to exist? Would they labor for their moral
improvement, or for their instruction? Would they continue to work for
their living? Would they scrupulously respect the rights, the property,
the life, of their neighbors? Would they submit to the laws of their
country, or to any ascendancy, even to that of parental authority, the
most legitimate of all? Would they recognize the existence of any duty?
Assuredly not. Well, the social ruin which we have imagined, by way of
illustration, as overtaking an entire nation, is being effected,
individually, from day to day, by the doctrine of annihilation. If the
practical consequences of this doctrine are no so disastrous to society
as they might be, it is because, in the first place, there is, among
the greater number of those whose vanity is flattered by the title of
"free-thinker," more of braggadocio than of absolute unbelief, more
doubt than conviction, and more dread of annihilation than they care to
show; and, in the second place, because those who really believe in
annihilation are a very small minority, and are consequently
influenced, in spite of themselves, by the contrary opinion, and held
in check by the resistant forces of society and of the State; but,
should absolute disbelief in a future existence ever be arrived at by
the majority of mankind, the dissolution of society would necessarily
follow. The propagation of the doctrine of annihilation would lead,
inevitably, to this result. *
But whatever may be the consequences of the
doctrine of annihilation, if that doctrine were true, it would have to
be accepted; for, if annihilation were our destiny, neither opposing
systems of philosophy, nor the moral and social ills that would result
from our knowledge that such a destiny was awaiting us, could prevent
our being annihilated. And it is useless to attempt to disguise from
ourselves that skepticism, doubt, indifference, are gaining ground
every day, notwithstanding the efforts of the various religious bodies
to the contrary. But if the religious systems of the day are powerless
against skepticism, it is because they lack the weapons necessary for
combating the enemy; so that, if their teaching were allowed to remain
in a state of immobility, they would, erelong, be inevitable worsted in
the struggle. What is lacking to those systems - in this age of
positivism, when men demand to understand
before believing - is the confirmation of their doctrines by facts and
by their concordance with the discoveries of Positive Science. If
theoretic systems say white where facts say black, we must choose
between an enlightened appreciation of evidence and a blind acceptance
of arbitrary statements.
* We knew a young man of eighteen, who was attacked by a disease of the heart, pronounced by the faculty to be incurable. His physicians had declared that he might die in a week, or might live on for a couple of years, but that his life could not possibly be prolonged beyond that period. The young man, on becoming aware of the fate that awaited him, immediately broke off his studies and gave himself up to every sort of debauchery. To the remonstrances addressed to him upon the dangers of such a life of disorder to one in his state of health, he invariably replied: "What does it matter, seeing that I have only two years to live? Where would be the use of fatiguing myself with study? I am making the most of the remnant of life that is left to me, and am determined to enjoy myself while it lasts." Such is the logical consequence of a belief in annihilation.
If this young man had been a spiritist, he would have said to himself: "Death will only destroy my body, which I shall throw aside like a worn-out garment; but my spirit will live forever. I shall be, in my next phase of existence, just what I shall have made of myself by my present life. Nothing that I shall have acquired, in morality or in knowledge, will be lost to me, for every new acquisition I shall have made will be so much added to my advancement. The cure of every imperfection, of which I may have been able to rid myself during my present existence, will take me a step further on my road to felicity; my future happiness or unhappiness will be the result of the good or bad use I shall have made of the life which I am now living. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance for me to make the most of the short time still remaining to me, and to avoid whatever would tend to diminish my strength."
Which of the two doctrines we are comparing is the preferable one?
[Happy Spirits]
[After the first evocation of the spirit of Mr. Sanson, at a séance of the Spiritist Society of Paris,
another spirit made, spontaneously, under the above heading, the following communication:]
Pray for those souls in trouble; pray for all who suffer. The action of charity is not restricted to those who are visible to the fleshly eye; it aids and consoles those, also, who people space. You had a touching proof of this truth in the sudden conversion of the spirit who was so deeply affected by the spiritist prayers offered up at the grave of this excellent man, whom you do well to question, and who desires to aid your advancement." *
* After the ceremony, a few of the members of the Society, having met together, received the following communication, made spontaneously and most unexpectedly:-
"My name is Bernard; I lived in 1796, in Passy, which was then a small village. I was a poor devil of a teacher; and God alone knows what miseries I had to undergo. What a life of weariness I went through! How many years of care and suffering! I came, at last, to curse God, the devil, men in general, and women in particular! Of the last, not one ever came to me to say, 'Courage! Patience!' I was obliged to live alone, always alone; and the malice of others rendered me malicious. Since that time I wander about the places where I lived and died.
I heard what you said today; I was greatly affected by your prayers; you have accompanied a good and worthy spirit to the grave of his body, and all that you said and did has moved me deeply. I was one of a numerous company of spirits; we all prayed in common for you all, for the spread of your holy belief. Pray for us, who need help. The spirit of Sanson, who was with us, has promised us that you will think of us. I desire to be reincarnated in order that I may profit by a new trial, and thus prepare for myself a happier future in the spirit-world. Adieu, friends; I call you so, because you are kind to those who suffer. As for you, I wish you good thoughts and a happy future" ...
We think it important to call attention to the fact that the writing medium, who served as Mr. Sanson's intermediary on the day of the funeral and the following days, had never seen Mr. Sanson, and knew nothing of his character, position, or habits; he did not know that he had children, and therefore could not know whether they did, or did not, share his opinions in regard to spiritism. The correctness of the allusions contained in the various messages, and the faithfulness with which the character of Mr. Sanson is reflected in them, cannot, therefore, be attributed to knowledge, or to imagination, on the part of the medium. Another fact, equally curious and equally independent of the medium's mind, is the spontaneous communication of the spirit, Bernard, of whom neither the medium nor any of the persons present had ever heard. - Vide La Revue Spirite, May 1862, pp. 132, 133.
[Spirits in a Middling Condition]
[Spontaneous communication; Spiritist Society of Paris; August 1863]
Ah! Brethren, of how much good, of how much elevated conviction, is your doctrine destined to sow the seed! And what a harvest of blessing will you reap, even for yourselves, from the good you will thus have accomplished!
I have been with you all the evening; I have listened, I have comprehended, and I shall now be able, in my turn, to do my duty in giving instructions to imperfect spirits in the other life.
Listen: - I was far from being happy; lost in the vastness of immensity, of infinity, my sufferings were all the more acute because I could not exactly understand their nature. God be thanked! His goodness has permitted me to enter a sanctuary which cannot be approached with impunity by the wicked. How grateful I feel to you, my Friends! How much strength I have gained from you!
Meet often, your who are animated by hope and charity; for you cannot imagine how fruitful of good are the earnest and serious meetings that take place among you. Spirits who have still much to learn, those who have remained voluntarily inactive, idle, and forgetful of their duties, may be brought fortuitously, or otherwise, among you; struck by a terrible shock, they may be led (and this often happens) to fall back upon themselves, to perceive their own state, to see the aim which they have to attain, and, strengthened by the example which you set them, many seek the means of deliverance from the painful state in which they find themselves. I am very happy to serve as the spokesman of those suffering souls; for I am speaking to men who have hearts, and I know that I shall not be repelled by them.
Once more, then, O generous Men! Let me assure you of my own personal gratitude, and that of all your friends in this other life, to whom you have done so much good that you have, perhaps, not been aware of.
[Suicides]
THE SUICIDE AT THE SAMARITAINE
The identity of the stranger not having been established, the corpse was conveyed to the Morgue. *
The spirit of this man, evoked six days afterwards at a meeting of the Paris Society, replied as follows:]
Evocation. - (The Medium's Guide.) Wait a moment; he is here.
Q. Where are you now?
A. I don't know. Tell me where I am.
Q. You are in an assembly of persons who take part in investigations about spirits, and who feel kindly towards you.
A. Tell me if I am alive. ... I am stifled in this coffin!
His soul, though separated from the body, is still entirely plunged in what may be termed the vortex of corporal matter; his terrestrial ideas are still strong; he does not suppose himself to be dead.
Q. Who advised you to come to us?
A. I felt that I should be relieved by coming.
Q. What motive led you to commit suicide?
A. Am I dead? ... Not at all! ... I inhabit my body. ... You cannot imagine how much I suffer! ... I am stifling. ... Oh, that some compassionate hand would finish killing me!
Q Why did you not leave some indication to show who you were?
A. I was abandoned by everybody; I fled from suffering to find torture!
Q. Have you still the same motives for remaining unknown?
A. Yes; do not force the red-hot iron into a bleeding wound!
Q. Will you tell us your name, your age, your profession, your residence?
A. No; nothing.
Q. Had you a family, a wife, children?
A. I was abandoned by all; no one loved me.
Q. What had you done, that no one loved you?
A. How many are like me! A man may be abandoned in the midst of his family, if no one cares for him.
Q. At the moment when you committed suicide, did you feel no hesitation?
A. I thirsted for death. ... I expected to find myself at rest.
Q. How could the thought of the future have failed to turn you from your project?
A. I had ceased to believe in a future; I was without hope. Belief in a future means hope!
Q. What reflections passed through your mind at the moment when you found your life becoming extinct?
A. I did not reflect; I only felt. ... But my life is not extinct. ... My soul is linked to my body. ... I feel the worms that are devouring me.
Q. What feeling did you experience at the moment when your death had take place?
A. Has it done so?
Q. Did you suffer pain at the moment when your life became extinct?
A. Less than I suffered afterwards. It was the body only that suffered at that moment.
Q. (To the spirit of Saint Louis.) What does he mean by saying that the moment of his death was less painful than afterwards?
A. The spirit was throwing off a load of which he was weary; the pain he suffered in doing so was therefore a source of satisfaction to him.
Q. Does suicide always lead to such a state as that in which he is?
A. Yes; he who commits suicide is linked to his body to the end of the period appointed for his earthly life. Natural death is the freeing of the soul from the bands of the earthly life; suicide leaves the links between the soul and body intact.
Q. Is this state the same in cases of accidental death, from causes independent of the will, that shorten the natural duration of a life?
A. No. Such deaths are very different from suicide. The spirit is only responsible for his voluntary actions. **
* The dead-house in which all corpses of unknown persons are exhibited for identification by their family or acquaintances. - TR.
** This doubt concerning the fact of their death is very common among those whose decease is recent; especially if, during life, they have not raised their affections above material things. This phenomenon appears strange at first sight, but is easily explained. When a subject is thrown, for the first time, into the somnambulic state, he almost always, on being asked whether he is asleep, replies "No", and his reply is perfectly natural; the seeming error is with the questioner, who has employed a wrong term in putting his question. The term sleep, in ordinary parlance, implies the suspension of all the sensitive faculties; consequently, the somnambulist, who thinks, sees, feels, and has the consciousness of his moral freedom, does not suppose himself to be asleep, and, in fact, he is not asleep in the usual acceptation of that term. He therefore replies by a negative until he has become familiarized with the special use of the term in question. It is the same with one who has recently died. For him, death means the annihilation of his being; but, like the somnambulist, he sees, feels, speaks; to himself, therefore, he does not seem to be dead, and he denies being dead, until he has acquired the comprehension of his new state of being. This state of illusion is always more or less painful, because it is not a true, complete state of existence, but a hybrid one, causing the spirit to feel more or less uncertainty and anxiety about himself and his position. In the example just cited, it is a terrible torture, through the spirit's sensation of the worms that are devouring his body, and through its persistence, which will continue until the end of the time to which the man would have lived if he had not cut short the normal union of his soul and body. This state is frequent among those who have committed suicide, but it does not present the same conditions in all cases; it varies in duration and in intensity according to the circumstances which aggravate or attenuate the crime. The sensation of worms and of bodily decomposition, moreover, is not confined exclusively to those who have committed suicide; it is frequent among those who have lived with the bodily life rather than with the life of the soul. It may be laid down, as a principle, that no fault goes unpunished; but there is no uniform and absolute rule in the methods of Providential punishment.
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[Published on the May Newsletter 2008 of the Spiritist Society of Florida]
| ° ARTICLES |
BY Michael E. Tymn
Sometime in 1853 or 1854, Hippolyte Léon Dénizard Rivail, a French educator, decided to investigate the mediumship phenomena that had been breaking out in France. He began sitting at the home of a friend, Emile Charles Baudin, whose daughters, Caroline, 16, and Julie, 13, were mediums. While most of the messages coming through the two young girls were of a mundane nature, the messages became serious and profound when Rivail was present. He was informed that spirits of a higher order were communicating when he was present because they knew he could comprehend the messages and get them to the public. Among those purportedly communicating with Rivail, who adopted the pseudonym Allan Kardec, were John the Evangelist, St. Augustine, St. Vincent De Paul, St. Louis, Socrates, Plato, Fénélon, Benjamin Franklin, and Emanuel Swedenborg.
It was these advanced spirits who told him to adopt the pseudonym Allan Kardec for the books he would write "in the fulfillment of the mission" which they had for him. In 1857, Kardec's book, Le Livre des Esprits (The Spirits' Book) was published, offering answers to many questions which Kardec put to the spirits. Here are a few of those questions and answers.
Why is it that reason is not always an infallible guide?
"It would be infallible if it were not perverted by a false education, by pride, and by selfishness. Instinct does not reason. Reason leaves freedom to choice, and gives man free will."
Do all spirits pass by the road of evil to arrive at good?
"Not by the road of evil, but by that of ignorance."
How is it that some spirits have followed the road of good, and others the road of evil?
"Have they not their free-will? God has not created any spirits bad; He has created them simple and ignorant, that is to say, possessing an equal aptitude for good and for evil. Those who become bad become so of their own free-will."
How can spirits, at their origin, when they have not yet acquire self-consciousness, possess freedom of choice between good and evil? Is there in them any principle, any tendency, which inclines them towards either road rather than towards the other?
"Free-will is developed in proportion as the spirit acquires the consciousness of himself. Freedom would not exist for the spirit if his choice were solicited by a cause independent of his will. The cause which determines his choice is not in him, but is exterior to him, in the influence to which he voluntarily yields in virtue of the freedom of his will. It is this choice that is represented under the grand figure of the fall of man and of original sin. Some spirits have yielded to temptation; others have withstood it."
Whence come the influences that act upon him?
"From the imperfect spirits, who seek to take possession of him and to dominate him, and who are happy to see him succumb. It is this temptation that is allegorically pictured as Satan."
Does this influence act upon a spirit only at its origin?
"It follows him through all the phases of his existence as a spirit, until he has acquired such thorough self-command that evil spirits renounce the attempt to obsess him."
Why has God permitted it to be possible for spirits to take the wrong
road?
"The wisdom of God is shown in the freedom of choice which He leaves to every spirit, for each has thus the merit of his deeds."
Since there are spirits who, from the beginning, follow unswervingly the right path, and others who wander into the lowest depths of evil, there are no doubt, many degrees of deviation between these extremes?
"Yes, certainly; and these degrees constitute the paths of the great majority of spirits."
Does the remembrance of his corporeal existence present itself to a spirit, complete and spontaneously, immediately after his death?
"No,
it comes back to him little by little in proportion as he fixes his
attention upon it, as objects gradually become visible out of a fog."
Do spirits of different orders mix together in the other life?
"Yes and no; that is to say, they see each other, but they are none the less removed. They shun or approach one another according to the antipathies or sympathies of their sentiments, just as is the case among yourselves. The spirit-life is a whole world of varied conditions and relationships, of which the earthly life is only the obscured reflex. Those of the same rank are drawn together by a sort of affinity and form groups or families of spirits united by sympathy and a common aim - the good, by the desire to do what is good, and the bad, by the desire to do evil, by the shame of their wrong-doing, and by the wish to find themselves among those whom they resemble."
Are all spirits reciprocally accessible to one another?
"The good go everywhere, as it is necessary that they should do, in order to bring their influence to bear upon the evil-minded. But the regions inhabited by them are inaccessible to inferior spirits, so that the latter cannot trouble those happy abodes by the introduction of evil passions."
Do spirits retain any human passion?
"Elevated spirits, on quitting their bodily envelope, leave behind them the evil passions of humanity, and retain only the love of goodness. But inferior spirits retain their earthly imperfections. Were it not for this retention, they would be of the highest order.
How is it that spirits, on quitting the earth, do not leave behind them all their evil passions, since they are then able to perceive the disastrous consequences of those passions?
"You have among you persons who are, for instance, excessively jealous; do you imagine that they lose this defect at once on quitting your world? There remains with spirits, after their departure from the earthly life, and especially with those who have had strongly marked passions, a sort of atmosphere by which they are enveloped, and which kept up all their former evil qualities; for spirits are not entirely freed from the influence of materiality. It is only occasionally that they obtain glimpses of the truth, showing them, as it were, the true path which they ought to follow."
Do spirits foresee the future?
"That, again, depends on their degree of advancement. Very often, they foresee it only partially; but, even when they foresee it more clearly, they are not always permitted to reveal it. When they foresee it, it appears to them to be the present. A spirit sees the future more clearly in proportion as he approaches God. After death, the soul sees and embraces at a glance all its past emigrations, but it cannot see what God has in store for it. This foreknowledge is only possessed by the soul that has attained to entire union with God, after a long succession of existence."
When a soldier, after a battle, meets his general in the spirit-world, does he still acknowledge him as a superior?
"Titles are nothing; intrinsic superiority is everything."
Why do not all spirits define the soul in the same way?
"All spirits are not equally enlightened in regard to these matters. Some spirits are still so little advanced intellectually as to be incapable of understanding abstract ideas; they are like children in your world. Other spirits are full of false learning, and make a vain parade of words in order to impose their authority upon those who listen to them. They, also, resemble too many in your world. And besides, even spirits who are really enlightened may express themselves in terms which appear to be different, but which, at bottom, mean the same thing, especially in regard to matters which your language is incapable of expressing clearly, and which can only be spoken of to you by means of figures and comparisons that you mistake for literal statements of fact."
The works of Allan Kardec grew into a spiritual philosophy known as Spiritism. Not a religion, but a way of life, Spiritism is very popular in Brazil and other parts of South America, especially for those in need of healing. Emma Bragdon, Ph.D. recently produced a 33-minute video titled "Spiritism: Bridging Spirituality and Health." This excellent video summarizes what Spiritism is all about, including communing with spirits and releasing people from spirit obsession. It is said that more than 20 million Brazilians use Spiritist Centers because the therapies are so effective. The video can be purchased from http://www.createspace.com/243118, where a video clip is available. It is also available at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001392Q54/ref=pe_snp_Q54
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BY Yvonne Limoges
This article was published on the June 2008 Newsletter of the
Spiritist Society of Florida
| ° NEWS,
EVENTS AND MISCELLANEOUS |
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1380 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92101 - Phone: (619) 291-2900
Inspiring Spiritist speaker, medium and educator, Divaldo Franco has been raising spiritual awareness and spreading messages of love and enlightment throughout the world for almost 60 years.
He has been, for almost 60 years, a spiritual speaker and writer, having devoted more than 50 years to Spiritism and more than 40 years dedicated taking care of the orphanage Mansao do Caminho in Bahia,Brazil.
Founded in 1952, “Mansão do Caminho” has become, today, a large educational institution, with 50 buildings in an area of 893,400 square feet. Over 3,000 children, teenagers and their families receive free food, education and general assistance on a daily basis
Spiritist Ideas are built around the belief that the only mandatory requirement for Spiritual Evolution is “Love in Action”. Therefore Spiritism embraces and supports all individuals, regardless of their beliefs.
Join us in this wonderful opportunity to hear a message of love, peace and faith from a world reknowed Spiritist speaker.
*
Special Notes - A great selection of Spiritist books will be available
for purchase.
“Mansão do Caminho” - The social work
In 1948, Divaldo Pereira Franco was traveling by train with his cousin Nilson de Souza Pereira, current president of the Board of Directors of the “Mansão do Caminho”, when at a certain point of the journey, he had a vision through clairvoyance. He saw a place with many buildings and plenty of trees, adults and children and an old man with his back turned. As that man turned over, for his surprise, he recognized it was himself. He related what had just happened to Nilson, but both weren’t able to completely understand his vision. Then a voice told him: “This is what you will do in your life. You will be an educator.”
In 1952, Divaldo’s vision became a reality when the “Mansão do Caminho” was founded to support at-risk/orphaned children in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Today, “Mansão do Caminho” has become a large
educational institution, with 50 buildings in an area of 893,400 square
feet. Over 3,000 children, teenagers and their families receive free
food, education and general assistance on a daily basis. To this date,
over 30,000 boys and girls have received education and
care at “Mansão do Caminho’s many schools.
Divaldo
Franco’s California Agenda
July/30/2008- Wednesday
from 7:00 to 9:00pm
“SEARCHING FOR PEACE AND HEALTH”
Local: First Unitarian Universalist Church
1187 Franklin St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
LOS ANGELES
August/01/2008 - Friday
from 7:30 to 9:30pm
“SPIRITUAL MEMORY AND REINCARNATION”
Local: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
308 Westwood Plaza Ackerman A262A
Los Angeles, CA 90095
SAN DIEGO
August/02/2008 - Saturday
from 7:00 to 9:00pm
“SEARCHING FOR PEACE AND HEALTH”
Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina
1380 Harbor Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
LOS ANGELES
August/03/2008 - Sunday
from 1:30 to 6:00pm
“SPIRITIST THERAPY FOR ANXIETY, STRESS AND DEPRESSION”
Local: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
308 Westwood Plaza Ackerman A262A
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Registration: $ 25.00 before July/20/2008
$ 30.00 after 07/20 (includes one book)
For further information call (310) 775-0156
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