Reincarnation in AmericaPeople are frequently surprised by the fact that reincarnation has not been taught in America and the nonbelievers do not let the opportunity go and accuse the Spirits of contradiction. We will not repeat here the explanations that were given to us and that we have published about it. We will just remind our readers that the Spirits showed their usual caution with this.
They wanted Spiritism to appear in a country that provided absolute freedom of opinion. Their essential point was to have the principle accepted and consequently they did not want to be disturbed by anything else. The same did not happen with respect to the consequences, particularly the reincarnation that would have clashed against the prejudices of slavery and color. The idea that a black person could become white, a white person could have been black, and a master could have been a slave seemed so monstrous that it would be sufficient to have all the rest rejected. Hence, the Spirits preferred to momentarily sacrifice the accessory to the main part and have always told us that a unity would be later established about that point as others as well. In fact this is what is happening. We heard from several citizens of that country that such doctrine now finds many followers there; that certain Spirits have now confirmed it, after having previously given some insight into the matter. Here is what Mr. Fleury Lacroix, an American citizen, sent us from Montreal, Canada:
“…The issue of reincarnation that you were first wanting to openly promote has taken us by surprise over here. We are now reconciled with that extension of your thoughts. Everything has become clear through this new clarity and we now see our future much more broadened in our eternal journey. However, it seemed absurd to us, as I said in the beginning. We deny today and believe tomorrow – such is humanity. Fortunate are the ones who wish to learn because they see light; unfortunate are the others who remain in darkness.”
Thus, it was logic and the power of reasoning that led them to that doctrine since it gave them the only key capable of solving problems, which up until then were unsolvable. Our honorable correspondent, however, is mistaken with respect to one important point by attributing to us the initiative of that doctrine that he calls the daughter of our thoughts. It is an undeserved honor since the reincarnation was taught to others by the Spirits and before the publication of The Spirits’ Book.
Furthermore, the principle was clearly exposed in several other prior works, besides ours, at the time of the turning tables, like among others in the Heavens and Earth by Jean Reynaud and in the fascinating little book by Mr. Louis Jourdan entitled Prayers of Ludovico, published in 1849, not to mention that this principle was professed by the Druids who have not certainly learned from us.5 When it was revealed to us, we were caught by surprise and received it with hesitation and mistrust. We even fought against it for some time until evidence demonstrated it to us. Hence, we accepted rather than invented it and that is very different.
5 See the April 1858 issue of The Spiritist Review, article about Spiritism among the Druids and the Triads.
This answers the objection of one of our subscribers from Angers, Mr. Salgues, a confessed adversary of reincarnation, who seems to think that both the Spirits and mediums that teach it suffer our influence and since the Spirits that communicate with him teach the opposite. In fact Mr. Salgues makes special allegations against reincarnation that we will one day examine in detail. While we wait we observe a fact: the number of believers grow incessantly whereas the number of opponents decreases. If that is the result of our influence it must be huge since it extends to America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. If the contrary opinion is true, how come it does not prevail? Is the mistake more powerful than the truth?
