The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1863

In last December’s article we reviewed the method used by spirits to exert material actions upon human beings. It causes is entirely in the perispirit that is not only the principle of all Spiritist phenomena but also of a number of moral, physiological and pathological effects that were misunderstood before the knowledge of this agent whose discovery. When the time is right this will open new horizons to science when science decides to acknowledge the existence of the invisible world.

As we have seen before the perispirit plays an important role in every phenomena of life. It is the source of multiple affections whose cause is uselessly addressed through surgery and other medical methods. One can also explain the reactions from individual to individual, the instinctive attractions and repulsions, the magnetic action, etc. In a free Spirit, that is discarnate, the perispirit replaces the material body. It is the sensitive agent, the organ through which the Spirit acts.

The Spirit reaches the individual upon whom wishes to act, surrounding, penetrating, magnetizing and involving that individual through the fluidic and expansive nature of the perispirit.perispirit. People, embedded in that invisible world, are incessantly submitted to that influence in the same way that we are influenced by the atmosphere that we breathe and such influence is translated by moral and physiological effects that go unnoticed and that are frequently attributed to entirely opposite causes. This influence naturally differs according to the good or bad qualities of the Spirit as explained in the preceding article. If the Spirit is good and benevolent the influence or impression if you wish will be pleasant and healthy. It is like the caress of a mother with the baby in her arms. If the Spirit is bad and devilish the influence will be tough, painful, harmful and full of anxiety. It feels like a constraint rather than an embrace.

We live in this fluidic ocean endlessly fighting contrary currents that we attract or repel or allow ourselves to be carried away according to our personal qualities but in which the individual always preserves the free-will, essential attribute of mankind, and according to which one can always choose the path to follow.

As one can see this is entirely independent of the mediumistic faculty as it is commonly understood. Since the action of the invisible world is part of nature it is exerted upon individuals regardless of any knowledge about Spiritism. We are submitted to that influence as we are to the action of atmospheric electricity even without knowing physics; as we become sick without knowing medicine. Now, as physics teaches us the cause of certain phenomena and medicine of certain diseases the study of the Spiritist science teaches us the cause of phenomena due to the occult influence of the invisible world and explain that to us, something that without such a cause would go unexplained.

Mediumship is the means of observation. The medium – allow us the comparison – is the laboratory tool through which the action of the invisible world is translated in a positive way. It is through the facility that we are offered to have the experiments repeated that mediumship allows us to study the modes and several nuances of that action. It was from that study and observations that the Spiritist science was born.

Every individual that in any way feels the influence of the Spirits is for that matter a medium and hence it can also be said that every individual are mediums. However, it is through effective, conscious and facultative mediumship that the existence of the invisible world was demonstrated and it was through the diversity of the obtained or provoked manifestations that we learned about the quality of the beings that inhabit that world and role they play in nature. The medium did to the invisible world the same that the microscope did to the world of the infinitely small. In a word it is then a new force, a new power, a new law that was revealed to us.

It is really unconceivable that disbelief alone may repel this idea for it presupposes the existence of a soul in us, an intelligent principle that outlives the body.

If it were about the discovery of a material substance, rather than an intelligent one, it would be accepted without difficulty but the action of an intelligence beyond mankind is a superstition. If we go back to the general facts based on the observation of mediumistic events, we conclude by the similarity of causes given the similarity of effects. It is through the analogy between the Morzine phenomena and those that are observed daily through mediumistic means that it seems evident to us that there is a participation of malevolent Spirits. In those cases, it would not be less evident for anyone who have given some thought to the isolated cases reported in the Spiritist Review. The only difference is in the aliment’s characteristics.

History registers several similar cases among which the religious women of Loudun, the convulsionary of Saint-Médard, the case of Cévènes and the possessed from the times of Jesus Christ. The latter ones in particular presented remarkable analogy with those of Morzine. Something that deserves a special note is the fact that wherever those phenomena were produced, there was a dominant idea that they were due to the Spirits and such idea was somehow intuitive in those who were affected.

If we want to refer to our first article with the theory of the obsession contained in The Mediums’ Book and the events reported in the Spiritist Review, we will see that the action of the bad Spirits upon the creatures that are taken over presents nuances that are extremely varied in intensity and duration according to the degree of evilness and obstinacy of the Spirit and also according to the moral state of the person that gives them a more or less easy access. Such action is frequently momentary and accidental, more malicious and unpleasant than dangerous, as in the case that we reported in the preceding article. The following fact belongs to that category.





Mr. Indermühle, from Berne, a member of the Spiritist Society of Paris, told us that the administrator of his estate in Zimmerwald, a man of herculean strength, felt the other night as being grabbed by someone who shook him violently. It was like a nightmare. But the man was very much awake and stood up trying to fight back for some time. When he finally freed himself, he took his sword that was hanging by his bed and unsuccessfully sought the aggressor in the dark. He then lit a candle and searched everywhere finding nothing. The door was closed. As soon as he returned to bed the gardener who was sleeping in the adjacent bedroom started to ask for help shouting that he was being strangled. The caretaker rushed to the gardener’s bedroom but like in his case found nothing. A woman servant that was also sleeping in the same building heard a noise. On the day after they all came horrified to tell Mr. Indermühle what had happened. After learning about every single detail and certifying that no stranger could have entered the rooms Mr. Indermühle concluded that it was a bad prank from some Spirit because for some time now unequivocal physical manifestations of several kinds had manifested themselves in his own house. He appeased his servants asking them to carefully observe the details of any occurrence in case it happened again.

Since he and his wife are mediums, he then evoked the disturbing Spirit that confessed the event and apologized saying: “I wanted to speak with you because I am unhappy and need your prayers. For a long time now I have been doing everything I can to draw your attention: I touch you – I have even pulled your ear (confirmed by Mr. Indermühle) but all without any result. I then thought that creating the situation last night you would think of calling me. You have just done that so I am happy but I assure you that I had no bad intention. Promise you will call me again a few times and pray for me.”

Mr. Indermühle gave him a severe warning, repeated the conversation and gave him moral advices that he listened attentively. He prayed for the Spirit and asked his people to do the same. They did, as they were all sympathetic, and everything went back to normal.

Unfortunately, not every Spirit has good intentions. This one was not bad. There are some, however, whose actions are tenacious, permanent and can even bring unpleasant consequences to the health of the individual and more than that to the intellectual capabilities, if the Spirit subjugates the victim to the point of neutralizing the free-will and hence leading to carry out extravagances. This is the case with obsessive insanity that, although similar in its effects, is very different to pathological insanity with respect to its causes.

In our travels we saw the obsessed young man that we mentioned in the January 1861 issue of the Review with the title “The Rapping Spirit of Aube” and we heard from his father and from an eyewitnesses the confirmation of these facts. The young man is now sixteen years old; he is healthy, tall, perfectly formed and nonetheless he has complaints in his stomach and some weakness of the limbs and, according to him, those limitations don’t allow him to work. Once you see him it is easy to conclude that his ailment is laziness but that does not subtract anything from the reality of the phenomena from five years ago and take us back to Bergzabern (Spiritist Review May, June and July 1858). We cannot say the same about his moral health. He was very smart in his childhood and was a fast learner in school. His abilities diminished materially since those days. It is necessary to add that it was only recently that he and his parents learned about Spiritism through word of mouth, not reading anything about the subject. They had never heard about it before then; therefore, we cannot see in Spiritism the cause for those events. The physical phenomena practically stopped or are very rare these days but his intellectual state is the same regrettably to his parents that live out of their work.





The effect of prayers in cases like this is well-known but one cannot expect much from the young man in this case and we would need the support of his parents. They agree that he is under an occult and malevolent influence but their belief does not go much beyond that and their religious faith is very weak.

We told his father that it was necessary to pray but pray sincerely and with commitment. “It is what they told me” he said. “I prayed a few times but without result. If I only knew that praying several times during a twenty-four hours period would resolve that I would do it right now.” It shows the kind of help we can find from those most interested in circumstances like that.

Here is the counterpart of that and a proof of the efficacy of the prayer when said from the heart and not from the lips.

A certain young lady, contrary to her own inclinations, married a man toward whom she had no love. Her broken heart had led her to mental disturbances. She lost her mind and had to be taken into a hospital. She had never heard about Spiritism but had she got involved and people would say that the Spirits had messed with her mind. Hence the disease was caused by an exclusively personal and intellectual accident. It is understandable that conventional medication would produce little or almost no effect and since there was no apparent obsession one could even doubt the efficacy of prayer.

A family friend and member of the Spiritist Society of Paris thought that he should question a superior Spirit about the case, getting this answer:

“The single mindedness of that lady by its own right attracts to her a large number of bad Spirits that invade her with their fluids, feed her with the single idea and preclude her from receiving good influences. There are plenty of Spirits like that in environments where she is and creates a barrier that makes curing the patient difficult. You may cure her, though, but for that it is necessary a moral strength capable defeating the resistance and such a power is not given to a single person. You need five or six sincere Spiritists gathering every day and for a few moments pleading from the bottom of their hearts to have the assistance of the good Spirits and also that the truly sincere prayer may become a mental magnetization. You don’t need to be close to her to do that. On the contrary, through your thoughts you may take her a healthy fluidic chain whose strength will be directly proportional to your intent and augmented by the number of persons. In such a way you can neutralize the bad fluid that surrounds her. Do that having faith in God and wait.”

Six people dedicated to this charity work and during a whole month they did not miss a single day of their mission. After a few days the patient was sensibly calmer. Fifteen days later the improvement was clear and she has now returned to her house in perfect health, still ignoring, like her husband, the origin of the cure. The way to act is clearly indicated here and we have nothing more accurate to add to the explanation given by the spirt. Prayer not only has the effect of attracting a foreign help to the patient but it also exerts a magnetic action.

How powerful would magnetism be with the support of prayer! Unfortunately, certain magnetizers, following the example of many physicians, make abstraction of the Spiritual element. They only see the mechanical action thus lacking the help of powerful auxiliary force. We hope that the true Spiritists may see in this example another proof of the good that can be done in similar circumstances.

A question of great importance is presented here: Can the mediumistic exercise improve bodily health and mental faculties? One must notice that this is how most detractors of Spiritism formulate the question or, even better, instead of framing a question they transform the principle in an axiom by stating that mediumship leads to insanity.

We refer to real insanity and not to this more burlesque one with which they classify our followers. Such question could be conceived from the part of someone who believed in the existence of the Spirits and on the action that they can exert because there is something real to them. For those who don’t believe, however, the question does not make sense because if the Spirit does not exist it cannot produce any effect. Since such a thesis is unsustainable they shield themselves in the dangers of super excitation of the brain that in their opinion may be caused by a simple belief in the Spirits.

We will not go back to this already studied point but ask if there is already any statistics about all the brains that have been disturbed by the devil and the terrible scenarios of torture in hell and the eternal condemnation and if it is more harmful to believe that there are good and benevolent Spirits around us, our relatives, parents, friends and guardian angel or the devil.

Once there is the belief in the existence of the Spirits and their action is more rational and serious to have the question formulated as: Can the exercise of mediumship facilitate the invasion of bad Spirits around a person and the impact from this activity?

We have never dissimulated the obstacles found with mediumship and that is the reason why we multiplied the instructions about it in The Mediums’ Book and never stop recommending people to have it studied previously before initiating that practice. Thus since the publication of that book the number of obsessed people has diminished significantly notably because it spares the rookies an experience that they would otherwise have acquired the hard way.

We state once more: Yes, mediumship has inconveniences when practiced without experience of which the least one is to be mystified by the deceiving and lighthearted Spirits. The practice of experimental Spiritism without study is the same as to make chemical manipulations without knowing chemistry.

The large number of examples of obsessed and subjugated persons in the most unpleasant way who have never heard about Spiritism demonstrates by and large that the exercise of mediumship does not have the privilege of attracting bad Spirits. More than that experience demonstrates that mediumship is a means of keeping them away for it allows to recognize them.

Nevertheless, since sometimes they may be wandering around us it may well happen that by finding the opportunity to manifest they take the chance as long as they see a moral or physical predisposition in the medium that makes him/her accessible to their influence. Now such predisposition is in the individual and in previous personal causes and did not appear with mediumship. One can say that the exercise of mediumship is a circumstance rather than a cause. However, if some creatures are in this group there are others that offer an impassable obstacle to the bad Spirits who avoid them. We speak of really bad and evildoer Spirits, the only really dangerous ones, and not of lighthearted and mocking Spirits that sneak everywhere.

The presumption of being invulnerable to the bad Spirits has often been punished in a cruel way because they are never harmlessly challenged in their pride. Pride is an open door to them because nobody offers less resistance than a proud person when attacked in their weak spot. Hence, before addressing the Spirits, it is highly recommended that we are protected against the assault of the bad ones similarly to the one who enters a dangerous area. This is initially achieved by the previous study that shows the path and precautions to take; then comes the prayer. We need to be clear, however, that the only true preservative in is us, in our own strength and never in exterior things and that there are no talismans, amulets, sacramental words, sacred or profane words that have the least efficacy if we don’t have the required qualities in ourselves. Hence these qualities are the ones that need to be acquired.

If we were truly convinced of the essential and serious objective of Spiritism; if we prepared ourselves constantly for the practice of mediumship by a fervent appeal to our guardian angel and our protector Spirits; if we studied ourselves striving to purify from our imperfections the cases of mediumistic obsessions would be even less frequent.

Unfortunately, many people only see the facts of manifestations. Not satisfied with the moral proofs that exist they want to have the satisfaction of communicating personally with the Spirits at any price, forcing the development of a faculty that is sometimes underveloped in them, driven more by curiosity than a sincere desire to improve. It results, which instead of being embedded in a healthy atmosphere and protected, open up the door to obsessing Spirits who will torment them in a different way and on another occasion but who take the opportunity that is offered to them.

What can then be said about those who make a pastime out of the manifestations and see in them just a motive for distraction and curiosity or look for means of satisfying their ambition, greed or material interests? It is in these cases that one can say that the exercise of mediumship may provoke the invasion of bad Spirits. Yes, it is dangerous to play with serious things. How many people read The Spirits’ Book only to know how to operate because their only interest is the recipe or how to proceed! The moral side of the issue is an accessory to them. Hence one cannot blame Spiritism for something that results from imprudence.

Returning to the possessed of Morzine.

Something that one Spirit can do to an individual, several Spirits can do to multiple individuals simultaneously, giving the obsession an epidemic character. A cloud of bad Spirits may invade a region and manifest there in several ways. It was an epidemic like this that spread in Judea during the time of Jesus Christ and in our opinion it is a similar epidemic that took place in Morzine.

It is what we intend to establish in a follow up article where we shall point out the essentially obsessive characters of that disease. We will analyze the medical reports with their observations and among them the reports from Dr. Constant as well as the means of cure that were employed be it through medicine or exorcism.

The case described in our last December issue entitled “The lodge and the lounge” reminds us of another somehow personal one. In a trip done two years ago we saw in an affluent family a servant whose fine traces and air of distinction caught our attention. There was nothing inferior in his manners. His dedication to his masters did not show that typical servility of persons in such a condition.

Going back to that home a year later we no longer saw the young man and asked if he had been fired. “No”, they said, “he left to spend a few days in his homeland and died. We were really sorry for he was an excellent employee and his feelings were really above his position. He was very much devoted and dedicated to us.”

– A. In my incarnation before the last one I was from a good family, ruined by my father’s lavishness. At an early age I was left orphan and broken. Mr. G… was my benefactor. He had me educated as a son and that made me really proud. In the last existence I wanted to atone that pride by been born in a servile condition then having the opportunity to demonstrate my dedication to my benefactor. I even saved his life without him noticing. It was simultaneously a trying time from which I gained a lot for not allowing myself to be corrupted at the contact with an ambient that was generally wicked. I remained pure despite the bad examples and for that I thank God and for having rewarded me with the happiness that I enjoy now.

Q. How did you save Mr. G’s life? – A. It was over a horse riding event in which I followed him and noticed a large tree falling by his side that he had not seen. I called his attention with a terrible scream. He moved suddenly while the tree fell at his feet. Without that sudden movement he would have been smashed.
Q. Why have you died so young? – A. God thought that my trial was enough.
Q. How could you have taken advantage of the test if you had no memory of a previous life and the cause that had motivated it? – A. In my humble position I still had the pride that I was fortunate enough to dominate. That made the test useful otherwise I would have to restart it. During moments of freedom my Spirit remembered and I woke up with the desire to resist temptations that I thought were bad things. I had more merit in that fight than if I had remembered everything. The remembrance of my former position would have exalted my pride and caused disturbance whereas forgetting I only had to fight the solicitations of the new position.

Q. You were given a brilliant education. What good did it do to you in your last existence considering that you did not remember the acquired knowledge? – A. All that knowledge would have been useless and even meaningless in my new life. It remained latent but I have recovered that now. However, it was not useless since it helped develop my intelligence. Instinctively I was attracted to elevated things and that caused me repulse towards bad examples and ignoble things that I witnessed. Without education I would have been a simple servant.
Q. Do the examples of servants totally dedicated to their masters find their causes in previous bonds? – A. No doubt. At least it is the most common case. Sometimes such servants are members of the same family or, like in my case, debtors paying their debts of recognition and whose devotion help them to progress. Do you ignore all the effects of sympathy and antipathy that such previous relationships produce in the world? No! Death does not break those relationships that sometimes remain from century to century.
Q. Why such examples of devotion are rarer and rarer these days? – A. The cause is the Spirit of selfishness and pride of your century, produced by disbelief and the materialistic ideas. True faith is destroyed by greed and by the desire of accumulation and with all that goes devotion. Bringing humanity back to the true feeling Spiritism shall make reborn the forgotten virtues.
NOTE: The fact was mentioned to Mr. G… who had a perfect memory of the event.

Note: There is nothing better than this example to point out the benefits of forgetfulness of previous existences. If Mr. G… remembered who his young servant was he would feel embarrassed and would not keep him in that condition. He would then have blocked a trial that was beneficial to both.

Every Spiritist must have noticed this last stanza that could not correspond to their ideas in a better way or better express the presence in our surroundings of the Spirit now undressed from the mortal remains. To the materialistic that is just a game of imagination from the poet that, in their opinion, it was about the celebrated genius from whom there was nothing left but the memory and the words that were addressed to him were lost in the vacuum, without a trace. His remembrances and sorrows represented nothing; and more: his vast intelligence was just chance of nature and its organization.



Where would then his merit be? For the composition of his master pieces he would have acquired no more than the hurdy-gurdy men that play them. Wouldn’t such an idea have something of glacial, of profoundly immoral? Isn’t that said to see persons of talent and science defending such an idea in their writings and from the top of their cathedra, teaching such a thing to youngsters in school and trying to prove to them that the void waits for them and consequently those who were able to escape human’s justice have nothing to fear? Such an idea – it is never too much to repeat – is eminently subversive of the social order and sooner or later the peoples will suffer the terrible consequences of its predominance by the spread of vices for it would the same as saying: As long as you are the stronger one you can do whatever you like and go unpunished.

Such an idea, however – we must acknowledge for the good of humanity – finds in the crowds a feeling of rejection. Which effect would the poet have upon the public if instead of the so true image that he employed, so exciting and reassuring message about the presence of the Spirit of Boïeldieu amidst the public, happy for the tribute to his work, the poet had said: … there is nothing more left than what is found in the grave and other than rotting a little bit more every day. A few more years and even the dust will not be there, nothing left from the thoughtful creature. He entered the void from where he came. He can no longer see or hear us. And you, his son, who is among us and celebrate his memory, your sorrow and your thought can no longer reach him. It is useless to call him in your earnest prayers. He cannot come since he no longer exists. The tomb has forever shut him off. Useless to expect to see him again after you leave Earth for you will also meet the nothingness. Useless to ask for his support and advice. You were left alone, really alone. Do you believe that he is concerned about you, that he is by your side, here among us? Delusion of a weak mind. You say that you are a medium and that he can communicate with you! That is renewed superstition from the Middle Ages; it is the effect of your imagination reflected in your writings.

What would the audience say about such a picture? This is, however, the ideal of disbelief. By listening to those verses some people in the public would have thought: “beautiful idea! Impressive!” Others, in a larger number, would have thought: “What a kind and reassuring idea that warms one’s heart!”

They could have added: “If the soul of Boïeldieu is here how it looks like? What is its shape? Is it a flame, a spark, a mist or a breath? How can it see and hear?”

It is precisely the uncertainty about the state of the soul that raises the doubt. Spiritism is here to dissipate such uncertainty by saying: When Boïeldieu died, he only left his heavy and material body behind but his soul preserved the fluidic and indestructible envelope. From now on and free from the anchor that kept him imprisoned to the ground he can elevate and transpose the space. He is here in his human form but it is ethereal and if the veil the covers ours eyes were removed we would see Boïeldieu coming and going or gliding above the crowd and with him thousands of Spirits in their ethereal bodies joining in to celebrate his triumph.

Now if the Spirit of Boïeldieu is here it means that he is interested in what happens here and he is associated to the thoughts of the audience. Why then he would not share his own thoughts if he can do so? That is the ability attested and confirmed by Spiritism. His fluidic envelope, however invisible and ethereal it may be, is still a kind of matter. During his life it served as an intermediary between his soul and his body. It was through that link that the soul transmitted its wishes and the body obeyed and through the same link the soul received the sensations experienced by the body. In a word it is the link between the Spirit and matter.

Now that he is free from his corporeal envelope and associating by sympathy to another incarnate Spirit he can, in a certain way, momentarily utilize that person’s body to express his thoughts through the spoken or written word that is through an intermediary or mediumistic means.

Thus, from the survival of the soul to the idea of the possibility of that soul to be among us there is only one step. And from that idea to the possibility of communication the distance is not large. It is all about our understanding of how such phenomenon takes place. As it can be seen the Spiritist Doctrine does not professes something as eccentric as some people say by taking as true the relationships between the visible and invisible world and the solidarity that the Doctrine demonstrates to exist between these two worlds is the door opened to future horizons.

After reading the verses by Mr. Méry at the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies during the session on December 19^th, 1862 Mrs. Costel received the following communication from the Spirit of Boïeldieu:

“I am happy for being able to manifest my acknowledgement to those who celebrating the old musician did not forget the man. A poet – the poets are foretellers – felt the breath of my soul still embedded in harmony. Music resounded from his verses full of inspiration in which there was also a touched note gliding above the living souls the happy shadow that was celebrated. Yes, I watched the party that payed tribute to my human talent and beyond the instruments I heard a melodious and earthly voice that sang death stripped from its former horror and no longer shown as a somber divinity of Erebus but as the shining star of hope and resurrection. The voice also sang the union between the Spirits and their incarnate brothers. Gentle mystery! Fecund union that complements mankind bringing back the souls that were hopelessly called from the silence of the tomb.

Precursor of the times the poet is blessed by God. As the morning songbird the poet celebrates the dawn of the ideas well before they shine in the horizon. But here you have the sacred revelation spreading like a blessing from God upon everybody and everyone, like the beloved poet, feels around themselves the presence of those who are evoked by their memories.”

Boïeldieu

“To Mr. Chief Editor of the Renard:

Mr. Editor,

If the subject that I discuss here is not too trouble, I request the insertion of this letter in the next issue of your esteemed journal.

A few words about Spiritism: It is a very controversial subject that worries many people these days and anything that a loyal and seriously convict man may write about this subject cannot seem useless or ridiculous to anyone. I want to impose my convictions to no one for I don’t have the age or experience or intelligence to be a mentor. I just want to tell all those who only know this theory by name and who are prepared to welcome Spiritism through a joke or a sympathetic disdain: Do as I did. Try, for starters, to get instructed and you will then have the right to disdain or attack.

One month ago, Mr. Editor, I only had a vague idea about Spiritism. I only knew that this discovery or utopia for which new words were invented was based on facts (true or false) so much supernatural that were immediately rejected by all those who don’t believe in anything that cause admiration, who never accept progress unless pig backing the whole century and that, like new Thomas, are only convinced when they can touch something.

Like them, I confess, I was prepared to laugh at this theory and its followers. Before laughing, however, I wanted to know what it was about and introduced myself at a society of Spiritists in the house of Mr. E…B…I must say in-passing that Mr. B… seemed to me to be a righteous, serious and enlightened person, of a conviction strong enough to stop the smile on the lips of a joker for, regardless of what people say, a solid conviction always imposes itself.

At the end of the first session I laughed no more but still had doubts and what I felt above all was a strong desire to learn, a febrile impatience to witness new proofs. That is what I did yesterday, Mr. Editor, and I doubt no more. Not to mention some personal details that were transmitted to me and were ignored by the medium as well as by all members of the Society I saw facts that to me were irrefutable.



Without giving here – and you will understand why – any thoughts about the level of education of the medium I declare to be impossible to anyone unless a Bossuet or a Pascal to respond immediately and so clearly and at a mechanical speed so to speak and in such a concise, elegant and correct style in several pages about questions such as this: How to conciliate free-will with divine prescience? – That is about the most arduous issues of Metaphysics. That is what I saw, Mr. Editor, and much more that I don’t mention in this already long letter. I write it – I repeat – so that it may possibly inspire in some of your readers the desire to learn. Later they may be convinced like I am.

Tibulle Lang, former student of the Polytechnic School”

From some time now there is some agitation in the air, the world is startled and seeks answers. Its soul suffers and is in great need. Let us admit that Spiritism does not exist and that everything said about it is mistake and imaginations from confused minds. Still, is it negligible to attest the existence of six million people affected by the same disease in seven or eight years? As for myself I see a lot in this. I see the presentiment of great things because at all times the world has always been unsuspectedly uneasy, even turbulent, on the eve of remarkable phases.

What is certain today is that after having passed a period of terrible materialism the world feels the need for a Spiritual and rational belief! There is the need for a belief with knowledge of cause, if I can say so. These are the causes of the world’s illness, if we admit that there is one. It is reckless to say that there is nothing at the bottom line of that movement.

A writer, which I did not have the honor of meeting, just published in the Écho de Sétif on September 18^th an article of profound thoughts. He confessed to not knowing Spiritism but questions if it is possible, if it can exist and his searches lead him to the conclusion that Spiritism is not impossible.

Nevertheless, the Spirits have reason to rejoice these days because valuable people want to dedicate part of their studies to what some call a mistake and others the truth. As for myself I can attest a fact: I saw things that people cannot believe without seeing. There is a very enlightened part of society that does not reject the fact itself but that considers the associated communications as coming directly from hell. That is what I cannot admit before a communication like the one below:

“Believe in God, creator and organizer of the cosmos; love God, creator and protector of the souls… signed Galileo.” The devil does not always speak like that, otherwise people would have attributed him an undeserved reputation. If on one side he disrespected God we must confess that he put too much water in the wine.







I was also a non-believer and could not be convinced that God would allow us to communicate with the Spirit of a living person. I had, however, to surrender to the evidence. I communicated telepathically with a person that was asleep and who responded clear and categorically. Not a single sound, not a single disruption in my mind. The Spirit of the sleeping person corresponded with mine, irrespective of my wishes, which is what I can attest.

Before that event, I used to think that God had established an unsurpassable barrier between the material and the Spiritual world. I was wrong, that is all. It seems to me that the more I disbelieved the more God wanted to enlighten me by placing before my eyes extraordinary and undisputable facts.

I wanted to write myself ^[1] to avoid being mystified by a third party but my hand never showed any movement. I put a pen in the hands of a fourteen-year-old boy and he fell asleep unintentionally. After seeing that I left and went to the gardens, convinced that that pretense truth was a dream. On returning to the living room, however, I noticed that the young man had written something. I approached to be able to read and was startled by the fact that he had answered all my mental questions. Always denying and despite the fact and willing to wake him up I framed a question about old history in my mind. The sleeping young man responded without hesitation.

Let us spot here for a few observations. Suppose that there was no intervention of Spirits form another world there is still the fact that the Spirit of the sleeping boy and mine were perfectly synched in the communication. I see this as something worth studying. There are people, however, that believe to know so much that there is nothing else to learn and prefer to call me mad.

I am mad, be it! Later on we will see who is wrong.

Had I spoken a single word; had I made a single gesture and I would not be convinced. However, I did not move; I did not speak. What I am saying? I did not even breathe!

Then! Is there a wise man willing to talk to me without saying a word or without writing? Is there someone trying to translate my thoughts without seeing me or without knowing me? And even more serious, I cannot deceive that person even if I speak, without being caught! This could not have happened with the above mentioned medium. I tried that several times unsuccessfully. If you allow me I will give below a few communications that I received.

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[1] As a medium (TN)

Someone from Bordeaux whom we do not have the honor of knowing in person sent us the following question about Spiritism, a question that we prefer to answer in the Spiritist Review for the instruction of all:

“I read in one of your books: Spiritism does not address those who have any given faith that satisfies their reason and conscience with the objective of veering them off but the large number of those who are uncertain and the unbelievers, etc. “Now, why not? Shouldn’t Spiritism, the truth, address everybody? All those that are mistaken? The ones who profess any religion like the Protestant, the Catholic, the Jewish, aren’t them wrong? There is no doubt since the religions professed in our days pretend to have the incontestable truth and force us to believe in false things or at least things that could have come from trustworthy sources but that are wrongly interpreted. If it is demonstrated that the penalties are temporary only – and God knows if it is a slight mistake to confuse temporary with eternal – if the fire of hell is a work of fiction and if instead of a creation in six days it was, in actual fact, six millions of centuries, etc., if all that has been proven, say considering that there is one truth only, the beliefs that gave rise to such false interpretations of those dogmas are not less false since something is true or not. There is no middle ground. Why then would Spiritism not address also those who believe in absurd things to dissuade them like those who believe in nothing or have doubts, etc.?

We take the opportunity of this letter from which we extracted the above passage to remind us once more of the essential objective of Spiritism that the author of the letter does not seem to be totally convinced.

Through the positive proofs of the existence of the soul and a future life, which is the basis of all religions, Spiritism is the denial of materialism and consequently addresses those who deny or doubt. It is evident that someone who does not believe in God or in the soul is not a Catholic or a Jew or a Protestant, whatever their original religion, or even Muslim or Buddhist. The unbeliever is led to believe in a future life by the evidence of the facts with all their moral consequences. That person is then free to adopt any cult that satisfies their reason or conscience. The role of Spiritism ends there. It helps to walk three quarters of the way; to move over the hardest step of disbelief. The rest is up to the others.

However, the author of the letter may ask, if there is no convenient faith to that person? Well, in such a case stay where you are. Spiritism cannot do anything there. It is not up to Spiritism to force you to accept a cult nor to discuss the intrinsic value of the dogmas of each religion. That is left to your conscience. If what Spiritism gives you is not enough to seek among all other Philosophies a doctrine that can better satisfy your aspirations.

The unbelievers and the doubters form a very large class and when Spiritism says that it does not aim at a given faith and at those whose faith is good enough to them it is because Spiritism does not impose itself on anybody and does not violate any conscience. By addressing the unbelieversnonbelievers, it is able to convince them through its own means. As such, Spiritism grants access to their reason and considering that others were ineffective. In a word Spiritism has its own method that daily provides beautiful results. However, it does not count on any secret doctrine. Spiritism does not ask some to open their ears and to others to keep them shut. It speaks to everybody through the written messages and each one is free to adopt or reject its way of seeing things. Thus, it converts unbelievers into keen followers. That is all that is intended.

To someone that says: “I have my own faith and I do not wish to change it; I believe in the eternal penalties, in the flames of hell and in the devils; I even believe that it is the Sun that turn because that is in the Bible and I believe that it is the price of my salvation” Spiritism responds: “Keep your beliefs since they are convenient to you; nobody tries to impose you a different one. I don’t address you because you want nothing from me.”

In this Spiritism, it is truthful to the principle of respecting the freedom of conscience. If someone believes to be mistaken that person is free to seek the light that shines to all. Those who believe to be right have the freedom to turn the eyes. Once more, Spiritism has an objective from which it does not wish and must not veer off. It knows the path to be followed and will follow it without deviations by the suggestions of the impatient. There is a time for everything and the will to move faster is frequently cause of retreat instead of advancement.

Two words still to the author of the letter: It seems to us that there is a false application of the principle that there is one truth only, concluding that certain dogmas like the eternal penalties and the dogma of creation received wrong interpretation and that everything else must be false in religion. Don’t we see every day the positive sciences acknowledging certain errors of details without the Science being radically wrong? Hasn’t the Church come to agree with Science with respect to certain beliefs that in the past were articles of faith? Doesn’t Church recognize today the law of the movements of Earth and the geological periods of creation that were condemned in the past as heresies? As for the flames of hell the high theology today agrees that it is an image and that one must understand it as a moral and not material flame.

About several other points the doctrines are less absolute than in the past. It is possible to conclude from that that one day, and yielding to the evidence of the material facts, the Church will understand the need for an interpretation in harmony with the laws of nature, about still controversial points, since not one faith could rightfully and rationally prevail against those laws. God cannot contradict Himself by establishing dogmas that are contrary to His own eternal and immutable laws and man cannot pretend to elevate above God by decreeing the nullity of those laws.

Well, the Church that understands all these truths to certain things will equally understand them to the others, notably with matters related to Spiritism, in all points founded on the laws of nature and that are still misunderstood but that are more and more clarified every day.

We must not rush to reject the whole because certain parts are obscure or defective and we believe to be useful to remember, just as in the fable the Monkey and the Nut.

Mr. Delanne, who is traveling, sent us the following report about the evocation of the Spirit of his living wife that remained in Paris.

“… On December 11^th at 11:30pm I evoked the Spirit of my wife. She told me that one of her lady relatives had casually slept over with her. I was not convinced about it because I did not believe it to be possible but two days later I received a letter from her confirming the event. I attach my account of this story. It does not not contain anything private but it does offer a proof of her identity.

OBSERVATION: If this incident had only involved the guardian angel, it would have been insufficient to determine if this was a real event as it would have been necessary to identity of the guardian angel, as a deceiving Spirit could have taken the name. There is nothing in his simple statement that reveals the accuracy of this event. In similar cases it is always preferable to manage with a independent medium who is not under the same influence. The evocation of a Spirit to control another one does not always offer sufficient guarantee particularly when the person involved is asked to give permission. In the case above we find a proof in the description that the Spirit gives of the guardian angel. A deceiving Spirit could not have taken that celestial appearance. As a matter of fact, there is a character of truth in all answers that could not be simulated by charlatanism.



Next evening session

OBSERVATION: This prayer improvised by the Spirit is of a touching simplicity. Mr. Delanne knew nothing about Adélia beyond what the Spirit had told him and that was exactly the reason for his doubts. He sent his wife a letter about it later on received the following reply:

“…Adélia really came over yesterday in the afternoon, by chance. I invited her to stay not out of fear because that makes me laugh but to be with me. As you see she stayed and slept over with me. I was confused these last two nights; I felt sick. An irresistible force made me sleep. I felt like crushed. I feel so happy, though, for having gone and seen you! ...”

A letter from New York, dated November 5^th and addressed to the Gazette des Tribunaux, contains the following horrible details of an appalling tragedy that took place in Dalton, Caroline County in Maryland:

“A young black man was recently arrested under the accusation of lewd behavior against a young white female. Severe charges were filed against him. The young woman declared to recognize him perfectly well. The accused was taken to Dalton jail. He was there for a few hours when a huge and enraged crowd screaming for vengeance demanded to have the poor black man delivered to them. Authorities uselessly tried to stop the violent crowd. Their words in favor of law and justice were met by the mobs’ boos. The masses, whose number was on the rise, started to stone the jail. Gun shots were fired against law enforcement but did not reach them. Once they realized that it was impossible to resist any longer the jail’s doors were open. The crowd shouted and invaded the place furiously. The prisoner was dragged out to a town’s central square amidst screams of rage and supplication by the victim. A jury was immediately staged, the facts examined and the prisoner found guilty and condemned to death by hanging. The prisoner was promptly hung on a tree by a rope that was tied around his neck. While the black man’s body contorted following the convulsions of death he was also victimized by the insults and violence by the crowd. Blindfolded by rage and vengeance the mob did not wait for the stillness of the body, parading the streets of Dalton with their despicable trophy. Man, women and even children applauded the injuries imposed on the poor black man’s body. The mob’s anger, however, would not stop there. After parading around the streets of Dalton in every direction they stopped in front of a black church. A huge bonfire was pitched only to noisily receive and devour the flesh and the mutilated parts of the body.”

Such report gave rise to the following question raised at the Parisian Society on November 28^th, 1862:

“One can understand isolated and individual examples of anger among civilized people. Spiritism explains this when describing inferior Spirits. In such cases, these individuals have displayed their evilness during their whole life. What is more difficult to understand is a whole population that has given proofs of intelligence and superiority and even given demonstrations of humanitarian feelings on other occasions, who profess a religion of kindness and peace, be taken by such a blood thirsty vertigo, showing a savage rage to the point of being fed by the torture of the victim. This is a moral issue we ask the Spirits to kindly enlighten us.”



Parisian Society, November 28th, 1862
Medium Mr. A. De B…

Bloodshed in countries towards human progress is a rain of curse. It is near the time when the wrath of a just God shall fall upon those regions where such abominations take place like the one you have just heard.

In vain we want to hide ourselves from the consequences that are inevitably established; in vain we want to mitigate the importance of the crime. The crime is awful by itself not less by the intention that led to the execution with such horrendous refinements of cruelty, with such a bestial fury. The interest! Human interest! Sensual pleasures, the satisfactions of pride and vanity were once again the drives as on other occasions, and the same causes will give rise to similar effects, causes, in turn, of the effects of the heavenly wrath that has threatened so many iniquities.

Do you believe that there is only real progress with technology and all resources and arts that tend to sooth the rigors of material life and increase the insatiable need of pleasure? No, that is not what summarizes the progress of the Spirits, which are only temporarily human and who should only give human things the secondary interest they deserve.

The development of the heart, the illumination of conscience; the diffusion of the sense of universal solidarity of beings and that of brotherhood among humans are the only authentic milestones that distinguish a people marching towards general progress. These are the only traces that identify the most advanced nation. But those who still harbor feelings of exclusive pride and only see such a portion of humanity as a serving race, cut to obey and suffer, those will no doubt experience the nullity of their claims and the weight of Heavens’ vengeance.

Your father, V. De B…

My good friends when the cold arrives why wouldn’t I come, your former disciple, to remind you of our slogan: Charity? Give. Give everything that your heart can give in words, consolation and kind care. The love of God is in you if you know how to accomplish your mandate as keenly aware Spiritists.

In your free time when you are allowed to rest from work go and seek the one that suffers morally or physically. To the former, give the force that reassures and strengthen the Spirit; to the latter give what sustains and silence both the mother’s apprehension’s whose arms lie unoccupied and the child’s crying for a piece of bread.

The cold spells have come; a chilly draft rolls the dust over; soon there will be snow. That is the time when you must walk and seek. How many embarrassed poor people moan and suffer secretly, particularly the grieving ones who aspire for everything and lack the basic needs. Be prudent with those my friends. May your hand alleviate and cure but may also a kind voice from your heart present the alms that can painfully hurt the self-esteem of a well-educated person. I repeat: It is necessary to give but give well. God, the provider of everything, hides His treasures, the ear of corn, the flower and the fruits. His gifts that laboriously germinated in the trunk’s sap have come to us unnoticeably without us feeling the hand that provides. Do as God. Imitate Him and you shall be blessed.

Ah! It is beautiful and good to be useful and charitable; to stand up while raising others; to forget the little and selfish needs of life to practice the noblest attribution of humanity, the one that makes us true children of the Creator!

What a lesson to your children! They imitate you; your example bears fruits for every well grafted branch produces abundantly. The Spiritual future of the family always depends on how you act. I tell you and it is never too much to repeat that you will gain Spiritually if you give and reassure for God will give and console you in His kingdom that is not from this world. Here, the family that honors and praises the intelligent leader in this God given stretch of kingship is a mitigation of the pains of life.

Goodbye my friends, be all love and charity.

Sanson

NOTE: This communication was received at the General Session presided over by Mr. Allan Kardec

It seems, if humanity is considered in its primitive condition and current state, that since its first appearance on Earth marking the starting point and now having covered part of the path to perfection, it seems, I was saying, the whole progress, the whole philosophy can only be born from their opposite. In fact, any formation is the result of a reaction as every effect is generated by a cause. All moral phenomena, all intelligent formations are due to a momentary disturbance of one’s intelligence. Only two principles must be considered from an intellectual point of view: one that is immutable, essentially good and eternal as everything else that is infinite; the other that is temporary, momentary, a simple agent employed to produce the reaction of the originating source towards the progression of humanity.

Progress embraces humanity for eternity and is found everywhere. Look around. What do you see?

At certain points in time, one can say, at certain foreseen, designated moments, someone shows up opening a new path, climbing the tough rocks on which the known world of intelligence is sowed. Such a person is generally amongst the simple, little ones, penetrating, however, into the elevated spheres of the unknown. That person must have the courage of fighting against prejudices and inherited customs. Courage is needed to overcome these obstacles, spread on the way by ill-faith, as there are prejudices to be addressed. There will be abuse and people interested in the abuse. Courage is also needed to fight the material needs of personality and victory, in this case, is the best proof of the person’s mission and predestination. When the time is right and light profusely emanates from the spot where that person stands, all eyes will be directed to that center. It is when the whole intelligent and good principle is assimilated and when the contrary principle is reformed. Despite the prejudices; despite the ill-faith; despite the own needs the person reaches the objective; humanity moves up to a new notch that was unknown up until then.

Such a fact has already happened many times and shall repeat itself many times again before the Earth reaches the degree of perfection that has been assigned by nature. God will provide, however, the seed and the worker as many times as needed. The worker is each person, each genius that illustrates the frequently super-human science. Such spots of light, such rings of connection have been seen at all times and it is everyone’s duty to approach, help and protect these apostles of truth. That is what Spiritism is here to say.

Hence hurry up all of you brothers in charity. Hurry up and the happiness promised to perfection will come to you much sooner.

Protector Spirit.

There have been studies concerning the ability to inhabit other planets. These topics have been addressed by many scientists and organizations, including the work Astronomy and Philosophy by Camille Flammarion, Director of the Imperial Observatory of Paris.^[1]

Although Spiritism is not discussed in that work the subject is among those that are part of our observations and the principles of the doctrine. Our readers will appreciate the fact that we have called their attention to this publication, persuaded, in particular, by the great interest that they will have for this attractive work both for the style and profundity. It contains one of the capital revelations of the Spirits, confirmed by science.

Mr. Flammarion is a member of the Spiritist Society of Paris and the notable dissertations signed by Galileo and published in September last year bear his name, published under the title Cosmological Studies. We are glad to make a special reference to this work for those two reasons and certain that it will undoubtedly be ratified. The author codified every element of nature to support the opinion about the plurality of inhabited worlds while combating the contrary opinion. After having read it we ask ourselves how is it possible to have any doubt about the subject. We must add still that the considerations of the highest scientific order do not exclude grace or poetry in the style. This can be assessed by the following passage where he speaks of the intuition that most people have about the habitability of the worlds when contemplating the celestial world:

“…However, the awe excited in you by the most touching scene of nature’s spectacle soon turns into a feeling of indescribable sadness for we are alien to those worlds where there is an apparent solitude that fails to give us the immediate impression of life that bonds us to Earth. We feel the need of inhabiting those globes apparently forgotten by life, seeking engaging eyes in those eternally desert and quiet lands, like the daring navigator sought for a long time in the desert of the oceans, looking for the land that was revealed, the eagle eyes reaching long distances, carefully transposing the limits of the known world to finally encounter the immense prairies on which the New World had been sitting for centuries. The dream came true. May ours break free from the mysteries that still surround it and we shall rise to the skies navigating the ship of our thoughts in search of new lands.”

The book is divided in three parts. The first is entitled Historical Study where the author reviews the long list of scholars and philosophers from the past and modern ones, religious and profane, that professed the doctrine of plurality of the worlds, from Orpheus to Herschel and Laplace.

“The majority of the Greek sects, he says, taught either openly and broadly to all disciples or in secrecy only to those belonging to this philosophy. If the poetry attributed to Orpheus are really his, we can consider him as the first one to teach the plurality of the worlds. It is implicitly found in his verses in which it is said that each star is a world and in particular in these words preserved by Proclus: ‘God constructed an immense land that the immortals called Selene and that men call Moon in which there is a large number of dwellings, mountains and towns.’

Pythagoras, the first Greek to bear the title of Philosopher, publicly taught the immobility of Earth and the motion of the globes around it like a unique center of creation, while declaring to the advanced students of his doctrine his belief in the movement of Earth, as a planet, and in the plurality of the worlds. Later on his most renowned disciples Democritus, Heraclitus and Metrodorus of Chios propagated the opinion of the master from the cathedra and such opinion became that of every Pythagorean and that of the majority of the Greek philosophers. Philolaus, Nicetas and Heraclides were amongst the keenest upholders of such belief. The latter even pretended that each star is a world like ours with atmosphere and a large extension of ethereal matter.”

Later he adds:

‘The healthy action of the Sun, Laplace says, give rise to the animals and plants that cover Earth and the analogy leads to the belief that it produces similar effects on other planets since it is not natural to think that matter whose fecundity we see developing so abundantly, is sterile in a planet as big as Jupiter that ,like Earth, has days, nights, years and about which observations indicate changes that presuppose very active forces… Since man is built to withstand the temperature of Earth he could not live on other planets. However, shouldn’t there be an infinity of organizations relative to the diverse temperatures of globes and universes? If only the difference among the elements and climates generates so much variety in the terrestrial production how much more difference, there should be in planets and satellites.”

The second part is dedicated to astrological study and the make-up of the several cosmic globes with the most positive scientific data showing that the Earth does not hold a special position either for its position or volume or even the elements that form it. As a result, there is nothing that justifies the exclusive privilege of being inhabited at the exclusion of all others that are better favored in various aspects. The first part is intellectual; the second part is science; the third part is philosophical. The astronomic observations explain the sequence of seasons, the atmospheric fluctuations and the temperature variations in the majority of the planets in our solar system. It follows that Earth is situated in one of the least favorable conditions, a world in which the inhabitants must endure more vicissitudes and where life must be more difficult from where the author concludes that it is not rational that God reserved for the dwelling of mankind one of the least favored while the better equipped planets would be condemned to not dwell any living being. All that not established on the basis of a systematic idea but on positive data with the contribution of all sciences: Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Meteorology, Geology, Physiology, Mechanics, etc.

“Nonetheless, he adds, the most favorable by far and in all aspects is the magnificent Jupiter whose seamless seasons still have the advantage of lasting twelve more months than ours. That gigantic cosmic orb flies over as challenging the weak inhabitants of Earth, giving a hint about the pompous images of a long and smooth existence.”

“Attached to the little terrestrial sphere by bonds that we cannot break, we see our days extinguishing continuously, rapidly consumed in the respective periods, in the disparate seasons whose antagonism perpetuates in the continual inequality of day and night and in the instability of temperature.”

After an eloquent picture of mankind’s struggle for survival against nature and the geological revolutions that transform the surface of the planet, threatening to annihilate it, he adds:

“After such considerations can we still pretend that this globe is the best possible world to mankind, and that many other celestial globes cannot be infinitely better than Earth and provide the favorable conditions to the long duration of human existence?”

Then, leading the reader through the worlds in the infinity of space, he portrays a horizon of such greatness that one cannot but find unworthy of God the supposition that our unknown globe, among many thousands of others, even unknown to our planetary system, is the only inhabited one, then identifying ourselves with the authors’ point when he ends by saying:

“Ah! If we could only see well enough to have our vision discover resplendent suns and the inhabited planets that follow their course where we can only see shining spots in the dark background of the skies! If we could only see at a glance the myriads of solidary systems and if we could travel at the speed of light for centuries and centuries crossing the limitless number of suns and spheres without ever touching the bounds of the prodigious infinity where God gives rise to the planets and beings; and if looking back we could no longer locate this grain of dust called Earth we would be fascinated and confused by such a spectacle, uniting our voice to the universal concert of nature saying from the bottom of our hearts: Almighty God! How could we have been so oblivious by thinking that there was nothing else beyond Earth and that our poor dwelling held the exclusive privilege of reflecting your greatness and power!”

From our side we finish with one observation: It is remarkable to see the wisdom contained in that book and the fact that they come from a young man at an age where his peers are still in school. It is even more impressive to see him presenting those ideas with such profound insight. This work demonstrates that his Spirit as not in an early stage or that he is unknowingly being assisted by other Spirits.

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[1] Large brochure, in-8. Price: 2 francs; by mail 2.10 francs; Bachelier Edition, Quai des Grands-Augustins 55, at the Observatoire.

There is an open subscription at the office of the Spiritist Review, Passage Saint-Anne 59, supporting the workers of Rouen whose sufferings could not go unnoticed by anybody. Several groups and Spiritist Societies have already sent us their proceeds. We urge the others who intend to help to hurry up since the winter is approaching fast! The list will be published (see Mr. Sanson’s communication above).

Allan Kardec^[1]