The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1859

Your Majesty has given me the honor of enquiring about several ques- tions regarding Spiritism. I will try to respond to them with the state of the art knowledge on the subject, summarizing in a few words what we have learned through study and observation. The referred issues are based on the principles of the Science. In order to give more clarity to the solution it is necessary to have those principles in mind. Thus, allow me to consider the subject from a little more elevated stand point, establishing certain fundamental preliminary propositions that will serve, as a matter of fact, as answers to some of those questions.

Outside the visible and corporeal world there are invisible beings that constitute the world of the spirits. The spirits are not disconnected beings but the souls of those who lived on Earth or in other worlds and have detached from their material envelope.

The spirits show all levels of intellectual as well as moral development. Hence, there are good and bad, liars and frivolous, scoundrels and hypo- critical spirits that try to deceive people, encouraging them to wrongdo- ings, as there are those spirits who are well superior in everything, who don’t do anything else but the good deeds. Such distinction constitutes a capital point.

The spirits surround us incessantly. They guide our thoughts and ac- tions irrespectively, thus influencing over the events and destinies of hu- manity. They sometimes reveal their presence through material effects.

Those effects have nothing to do with the supernatural; they only seem supernatural to us because they are founded on bases that are outside of our known laws of matter. Once those bases are known, the effects become part of the category of the natural phenomena. That is how the spirits can act upon the inert bodies and move them without the support of our external agents. Denying the existence of unknown agents just because we don’t understand them is the same as restraining God’s power, and believing that nature has already given us the last word.

Every effect has a cause, and nobody denies that. It is then illogical to deny the cause just because it is unknown.

Since every effect has a cause then every intelligent effect must have an intelligent cause. When we observe the parts of the telegraph produc- ing signs which correspond to a human thought we don’t conclude that those components are intelligent but that they are moved by intelligence. The same happens with the spiritist phenomena. If the intelligence which produces them is not ours then it is evidently from a foreign intelligence.

In the phenomena of natural Sciences, human beings act upon the inert matter, handling it at will. In the spiritist phenomena we act upon intelli- gences that have free will and are not submitted to our wishes. Thus, there is in principle a radical difference between the common phenomena and the spiritist phenomena. That is why ordinary Science is incompetent to judge the latter.

The incarnate spirit has two envelopes: one that is material, the body; another semi-material and indestructible, the perispirit. When discarnate, the spirit leaves the former and retains the latter that form a kind of sec- ond body that, essentially, has different properties. It is invisible to us in its normal state, but it can become visible and even tangible. Such is the cause of the phenomena of apparitions.

Hence the spirits are not abstracts, undefined beings, but real and limited, with their own existences, beings that think and act as a conse- quence of their free-will. They are everywhere around us; they populate space and move with the speed of thought.

Human beings can establish a relationship with the spirits and receive direct communications in writing, by the spoken word or other means. Since they are around us or can attend our call, it is possible to establish frequent communications with them through certain means, as a blind person can do with other persons that she cannot see.

Certain persons are more endowed than others of a special aptitude to transmit communications from the spirits. These are the mediums. The role of the medium is that of an interpreter; an instrument that serves the spirit; such an instrument can be more or less perfect, thus the communi- cations can be easier or more difficult.

The spiritist phenomena are of two orders: the physical and material communications and the intelligent communications. Inferior spirits pro- duces the physical effects; the elevated spirits don’t get involved with such things in the same way that our wise individuals are not occupied with the hard labor; their role is to educate through reason.

The communications may come from inferior as much as superior spirits. Like human beings, the spirits can be recognized by their lan- guage: the language of the superior spirits it is always serious, dignified, noble and plentiful of benevolence; every trivial or inconvenient expres- sion, every thought that shocks reason and common sense, which denotes pride, acrimony and malevolence necessarily comes from an inferior spirit.

The elevated spirits only teach good things. Their moral is that of the Gospels. They only preach union and charity and are never mistaken. The inferior spirits tell absurd, lies and sometimes even make rude remarks.

The good quality of a medium is shown not only by the easiness of the communications but above all by the nature of the received communi- cations. A good medium is the one who sympathizes with the good spirits and only receives good communications.

All of us have a familiar spirit that is devoted to us from birth, who guides, advises and protects us. That is always a good spirit. Besides the familiar spirit there are others attracted to us thanks to their sympathy towards our qualities and defects or as a consequence of past Earthly affections. Hence, in all gatherings there is always a number of spirits, more or less good, according to the nature of the environment.

CAN THE SPIRITS REVEAL THE FUTURE?

The spirits can only know the future in proportion to their elevation. The inferior spirits do not know their own future, let alone other people’s future. The superior spirits do know the future but they are not always allowed to reveal it. In principle, and by a wise design of the Providence, the future must be hidden from us. If we had the ability of knowing it, our free will would be compromised! Certainty of success would sub- tract from us the desire of doing anything, since we would no longer see the need for doing it; the certainty of a disgrace would discourage us. Nevertheless, there are cases in which knowledge of the future may be useful; we can never, however, be the judges of such cases. The spirits re- veal it to us whenever they find it convenient and have been granted God’s permission. Then, it is spontaneously done and never triggered by our request. We must wait for the opportunity with confidence and, above all, do not insist whenever it is denied, since we might otherwise risk to be dealing with frivolous spirits who make fun of us.

CAN THE SPIRITS GUIDE US GIVING DIRECT ADVICE REGARDING THINGS OF OUR LIVES?

Yes, they can and gladly do so. Such advices reach us every day through the thoughts that they suggest to us. We frequently do things whose merit we attribute to ourselves when in fact they are nothing more than inspira- tions transmitted to us. Now, as we are surrounded by spirits that influ- ence us, some in one direction, some in another, we always have our own free-will to guide us with respect to the choices we make, being a real joy when we give preference to our good genie.

Besides the transcendental advices, we can obtain other direct ad- vices through the mediums. However, the fundamental principles that we have just mentioned must be pointed out here. The first thing to consider is the quality of the medium, when the medium is a third party. A medium that only receives good communications, and due to his personal qualities only sync with the good spirits, is a precious server, from whom one can expect great things, as long as seconded by the purity of one’s own instructions, conveniently connecting us to them. I will say more: it is an instrument of Providence.

The second, not less important point, consists of the nature of the spirits with whom we communicate. We should not believe that the first spirit that shows up can guide us adequately. It would be a grave mis- take to see spiritist communications as a means of prediction and the medium as a reader of good luck. It is necessary to consider that we have friends in the spiritual world who are seriously interested in us, more sin- cere and devoted than those considered so here on Earth, who don’t have any interest in flattering or deceiving us. These are, besides our guardian spirit, relatives or persons who were dear to us or even spirits who wish us well, just out of sympathy. These spirits eagerly come when evoked, or even without being called. We often have them inadvertently by our side. These are the ones to whom we should directly ask for advice through the mediums, who give it to us even spontaneously. They do that particularly in the closeness, in silence and when they are not perturbed by any alien influence. They are, as a matter of fact, very prudent and we should not be afraid of any indiscretion on their side: they silence when there are too many ears around! They do more so when in frequent communication with us. Since they say only proper and timely things, we should expect their good will and never imagine that they would hastily satisfy our de- mands. By doing so they demonstrate that they are not under our control.

The nature of the answers depends a lot on the way the questions are framed. It is necessary to learn how to talk to the spirits, as we learn to talk to human beings. Experience is necessary with everything. On another hand, the habit leads the spirits to get acquainted with us and with the medium; the fluids combine and the communications become easier; the conversations then become really familiar between them and us. Something they don’t say today they will say tomorrow; they get used to our way of living as we get to theirs; we become more reciprocally comfortable. Regarding the interference of bad and deceiving spirits – which constitutes the big obstacle – experience teaches us to combat them and we can always avoid them. If we don’t provide shelter to those spirits they don’t come since they know it will be a waste of time.

WHY PROMOTE THE UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITIST IDEAS?

Since Spiritism is the tangible and evident proof of the existence, indi- viduality, and immortality of the soul, it is the destruction of materialism, the denial of every religion and the ulcer of every society. The number of materialists that Spiritism has led to healthier ideas is considerable and it does increase every day. That alone represents a social benefit. Spiritism not only proves the existence and immortality of the soul but it also shows their happy or unfortunate state, according to the merits of this current life. The future penalties and rewards are no longer a theory but become a patent fact before our eyes. Now, considering that there is no possible religion without the belief in God, in the immortality of the soul and in the future penalties and rewards, Spiritism revives in people those beliefs, whenever those beliefs have faded away. It results that Spiritism is the most powerful support to the religious ideas. It provides religion to those who don’t have it; reinforces it in those who hesitate; consoles by the certainty of the future; leads people to withstand the tribulations of this life with patience and resignation, deviating minds from suicide, an idea that we naturally repel by observing its consequences. That is why those who have penetrated into the mysteries of Spiritism feel happy. To those, Spiritism is a light which dissipates the shadows and anguishes of uncertainty.

If we then consider the moral teachings of the superior spirits we will see that it is totally the moral of the Gospels, for it is enough to say that it preaches the Christian charity in all its sublimity; it does more because it shows its necessity, as much to the present as to the future life, since the consequences of our good as well as bad deeds are there, before our eyes. Spiritism neutralizes the effect of doctrines subversive to the social order, thus redirecting people towards the feelings of reciprocal duties.

COULDN’T SUCH BELIEFS REPRESENT A DANGER TO REASON?

Haven’t all Sciences supplied their masses to the asylums of the alienated? Should they all be condemned for that? Aren’t the religious beliefs also greatly represented among them? Would it be fair to proscribe religion for that? Do we know the number of lunatics produced by the fear of devil? All great intellectual concerns lead to exaltation and may produce harm- ful reactions in a feeble mind. We would be right by assessing Spiritism as having a special danger if it were the only or even the major cause of madness. A huge noise is produced by two or three cases that, under other circumstances, would go unnoticed.

Furthermore, the prior predisposing causes are not taken into ac- count. I could mention other cases in which the spiritist ideas halted the development of madness. In short, and with that in mind, Spiritism does not offer more danger than the other thousand and one causes. I will say more: Spiritism offers them in a much smaller number since it has the cor- recting element in itself and by the guidance it provides, by the calmness it brings to the spirits of those who understand it, it can neutralize the effect of strange causes. One of these causes is despair. Spiritism, by lead- ing us to face the most unpleasant things with cold blood and resignation, gives us the strength to withstand them with courage and acquiescence, thus attenuating the dismal effects of despair.

AREN’T THE SPIRITIST IDEAS A CONSECRATION OF THE SUPERSTITIOUS IDEAS OF THE ANTIQUITY AND THE MIDDLE AGES, AND AREN’T THESE IDEAS GOING TO ENDORSE THOSE? Don’t people without religion call superstition in the great majority of the religious beliefs? An idea is only superstitious if it is false; it is no longer when it becomes true. It is demonstrated that behind all superstitions there is an amplified truth or a truth modified by imagination. Well, re- moving from those ideas their fantastic content, leaving them with reality only, it destroys superstition. Such is the effect of the Spiritist Science by unveiling what is true and false in the popular beliefs.

For a long time the apparitions were considered as a superstitious belief. Now that they are a demonstrated fact and, even more, perfectly explained, they move into the domain of the natural phenomena. There is no point in condemning them because we will not preclude them from happening. However, those who understand them not only are no lon- ger afraid but also become satisfied. And it is so much true that those who don’t share these ideas wish to do so. By just leaving the field open to imagination, the unknown phenomena constitute a source of many accessory and absurd ideas which degenerate into superstition. Once the reality is shown and the causes are explained, the imagination stops at the border of the possible; the marvelous, the absurd and impossible disappear, and with them superstition. Such are the cabalistic practices; the virtue of the signs and magic words; the sacramental formulas; the amulets, the disastrous days; the diabolic hours and so many other things whose ridicule Spiritism understands and demonstrates well.

Those are, Prince, the answers which seemed appropriate to me to the questions that Your Majesty has honored me with. I will feel happy if they corroborate the ones that Your Majesty already has about this issue and persuade Your Majesty to the deeper study of the subject, of so elevated interest. It makes me even happier still if my further help can be of any utility.

With my deepest respect, I am the much humble and obedient server of Your Majesty,

ALLAN KARDEC

Since the publication of our article about Mr. Adrien, the clairvoyant medium, a large number of facts have been communicated to us confirming our opinion that this faculty, as well as other mediumistic facul- ties, is more common than previously thought. We had already observed it in a large number of private cases and, notably, in the somnambulistic state. The phenomenon of the apparition is now a demonstrated fact and occurs frequently. In addition, there are numerous examples offered by throughout history and within Sacred Scriptures.

Many of the reported facts are of a personal nature, happening to those that reported them to us. These are, however, almost always seren- dipitous and accidental. We had not yet seen someone who would have such a faculty in a normal state. With Mr. Adrien that faculty is perma- nent. Wherever he is, the occult population that surrounds us is visible to him, without any evocation. He plays with us the role of the person that can see in the middle of a population of blind people; he sees the beings that we could call the doublets of the human kind, mingled with us and with our actions, while attending their own businesses, if we can say so.

The incredulous will say that it is all hallucination, a misguided word that one uses to explain what one cannot understand. We wish we had the explanation about what hallucination is and, most importantly, what is its cause.

Nevertheless, it has an absolutely remarkable character in Mr. Adrien: the permanence. Up until now what has been conventionally called hallu- cination is an abnormal fact and almost always the result of a pathological state. But that is not the case.

And we who have been studying and observing the phenomenon in its minimum details, we can even attest to its reality. It is not an object of doubt to us, and as we will see, it has provided an outstanding support to our spiritist studies. It has allowed us to introduce the scalpel of the inves- tigation into the extra corporeal life. It is a torch in the darkness.

Mr. Home, endowed by a notable faculty of physical effects, produced surprising results. Mr. Adrien initiates us into the causes of such effects, because he sees them as they are produced and he goes much beyond those things that affect our senses.

The reality of Mr. Adrien’s clairvoyance is demonstrated by the de- scription that he makes of persons that he has never seen before and whose description is acknowledged as exact. For sure, when he describes with rigorous minutia the minimum details of a relative or a friend that we evoke through him, we are positive that he sees, since it could not be something created by his imagination, although there are people whose prevention leads them to deny their own evidence. What is even more awkward is that in order to refute what they don’t want to admit, they explain those facts with causes even more difficulty to understand than the ones we offer.

The descriptions provided by Mr. Adrien, however, are not always in- fallible. With that, as with any other Science, when an anomaly is present- ed, it is necessary to search for the cause since the cause of an exception frequently does confirm the general rule. In order to understand this fact we must not lose sight of what we have already said about the apparent form of the spirits. Such a form depends on the perispirit whose nature, essentially flexible, is subjected to all changes that the spirit may wish to implement. Leaving the material envelope the spirit carries along its ethe- real envelope which constitutes another kind of body. In it’s a normal state that body bears a human shape but not exactly mirrored, trace by trace, particularly from someone deceased for some time already. In the initial moments following death, when there still is a bond between the two existences, the similarity is greater. Such similarity, however, fades away while the separation takes place and the spirit becomes stranger to its last corporeal envelope. However, the spirit can always recover that initial ap- pearance both in its looks as well as with respect to its outfit, whenever the spirit considers useful to be recognized. In general, however, this requires a great effort and will power. Thus, it is not surprising that in certain cases there isn’t similarity in every detail: the main features are sufficient.

Also to the medium such investigation is not carried out effortlessly, becoming painful if repeated several times. The common visions aren’t a cause of any fatigue to the medium because he is not involved except with the general aspects. It is the same that happens when we observe a crowd: we see everything; all individuals stick out to our eyes, with their distinc- tive traces, but without those traces impressing our senses to the point of describing everybody. In order to precisely describe them we would need to concentrate, paying attention to the smallest details that we want to analyze, only with the difference that under ordinary circumstances we concentrate our eyes onto a material and invariable form, whereas in the case of the vision the eyes rest on an essentially fluid-like form, which can change by the simplest action of the will.

Then, we must learn to consider things as they are; let us consider them in themselves and as a function of their properties. Let us not forget that with Spiritism we do not handle the inert matter but with intel- ligences that have their free will and, consequently, we cannot submit to our caprices nor force them to act according to our own will, as if we were displacing a pendulum. We will deviate whenever we want to take our exact Sciences as a starting point to the spiritist observations. That is why the common Science is incompetent with such a subject; it is exactly like the musician who wanted to judge Architecture from a musical point of view.

Spiritism reveals to us a new order of ideas, of new forces, new ele- ments, of phenomena which are not absolutely based on what we know. In order to judge them it is necessary to understand that we need to lib- erate ourselves from all prejudices and preconceived ideas. Above all, we need to enroot this truth: outside those things that we know there may be something else, if we don’t want to be ridiculed by the absurd idea, which is the child of our pride, of believing that God keeps no more secrets from us.

From the above, it is understandable that delicate influences may act upon the production of the spiritist phenomena. There are others, how- ever, which deserve a not less serious attention.

As we said, once the spirit is undressed from its material body, it keeps all its will and freedom of thought that is even greater than when alive; the spirit has susceptibilities that we would hardly understand; something that frequently seems simple and natural to us may hurt and displeases the spirit; an inadequate question may shock and hurt them; they show us their independence by not doing what we want them to do, whereas sometimes they do things that we would not even remember having asked. That is why the requests for proofs and out of curios- ity that they rarely respond satisfactorily are essentially antipathetic to them. The serious spirits do not respond to that and under no circum- stance they would serve as motive of entertainment.

It is then comprehensible that the intention may strongly influence over the spirits mood to present themselves under this or that appearance, to the eyes of the clairvoyant medium; and finally, as they do not have a given appearance unless it is convenient to them, they only do that when there is a serious and useful reason.

There is another reason that somehow is connected to what we could call Spiritist Physiology. The vision of the spirit by the medium occurs through a kind of fluid-like radiation that comes from the spirit towards the medium; the latter one absorbs, so to speak, and assimilates the rays.

If the medium is alone or surrounded by sympathetic persons, united by intention and thoughts, those rays concentrate on him; then the vi- sion is clear and precise and in such a way that the appearances show a remarkable accuracy. If, on the contrary, the medium is surrounded by antipathetic influences and divergent and hostile thoughts; if there is no worshiping, the fluid-like radiation disperses and is absorbed by the environment; hence there is a kind of cloud, projected over the spirit, not allowing a distinction of details. The same would happen to a light beam with or without a reflector.

Another less material comparison can help us to understand the phe- nomenon. We all know that the enthusiasm of a speaker is stimulated by the sympathy and attention received from the audience and if the speaker is otherwise distracted by the rumors, by a lack of attention and ill man- ners, its thoughts will no longer be free: they disperse and the resources scarce out. A spirit that is influenced by an absorbent environment finds itself in the same condition: instead of having the radiations focused onto one point they spread out, losing strength.

We must add one consideration to the preceding ones, one whose importance will be easily understood by everyone who knows the progress of the spiritist phenomena. It is a known fact that there are several causes which may preclude a given spirit from attending our appeal at the time of the evocation: the spirit may be reincarnate or busy somewhere else.

Well, the medium must distinguish, among the spirits that show up almost always simultaneously, the one who is wanted; in case the spirit is not there, the medium may confuse with another spirit, equally sympathetic to the person who is evoking. The medium then describes the spirit, not being able to ensure that it is the evoked spirit or another one. However, if the spirit who showed up is serious the identity will be revealed. Once questioned about this the spirit may explain the cause of error and tell us who in fact is speaking.

A less obvious evocation can also be harmful for a different reason. Each one of us has companions, spirits that sympathize with our defects and our qualities. Such spirits are good or bad according to the individuals.

The larger the number of people gathered the larger the variety of spirits and the higher the possibilities of finding antipathies. Then, if there are hostile persons in the meeting, be it through malicious thoughts or by frivolous character, or even from systematic incredulity, these will attract non-benevolent spirits who occasionally hinder manifestations of every kind, both written and visual. Hence the need to position ourselves in the most favorable conditions if we want serious manifestations: the results justify the means. The spiritist manifestations are not something with which we can amuse ourselves and go unpunished. If you want serious things, be serious then, in the strictest meaning of the word, otherwise you will be toys in the hands of frivolous spirits who will make fun of you.

In our last edition we mentioned something about this strange mani- festation. The information had been verbally passed on to us by one of our subscribers, a friend of the family with whom the event took place,

describing it in a very quick summary. He had promised a more detailed description thus we owe him for his cooperation in making available the letters containing the detailed facts.

The family resides near Bayonne and the letters were written by the mother of the girl who was then ten years old, letters which she sent to her son who was living in Bordeaux, making him aware of the things that were happening back home. Her son was the one who transcribed the let- ters to us; hence their authenticity cannot be contested. We are infinitely grateful to him for his kindness.

The reservation with which we protect the names of the persons in- volved is understandable as this rule is always observed by us, unless we have a formal authorization otherwise. Not everybody likes to attract the curiosity of the crowds. To whom such reservation may indicate a reason for suspicion we say that it is necessary to establish a difference between an eminently serious journal and those that only aim at amusing the public.

Our objective is not to tell stories which will fill out whole pages but to illuminate Science. Had we been deceived we would have been so in good faith. When something is not formally demonstrated before our eyes we only register it. That is not the case when dealing with respectable people, whose honorability we attest, people who are far from trying to lead us to err, and who are also seeking enlightenment. The lady’s son sent the first letter to our subscriber.

“Saint-Esprit, November 20th, 1858 Dear friend,

The reason for the delay in responding to you was the death of my brother that God thought appropriate to take from us and my mother’s return home. I have since been away from my house for some time. I would be really sad if Mr. Allan Kardec consid- ered you just a story teller. This is why I want to forward you the detailed facts that occurred with my family. I believe I have already told you that the apparitions have stopped sometime ago and have no longer manifested to my sister. There you have the letters which my mom wrote to me about those events. Notice that many facts were omitted, although not less interesting. I will write again to complete the story in case you cannot do it by re- calling what I have told you in person.”


“April 23rd, 1855

One afternoon, about three months ago, your sister X felt like going out to do some shopping. As you know the hallway in the house is long and dark; our old habit of walking through that badly illuminated hall somehow makes us do it without stum- bling on the steps of the stair. X had already let us know that every time she left the house she would hear a voice telling her things that she did not understand in the beginning, but which became intelligible later. Sometime later she saw a shadow and heard an insistent voice on her way. The words said by that invisible being tended to calm her down and give her wise advices. The essence of those words was a sound moral. X used to get really perturbed and, as she told us, sometimes felt incapable of proceeding.

“Child”, the invisible being would tell her every time she felt perturbed, “fear nothing since all I want is your well-being”. The voice pointed her towards a path where she found some coins for a period of several days; she found nothing on other occasions. X accepted the recommendations given to her and for a long time she would find either money or toys which you will see yourself. Those gifts were certainly given to her in order to encourage her. You were not forgotten in the conversations. On several occasions he spoke about you and gave us news about you through your sister. He often let us know what you were doing at night. He saw you reading in your room; on other occasions he told us that your friends were over at the house; thus, he always calmed us down when you were too lazy to write to us.

For some time now X has an almost continuous contact with the spirit. She sees nothing during the day. She always hears the same voice that tells her sensible things, always stimulating her to the work and to the love of God. At night she sees a pinkish light which does not illuminate the room, at the place from where she hears the voice. In her opinion that light could be compared to the twinkle of a dia- mond, in the shade. Now, she is no longer afraid. If I am doubtful, she then says: - “Mom, it is an angel that speaks to me; and if you are courageous enough, he says, he will make you get up tonight and you should respond to him if he talks to you. You should go to the place he will indicate; you will see someone before you but don’t be afraid.” I did not want to try my courage. I was afraid and the impression all that had on me made me stay up all night. Several times at night I had the impression of hearing a breath near the headrest of my bed. The chairs were displaced when nobody touched them. My fear completely disappeared sometime later, and I am very sorry for not having submitted myself to the proposed test in order to have direct connections with the invisible, and also to avoid having to continu- ously fight disbelief. I then advised X to question the invisible with respect to his nature. Here is the dialogue between the two:

X – Who are you?
Inv. – I am your brother, Eliseu.

X – My brother died twelve years ago.
Inv. – It is true. Your brother died twelve years ago but there was something in him, as there is in all beings, a soul which doesn’t die and that right now is in your pres- ence, loves you and protects everybody.

X – I wish I could see you.
Inv. – I am right here across from you.

X – However, I see nothing.
Inv. – I will take a visible form for you. After the religious services you will go to the lower side of the temple; then you will see me and I will embrace you.

X – Mom would also like to see you.
Inv. – Your mother is my mother. She knows me. I would prefer to manifest to her instead of you. That was my duty but I cannot show up to many people, since God would not allow. I am sorry that mom did not have the courage. I promise to give you proofs of my existence and then all doubts will disappear.

In the afternoon, at the scheduled time, X showed up at the door of the temple. A young man came to her and said: “I am your brother. You said you wanted to see me. Are you happy now? Give me a hug since I cannot keep this form, which I have taken, for a long time.”

As you appreciate, the presence of that being should have scared X to point of blocking her from making any observation. As soon as he hugged her he disappeared in the air.


Next day, in the morning, taking advantage of the time when X was supposed to leave, the invisible being manifested again and told her:

“You should have been very surprised with my disappearing. Now then, I want to teach you to float in the air so that you can follow me.”

Anybody but X would have been afraid of such a proposal. She, how- ever, promptly accepted it and soon felt flying, like a robin. Shortly after she felt like she had arrived at a place where there was a considerable crowd. She told us that she saw gold, diamonds and everything that ex- cites our imagination on Earth. Nobody gave more importance to those things than we give to the stones of the pavements where we walk. She recognized several children of her age who lived in our street, and died long ago. Coming to an empty and richly decorated apartment she was greatly impressed by the vision of a large table where there were some scat- tered sheets of paper. Near each sheet there was an inkpot. She saw pens tracing characters on the paper, without the support of any hand. When she came back I reprimanded her for being absent without permission and prohibited her from going back to such expeditions. The spirit apologized to her for having caused her trouble, promising that from then on he would no longer invite her without letting me know.

April 26th, 1855

The spirit transformed itself before X’s eyes. It took your form so well that your sister thought you were in the living room. To be assured, she asked him to take its primitive form and after you disappeared it took my form. Well, as soon as you disappeared you were replaced by me. She was really impressed: she then asked how I could be there if the door to the room was locked. Then another transformation occurred. It took the form of your dead brother and told X: “Your mother and all members of the family can’t see all the facts that are realized by my intervention without fear and some concern. I don’t wish to scare; however, I want to prove my existence and spare you from the incredulity of everybody else, for it would be stubbornness on their part not to surrender to the evidence. Ms. C. is a shopkeeper; you know that you need to buy buttons; we will go shopping together. I will transform myself into your little brother (who was then nine years old) and when you return to the house you will ask mom to question Ms. C. about who was with you when you bought the buttons.”

X observed the instructions. I queried Ms. C. who responded that your sister was accompanied by your brother who she actu- ally praised, saying that at his age nobody could imagine that he would give so easy answers and show so little shyness.

You should know that the little one was in school and would only return home at seven o’clock. Besides, he is very shy and does not show the easiness attributed to him. A really curious fact, don’t you think? I believe that God’s hand is not foreign to these inexplicable things.

May 7th, 1855

I am no more credulous than one should be and I do not allow myself to be dominated by superstitious ideas; however, I can- not refuse to believe in facts that happen before my eyes. Highly evident “proofs” were necessary so that I could stop punishing your sister, always afraid that she could be trying to deceive us, abusing our trust.

Yesterday, around 5 pm, the spirit told X: “It is likely that mom will send you somewhere to take a message. On your way you will be pleasantly surprised by the arrival of your uncle’s fam- ily.” X then immediately transmitted to me what the invisible had told her. I was far from expecting such a visit and was even more surprised for having learned about it in such a manner. Your sister left and the first persons she met outside were my brother, his wife and children who were coming to see us. X was quick to acknowledge that I had just had another proof of the truthfulness of her stories.

May 10th, 1855

Today I can no longer doubt that something extraordinary happens in the house. I fearlessly see all these facts taking place without being able to extract any teaching from them, since these mysteries are inexplicable to me.

Yesterday, after having cleaned the whole house, and you know that I pay special attention to this, the spirit told X that, despite the proofs it had given about its intervention in all curi- ous facts that I have told you, I was still doubtful and it wanted to eliminate that for good. A minute only had passed and was enough for me to find every room of the house in a complete mess, all done without a single noise. A red substance which I thought to be blood was spilled on the floor. Had it been only a few drops I might have thought that X had a bruise or a bleeding nose; but know this that the floor was inundated. This strange proof made us work hard to recover the primitive shine of the floor.

X also knows the content of letters, before they are open. It is the spirit that tells her.

May 16th, 1855

X did not accept an observation made by her sister, I don’t know about what. She gave her an inconvenient response, then receiving the deserved reproach. I punished her so that she went to bed without dinner. She has the habit of praying to God before falling asleep. That night she forgot it. A few moments in bed and the spirit appeared to her. He showed her a candleholder and a book of prayers, similar to the one she normally used, and told her that despite the deserved punishment she should not forget her duties. She then got up, did what she was commanded to do and it all vanished when her prayer was over.

The following morning, after having given me a hug, X asked me if the candleholder which was over the table upstairs had been removed. Well, that candleholder, like the one presented to her the night before, and the book of prayers had not been moved.

June 4th, 1855

For some time now, there has been no significant event, apart from the following one: I had a cold for a few days; yesterday your sister was busy so I had nobody to send for some balm. I told X that when she had finished her chores she should go to the nearest pharmacy to buy me something. She forgot my request and I did not remember that either. I am positive about the fact that she did not leave the house or did not stop what she was doing but only to fetch a bowl of soup that we needed.

What a surprise when we removed the lid of the bowl to find barley candies that the spirit had brought in, avoiding her going out and also satisfying my wishes, which I had forgotten.”


We evoked that spirit in one of the sessions of the Society, asking it questions below. Mr. Adrien saw the spirit with the appearance of a ten to twelve year old boy, black and wavy hair, black and lively eyes, pale, ironic lips, frivolous but benevolent character. The spirit said that it ignored the reason why it was evoked. Our corresponding member was present in that session, telling us that the description made corresponded perfectly to the description that the girl had given him on multiple occasions.

1. We heard about the story of your manifestation in a family of Bayonne and would like to ask you a few questions about that.
- Ask and I will answer. But do it fast because I am in a hurry.

2. Where did you get the money that you gave your sister?
- I took it from other people’s pockets. You understand that I would not amuse myself by producing money. I take it from those who can give it.

3. Why have you bonded to that girl? - Due to a great sympathy.

4. Is it true that you were her brother, who died at the age of four? - Yes.

5. How come you are visible to her and not to your mother?
- My mom must be precluded from seeing me but my sister does not need punishment. As a matter of fact it was through a special concession that I appeared to her.

6. Can you explain how you become visible or invisible at will?

- I am not sufficiently elevated and I am too concerned with things that attract me to be able to answer such a question.

7. If you wanted to, could you appear before us as you did with the shopkeeper?

- No.

8. In that state, would you feel pain had you been spanked?

- No.

9. What would have happened if the shopkeeper had spanked you?

- She would have hit air.

10. Which name should we use when talking about you?

- You can call me Elf, if you wish. But let me go, I have to leave. 11. (To St. Louis) Would it be useful to have a spirit like that at our service?
- You frequently have it, assisting you without your knowledge.



CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE ELF OF BAYONNE

If we compare these facts to those of Bergzabern, which our readers still remember, we will see a capital difference. The spirit from Bergzabern was more than a rapping spirit – and still is at this point in time – it was a disturbing spirit, literally. It is a very unpleasant and inconvenient guest, although harmless. We will return to this subject in the next issue, when considering new and more recent events.

The spirit from Bayonne is, on the contrary, eminently benevo- lent and helpful; it is like those good servant spirits whose actions are transmitted to us by the German legends, a new proof that there could be a sign of truth in the legendary stories. As a matter of fact, it is clear that imagination would need little effort to transform these facts into a legend, and that they could be taken by a medieval story, hadn’t they taken place, say, right before our eyes. One of the most remarkable traits of the so called Elf of Bayonne is its transformation. What can be said now about Proteus’ fable? Between the spirit of Bayonne and the one of Bergzabern there is still the difference that the latter only appeared in dreams whereas the former became visible and tangible, like a real person, not only to its sister but also to strangers; the pur- chasing of buttons from the shopkeeper confirms that. Why it would not appear to everybody and at any time? It seems that it does not have such a power and also that it could not hold the appearance for long. There would be perhaps the need for a long and intimate work, from a higher power, above its strength. New details, which were promised about these strange phenomena, will allow us to return to the subject in due course.

1. Evocation
- I am here.

Mr. Adrien, a clairvoyant medium who had never seen the spirit during its life, gave the following description, considered very accurate by those who were present and who knew it: Long face, willow cheeks; wrinkled and shaggy forehead; slightly aquiline and long nose; gray protruded eyes; median, mocking mouth; a little pale complexion, gray hair and long beard; bigger rather than small build. Frayed and worn out blue cloth jacket; old and rotten black pants; a colorless handkerchief replacing a tie.


2. Do you remember your latest Earthly life?
- Perfectly.


3. What was the reason that led you to live such an eccentric life?
- I was tired of life and felt sorry for people and their motivations.


4. Some say that it was vengeance and that you wanted to humiliate a relative in a better position. Is that true?

- Not only that. By humiliating that man I humiliated many others.

5. If it was vengeance then it cost you dearly since it prevented you from enjoying all pleasures of social life for many years in order to satisfy that desire. Don’t you find it a bit too harsh?
- I enjoyed things differently.


6. Was there a philosophical thought besides that? Would it be the reason why they compared you to Diogenes?
- There was a relationship with the less healthy part of that man’s philosophy.

7. What do you think about Diogenes?

- Not much: in a lesser degree it is the same that I think about myself. Diogenes had the advantage that he did what I did but among people who were less civilized than my contemporaries.


8. Nevertheless there is a difference between you and Diogenes: his behavior was a consequence of his philosophical system whilst yours was led by vengeance.
- Vengeance led me to the philosophy.


9. Did you suffer by being so isolated, for being the object of neglect and disdain and for the fact that your education separated you both from the hobos and from the educated people?
- I knew that we have no friends on Earth. Ah! How much I experienced that!


10. What do you currently do and how do you spend your time?

- I visit better worlds and enlighten myself... There are many good souls there who reveal the celestial Science of the spirits to us!

11. Do you sometimes come to the Palais-Royal, after your death?

- Why would I bother with the Palais-Royal?

12. Among the persons attending this meeting, do you recognize some that you may have met during your pilgrimage to the Palais-Royal?
- How could I not recognize them?


13. Does it please you to seem them?
- It gives me pleasure, a great pleasure really. They were good to me.

14. Do you see your friend Charles Nodier?
- Yes, particularly after his death.

15. He is errant or incarnate?
- Errant, like me.

16. Why have you chosen the Palais-Royal, then the mostly visited place in Paris, for your promenades? Wouldn’t that be contrary to your tastes for misanthropy?
- I saw everybody there, every afternoon.

17. Wouldn’t that be a sentiment of pride?
- Yes, unfortunately. Pride had an important participation in my life.

18. Are you happier now?
- Oh! Yes!

19. However, your life style must not have contributed to your betterment.
- That terrain life? Much more than you imagine! Wouldn’t I experience somber moments when returning home, alone and isolated? I then had the opportunity to ruminate many thoughts.

20. If you had the opportunity to choose another existence, what would that be?
- It would not be on your Earth. Today I can expect something better.

21. Do you remember your existence before the last one? - Yes, and others also.

22. Where have you lived those existences?
- On Earth and in other worlds.

23. And the one before the last?
- On Earth.

24. Can you tell us about it?
- No. It was an obscure and occult life.

25. Without revealing that existence, can you tell us the relationship it holds to the one that we know, since one should be consequence of the other?
- Not exactly a consequence but a complement. I led an unhappy life due to vices and defects which were much modified before I came to live the life that you know.

26. Can we do anything useful or pleasant to you?

- Ah! Not much. I am now well above Earth.

Spontaneous communication obtained by Mr. L... a medium of the Society

There is a doctrine that should convert the most incredulous for its enchantment and kindness. This is related to the subject concern- ing guardian angels. Just think about the fact that you have near you beings who are your superiors, who are there to counsel you, to sustain you, to help you to escalate the difficult mountain of righteousness; who are more certain and dedicated friends than the most intimate relation- ships that you can establish on Earth; isn’t that a consoling idea? Those beings are there following God’s orders. It was God who placed them by your side. They are there out of love for God, thus accomplishing a beautiful and tough mission. Yes, they will be with you wherever you go. The dungeons, the hospitals, the places of mockery, the solitude, nothing separates you from those friends that you don’t see but whose kind impulse your soul feels, hearing their wise advices.

Had you known this reality better, how many times would that help you at moments of crisis! How many times would that save you from the hands of the bad spirits! However, on the great day this angel of goodness may tell you: “Haven’t I told you? And you did not do it. Haven’t I shown you the abyss? And you fell into that. Haven’t I made you hear the voice of truth in your conscience? Nevertheless, you followed the advices of lie.”

Ah! Interrogate your guardian angels; establish with them this fond inti- macy that reigns among the best of friends. Think not of hiding anything from them since theirs is God’s eyes and you cannot deceive them. Think of the future and endeavor to advance in this life. Thus your trials will be shorter and your existences happier. Go people, courage! Cast away your prejudices and hidden thoughts, once for all. Take the new path that opens up before you. March on; march on, since you have guides that you must follow. The target cannot frustrate you for the target is God Himself.

To those who think it is impossible for elevated spirits to attach them- selves to such a laborious and constant task, we say that we influence your souls even by being millions of miles away from you. To us, space is nothing and even living in another world, our spirits keep the bonds with yours. We enjoy faculties that you cannot understand but be assured that God has not imposed on us a burden beyond our strength and that God did not abandon you without friends and support on Earth. Each guard- ian angel has his own protégé who it watches like a father over the son. It is happy when sees the child following the good path and suffers when its advices are neglected.

Don’t be afraid of bothering us with your questions. On the contrary, be always in touch with us, since you will then be stronger and happier. What makes all people mediums are these communications between each person with their familiar spirit – mediums who are ignored today but who will manifest later, spreading like a boundless ocean to keep incredu- lity and ignorance away. Educated people, educate; talented people, teach your brothers and sisters. You don’t know the work that you accomplish by doing so. It is the works of Christ which God imposes on you. Why would God have given you intelligence and Science but to share with your brothers and sisters and make them advance in the path of the eternal venture and happiness?

St. Louis and St. Augustine

OBSERVATION: The doctrine of the guardian angels, watching over their protégés, despite the distance that separates the worlds, is not sur- prising. It is, on the contrary, grandiose and sublime. Don’t we see on Earth a parent watching over one’s child, even from a distance, help- ing with one’s advice and exchanging correspondence with them? What would then be strange in the fact that the spirits could guide those taken under their protection, from a world to the next, since for them the dis- tance which separates the worlds is less than the one which separates the continents on Earth?

The one thousand and second night of the Arabic tales dictated by the spirit of Frédéric Soulié

SECOND PART

OBSERVATION: The Roman numerals mark the interruptions in the dictation. Several times the work was only restarted after two or three weeks and, despite that, as we have already observed, the report de- velops as if written at once. And this is not one of the less curious features of the production from beyond the grave. We repeat to those who could see this as futile that we don’t publish it as a philosophical piece of work, but as material for study. Nothing is useless to the observer. He knows how to take advantage of everything in order to better understand the investigated Science.

III

Nothing, however, could disturb our happiness. Everything was calmness around us. We lived in perfect security when one night, thinking that we could not be safer, from our side (we were in a roundabout, so to speak, reached from several alleys) appeared the Sultan and his Grand Vizier. Both men bearing a frightening expression in their faces: rage had altered their expressions. Both were – particularly the Sultan – showing an obvi- ous exasperation. The first thought that crossed the Sultan’s mind was of killing me, but knowing the family I belonged to and fearing for his fate, he dared not touch one single hair from my head. He then pretended not to have noticed me, as I had moved to the side as he got closer. However, he continued like a furious man over Nazara, swearing that her deserved punishment would not be long. He took her away, always followed by the Grand-Vizier. As for myself, once the initial scaring moment was over, I swiftly returned to my palace, thinking of any means to take back the star of my life from the hands of that savage who would likely destroy her precious existence.

And then what did you do, asked Manouze. Because, after all, I don’t see any reason for you to be in so much pain, unable to remove your lover from this situation that you created. You give me the impression of being a weak man that has neither courage nor will power when dealing with difficult situations.

Manouze, before you criticize you must listen. I come to you af- ter having examined all means at my disposal. I made offers to the Sultan; I promised gold, jewelry, camels, even palaces, if he returned my smooth gazelle. He despised everything. Since I saw my offers repelled, I threatened him; those were despised as the others. He laughed at everything and made fun of me. I also tried to break into the palace; I corrupted slaves; I got to the rooms but despite all my efforts I could not reach my beloved one.

You are honest, Nureddin. Your sincerity deserves an award and you will have what you came for. As such, I will do something ter- rible to you. If you have the strength to withstand the trial that I will submit you to, you can rest assured that you will recover your old happiness. I give you five minutes to decide.

Once the five minutes was over, Nureddin told Manouze that he was ready to do everything she demanded in order to save Nazara. The witch then stood up and said: “That is fine. Come!” She then opened a door at the back of the room, showing him the way. They went through a somber patio, full of horrible things: serpents, frogs sternly strolling side by side with black cats, holding an air of superiority among other filthy animals. Come here, you who follow the devil. I must assign you with this very delicate task. Nureddin wants Nazara and I promised him that I would give her to him. It is a difficult business. Tanapla, I count on your support. Nureddin will endure all required trials. Move on, then. You know what I want; do it as you please but do it. Watch it if you fail. I reward the one that serves me but cursed be the one who does not grant my wishes!

Your wish will be attended, said Tanapla. Leave that to me.

Then go and do it!

As soon as she mentioned those words everything changed before Nureddin’s eyes. The objects went back to what they were doing before and he was alone again with Manouze.

Now, she said, go home and wait. I will send you one of my gnomes to tell you what to do. Obey him and everything will be fine.

Nureddin felt happy with those words and more so for leaving the witch’s den behind. He crossed the patio again and the room from where he came in; she then followed him to the entrance door. Then, as Nureddin asked if he should return, she responded:

No, it would be useless for now. If it is necessary I will let you know.

Nureddin quickly returned to his palace. He was impatient to find out if something new had happened since his departure. He found ev- erything unchanged. The only thing different showed up in the marble room, a summer resting room used by the inhabitants of Bagdad. There is where he saw, near the small pool in the middle of the room, a kind of disgustingly ugly dwarf. He was dressed in yellow, with red and blue embroidery; he had a monstrous hunchback, tiny legs, a wide face, and green crossed eyes, an ear-to-ear wide mouth and a red hair that rivaled the sun.

Nureddin questioned him about what he was doing there and how he had gotten there.

I am Manouze’s envoy, he said, to deliver your lover. My name is Tanapla.

If you are really Manouze’s envoy, I am ready to obey you. But hurry up. The one who I love is in chains and I am in a hurry to free her.

If you are in a hurry then take me to your room and I will tell you what to do.

Follow me then, said Nureddin.

VI

After having crossed patios and gardens Tanapla got to the young

Nureddin’s room. He closed all doors and said:

You know that you have to do everything that I tell you to, with- out objection. Go and dress up like a merchant. You will carry a package on your back with the objects that we need. I will dress up like a slave and will carry the other package.

Greatly surprised Nureddin saw two large packages by the dwarf’s side, although he had not seen nor heard anybody bringing them over.

Then, Tanapla said, we will go to the Sultan’s house. You will ask to have the Sultan be informed that you carry rare and curi- ous objects; that if he wanted he could offer them to his favorite and that no other huri had ever worn something like that before. You know the curiosity. He will feel like seeing us. Once he is in your presence you will have no difficulty in showing him your merchandise and you will sell everything that we will take to him: these are wonderful dresses which transform the person that wears them. As soon as the Sultan and the favorite wear them they will take our places and we will take theirs: you the Sultan’s and me Ozara’s, the new favorite. Once this metamorphosis is completed, we will be free to act at will; you will then free Nazara.

It all happened as predicted by Tanapla: the sale to the Sultan and the transformation. After a few minutes of horrible furor from the part of the Sultan, who wanted to expel the inopportune, making a terrible fuss, Nureddin called several slaves, following Tanapla’s orders; he ordered that the Sultan and Ozara should be arrested as rebel slaves; he then ordered that he should be taken to the presence of Nazara. He wanted to verify that she was prepared to confess her crimes and then die. He also wished Ozara, the favorite, to follow him, in order to witness the punishment that he had inflicted to the unfaithful woman. Next he marched for about fifteen minutes, followed by the chief of the eunuchs, through a somber corridor terminated by a solid and massive iron gate. The slave opened the three locks; they all got into a large room that was only four or five feet high. Nazara was sitting there, on a straw mat, with a vase of water and a few dates by her side. She was no longer the brilliant Nazara of former times: she was beautiful as always but pale and skinny. She had the shivers of fear when she saw the one that she took by her master, thinking that her time had come.

(Continue in the next issue)

From time to time we will offer select thoughts under the title above, which in a few words will summarize certain essential principles of Spiritism.

I. Those who believe to be capable of avoiding the action of the bad spirits by the abstention of the spiritist communications are like children who believe to be capable of avoiding danger by blind- folding themselves. It would be the same as affirming that it is preferable not to know how to read and write in order to not be exposed to the reading of bad books or to the
writing of stupid things.

II. The one that receives bad spiritist communications, verbal or written, is under a bad influence. Such an influence is exerted on the person irrespective if the person is writing or not. The written text offers a means of proclaiming the nature of the spirits that act upon them. If the person is fascinated enough to the point of not understanding the communications, others can open their eyes.

III. Does someone have to be a medium in order to write an absurd? Who can tell that among all the ridiculous or bad things that have been written already, there aren’t some which the unsuspected Spiritist aphorisms and select thoughts writer, led by some malevolent or jester spirit, represented the role of an obsessed medium through his writing?

IV. The good, but ignorant spirits, confess their insufficiency regarding something that they don’t know. The bad ones pretend to know everything.

V. The advanced spirits demonstrate their superiority by their words and by the constant sublimity of their thoughts, but they are not boastful. Be suspicious of those who emphatically say that they are at the highest level of perfection and among the elected ones. Swaggering is always a sign of mediocrity among the spirits, as it is among us.

WARNING

The sessions that were held on Tuesdays are now moved to Fridays, at the Society’s new headquarters, Rue Montpensier 12, Palais-Royal, at 8 pm. Newcomers will only be admitted on Mondays and Wednesdays, upon presenting personal letters of introduction.

Regarding all businesses related to the Society’s matters, refer to Mr. Allan Kardec, Rue des Martyrs 8, or Mr. Ledoyen, book seller at Galerie d’Orleans, 31, Palais-Royal.

ALLAN KARDEC

The mediumistic faculty is diverse. It presents infinite nuances in mechanisms and effects. Anyone who is capable of receiving or trans- mitting the communications of the spirits is thus a medium, whatever the employed means or the degree of development of the faculty, from the simple occult influence to the most remarkable phenomena. However, in the common use, the word has a more restrictive meaning and it is gener- ally applied to persons endowed by a very important mediumistic power, both to produce physical effects and to transmit the thoughts of the spir- its, through writing or the spoken word.

Although the faculty is not an exclusive privilege, it is certain that it finds refractory minds, at least regarding the meaning given to that faculty. It is also certain that it is not exempt of hurdles to those endowed by such faculty: it can be altered and even be lost, and frequently be a source of grave disillusions. About this point, we judge useful to call the attention of all those who deal with the spiritist communications, be it directly or through third parties. We say through third parties because it is important to those that are served by mediums to be able to appreciate the worth and trust that their communications deserve.

In order to notice this state of affairs and understand what we are go- ing to say, it is necessary to refer to the fundamental principle that there are all degrees of benevolence as well as wickedness, of knowledge and ignorance among the spirits; that they pullulate around us and when we think that we are alone, we are incessantly surrounded and nudged by beings, some with indifference, like strangers, others that observe us with more or less benevolent intentions, according to their nature.

The proverb “each sheep seeks its flock” has its application among the spirits as well as with us, and possibly even more with them, since they are not under the influence of social prejudices. If such precepts, however, sometimes confuses individuals of very diverse tastes and culture, such a confusion is only material and transient. The similarity or the divergence of thoughts will always be the cause of attractions or repulses.

Our soul, which in the end is nothing more than an incarnate spirit, is still a spirit. Although momentarily dressed by a material envelope its rela- tionships with the incorporeal world, although not as easy as when in such a state of freedom, are not absolutely broken because of that. Thought is the bond between the spirits and us, and through our thoughts we at- tract those who sympathize with our ideas and inclinations. Let us then represent the mass of spirits that surround us like the crowds that we find in this world. Everywhere we intend to go we find people attracted by the same tastes and desires. In the meetings of serious objectives we find serious persons; in those of frivolous objectives, we find frivolous persons. Spirits attracted by the prevailing thought are found everywhere. If we observe the moral state of humanity, in general, we will understand without difficulty that in such an occult crowd the elevated spirits should not constitute the majority. This is one of the consequences of the state of inferiority of our planet.

The spirits that surround us are not passive. They form an essentially uneasy population which incessantly thinks and acts, influencing us irre- spectively; exciting and discouraging us; pushing us to the good or to the evil, a fact which does not subtract our free-will more than the good or bad advices that we receive from our fellow human beings. However, when the imperfect spirits incite someone to do something bad, they know very well who they are talking to and they will not waste their time when they realize that they are not welcome. They excite us according to our own inclinations or according to the germs that they see in us, as to our disposition to listen to them. That is why a person who is firm in the principles of good doesn’t give them the opportunity.

Those considerations naturally lead us to the problem of the medi- ums. As with all beings, they are submitted to the occult influence of the good or bad spirits; they attract or repel them according to the sympathies of their own souls, and the bad spirits take advantage of all faults, as from a missing protection, in order to impose themselves, irrespective of the medium, meddling with every act of the medium’s private life. Moreover, once such spirits find in the medium the means of intelligibly expressing their thoughts and attesting their presence, they also meddle with the communications, provoking them, because they expect to have a greater influence by doing so, then becoming the masters of the medium. They act as if they were at home, sending away the other spirits who could create any difficulty to them and, according to the need, they adopt the names and even use the language of those, with the objective of deceiving.

However, they cannot represent such a role for long. In contact with a more experienced and forewarned observer, such spirits are soon un- masked. If the medium allows to be dominated by such an influence the good spirits stay away from him or absolutely do not attend when evoked or even come with certain antipathy, since they see that the spirit who has identified with the medium and that, so to speak, has settled in, can alter their instructions. If we have to choose an interpreter, a secretary, any mandatory, it is obvious that we would choose not only a capable one, but one who is even worthy of our affection; that we would not entrust a deli- cate mission, as well as our interests, to someone that is insane or that is an a habitué of a suspicious society. The same happens to the spirits. The superior spirits will not choose a medium familiarized with frivolous spir- its to transmit serious instructions, unless there is the need for that or that there aren’t other mediums available at the time of the communication; or even when they want to teach the medium a lesson, which sometimes does happen; but in such cases they only accidentally use the medium, abandoning him when convenient, leaving him to his own sympathies in case he insists on keeping them. The perfect medium then would be the one who would not grant any access to the bad spirits out of negligence. However, such a condition is very difficult to fulfill, if absolute perfection is not an attribute of the human being it is always possible to assess them by their actions, and the spirits, more than anything, take their efforts, their will power and perseverance into account.

Thus, the perfect medium would not have but perfect communica- tions, in terms of truthfulness and morality. Since perfection is impossible, the best medium would be the one who would give the best communica- tions. It is by their works that they can be judged. The constantly good and elevated communications, in which not a trace of inferiority could be detected, would undoubtedly be a proof of the moral superiority of the medium, because they would attest happy sympathies. Due to the simple fact that the medium is not perfect, frivolous, impostor, and liar spirits may meddle with their communications, altering their purity and leading the medium to stumble as well as those who seek their help. This is the highest hurdle to Spiritism whose seriousness we don’t disguise. Can it be avoided? We say out loud and clear: yes, we can avoid it. The means is not hard, only requiring good judgment.

The good intentions and the morality of the medium are not always sufficient to prevent the prying of frivolous, lying and pseudo-wise spirits into the communications. Besides the spirit of the medium own faults, the medium can also provide entry to those spirits through other causes from which the most important is the weakness of character and an exces- sive confidence in the invariable superiority of the communicating spirits. Such blind confidence resides in a cause that we will explain below.

If we don’t want to become victims of those frivolous spirits it is nec- essary to assess them. In order to do this, we have an infallible criterion: common sense and reason. We know that the qualities of the language characterizing the really good and superior individuals among us are the same as with the spirits. We must assess them based on their language. It would never be too much to repeat what characterizes the language of the elevated spirits: it is permanently dignified, noble, without swag- ger or contradiction, exempt from trivialities and marked by an accent of unaltered benevolence. The good spirits advise; they don’t command; they don’t impose; they remain silent about things that they ignore.

The frivolous spirits show the same level of confidence about things that they know and things that they ignore; they respond to everything without any concern for the truth. In a supposedly serious message, we have seen them placing Cesar in the same period as Alexander, with an untouched audacity; others affirmed that it is not Earth that turns around the Sun. In short, every gross or simply inconvenient expression; every indication of pride and presumption; every maxim contrary to the sound moral; every scientific heresy is to the spirits an incontestable sign of their evil nature, of ignorance or at least frivolity, similarly to what happens with human beings. Hence it is necessary to weigh-in at everything they say, pushing it through the winnow of logic and common sense. This is a recommendation incessantly made by the good spirits. They say: “God has purposelessly given you reason. Use it so that you know what you are doing.”

The bad spirits fear examination. They say: “Accept our words and do not judge them.” If they were consciously telling the truth they would show no fear of light.

The habit of scrutinizing the simplest messages from the spirits, of assessing their worth – from the point of view of the content and not the grammatical form, to which they give little importance – does naturally keep away the spirits of ill intent, who would not uselessly come to waste their time, since we reject everything that is bad or that may have a suspi- cious origin. However, when we blindly accept everything that they say, when, say, we kneel before their pretense wisdom; they do what human beings would do: abuse us.

If the medium is his own master and not dominated by a senseless en- thusiasm, he will then be able to do what we advise. It frequently happens, however, that the spirit subjugates the medium to the point of fascination, leading the medium to consider the most ridiculous things.

Then the mediums become even more overconfident, getting all wrapped up by their good intentions and feelings. The medium thinks that this is enough to keep the bad spirits away. Unfortunately, that is not enough, since those bad spirits enjoy trapping such mediums, taking advantage of their weakness and credulity. What to do then? Have ev- erything brought to a third and uninterested person. This will allow the third person to assess and judge, without prejudice, areas where the third person may well see a speck of sawdust where the medium could not see a plank.

The Spiritist Science demands a great experience only acquired through a long, assiduous and persevering study, and through numerous observa- tions, as with every other Science, philosophical or not. That Science en- compasses not only the study of the phenomena, per se, but also and above all, the habits, if we can say so, of the occult world, from the lowest to the highest degree of the scale. It would be presumptuous to judge oneself suf- ficiently enlightened and graduated as a master after a few tests. This would not be the pretension of a serious person, since whoever lay investigative eyes on these strange mysteries sees, unfolding before their eyes, such a vast horizon that long years would not be enough to cover them all. There are some, however, who wish to do so in a few days only!

From all moral dispositions, pride is the one that mostly facilitates entry to the imperfect spirits. The more arrogant the medium, the more it constitutes a danger. It is pride that gives the medium a blind belief in the superiority of the spirits who are attached to him, by bragging about certain names imposed on him. Whenever a spirit says: I am “Joe Doe” those mediums bow and don’t admit any doubt, as their self esteem would suffer if an inferior or low level spirit would be found under that mask. The spirit detects all these things and takes advantage of the weak side of the medium; flatters his supposed protégé; talks about illustrious origins which trap the medium even further; promises a brilliant future, honor and fortune, of which the spirit seems to be the distributor; and if neces- sary, shows a hypocritical tenderness towards the medium.

How to resist such a generosity? In one word, the spirit fools the medi- um, as vulgarly said; the spirit’s happiness is to make someone dependent. We have questioned several of those spirits regarding the reasons for their obsession. One of them responded as below.

“I want to have a person who submit to my whims. That is my plea- sure.” When we told him that we would do our best to uncover his tricks thus removing the veil from the eyes of the oppressed, he said: “I will fight you and you will not prevail because I will do so many things that he will not believe you.” This is in effect one of the tactics of these malicious spirits: they inspire mistrust and separation from the persons that can unmask them, giving good advice. This can never happen with the good spirits. Every spirit that stimulates disagreement, that excites animosity and that entertains resentment reveals their inferior nature, as a conse- quence. It would be necessary to be blind in order not to understand this and to believe that a good spirit could lead anyone to disharmony.

Pride frequently develops in a medium as their mediumistic faculty improves. The mediumistic faculty makes them feel important. They are sought thus they feel indispensable. Hence, many times, the boasting and pretentious tone, or an air of sufficiency and disdain, incompatible with the influence of a good spirit. The one that falls into such a mistake is lost because God has given such a faculty for the good and not for the satisfaction of their vanity or to transform that faculty in a ladder to their ambition. They forget that such power, which makes them proud, can be subtracted and that it has frequently been given as a trial only, as it also happens to some people’s wealth. Once that faculty is abused the good spirits move away, step by step, until they become a toy in the hands of the frivolous spirits, who shake those mediums with their illusions, feeling happy for having won over those who considered themselves strong. That is how we have seen the annihilation and loss of the most precious facul- ties that without such a behavior would have become the most powerful and useful supporters of the cause.

This applies to all kinds of mediums, be of physical or intelligent manifestations. Unfortunately pride and arrogance is one of the defects which make us less inclined to acknowledge in ourselves and even less so by pointing it out on others, since they would not believe. Try to tell a medium that he is being led like a child. He will turn his back on you, saying that he knows how to behave and that you cannot see things clearly. You can tell a man that he is a drunk, scornful, lazy, awkward and silly and he will laugh and agree; tell him that he is arrogant and he will be upset. That is the evident proof that you are telling the truth. In such cases the advices are so more difficult the more the medium avoids those who can give them. He flees from a feared proximity. The spirits, once feeling that the advices are blows against their power, push the medium to the opposite side, in order to feed his illusions. Thus, many deceptions will come, making the self- esteem of the medium suffer. Fortunate are those who do not have to endure even more serious things.

If we have significantly over emphasized in regard to this theme it is because experience has demonstrated to us, on many occasions, that this is one of the large stumbling stones with respect to the purity and sincer- ity of the communications from the medium. Hence, it is almost useless to speak about the other imperfections of the mediums, such as selfish- ness, envy, jealousy, ambition, greed, stiffness of heart, ingratitude, sen- suality, etc. Everyone understands that these are additional doors open to the imperfect spirits, or at least, causes of weakness. In order to repel those spirits it is not good enough to ask them to leave; it is not even good enough to wish or even less to conjure them. It is necessary to close the doors and the ears to them; demonstrate that we are stronger than they are – and we are incontestably, through the love of good, through charity, kindness, simplicity, modesty and disinterest, qualities that at- tract the benevolence of the good spirits. It is their support that gives us strength. If they sometimes allow us to face evil, it is a trial to our faith and character.

May the mediums not fear those conditions so much, which we have just mentioned. We must acknowledge that those conditions are logical thus it would be a mistake to feel discouraged. In any case they give us a means of recognizing our own imperfections. We have already said in another article that it is not necessary to be a medium to be under the influence of the bad spirits, who act in the shadow. The enemy shows up and betrays himself through the mediumistic faculty. We become aware of whom we are dealing with and how to combat them. That is how a bad communication may become a useful lesson, if we know how to take advantage of that.

As a matter of fact, it would be unfair to attribute all bad communica- tions to the medium. We speak of those that are obtained by the mediums alone, without any other influence, and not about those that are produced in any other environment. Well, everyone knows that the spirits, attracted by that environment, may damage the manifestations, be it by the diver- sity of characters, or be it by the lack of reverence. It is a general rule that the best communications occur in the closeness of a concentrated and ho- mogeneous group. Several influences play a role in every communication: the medium, the environment and the person that interrogates the spirits. These influences may interact with one another, neutralize or reinforce each other. That depends on our proposed objective and on the dominat- ing thought. We have seen excellent communications in gatherings and from mediums that did not have all the necessary conditions. In this case the spirits would come for one person in particular, since that was useful. We have also seen bad communications obtained by good mediums only because the interrogator did not have serious intentions and attracted the frivolous spirits who made fun of him or her. It all requires sensibility and observation. The preponderance that all these conditions combined must have is easily understandable.

We have discussed the theory of the apparitions several times. It was recalled in our last issue given the fact that we had the report of strange phenomena. We remind our readers about those phenomena in order to better understand what follows next.

Everybody knows that among the most extraordinary manifestations produced by Mr. Home there was the appearance of perfectly tangible hands, which everyone could see and touch; which shook hands and sud- denly offered the emptiness when attempted to be caught by surprise. That is a positive fact, produced under several circumstances, attested by numerous eyewitnesses. However, abnormal and as strange as those facts may seem, the marvelous stops from the moment when it is possible to give them a logical explanation. It then enters into the category of the natural phenomena, although of an order completely different from those that take place before our eyes and with which we should not confuse them.

We can find elements of comparison with the common phenomena – like that blind person who could feel the shining light or the colors by the sound of a trumpet – but not similarities. It is precisely the attempt of comparing everything to what we already know that leads so many people to confusion: some think that these new elements can be manipulated as if they were molecules of Oxygen and Hydrogen. Well, that is a mistake. Those phenomena are submitted to conditions that escape the normal circle of our observations. Before anything else, it is necessary to know those conditions and comply with them if we wish to be successful. It is necessary, above all, not to lose sight of this essential principle, the true key of the Spiritist Science: the agent of the vulgar phenomena is a physi- cal force, material, that can be submitted to the laws of Calculus, whereas in the spiritist phenomena such agent is always an intelligence that has its own free-will and does not submit to our caprices.

Was there flesh, skin, bones and nails on those hands? Of course not: it was an appearance but in such a way that it produced the effect of reality. If the spirit has the power of turning a given part of their body visible and tangible, there is no reason why the same would not happen to other organs. Let us then suppose that the spirit extends that appear- ance to all parts of the body and we will then have the impression of seeing one of our analogous, acting like us, when in fact that is nothing more than a momentarily solidified vapor.

Such is the case of the Elf of Bayonne. The duration of that appear- ance is submitted to conditions unknown to us. No doubt it depends on the will of the spirit, who can produce or undo them at will, but within certain limits which they do not always have the freedom of surpassing. Once questioned about this and all intermittences of any manifesta- tion, the spirits have always said that they were acting following superior permission.

If with certain spirits the duration of the corporeal appearance is lim- ited, we can in principle say that it is variable and it is capable of persisting for a more or less lengthy time interval, since it can be produced all the time and at any time. A spirit whose body was completely visible and tan- gible would have the appearance of a human being to us; the spirit could talk to us and sit around us at home, as any other visitor, and we would take that spirit by one of our fellow human beings.

We start from a patent fact – the appearance of tangible hands – to arrive at a hypothesis that is the logical consequence of that. However, we would not have considered it if the story of the boy from Bayonne would not have paved the way, showing such possibility to us.

Once interrogated with that respect, a superior spirit answered that we can effectively meet beings of such a nature, unsuspectedly. He added that the fact is rare but it does happen.

Since we need a name to each and every thing in order to make our- selves understood, the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies call them agé- nères, in order to indicate that its origin is not the result of a generation.

The following fact that recently happened in Paris seems to belong to that category.

A poor woman was in the Church of Saint Roche begging for God’s help to alleviate her sufferings. Coming through the exit door at Saint Honoratus Street she finds a gentleman who approaches her, saying:

My good lady, would you like to find a job?

Ah! Good man, she answers, I beg God for that favor since I am in great need.

Then, go to X... Street, number # and look for Mrs. T... she will give you a job.

That said the man followed his way. The poor lady wasted no time to go to the referred address. The indicated lady told her:

In fact, I do have a job opening but since I have not told anybody, I don’t know how you could have come here, looking for me.

Then the poor lady, observing a portrait hanging on the wall, responded:

Madam, it was that gentleman who sent me.
That gentleman? Said the other lady, now scared. But it is impos- sible! That is the picture of my son, who died three years ago.

I don’t know how could that be but I assure you that he was the gentleman that I met when I left Church, where I had gone to beg for God’s help. He approached me and sent me over here.

From what we have just seen, it is not surprising that the spirit of that lady’s son, in order to do a good deed to that poor woman, whose prayer he had certainly heard, would have then appeared to her under a corpo- real form, indicating the address of his own mother. What has become of him after this? No doubt, what he was before: a spirit, unless he had found it convenient to appear to other people on his path.

That woman would have then met an agénères with whom she talk- ed. A question that may be asked is this: why then he did not appear to his mother?

Under such circumstances, the motives that determine the action of the spirits are completely unknown to us: they act as they will, or even, according to what they have said themselves, under a permission without which they cannot reveal their existence in a material way. As a matter of fact, it is clear that his presence might have caused his mother a great commotion. Who knows he had not appeared to her in her dreams or by any other means? Moreover, wouldn’t that be a way of revealing his existence to her? It is very likely that he had witnessed the encounter between the two ladies.

It does not seem to us that the Elf of Bayonne should be considered an agénères, at least under the circumstances in which he manifested; to the family he always showed the characteristics of a spirit, which he had never tried to dissimulate. It was his permanent state. The corporeal appear- ances that he embodied were only accidental, whereas the agénères, per se, does not reveal its nature and is nothing but a living person to our eyes. Its corporeal appearance may have a long duration, according to the need, in order to establish social relationships with one or several individuals.

We enquired the spirit of Saint Louis to kindly clarify us about several points, responding to our questions.

1. The spirit of the Elf of Bayonne could show up, corporeally, in other places and to other persons, besides its own family?
- Yes, no doubt.

2. Would that depend on its will?
- Not exactly. The power of the spirits is limited. They only do what is allowed to them.

3. What would happen if it presented itself to an unknown person?

- It would have been seem as an ordinary child. I will how- ever tell you something: sometimes there are spirits on Earth that take such an appearance and are not recognized by people.

4. Such spirits belong to the category of the superior or inferior spirits?

- They can belong to one or the other. These are rare facts that the Bible has examples.

5. Rare or not, it is enough that the phenomenon is possible so as to deserve attention. What would happen if such a being, taken by an ordinary man, received a mortal wound? Would it die?
- It would suddenly disappear, like the young man in London. 3

6. Do they have passions?
- Yes. As spirits, they have the passions of the spirits, according to their inferiority. If they take a visible body it is sometimes to enjoy the human passions. If they are elevated it is with a useful objective.

7. Can they procreate?
- God would not allow that. This is contrary to the laws established by God on Earth and those laws cannot be broken. 8. If such a being showed up to us, would we have any means of recognizing it?
- No, unless through an unexpected disappearance. It would be the same as the motion of furniture from one floor to the next, which you have previously read.

9. Which objective can lead the spirits to take such a corporeal state?

Are they acting with a good or wicked intent?
- Many times with a wicked one. The good spirits use inspiration in their favor. They act upon the soul and the heart.

You should know that inferior spirits produces the physical manifestations, and the ones we are dealing with are of that category. However, as I said, the good spirits may also take that corporeal appearance, with a useful objective. I say that as a general principle.

10. In such a state they can become visible and invisible at will? - Yes, since they can disappear whenever they wish.

11. Do they have an occult power, superior to that of human beings? - They only have the power of their category in the spirits’ scale.

12. Do they have real need for food? - No. Their body is not real.

13. Nevertheless, the young man from London, although he did not have a real body, he had breakfast with his friends and shook hands with them. What happened to the food that he ingested? - Before he shook hands, where were the tightening fingers?

Do you understand that the body disappears? Why don’t you want to understand that the matter also disappears? The body of the young man from London was not real since he was in Boulogne; it was thus an appearance. The same happened to the food that he apparently ingested.

14. If we had among us a being of that kind, would that be good or bad? - That would be bad. Besides, it is not possible to keep in touch for a long time with those beings. We cannot tell you much. These facts are excessively rare and have never a permanent character. Still more rare are the instantaneous corporeal apparitions, like those of Bayonne.

15. Can the family protector spirit take that form sometimes?

- No. Doesn’t that spirit count on innermost resources? The spirit manipulates them with more easiness than it would do under a visible form and taken by one of your similar.

16. There is a question about the Count of Saint-Germain; wouldn’t he belong to the category of the agénères?
- No. He was a skillful mystifier.

The story of the young man from London, reported in our last December issue, is a fact of bi-corporeity, or even, of double presence, that essentially differs from what we are discussing. The agénères has no living body on Earth; it is only their perispirit that takes a tangible appearance. The youngster from London was perfectly alive. While his body was asleep in Boulogne, his spirit, surrounded by the perisp- irit, went to London, where it took a visible form.

An almost analogous case happened to us. While lying calmly in bed, one of our friends saw us several times at his house, although under an appearance that was not tangible, sitting by his side and talking to him, as usual. Once he saw us wearing a robe, other times wearing a jacket. He transcribed our conversation and sent it to us the following day. It was clearly about our favorite works. Willing to carry out an experiment, he offered us a beverage. Here is our answer: “I don’t need this, for it is not my body that is here, you know that. Then, there is no need to create an illusion to us.”

A very strange fact then took place. Be it through a natural dispo- sition, be it the result of our own intellectual works, serious since our youth and we would even say, almost since our infancy, our character has been the one of extreme gravity, even at the age when one thinks of anything but pleasures.

That constant concern gives us a cold appearance, really cold. This is, at least, what we have been criticized for on several occasions. However, under this apparently glacial envelope, the spirit may feel more vividly than if it had a greater external expansion. Well, dur- ing our nightly visits to our friend, he became really surprised for seeing us completely different; we were more extroverts, more talk- ative, almost happy. Everything in us would reveal the satisfaction and calmness of feeling well. Wouldn’t that be an effect of the spirit, disengaged from matter?

Under this title, Mr. H. Lugner published in the feuilleton of the Jornal th des Débats, on November 26 , 1858 a witty and fantastic story, of Hoffmann’s style, that at first glance seems to have some analogy with our agénères and the phenomena of tangibility, which we have just discussed. The length of the story does not allow us to reproduce it completely. We will limit ourselves to its analysis, pointing out the fact that the author reported it as a fact, that he had witnessed and attached to the hero of the adventure by what is perceive to be bonds of friendship.

That hero, named Hermann, used to live in a small town in Germany. “He was”, says the narrator, a handsome 25 years old man, of strong build, full of nobility in all his movements, gracious and witty in his language. He was very educated, not pedantic; very fine and without malice; very conscious of his dignity and without the least arrogance. Hence he was perfect in everything and even more perfect still in three things: his love for philosophy; his particular inclination for waltz and his kindness of character. That kindness was neither a weakness nor a fear of others, or an exaggerated mistrust of oneself. It was a natural inclination, a super abundance of that essence of human kindness that we generally find only in the poet’s fiction. Hermann was endowed with a singular dose.

He contained and, at the same time, animated his adversaries with such goodness of heart that it raised itself to the omnipotent and above the offences. One could harm but not enrage him. One day his barber was trimming his hair when he snipped off the tip of his ear. Hermann was quick to excuse him, taking the blame, assuring him that he had moved awkwardly. That actually was not the case since I was present and clearly noticed that the incident was, in fact, the barber’ error. He gave many other proofs of the unperturbed goodness of his soul. He listened to the reading of bad poems bearing an angelical air and responded to the silliest epigrams with nice praises, when the worst spirits had used their malevo- lence against him. Such a singular kindness turned him into a celebrity. There was no woman who would not give her life to watch Hermann’s character, uninterrupted, trying to make him lose his patience, at least once in his life.”

“Add to all that capability the advantage of a complete financial inde- pendence sufficient to place him among the richest men in town. It would be difficult for you to imagine that Hermann would miss anything in his life that would leave him without complete happiness.”

“Unfortunately, however, he was not happy and constantly looked sad and depressed... This was due to a singular illness that afflicted him all his life and since long ago was provoking the curiosity of the whole little town.”

“Hermann could not stay awake for a moment after sunset. When the day neared its end, he was taken by an invincible languidness, slowly falling onto a uncontrollable lethargy that nobody could rescue him. He would go to bed with the sun and wake up at dawn. His early bird habits would have turned him into an excellent hunter if he were able to over- come his horror for blood and withstand the idea of inflicting a cruel death to innocent creatures.”

“Here are the terms with which he describes his situation, over a mo- ment of relief, with his friend of the Journal des Débats:”

“You know my dear friend the illness that I am subjected to and the invincible sleepiness that regularly oppresses me, from sunset to dawn. You know what everyone knows about it and as everybody else you heard that such a sleep is almost confused with death. Nothing closer to the truth and with such a prodigy I would not bother, I swear, if nature would be content by taking my body by an object of its fantasies. But my soul is also one of its toys. I cannot tell you without horror the bizarre and cruel fate inflicted on my soul. Each one of those nights is fulfilled by a dream and that dream is connected with the most fatal clarity to the dream of the previous night. Those dreams, God wished they were dreams, follow up and interconnect like the events of a common existence that develops under sunlight and in the company of other men. Hence, I live twice and lead two different existences. One happens here, with you and our friends; the other, far away from here, with men that I know so well as I know you, with whom I speak as I speak with you, and who call me crazy, as you do, when I refer to another existence, beyond the one I live with them.”

“However, am I not here, living and talking, sitting by your side and well awake, as it seems to me, and whoever would pretend that we are dreaming, or that we are shadows, wouldn’t in all fairness go by a senseless person? Then! My dear friend, each of those moments, each action that fulfills the hours of my inevitable sleep is not less real. When I find myself entirely in that other existence it is this one here that I would be tempted to consider a dream.”

“Nevertheless, I don’t dream more here than I live there. I live al- ternatively on both sides and I could not doubt it, although my reason becomes strangely shocked for my soul successively animates two bodies thus living two lives. Ah! My dear friend, I wish God had allowed me the same instincts and the same behavior in both lives and that I was the same man that you know and appreciate here. But it is not like that and people would not dare to dispute the influence of the physical over the moral if my story were known. I don’t wish to brag about it; as a matter of fact, pride that might inspire one of my existences is strongly abated by the inseparable shame of the other. However, I can say without any vanity that I am fairly loved and respected by everyone here; people praise my manners and condition; they say that I have a noble, liberal and distinct looks. As you know, I love literature, philosophy, arts, free- dom, everything that gives life its enchantment and dignity. I help the unfortunate ones and envy nobody. You know that my kindness became proverbial as my spirit of justice and my insuperable horror of violence. All these qualities that elevate and embellish me here I expiate there by the opposite vices.”

“Nature that has blessed me so much here curses me there. It has not only outcast me into an inferior condition, in which I am obliged to remain, illiterate and without culture, but also gave to that other body of mine such rough or perverse organs; such strong or blind feelings; certain inclinations and needs obeyed by my soul rather than commanded by it, thus allowing me to be dragged by that despotic body, under the most vile orders. I am tough and coward there; while I persecute the weak I am ser- vile to the powerful; unmerciful and envious; naturally unfair and violent to the point of rage. Nonetheless, it is me and however much I hate and despise myself, I cannot help it but to recognize me.”

“Hermann stopped for a moment. His voice was trembled and his eyes wet. I smiled gently and told him: “I want to mitigate your madness, so that you can be cured. Tell me everything. For starters, where does that other existence take place, and what is your name there?”

“My name is William Parker, he said. I am a citizen of Melbourne, Australia. There is where my soul flies to, in the antipodes, after leav- ing you here. At sunset here my soul leaves the unanimated Hermann behind, then giving life to Parker on the other side, at dawn. It is when my miserable life of vagabond, of fraud, of quarrels and begging begins. I belong to a bad society in which I count among the scum. I am constantly fighting my companions and frequently hold a knife in my hand. I am always at war with the police and at times I am forced to hide. However, everything comes to an end in this world and this suffering is about to finish. I have fortunately committed a crime. I have cowardly murdered a poor creature that was associated with me. Thus, I led public opinion to indignation, already excited by my perverse attitudes. The grand jury has condemned me to the death penalty thus I wait for my execution. Some merciful and religious persons have intervened with the Governor, in my name, in order to obtain the grace or a conditional, which would give me time to convert; however, my intractable and gross nature is well known.


The request was denied and tomorrow, or better still, tonight, I will be infallibly led to the gallows.”

“Well then, I said smiling. It is so much the better for you and us. The death of that rascal is a good way out. Once Parker is thrown away into eternity Hermann will live in peace; he will be able to wake, as everybody else, and stay with us day and night. That death will cure you my dear friend, and I am thankful to the Governor of Melbourne for having re- fused to grant a pardon to that scoundrel.”

“You are mistaken, said Hermann, with a graveness of voice that made me feel sorry for him: we will die together, the two of us, because we are not but one. Despite our diversity and antipathy we have only one soul that will be wounded by the same blow; in all things we respond for each other. Do you believe that Parker would still be alive if Hermann had not felt that both are inseparable, in life and death? Would I have hesitated for a moment had I been able to cast that other existence into the fire, like the damned eye that the Scriptures talk about? I was so happy to live here that I could not decide to die there; and my indecision lasted until fate decided such a terrible question. Now, everything is over. Believe me that this is a farewell.”

“On the very next day Hermann was found dead in his bed. A few months later the newspapers in Australia brought the news of the execution of William Parker, with all the circumstances described by his double.”

This entire story is told with an unperturbed cold blood and in a seri- ous tone. There is nothing missing in the details that were omitted to give it a character of truth. In the presence of the strange phenomena that we have witnessed, a fact of such a nature could seem real, at least possible and, up to a certain degree, connected to those that we have mentioned. Wouldn’t it be perhaps analogous to the youngster who was asleep in Boulogne while, at the same time, was talking to his friends in London? And to the case of Saint Anthony of Padua, praying in Spain on the same day that he showed up in Padua to save his father, then accused of murder?

At first sight one can say that these latest facts are exact. It is not im- possible either that this Hermann would live in Australia while sleeping in Germany, and vice versa. Although our opinion is perfectly established with that respect, it is our duty to report it to our instructors from beyond the grave, in one of the sessions of the Society.

To the question: “Is it true the fact that was reported by the Jornal des Débats?

They answered: “No; it is a story specially written to entertain the readers”.

Then they were asked: If it is not true, is it possible?
They answered: “No. one soul cannot animate two bodies.”
In fact, in the story of Boulogne, although the young man was seen

simultaneously in two places, there was one body only of flesh and blood, which was in Boulogne. In London there was only the appearance or the perispirit, tangible is true, but not the actual body, the mortal body. He could not die in London and in Boulogne. According to the story, on the contrary, Hermann would in reality have two bodies, since one would have been hanged in Melbourne and the other buried in Germany. The same soul would have then simultaneously animated two existences that according to the spirits, is not possible.

The kind of phenomena of Boulogne and Saint Anthony of Padua, although very frequent, are as a matter of fact very serendipitous and acci- dental in one individual and it never has the characteristic of permanence, whereas the supposed Mr. Hermann was like that since his infancy. But the most serious reason is the difference of characters. If those individuals had one and the same soul, which could not certainly be alternatively that of a righteous man and a scoundrel. It is certain that the author founds his story on the influence of the organisms. We regret the fact that it is his philosophy, and even more so that he tries to endorse it, since that would be the same as denying one’s responsibilities for one’s actions. Similar doc- trine would be the denial of the whole moral, since it would reduce the human being to the condition of a machine.

We got this letter from Gramat, Lot:

“Extraordinary noises have been heard for about two months in a house from the Coujet village, a community of Bastat, Department of Lot. In the beginning the noises were dry blows, similar to those produced by an axe on the floor, heard from all sides: under the feet, above the heads, on the doors, in the furniture. Then it was the noise of steps of a bare footman, followed by fingers playing on the window glass. The residents became scared and organized Church masses. The disturbed population would go to the village and listen; the police was informed, carrying out several investigations; the noise only got worse. Soon the doors would open; the objects would be turned upside down; the chairs thrown from the top of the stairs; the furniture transported from the floor to the attic. Everything that I tell you happens at daylight and is attested by a large number of people. The house is not an old, dark and somber shanty that gives you ghostly nightmares just by its looks. It is a shiny new construc- tion. The owners are good people, incapable of deceiving any one and those who are really scared. Nevertheless, many people think that there is nothing supernatural there, trying to explain everything that seems ex- traordinary by Physics or the ill intention attributed to the residents. Since I have seen it all and do believe in all facts, I decided to correspond with you so that you can tell me who the spirits who make such noise are, and to learn about the means of silencing them. It is a service that you would do to this good people, etc....”

Facts of such a nature are not rare. They are all more or less similar and, in general, only differ as for the intensity or its greater or smaller te- nacity. People are hardly bothered when these events are limited to a few noises, without consequence, but become a true calamity when they reach large proportions.

Our distinct correspondent asks about the kind of spirits that make such noise. There is no doubt with respect to our answer. It is a known fact that only the spirits of a very inferior order are capable of such a thing. The superior spirits, as among us the serious and grave persons, don’t en- joy themselves by creating uproars. We have evoked them many times in order to enquiry about the reason why they perturb someone else’s rest. The great majority replies that their only objective is to have fun. These are rather frivolous than bad spirits. They enjoy the fear that they provoke as much as the useless searches carried out to determine the cause of the uproar. They frequently remain close to an individual that they like to tease, and that they chase from house to house; on other occasions they get attached to a given place, without any reason, but caprice. Sometimes it is also a vengeance that they carry out, as we will have the occasion to see. In some cases their intention is more commendable: they want to call the attention and establish contact, be it to give a useful warning to the person that is targeted by them or to request something for them. We have seen them frequently asking for prayers; others request the accomplish- ment of a promise that they were unable to carry out; there are others, finally, who want to fix a bad deed that they may have practiced when incarnate, in the interest of their own peace.

Generally speaking there is no reason to be scared. Their presence may be an inconvenience but it is not dangerous. As a matter of fact, the desire to get rid of them is understandable. However, we almost always do exactly the opposite of what we should do. If they are spirits having fun, the more we take it seriously, the more they persist, like naughty kids that bother us even more the more we show impatience, and scaring the cowards. If laughed at their naughtiness they would end up tired and would leave us alone. We know someone that far from getting irritated he would excite them, challenging them to do this or that, hence after a few days they no longer showed up. That is why it is always useful to know what they want. If they request something we may rest assured that they will leave as soon as their wish is granted. The best way to learn about it is by evoking the spirit through a good psychographic medium. We will immediately see whom we are dealing with from their answers, and as a consequence we will be able to act. If it is an unfortunate spirit, charity demands that we treat it with the deserved care. If it is a jester spirit, of bad taste, we can act unceremoniously with the spirit. If it is a malevolent spirit, it is necessary to ask God to make it better. In any case, the prayer can only produce good results.

Nevertheless, the gravity of the formulas of exorcism makes them laugh and they have no respect for that. If we can enter into communica- tion with them it is necessary to be suspicious about their burlesque or frightening qualifications, which sometimes they attribute to themselves in order to make fun of our credulity.

In many cases the difficulty rests in the fact that there is no medium available. We must then try to replace the medium by ourselves or directly interrogate the spirit, according to the precepts we gave in the Practical Instructions about the Manifestations.

Although produced by inferior spirits, those phenomena are many times provoked by spirits of a more elevated order, with the objective of convincing us about the existence of the incorporeal beings and the exis- tence of a power superior to that of human beings.

The repercussion resulting from that, the fear it creates calls the atten- tion, and in the end will open the eyes of the most incredulous. The latter ones find it easier to take those phenomena to the field of imagination, a very simplistic explanation that dispenses any other. However, when the objects are disarranged or thrown at people’s heads, it would be necessary a very complacent imagination to suppose that such things do happen, when in fact they do not. If we observe any given effect, it will necessarily have a cause. If a calm and cold observation demonstrates that such effect is independent of any human intervention and independent of any mate- rial cause; if, moreover, it gives us evident indications of intelligence and free-will, which constitutes the most characteristic of signs, then we are forced to attribute them to an occult intelligence.

Who are those mysterious beings? This is what the spiritist studies teach us in the most indisputable way, through the means with which we are presented in order to communicate with them. Furthermore, these studies teach us how to separate what is real from what is false or exagger- ated in those phenomena, whose causes we do not detect. If a remarkable effect is produced – noise, motion, even an apparition – the first thought that has to come to mind is that we are facing something that has an absolutely natural cause, which is the most likely. Then it is necessary to investigate that cause with great care and do not admit the intervention of the spirits unless it is an established fact. It is the means of not eluding ourselves.

Spontaneous communication from Mr. Nélo, medium Read at the Society on January 14th, 1859

You don’t know the secret that children hide in their innocence; you don’t know what they are or what they were or what they will be- come. Nevertheless, you love them; you cherish them as if they were a part of you and in such a way that the mother’s love for her children is considered to be the greatest love that one person can devote to another. Where does this kind affection come from, this tender benevolence that even strangers feel towards a child?

Do you know the answer? No. This is what I will explain to you.

Children are the beings that God sends into new existences. God gives them the looks of total innocence so that they cannot complain of excessive severity. Even in a naturally malicious child the defects are covered by the unconsciousness of their acts. Such innocence is not a sign of real superiority with respect to what they were before; No: it is the image of what they should be; and if they are not, they will be the ones to blame.

But it was not to their benefit only that God gave them such looks. It was also – and above all – for their parents, whose love is necessary to their weakness, since such love would be substantially debilitated be- fore an impertinent and intractable character, whereas by supposing that their children are good and sweet, the parents give them all the affection, surrounding them with the most delicate attention. However, when the children no longer require such protection, the assistance given to them for fifteen or twenty years, their character is then revealed in its fullest: it remains good if they were good, but it is always patched by the nuances that were hidden in the first infancy. Know this that God’s paths are al- ways the best and that the explanation can be easy understood as long as one bears a pure heart.

In fact, imagine that the spirits of the children born from you may come from a world where completely different habits were acquired. How would you like to have such a creature around you, with passions that are completely different from yours, with inclinations, with tastes totally opposed to yours? Would you like to have them joining your ranks in a different way, different from the one that God wished, that is through the winnow of childhood?

It is here that all thoughts, all characters, all varieties of beings come to blend, engineered by that multitude of worlds where the creatures im- prove. And you yourselves, after death, will face another kind of infancy, among new brothers and sisters. In your new non-Earthly existence you ignore the habits, the customs, culture and the relationships in this world new to you. With difficulty you will handle a language that you are not used to speak, a language even more lively than your current thought. Infancy has another utility. The spirits only get into the corporeal life for their improvement, their betterment; the weakness of childhood makes them flexible, accessible to the advices of experience, from those in charge of their advancement. It is in that period that their character may be re- formed, by the repression of their bad inclinations. Such is the duty that God has conferred the parents with, a sacred mission for which they will respond.

Thus, childhood is not only useful; it is necessary and indispensable, but also a natural consequence of the laws established by God, laws that govern the Universe!

OBSERVATION: We call the readers’ attention to this remarkable dissertation whose elevated philosophical reach is comprehensible. What can be more beautiful, more grandiose than this solidarity that there is among the worlds? What can be more convenient to give us an idea about God’s majesty and benevolence? Humanity grows by such thoughts, whereas it is diminished if reduced to the petty proportions of our tran- sient life and to the boundaries of our world, imperceptible among other worlds.

Dear Mr. Allan Kardec,

I congratulate myself for being in touch with you through the kind of studies to which we both devote ourselves. For more than twenty years I have been working on a book that should bear the title “Study on microorganisms”. It should focus on physiol- ogy; however, my intention was to demonstrate the limitations of Bichat’s system. This system does not acknowledge the existence of a spirit but does connect the relationship of organic life’s desire to survive. I wanted to demonstrate that there is a third mode of existence that outlives the two others, in a non-organic state. This third mode is nothing but the animic or spirit’s life, as you call it. In one word, it is the primitive microorganism that engineers the two other modes of existence: the organic and that of relation- ship. I also wanted to demonstrate that the microorganisms have a fluidic nature, that are biodynamic, attractive, indestructible, autogenic and, in a defined number, in our planet as well as in all circumscribed environments.

When the book Heaven and Earth by Jean Reynaud was pub- lished, I was forced to modify my convictions. I acknowledged that my system was too narrow, thus admitting, like him, that the globes, through the exchange of electricity mutually established among them, through several electrical currents, must necessarily favors the transmigration of the microorganisms or spirits, having the same fluidic nature.

When the turning tables were spoken about I immediately dedicated myself to that practice, obtaining results that leave me no doubt regarding the manifestations. I soon understood that it was time for the invisible world to become visible and tangible and that, since then, we were marching towards an unprecedent- ed revolution in Science and Philosophy. However, I was far from imagining that a spiritist journal could be established so fast and be maintained in France. Today, Sir, thanks to your perseverance, it is a sure fact and of enormous reach. I am far from thinking that all difficulties have been overcome. You will find many ob- stacles and endure many jokes but truth will shine after all. One will recognize the fairness of the observation of our renowned Professor Gay-Lussac who was telling us in his course, with re- spect to the imponderable and invisible bodies, that these were inexact expressions that only attested our limitation in the current state of art of our Sciences, adding that it would be more logical to call them imponderable. Thus, the same also applies to the vis- ibility and tangibility. What is not visible to one may be visible to someone else, even to the naked human eye, as the example given by the sensitive. Finally, the hearing, smelling, and tasting, which are nothing more than modifications of the tangible property, are unperceivable in humans when compared to those of the dog, eagle and other animals. Hence, there is nothing of absolute in those properties that multiply according to the organisms. There is nothing invisible, intangible, and imponderable. Everything can be seen, touched or weighed, when our organs, which are our first and most precious instruments, may have become subtler.

I ask you to add the following experience to those many oth- ers which you must have used to confirm our third mode of ex- istence, the spirit’s life: Magnetize a person who is blind by birth and in the somnambulistic state frame a series of questions about
the forms and colors. If the sensitive is lucid, he will unequivo- cally demonstrate that he has knowledge about these things that was not possible to acquire but in one or several prior existences.

I finish, Sir, by asking you to accept my very sincere con- gratulations for the kind of studies that you dedicate yourself. Since I have never been afraid of manifesting my opinion you can include this letter in your Review, if considered useful.

Yours very dedicated server, Morhéry, Doctor in Medicine Loudéac, December 20 1858

OBSERVATION: We are happy for the authorization given by Dr. Morhéry to publish the remarkable letter that we have just read, bearing his name. It demonstrates that there is in him, besides the man of Science, the sensible man, that sees something beyond our sensations and who is capable of sacrificing his own personal opinions before evidence. For him conviction is not a blind faith, but a reasoned one. It is the logical deduc- tion of the wise individual that does not pretend to know everything.

The one thousand and second night of the Arabic tales dictated by the spirit of Frédéric Soulié

THIRD AND FINAL PART

VII

Get up, said Nureddin, and follow me.
Nazara threw herself at his feet, crying, begging for clemency.
No clemency for such a fault, said the deceitful Sultan. Be prepared to die.

Nureddin felt really bad for speaking like that but looked forward to the moment when he could reveal himself.

Once Nazara realized that it was impossible to be heard, she fol- lowed him trembling. They returned to the bedroom. Nureddin then asked Nazara to dress up properly. Once she was ready and with- out any other explanation, Nureddin told her that along with Ozana (the dwarf) they would lead her to a suburb in Bagdad where she would find what she deserved. Next they covered themselves with large cloaks so that they could not be recognized and left the palace. But, oh! Horror! They had just transposed the palace doors when their looks changed before Nazara’s eyes; they were neither the Sultan nor Ozana, or the merchants, but Nureddin himself and Tanapla. They were all in shock, particularly Nazara, since they were so close to the Sultan quarters they were fast to move away in order not to be recognized. They had hardly arrived at Nureddin’s house to find it surrounded by a large number of the Sultan’s men, slaves and troops that were sent to have them arrested.

At the first sign of trouble Nureddin, Nazara and the dwarf sought refuge in the most far away room of the palace. The dwarf told them that they should not be afraid of anything. There was only one thing needed to avoid prison: to introduce the pinky finger of the left hand into their mouths and whistle three times. Nazara should do the same and they would thus become immediately invisible to the hostiles who wanted them arrested.

The uproar at the house proceeded to increase in an alarming fashion; Nazara and Nureddin then followed Tanapla’s advice: when the soldiers came into the room they found it empty. After a detailed search they left. Then the dwarf told Nureddin that they should do the opposite now and introduce the pinky finger of the right hand into their mouths and whistle three times. Once they did that they soon became what they were before.

The dwarf warned them that they were not safe in that house and that they should leave it for some time, until the Sultan’s rage had di- minished. He then offered to follow them to his underground palace, where they would feel comfortable, while the means for their fearless return to Bagdad would be arranged in the best possible conditions.

VIII

Nureddin hesitated but Nazara insisted so much that he finally agreed. The dwarf then asked them to go to the garden and eat an or- ange facing east; they would be unnoticeably transported. Since they were suspicious, Tanapla then objected that he could not understand their misgivings after everything he had done for them.

Having gone down to the gardens and eaten the orange, as re- quested, they promptly felt elevated to a prodigious height. The cou- ple then suddenly felt a strong vibration and a cold sensation, noticing that they were now going down at a very high speed. They saw noth- ing on the way down but when they recovered their awareness of the situation they found themselves in the basement, in a magnificent palace illuminated by twenty thousand candles.

Let us now leave our two lovers in their underground palace and return to our dwarf that we had left at Nureddin’s house. We saw that the Sultan had sent his soldiers to arrest the fugitives. After having searched the farthest corners of the house, as well as the gardens, and as they did not find anything, they had to go back and report their useless search to the Sultan.

Tanapla followed them all the way, showing a funny face, and once in a while he would ask how much would the Sultan pay to whoever delivered the two fugitives. And added: “If the Sultan is willing to allow me an audience of one hour I will tell him something that will calm him down and he will be very happy for getting rid of a woman like Nazara that has a bad genie and who would cast every possible disgrace over his head, had she remained there for a few moons.”

The chief of the eunuchs promised to take the message to the Sultan and to bring his answer back.

They had hardly arrived at the palace when the chief of the slaves came to tell him that his master was waiting for him; but warned him that he would be killed if he were trying to trick him.

Our little monster sped up to meet the Sultan. In the presence of that tough and strict man he bowed three times, according to the tradition before the prince of Bagdad.

What do you have to say? Asked the Sultan. You know what is waiting for you if you don’t tell the truth! Speak! I am listening.

Great Spirit, celestial moon, triad of suns, I will not tell you but the truth. Nazara is the daughter of the Black Fairy and the Genie of the Great Serpent of Hell. Her presence in your house would bring every imaginable plague: rain of serpents, eclipse of the sun, blue moon impeding the nocturnal loves; finally, all of your wishes would be denied and your women would become old before the night had finished. I could give you a proof of what I am telling you. I know what Nazara is. If you wish I will fetch her to convince you. There is only one way to avoid such disgraces. It is giving her to Nureddin. He is not what you think either: he is the son of Manouze, the witch and the Genie Rock of Diamond. If you allow them to get married, Manouze will protect you as a sign of recognition. If you refuse... Poor prince! I am sorry for you. Try it. You decide later.

The Sultan heard Tanapla’s words very calmly but then called a troop of armed men and commanded that the little monster be arrested until any event could demonstrate what he had just said.

Tanapla responded:

I thought I was dealing with a great prince; I see, however, that I was wrong and leave up to the genies the matter of revenging their children. Having said that he then followed those who came to arrest him.

IX

Only a few hours had passed since Tanapla was taken to prison when the sun was covered by a somber cloud, as if a veil covered the Earth; then a huge noise was heard and a giant came from inside a mountain, just out- side town, stomping towards the Sultan’s palace.

I would not say that the Sultan was very calm. He was far from that. He trembled like a leaf from an orange tree. As the giant approached he ordered that all doors should be closed and that all soldiers should be in a state of readiness, in order to defend their prince. But, oh! What a surprise! Once the giant approached all doors were opened as if pushed by an invisible hand; then the giant advanced steadily towards the Sultan without a sign or a word. The Sultan got on his knees, before the giant, asking to have his life spared; he wanted to know what the giant demanded from him.

Prince! Said the giant, I don’t say much at this first encounter. I only warn you. Do as Tanapla has advised you to and we ensure that you have our protection. Otherwise you will suffer the consequences of your stubbornness.

That said, he left!
In the beginning the Sultan became awestruck but after a quarter of an hour he recovered from the scaring surprise and far from fol- lowing Tanapla’s advice, he commanded that an edict be published, promising a magnificent reward to whom gave him the direction of the fugitives. Then he ordered that guards be placed at the entrance of the palace and around town and waited patiently. However, his patience did not last long, or even better, he was not given time to test it. Just on the second day an army showed up at the entrance of the city, seemingly coming from the depths of Earth. The soldiers wore moleskin for clothes and used turtle’s carapace as their shields; their axes were made of stones.

The guards wanted to resist but the formidable aspect of that army discouraged them, and dropping their weapons, they opened the doors without saying a word, keeping their posts, and the hostile army solemnly marched towards the palace. The Sultan wanted to resist their entry into his bedroom but, with great surprise, the guards fell asleep and the doors opened by themselves. After that the army commander firmly advanced towards the Sultan and said:

I came to tell you this: Observing your stubbornness, Tanapla sent us to look for you. Instead of remaining the Sultan of a peo- ple that you cannot govern, we will send you to the moles. You will become a mole and you will be a softened Sultan. Behold what you prefer: It is either this or you do what Tanapla told you to do. You have ten minutes to think about it.

X

The Sultan would rather resist, but, for his own good, after a few mo- ments of consideration he agreed with the demands. He only wanted to impose one condition: that the fugitives would not live in his kingdom. He got the promise and immediately, without knowing how and where to, the army just disappeared before his eyes.

Now that the fate of the two lovers was perfectly guaranteed, let us return to them, observing that we have left them in the underground palace.

After a few minutes, astonished, enchanted by the aspect of the won- ders surrounding them, they wanted to visit the palace and its surround- ings. They saw amazing gardens and, a strange thing; they saw it almost as clearly as in the open sky. They approached the palace. All doors were open and there was an ongoing arrangement as if for a big party. They saw this magnificently dressed lady at the main door. Our fugitives did not promptly recognize her. However, as they approached, they recognized Manouze, the witch. A completely transformed Manouze was no longer the dirty, old and crumbling rag. She was a lady of a certain age, but nice, bearing a magnificent poise.

Nureddin, said the witch, I promised you help and assistance. Today I will accomplish that promise. You are close to the end of your sufferings and will receive the price of your tenacity. Nazara will be your wife. Besides, I give you this palace. You will live here and you will be the king of a brave and thankful people. They are worth of you as you are worthy of reigning over them.

Following those words a harmonious melody was heard. A huge crowd of men and women came from all sides, all dressed up for a party. Noble gentlemen and great ladies kneeled before him. He was offered a golden crown, covered in diamonds, while he was told that they acknowledged him as their king; that the throne belonged to him as a paternal inheritance; that for 400 years they were enchanted by the will of perverse witches and such an enchantment could only end by Nureddin’s presence. Then a long speech was given about his virtues and Nazara’s vir- tues also. Manouze then said:

You are happy and I no longer have anything to do here. If one day you feel you need me, knock on the statue that is in the mid- dle of your garden and I will attend immediately. After that she disappeared.


Nureddin and Nazara felt like keeping her longer in order to thank her for all the goodness that she showed towards them. After having talk- ed for a while they returned to their vassals. The parties and celebrations lasted for eight days. His kingdom was long and happy. They lived thou- sands of years and I can tell you that they still live. The only thing is that their country has never been found, or even better, never known.

The End

OBSERVATION: We bring to the attention of the readers the observa- tions that preceded this story, in the numbers of November 1858 and January 1859.


ALLAN KARDEC

As interpreters of the spiritist communications, the mediums have an extremely important role, thus the attention given to the study of all possible influencing causes will never be excessive, all that with respect to the mediums’ own interest as well as the interest of those who, not being mediums, are served by them as their intermediaries. Everyone can then judge the degree of confidence deserved by the communications received by them.

Everyone is a medium in a greater or lesser degree, as we have already said. That name, however, has been conventionally given to those who present patent and facultative manifestations, so to speak. Well, the ap- titudes among them are widely diverse. One can say that each medium has their specialty. At first examination there are two well-established cat- egories: the mediums of physical effects and those of intelligent commu- nications. The latter ones present a large variety, being the principal: the writing or psychographic mediums, the drawing mediums, the speaking, hearing and clairvoyant mediums. The mediums of poetry, musicians and the polyglots are subclasses of the writing and speaking mediums. We will not return to the definitions of those several classes. We just want to recol- lect and succinctly remember the whole picture for a better explanation.

From all sorts of mediums the most common is that of psychography as this is the easiest type which can be acquired through exercise. That is why, and rightly so, the desires and efforts of the aspiring mediums are geared towards it. It also presents varieties equally found in the other categories: the mechanical writers and the intuitive writers. In the former case the movement of the hand is independent of the medium’s will. The hand moves by itself; the medium is not aware of what he writes. His thoughts can even be somewhere else. With the intuitive mediums, the spirit acts upon the mind; his thoughts cross the thoughts of the medium, if we can say so, but without confusion. As a consequence, the medium is aware of the writing, sometimes even having an earlier awareness, since the intuition precedes the movement of the hand; however, the expressed thought is not that of the medium.

A very simple comparison helps us to understand the phenomenon. When we want to talk to someone whose language we ignore we use the support of an interpreter. The interpreter is aware of the thoughts of the interlocutors; he must understand them in order to be able to express them; however, those are not his thoughts. Thus, the role of an intuitive medium is the same as that of an interpreter between the spirits and us. Experience has taught that the intuitive as well as the mechanical medi- ums are equally good, equally capable of receiving and transmitting good communications. As a means of convincing, the mechanical mediums have more value, no doubt about it, but once conviction has already been acquired then there is no useful preference. Attention should be entirely concentrated on the nature of the communications, say, about the apti- tude of the medium for receiving communications from bad as well as the good spirits. This summarizes the whole issue and this is of the essence, since this is the only means of determining the degree of confidence that the medium deserves. This is the result of study and observation and that is why we recommend our preceding article about the hurdles to the mediums.

With the intuitive medium the difficulty lies in the distinction of their thoughts from those that are suggested. The medium also faces that difficulty. The suggested thoughts seem so natural to the medium that it is frequently taken by their own thoughts, and therefore the medium doubts his faculty. The means of convincing the medium and the others is a frequent exercise. Then, among the evocations in which the medium will take part in, there will be a thousand and one circumstances; a lot of private information, particulars that the medium could not have any previous knowledge about, which will undeniably indicate total indepen- dence of the spirit.

The different varieties of mediums rest on the special skills whose principle we don’t understand well so far. At first sight, and to the persons who did not carry out a systematic study of this Science, it seems that it is not more difficult to write poetry than prose. One would say – par- ticularly if the medium is mechanical or unconscious – that the spirit can make him write in a foreign language as well as make a painting or write music. However, that is not the case. Although we see paintings, poetry and music produced by mediums that in their normal state are not painters, artists, poets or musicians, it is certain that not all of them are capable of producing those things. Despite their ignorance about those arts, they have an intuitive faculty and a flexibility that transform them into the kindest instruments. That is what Bernard Palissy responded, when asked about his choice of the medium Victorien Sardou, who could not paint, and still produce his remarkable paintings. “That is because I find him more flexible”, he said. The same happens to other abilities. And – what an interesting thing – we have seen spirits refusing to dictate poems through mediums that are familiar with poetry, while dictating delightful verses to others who were ignorant about the rules of poetry. This demonstrates once more that the spirits have free will and that any attempt to submit them to our caprices are useless. From the previous observations it results that the medium must follow the impulses that are natural to them, according to their own abilities; that must try to perfect such ability through exercise; that any effort to develop the one that is missing will result fruitless since it could be harmful to the ones that he has. Forcing our talent would yield no grace, as La Fontaine said, to which we could add: we would not do anything good. When a medium has a precious faculty with which he can become really useful he should be content with that and do not try to seek the vain satisfaction of his self- love with a variant that would weaken his fundamental faculty. In case a given faculty has to be modified, as it frequently does, or if the medium has to acquire a new faculty, it will all come spontaneously and not as a result of the medium’s wishes.

The faculty of producing physical effects is a very distinct category, rarely associated with intelligent communications, particularly those of elevated reach. It is well known that the physical effects are peculiar to spirits of an inferior order, as among us the exhibition of strength is pecu- liar to the acrobats. Well, the rapping spirits belong to that inferior class; they frequently act on their own, in order to have fun or tease others, but they sometimes act under the orders of superior spirits who use them as we do with our servants. It would be absurd to think that superior spirits would come to have fun by knocking on tables or making them turn. They use such means, we said, through intermediaries, be it to convince us or to communicate with us, as long as we do not have other means; however, they abandon such means as soon as they can act more rapidly, more conveniently and more directly, as we have abandoned the air tele- graph as soon as we had the electrical one available to us. The physical effects must not be neglected by any means, since they represent a means of conviction to many people. Moreover, they offer a precious study mate- rial about the occult forces. However, it should be noticed that the spir- its generally refuse to produce such phenomena to those who don’t need them or, at least, they advise us to not get particularly involved with them. This is what the spirit of St. Louis wrote about at the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies:

“They mocked the turning tables but they will never mock the phi- losophy, the wisdom and the charity that shines out of the serious com- munications. The turning tables were the lobby of the Science that once initiated we cast our prejudices aside, like the mantle that is left behind. You will never be advised enough to turn your meetings into serious cen- ters. May the physical demonstrations be done elsewhere; that one may see and hear somewhere else but that among you, may there be love and understanding. How do you expect to be seen through the eyes of the superior spirits when you make a table turn? Ignorant! Does the scholar spend his time reviewing Science 101? If you, on the contrary, are seen in search of intelligent and instructive communications, you will then be considered serious people, searching for the truth.”

It is impossible to summarize in a more logical and precise way the character of both kinds of manifestations. The one who receives elevated communications owes them to the assistance of the good spirits. It is a demonstration of their sympathy. Resigning to that in order to entertain the material effects is the same as exchanging a select society by an in- ferior one. Willing to unite both is the same as attracting antipathetic beings and, in such a conflict, it is likely that the good ones will leave and the bad ones stay. Having said all that, there is no disregard for the mediums of physical effects. They exist for a reason and their objective is providential. They do an incontestable service to the Spiritist Science but when a medium has a faculty which puts him in contact with superior spirits, we do not understand that the medium would resign from that faculty or even wish others, unless out of pure ignorance. Frequently, the desire to be everything may in the end transform the medium in nothing.

In our article about the hurdles to overcome as a medium we placed greed on the list of the flaws that can provide entry to the imperfect spirits. It will not be useless to elaborate on this subject. The medium

that could turn their faculties into a profession is in the first row of the self-serving mediums, offering what is typically called sessions or paid consultations. We don’t know them, at least in France. Since everything can become the subject of speculation, it would not come as a surprise to us if one day they wanted to exploit the spirits. One still needs to know how the spirits would handle this matter in case such speculation was introduced. Even without any initiation in Spiritism one can understand how shameful this is.

However, those who only know, even if a little, the difficult condi- tions required by the communication of the good spirits with us, and the little which is needed to send them away, as well as their rejection towards anything representing a selfish interest, will never be able to admit that the superior spirits may serve the caprices of the first one to evoke them at some sort of hourly rate.

The simplest common sense repeals such hypothesis. The evocation of your father, your mother, your children and your friends through simi- lar means, wouldn’t that also be sacrilege? There is no doubt that one can obtain communications through such a mode but God knows from which source! The frivolous, liars, naughty, jester spirits and the whole crowd of inferior spirits always come. They are always ready to answer to anything. St. Louis was telling us the other day at the Society: “Evoke a stone and it will respond to you.”

Those who want serious communications must, before anything, be informed about the nature of the sympathies between the medium and the beings from beyond the grave. The communications fed by the ambi- tion of profit can only inspire a really mediocre confidence.

Self-serving mediums are not the only ones that could demand a given payment. Self-serving is not only translated as the expectation of a material profit but also by greedy thoughts of any kind, through which personal hope may be founded. Furthermore, it is an anomaly which the jester spirits know how to use very well, taking advantage of that with a really remarkable skill and insolence, feeding with deceptive illusions those who position themselves under their dependence.

In summary, mediumship is a faculty given for the good and the good spirits stay away from whoever intends to transform it into a ladder to reach any goal that is not in the designs of the Providence. Selfishness is the ulcer of Society. The good spirits fight it, therefore, it is not possible to suppose that they may come to stimulate it. This is so rational that it is useless to insist on that point.

The mediums of physical effects are not in the same category; un- scrupulous inferior spirits who are not concerned about moral sentiments produce these effects. This type of medium, who wanted to exploit his faculty, could very easily find spirits who would assist him. However, we would still have another inconvenience. As with the medium of intelligent communications, the one of physical effects has not received his faculty for his own pleasure. It has been given to him on the condition that it is used properly. If it is abused it can be taken away from the medium or converted into a loss, as, in reality, the inferior spirits are under the com- mand of the superior ones.

The inferior spirits like to mystify but they do not like to be mysti- fied. If they willingly agree to respond to jokes and questions of curiosity on one hand, on the other hand, like the other spirits, they do not like to be exploited and constantly prove that they have their own free will; that they act when and how they wish to do so, implying that the medium of physical effects becomes even more insecure with respect to the regularity of the manifestations than the writing mediums. Pretending to produce them at will on given days and at predetermined times would be a demon- stration of profound ignorance. What can then be done to make money? Simulate the phenomena. That is what can happen not only to those who have openly turned this into a profession but also to the apparently simple persons who had reduced themselves to receiving any retribution from the visitors. If the spirits don’t produce anything then the mediums produce it. Imagination is really fertile when there is money involved. It is a thesis that we will develop in a special article to help to preclude fraud.

We conclude from all the above that the most absolute disinterest is the best guarantee against charlatanism, since there is no uninterested charlatan.

If disinterest does not always ensure the good quality of the intelligent communications it does, however, subtracts from the bad spirits a power- ful means of action, shutting up the mouth of certain detractors.

The fact below was extracted from a letter addressed to us in September 1857 by a corresponding member from Saint-Etienne. After talking about several communications witnessed by him, he adds:

“A most remarkable fact takes place with a family of our knowledge. They moved from the turning tables to the talking couch; later a pencil was attached to the foot of the couch, indicating the psychography; this was then practiced for a long time, more of a distraction than a serious thing. Finally the writings designated a young lady of the house, ordering that she should have her head caressed after lying down. The lady fell asleep almost immedi- ately and after a certain number of experiments she transfigured. The young- ster would take over the facial traces, voice and gestures of deceased relatives; those of her grandparents who she had never met, and a brother that had died a few months earlier. The transfigurations took place one after the other in the same session. She spoke a dialect that is not from our days, as I was told, and since I am not familiar with the current one or the other. What I can affirm is that in one session she assumed the appearance of her funny, strong brother; the thirteen-year-old young lady medium then gave me a tough handshake. The phenomena have been constantly repeating in the same way, for about 18 months to two years, now with the only difference that it is produced natu- rally, without the imposition of hands.”

1. The case of transfiguration that we have just discussed, is that true?
- Yes.

2. Is there a material effect in that kind of phenomenon?

- The phenomenon of transfiguration may occur in a mate- rial way, to the point that its several phases may be registered through daguerreotype (obsolete photographic process).

3. How does this effect take place?
- Transfiguration, as you understand it, is nothing more than a change in appearance, an alteration or modification of the contour lines of the face, which can be produced by the ac- tion of the spirit over its own envelope (perispirit) or by an exterior influence. The body never changes, but it shows dif- ferent appearances through a nervous contraction.

4. Can the spectators be deceived by a false appearance?
- It can also happen that the perispirit plays the role that you know well. In the cited case there was nervous contraction, much amplified by imagination. As a matter of fact, this phenomenon is very rare.


5. The role of the perispirit would be analogous to what happen in the phenomena of bi-corporeity?
- Yes.

6. Then in the case of transfiguration is it necessary that there is a disappearance of the real body, so that the spectators may see only the perispirit under a different form?
- Not a disappearance, properly, but an occlusion. You must be clear about the terms.

7. From what you have just said it seems we can conclude that in the phenomenon of transfiguration there may be two effects: I – alteration of the traces of the real body, originated from a nervous contraction; II – variable appearance of the perispirit, made vis- ible. Is that right?
- Certainly.

8. What is the primary cause of this phenomenon?
- The will of the spirit

9. Every spirit can produce it?
- No. The spirits cannot always do what they wish.

10. How do you explain the abnormal strength of that girl, transfig- ured into the person of her brother?
- Doesn’t the spirit have a great strength? As a matter of fact, the strength is that of the body, in its normal state.

OBSERVATION: There is nothing remarkable about this fact. We often see very weak persons momentarily endowed by a prodigious force due to super excitation.

11. Since in the phenomenon of transfiguration the eye of the observ- er may receive an image different from the reality, could the same happen to other physical manifestations? For example: when a table is lifted without the support of hands and we see the table above ground, is it really the table that moves?
- You still ask?

OBSERVATION: This phenomenon has already been ex- plained by St. Louis and we thoroughly treated it in the May and June 1858 editions of the review, when discussing the theory of the physical manifestations. We were told that in such a case the table or any other object that moves is taken by a momentary factious life that allows the object to obey the will of the spirit.

Some people wanted to see a simple optical illusion in that fact, through a kind of mirage, that would make us see a table in the air when in reality it would be on the floor. If it were like that it would not be less worthy of attention. It is inter- esting that those who want to dispute or criticize the spiritist phenomena explain them through causes which would also be true prodigies and equally difficult to understand. But why then treat the subject with so much disdain? If the cause which they indicate is real, then why not study that cause in depth? The physicist tries to understand the minimum mo- tion of the magnetic needle; the chemist the slightest change in the molecular attraction. Why then showing so much in- difference to so strange phenomena, such as the ones we have mentioned here, be it through a simple consequence of the visible light beam, or be it by a new application of the known laws? This is not logical.

It certainly would not be impossible, through an effect anal- ogous to the one that makes us see an object in the water at a higher position that it really is due to the refraction of light rays, a table would apparently be in the air while in real- ity it would be on the ground. There is a fact however that definitely resolves the issue. It is when the table violently falls on the floor, broken into pieces. It does not look like an opti- cal illusion.

Let us return to the transfiguration.

If a muscular contraction may modify the physiognomic traces, it would not be but within certain limits. But certainly if a young lady takes the appearance of an old man, no physiological effect would give her a beard. Then we have to look for a cause elsewhere. Bearing in mind what we have said about the role of the perispirit in all phenomena of appari- tion, even those of living persons, and one will understand that this is the key to the phenomenon of transfiguration.

In fact, since the perispirit may be isolated from the body; that it can become visible; that through its extreme subtleness it may take several appearances, according to the will of the spirit, it is not hard to understand that it may thus go by a transfigured person: the body continues to be the same; it is only the perispirit that changed its appearance. But then, you will ask, what becomes of the body? How come the observer does not see a double image, that is, the real body on one side and the transfigured perispirit on the other? These are strange facts about which we will talk soon, demonstrating that from a fascination that assails the observer un- der such circumstances, the real body may somehow become hidden by the perispirit.

The phenomenon that is the object of this current article has been communicated to us long ago. We had not published it yet because our proposal is not to transformer our Spiritist Review into a simple cata- logue, destined to feed curiosity; or a rough compilation without appre- ciation and comments. Our task would then be very easy but we do take it much more seriously.

First of all, our target audience is the person of reason. Those in- dividuals like us, who want to understand things as much as possible. Well, experience has taught us that facts, however strange and amplified they may be, are not elements of conviction. The stranger they are the less convincing they will be. The more extraordinary a fact is the more abnormal it seems to us, and the less willing to believe we become. We want to see, and after seeing we still doubt; we are suspicious of illusion and connivance. It no longer happens when we find a plausible cause to the facts. We daily see people who have attributed the spiritist phenomena to imagination and blind credulity, and who are avid followers today, precisely because today those phenomena no longer repulse their reason: explain them, understand their possibility and then believe, even if they have not been seen. Having to talk about certain facts, we should wait until the fundamental principles were sufficiently developed, so that we could understand their causes. Among these facts is the transfiguration. For us, Spiritism is more than a belief, it is a Science and we feel happy to see that our readers have understood us.

Some people certainly expect to find here an answer to certain attacks to the Society, not so much moderated attacks to us personally and generally to the adepts of Spiritism, attacks from which we have seen vic- tims lately.

We ask our readers to refer to our article about spiritist controversy that opens up our last November issue, in which we have made our pro- fession of faith with that regard. We must add only a few words, once we have no time to spare with idle discussions. To those who have time to waste laughing at everything, even at things that they do not understand; to the slander; to the calumny or to the jokes, you may feel happy: we do not have the intent of creating hurdles to you. The Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, which is composed of dignified individuals for their knowledge and position, French nationals and foreigners, doctors, art- ists, workers, officers, business men, etc., daily receiving the highest social notabilities and corresponding with all parts of the world, that Society is above the little intrigues of envy and self-love. The Society continues with its works in calmness and privacy, not distracted by the tasteless jokes that do not spare even the most respectable organizations.

Regarding Spiritism in general, which is one of the powers of na- ture, the mockery will bend over itself, as it has done regarding so many other things that were consecrated by time. This madness, this utopia, as classified by certain persons, has gone around the world and even all diatribes will not hinder its march, in the same way that, in the past, the anathemas did not block Earth from turning. Then, let the jester laugh as they will. They will do it to the price of the spirit. If they laugh at religion, why wouldn’t they at Spiritism that is a Science? We hope they will do us more service than prejudice, and that they spare us costs of publicity, since there isn’t one of their articles, more or less witty, that has not resulted in the sales of some of our books and that has not brought us some subscribers. Then, we are grateful to them for the service they involuntary do to us.

We will not say much about what affects us directly either. All those who ostensively or disguisedly attack us waste their time if they think that it affects us. They are also mistaken if they think that they can obstruct our path, since we ask for nothing and the only thing we aspire is to be- come useful, to the limit of our God given strength. For the more modest that our position may be we are satisfied with what would be mediocre to many. We do not long for any position, honor or fortune. We do not wish for the world or its pleasures.

We are not displeased for the things that we cannot have. We see them with the most absolute indifference. That is not compatible with our tastes; consequently, we do not envy anyone who has such advantages, if any – which to our eyes it is a problem – since the puerile pleasures of this world do not ensure a place in the other world, much to the contrary. Our life is all about work and study, even dedicating our breaks to work. There is nothing in all this that may be a cause of envy. As many others do, we are bringing our stone to the edifice that is rising; however, we would blush if this were taken as a step to achieving anything. May others bring more stones than we do! May others work as much and better and we will see it all with real happiness. Before anything else and above all, what we want is the triumph of truth, coming from wherever it may, since we do not have the pretension of seeing the truth alone. If this can bring some glory, the field is open to everyone and we will reach out to everyone who will follow us through this tough path of life, with loyalty, with abnega- tion and without personal second intentions.


We knew very well that openly raising the flag of the ideas of which we became promoters, facing prejudices, we would attract enemies, always ready to throw poisoned arrows against whoever dares to stick the head out and be in evidence. There is, however, a difference between them and us. We do not wish them the harm that they want to inflict on us, for we understand the human fragility and that is the only point in which we consider ourselves superior to them.

Human beings violate themselves through envy, hatred, jealousy and all petty passions, but elevate themselves by the forgiveness of the offenses. That is the spiritist moral. Doesn’t that have as much value as those who destroy their fellow human beings? The spirits that assist us dictated such moral. We can then judge if they are good or bad from that. They show us the elevated things so great and the lower ones so little that we must only feel sorry for those who voluntarily torture themselves by providing transient satisfactions to their self-love.

Navy physician and naturalist traveler died on December 11th, 1858 at the age of 64. He was evoked on the 24 of the same month, by one of his friends, Mr. Sardou.


1. Evocation
- I am here. What do you want?

2. What is your current state?
- I am errant like the spirits who leave Earth and feel the desire to advance through the good path. We seek enlightenment and later we choose.

3. Have your ideas about the nature of human beings modified?
- Very much. You can assess that well.

4. What do you think now about the kind of life that you led in the existence that you have just left on Earth?
- I am happy since I have worked.

5. You thought that everything ends at the grave. Thus the Epicureanism and the desire that you sometime expressed of living for centuries, in order to enjoy life well. What do you think about those who have that philosophy?
- I am sorry for them. However, that thinking is useful to them.

With such a philosophy they can coldly appreciate everything that excites others. This allows them to judge in a sound way many things that easily fascinate the credulous.


OBSERVATION: This is a personal opinion of the spirit that we give as such and not as a maxim.

6. A person that endeavors morally, more than intellectually, does better than the one that is bonded to the intellectual progress, above all, and neglects the moral?
- Yes. The moral aspect is more important. God gives spirit as a reward to the good ones, whereas the moral must be acquired.


7. What do you understand by the spirit given by God?
- A vast intelligence.


8. However, there are many evil ones that have a vast intelligence.
- I told you already. You asked what would be better to endeavor to acquire, and I said that the moral would be preferable. But the one who works for the betterment of their spirit may ac- quire a high degree of intelligence. When will you understand it?


9. Are you completely detached from the material influence of the body?
- Yes. What you have been told about it only encompasses a small portion of humanity.



NOTE: It happened sometimes that evoked spirits, even a few months after their death, declared to be still under the influence of matter. All of them, though, were people that have not progressed moral or intellectually. It is to this part of humanity that the spirit of Paul Gaimard refers.


10. Have you had other existences on Earth, besides the last one?
- Yes.


11. Was the latest one a consequence of the preceding one?
- No. There was a large interval between them.

12. Despite the interval, however, couldn’t there be a relationship be- tween those two existences?
- If you understand me well, each minute of our lives is a consequence of the preceding minute.



NOTE: Attending this meeting, Dr. B. gave his opinion that certain instincts sometimes awake in us could well be the reflex of a preceding existence. He mentioned several cases perfectly verified in young ladies who, during their pregnancy, were led to erratic behavior, like for example the one that grabbed the arm of a young butcher, biting him ferociously; another one that beheaded a child and the lady herself took the child to the police commissioner; a third one that killed her husband, sliced him into pieces, salted him, feeding herself from him for several days. That doctor then asked if in previous existences wouldn’t those ladies have been anthropophagous.

13. You heard what Dr. B. has just mentioned. Would these instincts, which go by the name of desire in pregnant ladies, be a conse- quence of habits held on a previous existence?
- No. These are a transient madness; a passion in its highest degree. The spirit becomes eclipsed by the will.

NOTE: Dr. B. indicates that the physicians really consider these acts as transient madness. We share such opinion, but for other reasons, since persons not familiar with the spiritist phe- nomena are led to attribute them to exclusive causes that are known to them. We are persuaded that we must have reminis- cences of certain previous moral dispositions. We will even say that it is impossible that things occur differently, since progress only takes place gradually. But this is not the case here because the persons gave no signs of ferocity, before that pathological state. There was evidently only a temporary perturbation of the moral faculties. The reflex of previous dispositions is recog- nized through other signs, unequivocal in a way, which we will develop in a special article supported by facts.

14. Have you accomplished simultaneous moral as well as intellectual progress in your latest existence?
- Yes. Mainly intellectual.

15. Could you tell us what was the kind of life you had in your life before the last one?
- Oh! I was obscure. I had a family that I made unhappy. Later

I had to expiate in a hard way. But, why do you ask me? That is over and now I am in a new phase.

NOTE: Paul Gaimard died single, at the age of 64. More than once he regretted not having had a family.

16. Do you expect to reincarnate soon?
- No. I want to study first. We like this errant state because the soul is more its own self; the spirit has more consciousness of its strength. The flesh weighs, darkens and hinders.

NOTE: All spirits say that they study, do research and ob- serve in the errant state, in order to make a choice. Isn’t that the counterpart of the corporeal life? Don’t we make mis- takes, sometimes for years, before we select a career that we consider more adequate to our progress? Don’t we sometimes change it as we get more mature? Don’t we go about everyday trying to establish what to do next? Well, what do the several corporeal existences represent to the spirit other than periods, days of the spiritual life that is, as we know, the normal life, for the corporeal life is only transient and passing? Nothing more sublime than this theory. Isn’t that in perfect agreement with the harmonious grandiosity of the universe? Still once more, it was not us who invented that and we are sorry for not having that merit. Nevertheless, the more we go deep into that theory the more we find it productive in solving the problems that were inexplicable hitherto.

17. In which planet do you plan or wish to reincarnate?
- I don’t know. Give me time to search.


18. Which kind of existence would you ask God for?
- The continuation of the last one; the greatest possible development of the intellectual faculties.


19. It seems that you place the intellectual development in the first line, leaving the moral faculties in second place, contrary to what you said before.
- My heart is not sufficiently well formed to be able to appreciate the others.


20. Do you see the other spirits and have a relationship with them?
- Yes.


21. Are there some among them with whom you were acquainted on Earth?
- Yes. Dumont-d’Urville.


22. Do you also see the spirit of Jacques Arago, with whom you traveled?
- Yes.


23. Are those spirits in the same condition as yours?
- No. Some are more elevated, others less.


24. We refer to the spirits of Dumont-d’Urville and Jacques Arago.
- I don’t want to specify.


25. Are you happy that we have evoked you?
- Yes, particularly for one person.


26. Can we do anything for you?
- Yes.


27. If we evoked you within a few months, would you still kindly answer our questions?
- With pleasure. Good-bye.

28. You say good-bye. Can you please tell us where you are going to?
- Without any waste of time (to express myself as I would have done a few days ago), I will cross a space a thousand times longer than the itinerary that I followed in my journeys on Earth, which I considered so long, and that in less than a second, out of a thought. I am going to a meeting of spirits where I will take lessons and where I will be able to learn my new Science, my new life. Good-bye.

OBSERVATION: Who had known Mr. Paul Gaimard perfectly well would attest that this communication is highlighted by the hallmark of his individuality. Learn, see and get to know things were his domi- nant passion. That is what explains his trips around the world and to the regions of the North Pole, as well as his excursions to Russia and Poland, during the first breakout of cholera in Europe. Dominated by his passion and by the need of satisfying it, he exhibited a rare cold blood before the greatest dangers. That is how, thanks to his calmness and determination, he was able to free himself from an anthropopha- gus tribe that had surprised him in a Pacific island.

One statement of his characterizes well his avidity for seeing new things, for watching the spectacle of unexpected accidents. One day, during the most dramatic period of 1848, he said: “What a happiness to live during a period so fertile of extraordinary and unpredictable events!”

Almost uniquely dedicated to the sciences that deal with the orga- nized matter, his spirit had substantially neglected the philosophical sciences. Thus, one could say that his ideas lacked elevation. However, not a single act of his life demonstrates that he had ignored the great moral laws imposed on humanity. In short, Mr. Paul Gaimard had a beautiful intelligence. Essentially worthy and honest, naturally kind, he was incapable of causing any loss to anybody. We can only criticize his perhaps excessive friendship with the pleasures; but neither the world nor the pleasures corrupted his reason or his heart. Thus, Mr. Paul Gaimard was worthy of the friend who misses him and everyone that knew him. SARDOU

Somnambulist, deceased in Annonay, about a year ago. Although illit- erate, she had a remarkable lucidity, particularly with respect to medi- cal issues.

One of our corresponding members that knew her when she was alive, thinking that some useful teachings might be obtained, sent us a few questions to be addressed to her in case we thought it would be ad- equate to evoke her. It was what we did in the session of the Society, on January 28th, 1859.

1. Evocation.
- I am here. What do you want from me?

2. Do you have an exact memory of your corporeal existence? - Yes, very precise.

3. Can you describe your current situation to us?
- It is the same as every spirit that inhabits Earth. Generally have the intuition of the good and, nonetheless, cannot meet perfect happiness, only reserved to a higher degree of perfection.



4. When alive, you were a lucid somnambulist. Could you tell us if the lucidity of those days was analogous to the present one, as spirit?
- No. It was different since I did not have the timeliness and sharpness that my spirit has now.


5. Is the somnambulistic lucidity an anticipation of the spiritual life, that is, a separation between the spirit and matter?
- It is one of the phases of the Earthly life; but the Earthly life is the same as the celestial life.


6. What do you mean by saying that the Earthly life is the same as the celestial life?
- That the chain of existences if formed by rings, in a continuous sequence. No interruption can preclude its course. One can then say that Earthly life is the continuation of the pre- ceding celestial life and the prelude of the future celestial life, and so on, for all incarnations of the spirit. This means that between two incarnations there is not an absolute separation as you think.

OBSERVATION: During the terrestrial life the spirit or soul may act independently of matter and, at certain times, the human being enjoys the spiritual life, during the sleep or even in the state of vigil. Considering that the faculties of the spirit are exercised, despite the presence of the body, there is be- tween the Earthly life and life beyond the grave a constant correlation that led Mrs. Reynaud to say the same thing. The following question clarified her thought.

7. Why then not everybody is a somnambulist?
- The fact is that you still ignore that all of you are but in differing degrees, not only when you sleep but awake as well.


8. We understand that all of us are more or less somnambu- lists, during the sleep, since the dream is a kind of imperfect somnambulism. But what do you mean by saying that we are also even in the state of vigil?
- Don’t you have intuitions that you are not aware of and that are nothing but a faculty of the spirit? The poet is a medium, a somnambulist.


9. Has your somnambulistic faculty contributed to the development of your spirit after your death?
- A little.


10. At the time of your death did you remain perturbed for a long time?
- No. I immediately recognized myself. I was surrounded by friends.


11. Do you attribute your prompt detachment to your lucid somnambulism?
- Yes, a little. I already knew about the fate of the agonizing, but that would not do me any good if I did not have a soul capable of conquering a better life, thanks to a higher number of good faculties.

12. Is it possible to be a good somnambulist not having a spirit of an elevated order?
- Yes. The faculties are always in agreement. You are really mis- taken when you think that these faculties require a certain disposition. No, what you think is good is actually, at times, bad. If you don’t understand it I will elaborate on this idea.

There are somnambulists who know the future and tell things that are facts of the past completely ignored in their normal state. There are others who perfectly describe the character of the persons that interrogate them; they tell their age as well as the amount of money they have in their pockets, and so forth. That does not require any real superiority. It is only the exer- cise of the faculty that the spirit has and that is manifested in the sleeping somnambulists. What requires a real superiority is the employment of that faculty for the good; it is the con- sciousness of good and evil; understanding God better than people do; it is the ability of giving advices capable of making others advance in the path of good and happiness.

13. Does the employment of their faculty influence the state of the somnambulist’s spirits after their death?
- Yes, and a lot, as with the bad or good employment of all faculties given by God.


14. Can you explain to us how come you have medical knowledge without having had any formal education?
- It is always a faculty of the spirit. Other spirits advised me. I was a medium: it is the state of all somnambulists.


15. The medications prescribed by a somnambulist are always indi- cated by another spirit or are they also given from instinct, simi- larly to what happens with the animals that look for the herb that is healthy to them?
- They are indicated, if the somnambulist asks for advice, in case his experience is not sufficient. He knows them by their qualities.
16. Is the magnetic fluid the agent of the somnambulistic lucidity?
- No. It is the agent of sleep.


17. Is the magnetic fluid the agent of vision, in the state of spirit?
- No.
18. Do you see us here as clearly as when alive, and with your body?
- Now I see even better. I see further into the inner individual.

19. Could you see us in the same way if we were in the dark?
- Yes, the same way.


20. Do you see us better, worse or as well as when you were alive, in the somnambulistic state?
- Even better.


21. What is the agent or the intermediary that allows you to see?
- My spirit. I have no eyes or pupils; I have no retina or lashes; however, I see better than any of you see your neighbor. You see through your eyes but it is your spirit that sees.

22. Are you aware of darkness?
- I know it exists to you, not to me.

OBSERVATION: This confirms what we have always been told: that the faculty of vision is a property inherent to the own nature of the spirit and that resides in the whole being. In the body, it is localized.

23. May the second sight or remote viewing be compared to the som- nambulistic state?
- Yes. The faculty does not come from the body.


24. Does the magnetic fluid emanate from the nervous system or it is spread into atmosphere?
- From the nervous system but the nervous system takes it from the atmosphere, which is its main source. The atmosphere itself does not have it. It comes from the beings that populate the universe. It is not the nothingness that produces it. It is, on the contrary, an accumulation of life and electricity ex- tracted from that crowd of beings.

25. Is the nervous system fluid its own fluid or would that be the result of the combination of all other imponderable fluids that penetrate the bodies, like heat, light and electricity?
- Yes and no. You don’t know the phenomena sufficiently to say that. Your words cannot express what you want to say.


26. What is the cause of the numbness produced by the magnetic action? - The agitation produced by the overload of the fluid that the magnetized person accumulates.


27. Does the magnetic power of the magnetizer depend on his physi- cal organization?
- Yes, but it also depends much on his character. In a word: depends on him.


28. What are the moral qualities that can help the somnambulist in the development of their faculty?
- The good ones. You asked about the ones that can help.



29. What are the defects that can mostly harm it?
- The ill faith.


30. What are the most essential qualities of the magnetizer?
- The heart; the always-firm good intentions; the disinterest.

31. What are the defects that mostly harm them?
- The bad inclinations, or even worse, the desire to cause harm.


32. When alive, did you use to see the spirits in the somnambulistic state?
- Yes.
33. Why don’t all somnambulists see them?
- They all see at times and on several degrees of clarity.


34. Where does the faculty of seeing the spirits come from, in certain non-somnambulistic persons?
- That is a gift from God, as intelligence and benevolence to others is a gift from God.


35. Does such a faculty result from a special physical organization?
- No.
36. Can it be lost?
- Yes, as much as it can be acquired.


37. What are the causes that may determine its loss?
- We have said that already: the malevolent intentions. As a first condition it is necessary the intent of making good use of that faculty. Given that, one needs to verify if such a favor is deserved, since it is not given uselessly. The difficulty to those who have that faculty is that it meddles with the unfortunate human passion that you know well – pride – even when there is the desire of seeking the best results. They brag about what is really God’s work and many times want to take advantage of that. Good-bye now.

38. Where are you going from here?
- To my occupations.


39. Could you tell us more about your occupations?
- I have some, like you do. I try to learn and for that I take part in a society of those who are better than me. While rest- ing, I do the good deeds. My life moves on with the hope of reaching a greater happiness. We have no material need to satisfy and, consequently, our whole activity aims at our moral progress.

A Navy Officer present in the Session of the Society on February 4th last, showed his wishes to have a Tahitian chef called Hitoti evoked, who he met when visiting the Oceania.

1. Evocation
- What do you want?

2. Could you tell us why you preferred to embrace the French cause in the Oceania?
- I liked that nation. Besides, my interest obliged me to that.


3. Were you happy with the trip to France that we provided to your grandson and with the care given to him?
- Yes and no. The trip might perhaps have improved his spirit a lot but that made him completely alien to his homeland, for it gave him ideas that he should never have entertained.


4. What were the rewards from the French government that pleased you the most?
- The decorations.



5. What was your preferred decoration?
- The Legion of Honor

OBSERVATION: The medium and all of those attending the meet- ing ignored this circumstance. The person who made the evocation confirmed it. Although the medium was intuitive and not mechani- cal, how could such a thought have been attributed to him? It could be admitted in the case of an ordinary question, but this would be inadmissible since dealing with a positive fact from which nobody could have given him any idea about.

6. Are you happier now than when you were when alive?
- Yes, much more.

7. What is the state of your spirit?
- Errant, but I must reincarnate.


8. What do you do in this errant life?
- I enlighten myself.

OBSERVATION: This answer is almost general among the errant spirits. The more morally advanced they are the more they add the practice of good and assistance to those who need their advices.

9. How do you get instructed since you don’t do that in the same way you did when alive?
- I work my spirit and travel. I understand that this is not very clear. Later you will know.


10. Which regions do you visit with more satisfaction?
- Regions? Rest assured that I do not travel over your Earth. I move up and down; I go from one side to the other, moral and physically. I have seen and examined worlds with great care at your sunrise as well as your sunset; some which are still in terrible states of barbarism and others well above yours.

11. You said that you would be incarnate soon. Do you know in which world?
- Yes. I have been there many times.


12. Can you designate it?
- No.


13. Why do you neglect Earth in your travels?
- Because I already know it.


14. Although you don’t travel around Earth any longer, do you still think of some persons that you loved?
- A little.


15. Aren’t you concerned with the persons who gave you affection?
- A little.


16. Do you remember them?
- Very well. But we will meet again and then I hope to pay them everything back. I was asked if I do not worry about them. No, but it does not mean that I forgot them.


17. Haven’t you seen again that friend I referred to earlier on and that, like you, is also dead?
- Yes but we will see one another more physically. We will incarnate in the same sphere and our paths will cross.


18. We are thankful to you for attending our appeal.
- Good-bye. Work and think.

OBSERVATION: The person that did the evocation and knows the habits of those people declares that the last statement is in agreement with their practices. It is a usual expression among them, kind of vulgar, and which the medium could not guess. It is also acknowledged that the whole conversation is in agreement with the character of the evoked spirit and that his identification is evident.

The answer to question 17 offers remarkable insight: we will incarnate in the same sphere and our paths will cross. It is dem- onstrated that the beings that loved each other meet in the world of the spirits. However, as it seems also from many analogous an- swers, one may also follow the other in their corporeal existences. Then, unnoticeably, the circumstances lead them closer through physical relationships or through friendships. This gives us the reason for certain sympathies.

Mr. J..., one of our comrades at the Society, had seen blue flames fly- ing around several times, over his bed. Certain that it was a kind of manifestation, we had the idea of evoking one of those spirits in the session of January 20th last, in order to learn about their nature.


1. Evocation.
- But what is it that you want from me?


2. What was the objective of your manifestation at Mr. J...’ house?
- Why does it matter to you?


3. In reality it is not important to me but to Mr. J... is different.
- Ah! What a good reason!

NOTE: Mr. Kardec framed the initial questions. Mr. J... contin- ued the interview.

4. The fact is that I do not receive anyone in my house just out of good will.
- You are wrong. I am very good.

5. Can you then do me a favor and let me know what are you doing in my house?
- Do you really believe that because I am good I must obey you?

6. I was told that you are a frivolous spirit.
- Then I was very badly judged.

7. If it is a calumny than prove it.
- I don’t care.

8. I could well use means of making you state whom you really are.
- My word that I would have some fun with that.

9. I demand that you say what you have come to do in my house.
- I had only one objective: have fun.

10. This is not in agreement with what I was told by the superior spirits.
- I was sent to your house and you know the reason. Are you happy?



11. You lied then?
- No.


12. Didn’t you then have ill intentions?
- You were told the same as I did.


13. Can you tell us what your category among the spirits is?
- Your curiosity amuses me.


14. Since you pretend to be good, why don’t you respond to the questions in a more convenient way?
- Have I eventually insulted you?


15. No but why do you respond evasively and refuse to give me the explanations that I require?
- I have the freedom to do what I want, under the command of certain spirits though.


16. That is good! I see with pleasure that you begin to be more reasonable hence I foresee that we will have a friendly relationship.
- Stop the useless talk! It will be much better


17. Under which form are you here?
- I have no form.


18. Do you know what the perispirit is?
- No, unless it is the wind.


19. What can I do to please you?
- I told you already. Shut up.


20. The mission that was assigned to you in my house, has it made you improve as a spirit?
- That is another subject. Do not ask me such questions. You know that I obey certain spirits. Talk to them. As for me, let me go.


21. Have we eventually had a bad relationship in another existence that would be the cause of your bad humor?
- Don’t you remember how badly you spoke of me to whoever wanted to hear? Shut up, I tell you.


22. I only speak of you what the superior spirits has said about you.
- You also said that I had obsessed you.


23. Were you happy with the end result?
- That is my problem.


24. Do you then want me to keep an unfavorable opinion of you?
- It is possible. I am leaving.

OBSERVATION: From the reported conversations we can see the extreme diversity in the language of the spirits, according to their degree of elevation. The language of spirits of this nature is character- ized by rudeness and impatience. When invited to serious meetings it is noticeable that they do not come willingly and are in a hurry to leave, for they do not feel comfortable among their superior spirits and among people that put pressure on them with questions. The same does not happen in frivolous meeting where people enjoy their mockery. There, these spirits are in their element and rejoice.

Letter to Sura (Book VII – Letter 27)

“Our break allows you to teach, while I learn. I wish I knew if the ghosts do have something of real; if they have a real expression; if they are genies or no more than vain images created by imaginations disturbed by fear. What leads me to believe that there really are true shad- ows is what I was told that happened to Curtius Rufus. When he did not have a name or fortune yet he followed the governor to Africa. One eve- ning Rufus was strolling under a porch when a lady of impressive beauty and elegance presented herself to him and said: “I am Africa. I come to predict what is going to happen to you. You will go to Rome; you will be in charge of the highest positions; then you will return to govern this province, where you will die.”


“It all happened as she had predicted. Some even say that the same figure showed up to him when he left the ship upon arrival at the port of Cartago.” “The truth is that he was taken ill and by judging the future from the good things of the past, and by the misfortune that threatened the good luck he had enjoyed, he soon lost any hope of cure, despite the opinion of his closest ones.”


“Here you have another story, not less remarkable and much more terrible. I will tell you the way I heard it.”


“There was a very large and comfortable house in Athens which was condemned and deserted. In the deepest quietness of the night, noises of chains and shackles were heard - in the beginning it seemed to have come from far away but the noises got gradually closer. Soon the shadow of a somewhat very skinny old man showed up, pale, bearing a long beard, di- sheveled hair, chains in his feet and wrists, which he would violently shake. All that explained the horrible and sleepless nights of the people who lived in the house. The prolonged insomnia brought the disease, and the disease, multiplying the horror, was followed by death; during the day, although the shadow would not appear, the impression it had left would always revive in people’s minds, and the fear it had caused generated new fear.”

“The house was finally abandoned, left to the ghost. It was an- nounced on the market for sale or rent, in the hopes that someone not well informed about the terrible nuisance could be deceived.”

“Athenodorus, the philosopher, came to Athens. He reads the ad for the house and wishes to know the price. The low numbers make him suspicious. He searches for clues. He learned about the story and, far from breaking the deal, he rushed to cut it. He then moves in; comes the af- ternoon and he asks to have his bed moved to the front bedroom; he also wishes to have planchettes, pen and light brought in, and that the remain- ing persons be dislodged to the back of the house.”

“Fearing that his imagination could be taken over by a cold horror, to the point of imagining ghosts, he delivers his mind, his eyes and hands to writing. In the beginning, as evening breaks, a profound quietness falls around the house. All is then broken by the noise of chains and shackles. He does not raise his eyes nor stop writing; he calms down and tries to listen. The noise increases, comes closer and gives the impression that it is at the door. He then looks and sees the shadow, as it was described to him. The ghost was standing, calling him with his finger. He then wastes no time, stands up, takes the lamp and follows the ghost that walks with difficulty, as if pressed by the weight of the chains. Arriving at the internal courtyard, the ghost suddenly disappears, leaving behind our philosopher who then picks leafs and herbs, using them to identify the place where the ghost disappeared. On the very next day he sought the courts, requesting authorization to excavate the place. Once it was done they found bones still attached to chains. Time had eaten the flesh. All remains were care- fully gathered, and a proper public burial carried out; since the last eulo- gies and tributes were duly paid to the deceased, he never showed up again or perturbed the peace of the house.”


“What I have just told you I did so by repeating the word passed on to me by someone else. Here, however, is what I can attest to others from my own faith:”

“I have a freed slave by the name of Marcus, who is not an ignorant man. He was lying in bed with his younger brother when he thought to have seen someone else sitting on his bed, and who had swung a pair of scissors by his head, to the point of cutting his hair over his forehead. In the morning he noticed that he had his hair cut at the top of his head and the hair was spread on the floor around him. Soon after, a similar thing happened to one of my relatives who gave me no doubts about the previ- ous event. One of my young slaves was asleep with his mates, in the rooms that were destined to them. According to their story, two men dressed in white came to the room through the window, cut his hair thin on top, while asleep, and left the same way they had entered. He was found bald head the day after, like the other one, and his hair spread on the floor.”

“Such adventures had no consequences other than having me accused before Domitian, in whose Empire these things took place. Had he out- lived me and I would not have escaped since there was a complaint against me that was found in his briefcase, filed by Carus. From this, one may conjecture that since the habit of the accused was to allow their hair to grow freely out of negligence, those who had cut the hair of my people assured that I was in no danger. I beg you to give all the attention to this subject. It deserves profound meditation and perhaps I am not unworthy of sharing your clarifications. If, as it is in your traditions, you balance the two contrary opinions, make the scale swing in one direction so that I can be spared from such a discomfort. I consult with you about nothing else but this – Farewell.”

Answers given by Pliny to questions addressed to him at the Society, on January 28th, 1859

1. Evocation
- Speak that I will respond.

2. Although you have been dead for about 1743 years, do you still keep memories of your life in Rome during Trajan’s time?
- Why then we, the spirits, would not remember? You have memories of several years of your infancy. What is a previous existence to the spirit other than the infancy of existences, which we have to go through before reaching the end of the trials? Every worldly existence or existence wrapped by the material veil, is a step to- wards the ether, and at the same time a material and spiritual infancy: spiritual because the spirit is still in the beginning of the trials; material because the spirit has just got to the more dense phases, through which they must learn and depurate.

3. Could you tell us what you have been doing since that time?
- It would take long to tell you what I have done. I tried to be good. No doubt you wouldn’t like to spend hours and hours until I told you everything. Then be satisfied with an answer. I repeat: I tried to do the good deeds, learn and lead the Earthly beings to approach the Creator of all things, the One who gives us the spiritual as well as the material bread.


4. In which world do you live now?
- Never mind. I spend some time everywhere. Space is my do- main and of many others too. These are questions that a wise spirit, enlightened by the saint and Divine ray, should not respond, unless on very rare occasions.

5. In a letter that you wrote to Sura you reported three cases of ap- paritions. Do you remember them?
- I confirm them because they were true. You daily have similar facts to which you don’t pay attention. Those are very simple, but at that time, they were considered remarkable. This should not surprise you. Leave these things behind since you have others much more extraordinary.

6. However, we would like to ask you a few questions with regard to this.
- I will give you generic answers and that will be enough for you. Nonetheless, ask if you will. I will give you terse answers.


7. In the first case a lady appears to Curtius Rufus, and tells him that she is Africa. But who was that lady?
- A great figure. It seems to me that she is too simple to the enlightened people of the XIX century.


8. What was the reason behind the appearance of Athenodorus’ spirit, and why those shackles’ noises?
- Symbol of slavery; manifestation; means of convincing people and to draw their attention, making them talk about it and demonstrate the existence of the spiritual world.


9. You defended the cause of the persecuted Christians before Trajan. Were you driven by a simple duty of humanity or by conviction, regarding the truthfulness of that Doctrine?
- Both but humanity came second.


10.. What do you think about your panegyric of Trajan?
- It should be redone.


11. You wrote about the history of your time, writings which have been lost. Could you repair that loss by dictating it to us?
- The spiritual world does not manifest for these things in particular. You have these forms of manifestations but they have their objectives. There are multiple guidelines, laid down on the left and on the right hand side of the great path of truth. But leave it behind; do not dedicate your time or studies to that. It is up to us to see and judge what is important to you to learn. There is a time for everything. Thus, do not move away from the guidelines that we have delineated to you.

12. We are pleased to be worthy of your elevation and above all, your altruism. They say that you charged nothing to the clients who were defended by you. Was such altruism as rare in Rome as it is among us?

- Don’t praise my past qualities. I give no importance to them. The altruism is almost non-existent in your century. In every two hundred people you will find only one or two true al- truist. You know very well that this is the century of money and selfishness. Presently, people are made of mud, coated by metal. Formerly, there was feeling, the stuff of antiquity; today, there is only the social position.

13. Although not defending our century, it does seem that it is more valuable than yours, when corruption was in its apex and accusa- tions had no sacred grounds.
- I give you an accurate depiction. I know that there wasn’t much altruism over that time; however there was something that you don’t have or have in small dose – the love of beauty, of noble, of greatness. I speak about everybody. Today’s in- dividual, particularly those of the west, and even more par- ticularly the French, have their hearts ready to achieve great things but that is only a transient spark. Soon there comes reflection and reflection leads to second thoughts, saying: the positive, the positive before anything else. Then selfishness and money take the lead again. We manifest ourselves exactly because you have moved away from the principles given by Jesus. So long. You will not understand.

OBSERVATION: We understand very well that our cen- tury falls short of what is expected. Its ulcer is selfishness and selfishness engenders greed and the mindless search for opulence. From that point of view we are far from the altru- ism that the Roman people gave us so many sublime examples, during a certain period, but which was not that of Pliny. However, it would be unfair not to recognize its superiority in more than one point, even over the most beautiful times of Rome that also had its time of barbarism. Then, there was ferocity even in greatness and altruism, while our century is going to be marked by the soothing of the traditions and by the feelings of justice and humanity, which presides over all institutions since birth and even over the disputes among nations.


ALLAN KARDEC

Everyone will, without exception, sooner or later, reach the fatal term of their lives. No force can takeaway from us this requirement and it should be viewed as very positive. Oftentimes the concerns about the world deviate our thoughts from what happens beyond the grave, but when the supreme moment comes, only a few do not wonder what they will become, since the idea of leaving their lives behind, without the possibility of coming back, does not sit well. Indeed, who could face with indifference the idea of an absolute and eternal separation from everything that was cherished? Who could fearlessly see, opening before their eyes, the immense abyss of emptiness, in which all their faculties and hopes would forever vanish?

“What? After me, it is the void; nothing more than emptiness; everything irremediably vanished? A few days more and the reminiscence will disappear from the memories of those that outlived me; soon no traces of my passage on this Earth; even the good things that I had done will be forgotten by the ungrateful who I have helped, and nothing to compensate for all that; no perspective but to have my body devoured by worms?!”

Such a materialistic image of the end, painted by a Spirit who had nourished those thoughts, doesn’t that represent something horrifying and catastrophic? Religion teaches us that it cannot be so and reason reinforces that fact. But that vague and undefined future existence contains nothing that can satisfy our love for the positive things. That is what generates doubts in so many minds.

Be it, we have a soul! But what is our soul? Does it have a form and an appearance? Is it a limited or an undefined being? Some say that it is the breath of God; others that it is a spark; others still that it is part of a great whole, the principle of life and intelligence. Nevertheless, what can we conclude from it all? Some still say that the soul is immaterial. But an immaterial thing could not have defined proportions. It represents nothing to us.

Religion also teaches us that we will be happy or unhappy according to the good or bad deeds that we may have practiced. But what is such happiness, waiting for us by God’s side? Will it be beatitude, an eternal contemplation, without other objective but to sing praises to the Creator? Are the flames of hell a reality or a fiction? The Church itself understands it in the latter meaning; but what are the sufferings? Where is the place of torment? In one word, what is it that is seen or done in this world that waits for us in the next? There is a saying that nobody has returned to give us advice. This is a mistake and that is precisely the mission of Spiritism, enlightening us about such a future, allowing us, so to speak, to touch and see it, not by reasoning but by facts.

Thanks to the spiritist communications it is no longer a presumption or a probability, about which each person gives wings to imagination and the poets beautify with their fictions or fulfill it with deceiving allegoric images. It is the reality that presents itself to us, since it is them, the very beings of beyond the grave who come to describe their situation and talk to us about what they are doing, thus allowing us to observe all events of their new life, then showing us the inevitable fate that waits for us, according to our merits and demerits. Would there be anything antireligious in this? Much to the contrary since the incredulous finds faith in that and the tepid a renovation of their fervor and confidence. Spiritism is then the most powerful ally of religion. And if that is the case it is because God allows so, allowing it to animate our vacillating hopes and to redirect us to the good path, through the perspective of the future that looms ahead of us.

The conversations from beyond the grave that we publish; the descriptions contained about the situation of the Spirits who speak with us, revealing their penalties, their joys and affairs; these are an animated picture of the Spirits’ life, and it is in the variety of subjects that we can find the analogies most interesting to us. Let us try to summarize that picture.



Let us initially consider the soul when leaving this world, and let us see what happens in that transmigration. Having the vital forces been extinguished, the Spirit detaches from the body at the moment when the organic life ceases. The separation, however, is not abrupt and instantaneous. It sometimes starts before the complete cessation of life and it is not always finished at the time of death. We know that between the Spirit and the body there is a semi-material link that forms the first envelope. It is that link that does not break suddenly. While it persists, the Spirit remains in a state of perturbation, comparable to the one that follows our waking up. The Spirit frequently even doubting its own death; feels that it still exists, sees itself and does not understand that it can live without its body, from which it is now separated. The bonds that still attach the Spirit to matter make it accessible to certain sensations that are mistaken as physical sensations. The Spirit only recognizes itself when completely free. Up until then it does not understand its situation. The duration of such a state of perturbation, as we have said on other occasions, is very variable: it can be of a few hours as well as a few months, but it is rare the case in which after a few days the Spirit does not recognize itself, more or less well. However, since everything is strange and unknown, the Spirit requires a certain time to become familiarized with the new way of seeing things.

The very moment when one of them sees the end of the bondage, through the breakdown of the links that attached it to the body, that moment is solemn. When entering into the world of the Spirits friends who come to greet it, as if returning from a long journey, welcome it. If the journey was fortunate, that is, if the time of exile was employed in a productive way for the Spirit, and it has elevated itself in the hierarchy of the world of the Spirits, they congratulate it. The Spirit meets its acquaintances, mingles with those who love it and with whom it sympathizes, and thus its new existence truly begins. The semi-material envelope of the Spirit constitutes a kind of body, of a definite and limited form, analogous to that of the physical body. But that semi-material body does not have our organs and cannot feel our impressions. Nevertheless, it can perceive everything that we perceive: light, sounds, smells, etc. These sensations are not less real, although they have nothing of material; they are even clearer, more precise, subtler, since they get to the Spirit without intermediaries, not passing through the filter of the organs that attenuate them. The faculty of perception is inherent to the Spirit; it is an attribute of the whole being. The sensations get to them from all sides and not through circumscribed channels. Talking about the vision, a Spirit once said: “It is a faculty of the Spirit and not of the body. You see through the eyes however it is not the eyes that see but the Spirit.”

Due to the conformation of our organs, we need certain vehicles for the sensations. That is why we need the light to see the objects and the air to transmit the sounds. Such vehicles become useless once we no longer bear the intermediaries that make them indispensable. Thus, as a consequence, the Spirit sees without the need of our light and hears without the need of the vibrations of the air. That is why there is no obscurity to the Spirit. Nevertheless, the permanent and undefined sensations, however pleasant they may be, would become tiresome with time, in case they could not be blocked. Hence the Spirit has the faculty of suspending them. The Spirit can stop seeing, hearing, feeling this or that at will, and consequently, does not see nor hear or feel but only what is desired. Such a faculty is relative to the Spirit’s superiority, since there are things that the inferior Spirits cannot avoid, thus the reason why their situation becomes painful.

In the beginning the Spirit does not understand such a new way of feeling, only gradually becoming aware of that over time. Those whose intelligence is limited do not absolutely understand it and would feel great difficulty in expressing it, exactly like among us the ignorant sees and moves not knowing how or why.

Such impossibility of understanding what is beyond their reach, added to the jester, the usual companion of ignorance, is the source of absurd theories given by certain Spirits that would lead us to mistakes, if we accepted it without control and if we were not assured by the means offered by experience and by the habit of talking to them, with respect to the degree of trust that they deserve.

There are sensations whose source is the actual state of our organs. Well, the needs that are inherent to the body no longer exist since the body is no more. Hence the Spirit does not experience fatigue, or the need for resting or feeding, since there is no loss to recover. The Spirit is not taken ill by any of our diseases. The needs of the body determine social needs that are inexistent to the Spirit. Therefore, there is no more business concerns, disagreements, the thousand and one tribulations of the world and the torments we face to attend our needs or the superfluous in life. They feel sorry for our endeavor towards futilities. However, the happier the elevated Spirits, the more the inferior Spirits suffer, but such sufferings are mainly anguish that, although not material, are no less difficult. They have all the passions and desires that they had when alive (we refer to the inferior Spirits) and their punishment is that of not being able to satisfy them. It is a torture considered eternal to them, since their inferiority does not allow them to see the end, which again is a source of punishment.

The articulate word is a necessity of our organization. Since the Spirits no longer need the vibrations of the sound to reach their ears, they understand each other through the transmission of thought, as we sometimes understand one another through the looks in our eyes. However, the Spirits make noise. We know that they can act upon matter and that matter transmits the sound to us. That is how they make themselves understood, be it through knocks or screams that break in the air. But they do that to reach us and not one another. We will return to this subject in a special article in which we will deal with the faculty of the hearing mediums.

While we painfully drag our material and heavy body on Earth, like the condemned prisoner in chains, the body of the Spirits, vaporous and ethereal, tirelessly moves from one place to the other; it tears space with the speed of thought, penetrating everything, not finding any material obstacle.

The Spirits see everything that we see and even more clearly than we do. More than that, they see what our limited senses cannot see. Since they penetrate matter they can discover things that matter hides from our vision.

As a result, the Spirits are not vague and undefined beings, as from the abstract definitions of the soul mentioned above. They are real beings, determined, constrained, that enjoy all of our faculties and others that are unknown to us, as those are inherent to their nature. They have the faculties of their peculiar matter and constitute the invisible world that populates space, incessantly surrounding and nudging us. Let us suppose for a moment that the material veil that hides them from our eyes is lifted. We would see ourselves surrounded by a crowd of beings who come and go, agitating around us and observing us, in the same way that we would do if we were taking part in an assembly of blind people. We are the blind ones to the Spirits and they are the ones who can see.

We said that the Spirits sometimes need to recognize themselves when entering into their new life; that everything is strange and unknown to them. The question that follows is how can that be, considering that the Spirit has already had other corporeal existences? Those existences were separated by time intervals in which the Spirit inhabited the world of the Spirits. Then, such a world should not be unknown, considering that it is not the first time that the Spirit sees it.

Several causes contribute to the fact that those perceptions seem new, although they have already been experienced. As we said, death is always followed by a period of perturbation, but that it can be of a short duration. In that sense the Spirit’s ideas are always vague and confuse; the corporeal life, to a certain extent, confuses with the life of the Spirit and the Spirit cannot separate them in its mind. Once the first impression is dissipated, the ideas become progressively clearer and the memory of the past gradually returns, since such a memory never surges abruptly. It is only when the Spirit is completely dematerialized that the past unfolds before its eyes, like a shadow that comes out of the mist. It is then that the Spirit remembers its acts during its latest existence, then the existences prior to that and the various passages through the world of the Spirits. Thus, it is understandable that for a certain period such world may seem new to the Spirit, until it is completely recovered and thoroughly recalled the precise memories of the sensations experienced in that world.

Another, no less important, cause, however, should be added.

The state of the Spirit, as a Spirit, varies extraordinarily in proportion to their elevation and to their degree of purity. As the Spirit elevates and purifies, their perceptions and sensations become more accurate; they acquire more acuity, more subtleness, and more kindness; they see, feel and understand things that they could not see, feel or understand in an inferior condition. Thus, as each existence is an opportunity of progress, the Spirit is thrown into a new environment. As it has progressed, Spirits of another order, whose thoughts and habits are all different, will surround it. Add the fact that such purification allows the Spirit, always as Spirit, to penetrate in those worlds inaccessible to the inferior Spirits. The less enlightened the more limited the horizon of the Spirit. The more the Spirit elevates and depurates, the more that horizon amplifies and with that the circles of ideas and perceptions.

The following comparison may facilitate our understanding:
Suppose a rude, ignorant peasant, comes to Paris for the first time. Will that person be able to get to know and understand the elegant and topnotch intellectual environments of Paris? No, for the person will only get around those of the same class and the neighborhoods inhabited by them. But if in the interim between the first and the second trip that peasant has developed and acquired education and good manners, his habits and relationships will change. He will then see a new world, not at all similar to the Paris of former times.

The same happens to the Spirits but not all of them experience the same degree of uncertainty. As they progress, their ideas develop and their memory sharpens up. They get previously familiarized with their new situation hence their return to the world of the Spirits no longer entails any cause for admiration. They feel like they are in their own element again, and, once the first moment of perturbation is over, they reintegrate almost immediately.

That is the general situation of the Spirits in a state that we call erraticity (errant state). But what do they do in such a state? How do they spend their time? This is of capital importance to us. They are the ones who are going to answer this, as they were the ones who gave the explanations that we have just transmitted, since none of that is the result of our imagination. It is not a system that came out of our minds. We judge from what we have seen and heard.

Leaving aside any opinion relatively to Spiritism, one has to acknowledge that such a theory about life beyond the grave has nothing of irrational. It shows a perfectly logical sequence and chain of events that would honor any philosopher.

We would be mistaken if we believed that the life of the Spirit is an idle life. On the contrary, it is essentially active and all Spirits talk about their occupations. Those occupations vary necessarily, according to the Spirit being errant or incarnate. In the state of incarnation they are relative to the nature of the worlds they inhabit; the needs depend on the physical and moral state of those worlds, as well as the organization of the living beings. This is not what we will discuss here. We are going to talk about the errant Spirits.

Among those who have already achieved a certain degree of development, some assist with the execution of God’s designs, in the great destinies of the Universe; they drive the march of events, supporting the progress of each world. Others take individuals under their protection, becoming their tutor genies and guardian angels. Follow people from birth to death, struggling to guide them through the good path. They feel happy when their efforts are rewarded with success. Some of them incarnate in inferior worlds try to accomplish missions of progress. Through their work, examples, good feelings and advices, they endeavor to make some people advance in sciences and arts, others in moral. They are then voluntarily submitted to a sometimes painful corporeal life, aiming at doing good and being held accountable for the good they get done. Many still don’t have a specific assignment. They go everywhere where their presence may be useful, giving advice, inspiring good ideas and cheering up the discouraged ones, giving strength to the weak and punishing the arrogant.

If we take into account the infinite number of worlds that populate the Universe and the incalculable number of beings that inhabit them, we will understand that the Spirits have a lot to do. Such activity, however, is painless. They do it happily and without embarrassment, and their joy is in the accomplishment of their missions. Nobody thinks about an eternal idleness that would be really painful.

When required by the circumstances, they form councils; deliberate about the next steps ahead, according to the events; distribute orders to the Spirits that are their subordinates and then go back to wherever duty may call them. Those assemblies are more generic or more specific, depending on the importance of the issue. There is no special or circumscribed place for those gatherings. Space is the domain of the Spirits. However, those meetings tend to happen in worlds that are the specific object of the Spirits. The incarnate Spirits who accomplish their missions in those worlds also attend the assemblies, according to their elevation. While the body rests they receive advice from Spirits and, sometimes, receive orders related to their conduct among the incarnate. It is true that when they wake up they do not keep a very sharp memory of the events but they keep their intuition that leads them to act as if that intuition were from their own initiative.

Moving down in the hierarchy we find less elevated Spirits, less purified and consequently less enlightened, but not necessarily less good and who, in a more restrict sphere of activities, exercise similar functions. Instead of covering different worlds, their action is more exercised in a particular world and related to their degree of development. Their influence is more individual, having things of less importance by objective.


Then comes the crowd of vulgar Spirits, those who are more or less good, more or less wicked, that swarms around us. Those are slightly above humanity, whose nuances they represent and sort of reflect, since they have the same vices and virtues of those that characterize humanity. In many of them we find the same tastes, ideas and inclinations that they had when alive. Their faculties are limited, their judgment fallible like that of human beings and sometimes mistaken and loaded with prejudices.

In some others the moral sense is more developed. Even without a great superiority or acuity they judge with more criteria, sometimes even condemning what they had done or thought in their lives. As a matter of fact, there is a remarkable thing: even among the most common Spirits, in general, their feelings are purer as Spirits than as incarnates. The spiritual life clarifies them regarding their faults, and except on rare occasions, they bitterly regret and feel sorry for what they have done, since they suffer more or less intensely their consequences. We have seen some of these who were not better than when they were alive. We have never, however, seen them worse. The absolute hardening is very rare and only temporary, given that sooner or later they end up regretting their position. One can then say that all of them aspire for their betterment since all of them understand it as the only means of leaving their inferiority behind. Learn and be enlightened, that is their great concern so that they feel happy when they can add small missions of trust that elevate them before their own eyes.

They also have their gatherings, of greater or lesser importance, according to the nature of their thoughts. They talk to us, see us and observe everything that happens around us. They attend our meetings; take part in our games, parties and spectacles, as well as in our serious businesses.

They hear our conversations; the frivolous ones in order to have fun or laugh at us, or even still to trick us whenever they can; the others do so in order to learn; these Spirits do observe people, analyze their character and do what they call a study of the customs and culture, so as to choose their future life.

We have seen the Spirit at the very moment when the body is left, entering then into the new existence. We analyzed their sensations and followed the gradual development of their ideas. The initial moments are spent in the acknowledgment of oneself followed by the understanding of what is going on. In short, so to speak, the Spirit tries their faculties, like the child that gradually experiences the increase in strength and thoughts. We speak about the vulgar Spirits since the others, as we said, are somehow previously identified with the spiritual state, thus it is no surprise to them other than the joy of finding themselves free from the corporeal hurdles and sufferings. Many of the inferior Spirits miss their Earthly life given that their situation as Spirits is a hundred times worse. That is why they engage with the vision of what was delightful to them in the past. Such a vision, however, becomes a suffering since the desires they feel can no longer be satisfied.

The need for progress is general among the Spirits. That is what drives them to work for their own betterment, since they understand that it is the price of their happiness. But not all of them feel such a need in the same degree, particularly in the beginning. Some even enjoy a kind of idleness, of short duration, as a matter of fact; activity soon becomes an inexorable need, then dragged by other Spirits who stimulate the good feelings in them.

Then comes what one could call the scum of the spiritual world, made of all impure Spirits whose only concern is wickedness. They suffer hence they wish that everyone else would suffer like them. Every sign of superiority is hateful to their envy. Hate is their essence. Since they cannot blame the Spirits for that they then charge against human beings, attacking those who seem to be the weakest of all. Their dominant thoughts are: excite the passions; provoke disagreement; separate friends; encourage rivalries; encourage the ambitious to display their pride for the pleasure of taking them down later; spread mistakes and lies, in one word, deviate them from good.

However, why would God allow such a thing to happen? God does not have to report to us. The superior Spirits tell us that the wicked Spirits are trials to the good ones and that there is no virtue where there is no victory to conquer. As a matter of fact, if those malevolent Spirits are here on Earth, it is here that they find echo and sympathy. May it be a reassuring thought that above this mud which surrounds us there are pure and benevolent beings who love us, sustain and encourage us, reaching out to us, attracting us so that we can be led to better worlds, where wickedness has no entry, as long as we do what it takes to deserve it!

Those who do not admit the reality of the manifestations generally attribute the produced effects to fraud. Their thought is that skillful conjurers do things that seem prodigious as long as we do not know their secrets. Thus, they conclude that the mediums are nothing but swindlers. We have already rebutted that argument or opinion, specifically in the articles about Mr. Home and in the issues of the Spiritist Review, January- February 1858. We will only add a few words to that, before engaging into a more serious subject.

Due to the fact that there are charlatans selling medication to the public; that there are also doctors who, although not doing it openly in public, abuse the trust given to them, will it follow that all doctors are charlatans and that the class will suffer in its reputation? Due to the fact that there are some people who sell dyes for wine making, will it follow that all wine dealers are falsifiers and that there isn’t good wine anymore? Everything is abused; even the most respectable things, and one can say that even fraud has its genie. But fraud has always an objective, some sort of material gain and interest, thus where there is nothing to gain there is no interest in deceiving. That is why we said in the previous issue of the Review, about the self-serving mediums, that the best of all guarantees is a total material disinterest.

One can say that this guarantee is not unique though, since with respect to the subject of trickery, there are very skillful amateurs who aim at amusing people, not doing it as a duty of profession. Couldn’t that also happen to the mediums? There is no doubt that it is possible to be amused for a few mo- ments, amusing others in the process, but to spend endless hours doing it, for weeks, months and years, it would be necessary to be possessed by the devil of mystification, and the first to be mystified would be the mystifier. Needless to repeat everything that has already been said about the good faith of the mediums and attendees to the meetings, as for being a toy of illusion and fascination. We have already responded to that objection many times as well as to all other objections on the subject, for what we refer the reader to our Instruction Practique sur les Manifestations (Practical Instructions about the Manifestations) and to our previous articles in the Spiritist Review.

Our objective is not to convince the incredulous. If they are not con- vinced by the facts, they would be even less by reason. It would then be a waste of time. On the contrary, we address the adepts in order to warn them against the subterfuges that could victimize them from people driv- en by any kind of interest to simulate certain phenomena. We say certain phenomena because there are some which evidently defy every skill of prestidigitation as, in particular, the motion of objects without contact; the suspension of heavy bodies in space; the knocks given in all directions; the apparitions, etc. But even to some of those phenomena it would be possible, to a certain degree, the simulation, thanks to the advancement of the art of trickery. What is necessary to do in such cases is to carefully observe the circumstances and above all to take into account the character and condition of the persons, as well as the objective and possible interest they might have in deceiving. That is the best of all controls since there are circumstances that reject any reason for suspicion.

Thus, we establish the principle that it is necessary to distrust every- one who makes a spectacle out of those phenomena, an object of curiosity or amusement, or who would take any advantage of them, however small it might be, bragging about producing them at will and for any reason. It would never be too much to repeat that the manifesting occult intel- ligences have their susceptibilities and want to prove that they also have their free will, not submitting to our caprices.

From all physical phenomena, one of the most common is the internal rapping, vibrating in the inner substance of the wood, with or without the motion of the table or any other object which may be utilized. Well, that effect is one of the easiest to imitate, and as it is also one of the most fre- quently produced, it seems useful to reveal a little trick with which we can be deceived. All it requires is that both hands are placed wide open on the table, sufficiently close so that the thumb nails firmly support each other; then through an absolutely imperceptible muscular movement, the nail is led to produce a dry cracking noise, very similar to those of the internal typtology. That noise vibrates in the wood thus producing a complete il- lusion. There is nothing easier than making as many noises as desired; the beat of a drum, and so forth; then respond with a yes or no according to the number of raps or even by the indication of the letters of the alphabet.

Once warned about it, the means of recognizing the fraud is very simple. It will no longer be possible if the hands are kept away from each other and if we ensure that no physical contact might produce the noise. As a matter of fact, the authentic noises have the characteristic of willingly changing places and tone, a fact that does not happen to those produced through the means mentioned above, or any other for that matter. The true ones leave the table and are produced on any other piece of furni- ture, touched by nobody, answering to unexpected questions. Thus, we draw the attention of those good faith persons with respect to this little gimmick, as well as others that may be discovered, to unceremoniously denounce them.

The possibility of imitation and fraud does not prevent the reality of the facts and Spiritism has only to gain with the exposure of the impos- ters. If someone says: I saw such a phenomenon but there was fraud, we will respond that it is possible; we even saw pseudo somnambulists who skillfully simulated somnambulism. However, that does not mean that somnambulism is not a fact. Everybody has already seen merchants sell- ing cotton for silk, which does not mean that there isn’t a real fabric made of silk. It is necessary to examine all circumstances and verify whether the doubt is meaningful. But for that, as for everything else, one needs to be an expert. Well, we cannot accept for the judge of a given cause someone who did not understand anything about that subject.

We say the same about the psychographic mediums. People generally think that the mechanical mediums offer more guarantees, not only due to the independence of their ideas but also against deception. But that is a mistake. Fraud permeates everywhere. We know that with proper skills it is possible to make the planchettes write and give it every appearance of spontaneous movement. The actual thought is what refutes all doubts, coming from a mechanical, intuitive, hearing, speaking or clairvoyant medium.

There are communications that go so much beyond the ideas, knowl- edge and even intellectual reach of the medium that it would be necessary to be completely mistaken to give the medium the actual credit. We ac- knowledge that charlatanism has a great capability and vast resources, but we have not yet recognized in them the gift of turning an ignorant person into a wise person or giving talent to someone who does not have it.

One of our correspondents addressed the following question to us, requesting a solution from the spirits who guide us, in case we did not have the solution yet.

“After a more or less lengthy lapse of time the errant spirits wish and ask God for the reincarnation, as a means of their moral progress. They choose the trials and using the free will they naturally choose those incar- nations that seem more appropriate to them, in order to progress in the world where the incarnation is granted. Well, during the spirit’s errant life they get instructed, as the spirits themselves tells us, then they learn which nations are more convenient to them in order to achieve their objectives. They see populations of savage anthropophagus, assuring them that they would become ferocious flesh eaters by reincarnating among them. That environment would certainly not be the means of achieving their spiritual progress. The force of habit can only provide more consistency to their gross instincts. Then their objective would have failed had they chosen that people or another one.”

“The same happens to certain social positions. Among them there are those that show invincible obstacles to the spiritual progress. I will only mention the slaughter people, the executioners, etc. Some people say that such creatures are necessary because we cannot go without animal food, others say that because it is necessary to implement legal sentences, all required by our social organization. It is not less accurate that by re- incarnating in the body of a boy destined to embrace one or another of those professions, the spirit must know that a wrong path has been taken, voluntarily deprived from the means which lead to perfection. Couldn’t it be the case that, with God’s permission, no spirit would want that kind of life and in such circumstance, what would happen to those professions, still necessary given our current social condition?”

The answer to that question is a consequence of the whole teach- ings that have been given to us. We can then answer, without submit- ting it to the spirits again. It is obvious that an already advanced spirit, such as an educated European, could not choose a savage existence as a means of progress, since instead of advancing he would march backwards. We know, however, that even the anthropophagus is not on the bottom of the scale and that there are worlds where the brutalization and feroc- ity have no analogy here on Earth. Those spirits are even inferior to the most inferiors of our planet. Thus, for them, it is a progress to incarnate among our savages. If they don’t aspire to a higher position it is because their moral inferiority does not allow them to understand a more com- plete progress. The spirit can only progress gradually, going successively through all levels so that each step forward may serve as the basis for the construction of a new progress. The spirit cannot leap from barbarism to civilization, as the student cannot pass from English in elementary school to Rhetoric. That is one of the requirements of reincarnation, which is really in agreement with God’s justice. Otherwise, what would happen to those millions of people that die in the last stage of deprivation, had they not had the means of achieving superiority? Why would God have disinherited them from the favors conceded to other people? We repeat it for being an essential point: according to their limited intelligence they can only understand what is better from their narrow point of view. There are those, however, that willing to climb too high deviate, offering us the sad spectacles of ferocity that we see amidst civilization. Those will even profit by returning to the cannibals. These considerations also apply to the professions mentioned by our correspondent. Those professions offer relative superiority to certain spirits and it is in that sense that we must conceive their choices. For the same reason they may be chosen as an atonement or mission, since there is no profession through which one cannot do good and achieve progress through the very means of realiz- ing them. As for the question about what would happen in case no spirit wanted to adopt it, it is responded by the facts. Since the spirits that oc- cupy those positions come from an inferior condition, there is no need to be afraid of unemployment. When the social progress allow for the ex- tinction of positions like the executioner, the function will disappear but not the candidates who will apply for that same job among other peoples or in other less advanced worlds.

SPONTANEOUS COMMUNICATION OBTAINED BY THE MEDIUM MR. CROZ, READ AT THE SESSION OF THE SOCIETY ON JANUARY 21st, 1859

The companies that we see forming every day are acts of the Providence and the development of germs cultivated throughout the cen- turies. Humanity and the inhabited planet have one and the same exis- tence, whose phases are concatenated accordingly.

As soon as the great torments of nature are over, as well as the fever that leads to the wars of extermination, Philosophy will shine; slavery will vanish and the Arts and Sciences flourish.

Divine perfection may be summarized by beauty and usefulness. If God created the human being to His own image it is because God wanted human beings to live out of their own intelligence, as God himself lives amongst the splendors of God’s own creation.

The enterprises blessed by God, whatever their proportions, are those which fall in line with God’s designs, bringing their contribution to the collective work, whose law is written in the Universe: the beautiful and the useful. Art, daughter of rest and inspiration, is the beauty. Industry, daughter of Science and work, is the utility.

OBSERVATION: This communication is more or less the initiation of one medium that has just developed with remarkable speed. One must recognize that, as an experiment, it is really promising. Since the first session he wrote, without interruption, four pages which owe nothing to the one that he has just read, considering the perspicacity of thoughts, indicating in him an admirable ability to serve as an intermediary to all spirits, in private communications. As a matter of fact, we need to study that subject further, since not all mediums are given to that flexibility. We know mediums that cannot serve as intermediaries but to certain spirits and to a certain type of ideas.

After having written this note we even confirmed the real progress of the medium, whose faculty offers special characteristics, deserving great attention from the observer.

PARISIAN SOCIETY OF SPIRITIST STUDIES, SESSION ON th MARCH 11 , 1859


1. Evocation
- Ask. I am ready. Take your time as you wish since I have time to attend you.

2. Do you remember your existence on Earth in the XVI century, between 1500 and 1570?
- Yes, yes.

3. What is your current situation as a spirit?
- I lived in several other worlds and I am very satisfied with the position that I presently occupy. It is not a peak but I am
advancing.

4. Have you had other corporeal existences on Earth, after the one we know?
- Corporeal, yes. On Earth, no.

5. For how long did you stay in the errant state?
- I cannot precise. Some years.


6. What did you do in that errant state?
- I worked towards my development.

7. Have you eventually returned to Earth?

- A few times.
8. Have you watched the drama by which you are represented? What do you think of that?
- I watched it several times. I was as happy as Cellini but not as much as a spirit that had progressed.

9. Before the existence from which we know you, have you had any other on Earth?
- No, none.

10. Could you tell us what you were in your preceding existences?

- My careers were very different from what I did on Earth.

11. In which world do you live?
- You don’t know and don’t see it.

12. Could you describe it to us, from a physical as well as moral point of view?
- Yes, easily. From the physical point of view, my dear friends, its plastic beauty satisfies me. Nothing shocks our vision there; there is a perfect alignment of forms; mimic is some- how a permanent expression; we are surrounded by perfumes of nature and lack nothing for our physical wellness, since we are subjected to only a few needs, promptly satisfied.
- From a moral point of view, however, perfection is not as great since one can find perturbed consciences and spirits dedicated to evil. It is no perfection, far from that, but as I have already told you, it is the path to that and we all expect to reach it one day.


13. What do you do in the world that you live in?
- We work with the Arts. I am an artist.

14. In your memoirs you tell the story of witchcraft and a possession that would have taken place in the Coliseum, in Rome, in which you would have taken part, do you remember?
- Not very clearly.


15. If we read it to you, would that clarify your memory? - Yes, it would give me a notion.

Then the following excerpt is read from his memoirs:
“In the middle of that strange life I was acquainted with a Sicilian priest of very fine spirit, seriously educated in Greek and Latin. One day our conversation was about necromancy and I told him that dur- ing my whole life I really wished I could see and learn something about that art. In order to get involved with that, said the priest, one needs to have a firm and intrepid soul.”


“One evening, though, the priest made the arrangements and asked me to find one or two companions. He invited a man from Pistoia, who was also involved with necromancy, and we all went to the Coliseum. There the priest dressed up according to the follow- ers of necromancy then he started to draw circles on the ground, followed by the most beautiful ceremonies that one can imagine. He had brought precious perfumes, smelly drugs and fire with him. When it was all set he created an opening in the circle, taking us there by the hand, one by one. He then distributed the papers, plac- ing the talisman in the hands of his necromancer friend. He assigned the others with the task of tendering the fire and the perfumes, after which the conjurations began. That ceremony lasted more than an hour and a half. The Coliseum was then taken by legions of infernal spirits. When the priest noticed that they were in good number he turned to me, who was taking care of the perfumes, and said:”

“ – Benvenuto, ask them for something.”

“I responded that I wished they could reunite me with my Sicilian Angelica.”

“Despite the fact that we had no answer that night, I was im- pressed by what I had seen.”

“The necromancer said that it was necessary to return a second time and that I would then obtain everything I wanted, as long as I brought a virgin young man along.”



“I chose one of my apprentices and brought two other friends of mine.”

“The priest placed the talisman in my hands, asking me to turn it in the direction that was indicated. My apprentice was placed under the talisman. The necromancer started his terrible evocations. He evoked several chiefs of the infernal legions by the name and gave them orders in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, in the name of the uncreated, living and eternal God. The Coliseum was soon taken by a number of demons, a hundred times more than the first time. Following the necromancer’s advice, I asked again to meet Angelica. He turned to me and said:”

“Haven’t you heard their announcement that you will be with her in one month?”

“He then asked me to keep my firmness since there were a thou- sand legions which were not called yet, adding that these were more dangerous, and since they had attended my request, it was necessary to treat them kindly and calmly dismiss them. On another hand the boy commented with fear that he could see thousands of terrible men who were threatening us, and also four giants, armed from hair to toe, who seemed to want to get into our circle. Meanwhile, trembling of fear, the necromancer tried to conjure them, using the sweetest tone of voice. The boy hid his head between his knees, screaming like that:”


“I want to die! We are all dead!”
“I then told him:”
“These creatures are all below us. What you see is no more than

smoke and shadow. Raise your eyes then.”
“He had just obeyed me when he said:”
“The whole Coliseum is taken by flames and the fire is coming

towards us.”
“The necromancer then demanded to have asafetida burned.

Agnolo, in charge of the perfumes, was almost dead, horrified.”

“The noise and the bad smell made the boy raise his head. Once he heard me laughing he got a little animated, saying that the demons were starting to leave. We remained like that until dawn was announced. The boy told us that he could only see a few demons, from far away. Finally, when the necromancer concluded the ceremo- ny and undressed his outfit, we left the circle.”

“While we returned home through Via dei Banchi, he assured us that two demons were performing acrobatics in front of us, some- times running over the roofs, and other times on the ground.”

“The necromancer had sworn that since he had set foot for the first time in a magic circle he had never witnessed something so extraor- dinary. Later he tried to convince me to study a book with him that should provide us with incalculable richness and give us the means of forcing the demons to indicate places where hidden treasures are lo- cated, well kept by Earth...”

“After different reports more or less related to the preceding, Benvenuto tells how, after thirty days, or within the time frame es- tablished by the demons, he found his Angelica.”

16. Could you tell us what is true about that scene?
- The necromancer was a charlatan; I was a romance writer and

Angelica was my lover.


17. Have you met your protector Francis I again?
- Certainly. He has seen many others who were not his protégés.
18. How did you consider him when alive and how do you judge him now?
- I will tell you how I judged him: like a prince and as such, blinded by his education and by those who surrounded him.


19. And now what do you have to say about him?
- He made progress.


20. Did he protect the artists out a sincere love for the arts?
- Yes, but also for pleasure and pride.


21. Where is he now?
- Alive.


22. On Earth?
- No.


23. If we evoked him now could he come to speak with us?
- Yes. But do not force the spirits like that. Your evocations must be prepared well in advance and then you will not have much to ask the spirit. That way you will take much less risk of being deceived, as it does happen sometimes (St. Louis).

24. (To St. Louis): Could you arrange that two spirits would come to talk to each other?

- Yes.
- In that case would it be useful to have two mediums?
- Yes, it is necessary.

NOTE: The dialogue in question happened in another session. We will publish it in the next issue.

25. (To Cellini) What is the origin of your inclination towards art? Would it be due to a special prior development?

- Yes. I was attracted to poetry and the beauty of language for a long time. While on Earth I was linked to art as a re- production. Nowadays I am involved with the beauty as an invention.

26. You were also trained in the military hence Pope Clement VII assigned you with the defense of St. Angel Castle. However, your gift as an artist should not give room for many skills of the art of war.

- I had talent and knew how to apply it. There is the need for discernment in everything, particularly in the military art of that time.

27. Could you give some advices to the artists that try to follow your footsteps?

- Yes. I will tell them that more than what they do and more than what I did they should seek pureness and the true beau- ty. They will understand me.

28. Isn’t beauty relative and conventional? The European considers themselves prettier than the black and the black prettier than the white. If there is an absolute beauty where is the standard? Can you give us your opinion about it?

- With pleasure. I did not want to mention a conventional beau- ty. On the contrary, there is beauty everywhere, as a reflex of the spirit over the body and not only as a material form. As you said, a black person may be beautiful of a beauty only ap- preciated by their similar, which is true. Following that, your Earthly beauty is deformity in heaven as much as black beauty is almost misshapen to you, whites. To the artist, life is beauty, it is the feeling that the artist can associate to his work. With that the artist will provide beauty to the most vulgar things.



29. Could you guide a medium in the execution of a model, as Bernard Palissy did with respect to the paintings?
- Yes.

30. Could you lead the medium that currently serves you to produce something?

- Like the others but I would rather use one that knew the tricks of art.

OBSERVATION: Experience demonstrates that the ability of a medium for this or that kind of production depends on the flexibility presented to the spirit, abstraction made of his talent. The knowledge of the business and the material means of execu- tion do not constitute the talent, but it is understandable that the spirit would find less mechanical difficulty to overcome by lead- ing such a medium. However, one can see mediums that produce remarkable things without having the minimal notions, like in the case of drawings and poetry, engraving and music, etc. but certainly there is an innate ability in those mediums, no doubt, due to a previous development from which they only preserve the intuition.


31. Could you guide Mrs. G. S. who is present here, an artist, but who has never been able to produce something as a medium?
- If she is willing to, I will try.

32. (Mrs. G. S.) When do you want to start?
- Whenever you wish, starting tomorrow.

33. How could I know that the inspiration came from you?
- Conviction comes with proof. Allow it to come slowly.

34. Why haven’t I been successful so far?
- Little perseverance and lack of good will from the part of the spirits to whom you ask.

35. I thank you for the promised assistance.

- Good bye. So long, my colleague.

NOTE: Mrs. G. S. started the work but we still ignore the results.

Girard de Codemberg

Agraduate from the Polytechnic School, member of several scien- tific associations, author of a book entitled: The Spiritual World, or Christian Science of communication with the celestial powers and happy souls. Deceased in November 1858, evoked at the Society on the following January 14th.


1. (Evocation)
- I am here. What do you want?

2. Have you willingly attended our call?
- Yes.

3. Would you tell us what do you think now about the book that you published?
- I made some mistakes but there are useful things there. I believe, without self-praising, that you yourself agree with what I said.

4. You said that you had communications with Christ’s mother. Can you now be sure that it was really her?
- No. It was not her but a spirit that would take her name.


5. What was the objective of that spirit by taking her name?
- That spirit saw me taking a wrong path and pushed me even further. It was a perturbing spirit, a frivolous being, more inclined to evil than good. She would feel happy for my false enjoyment. I was her toy as you men are frequently to your fellow humans.

6. How could you, gifted by a superior intelligence, not have noticed the ridiculous of certain communications?
- I was fascinated, appreciating everything that I was told.

7. Don’t you think that such a book may do some harm in the sense that it may be ridiculed as far as the communications from beyond the grave are concerned?
- In that sense, yes. But I also said that there were useful things, as well as true ones, that from another point of view impress the masses. Sometimes we find a good seed in what seems evil to you.

8. Are you happier than when you were alive?
- Yes, but I still have the need for much enlightenment since I am still in the mist which follows death. I feel like the student beginning to spell.

9. When alive did you know The Spirits’ Book?

- I had never given it any attention. I had preconceived ideas. That was my sin since it is never too much to deeply study all things. However, pride is always present, giving us illusions. That is proper of the ignorant, in general, who do not investi- gate anything else but what they prefer and don’t listen to but those who praise them.

10. But you were not uneducated. Your titles demonstrate that.
- Who is the wise person from Earth before the Science of Heavens? As a matter of fact, there is always the influence of certain spirits, willing to push us away from light.


OBSERVATION: This confirms what has already been said that certain spirits inspire people to stay away from those who could give them good advices, thus frustrating their plans. That influence could never be from a good spirit.

11. And now, what do you think about that book?
- I could not tell without shamelessly representing myself and we don’t praise. You have to understand.


12. Have you changed your opinion about the future penalties?
- Yes. I believed in the material penalties. Now I believe in the moral penalties.


13. Can we do anything to please you?

Always. May each one say a prayer tonight on my behalf! I will appreciate that. Most importantly, do not forget me.

OBSERVATION: Mr. Codemberg’s book has caused some sensation, and we even say, a painful sensation among the adepts of Spiritism, as a consequence of the extravaganza of certain communications, given to ridicule. His intention was praiseworthy since he was a sincere man, but it is an example of domination that certain spirits may exercise, flattering and exaggerating ideas and prejudices of those who do not ponder with great severity the pros and cons of the spiritist commu- nications. He mainly shows the dangers of very lightheart- edly publicizing them to the public, since they can become a reason for denial, strengthening the incredulity in certain people, thus doing more harm than good, once it provides weapons to the enemies of the cause. We would never be care- ful enough with that respect.

Session of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, on February 11th, 1859

He passed away about two months ago, from typhoid fever contracted after a forced aircraft landing at sea.

1. (Evocation)
- I am here. Speak.

2. Do you miss your Earthly life?
- No.

3. Are you happier now than when you were alive?
- Much.

4. What was the reason that led you to aeronautics experiences?
- The need.

5. Have you considered serving science?
- No way.

6. Do you see aeronautics now from a different perspective as compared to when you were alive?
- No.I saw it as I see today since I saw it with good eyes.I used to see many improvements to be introduced but I could not do them myself, due to my lack of knowledge. But wait. Other people will come, giving it the importance it deserves and that it will one day have.


7. Do you believe that aeronautics will one day become of public utility?
- Yes, certainly.

8. The major concern of those involved with that science is the driv- ability of the balloons. Do you believe that it will be achieved?
- Yes, for sure.

9. In your opinion what is the major difficulty for the drivability of the balloons?
- The winds and the storms.


10. Then it is not the lack of a supporting point?

- If we could drive the winds we could drive the balloons.


11. Could you indicate the focus to which the researches should be driven?

- Let us leave it as is.

12. When alive, did you study all the proposed systems?
- No.


13. Could you give advice to those involved with that subject?

- Do you think that your advice would be followed?


14. Not ours but yours.
- Do you want a treaty? I will have it prepared.


15. By whom?
- By the friends that guided me.


16. We have here with us two very distinct inventors, in matters of air stations, Mr. Sanson and Mr. Ducroz, both men received presti- gious scientific awards. Do you know their systems?
- No. There is a lot to say. I don’t know them.

17. Admitting that the problem of drivability is solved, do you believe in the possibility of large-scale air navigation over the oceans?
- No, never like the telegraph.


18. I am not talking about the speed that can never be compared to that of the telegraph, but to the mass transportation of people and load. Which result can we expect from that side of developments?
- Not much usefulness.

OBSERVATION: The curious experiences of Mr. Poitevin, his intrepid- ity, his remarkable ability in balloon maneuvering, gave us more expectations with respect to his elevation and greatness of ideas. The result did not correspond to our expectations. As we have seen, aeronautics to him was nothing else but an industry, a way of life, and a special kind of spec- tacle. Every faculty of his was concentrated on the means of satisfying public amusement. That is why some predictions in these family con- versations are sometimes uncertain: sometimes they are outdated, other times they are below expectation, which is an evident demonstration of the independence of the communications. In a private session, Poitevin dictated, through the same medium, the following advices in order to carry out the promises he had made above

Each person may assess their value since we provide it as an object of study about the nature of the spirits and not for its scientific merit, which is more than arguable.

“You will always find great difficulties to drive a gas balloon: the huge area exposed to the winds; the insignificance of the weight that can be carried by air; the weakness of the wrapping, required by the subtleness of air. All these causes will never allow you to obtain the system with the desired features. A powerful means of communication is required in order to make the aerostat useful. We said that it would represent a medium between electricity and steam. Yes, based on two points of view:

You have not asked me if by such a means you will be able to visit oth- er planets. However, such a thought has already occupied several minds and its solution would scare your world. No. You will not achieve that. Consider that it takes light years in order to cover the millions and mil- lions of leagues of space. Then consider how long it would take to get to those planets, even considering the steam and wind.

Returning to the central point, I was saying that one should not ex- pect much from the current system but that a lot more would be obtained by acting upon the air by strong and extensive compression. The support point that you are looking for is standing before your eyes, surrounding you from all sides. You clash with that in all of your movements; it blocks your route every day, influencing on everything that you touch. Think carefully about this and take from this revelation all that is possible. The consequences are enormous. We cannot take you by the hand and lead you to build the utensils needed to the task. We cannot persuade you word by word. It is necessary that your spirit do the work, maturing your projects, without which you would not understand the achievements nor would you know how to handle the instruments. We would be forced to operate your devices; then the unforeseeable circumstances which, one day or another, would hinder your endeavors and would also cast you back into your primitive ignorance.”

“Do the work and you shall find what you seek. Guide your spirit towards the direction that we have indicated to you for we do not lead you astray.”

OBSERVATION: Although containing undisputable truths, these advices still show a not very enlightened spirit, from certain angles, since he seems to ignore the actual impossibility of reaching other planets. It is another proof of the diversity of aptitudes and knowledge in the world of the spirits, as we find on Earth as well. It is through the multiplicity of observations that we shall understand and assess that world. That is why we provide examples of all sorts of communications, taking the necessary care of pointing out to the weaknesses and strengths.

This one from Poitevin ends by a very fair statement, seeming to have been inspired by a spirit more philosophical than his. As a matter of fact he had said that his advices would be revised by his friends which defi- nitely teach nothing. We also find a demonstration that men who had a specialization on Earth are not always the best ones to provide teachings as spirits, particularly if not much elevated and detached from the earthly life. It is most unfortunate that for the progress of aeronautics the majority of those intrepid men cannot use their experience to the benefit of Science while the theorists ignore practical things, like the seamen who had never seen the sea. No doubt, one day there will be aeronautics engineers, like there are naval engineers, but only when they have seen and probed the depths of the oceanic spaces themselves. How many ideas wouldn’t they be able to pick up from the direct contact with the elements, ideas that es- cape those in the industry, whatever their knowledge level, since they can- not perceive all difficulties from behind their desks. Nevertheless, if this Science is to become reality one day, it can only be through them. To the eyes of many people these thoughts are illusions thus the inventers who are typically not wealthy cannot find the necessary encouragement or the support. When the airstation yield dividends, even if an expectation, and may be financially assess, there will be no lack of capital. Meanwhile it is necessary to count on the dedication of those who place progress above speculation. While there is lack of resources for the execution there will be failures due to the impossibility of carrying out experiences in sufficient number or in adequate conditions. If we have to do it in limited terms then it is not done properly, as with everything else. There will not be suc- cess but to the price of sufficient sacrifices in order to definitely belong to practical life. This excludes any idea of profit. Hopefully the thought of providing the world with the solution to a big problem, even if only from the point of view of science, will inspire some generous disinterestedness. But the first thing to do would be to provide theorists with the means of gaining experience in the air, even with the imperfect means at our disposal. Had Poitevin been a knowledgeable man and had he invented a system of aerial locomotion that would have unquestionably inspired more confidence than those who have never left the ground, and he would probably have found the resources that are denied to others.

Dictated by the Spirit of Alfred de Musset to Mrs...

If you on Earth suffer,
Oh! Afflicted heart;
If to misery handcuffed
Is your part;
Think of your affliction
That follows the path;
From the crying condition,
To the better aftermath. Life’s regrets,
Are they so numerous
That the heart forgets
The day that among the illustrious, As for suffering compensation,
The sidereal man
Will get the decoration
Of the e thereal domain?
Life is a passage;
Know the way about.
Acting with courage
You’ll happily cover its route.

OBSERVATION: The medium that served as interpreter not only did not know the most elemental rules of poetry but also had never written a single verse. She writes them with extraordinary facility, when dictated by the spirits. Although she has been a medium for a short time, she already has a large and interesting collection. We have seen some very charming and opportune among them, dictated by the spirit of a person who is alive, evoked by her, residing 200 leagues away. That person, when in the state of vigil, is not a better poet than the medium herself.

One of our corresponding members has sent us a letter about our latest article on the self-serving mediums, questioning if our observations are also applicable to the paid somnambulists.

If we wish to go back to the cause of the phenomenon we will see that although it may be considered a variation of mediumship, the somnam- bulist is a kind of a different medium, so to speak. In fact, the mediums receive their communications from foreign spirits, who may communicate or not, depending on the circumstances and on the existing sympathies. The somnambulist, on the contrary, acts on his own; it is his own spirit that detaches from matter and sees, more or less well, according to the more or less complete withdrawal. It is true that the somnambulist is in touch with other spirits, who assist him with some or a lot of good will, according to the sympathies, but it is definitely his own spirit that sees and may, to a certain degree, use his own capabilities without the need for third parties or their indispensable support. Hence the somnambulist who seeks a material compensation for his sometimes significant efforts, as a consequence of exercising his faculty, does not have to overcome the same susceptibilities as the medium does. The medium is nothing more than an instrument.

Besides, it is well known that the somnambulistic lucidity is devel- oped by exercise. Well, those who turn this into a permanent occupation acquire more facility the more they see things with which they identify themselves, as well as with certain special terms that easily return to their memory. In a word, they get familiarized with the state that becomes, so to say, their natural state. Nothing else is strange to them. In reality, the facts are here to demonstrate the clarity and sharpness of their visions, from what we conclude that the compensation given to certain somnam- bulists is no obstacle to the development of their lucidity.

An objection is raised to that argument: since the lucidity is sometimes variable and depends on serendipitous causes, the question is in the search to get paid could this not prompt the somnambulist to fake such lucidity, even when lacking that clarity, due to fatigue or any other cause, an inex- istent inconvenience when there is no material interest afoot. This is cor- rect but we will respond that everything has its bad side. One can abuse everything and wherever fraud is insinuated, it is necessary to denounce it. The somnambulist acting in such a manner would be failing loyalty, which unfortunately also happens to those who are not somnambulists.

With a little bit of experience we can easily detect that. It would be difficult to deceive an experienced observer for long. In this, as in every- thing else, it is necessary to ensure the degree of trust that the person we are dealing with deserves. If the non-salaried somnambulist does not of- fer such an inconvenience it does not follow that her lucidity is infallible. He can be mistaken as anyone else, if not in good conditions. With that respect, the best guide is experience.

In summary, we do not profess these or those. We were able to attest remarkable services done by all of them. Our objective was only to dem- onstrate that it is possible to find good somnambulists in either category.

Spirits incarnate as men or women since they do not have sex. As spirits must progress in everything, each sex, as each social position, imposes special trials and duties to the spirits, when acquir- ing experiences. The one who always had to be a man would only know what men do.

According to the Spiritism, the solidarity is not only restricted to the Earthly society: it encompasses all worlds. The solidarity is universal through the relationships that the spirits establish among the several spheres, as human beings help one another from one world to the next.

We receive endless letters from our corresponding members request- ing the books Story of Joan of Arc and the Story of Louis XI, from which we have published excerpts, as well as the album with the drawings of Victorien Sardou.

We remind our readers that the Story of Joan of Arc is now sold out; the life of Louis XI as well as the life of Louis IX has not been published yet. We hope they are one day. The announcement in the Review will then be a duty to us. Until then, any order for those works will be fruit- less. The same happens with the album of Mr. Sardou. The published drawing of Mozart’s house is the only work that is on sale, at Ledoyen’s bookstore.

ALLAN KARDEC

In our last number we presented the picture of the spiritual life as a whole. We followed the spirits since they leave behind their physical body and briefly sketched their occupations. Today we propose to show

them in action, therefore we have gathered several intimate scenes in the same picture, whose testimony has been given to us through the com- munications. The multiple family conversations from beyond the grave already published in this Review can give us an idea about the situation of the spirits according to their degree of progress. Here, however, there is a special kind of activity that allows us to get to know the role that they represent among us, despite our own ideas.

The theme of study whose adventures we will report was spontane- ously presented to us, showing great interest although the hero of the story is not one of those superior spirits, inhabitants of unknown worlds, but one of those who are still attached to Earth by nature; a contempo- rary spirit that has given us proofs of his identity. The action takes place around us and each one of us has a role in the story. In addition, this study of the habits of the spirits has the particular interest of showing the prog- ress of the spirits while errant, and the way through which we can help with their enlightenment.

After several unsuccessful experiments, from which his patience has triumphed, one of our friends suddenly became a magnificent psycho- graphic and hearing medium. The other day, while he was busy with the psychography, side by side with one friend of his, he obtained a strange and not very serious answer from a spirit who did not correspond to the serious character of the spirit who was actually being evoked.

Once questioned about that, in the name of God, the spirit then of- fered the name Pierre Le Flamand, a name totally unknown to the me- dium. Since then a series of conversations have been established between the medium and the spirit and later between the spirit and us.

FIRST CONVERSATION

1. Who are you? I don’t know anybody by that name. - I am one of your old colleagues from school.

2. I have no recollection.
- Don’t you remember been beaten up once?

3. It is possible. That happens among school kids. I remember some- thing of that kind but I also remember to have avenged this act. - It was I but I keep no hard feelings.

4. Thank you. But as much as I remember you were a really naughty boy.

- Now you remember. However, I did not change while alive. I was a knucklehead but deep down I was not bad. I would fight the first one who showed up. It was like a necessity to me. Once I’d turned my back the case was forgotten.

5. When and at what age did you die?
- Fifteen years ago. I was about twenty years old.

6. How did you die?
- From a young man’s madness... consequence of my poor judgment...

7. How about your family?

- I had lost my father and mother long ago; I used to live with an uncle, my only relative. If you ever go to Cambrai8 I advise you to look for him. He is an excellent person, who I am very fond of, although he disciplined me severely. But I deserved it.

8. He bears the same name as you do?
- No. There isn’t anybody else with my name in Cambrai. His name is W...; he resides at ... You will see that It is really me who is speaking with you.

NOTE: The fact was confirmed by the medium himself, in a leisure trip sometime later. He found Mr. W... at the referred ad- dress. Mr. W... confirmed that in fact he had a nephew by that name, mischievous and devilish, deceased in 1844, short after having been drafted to the military service. The spirit had not indicated such a circumstance. He did that later, spontaneously, as we will see in due course.

9. Why have you serendipitously come to me?
- It was by accident if you will but I prefer to believe that it was my good nature that brought me to you, since it seems to me that both of us are going to profit from the reestablishment of our relationship... I was here near your neighbor; appreciat- ing the pictures... but not the paintings of saints... suddenly I saw you and came by. I saw you entertained with another spirit and wanted to meddle in the conversation.

10. But why have you answered the questions addressed to the other spirit? This is not proper of an old comrade.
- I was in the presence of a serious spirit who seemed to me that was not willing to respond. I thought that he might answer if I tried to respond in his name but I was not successful. I wanted to force him to speak by not telling the truth.

11. That is not right and it could have yielded unpleasant results had I not noticed the trick.
- You would have noticed, sooner or later.

12. Tell me then how did you get in here?
- That is a good one. Since when we need to ring the bell?

13. Then you can go anywhere and get into any place?
- Of course I can and unannounced! It is not for another reason that we are spirits.

14. However, I did not think that every spirit could attend any meeting they wished to.
- Do you by any means think that your bedroom is a sanctuary and that I am not worthy of it?

15. Do answer my question seriously and stop kidding. Behold that

I have no intention of entertaining jokes and that the mystifying spirits are not welcome here.
- There are meetings of spirits in which we, the idle ones, cannot participate. That is true but it is the superior spirits that block us not you, people. As a matter of fact, when we go to a given place we know very well how to remain quiet and at a distance, if necessary. We listen and then, when we get bored, we leave... Come on! It seems that you are not happy with my visit.

16. The fact is that I do not welcome the first one who shows up and frankly, I was not impressed when you perturbed a serious conversation.
- Don’t be angry... I don’t want to bother you... I am always nice. Next time I will have myself announced.


17. So you died fifteen years ago...
- Let us make it clear. My body is dead, but I, the one talking to you, I am not dead.

NOTE: Even among the frivolous and jester spirits one finds pro- found words. That “I am not dead” contains a whole philosophy.

20. How do you spend your time?
- I have no other concern but to have fun and to be informed about the events which may have influence over my fate. I see many things. I spend part of the time at my friends’ houses, in the theater... Sometimes I find funny things... If the per- sons only knew that they have company when they think to be alone! Finally, I go in such a way as to make the passage of time as light as possible... I wouldn’t know how long this is going to last, however, I have been like that for a while... Have you seen many cases like that?

21. In short, are you happier now than you were when alive?
- No.

22. What is it that you are missing? You need nothing else; you no longer suffer; you are not afraid of being bankrupt; you go ev- erywhere and see everything; you are not afraid of the human concerns or diseases, or the ailments of age. Wouldn’t that be a happy life?
- I lack the reality of the pleasures. I am not sufficiently el- evated to enjoy a moral happiness. I desire everything that I see and that is my very punishment; I get bored and try to kill time the way I can! And how this lasts... I experience an indefinable qualm. I would rather feel the miseries of life than this anxiety that tortures me.


NOTE: Isn’t that an eloquent picture of the sufferings of the inferior spirits? They envy everything that they see; they have the same desires and don’t enjoy anything in reality; this must be a real torture.

23. You said you would go visiting your friends. Isn’t that a real distraction?
- My friends cannot feel my presence. Besides, they no longer even remember me. That hurts.

24. Don’t you have friends among the spirits?
- Senseless and useless like me; that get bored like me. Their company is not very nice. Those who think and are happy stay away from me.

25. Poor man! I am sorry and if I can be useful to you I will be with pleasure.
- If you only knew how these words do me good! It is the first time that I hear that.

26. Couldn’t you find opportunities when watching and listening to good things that would be useful to your progress?
- Yes, but for that it would be necessary that I would take ad- vantage of the lessons. I confess that I prefer to watch the scenes of love and mockery that have not influenced my spirit towards the good. Before coming here I was there, observ- ing pictures that would give me ideas... But let us stop that. However, I was able to resist the temptation of asking for an incarnation in order to enjoy the pleasures that I have abused so much. Now I see how much I would be mistaken. I feel that I did well coming to your house.

27. There you go! I hope that in the future, in case you want my friendship, you will give me the pleasure of not having you ob- serving those pictures which give you bad ideas; that on the con- trary, you may think of those things that you may hear among us, good and useful to you. You will feel good, believe me.

30. Then you learn at the same time that you have fun, since you can observe a lot in your position.
- Yes but what I enjoy the most is certain conversations. It is really interesting to see the maneuvering of certain people, particularly of those who still want to pretend to be young. Nobody tells the truth with all those words. They paint their hearts very much like the makeup they wear so that nobody understands anybody. I did study their habits.

32. Then you will continue your observations or, as you say, your studies of the habits. So far you have not taken advantage of them. It is necessary that they may serve your enlightenment for which you must carry them out with a serious objective and not to have fun and buy time. You will tell me what you have seen. We will reason together and come to the conclusions aiming at our mutual instruction.
- This is going to be very interesting. Yes, I am at your services, no doubt.

36. Then, my dear Peter, have you given a serious thought to what we discussed the other day?
- More than you think. I have decided to prove to you that I have more value than I show. I feel more at ease since I have something to do. Now I have an objective and no longer feel bored.

37. I spoke about you with Mr. Allan Kardec. I told him about our conversation with which he was very happy. He wants to be in touch with you.
- I know. I was in his house.

38. Who took you there?
- Your thoughts. I came back here after that day; I noticed that you wanted to talk to him about me and then I said to myself: Let us go there first; I will possibly find material for observa- tion and may find an occasion to be useful.

39. I like to see you with such serious thoughts. What was your im- pression of the visit?
- Oh! It was great. I learned things that I did not suspect and that clarify me regarding my future. It is like a light source inside of me. Now I understand everything that I have to gain from my betterment... it is necessary... it is necessary.

40. Could I ask you, without an indiscretion, about what you saw there?
- Certainly. Not only what I saw there but also in other places, however I will only tell you what I want to, what I can...

41. How come? You cannot say everything that you wish to?
- No. Since a few days now I see a spirit that seems to be following me everywhere, that pushes or stops me. One could say that he drives me. I feel an impulse whose origin I ignore but obey, irrespectively. If I want to say or do something inappro- priate he stands before me, looks at me and I silence... I stop.

42. Who is that spirit?
- I don’t know, but he dominates me.

43. Why don’t you ask him?
- I dare not. When I want to speak with him he looks at me and I feel my tongue got tied.

NOTE: It is evident that the word tongue here is used in the figurative sense. The spirits have no articulated language.

44. You must feel if he is good or bad.
- He must be good since he blocks me from saying silly things.
But he is strict... Sometimes he shows rage; some other times he looks at me kindly... I had the intuition that it could be the spirit of my father that wants to go unidentified.

45. It is possible. It seems that he is not very happy with you. Listen. I will give you some news about that. We know that the parents have the mission of educating their children leading them to the good. Consequently they are responsible for their good or evil deeds, ac- cording to the education that they received; hence the parents suf- fer or are happy in the spiritual world. The behavior of the children thus influence, up to a certain degree, the happiness or misfortune of their parents after their death. Since your behavior was not very constructive while on Earth and since you have not done much af- ter your death, your father suffers with all that in case he is blaming himself for not having guided you properly...

- If I did not become a good man it was not due to a lack of reproof, more than once.

46. Perhaps it was the best way of changing you. Nevertheless, his affection for you is always the same and he demonstrates that by getting closer to you, I suppose. He must feel happy with your recent changes. That explains his oscillations between kindness and rage. He wants to help you in the good path that you have just entered and when he sees you resolutely walking that path he will identify himself. Thus, working towards your own happiness you will also work towards his. I would not be surprised if it were him who pushed you here. If he did not do it before was to give you time to understand the hollowness of your existence without accomplishments; he wanted you to feel that sorrow.

- Thank you, thank you! He is here, behind you! He rests his hand on your head, as if dictating the words that you have just said.

47. Let us return to Mr. Allan Kardec.
- I went to his house yesterday. He was busy, writing in his office... He was working on a new book... Ah! He takes good care of us, poor spirits. If we are not known it is not his fault.

48. Was he alone?
- Yes alone – that is, there was no other person with him. However, there was about twenty spirits around him, whis- pering above his head.

49. Has he heard them?
- He heard them so well that he looked around to try to establish the origin of the noises, trying to see if they were not coming from thousands of flies. Then he opened the window to see if that was not coming from the wind or rain.

NOTE: The fact is absolutely exact.


50. Do you recognize any of those spirits?
- No. They are not those in which company I pleased myself. I had the impression that I was an intruder. I remained in a corner of the room, observing.

51. Have the spirits given the impression that they were observing what he was writing?
- I believe so. Two or three in particular whispered what he was writing, giving the impression that they heard the opinion of the others. However, he strongly believed that the ideas were his and seemed happy with that.

52. Was that all?
- Then a group of about eight or ten people came in and joined Mr. Kardec in another room. They were talking. Asking questions that he responded, explained.

53. Do you know those persons?
- No. The only thing I know is that they seemed to be important for one was always referred to as Prince and the other Duke. The spirits also arrived in a large crowd. There was at least a hundred from which some had a kind of crown of fire. The others remained at a distance, listening.

54. And you, what did you do?
- I was listening too. Mostly observing. Then I had the idea of doing something useful to Mr. Kardec. When I am success- ful I will tell you about it. Then I left the meeting strolling around the streets, enjoying myself around the shops, med- dling with the crowds.

55. Then, instead of going about your business you were wasting your time?

- I did not waste it since I stopped a crime.

56. Ah! Then you are also involved with police matters?
- Why not? I was walking by across from a closed store when I noticed that there was something strange happening inside; I went in and saw a very agitated young man, walking up and down as if deciding to break into the cashier. There were two spirits with him, whispering into his ears: Come on, you coward! The drawer is full; you will have a lot of fun, etc. The other had a delicate face, nice and noble, something of celes- tial and good in his looks. He said: leave, leave now! While whispering the words: prison, dishonor.

The man hesitated. Once he approached the counter I po- sitioned myself in front of him, so as to impede him. The bad spirit asked why I was getting involved. I told him that I wanted to stop the young man from doing something wrong that could lead him to the dungeons. Then the good spirit approached me and said: “He needs to suffer the temptation; it is a trial. If he fails, it will be his fault.” The thief would triumph after the bad spirit had employed a disgusting but successful trick: He led the man to see a bottle on the table. It was liquor. He inspired in the man the idea of drinking it to have the courage. The unfortunate man is lost, I thought... Let us try so save something at least. I have no resource other than informing the owner... Quick! In a split second I was there. He was about to initiate a card game with his wife; I had to find a way of making him go downstairs.

57. If he were a medium you could have him writing that he was about to be mugged. Do you think that he would at least believe in spirits?
- He was not spirited enough to understand that.

58. I did not know that you were skillful in word playing.
- If you interrupt me I will say no more. I provoked a violent sneeze in that man. He felt like taking a snuff and then no- ticed that he had left the container in the store. He woke his son up who was snoring at a corner of the room, sending him to fetch the box. That was not what I wanted... the boy stood up complaining. I whispered to the mother the words: do not wake the boy up, you can go and fetch it yourself. He finally made the decision and went... I followed him to speed him up. Once he got to the store he noticed the lights on and heard a noise. He was afraid, his legs trembling; I forced him forward. Had he suddenly entered he would have trapped the thief. Instead, the stupid started screaming thief, thief! The criminal escaped but in the rush and altered by the alcohol he left his hat behind. When the shop owner entered the store there was nobody inside...What is going to happen to the hat? That is not up to me. That man is in trouble. Thanks to me there was no time for the crime to be perpetrated, the businessman was saved by fear. This was not enough to stop him from saying, when he went back upstairs, that he had confronted a six-foot tall man. Look at this, he said. If I did not have the idea of taking a snuff! Had I not stopped you from sending the child, said the woman. Let us agree that both of us had a premonition. It was a real luck! Now you, my dear, you can thank me!

59. You are brave my dear Peter. I congratulate you. Don’t feel dis- couraged by people’s ungratefulness. You will experience it many times now that you are prepared to serve them, even among those who believe in the intervention of the spirits.
- Yes, I know. The ungrateful will be paid with ingratitude.

60. I now see that I can count on you and that you will become really serious.
- You will see that later it will be me who will teach you moral.

61. I do need that as any person does and receives the good advices with good will, coming from wherever. I told you that I wanted you to do a good deed. Are you ready?

- And do you doubt it?

62. One of my friends seems to be on the verge of great deceptions if he continues in the current path; his illusions may lose him. I would like to have you helping him to return to the good path, by any means that could strongly impress him. Do you understand my thought?

- Yes. You want me to produce some good manifestation to him, like an apparition for example. But that does not de- pend on me. However, I can eventually and as long as I have permission for that, give him patent signs of my presence, as you know.

NOTE: The medium to whom this spirit seems to be linked feels his presence by a very strong impression, even when he is not willing to contact him. He acknowledges his presence by a kind of shivers in his arms, back and shoulders. The effects, however, are sometimes more energetic. In our gathering in my house, on March 24th last, this spirit answered the questions through another medium. We were talking about his physical strength. Suddenly, as if wanting to give a proof of that, he grabbed one of the attendees by the leg, which was violently shaken and thrown to the other side of the room, stunned.

63. Do as you please, or better, as you can. I warn you that he has some mediumistic capability.
- Even better to my plans.

64. What are your plans?
- I will study the situation, to start with. I will check the spirits who surround him and if there is any way of doing something with them. I will announce my presence at his house, as I did with you. I will be questioned and will respond: “It is me, Pierre Le Flamand, spiritual messenger. I come to be at your service and I heard that you entertain certain ideas that are transforming your mind, already making you turn your back to your friends. It is my duty to warn you, in your own interest, that your ideas are far from useful to your future happiness. You have Le Flamand’s word. I can assure you that I visit you with the best of the intentions. Be afraid of the spirits’ wrath and even further, God’s wrath; and believe in the words of your servant who wishes to affirm that his mis- sion is for the general well-being.

The spirit of Mozart has just dictated a piece of a sonata to our ex- cellent medium, Mr. Bryon-Dorgeval. As a means of assessing the work, the medium had the piece heard by several artists, not indicating its origin, but only asking for their opinion about the piece. Each of them acknowledged, without hesitation, Mozart’s style. The piece was executed in the session of the Society on April 8th last, in the presence of several knowledgeable persons, of Ms. Davans, Chopin’s pupil and distinguished pianist, who kindly provided us with her service.

As an element of comparison, Ms. Davans executed beforehand a sonata that Mozart had composed when alive. Everyone unanimously agreed, not only with the similarity of styles, but also with the superior- ity of the spirit’s composition. Then the same pianist executed a piece of Chopin with his typical talent.

We could not let the opportunity of evoking both composers escape, then having the following conversation:


1. You know for sure the reason why we called you. - Your call pleases me.

2. Do you acknowledge as yours the piece that we have just heard? - Yes, very much so. I recognize it perfectly well. The medium who served as my interpreter is a friend that has not betrayed me.

3. Which one do you prefer?
- The second one, no doubt.

4. Why?
- The sweetness and charm are more tender and lively in that one.

NOTE: These are the qualities indicated by others in the piece.

5. Can the music in the world where you live compare to ours?
- You would have difficulty understanding it. We enjoy senses that you still don’t have.

6. We were told that there is a natural, universal harmony in your world that we do not know here.
- It is true. You create music on Earth; here, the whole nature produces melodious sounds.

7. Could you play piano?
- No doubt I could. But I don’t want to. It would be useless. 8. It would, however, be a powerful means of conviction.
- Aren’t you convinced?

NOTE: Everyone knows that the spirits do not submit themselves to trials. They frequently and spontaneously do what we have not asked them to do. As a matter of fact, this type of manifesta- tion would fall in the category of the physical manifestations, not proper of the superior spirits.



9. What do you think about the recent publication of your letters?
- They vivified my memory a lot.


10. Your memories are in everyone’s memory. Could you describe the effect that these letters had on public opinion?
- Yes. They made me more loved. People got more connected to me as a man than before.

NOTE: The person that framed the last questions, in reality strange to the Society, confirmed that as the actual opinion produced in public opinion.

11. We would like to question Chopin. Would that be possible? Yes. He is sadder and more somber than I am.

12. (After the evocation) – Could you tell us about your situation as a spirit?
- Still errant.

13. Do you miss your Earthly life?
- I am not unhappy.

14. Are you happier than before?
- Yes, a little.

15. You say a little, meaning that there isn’t much difference. What is it missing so that you can be even happier?
- I say a little for what I could have been, since with my intelligence I could have advanced more than I did.

16. Do you expect to achieve the happiness you miss now?
- It will certainly come but new trials will be needed.

17. Mozart said that you are more somber and sad. Why so?
- Mozart told the truth. I get sad because I did not accomplish a committed assignment and do not have the courage to restart.


18. How do you see your musical compositions?
- I have them in high account. However, we do it better among us here, particularly when we have more resources.

19. Who are the members of your orchestra?
- We have legions of musicians at our service that play our com- positions with a thousand more talents than any one among you. These are complete musicians. They use their throats as instruments, so to speak, supported by instruments similar to organs that retain incredible accuracy and sound quality that I believe you cannot begin to comprehend.

20. Are you really an errant spirit?
- Yes. That is, I do not exclusively belong to any planet.

21. How about your musicians, are they errant as well?
- Errant like me.


22. (To Mozart) could you kindly explain what Chopin has just said? We do not understand that execution of music by the errant spirits.
- I understand your surprise. However, we have already said that there are particular worlds destined to errant beings, worlds that can be temporarily inhabited, a kind of bivouac or makeshift resting camp to these spirits, fatigued by a long erraticity, an always somewhat painful state.

23. (To Chopin) do you recognize one of your students here?
- Yes. It seems.

24. Could you kindly watch the execution of a piece of your composition?
- That would give me great pleasure, particularly having it ex- ecuted by a person that has kept a good memory of me. Please transmit my appreciation to him.


25. Can you give us your opinion about Mozart’s music?
- I like it very much. I consider Mozart my master.

26. Would you share that opinion with respect to today’s music?
- Mozart said that music was better understood in his time than nowadays. That is true. I will object, however, that there still are true artists.



NOTE: The fragment of sonata dictated by the spirit of Mozart has just been published. It may be acquired from the office of the Spiritist Review or from the bookstore of Mr. Ledoyen, Palais Royal, Galerie d’Orleans, 31. Price 2 francs – it will be posted against a mail order of that amount.

We saw in one of the answers given in the previous article that, as it seems, there would be worlds destined to errant spirits. Such an idea was not in the mind of any of the attendees and nobody would have thought of that except from the spontaneous revelation given by Mozart, what can be a proof that the spiritist communications may be independent of all preconceived ideas. Aiming at obtaining a more profound knowl- edge in that field, we submitted it to another spirit, outside of the Society, and through another medium, who had no knowledge about the subject.

1. (To St. Augustine) – Are there worlds which serve as stations to errant spirits or like resting places, as we were told?
- There are but they represent different degrees, that is, occupy an intermediary position among the worlds, according to the nature of the spirits that seek them, enjoying a greater or a lesser well being there.

2. Can the spirits that inhabit those worlds leave them at will?
- Yes. The spirits that inhabit them can leave and go where they please. Imagine them as migrating birds that can land on an island in order to recover their energies so as to move on with their destinies.

NOTE: Once more this communication confirms that nothing is useless in nature. Everything has an objective, a destiny; there is no emptiness, everything is inhabited; life is everywhere. Thus, during the long series of centuries that passed before human beings appeared on Earth; during those slow periods of transition, confirmed by the geological layers; even before the formation of the first organic beings, over that shapeless form; in that aridchaos where the elements were mixed together, there was no absence of life. Beings that did not have our needs, or the physical sensations, took refuge here. It was God’s will that even in that imperfect state, Earth was useful for something. Who then would dare say that among those thousands of globes that move in space, only one, and one of the smallest among all, lost in the crowd, would have the exclusive privilege of being inhabited? What would then be the utility of the others? Would God have created them to please our eyes? This is an absurd supposi- tion, incompatible with the wisdom that shines from all of God’s works. Nobody can dispute the fact that there is in this idea of the worlds, still inadequate to the material life, but inhabited by living beings appropriate to the environment, something of gran- diose and sublime, in which perhaps there is the solution to many problems.

One of our lady friends, Mrs. Schutz, perfectly attached to this world, who does not seem to be willing to leave it soon, was evoked in her sleep, giving us more than once proof of perspicacity while in that state.

One day, or better, one evening, after a long conversation, she said: “I am fatigued. I need some rest. I am going to sleep. My body needs that.”

I then responded: “Your body can rest. I do not wish to cause you any harm by talking to you. It is your spirit that is here, not your body. You could then entertain my questions without hurting your body.”

She replied: “You are wrong. My spirit separates a little bit from my body, but it is like a captive balloon, tied by ropes. When the balloon suffers the bumps of the turbulent winds, the pole feels the effects trans- mitted by the ties. My body represents the pole to my spirit, with the difference that it experiences sensations unknown to the pole and such sensations significantly fatigue the brain. That is why my body requires some rest, as does my spirit.”

According to the lady’s own declaration, she had never thought of that explanation before, which showed perfectly well the existing relation- ships between the body and the spirit, whilst the latter enjoys partial free- dom. We knew well that the absolute separation only happens after death and even some time later. However, that connection had never been so clearly and impressively described to us. Thus, we congratulate that lady who, even in her sleep, has demonstrated to bear such a lively spirit. For us, however, it was not more than an ingenious comparison. The image has lately taken the proportions of reality.

While visiting us Mr. R..., a former resident minister of the USA, together with the King of Naples, a knowledgeable man in matters of Spiritism, asked if we had already observed any distinction between the spirit of a living person and that of a deceased one, as it relates to the phe- nomena of the apparitions. In short, when a spirit appears spontaneously, be in the vigil state or during the sleep, if we have any means of recogniz- ing if the person is dead or alive. Learning that we had no means other than asking the spirit, he then said that he knew a clairvoyant medium in England endowed by a great faculty, who says that every time a spirit of a living person shows up to him, he notices a shiny trail, starting at the chest of the apparition, traveling through space and not blocked by any material obstacle, terminating at the body. It is a kind of umbilical cord that unites the momentarily separated parts of the living being. He had never seen such a thing when there was no corporeal life. That is how he recognizes when the spirit is of a dead or living person.

The comparison made by Mrs. Schutz came to mind, thus we took it as a confirmation of the fact that we have just reported. However, we will make an observation with that regard.

It is a known fact that the separation, at the time of death, is not sudden. The perispirit detaches gradually while the perturbation stands, keeping some affinity with the body. Couldn’t that be the case that the bond observed by the medium, described above, was present at the very moment of death, or a few moments later, as it frequently happens? In that case the presence of the cord would not be an indication that the person is alive.

Mr. R... could not tell us if the medium had made such an observa- tion. In any case it is not less important, shinning a new light onto what we can call the physiology of the spirits.

In their latest April 13th edition, the journal The Universe brings an article authored by Abbot Chesnel, in which the problem of Spiritism is extensively discussed. We would have left it without an answer as done to so many others to which we gave no importance, had it been one of those gross diatribes from their authors revealing the most absolute ignorance about the subject.

We have the satisfaction of acknowledging that the article by Abbot Chesnel was written in a completely different way. By the moderation and convenience of the language he deserves an answer, even more so since the article contains a serious mistake and may give a false idea of Spiritism as a whole, as well as impact the character and objective of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies.

Below is the transcript of the original article:

“Everybody knows the spiritualism of Mr. Cousin that is based on the philosophy destined to gradually replace religion. Under the same title, we have today a body of revealed doctrines that gradually becomes complete. It is a really simple cult but of wonderful efficacy as it would allow the devotees to be in a real sensitive and almost permanent communication with the supernatural world.”

“Such a cult has periodical meetings, initiated by the evocation of a canonized saint. As soon as the faithful attest the presence of St. Louis, King of France, they ask him to prohibit the entry of the evil spirits in the temple, then reading the minutes of the previous meeting. Then, invited by the President, a medium is called to the podium, near the Secretary in charge of annotating the questions addressed by one of the experts and the answers given by the evoked spirit. The assembly intensely watches the scene of necromancy, sometimes very lengthy, and once the session is over people leave more convinced than ever about the truths of spiritualism. During the interval between two sessions members do not forget to keep in close but private contact with the spirits who are more accessible or dear to them. There are many mediums and almost no secret in the other life which the mediums don’t end up by penetrating.”

“Once revealed to the faithful, those secrets are no longer kept away from the public. The Spiritist Review published every month and with regularity, does not deny subscription to the profane and to whoever may wish to be able to acquire the books containing the revealing texts, with their authentic comments.”

“We would be led to believe that a religion that consists uniquely in the evocation of the dead would be very hostile to the Catholic Church which has always prohibited the practice of witchcraft. But such petty feelings, however natural they may seem, are strange to the hearts of the spiritualists, as they say. They are worthy of the message of the Gospel and its Author. They acknowledge that Jesus lived, acted, spoke and suf- fered as told by our four Evangelists. The Evangelical Doctrine is true but that revelation, of which Jesus was the instrument, far from exclud- ing progress, must be completed. Spiritualism is what is going to give the Gospels the missing robust interpretation and the complementation waited for eighteen centuries.”

“Besides, who can establish limits to the progress of Christianity as taught, interpreted and developed as it is by the souls not bonded to mat- ter, strange to the Earthly passions, to our human interests and prejudic- es? The infinite itself unfolds before us. Well, infinite is boundless and all indications are that the revelation of infinite will proceed uninterrupted. As the centuries move on, revelations will be added to revelations with their endless mysteries, whose extension and profundity seem to increase since they are freed from the obscurity which surrounded them up until now.”

“Thus, spiritualism is a religion since it places us in an intimate rela- tionship with the infinite, broadening Christianity even further; it is eas- ily recognized as the most elevated, the purest and most perfect religious form, from past to present. However, boosting Christianity is a difficult task that cannot be accomplished without removing the barriers behind which it remains entrenched. The rationalists respect no wall. Less ardent and better informed, the spiritualists only find two barriers whose rupture seems indispensable to them: the authority of the Catholic Church and the dogma of the eternal penalties.”

“Is this life the only trial that the individual has to endure? Will the tree forever remain where it has fallen? Is the state of the soul, after death, definitive, irrevocable and eternal? No, answers the spiritualist necro- mancy. Nothing ends with death. Everything restarts. Death is a starting point of a new incarnation, of a new life, a new experience.”

“According to the German pantheism, God is not the being but the eternal being to be. However God may be, the human being has no other destiny to the Parisian spiritualists but the progressive or regressive state, according to the merits and works. The moral or religious law has a true sanction in the other lives, where the good ones are rewarded and the bad ones punished but for a more or less lengthy period of time, of years or centuries, but not for the whole eternity.”

“Would spiritualism be the mystical form of mistake envisaged by the theologian Mr. Jean Reynaud? Perhaps!”

“Would it be possible to go further and say that between Mr. Reynaud and the new sectaries there is a closer connection than that of an identity of doctrines? Maybe still. But such question, due to a lack of sound infor- mation, will not be definitely resolved here.”

“What is important, much more than the relationship or the he- retical alliances of Mr. Jean Reynaud, is the confusion of ideas whose manifestation is the progress of spiritualism; ignorance with respect to religion is what allows so much extravaganza; the frivolity with which really distinguished people accept such revelations from the other world, having no merit whatsoever, even that of the novelty.”

“It is necessary to go back to Pythagoras and to the Egyptian priests to discover the origins of the contemporary spiritualism. We will find them by browsing the archives of the animal magnetism.”

“Since the XVIII century, necromancy represented an important role in the practice of magnetism. Several years before hearing about the rap- ping spirits of America, certain French magnetizers obtained the confir- mation of the doctrines condemned by the Church, as they said, from the mouth of the dead or the demons, and specially the mistakes of Origen relative to the future conversion of the bad angels and the outcasts.”

“It is also necessary to say that the spiritualist medium, while exer- cising his functions, is not much different from the subject in the hands of the magnetizer, and the circle which surrounds the revelations of the former does not go even beyond what blurs the vision of the latter.”

“The teachings obtained by public curiosity about private matters, through necromancy, generally do not teach anything that is not already known. The answer of the spiritualist medium is obscure in points that our own personal research could not clarify; it is clear and precise in those that are well-known to us; it remains quiet with respect to every- thing which escapes our studies and efforts. In one word, as it seems the medium has a magnetic vision of our soul, but does not uncover any- thing already written there. Such interpretation, apparently very simple, is however subjected to several difficulties. In fact, it presupposes that one soul may be able to read what is in the deepest of another soul, with- out the support of signs and independently of the will of someone who would become an open and perfectly readable book to the first who shows up. Well, the good and bad angels do not naturally enjoy such privilege among themselves in their mutual relationships or with us. It is only God who can immediately penetrate and scrutinize the inner souls of the most stubbornly shut to God’s light.”


“If the so called strangest spiritualist facts are authentic, it is then necessary to resort to other principles to explain them. We generally for- get that the facts refer to an issue that strongly concerns the heart or the intelligence; which has led to extensive research and about which we fre- quently speak outside of the spiritualist environment. Under such condi- tions, which should not be neglected, certain knowledge of things which are of our own interest does not go beyond the natural limits of the spirits’ power.”

“At any rate, the spectacle offered to us these days is nothing more than an evolution of magnetism, struggling to become a religion.”

“Under the dogmatic and polemic format given by Mr. Jean Reynaud, the new religion incurred in the condemnation of the Périgueux Council, whose authority, as everybody remembers, was gravely denied by the culprit.”

“Given the mystic format that it now takes place in Paris, it deserves to be investigated, at least as a sign of the current times in which we live. Spiritualism has attracted a number of people, among which there are some distinctly well known around the world. The power of seduction that the spiritualism exerts; its slow but uninterrupted progress, witnessed by trustworthy people; the boasted pretensions; the problems it presents; the harm it can cause to the souls, all those are, no doubt, many listed reasons to attract the attention of Catholics. Let us be careful in not at- tributing more importance to the new sect than it deserves. Nevertheless, in order to avoid the exaggeration which amplifies everything, let us not be tricked by the denial of all things.”

“Nolite omni spiritui credere, sed probate spiritus si ex Deo sint, quo- niam multi pseudoprophetae prodierunt in mundum. I John, 4:1.”

L’Abbé François Chesnel


Mr. Abbot,

Your article published in L’Univers, with respect to Spiritism,

contains several mistakes which need to be rectified and, no doubt, are originated from an incomplete study of the subject. In order to refute them all it would be necessary to refer to the basis, to all points of the theory, as well as to the facts that substanti- ate them. I do not intend to do here and will limit to the main points.

You were right by saying that the spiritist ideas have attracted a certain number of people, among which some are distinctly known in the world. This fact, whose truthfulness goes much beyond your imagination, undeniably deserves the attention of serious people, since so many celebrities known for their notable intelligence, knowledge and social positions do not fall in love with an idea which has no foundation. The natural conclusion is that there must be something concrete here to assess.

You will certainly object that certain doctrines, religions, and social activities have found followers lately in the heart of the in- tellectual aristocracy. This situation has not spared them from ridicule. Thus, people of intelligence may be dragged by utopias.

In response I will say that the utopias are short lived. Reason will prevail, sooner or later. That is what is going to happen to Spiritism, if proven a utopia. However, if it is the truth, it will then triumph over every opposition and sarcasm, and I will even say, over all persecutions, if these still belong to our century, and the detractors will waste their time. Whatever the price, the oppo- nents will have to accept it, as so many other things were accepted against the protests that were raised in the name of reason. Is Spiritism true? The future will tell. It seems, however, that there is already an announcement; such is the speed of propagation of these ideas. Also carefully notice that it is not within the ignorant and illiterate classes that the acknowledgment takes place. It is, on the contrary, among the educated people.

It is still important to consider that all philosophical doc- trines are the work of people, whose ideals are more or less grandi- ose, more or less just. They all have a leader uniting all those who share the same principle.

Who is the author of Spiritism? Who has envisaged such a theory, right or wrong? It is true that it was necessary to coordi- nate, formulate and explain it. But who has conceived the initial idea? Nobody did. Or even better, everybody, since everybody could see and those who did not see was because they did not want to see or wanted to see it their own way, not breaking the circle of their preconceived ideas, what led them to see and judge poorly. Spiritism derives from observations that can be carried out by everyone, observations which are the privilege of nobody, thus explaining its propagation. Spiritism is not the result of any individual system, a circumstance that distinguishes it from all other philosophical doctrines.

Those revelations from the other world, you say, don’t even have the merit of novelty. Would merit demand novelty? Who has ever declared that Spiritism is a modern discovery? Those com- munications, as a consequence of nature and produced by the will of God, are part of the immutable laws with which God governs the world. Consequently, they must have existed since the hu- man being exists on Earth. That is why we find it in the remotest antiquity, among all peoples, both in their profane as well as in their sacred history. The ancestry and universality of such a be- lief are arguments in its favor. The conclusion that this would be unfavorable to the doctrine is, before anything else, lack of logic.

You then say that the faculty of the mediums is not much dif- ferent from that of the subjects in the hands of the magnetizers, or in other words, of the somnambulist. Let us even admit that there is a perfect identity. What would be the cause of that remarkable somnambulistic clairvoyance, which finds no obstacle in matter or distance, and that occurs without the support of the organs of vision? Wouldn’t that be the most patent demonstration of the existence and individuality of the soul, the axle of religion?

If I were a clergyman and wanted to give a sermon, prov- ing that there is something in us more than the body, I would undeniably demonstrate it through the phenomena of natural or artificial somnambulism. If mediumship is nothing but a variety of somnambulism, its effects are not less worthy of observation. I would find in them an additional proof in favor of my thesis and would use it as a new weapon against atheism and materialism.

All of our faculties are the works of God. The greater and the more wonderful they are, the more they attest God’s power and benevolence.

As for myself who has carried out special studies about som- nambulism for thirty five years; who has considered somnam- bulism as a not less profound faculty than so many others of mediumship, I assure you, as everyone else who does not pass judgment by just analyzing one face of the problem, that the me- dium is endowed by a particular faculty which does not allow it to be confused with that of the somnambulist and that the complete independence of the medium’s thought is demonstrated by facts of ample evidence to anyone who is properly positioned with the required conditions to observe with impartiality.

Abstractions are made by direct written communications. Has a somnambulist ever made a single thought come out of an inert body? Which one has ever produced visible and even tan- gible apparitions? Which one has ever been able to maintain a heavy body suspended in the air without a supporting point? Was it through a somnambulistic effect that a medium can draw the portrait of a young lady, deceased eighteen months prior, who the medium had never met before and whose picture was recognized by her father who was present at my house, fifteen days ago, in the presence of twenty eye witnesses? Would it be through an ef- fect of somnambulism that a table accurately responds to framed questions and even to mental questions? We can certainly admit that the medium was magnetized. It would be difficult to believe that the table, however, was somnambulistic.

You say that the medium cannot speak with clarity unless it is about known things. How to explain the following fact and hundreds of others of the same kind, that have happened multiple times and of my personal knowledge?

One of my friends, an excellent psychographic medium, en- quiries a spirit about a person with whom he had lost contact for over fifteen years, asking if that person would still be alive. “Yes”, responded the spirit: “the person is still alive, living in Paris, num- ber... street...” My friend goes there and finds the person at the indicated address.

Is it an illusion? Could it be that his own thought had sug- gested such an answer? If in certain cases the answer may coincide with the thought, would that be rational to conclude that it is a general law?

In that respect, as with everything else, the hasty judgments are always dangerous, for they can be refuted by facts that were not analyzed.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Abbot, my intention is not to provide a course in Spiritism here, nor to discuss if it is right or wrong. As it has already been said, it would be sufficient to remind you about several facts that I have mentioned in the Spiritist Review as well as the explanations given in my many texts.

I then come to the part of your article, Your Most Reverend, which seems most important to me.

You gave the title to your article: “A New Religion in Paris”. Supposing that this would really be the character of Spiritism, you would have made there your first mistake, since Spiritism is far from been circumscribed to Paris. It counts on millions of adepts spread in all five continents, and Paris was not its primitive focus.

Second, is Spiritism a religion? It is easy to demonstrate the opposite.

Spiritism is based on the existence of an invisible world, formed by incorporeal beings that inhabit space, and who are not but the souls of those who lived on Earth or in other worlds, where they have left their material envelopes. We gave those be- ings the name, or even better, they gave themselves the name of spirits. These beings surround us continuously, exerting a power- ful influence onto human beings, despite people’s will. They play a very active role in the moral world, and to a certain degree, in the physical world. Thus, Spiritism belongs to nature and one can say that, from a certain point of view, Spiritism is a force of nature, like electricity is another and the universal gravitation is a third one.

Spiritism unveils invisible worlds, as the microscope has re- vealed the world of the infinitely small, whose existence we did not suspect. Therefore, the phenomena whose source is the invis- ible world must have been produced and were produced at all times, as well covered by the history of all peoples. It was only people that in their ignorance have attributed such phenomena to causes more or less hypothetical, allowing a free path to imagina- tion in that respect, as done to all phenomena whose causes were imperfectly known.

A better observed Spiritism since its popularization comes to shed light onto a large number of problems that were unsolved or poorly solved hitherto. Its true character is then of a science and not of a religion and the proof is that it counts on people of all beliefs in its rows, people who have not renounced to their con- victions because of that: fervent Catholics who practice all duties of their cult; Protestants of all sects; Jewish, Muslims and even Buddhists and Brahmans. There is everything but materialists and atheists since these ideas are incompatible with the spiritist principles.

Hence, Spiritism is founded on general principles indepen- dent of every dogmatic question. It is true that it has moral consequences, like all philosophical sciences. Such consequences are compatible with Christianity because from all doctrines, Christianity is the most enlightened and the purest, reason why from all religious sects in the world, the Christians are the ones more capable of comprehending Spiritism in its true essence.

There is no doubt that every person may transform their own beliefs into a religion and interpret the existing religions at will, but from this to the constitution of a new church there is a great distance and I believe it to be imprudent to follow such an idea.

In summary, Spiritism deals with the observation of the facts and not with the particularities of this or that belief; with the research of the causes; with the explanation that the facts may give to the known phenomena, from a moral as well as a physical point of view, not imposing any cult to its adepts, the same way that Astronomy does not impose a cult to the stars, nor the pyro- technics a cult to the fire.

Even more: as Sabianism was born from a poorly understood Astronomy, the badly understood Spiritism in ancient times was the source of Polytheism. Today, thanks to the lights of Christianity, we can assess Spiritism more appropriately. Spiritism positions us better against the wrong systems, originated by igno- rance. And religion itself can find in Spiritism the tangible proof of many truths contested by certain opinions. Thus, marching against the opinion of most philosophical sciences, one of its ef- fects is to lead back to the religious ideas those who have deviated by an exaggerated skepticism.

The Society to which you refer has its objective expressed in the title itself. The denomination Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies is not similar to any sect. It has such a diverse character that its regulations prohibit the discussion of religious questions. It is classified in the category of the scientific societies because its objective is to study and deeply analyze every phenomena result- ing from the relationship between the visible and the invisible worlds. It has its President, Secretary, Treasurer, as all societies do. It does not invite the public to its sessions in which there is no speech or any other thing that characterizes a cult. It proceeds with its activities with calm and privacy, first because it is a necessary condition to the observations and second because those who no longer live on Earth knowingly deserve respect. The Society evokes them in the name of God because it believes in God, in its omnipotence, and knows that nothing is done in this world with- out God’s permission. It opens the sessions with a general appeal to the good spirits, since it knows that there are good as well as bad spirits, thus assuring that the latter ones do not fraudulently meddle into the received communications, leading to mistakes.

What does it prove? It proves that we are not atheists. But in no way it implies that we are experts of a religion. The person who described what happens among us would be convinced had that person followed our works, particularly if not assessed so lightheartedly and perhaps with a less prejudiced and passionate spirit. Hence, the facts themselves object to the qualification of a new sect that you give to the Society, certainly for not knowing it better. You finish the article by calling the attention of Catholics to the harm Spiritism causes to the souls. If the consequences of Spiritism were the denial of God, of the soul, of its individual- ity after death, of human’s free will, of the future penalties and rewards, it would be a profoundly immoral doctrine. Far from that, Spiritism demonstrates those fundamental bases of religion by the facts and not by reasoning, foundations whose most dan- gerous enemy is materialism. Even further, by the consequences Spiritism teaches to withstand with resignation the miseries of this life; it mitigates despair and teaches people to love one another like brothers and sisters, according to the Divine precepts of Jesus. If you only knew, as I do, how many tough incredulous Spiritism has led back to the path; how many victims it has saved from suicide by the perspective of fate reserved to those who ab- breviate their lives, contrary to God’s law; how much hatred it has abated, bringing the enemies closer! Is it what you call do harm to the souls? No. You cannot think like that and it gives me pleasure to suppose that you would evaluate it differently had you only known it better. You will say that religion can do all that. Far from me to dispute it but do you believe that it would be better to those who were rebels when found Spiritism to be left in an absolute incredulity? If Spiritism has triumphed over that incre- dulity; if it presented them with clarity what was darkness before; if it made evident what was doubtful to them, where is the harm? As for myself I will say that instead of losing souls Spiritism has saved them.

We know that The Spirits’ Book has sympathetic readers all over the world, but we wouldn’t imagine to find it among the natives of South America, had it not been for a letter that came to our hands from Lima, a few months ago, whose thorough translation seemed to us appro- priate to publish, considering the significant fact contained in that letter and its easily understandable reach. The letter has a comment that spares us from any reflection.

“Your Excellency Mr. Allan Kardec,
Forgive me for not writing in French. I can read but cannot write correctly and intelligently in French.

For more than ten years now I visit, with a certain frequency, the natives that inhabit the eastern side of the Andes, in those American regions of Peru. The Spirits’ Book that I purchased in one of those trips to Lima follows me in my solitude. Do not be surprised when I tell you that I read it with enthusiasm and that I continuously re-read it. Also, I would not bother wasting your time with so little if I did not have certain information that should be of your interest and if I did not wish to receive your advice. I have no doubt that your human feelings are in agree- ment with the sublime principles of your book.

Those native people which we call savages are less ignorant than generally assumed. If one says that they live in huts and not in palaces; that they don’t know our arts and sciences; that they ignore the etiquette of the civilized world, then they will be true savages. However, with respect to their intelligence, we find among them ideas of a remarkable fairness; a great finesse of ob- servation, as well as noble and elevated feelings. They understand things with a marvelous ability and have an incomparably less slothful spirit as the peasants of Europe. They despise whatever seems useless to them, with respect to the simplicity, which is suf- ficient to their life style. The tradition of independence is always alive among them, explaining their insurmountable aversion to- wards their conquerors. However, whilst showing hatred towards the race in general, they get attached to the individuals who in- spire in them an absolute trust. It is to that trust that I owe the blessings of sharing their intimacy. When I am among them I feel safer than in some large cities. When I leave them they become sad and make me promise that I will return. When I return it is party time all over the tribe.

I told you that I had The Spirits’ Book in hands. One day I had this idea of translating to them a few passages, which very surprisingly to me they understood better than I supposed, given their very judicious observations.

Here is an example.

The idea of reincarnating on Earth seems absolutely natural to them. One day, one of them asked me: “When we die, can we be reborn among the white people?”

You will for sure be impressed, as I am, by such a conclusion from a native and the feeling of fraternity that grew in him. As a matter of fact the idea of spirits is not new among them. It is pres- ent in their beliefs and they are convinced that it is possible to talk to their deceased relatives who come to visit them. The important thing is to take advantage of that and to try and moralize them. I do not think it would be impossible since they still do not have the vices of our civilization.

That is why I need your advices and your experience. As I see it, there is no reason to suppose that we can only influence the ig- norant by talking to their senses. I do think, on the contrary, that it would only be a way of keeping them with those narrow ideas, developing in them the tendency towards superstition. I believe that reason, when we learn to position ourselves on the level of the intelligences which will always have a more lasting influence.

I wait for your response, with most cordial...etc.

DON FERNANDO GUERRERO

When you wish to study the skills of a medium do not just evoke the first spirit that comes to mind through this individual, since we have never said that the medium is capable of serving all spirits, and a frivolous spirit may well snatch the name of the evoked spirit. You should preferably evoke a known spirit since that one will always attend; you will then assess that spirit based on the language, being in a better condition to assess the nature of the communications received by the medium.

The incarnate spirits act on their own, according to their good or bad nature. They can also act under the influence of non-incar- nate spirits, of which they become instruments for the good or evil, or for the accomplishment of something. Hence, irrespective of us, we are the agents of the spirits with respect to what hap- pens in the world, in the general as well as in the specific sense. Thus, we always find someone who encourages us to doing or not doing something. We typically think that things have happened by chance when, in the majority of the cases, it is the spirits who impel us towards one another, because such gatherings must lead to a given result.

Incarnate in different social positions, the spirits are like actors who dress up like everybody else, but when playing their roles they wear all kinds of outfits, and represent all characters, from the King to the homeless person.

There are people who are not afraid of death, which they have faced a hundred times, but who experience a certain fear of darkness. They are not afraid of thieves but in the solitude, at a cem- etery, at night, they fear something. It is the presence of the spirits around them, whose contact produces an impression of inexplicable fear.

The origins attributed to us by certain spirits, through the supposed revelation of past existences, are often a means of seduction and a temptation to our pride, flattered by the fact of having been this or that character.

ALLAN KARDEC

The adversaries of Spiritism have just made a discovery that must upset the rapping spirits. To them it is like one of those blows from which they will never recover. In fact, what should those poor spirits be thinking after the terrible poking in the eye given by Mr. Schiff, then by Mr. Jobert (de Lamballe) and later by Mr. Velpeau? I can actually see the spirits very embarrassed, moaninsg and groaning something like this: “Well, my dear, we are in real trouble! We are done! We did not count on the discovery of how the anatomy interacts that has unveiled our tricks. Positively, we can- not live in a country in which there are people who can see so far ahead!”

Come on, gentlemen onlookers who simply have believed in all these old wives’ tales, impostors who have wanted to make us believe that there may be things that we do not see. Ignorant who believe that something can escape the scalpel, even your soul, and all of you, spiritist writers or spiritualists, more or less witty, curtsy and acknowledge that you were all fools, charlatans, and even rogues or imbeciles. Those gentlemen allow you the choice because here is the light, the pure truth:

“Science Academy, Session of April 18th, 1859 – About the rhyth- mic muscular involuntary contraction.”

“Mr. Jobert de Lamballe reports a curious fact about the involun- tary rhythmic contraction of the right hand side lateral peroneus brevis muscle, which confirms the opinion of Mr. Schiff with re- spect to the occult phenomenon of the rapping spirits.”

“Ms. X..., a 14 years old, strong, well-built young lady, is affected by regular involuntary movements of the right hand side lateral peroneus brevis muscle, since she was six, and also by knocks that can be heard from behind the external right malleolus, with the regularity of the pulse. These symptoms occurred for the first time at night, followed by great pain. Soon after the left hand side lateral peroneus brevis was affected by the same thing, although with lesser intensity.”

“The effect of such cracks is the production of pain, insecurity while walking and even falling down. The sick young lady in- formed that the extension of the foot and the compression exerted upon certain points of the foot and leg make them stop, although she might continue to feel pain and fatigue in that limb.”

“When this interesting child came to us, this is the state in which we found her. It was easy to verify, at the right external malleolus, on the superior portion of the tip of the bone, a regular knock, followed by a transient sagging and the lifting of the soft parts of the region, producing a dry noise after each muscular contraction. Such a noise was heard in her bed, near the bed, and even at a considerable distance from the place where the child was resting. Remarkable by the regularity and sharpness, the sound followed the girl everywhere. By auscultating the foot, the leg and the mal- leolus, one could notice an unpleasant shock going through the whole path of the muscle, such as a mechanical shock transmitted from end to end of a wooden beam. Sometimes the noise seemed like a squeak, a friction, when the contractions were less intense.

All that happened when the patient was standing, sitting or lying down, at any time of day and night when examining her.”

“If we study the mechanism of those knocks and if for a better clarity we decompose each nock into two periods of time, we will see that:

“In the first stage, the peroneus brevis tendon moves out of the gutter, necessarily raising the peroneus longus and the skin.”

“In the second period, the phenomenon of contraction is com- pleted; the tendon is released, moved back into the gutter, striking against it, thus producing the dry sound that we talked about.”

“It was renewed, so to speak, every second, and every time the little toe felt a jolt and the skin covering the fifth metatarsal was raised by the tendon. It stopped when the foot was greatly ex- tended. It stopped again when pressure was exerted on the muscle or the sheath of the peroneus.”

“In recent years, French and foreign newspapers talked a lot about hammering like noises, sometimes happening in regular succes- sion, sometimes following a particular rhythm, occurring with certain people lying in their beds.”

“Charlatans have taken over these strange phenomena whose real- ity, in fact, is also attested by credible witnesses. They have been trying to correlate these phenomena to the intervention of a su- pernatural cause, using it to exploit public credulity.”

“Observing Miss X... it shows how, under the influence of muscle contraction, the displaced tendons can, when fall back into their bone gutters, produce beats that for some people announce the presence of rapping spirits.”

“Through exercise, any person can acquire the ability of produc- ing similar movements of the tendons at will, resulting in the dry beats that are heard from a distance.”

“Repelling any idea of supernatural intervention, and noticing that such knocks and strange noises happened at the bedside of the individuals excited by the spirits, Mr. Schiff asked himself if the source of those noises would not be in the patients, and not outside. His knowledge of anatomy led him to believe that those things could happen in the leg, in the peroneus region where there is a bone surface, tendons and joints.”

“Since such a thought was very entrenched in his mind, he has been experimenting and testing himself, not allowing him to doubt that the noise would have its chamber behind the lateral malleolus and the groove of the peroneus tendon.”

“Mr. Schiff was soon able to perform voluntary noises, regular, harmonious, and before a large number of people (fifty witness- es), he could mimic the signs of the rapping spirits with or with- out shoes, standing or lying down.”

“Mr. Schiff states that all these noises are caused by the tendon of the peroneus longus, as it passes through the fibular groove, and he adds that they coexist with the thinning or absence of the common sheath of the peroneus longus and brevis.”

“As for us, first assuming that all those cracking sounds are produced by the motion of a peroneal tendon against the bone surface, we believe however that it is not necessary to have an anomaly of the sheath in order to have that sound produced. All it is needed is a muscle contraction, the movement of the tendon and its return to the gutter so that the noise is produced. In addition, the peroneus brevis is the only agent of the noise in question. In fact, it affects a more straight direction than the peroneus longus, which suffers several deviations in its path; it is located deep in the gutter; it entirely covers the bone gutter, from what is natural to conclude that the noise is produced by the shock of the tendon against the solid parts of the gutter. It presents muscle fibers up to the entrance of the tendon into the common gutter, while with the peroneus longus it is the opposite.”

“The noise is of variable intensity and several tones may be dis- tinguished. That is how we can find noises that vary from the reverberating sound heard from a distance to others like the rub- bing friction, the saw, etc.”

“We made successive incisions by the subcutaneous method, through the body of the right peroneus brevis and the body of the same muscle on the left side of our patient, using an apparatus to keep her limbs still. After the suture the functions of those two members were recovered without any trace of that rare and singular disease.”

“Mr. VELPEAU. The noises that Mr. Jobert has just reported in his interesting communication seem to be related to a broad question. These noises, in fact, are observed in a variety of re- gions. Hip, shoulder, as well as the inner side of the foot that often becomes their seats. I observed a lady, among others, who with the help of some rotational movements of the thigh produced a kind of music which could be heard clearly enough from one side to the other of the room. The tendon of the longer part of the biceps brachialis easily produces that sound, by leaving its sheath groove and when the naturally attaching fibrous branches loos- en or break. The same happens with the tibialis posterior or the flexor hallucis longus behind the medial malleolus. Such noises are explained, as well understood by MM. Schiff and Jobert, by the friction or tendon jerks in the grooves or against the edges of the synovial surfaces. They are, therefore, possible in countless ar- eas or near a large number of organs. Sometimes clear and vivid, other times deaf or obscure, sometimes wet, sometimes dry, those sounds vary extremely in intensity.”

“Hopefully the example given on this subject by MM. Schiff and Jobert will lead the physiologists to seriously investigate these noises, and one day they will provide a rational explanation to the misunderstood phenomena hitherto attributed to occult and supernatural causes.”

“Mr. Jules Cloquet, supporting the observations of Mr. Velpeau about the abnormal noises that can be produced by the tendons in various parts of the body, gives the example of a young girl between sixteen and eighteen years old, who was introduced to him at the St. Louis hospital, at a time when MM. Velpeau and Jobert were associated to the same institution. The girl’s father, who called himself the father of a phenomenon, a kind of showman, hoped to take advantage of his child in a public exhibition. He announced that his daughter had the movement of a pendulum in her belly. The girl was perfectly appeased. By a slight twisting motion in the lumbar region of the spine, she produced strong snapping sounds, more or less regular, follow- ing the rhythm of slight movements that she made at the lower region of her chest. Those abnormal noises could be distinctly heard more than twenty-five feet away, resembling the sound of an old rotisserie. The sounds were produced at the young lady’s will, and seemed to have their seats in the muscles of the lum- bodorsal region of the spine.”


This article from L’Abeille Médicale, whose full transcription seemed to be a duty for the enlightenment of our readers, then avoiding the accusation of running away from certain arguments, was reproduced in several news- papers with some variations, followed by the usual adjectives.

It is not our habit to reveal criticism. We got over that since our com- mon sense tells us that nothing is proved with silliness and harm, not matter how smart someone may be. Had the above article been limited to those trivialities which are not always followed by civism and education, we would not mention it. However, it faces the question from a scientific point of view. Let us see if we are really dead by decree from the Academy of Sciences or if we have any survival chance like the poor and crazy Fulton, whose system the Academy declared to be an empty and imprac- ticable dream, only denying France from the initiative of the steam boat. Who knows the consequences that such a power might have had in the hands of Napoleon I in the future events!

We will quickly address the qualification of charlatan attributed to the followers of the new ideas. It sounds somewhat audacious to us the application of this concept to millions of people that take no profit from such ideas, achieving the highest echelons of the social scale. They forget that Spiritism has made incredible progress in a very short time, in all corners of the globe; that it spreads not only among the ignorant but also among the educated; that it counts on doctors, magistrates, clergy- men, artists, writers and high profile public servants in its ranks – people to whom one would generally associate some light and common sense. Well, mixing them up in the same group and unceremoniously out cast- ing them out to the class is an act of great petulance.

They may still say: “You talk about people of good faith, victims of an illusion. We do not deny the effect; we dispute the cause that you attribute to those effects. Science has just discovered the true cause; makes that cause known and hence destroys all that mystic scaffolding of an invisible world that can seduce the exalted but sincere imaginations.”

We have no intention of being considered wise and even less so would we dare to position ourselves on the same level as our distinguished adversaries.

We will only say that our personal studies of Anatomy and Natural Sciences, that we had the honor of teaching, allow us to understand your theory and in no way we feel perturbed by that avalanche of technical vocabulary. The phenomena you describe are perfectly known to us. In our observations about the effects attributed to the invisible beings, we were careful enough by not neglecting a so patently negligible cause. When a fact is presented to us we are not satisfied with a single observation only. We want to see it in all angles, all faces and before accepting a theory we verify if that theory embraces all circumstances and if any unknown fact would be able to contradict it. In one word, if that theory resolves all questions. Such is the price of truth.

Gentlemen, you certainly admit that this procedure is absolutely logi- cal. Very well! Despite all respect owned to your knowledge, there are some difficulties in the application of your system to what is convention- ally called the rapping spirits.

First, one may consider at least singular the fact that such a faculty so far acknowledged as exceptional and considered as a pathological case, which Mr. Jobert de Lamballe classifies as a “rare and singular disease”, suddenly became so common. It is true that Mr. Jobert says that every- body may acquire it through exercise. But, as he also says that it is fol- lowed by pain and fatigue, which is perfectly natural, one must agree that it requires a very strong desire for mystification to make one’s muscle crack during a session of two or three uninterrupted hours, without any profit and with the only objective of entertaining a few people.

Let us now speak seriously. This is a more serious subject since it is related to science.

Those gentlemen who found such marvelous property of the peroneus longus did not imagine everything that those muscles can do. Well, here you have a nice problem to solve: The displaced tendons do not knock on the bone gutters only. Through a really singular effect they also knock on doors, on walls, on ceilings, and all that at will, exactly at points that are requested. Here there is something even stronger: Science was far from suspecting all virtues of that cracking muscle. It has the power of lifting a table without touching it; of making it knock with its feet, move around the room and stay in the air without a support; of making the table open and close! And imagine its power! It has the ability of breaking the table when falling.

Do you think that we talk about a fragile table, light as a feather, which we lift with a breath? What an illusion! We talk about solid and heavy tables, from 110 to 130 lb., which obey the little ladies and chil- dren. However, Mr. Schiff will say, I have never seen such prodigies. That is easy to understand. He only wanted to see legs.

Would Mr. Schiff have given the necessary independence to his ideas? Was he exempt from any prevention? We have the right of posing doubts to that and it is not us who say so. It is Mr. Jobert. According to him, Mr. Schiff, on talking about the mediums, asked himself if the seat of such noises wouldn’t be in the medium, instead of outside. His knowledge of anatomy led him to think that it could well be the leg. Since that thought was very entrenched in his mind, etc. Thus, according to the confession of Mr. Jobert, Mr. Schiff did not take the facts as a starting point but his own ideas, his preconceived and well-entrenched ideas. Hence the research in one exclusive direction, and consequently one exclusive theory, which perfectly explains the fact seen by him but does not explain the ones that he did not see.

And why hasn’t he seen them?

Because in his thoughts there was only one true starting point and only one true explanation. From that, everything else should be false and would not deserve examination. Hence, in the heat of striking the medi- ums, he missed the shot.

Gentlemen, you thought you knew all properties of the peroneus lon- gus just because you caught it playing guitar by the cover? Now, now! We have very different things to register in the archives of anatomy. You thought the brain was the seat of thought? Wrong! One can think through the ankle. The knocks give proof of intelligence. Thus, if those knocks come exclusively from the peroneus, from the longus according to Mr. Schiff, from the brevis, according to Mr. Jobert (fact that would require an agreement between them) then the peroneus is intelligent.

There is nothing remarkable about it. Making his muscle crack at will allows him to execute anything that he wants: he will imitate the saw, the hammer; he will play the military formation sounds, or even the rhythm of a music which will be requested by the audience. Be it, let us assume so, but when the noise responds to something that the medium completely ignores; when the noise reveals those secrets that only you know, those secrets that we would like to bury deeply, it is necessary to admit that the thought comes from a different part of the brain.

Where would that come from then? Well, then! It comes from the peroneus longus. And that is not all. The muscle is also a poet since that great peroneus creates charming poetry, even though a medium that had never done it in his life. The muscle is multilingual since it dictates very sensible things in languages completely unknown to the medium. The muscle is a musician, we know, since Mr. Schiff made it execute very harmonious sounds, with or without shoes, in the pres- ence of fifty people. Yes, but the muscle is also a composer. Well now Mr. Dorgeval, you that recently gave us the nice sonata, do you really believe that the spirit of Mozart dictated it? What a hope! It was your peroneus longus that played the piano. In reality, dear mediums, you did not suspect that there could be so much spirit in your ankles. Honor may be awarded to the authors of such discovery. May their names be inscribed with capital letters for the edification of posterity and honor of their memory!

Some may say that we are joking about serious things, and that jokes don’t entail reasoning. It is a fact. Not less rational than silliness and vulgar- ity. Confessing our ignorance before those gentlemen we accept their wise demonstration and take it very seriously. We thought that certain phenom- ena were produced by invisible beings, who called themselves spirits. It may well be that we were wrong. As we seek the truth, we do not have the silly intention of getting stuck in one idea that they so peremptorily demonstrate to be false. Since the moment when Mr. Jobert, through a subcutaneous in- cision, eliminated the spirits, there is no more spirits. Once all noises come from the peroneus, as he says, it is necessary to believe in that and accept all of its consequences. Thus, when the knocks take place on the wall or ceiling, either the peroneus does so or the wall has a peroneus. When the noise dictates a poem through a table that knocks with a foot, it is one out of two possibilities: either the table is a poet or it has a peroneus. That seems logical to us. We go even further. An officer of our acquaintance, while car- rying out spiritist experiments, one day was slapped twice in the face by an invisible hand. The slaps were so strong that he still felt the effect two hours later. How can one come to terms with that? Had it happened to Mr. Jobert he would remain impassive? He would simply say that he was slapped in the face by the peroneus longus.

Below is what we read about this subject in the La Mode newspa- per on May 1st, 1859:

“The Academy of Medicine continues its crusade of the posi- tivist spirits against all kinds of wonders. After having in fairness, but somewhat awkwardly, slain the famous black doctor, through the organ of Mr. Velpeau, it has now just heard Mr. Jobert (de Lamballe) that reveals in the Institute the secret of what he calls the great comedy of the rapping spirits, so successfully represent- ed in both hemispheres.”

“According to the distinct surgeon, every knock-knock, every pop-pop that gives the shivers to those who in good faith hear them; those singular noises, those dry hits, those successively vi- brating and kind of rhythmic sounds, precursors of the arrival and positive signs of the presence of the inhabitants of the other world, are simply the result of a motion imposed on a muscle, a nerve, a tendon! It is a kind of bizarre thing of nature, skillfully exploited so as to unnoticeably produce that mysterious music that enchanted and seduced so many.”

“The seat of the orchestra is in the leg; it is the tendon of the peroneus, playing on its cover, which produces all those noises that are heard under the tables or at a distance, controlled by the conjurer.”


“As from my side, I doubt very much that Mr. Jobert had touched, as he believes, the secret of what he himself called “a comedy” and the articles that were published in this newspaper by our comrade Mr. Escande, about the mysteries of the invisible world, seem to me to present the subject with an amplitude much more sincere and philosophical, in the true meaning of the word. “If, however, the charlatans of all kinds are unbearable with their playing skills, we have to appreciate that those wise men some- times are not less, with the eraser which they wish to apply over everything that shines outside the official chandeliers.”

“They don’t understand that the thirst for the marvelous that devours our time is caused exactly by the excess of positivism to where certain minds wanted to drag our society. The human soul needs to believe, admiring and contemplating the infinity. They worked to shut down the windows opened by Catholicism. The human soul looks through the skylights, whatever they may be.”

Henry de Pène

“We ask our distinct friend Mr. Henry de Pène to excuse us in order to make an observation. We don’t know when Mr. Jobert made that immortal discovery and what was the memorable day that he communicated it to the Institute. What we know is that the original explanation had already been given by others. In 1854 Dr. Rayer, distinguished clinician, who then did not give demonstration of great perspicacity, also presented to the Instituted a German patient whose ability, in his opinion, provided the key to every knocking and rapping of the two worlds. As with today’s report, it was related to the motion of one of the muscular tendons of the leg, called peroneus longus. The demonstration was made in one session and the Academy expressed their recognition for such an interesting communication. A few days later a substitute professor from the Faculty of Medicine consigned the fact in the Constitutionel, having had the courage of adding that “the scientists had finally voiced their opinion and the mystery was solved”. That did not preclude the mystery from persisting and increasing, despite science which, by refusing to carry out the experiments, is satisfied by attacking it with burlesque and ridiculous explanations, as the one we have just mentioned above.” “Out of the respect that Mr. Jobert (de Lamballe) deserves, we prefer to believe that the experience, which is absolutely not his, was attributed to him. Some newspaper, looking for novelties, would have found somewhere in their files the old communication from Mr. Rayer and resurrected it, then publishing it under their flagship, just for a change. Mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur. It is certainly unpleasant, but still better than if the paper had told the truth.”

Escande

The opposition from scientific community is one of the arguments in- cessantly used by the adversaries of Spiritism. Why haven’t they dealt with the phenomena of the “turning tables”? Had they seen anything seri- ous in them, they say, they would not be on guard against such extraor- dinary facts nor would they treat them with disdain, whereas now they are all against you. Aren’t the scientists the light of nations, and isn’t their duty to spread light? Why would you want to diminish that just when the occasion was so great for them to reveal a new force to the world?

It is a serious mistake to think that all scientists are against us, to begin with, since Spiritism propagates precisely within the educated class. The wise individuals are not exclusively in the official Science and offi- cial organizations. Can the issue be prejudged by the fact that Spiritism does not enjoy the status of citizenship with the official science? The circumspection of that official science with respect to new ideas is well known. If science had never been wrong then its opinion could weigh in. Unfortunately, experience shows the opposite.

Hasn’t science repealed as pure illusion a number of discoveries that have later distinguished the memories of their authors? Should we then say that the scholars are ignorant? Does it justify the trivial epithets used by some bad taste people to call them names? Certainly not! There isn’t any sensible person who wouldn’t make justice to the scientists, acknowl- edging though that they are not infallible and, for that very reason, their judgment is not the last resort. Their mistake is to resolve certain ques- tions a little lightheartedly, putting too much trust in their own lights, before the judgment of time, thus exposing them to the contradiction of experience.

Nobody is a good judge but on the subject of their expertise. Wanting to build a house should we look for a musician? If we were sick would we prefer to be treated by the architect? If we faced a lawsuit should we be advised by a dancer? Finally, if it is a question of theology should we seek the solution by a chemist or an astronomer? No. Each one will stick to one’s own profession. Traditional sciences cover the properties of matter that we can manipulate at will. The produced phenomena have material forces as their agents.

The phenomena produced in Spiritism have intelligences as their agents, intelligences that are independent, have free will, and in no way submit to our caprices. They therefore escape from our anatomic or labo- ratory methods, as well as from our calculations, hence they are not in the scope of science, per se. Thus, science was wrong by trying to experiment with the spirits like it does with an electric battery.

Science started from a single, restricted and preconceived idea, want- ing to forcibly associate to the new idea. It failed, as it should, since it used a nonexistent analogy from the beginning. Then, without investigating further, it concluded by the negative: weak judgment, daily repaired by time, as time has done to so many others, and those responsible will in turn be sentenced to the shame of having so hastily taken a false position against the infinite power of the Creator.

Thus, the scientific organizations should not, now and in the future, pronounce about the subject, considering that it is not more in their scope than it is the right of attesting God’s existence. It is then a mistake to take them by judges. However, who will be the judge? Do the spiritists boast about their rights of imposing their own ideas? No. The great judge, the sovereign judge is public opinion, and when that opinion is formed by the approval of the masses and the educated people, the official scientists will accept it as individuals, submitting to the force of the circumstances.


Let us allow a generation to pass and with that the obstinate prejudices of self-love. Then we will see what occurs to Spiritism in the same way to what has happened to so many others who fought against injustices. Today the believers are called crazy, tomorrow crazy will be those who do not believe, exactly like in the past those who believed that Earth turned were considered mad. But this believe did not preclude the Earth from turning.

Nevertheless, not all wise individuals thought in the same way. Some used the following train of thoughts:

There is no effect without a cause and the most vulgar effects may yield the greatest discoveries. Had Newton not paid any attention to the falling apple; had Galvani repelled the maid, calling her crazy and quix- otic, when she talked to him about the frogs dancing on the plate, maybe we might not have discovered the remarkable laws of gravitation or the fecund properties of the battery. The phenomenon designated by the bur- lesque name “dancing tables” is not more ridiculous than the dancing frogs, and may contain some secrets of nature that will revolutionize hu- manity, when we have their key.

They went further: since so many people are involved with those facts; since careful people have investigated them, there must be something. An illusion, madness, if you will, cannot have such a character of generality. It could seduce a circle, a group, but it could never take the world.

Here is in excerpt what a doctor in medicine used to tell me, then a non-believer, now a fervent expert:

“They say that the invisible beings communicate with us. Why not? Before the invention of the microscope did we suspect the existence of those thousands of microscopic animals that caused so much devastation to our economy? Where is the material impossibility of the existence of beings in space that escape our senses? Would we, by any means, have the ridiculous pretension of knowing everything, telling God that we have nothing else to learn from Him? If those invisible beings that surround us are intelligent, why wouldn’t they communicate with us? If they maintain a relationship with human beings it is because they must play a role in their destinies and events. Who knows they are not one of the powers of nature, one of those occult forces that we do not suspect? What new hori- zons are open to our thoughts! What a vast field of observation!

The discovery of the invisible world would be very different from that of the infinitely small. It would be more than a discovery: it would be a thorough revolution of ideas. How much light can shine from that! How many mysterious things would be explained! Those who believe in these things are ridiculed, but what does it demonstrate? Hasn’t the same happened to all discoveries? Wasn’t Christopher Columbus sent off, cov- ered in sadness and considered insensible? These ideas, he was told, are so strange that reason denies them. We would had laughed only half a century ago if we were told that we would communicate from one end to the other of the world in a few minutes; that we would travel across France in a few hours; that a ship would navigate against the winds driven by the steam of some boiling water; that the means of illumination and heating would come from water. If a man had proposed to illuminate the entire city of Paris with only one source of an invisible substance, he would have been taken to the hospital. Would it then be more prodigious if space were inhabited by intelligent beings that, after having lived on Earth, left their material envelope behind? Don’t we find in that fact the explanation to a number of beliefs that goes back to the remotest eras of antiquity? Isn’t that the confirmation of the existence of the soul, of its individuality after death? Isn’t that the proof of the very foundations of religion? However, religion only vaguely tells us what happens to the souls. Spiritism defines it. What can the materialists and atheist object to? It is worth investigat- ing these things further.”

Such were the reflections of a scientist but of an unpretentious sci- entist. These are also the thoughts of a large number of educated people, who have thought about it, who have seriously investigated it, without preconceived ideas, having had the modesty of not saying: I don’t under- stand it, thus it does not exist.

Their conviction came after observation and meditation. If these ideas were illusions, would it be possible that so many distinguished persons had embraced them? Would it be possible that they would have being victims of an illusion for such a long time? Hence, there is no material impossibility for the existence of beings who are invisible to us and that inhabit space. Such simple consideration should instigate more thoughts in some. Not long ago, who would have thought that a single drop of wa- ter could contain thousands of living creatures, of such a small size that defies imagination? Well then, the acknowledgement of such minuscule beings would be more difficult to be accepted by reason than those that we call spirits.

The adversaries of Spiritism ask why the spirits, who should be con- cerned about proselytizing, why wouldn’t they be more positively dedi- cated to the task of convincing certain persons whose opinion could have huge influence. They add that we accuse them for showing lack of faith, then responding, and rightly so, that faith cannot come in anticipation.

It is a mistake to think that faith is necessary; however, good faith is something else. There are skeptics that deny even the evidence and that even miracles would not convince them. There are even those who would be really upset if they were obliged to believe, since their self-love would suffer by confessing that they were wrong.

How do you respond to people that can only see illusion and charla- tanism everywhere? Say nothing. It is necessary to leave them alone, say- ing that they saw nothing, for however long they wish, and that we were unable to make them see anything. Side by side with these tough skeptics there are those who wish to see things their own way. Once they form an opinion, they want to submit everything to that belief, not recognizing that there are certain phenomena that are not submitted to their will.

They either know nothing or do not wish to bow before the necessary conditions. If the spirits do not seem as interested in convincing them through exceptions it is due to the fact that, at that point in time, there is little interest in convincing certain people, whose importance the spirits do not measure as these individuals measure themselves. It is really not very flattering, but we do not govern their opinion. The spirits have a way of assessing things that are not always in agreement with ours. They see, think and act based on other elements. While our life is constrained by matter, limited by the narrow circle in which we find ourselves, they see the whole picture. Time, that seems so lengthy to us, is an instant to them, and distance is only a step. Certain details that seem of extreme importance to us are nothing but childish things to them. On the other hand, they consider to be important certain things whose reach we hardly comprehend. In order to understand them it is necessary that we elevate our thoughts above our material and moral horizon so as to be positioned from their standpoint. It is not up to them to come down to ours. We are the ones who must elevate to them, achieving that by the study and observation. The spirits like the assiduous and conscientious observers to whom they multiply the sources of enlightenment.

It is not the doubt originated by ignorance that sends them away. It is the fatuity of the pretense observers who observe nothing, keeping them under pressure and wanting to maneuver with them as they do with puppets; it is the feelings of hostility and criticism that they bear in their minds, above all, or in their words, despite the protests against it. The spirits do nothing to these ones, showing little or no concern with respect to what they may think or do, for their time will come. That is why we say it is not faith that is needed, but good faith.

Well then, we question if our wise adversaries are always in such con- ditions. They want to control the phenomena but the spirits do not obey their orders. It is necessary to wait for their good will. It is not enough to say: show me a given fact and I will believe. It is necessary to persevere; allow the facts to be spontaneously produced, not willing to force or drive them. That very thing that you wish for is exactly what you will not ob- tain, but others will take place and maybe what you wanted will come when you expect the least.

The phenomena multiply to the eyes of the attentive and assiduous observer, reciprocally confirming one another, but the one who thinks that the only requirement is to move the lever to crank up the engine is completely wrong. What does the naturalist who wishes to study the habits of a given animal do? Does he command the animal to do this or that in order to have the opportunity to freely observe it, according to his conveniences? No. He knows perfectly well that the animal will not obey him. However, he watches the spontaneous manifestations of the animal’s instinct; he waits for them and observes as they happen.

The simple common sense shows, with more reason, that it is how it must be with the spirits, who are intelligences much more independent than that of the animals.

Deceased on May 6th, 1859; evoked at the Parisian Society of Spiritist th th Studies on the 13 and 20 of the same month.

To St. Louis: Could we call the spirit of Mr. Alexander Humboldt who has just died?

If you wish so my friend.

1. Evocation
- I am here. This is amazing.

2. Why are you amazed?
- I am far away from what I was just a few days ago.

3. If we could see you, how would we see you?

- As a man.

4. Does our call bother you?
- No, no.

5. Were you aware of your new condition just after death?
- I waited for that for a long time.


NOTE: People like Mr. Humboldt who die of natural causes, and by the gradual extinction of the vital forces, recognize themselves in spirit much more promptly than those whose life is abruptly interrupted by an accident or some sort of vio- lence, since there is already the initiation of the detachment before the organic life is over. The superiority of the spirit and the elevation of Mr. Humboldt thoughts eased the separa- tion, always slower and more painful in those whose lives are exclusively material.

6. Do you miss your Earthly life?
- No, absolutely not. I feel happy. I no longer feel in prison. My spirit is free... What a pleasure! And how nice the moment that brought me such a grace from God!


7. What is your opinion about the statue that will be erected to you in France, despite the fact that you are foreign?
- I am thankful to the honor addressed to me. What I do appreciate is the feeling of union and the desire to extinguish all hatred, through that fact.


8. Have your beliefs changed?
- Yes, a lot. However, I have not revised everything. Wait a little before you talk to me with more depth.



NOTE: This answer and the word “revise” are characteristic of the actual state of the spirit. Despite the quick separation of his spirit there still exists a certain confusion of ideas. Since he left his body only eight days ago, he did not have time yet to compare his worldly ideas with those that he may have now.

9. Are you happy with the way you lived your last existence?
- Yes. I have more or less accomplished the objective proposed by myself. I served humanity; that is why I am happy now.


10. When did you propose that objective?
- When I came to Earth.

NOTE: Since he proposed the objective when he came to Earth it means that he had achieved a prior progress and his soul was not born at the same time as the body. This sponta- neous answer couldn’t have been provoked by the nature of the question or by the thought of the interlocutor.

11. Have you chosen this worldly existence?
- There were many candidates for this mission. I begged the Being by Excellence to concede it to me and I got it.

12. Do you remember your existence prior to the one that you have just left?
- Yes. It happened far from Earth, in a world very different from yours.

13. Is that world equal, inferior or superior to Earth?
- I am sorry. It is superior.

14. We know that our world is far from perfection and hence we don’t feel humiliated by the fact that there are other worlds above us. However, how would you have come to a world inferior to yours? - One does not give to the rich. I wanted to give therefore I came to the poor’s shanty.


15. Could you give us a description of the living beings that inhabit the world where you lived?
- A little while ago I wanted to tell you that but then I un- derstood that I would have great difficulty in perfectly ex- plaining it to you. The beings are good, very good there. You already know that point, the basis of the whole moral sys- tem of those worlds. Nothing blocks the development of the good thoughts there; nothing stimulates the recollection of bad thoughts; it is complete happiness since everyone is con- tent with oneself and with those who surround them. With respect to the matter and to the senses any description would be useless. How much of a simplification in the engines of so- ciety! Now that I am capable of comparing the two; I am sur- prised by the distance. Do not think that I say so in order to discourage you. No. Much to the contrary. It is necessary that your spirit be very much convinced of the existence of those worlds. You will then feel an ardent desire to reach them and your work will pave the way.


16. Is that world part of our planetary system?
- Yes. It is very close to you. However, you cannot see it since it has no light of its own and does not receive nor reflects the light from other stars that surround it.

17. A short while ago you said that your prior existence was far away from us and now you say that world is very close. How can these two things be conciliated?
- It is far from you if you take into account your distances, the worldly measures. However, it is close if you use God’s ruler and if from a single gaze you try to embrace the whole creation.

NOTE: Evidently if we take by comparison the dimensions of our globe we can then consider it far away but it is close with respect to other globes that are located at unimaginable distances.

18. Can you be specific about the region in the sky where it is located?
- It would be useless. The astronomers will never find it.

19. Is the density of that planet the same as ours?
- The ratio is of a thousand to ten.

20. Is that planet of the same nature as the comets?
- No, absolutely.

21. If it hasn’t got its own light and if it does not reflect solar light then it is in eternal obscurity?
- The beings that inhabit it do not absolutely need light. There is no obscurity to them; they don’t understand it. Since you are blind you think that nobody else may have the sense of vision.


22. According to certain spirits, planet Jupiter is much superior to Earth. Is that true?
- Yes. Everything you were told is true.

23. Have you ever seen Arago again, after you returned to the spirits’ world?
- It was him who reached out to me when I left your world.

24. Have you known Spiritism during your life?
- Not Spiritism. Magnetism, yes.

25. What is your opinion about the future of Spiritism among the scientific organizations?
- Grandiose. But its path will be rough.

26. Do you think that the scientific institutes will one day accept it?
- Certainly. However, do you see that as indispensable? You must first endeavor to implant its principles in the hearts of the unfortunate ones that are plentiful in your world. It is the balsam that mitigates despair and gives hope.

NOTE: François Arago, evoked on May 27th, through another medium, gave the following answers to similar questions:

Q – When alive, what was your opinion about Spiritism?

A – I hardly knew it and thus did not give it much importance. You yourself can now judge if I have changed opinion.

Q – Do you think that it may one day be accepted and recognized by the scientific organizations, that is, by the official science, since many scholars do personally accept it?

A – I not only think but I am sure. It will follow the fate of all discoveries that are useful to humanity. Mocked in the beginning by the proud scholars and by the silly ignorant, it will be acknowledged by everyone in the end.

27. What is your opinion about the sun that illuminates us?
- I have not learned much here yet in the field of Science. However, I continue to think that the Sun is no more than a vast electrical center.


28. Is such opinion the result of the ideas you had as a man or is it your opinion as a spirit? - It is my opinion since I was alive, reinforced by what I feel now.

29. Considering that you came from a world superior to Earth, how come you did not acquire accurate knowledge about these things, before your last existence, which you could remember now?
- I certainly had them. Nevertheless, what you have just asked me has no relationship with all that I was able to learn in my existences prior to this one that I have just left, so different from the others. Astronomy, for example, was a completely new science to me.

30. Many spirits have told us that they inhabited or had inhabited other planets. None, however, said to have inhabited the Sun. Why?
- The Sun is an electrical center, not a world. It is an instrument, not a dwelling. - Then it has no inhabitants? - Permanent inhabitants, no. Visitors, yes.

31. Is it possible that after some time, when you have been able to carry out new observations, you may give us better information about the nature of the Sun?
- Yes, perhaps and with pleasure. However, do not count much on me since I will not remain roaming for long.

32. Where do you think you are going to when you leave your current state? - God allows me to rest for a while. I will take the opportunity to review very dear friends who wait for me. Then, I know nothing else.

33. With your permission, we would still like to ask you a few questions that your knowledge of Natural History will no doubt allow you to respond.
- The mimosa pudica (sensitive) and the Venus flytrap show movements that indicate a great sensitivity, and in certain cases a certain will, like in the last one whose leaves catch the insects that land on them, seeking their juice. It seems that the plant prepares a trap to later kill the insect. Our question is that if such plants are endowed by any ability to think; if they have a will; if they form an intermediary class between the vegetable and the animal state. In one word, do they represent a transition from one to the other? - Everything in nature is transition by the simple fact that nothing is the same, despite the fact that it is all interconnected. Those plants do not think and consequently do not have a will. The oyster that opens up as well as all zoophytes absolutely does not think. All they have is a natural instinct.


34. When the plant is hurt does it feel any pain?
- No.


NOTE: One member of the Society voices an opinion that the movements of the sensitive plants are similar to those produced by the digestive and circulatory systems of the animal organism that occur involuntarily. In fact, don’t we see the pylorus contracting in the presence of certain bodies, denying entry? The same must happen with the sensitive and the Venus flytrap plants in which the movements do not imply the need for a perception and even less the need for a will.


35. Are there fossils of humans?
- Time has gradually destroyed them.


36. Do you admit the fact that there were humans on Earth before the geological floodwaters?
- It would be better if you had clearer explanations about this subject before framing the question. There were humans on Earth before several floods.


37. Adam then was not the first man?
- Adam is a myth. Where do you place Adam?
38. Myth or non-myth I speak about the period that history assigns to him. - It is hard for you to assess. It is actually impossible for you to evaluate the number of years over which the first human being lived in a savage and animal state, which did not end but after a long time since their first appearance on Earth.

39. Will Geology one day find the material traces of the existence of humans on Earth before Adam’s times? - Not Geology, but common sense.

40. The evolution of the organic kingdom on Earth is marked by the successive appearance of the acotyledons, the monocotyledons, and the dicotyledons. Did human beings exist before the dicotyledons?
- No, their phase followed that.

41. We thank you for your kindness in attending our call, as well as the teachings.
- It was a pleasure. Good-bye. So long.

NOTE: This communication is distinguished by a general character of goodness, benevolence and great modesty, a sign of undeniable superiority of the spirit. There is not one single trace of vanity, swagger, desire to dominate, to impose, typically present in the answer of the pseudo-wise spirits, always driven by preconceived ideas and systems that they try to impose. Everything and even the most beautiful thoughts breathe simplicity and absence of pretension in the spirit of Mr. Humboldt.

1. Evocation
- I am with you.

2. What is your situation as a spirit: errant or reincarnate?
- Errant.

3. Are you happier than when you were alive?
- Yes, since I am separated from the dense body and I can now see what I could not before.

4. It seems to me that you were not in an unfortunate condition when alive. Where thus the superiority of your present situation?
- I have just said that. You, the followers of Spiritism, must understand such a situation.

5. What is your current opinion about the Faust? - It is a piece of work whose objective was to show the vanity and emptiness of human Science and, on another hand, exalt the feeling of love in its beauty and purity, condemning what it showed as immoral and evil.

6. Was it a kind of intuition of Spiritism that led you to describe the influence of the bad spirits over human beings? How could you have made such a description?
- I had an almost perfect memory of a world where I saw the spirits exercising their influence over the material beings.

7. Did you then have the recollection of a preceding existence?
- Yes, certainly.

8. Can you tell us if that existence was on Earth?
- No, since one cannot see the spirits in action here. It was really in another world.

9. However, since you could see the spirits in action it should be in a world superior to Earth. How come you ended up in an inferior planet? Have you fallen? Kindly explain.
- It was a superior world to a certain extent, but not as you understand it. Not all worlds have the same organization and yet there is no great superiority just because of that. Furthermore, you know that I had a mission among you that you cannot ignore, since you still play my works. There was no falling down considering that I served and still serve to help your moralization. I applied what I had of superior from that preceding world, in order to improve the passions of my heroes.

10. Yes, your work is still played. Just recently The Faust was adapted to an opera. Have you seen that?
- Yes.

11. Can you give us your opinion about the way Mr. Gounod interpreted your thoughts through music? - Gounod evoked me, without knowing it. He understood me very well. As a German musician I would not have done better. Perhaps he thinks as a French musician.

12. What do you think about the Werther?
- I now reproach the end part.


13. Wouldn’t such a work have caused a lot of harm, exalting passions?
- It did and caused disgraces.


14. It was the cause of many suicides. Would you be responsible for that?
- Since there was a wicked influence spread by me, it is exactly for what I suffer and regret.


15. It seems to me that when alive you showed great aversion towards the French. Do you still have it today?
- I am very patriotic.


16. Are you still more connected to a country than to the others?
- I love Germany for its thoughts and for its almost patriarchal tradition.


17. Do you want to give your opinion about Schiller?
- We are brothers in spirit and through our missions. Schiller had a great and noble soul, reflected in his works. He did less harm than I did. He is my superior for he was simpler and truer.


18. Could you give us your opinion about the French poets in general, comparing them to the German ones? This is not a vain feeling of curiosity but the search for our instruction. We consider your feelings really elevated thus needless to ask for your impartiality, leaving aside any national prejudice.
- You are curious but I want to satisfy this curiosity. The modern French frequently write beautiful poems but employ more nice words than good ideas. They should dedicate more to the feelings than to the minds. I speak in general but make exceptions to some: a great poor poet, among others.


19. A name was whispered in the audience. Is that the one you talk about?
- Poor or that simulates poverty.


20. We would like to obtain a dissertation from you about a subject of your choice, for our instruction. Could you kindly dictate something to us?
- I will do it later, through other mediums. Evoke me on another occasion.

From the Courrier de Paris, May... 185912


“Do you know that every somnambulist, all turning tables, all magnetized birds, every sympathetic pencil and fortunetell- ers have predicted the war long ago? Many prophecies have been made about it to several important people who pretending not to have taken such revelations into account, were not less evidently worried about them. As from our side, not resolving the issue in one direction or the other, and even thinking in what François Arago had doubts about, at least we are allowed not to mention them, limiting ourselves to the report of some facts which we witnessed, with no comments added.

“Eight days ago we were invited to a spiritist gathering in the residence of Baron G... All twelve guests were sitting around the table at precisely the scheduled time; ... a simple, miraculous ma- hogany table, where the tea and sandwiches were initially served. It is necessary to say that from those guests there was none who could for any reason be called charlatan. The owner of the house is a close relative of several ministers, belonging to an impor- tant foreign family. Two very distinct English officers, a French mariner, a well-known Russian prince, a renowned physician, a millionaire, a secretary of embassy and another two or three important people from the Saint-German area formed the faith- ful group. We were the only profane ones among the illustrious spiritists, but in the condition of a skeptical Parisian journalist by duty we could not be accused of an exaggerated credulity.

The meeting then could not be under the suspicion of repre- senting a comedy. And what a comedy! Would that be a useless and ridiculous comedy in which each person would have voluntarily played the role of mystifier and mystified? That is not acceptable. Besides, what would be the intention? What would be the interest? Wouldn’t that be the case to ask: “Who is being deceived here?”

No, there was no ill intention or madness there. If you wish we could agree that there was chance... It is all that our con- science may concede.

Here is what happened:


After the spirit was questioned about a number of things, he was asked if the hopes for peace – that seemed significant – were founded.

No, responded the spirit on two different occasions.

We will then have the war?
Certainly!
When?
In eight days.
However, the Congress will meet next month... this strongly indicates that hostilities will not start, eventually.
There will be no Congress!
Why?
Austria will refuse.
And what will be the winning cause?
Justice and righteousness... that of France.
And how will this war be?
Short and glorious.

That brings to memory another event of the same kind that also happened before our eyes some years ago.

Everyone remembers that during the Crimean war the Emperor Nicholas recalled all vassals that lived in France back to Russia, or otherwise in case of disobedience face confiscation of all their properties.

We were then in Leipzig, Saxony, where like everywhere else there was a vivid interest in all those events. One day the follow- ing message got into our hands:

“I am here for a few hours only. Come to see me at the Poland Hotel, # 13. Princess de Rebinine.”

Princess Sophie of Rebinine was a close acquaintance of ours, a charming and distinct lady, whose history is a whole romance (which we will write one day) who honored us by calling us a friend. We promptly attended her kind invitation since we were as pleasantly surprised as happy for her passage by Leipzig.

It was Sunday the 13th, and the weather was naturally grey and gloomy, as usual over that part of Saxony. We found the Princess in her quarters, more gracious and witty than never; just a bit pale and melancholic. We made that observation to her.

To begin with, she said, I left like a bomb. It had to be that way, since we are at war and I feel a little fatigued by the journey. Then, although we are enemies now, I don’t hide from you that I regret leaving Paris. It is some time now that I considered myself almost French and the Emperor’s orders made me break up with sweet and old habits.

Why haven’t you just stayed in your beautiful apartment of Rue Rumfort?

Because my budget would have been cut!
However, don’t you count on so many and good friends among us?
Yes... at least I believe so. But in my age a woman doesn’t like to mortgage herself... the interest sometimes is higher than the capital! Ah! If I were an old lady it would be different. But then nobody would give me a loan.
Then the Princess changed the subject.
You know I have a very demanding character... I know nobody here... Can I count on your company for the whole day?
Easy to guess our answer.
At one o’clock we heard the bells in the patio and went down- stairs for lunch. At that point everybody was talking about the war and the turning tables.
As for the war, the Princess was certain that the Anglo- French fleet would be destroyed in the Black Sea and she would courageously have set them on fire, if the Emperor Nicholas had assigned her with that delicate and dangerous mission. Regarding the turning tables, her faith was less solid, but she proposed to carry out some experiments with another friend that we introduced to her when we were having dessert.
We returned upstairs to her room. We had coffee served. Since it was raining, we spent the afternoon interrogating a trilegged table, like those that we still see around.


How about me, the Princess suddenly asked; you don’t have any- thing to say?
No.
Why.


The little table knocked thirteen times. Well, we must re- member that it was the 13th and that the Princess’s apartment number was also number.

Does it mean that the number 13 is fatal to me?
Yes! The table knocked.
Never mind! I am a female Bayard. You may speak freely, whatever you have to announce to me.

We interrogated the table that persisted, at first, in its prudent reservation. Finally, we were then able to get the following words:
... eight days...Paris, violent death!

The Princess was then very well. She had just left Paris and did not expect to return to France so soon... The table’s prophecy was at least absurd regarding the three initial points... As for the last one, it is unnecessary to say that we gave no attention to that.

The Princess was supposed to leave at 8 pm, taking the train from Dresden, in order to get to Warsaw two days later in the morning. She missed the train, though.

In reality, she said, I will leave my luggage here and will take the 4 am train.

You will then sleep over at the hotel?
I will go back to the hotel but will not sleep over. I will watch today’s ball from the foreigners’ balcony. Would you like to join me?

The Poland Hotel, whose magnificent and large ballrooms accommodate at least two thousand people, holds a great ball almost daily, in the summer as in the winter, organized by some society of town; the assistance from upstairs in a private gallery is reserved to the travelers who can appreciate the spectacle and listen to an excellent orchestra.

As a matter of fact, the foreigners are never forgotten in Germany, finding reserved balconies all over the place, explaining why the Germans on coming to Paris for the first time always ask for the foreigners’ balconies in theaters and concerts.

That evening’s ball was really brilliant and the Princess, de- spite being a simple observer, really enjoyed watching it. She had then forgotten the tri-legged table and its ominous prediction when a hotel waiter brought her a telegram which had just ar- rived. The message read:

“- To Madam Rebinine, Poland Hotel, Leipzig – Indispensable presence Paris – Serious interests – followed by the signature of the Princess’ attorney. A few hours later she took the route to Paris instead of Dresden. Eight days later we learned of her death!

Paulin Niboyet

We found the following report in a remarkable collection of authentic stories of apparitions and other spiritist phenomena, published in 1682, in London by Reverend J. Granville and by Dr. H. More. The title reads: “Apparition of Major Georges Sydenham’s Spirit to Captain V. Dyke”, extracted from a letter by Mr. Jacques Douche, from Monkton, to Mr. J. Granville.

“... soon after the death of major Georges, Dr. Th. Dyke who was a close relative to the captain, he was called to treat a sick child. The doctor and the captain lay down on the same bed. After a brief nap the captain asked the maid to bring him two lit candles, the biggest and thickest that could be found. The doctor asked him about the meaning of all that. The captain responded:

“You know about my discussions with the major, relatively to the ex- istence of God and the immortality of the soul. It was not possible for us to elucidate those points, although it has always been our wishes.”

“We agreed that the first to die would come back on the third evening after the funerals, between midnight and 1 am, to the gardens of this small house, clarifying the one that outlived about the subject.”

“Today is the very day when the captain should keep his promise.”

“Therefore he set the alarm clock by his bed and woke up at 11:30 pm; he then took a candle in each hand and left through the back door, spending the next two and a half hours in the garden. When he came back he declared to the doctor that he had not seen nor heard anything that was not very natural. However, he added, I know that the major would have come if he could.”

“Six weeks later the captain went to Eaton to take his son to college, and the doctor accompanied him again. They stayed for about two or three days in a lodge called San Christopher, but did not sleep together like in Dulverton. They occupied two different rooms.”

“One morning the captain remained in his room longer than usual, before calling the doctor. At last he came to the doctor’s room showing altered faces, bristly hair, eyes popped and his body shaken.”

“What happened, cousin captain? The doctor asked.”
“-I saw the major, responded the captain.”
“The doctor seemed to smile.”
“I am positive that I saw him today or I have never seen him in all

my life.”
“He then told me the following story:”
“At day break this morning someone came by my bed, removed the

sheets and screamed: Cap!”
“Cap was the word that the major normally used to call the captain.” “I responded: - Hi there, my major!”
“He continued: - I could not come the other day. Now however, I am here and will tell you this: There is a very just and terrible God! If you don’t change your skin you will see it when you arrive here.”

“A sword that the major had given me was resting on the table. He walked around the room a couple of times then he took the sword from the scabbard; since he did not find it as polished as it should be he said: - Cap, cap, when this sword was mine it was better conserved.”

“He then suddenly disappear ed after those words.”

The captain was not only persuaded about the reality of what he had seen and heard but since then he had become much more serious. His character, jovial and lighthearted, was remarkably modified. When he had his friends over, he treated them prodigally but always controlled. Those who knew him ensured that he believed to have heard the major’s words several times in his ears, during the two years that he outlived that adventure.



ALLAN KARDEC

Speech given at the closing of the social year 1858-59

Ladies and Gentlemen, At the time of expiration of your social year, allow me to present a short summary of the status and works of the Society.

You know its origin. It was formed without a pre-established design, without a preconceived project. A few friends gathered at my house in a small group; step-by-step those friends asked me for permission to introduce their friends. There was no president then. Those were intimate gatherings, of eight to ten people, as there are to the hundreds in Paris and elsewhere. It was natural that I had the direction of what happened at my house, as a consequence of being the owner and of the studies that I had carried out, which gave me certain experience in the matter.

The interest produced by those meetings increased, although we did not get involved but with serious things. The number of attendees grew gradually, one by one, and my modest living room was no longer adequate to an assembly, becoming insufficient. It was then that some among you proposed that we should look for another place, a more adequate, and that we should pool resources in order to cover for the expenses, since they did not think that it was fair that I would take care of everything as of up until that moment.

However, in order to gather regularly, beyond a certain number of persons and in a different place, it was necessary to comply with the legal requirements, have regulations, and consequently, a formal president. Finally, it was necessary to constitute a society. It was what happened, with the agreement of the authorities whose benevolence has not failed us. It was also necessary to give a methodic and uniform direction to the works, so that you thought appropriate to assign to me the work I was already doing in my house, in our private sessions. I dedicated to my functions, that I can call laborious, all the accuracy and devotement that I was capable of doing. From the administrative point of view I endeavored to maintain the sessions in a rigorous order, ensuring a serious character, without which the prestige of the serious assembly would have soon disappeared. Now that my task is over and that the kickoff has been given, I must communicate to you the resolution I have made to resign, for the future, to any function in the Society, even the one of director of studies. I don’t ambition any title but that of a simple regular member, with which I will always feel happy and honored. The reason for my decision resides in the multiplicity of my duties which increase daily, given the size of my network of contacts and also because, besides the work you know, I prepare other more considerable publications that require laborious studies, which will take no less than ten years.

Well, the Society’s activities take a lot of my time in the preparation, coordination and final editing of the material. Furthermore, they also require an assiduity that sometimes interferes with my personal activities, making it indispensable an almost exclusive dedication to what you have assigned me. That is the reason, ladies and gentlemen, that made me take the word so often, in several of those occasions regretting the fact we were deprived from the lights of distinguished and enlightened members. It has been since some time now that I wanted to resign from my functions. On several occasions I have explicitly indicated such desire here, as well as in private, to several colleagues, notably to Mr. Ledoyen. I would have done it earlier, not afraid of causing inconvenience to the Society by leaving in the middle of the year, but that could give the impression of defection. We needed not to give that pleasure to our critics. I then had to carry my task to the end. However, now that such motives no longer exist, I promptly communicate my resolution to you, so as not to preclude you from making the choice you must. It is only fair that each one may share the honors and duties.

It is much to the contrary, since our whole science is based on facts. We investigate with interest every fact that offers matter for study or confirms the admitted principles. The only thing I want to say is that we waste no time in reproducing the facts that we already know, in the same way that a physicist does not enjoy repeating endlessly the experiments which teach him nothing new. We focus our investigations on everything that may illuminate our paths, preferring the intelligent communications, source of the Spiritist Philosophy and whose boundless field is much ampler than the purely material manifestations, which are of momentary interest only.

Two equally publically announced and practiced systems are presented regarding the mode by which the spiritist communications are received: some prefer to wait for the spontaneous communications; others provoke them through a direct appeal to this or that spirit. The former pretend that in the absence of control to establish the identity of the spirits, then waiting for their good will, we are less exposed to be led to err. Since the spirit speaks it is because he is present and wants to talk, whereas we would not be certain that the one we evoke could come and respond. The latter object, allowing the first one who shows up to speak, would be the same as opening the door to the good as well as to the bad spirits.

The uncertainty in the identity is not a serious objection, since we frequently dispose of means of ensuring that, and such a confirmation, besides, is object of a study related to the principles of the science. The spirit who communicates spontaneously is almost always limited to generalities whereas the framed questions establish a more positive and constructive picture.

A - Those who pretend to give the key to the mysteries of creation; unveil the principles of all things and the infinite nature of God do not go further than I do, I who declare, in the name of the spirits, that it is not given to man the investigation of such things about which we can only make more or less likely conjectures.

From now on we will regularly publish the report of the Society’s sessions. We intended to do it starting from this current issue but the excess of material forces us to postpone it to the next issue.

The members residing outside Paris and the corresponding members will then be able to follow the works of the Society. As for now we restrain ourselves by saying that despite Mr. Allan Kardec’s intention to resign to the Presidency, expressed in his closing speech on the occasion of the administrative renewal, he was unanimously reelected, minus one vote and a blank ticket.

He considered it to be an inconvenience to pursue his resignation, before such a flattering testimony. He has however accepted it conditionally, with the reservation that he will resign from his functions as soon as the Society has the condition to offer the presidency to someone whose name and social position are such that it will elevate the Society to a higher level. His wish was to dedicate all his time to the works and studies that he is currently carrying out.

The government has allowed the apolitical newspapers to publish news about the war. Since the reports are abundant in all shapes and forms it would be useless to have them repeated here. The greatest news to our readers is the story from the other world. Although it has not been extracted from the official source of the Moniteur, it offers a no less interesting point of view to our studies. Thus, we thought of interviewing some of the glorious victims of the victory, assuming that we could extract some useful instruction from that exercise. Similar themes of studies, and particularly contemporary, cannot be found at any time. Because we did not know personally any of the participants of the last battle, we beseeched the spirits who assist us to send us someone. We even thought that the presence of strangers would be preferable compared to friends or relatives, taken by the emotion. After a positive answer we obtained the following communications.

On May 28th last, the newspaper L’Univers published our response to the article written by Abbot Chesnel about Spiritism, followed by the Abbot’s response. We could not respond to this second article, which repeats the arguments of the first one but now without the civil character of the first one, to which everybody applauded, we could not respond but through the repetition of everything that we have said before, seeming completely useless to us. Abbot Chesnel strives to demonstrate that Spiritism is, must be and could not be anything else but a new religion, since a whole philosophy stems from it, and through Spiritism we deal with the physical and moral constitution of the worlds. From that point of view every philosophy would be a religion. Well, considering that the different systems abound and that each one has a more or less large number of experts, this would significantly restrict the circle of Catholicism. We don’t know the extent of such imprudence and the danger in proclaiming such a doctrine since it would be the same as provoking an inexistent split. This is at least the proposal of an idea. Carefully observe its consequences. When science contested the meaning of the Biblical text about the six days of creation, anathemas were thrown; they said it was an attack to religion. Today, the facts gave reason to science; there no longer is any means of disputing it unless it is through the denial of light; Church has moved to line up with science.

About forty years ago the following adventure happened to the Marquis of Londonderry, later Lord Castlereagh. He visited with a kind man, of one his friends’ acquaintance that lived in a castle in Northern Ireland, one of those places used by romance writers to impersonate apparitions. Marquis’ apartment was in perfect harmony with the entire building. In fact, the richly carved wood, blackened by time; the huge arc of the chimney, similar to the porch of a tomb; the heavy and dusty rugs, covering every spot and surrounding the bed, all that would really give rise to melancholic thoughts.

Lord Londonderry examined the room, getting to know the former masters of the castle, who seemed to be standing there, waiting for his greetings, portrayed in the paintings hanging on the walls. He then dismissed the room maid and went to bed. He had just put the candle out when he noticed a spark of light on top of his bed. Convinced that there was no fire in the fireplace; that the curtains were drawn and that the room was completely dark minutes earlier, he then supposed that there was an intruder in the room. Turning his eyes back to the place from where the light beam came he saw, with great surprise, the figure of a beautiful child, surrounded by a halo.

Persuaded of the integrity of his own faculties but suspecting a mystification from one of the many guests of the castle, Lord Londonderry advanced towards the apparition, which moved away from him. The more he moved closer the more it would move away. It then got to the fireplace’s somber arch and disappeared in the ground.

Lord Londonderry did not sleep that night.

Bernadotte was convinced that a kind of tutelary divinity was dedicated to his protection. Perhaps the wonderful traditions that surrounded his cradle were not strange to this thought that never left him. Truly, an old chronicle was around in his family about a fairy, the wife of one of his ancestors, who had predicted that one King would illuminate their posterity.

____________________________________________

* Forbes Winslow. Anatomy of Suicide, vol. 1, in-8, page 242. London 1840.

New book published by Mr. Allan Kardec

The book is an introduction to the knowledge of the invisible world or the world of the spirits, containing the fundamental principles of the Doctrine and the answers to some important questions.
By ALLAN KARDEC
Author of The Spirits’ Book and director of the Spiritist Review Grand in-8, price: 60 c *

People that only have a superficial knowledge about Spiritism are naturally led to frame certain questions, whose in-depth study would, no doubt, give them the solution, but they lack the time and frequently will not dedicate themselves to regular observation. They would like to at least know what it is all about and if it is worth to get involved with that, before initiating the task. Thus, it seemed useful to us to present, in a limited picture, the answers to some fundamental questions that are addressed to us daily. To the reader it will be a first initiation and to us it will be time saved by the avoidance of constant repetitions of the same things. The format of dialogue seemed more convenient since it does not offer the dryness of the purely dogmatic style. We end this introduction by a summary that will allow the understanding of all of the fundamental principles of the science through a quick reading. Those who after that short exposition consider the subject worthy of their attention can investigate it further with knowledge of cause. The objections come, most of the time, from the false ideas that we acquire a priori about something that we don’t know. The rectification of such ideas operates in anticipation to the objections. That is our proposed objective in writing the small book. Persons unfamiliar to Spiritism will find in that publication the means of acquiring an idea about the subject, in a short time and at a low budget; those who are already initiated will find the means of resolving the main difficulties that are proposed to them. We count on the support of every friend of this Science, helping with the propagation of the short summary.

ALLAN KARDEC

We extracted the following passage from a letter sent by a corresponding member of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, from Jura County:

“As I told you Sir, the spirits liked our old dwelling. In October last (1858) lady Countess C…, a close friend of my daughters, came over with her 8 year old son to spend a few days in our mansion. The child slept in the same room as his mother and the door between my daughter’s room remained open, so as to prolong the hours and the conversation. The boy, who was awake, told his mother: “What are you going to do with this man that is seating by your bed? He smokes a big pipe. Look how the room is full of smoke! Send him away ‘because he is shaking the curtains.’”

“Such vision lasted the whole evening. The mother was unsuccessful in trying to quiet the boy and nobody could sleep. This event did not scare my daughter or me since we know that the spiritist manifestations do happen. The mother, however, thought that the child was sleep-talking or making fun of us.”

“Here is another fact that I personally witnessed, which happened in the same room in May 1858. It is the case of the apparition of the spirit of a living person, who was really surprised for having come to visit me. I was very sick, not having slept for a long time when I saw a friend of the family seating by my bed, at about 10 pm. I manifested my surprise for having his visit at such late hours. He said: - Don’t speak because I came to watch you; don’t speak because you do need to sleep – and then he extended his hand over my head. I opened my eyes several times to check if he was still there and each time he would make a sign for me to close my eyes and be quiet. He played with the “snuff-box” between his fingers and from time to time he smoked, as usual. I finally slept and when I woke up the vision had gone.”

Pneumatography is a writing produced directly by the spirit, without any intermediary. It differs from psychography since the latter takes place through the transmission of the spirit’s thought via the writing hand of the medium. We inserted these two words in the Spiritist Vocabulary, in the beginning of our Practical Instruction, with the indication of their etymological difference. Psychography, from the Greek psykhe = butterfly, soul, and graphô = I write; Pneumatography, pneuma = air, breath, wind, spirit.

With a writing medium the hand is an instrument, but his soul, the incarnate spirit in the medium, is an intermediary, or agent or interpreter of the strange spirit that communicates. With the pneumatography it is the strange spirit that writes directly, without intermediary.

The phenomenon of direct writing is unarguably one of the most extraordinary areas of Spiritism. However abnormal as it may seem, at first sight, it is today a verified and incontestable fact. If we have not spoken about it yet it is because we expected to be able to explain it after having personally made all the required observations in order to handle the subject with causal knowledge. If the theory is necessary for us to understand the possibility of the spiritist phenomena in general, it is perhaps even more necessary in this case, no doubt one of the strangest ever presented, but which no longer seems supernatural when we understand its principle.

* La réalité des Esprits et de leurs manifestations, démontrée par le phénomène de l’écriture directe. By the Baron of Guldenstubbe: 1 vol. in-8, with 15 slides and 93 facsimile. Price 8 francs at Rue de Richelieu. Also found in the Dentu and Ledoyen bookstores.

We extracted the following passages from a letter of one of our correspondents from Bordeaux:

“Here you have, my dear Mr. Allan Kardec, a new report of extraordinary facts which I submit to your appreciation, requesting your kindness in verifying them, evoking the spirit who produced them.” “A young lady, here called Mrs. Mally, is the person that operates as an intermediary to the manifestations that constitute the subject of this letter. She lives in Bordeaux and is the mother of three children.”

“She has had visions since the age of nine. One night, coming to the house with her family, she sees at the corner of the stairs, the distinct form of her aunt, who died four or five years back. She says in surprise: A! My aunt! And the vision disappears. Two years later she heard a voice calling her, which she assumed was from her aunt. The call was so strong that she said: Come in aunt. As nobody come in she went to get the door. As she saw nobody she went downstairs asking her mother if she had seen anyone going upstairs.”

“A few years later we find this lady under the influence of a guide, or familiar spirit, who seems to be in charge of watching over her and her children, doing a number of small services in the house, among others waking up the sick ones when it is time for their tea, or waking up those who need to go out. He reveals his moral state through other manifestations. His character is not very serious; adding to the signs of frivolity he has however given proof of sensibility and dedication.”

PARISIAN SOCIETY, JULY 8th, 1859

1. (Evocation of Mrs. Mally’s guide) - Here I am. This is easy to me.

2. How can we call you? - However you wish. Use the name by which you know me already.

3. What was the reason that attached you to Mrs. Mally and her children? - First of all, old relationships; then a friendship, a sympathy always protected by God.

4. They say that it was a somnambulist, Mrs. Dupuy, who assigned you to Mrs. Mally. Is that true? - It was the somnambulist who affirmed that I was with her.

5. Do you depend on that somnambulist? - No.

6. Could she keep you away from that lady? - No.

7. In case the somnambulist died would that have any influence on you? - None.

Dialogue obtained through two mediums that served as interpreters to these spirits, in the session of the Society on March 18th, 1859.

PRIOR QUESTIONS TO VOLTAIRE

1. What is your situation as a spirit? - Errant, but regretful.

2. What do you do as a spirit? - I tear off the veil of error that I thought was the light of truth when alive.

3. What do you think about your writings in general? - My spirit was dominated by pride for I had the mission of giving an impulse to a people in their infancy. My books are a consequence of this.

4. What can you say particularly about your Joan of Arc? - It is a diatribe. I did worse things.

5. When alive, what were your thoughts about life after death? - Come on, you know well that I only believed in matter; and it dies.

7. Would you like to talk to Frederic, who has also kindly accepted our evocation? Such a conversation would be instructive to us. - If Frederic wishes, I am at your service.

Voltaire – My dear monarch, as you see I acknowledge my mistakes and I am far from speaking as I did in my books. Formerly we gave the spectacles of our turpitude; now we are obliged to give that of our regret and our desire to get to know the great and pure truth.

Frederic – I supposed you were less good than you really are.

Voltaire – A power that we are obliged to adore and acknowledge in its whole sovereignty, forcing our soul to proclaim, perhaps to those abused by us, a completely opposite doctrine from the one that we professed.

Frederic – It is true, my dear Arouet, but let us pretend no more. All veils have fallen.

Voltaire – We left so many disasters behind us that many tears will be needed for our pardon and acquittal. We can never be united enough in order to erase and repair the harm we have caused.

Frederic – We must consider also that the century that praised us was very poor in its judgment and that just a little is needed to fascinate people. It was nothing more than some audacity.

Voltaire – How come? We made a lot of noise in our century!

Frederic – It was that noise that has suddenly fallen into complete silence and threw us into the bitter reflection, almost regret. I deplore my life but how bored I am for no longer being Frederic! So do you for not being Mr. Voltaire any longer.

Voltaire – Then speak for yourself Majesty.

Frederic – Yes, I suffer; but don’t say that again.

Voltaire – You have abdicated then! You will later do as I did.

Frederic – I cannot.

Frederic – What do you think about these men who call us here?

Frederic – They bother me. Their ideas are very strange.

NOTE: According to the announcement, from now on we will publish the bulletin of the works of the Society. Each number will contain the report of the previous month’s session. These bulletins will only give a brief summary of the works and the minutes of each session. Regarding the obtained communications, as well as the others from strange sources that were read, we will always publish them entirely, as long as they offer something of useful and instructive. We will continue to indicate the date of the sessions as we have done so far. The abundance of material and the need for classification sometimes force an inversion in the order of certain documents. This is not important since sooner or later they will find their place.

Friday, July 1st, 1859
(Private session)

Administrative matters: Admission of Mr. S… corresponding member from Bordeaux. Postponement until broader information is available, membership of two members presented on the 10th and 17th.

Designation of three new chairmen for the general sessions.

Reading of the minutes of the previous session in June.

Communications:

Mr. Allan Kardec announces that he was with Mr. W… son, from Bologne-sur-Mer, covered in the issue of December 1858 of the Review, regarding an article about the phenomenon of bi-corporeity. He confirmed the fact of his simultaneous presence in Boulogne and London.

Letter from Mr. S…, a corresponding member from Bordeaux, containing precise details about interesting manifestations and apparitions of his personal knowledge from a familiar spirit. The letter is published in this issue as well as the evocation related to the subject.

Dr. Morhéry awards the Society with two cantatas whose lyrics where authored by him, entitled Italia and Venetian. Although the productions are completely strange to the works of the Society, they were thankfully accepted.

Mr. Th… notes that, with respect to the communication of Christopher Columbus, obtained in the previous session that his answers related to his mission and that of the spirits in general seem to bless the doctrine of fatality.

Several members contested such consequence of the answers given by Christopher Columbus, since the mission does not subtract from the spirit the freedom of doing or not doing something. The human being is not fatally impelled to do this or that thing. It may happen that, as an individual, the person behaves more or less blindly but as spirit is always aware of his actions. Supposing that the principle of fatality was derived from Columbus’ answers, this would not be the consecration of a principle that has been contested by the spirits all the time. At any rate, it is only a personal opinion. Well, the Society is far from accepting it as an irrefutable truth since the Society is aware that the spirits may be wrong. A spirit may well say that it is the Sun that turns and not the Earth that would not be more truthful just because it had come from a spirit. We take the answers by their value. Our objective is to study the individualities, whatever their degree of advancement or inferiority. We thus acquire the knowledge about the moral state of the invisible world, giving no credit to the doctrine of the spirits, unless fit to reason and common sense and when there is real light in them. When an answer is illogical or erroneous, we conclude that the spirit that gave that answer is delayed. That is all. As for Columbus’ answers, there is no implication of fatality whatsoever.

Studies:

Friday July 8th, 1859

(General session)

Reading of two spontaneous communications obtained by Mr. R…, member: one from St. Louis, giving advice to the Society as for the modes of assessment of the answers given by the spirits; another from Lamennais. They will be published in the next issue.

Reading of the news about Deacon Pâris and the convulsions of SaintMédard, prepared by the working committee as a matter for study.

Studies:

Friday July 15th, 1859

(Private session)

Reading of the minutes of previous session.

Administrative matters:

On the request of several members and considering that many persons are absent during this season, the President proposes, according to what is established in all societies, that a period of vacations be established. The Society decides to suspend the sessions during August, resuming its activities on September 2nd.

Mr. Cr…, deputy secretary, writes requesting his substitution, due to new occupations which do not allow him to regularly take part since the beginning of the sessions. His replacement will be done in due course.

Communications:

Reading of a letter from Mr. Jobard, from Brussels, Honorary President of the Society, reporting some facts relative to Spiritism and offering a song to the Society entitled “The Zuavo’s Song”, inspired by the evocation of The Zouave of Magenta, published in the July issue of the

Studies:

Friday, July 22nd, 1859

(General Session)

Reading of the minutes of previous session.

Communications:

We kindly ask the person who took the burden of writing to us from Limoges, indicating interesting documents relatively to Spiritism, to facilitate our direct contact, allowing us to respond to the questions which we had the honor of receiving from him. The lack of space does not allow the publication of certain passages of your letter.

ALLAN KARDEC

The intervention of deceiving spirits in the written communications is one of the greatest difficulties of Spiritism. It is known from experience that they do not have any scruples in taking supposedly pretense and even respectable names. Is there a way of keeping them away? That is the question. In order to keep them away certain persons employ what we call processes, that is, particular formulas of evocation, or some sort of exorcism, as for example making them swear in the name of God that they are telling the truth, making them write something, etc. We know a person who requires the spirit to sign their name, phrase by phrase. If the spirit is truthful he writes without any difficulty; otherwise they stop right in the middle, incapable of concluding. We have seen this person receiving the most ridiculous communications, from spirits that signed a false name with a clean face. Other people think that an efficient way is to make them confess to Jesus or other principles of religion.

Well then, we declare that if some more scrupulous spirits stop before the idea of perjury or profanation, others swear whatever we want, signing all names, laughing at everything, profaning the most venerable signs, from which we can conclude that among those things called processes there is no formula or material action which can serve as an efficient antidote.

However, if there is no means of keeping them away, what to do then?

This faculty is a means of recognizing such an influence; of knowing who are the ones wandering around us, attached to us. Thinking that we can subtract ourselves from that by not writing is to act like the children who think to be able to avoid danger by blindfolding themselves. By revealing those that we have as companion, friends or enemies, the writing offers us a weapon to combat the enemies, for which we must be thankful to God. Instead of a clairvoyance to be able to recognize the spirits we have the written communications through which they show what they are. That is a sense that allows us to judge them. Denying such a sense is the same as gladly accepting blindness and exposing oneself to uncontrolled mistakes.

Then, the intervention of the bad spirits with the written communications is not a danger of Spiritism since if there is danger it continues and will always continue to exist, despite all that. We need to be convinced of the following: this is only a difficulty but over which it is easy to triumph, if we address the issue conveniently.

We can establish as a principle the fact that the bad spirits will only be where there is something attractive to them. Thus, when they meddle into the communications it is due to the fact that they sympathize with the environment where they present themselves, or they at least find weak spots from which they expect to take advantage. In any case it is clear that they do not find a strong enough moral force to repel them.

Among the causes which attract them we must include first the moral imperfections of all kinds, since evil always sympathize with evil; second, the excessive confidence with which their words are received.

When a communication indicates a bad origin it would be logical to infer that there is parity between the spirit and the evokers. We frequently see very honest persons exposed to the mockery of deceiving spirits, as it does happen in the world with decent people, cheated by rascals; but when we take precautions the rascals have nothing else to do. That is what also happens with the spirits.

When an honest person is deceived by them this can happen for two reasons: first, there is an absolute trust which fails an adequate examination; second, the best qualities do not exclude certain weak spots which provide entry to the bad spirits, willing to discover the minuscule openings in the armor. We do not speak of pride and ambition that are more than hurdles. We speak of a certain weakness of character and particularly about the preconceived ideas that these spirits skillfully exploit, flattering them. That is why they wear all masks to inspire trust.

Regarding the interview of Voltaire and Frederic, published in the last number of the Review, one of our correspondents from Boulogne sent us the following communication, which we publish with as much satisfaction, as it presents an eminently instructive aspect from the spiritist point of view. Our correspondent made some previous reflections that I don’t want to omit.

“If there is a man who, more than anybody else, must suffer the eternal penalties, that man is Voltaire. God’s wrath and vengeance will forever persecute him. That is what the old school theologians tell us.”

“What do the theologians of the modern school tell us now? It is possible, they say, that you don’t know the man as much as you don’t know the God that you talk about. Avoid the inferior passions of hatred and vengeance and do not stain your God with all that. If God is unhappy about this wicked man, if He touches that insect to remove his stinger, to straighten his exalted head and perverted heart. Let us say this still, that God reads the hearts differently from you, finding good where you see evil. If He bestowed that man with a great genius it was to the benefit of the human race, and not against it. What does it matter then, his first extravagant and sniper attitudes among us? Such a soul could hardly act differently: mediocrity was impossible to him, whatever its reach. Now that he has been redirected, that he threw away the paws and the fangs of the untamable horse in his Earthly pasture; now that he comes to God like an always great but sweet steed, he is a much wonderful to the good as he was to the evil.”

Voltaire – In reality, there was in my words, as they were given to the world, a feeling of bitterness and satire. Notice, however, that my spirit was broken, so to speak, by an internal fight. I saw humanity as inferior in intelligence and perspicacity. I only saw puppets which could be driven by anyone having a strong will, feeling stunned by seeing that humanity, arrogantly expecting an immortal existence, molded by ignoble elements. Could anyone believe that a being of such a kind were part of Divinity, capable of taking immortality over into his petty hands? Such a blank space those two so disproportionate existences shocked me and I could not accept it. I saw only the animal in man and not God.

An Officer from the Italian Army (2ND CONVERSATION)
Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies July 1st, 1859 (see July 1859 issue)

1. (Evocation) - I am here.

2. You promised to come to us again and we will take the opportunity to request a few complementary explanations from you. - With pleasure.

3. Have you watched some battles after your death? - Yes, the last one.

4. When you witness a combat as a spirit, watching men killing one another, do you have any feeling of horror as we would, if we watched similar images? - Yes, I experienced that, even as a man, but then human respect was based on a feeling not worthy of a soldier.

5. Are there spirits that feel pleasure by watching such blood shedding? - A few.

6. What do the spirits of a superior order feel when witnessing that? - Great compassion; almost disdain. The same that you feel when you see the animals killing one another.

7. When you see a combat and people dying, do you see the separation between the soul and the body? - Yes.

8. At that moment do you then see two individuals, the spirit and the body? - No. What is the body then? - But the body is still there. It must be distinct from the spirit. - A cadaver, yes, but no longer a human being.

9. What is then the appearance of the spirit? - Light.

10. Does the spirit move away immediately from the body? I ask you to kindly explain things as explicitly as possible and how we would see them in case we witnessed them. - There are only a few really instantaneous deaths. The spirit who was hit by a bullet or a grenade, tells oneself most of the time: “I am going to die, let us think of God and heavens. Good-bye beloved land.” After that first feeling the pain extracts him from the body and it is when we can distinguish the spirit, moving around the cadaver. This seems so natural that the sight of the dead body does not produce an unpleasant effect. Since life has been totally transported to the spirit, it is the spirit that calls our attention; it is with the spirit that we talk and command.

OBSERVATION: We can compare this effect to the one that is produced by a group of swimmers. The spectator does not give attention to the clothes that were left at the beach.

11. Generally, when surprised by a violent death, the individual does not consider oneself dead, for some time. How can we explain one’s situation and how can the person has illusions, since one must feel all to well that one’s body is no longer material and resistant? - One knows and has no illusions.

OBSERVATION: This is not exact. We know that there are spirits that in some cases keep that illusion and think that they are not dead.

12. There was a huge thunderstorm at the end of the Battle of Solferino. Was it due to a serendipitous cause or a providential design? - Every serendipitous cause is the result of God’s will.

13. Such a storm had an objective then? What was that? - Yes, for sure: to cease the battle.

14. Was it provoked in the interest of any of the belligerent parts? Which one? - Yes, particularly in the interest of our enemies. - Why? Can you elaborate on that? - You ask me why? Don’t you know that without that storm our artillery would have annihilated the Austrians?

15. If the storm was provoked it must have been done by agents that provoked it. What were those agents? - Electricity.

16. Those is the material agent but are there spirits whose attribution is to drive the elements? - No. God’s will is enough. He does not need such common auxiliaries. (See an article later about the storms)