The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1862

With the exception of highly educated, Apollonius of Tyana is almost only known by name. His name is not popular for a lack of widely available historical descriptions. There were only a few translations based on a Latin version of inadequate format. We must then thank the wise Hellenist that has just published a judicious translation of the original Greek text and the editors of that publication for having filled out such a regrettable blank.*

There is no accurate date about the life of Apollonius. According to some calculations he would have been born two or three years before Jesus Christ and died at the age of ninety-six years old. He was born in Tyana, a Greek city of the Cappadocia, Asia Minor. He soon demonstrated to have a great memory, remarkable intelligence and strong dedication to learning. From all philosophies that he studied he chose that of Pythagoras whose precepts he followed strictly until the time of his death.

His father was one of the richest men in Tyana, leaving him a considerable fortune that he shared with his relatives saying that a wise person must be content with little.

He traveled a lot to get educated. He visited Assyria, Scythia, India where he met the Brahmins, Egypt, Greece, Italy and Spain, and everywhere he taught wisdom. He was loved by all for his kind character and honorable virtues, recruiting a large number of disciples who followed his steps to hear his words, some even followed him in his travels. One of them, though, envious of his superiority and credit, became his detractor and mortal enemy, spreading endless calumnies against him with the intent of isolating him to only bring shame upon himself.

Apollonius remained unaffected always and far from keeping hard feelings he was always sorry for his weakness, paying back his evilness with good.

The young Assyrian by the name of Damis of Nineveh, on the contrary, got associated to him with an unbreakable dedication and happiness. He was his frequent companion on his journeys and as a faithful depositary of his Philosophy he was responsible for most of the information that we have.

The name Apollonius of Tyana confounds with every legendary character that human imagination has dressed up with marvelous attributes. Regardless of the exaggeration of events attributed to him it becomes evident that besides the fables there is a shadow of truth that could have been more or less altered.

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* Apollonius of Tyana, his life, travels and prodigies, by Philostratus. New translation of the Greek text by Mr. Chassang, master of ceremonies of the Normal School. In-12 volume, 500 pages, by 3.50 francs. Didier Co., Quai des Augustins, 35 - Paris


No one could with certainty pose any doubt about the existence of Apollonius of Tyana. It is equally certain that he must have done remarkable things otherwise nobody would speak of them.

To have the Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, asked Philostratus to write about his life was necessary that he had done amazing things for it is not likely that she would have requested such a romance about an imaginary or obscure man.

It is likely or even certain that Philostratus amplified the facts that were already amplified when sent to him, at least some of them that are out of question. However, what is not less certain is the fact that he collected the fundamental data from almost contemporary descriptions that must have had sufficient credibility to deserve the Empress’ attention. The difficulty sometimes lies in the distinction between fable and reality. In that case, there are people who prefer to simply deny everything.

Characters of such a kind are appreciated in very different ways. Each person judges them according to their own opinions, beliefs and even according to their interests. Apollonius of Tyana must have fed controversy more than anybody else given the time of his appearance and the nature of his skills. Among other things he was attributed with the gift of healing, foresight, premonition, the ability of mind reading, of expelling demons, of transporting himself instantly from place to place, etc.

Few philosophers have enjoyed as much popularity during their lives. His prestige was even augmented by his austerity, kindness, simplicity, selflessness, good character and the reputation of wisdom. Paganism was then breathing its final breaths, fighting against the recently born Christianity that wanted to transform him into a god. Mixing some Pagan and some Christian ideas some took him by a saint and the least fanatic only saw a Philosopher in him. That is the most reasonable opinion and the only title that he accepted since he did not see himself as the son of Jupiter as considered by some.

Although contemporary to Jesus it seems that he had not heard about him because he never made any reference to what was happening in Judea.

Among the Christians that later judged him, he was declared mad and imposter by some; others pretended that he was acting under the influence of the devil, since they could not deny the facts, not thinking that the condemnation was an acknowledgement of those very prodigies, turning Satan into the rival of God, given the difficulty to distinguish between divine and diabolic prodigies.

The author of the translation remained in a wise neutrality. He did not take any sides to allow each reader to appreciate them, indicating with strict zeal every source that could be consulted, giving each person the freedom to arrive at their own conclusion by comparing the pros and cons of the arguments, limiting himself to a faithful and judicious translation.

The magnetic and somnambulist Spiritist phenomena cast today a new light onto the facts that were attributed to that character, demonstrating the possibility of certain effect up until now relegated to the dominion of the fantastic and marvelous, thus allowing the separation between possible and impossible.

For starters, what is marvelous? Skepticism responds: It is everything beyond the natural laws, the impossible. Then adding: The fact the history abounds with reports of such a nature is due to the love of humanity by the marvelous. However, where does such a love come from? That is what skepticism does not answer and those we are going to try to explain. This will not be useless to our interests.

What is typically called marvelous by humanity is what transposes people in their thoughts beyond the limits of the known and it is the inner inspiration towards a better order of things that leads them to eagerly search for what can provide a connection to that, giving them an idea about that condition. That aspiration is derived from the intuition that such an order of things must exist. Since it cannot be found on Earth it is then sought in the domain of the unknown.

Wouldn’t that very aspiration, however, be a providential hint that there is something beyond the corporeal life? It is only given to humanity, for the animals do not expect anything hence cannot seek the marvelous, the wonderful. People intuitively understand that there is a power beyond the visible world, a force that is more or less understood according to each individual’s intellectual development and that force is naturally seen in every phenomenon that is not understood.

Then, a number of facts that were considered marvelous in the past are now perfectly explained and enter the domain of the natural laws. It resulted that those who were gifted or had superior knowledge were considered to have a portion of that invisible power or to be able to dominate that power. They are called magicians or witches.

The Church’s position made asserted the idea that such a power could only come from an evil spirit when occurring outside of its domains. During barbarian times and times of ignorance the Church burned these supposedly magicians and witches. The progress of science brought them back to humanity.

The nonbelievers ask: where are the majority of the wonderful stories found? Isn’t that in antiquity, among the savages, in the least enlightened classes? Isn’t that a proof that they are the consequence of superstition and ignorance?

As it relates to ignorance, this is incontestable for one simple reason. The peoples of antiquity that knew less than we do today were not less shocked by the phenomena. Since they knew about the true nature of causes, they sought supernatural causes for natural things. With the help of imagination and supported by fear on one side and animated by a poetic genius on the other, these people created fantastic stories that were amplified by the taste for allegories embedded in the culture of the Orient. As an example, Prometheus stole the fire of heavens that was supposed to burn him; he had super human powers and was punished for his actions and for the mockery against Jupiter. Franklin, the modern Prometheus, is just a wise man for us. Montgolfier would be considered an Icarus in mythological times. How about Mr. Poitevin on his rising horse?


Science significantly reduced the number of wonderful facts by bringing them to the natural order of things. But has science explained everything? Are all the laws that govern the globes already known? Isn’t there anything else to be learned? Such a proud pretension betrays us daily.

Since not all secrets of God have yet been unveiled, it stands to reason that many other facts of the past were not fully explained. By admitting what is possible only by what science can explains, it is then easier to call the others unexplainable phenomena as supernatural. Before science all of those who produced such phenomena were either myths or imposters and would face a sentence similar to Apollonius of Tyana.

It is here that the Church admits these works but as acts of Satan and scientists who only accept him as a skillful charlatan.

The law of universal gravitation opened up a new avenue to science and incorporated a number of phenomena where absurd theories were created. The law of molecular attraction allowed a new advancement. The discovery of the microscopic world opened up new horizons. Electricity, in turn, came to reveal an unsuspected power. Science saw difficulties being resolved one by one with each of these discoveries and, as with many problems, unsolved mysteries that were falsely interpreted.

However, how much more is still to be learned? Wouldn’t it be possible to admit the discovery of a new law, a new force that may come to shed light onto some still obscure points?

Well Spiritism comes to reveal a new force. This force is the action of the invisible upon the visible. By showing that action as a natural law, Spiritism moves even further the limits of the wonderful and super natural because it explains a number of things that seemed inexplicable, just like other areas that seemed inexplicable before the discovery of electricity.

Is Spiritism limited to the admission of the invisible world as a hypothesis and a means of explanation? No, because that would be the same as explaining the unknown by the unknown. Spiritism demonstrates that through positive, irrefutable facts, just like the microscope demonstrated the existence of the infinitely small.

Having demonstrated then that the invisible world exists and that it surrounds us formed by the souls of those who lived, it is easily conceivable that it may represent an active role in the visible world and that it may produce phenomena of a particular order. These same phenomena are the ones that are called fantastic, marvelous by science, as they cannot be explained by the known natural laws.

Since these phenomena are ones from the law of nature, they must have happened at all times. Now considering that they are based on the action of a force beyond humanity and, as all religions are bound to pay tribute to that force, it has served as the foundation of all religions. That is the way the old reports, as well as in every theology, there are plenty of allusions and allegories concerning the relationship between the visible and the invisible world. These areas are unintelligible if such relationships are not known. Any attempt to explain these phenomena without such an understanding is the same as to trying to understand the electric phenomena without electricity.


This particular law is the key that will open up the mysterious sanctuaries of antiquity. Once it is acknowledged, the historians, the archeologists and the philosophers will unfold a completely new horizon and the light will shine upon the most obscure points. If that law still finds opposition, it is in a common place to everything else that is new. In the first place, this is also due to the materialistic mind that dominates our times and, in second place, because people make up such false assumptions concerning the invisible world that disbelief is a consequence. Spiritism not only demonstrates its existence but it also presents it in such a logical way that there is no room for doubt to whoever takes the burden of seriously studying it.

We do not ask the scientists to believe but since Spiritism is a philosophy that occupies a large space in the world that even if it were a dream, it does deserve a serious examination at least to understand what it is about. We only ask one thing: study it, but study it in depth, so that it is not charged with something that it does not profess. Later on, believing or not, apply it as a simple hypothetical lever and try to solve the thousands of historical, archeological, anthropological, theological, sociological, moral, social etc. problems… before which have not been solved and the scientists will see the result. Expecting faith from these scientists would be too much.

Let us go back to Apollonius. Ancient peoples incontestably knew magnetism. We have proof of that from certain Egyptian paintings. They equally knew somnambulism and second sight or remote viewing since these are natural psychological phenomena; they knew about the various categories of Spirits, considered gods, as well as their relationship with humans. Healing, clairvoyant, speaking, hearing mediums must have existed then, as even today we can see several examples among the Arabs. With such data at hand and with the knowledge about the properties of the perispirit, the fluid corporeal envelope of the Spirits, we can understand perfectly well several facts attributed to Apollonius of Tyana without resourcing to sorcery, witchery or deception.

We mentioned “several facts” because there are some that Spiritism demonstrates to be impossible. That is why it is useful to distinguish between truth and mistake. Let those who have done a serious and complete study of this science the task of distinguishing between the possible and the impossible, something that will be easy for them to do.

Let us now look at Apollonius from another point of view. Besides being a medium, making him an almost supernatural being in those days, he was also a philosopher and a wise man. His philosophy reflected his habitual kindness, his character, and his simplicity in everything. He can be judged from some of his quotes.

Having been reproached by the degenerate and effeminate Spartans, who took advantage of his advice, he wrote to the Ephors: "Apollonius to the Ephors, greetings. Real men should not make mistakes; but it is only men of heart that acknowledge them when they do. "

The Spartans, who received a letter of criticism from the emperor, were undecided whether they should ward off anger or answer with pride; they consulted Apollonius about their response; he came to the meeting and said these words: "If Palamedes invented writing it is not only so that one could write, but so we knew when we should not write.”

The Roman Consul interrogated Apollonius asking:

At the same time: The wisest men are the ones with the shortest speeches. If the blabbers suffered what they make others suffer they would not talk so much.

Another to Critton: Pythagoras said that Medicine is the most divine of all arts. If Medicine is the most divine of all arts, it is necessary that the doctor look into the soul at the same time as the body. How can someone be healthy when the most important part is sick?


Another one to the Platonic: If Apollonius is offered money and it is apparently legitimate, he will have no problem in accepting, however, little he needs. But he will never accept payment for his teachings however much he needs.

Another to Valerio: Nobody dies but apparently as nobody is born. In fact what is called birth is the passage from the essence to the substance. Death, on the contrary, is the passage from substance to essence.

To the proffers of Olympia: The gods do not need sacrifices. What do we need to do to please them? If I am not mistaken one needs to acquire wisdom and as much as possible do good deeds to the ones who deserve them. That is what pleases the gods. The impious themselves can make sacrifices.

To Ephesus from the temple of Diana: You maintained all the rituals of sacrifices, the pageantry of royalty. You are unbeatable as joyful attendees and partygoers but how much can you be criticized as neighbors of the goddess night and day? Isn’t that from your group that the swindlers, the hooligans, the slave traders, and all the impious and unfair people come? The temple is a safe haven to thieves.

To those who believe themselves wise: You call yourselves my disciples? You then must add that you are always home and that you never go to the roman baths; that you do not kill animals; that you do not eat meat; that you are free from all passions: envy, malignity, hatred, calumny, bad feelings; that you finally are part of the freemen. Do not do like those who utilize false speeches to make believe that they live in a way when in reality they live in a completely opposite way.

To his brother Hestieu: People see me as divine everywhere; in some places they even consider me a god. In my homeland, on the contrary, up until now I am unknown. Any surprise? You yourselves my brothers are not convinced that I am a superior to many others through my word and habits. How can it be that my countrymen and my relatives are mistaken about me? Ah! That mistake is painful to me. I know that it is beautiful to consider the whole Earth as your homeland and everyone as brothers and friends since all descend from God and have the same nature; because all equally have the same passions; all are equally humans, Greek or barbarians. When in Catania, Sicily, he said to his disciples in a lecture about the Etna: Under this mountain there is a giant that hears you, Tithe or Enceladus, vomiting all this fire in his long agony. I agree that there have been giants for we have found skeletons in several places that lead us to believe showing people of extraordinary physical structure but I could not admit that they fought the gods. If that much they would have vandalized their temples and statues, is it not sensible to believe that they would have risen to heavens and expelled the gods. Another fable that seems more irreverent towards the gods and that we must not kid about is that Vulcan works at the foundry in the depth of Etna constantly ringing the anvil there. In several places around Earth there are volcanoes but nobody believes that there are other giants.”

Certain readers would rather have us citing and explaining the prodigies of Apollonius. Before anything else, however, we wanted to show the philosopher and wise man instead of the magician. One can always accept or reject the wonderful facts attributed to him but it seems difficult that a person that says such things and professes and lives according to such principles may be a juggler or a swindler or even someone dominated by the devil.


As for the prodigies we shall mention only one that gives enough proof of one of his gifts. After a thorough description of Dominican’s murder, Philostratus adds:

“Although these events took place in Rome, Apollonius saw them in Ephesus.




Domitian was attacked by Clement around noon. On the very same day and at the same time Apollonius described them in the gardens by the rocks. He suddenly lowered his voice as if horrified. He continued to speak but his voice had lost the strength compared to that of someone that speaks about a thought. He then went quiet as if lost in his thoughts, then he stared at the ground with a scared face, walked three or four steps away and said: ‘Hurt the tyrant, hurt him!’

– it was possible to say that he was not watching the image as if in a mirror but that he witnessed the fact itself.

Ephesus – since he heard the speech of Apollonius – was impressed. Apollonius stopped as if waiting to see the conclusion of a doubtful event. He finally said: ‘Courage Ephesus. The tyrant was killed today. What am I saying? Today? He has just been killed, right now when I stopped.’

Ephesus thought that Apollonius had lost his mind. They eagerly wanted to have him telling the truth but they were afraid that there could be something dangerous behind that speech. ‘I am not surprised, said Apollonius, that you still do not believe me. Rome itself does not know that yet. But that will come. The news is spreading and thousands of citizens do believe. That brings joy to them, to twice as many people, to four times as many as those people. The news will get here. You may put off the sacrifice that is due to the gods in such occasions. As for myself I will worship them for what I have seen.’

Ephesus was still in disbelief. Soon, however, messengers brought the good news and gave testimony of Apollonius’ foresight. The murder of the tyrant, the day and time, the author who was encouraged by Apollonius, every detail was perfectly in line with those described by Apollonius on the very day that the gods had revealed them to him in his speech to Ephesus.

In those days there would not be the need for anything else to make him a divine man. In our days the scientists would treat him as a visionary. For us he had the gift of a second vision whose explanation is provided by Spiritism (see the theory of somnambulism and second sight in The Spirits’ Book, #455).

His death was something as well. One afternoon he entered the temple of Dictynia, in Linde, Isle of Crete, and despite the ferocious dogs that guarded the gates, which were actually very friendly to him, he was arrested by the guards of the temple and put in chains for being a magician. At night he disappeared before the eyes of the guards without leaving a trace behind him and his body was never found. Some say that voices of young ladies were heard when singing, as if encouraging him to leave Earth and move on to superior regions: Leave Earth. Go to heavens! Go!

Here is how Philostratus finishes his description of Apollonius’ life:


“Even after his disappearance Apollonius sustained the immortality of the soul and taught that what is said about it is correct. In those days there was a certain number of youngsters who loved




Philosophy. Most of their discussions were about the soul. One of them could not accept the idea of an immortal soul, saying:

That is the clear oracle given by Apollonius about the destiny of the soul. Knowing our inner nature he wanted us to march joyfully to achieve the aim established by the Parcae.”

The apparition of Apollonius after his death is considered to be a hallucination by the majority of commentators, Christian and others who pretended that the young man had his imagination affected by his own desire of seeing him thus leading him to believe that he had seen. Church has, however, admitted such kind of apparition at all times. The Church cites several examples taken as authentic.

Spiritism comes to explain the phenomenon based on the properties of the perispirit, the fluid envelop of the spirit, that through some sort of condensation becomes visible and, as it is known, may become tangible. Without knowing the law about the constitution of the Spirits, the phenomenon is wonderful. Since the law is known the wonderful disappears giving place to a natural phenomenon (see The Mediums’ Book, theory of visual manifestations, Chapter VI).

Admitting that the youngster had been victimized by an illusion the detractors would still have to explain the words that he attributed to Apollonius, sublime words in opposition to the ideas that he sustained moments earlier.

What did Apollonius lack in order to be a Christian? Very little based on what we observe. It would not please God if we established a parallel between him and Jesus. What demonstrates the uncontestable superiority of the latter is the divine character of his mission, the worldwide revolution brought about by his doctrine, an obscure master with as obscure apostles, while Apollonius’ doctrine died with him.

It would be a transgression to present him as a rival of Christ! But if we pay attention to what he said about Paganism we will see that he condemns superstition fiercely attacking and replacing them by more healthy ideas.

Had he spoke like that over the time of Socrates he would have paid with his life as he did for what was considered wickedness.

However, in his time the Pagan ideas were already spread and he was heard. He prepared the Pagans around him to receive the Christian ideas with less difficulty through his moral teachings and serving as a transition. We believe we are right when we say that the served as a link between Paganism and Christianity. This might have been his mission. He was heard by the Pagans but not by the Jewish.

“We have in hand a remarkable article by the title Spiritist Conversations. The author, Mr. Cazenove de Pradines, former president of Agen Agriculture, Science and Arts Society, tasked Mr. Magen with the pleasure of reading it in our Academy. It is not important to mention how much interest it has drawn. Mr. Cazenove summarizes the doctrines of the new sect taken from The Spirits’ Book as below:

Mr. Editor,

I was the first to appreciate the fine and delicate observations by Mr. Cazenove de Pradines about Spiritism. The text under the title Spiritist Conversations that came to my hands and was mentioned in your appreciated periodical on Sunday, May 25th, is really of a charming sagacity and does not fail to fulfill the witty character and talent of the author. It is a flower whose colors and shine I admire and whose kindness I avoid altering at this time through any minor word of candid criticism. However, your enthusiasm towards those spicy dialogues, more witty than offensive to the doctrine, led you to make mistakes. As such, it is the duty of any good Spiritist to remind you about these.

To begin with I must say that the chosen citations from here and there in The Spirits’ Book are grouped with art so that the doctrine is presented unfavorably but any prudent and good faith person will be willing to read the whole book and mediate about it.

I do not know if the bookstores in Agen carry books like ‘What is Spiritism, The Spirits’ Book, The Mediums’ Book”, but I sincerely wish that your short report wakes up those who are indifferent, leading them to look for those books and inspire them to initiate a Spiritist Group in our county. This doctrine, destined to regenerate humanity, marches on with huge steps. Would Agen be one of the last cities where Spiritism will claim citizenship? I consider your short report like the stone brought to the construction of a building and once more I am impressed by the means utilized by God to achieve the final objectives.

Your impartiality and desire to get to the truth through this discussion are a guarantee that you will welcome this letter in the columns of your journal as a response to your article published on May 25th.

Respectfully,

Dombre (from Marmande)


The editor replied to this letter on June 1st with the following text only:

‘Mr. Dombre from Marmande sent us a letter about our reflections regarding The Spirits’ Book and the dialogues suggested to the honorable Mr. Cazenove de Pradines. That new teaching, as Mr. Dombre prefers to call it, does not hold to us to the same value and prestige in the same way it seems to impress our witty correspondent.’


Note: Mr. Dombre had sent contributions several times to that newspaper as stories and poetry.


‘We respect the beliefs of our contradictors, even when based on wrong principles, but we believe it to be a mistake, but we consider to be a duty, regardless of the loyal and sincere attempted defense by Mr. Dombre, to maintain our position about a system that is completely away from the truth.


Hence the Abeille Agénaise could not be used to propagate essentially wrong ideas and Mr. Dombre will understand our reasons for not supporting his wishes.

J. Serret’

OBSERVATION: Using the right of attacking and not providing the right of response is a convenient way of being right. It is still to be determined if this is the best way to get to the truth. If a doctrine whose foundations are charity and love to the neighbor; that betters humanity, leading people to renounce to their habits of disorder; that brings faith to those who believed nothing; praying the ones who never prayed; that reestablishes union amidst broken families; that precludes suicide; if such a doctrine, we were saying, is perverse, what would then be the others which are impotent to achieve such results? Mr. Serret is afraid of helping the propaganda through the discussion and that is why he decided to speak for himself. May he do so but the result shall not be different as it has been everywhere: call the attention and recruit followers to the doctrine.

In order to demonstrate our sympathy and gratitude to those who work in service to the cause of Spiritism, through devotion and selflessness, and expose themselves to danger, when necessary, the Spiritist Society of Paris award them with the title of honorary members. The Society then has the pleasure of acknowledging the contribution of chiefs and founders of societies and groups to the common task under the same flag and directed by the principles of serious Spiritism in order to achieve moral outcomes. Their guiding motives are more actions than words. They not only exist in several cities of France and Algeria but also in Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland, Constantinople, America, etc.


Mr. Dombre from Marmande who has always been an open propagandist and defender of Spiritism since his initiation deserved this distinction. When we announced his nomination as we asked for his permission to publish his letter to father F… (See articles from previous month). His answer deserves to be mentioned here for showing how certain followers understand their role:


“Marmande, August 10^th 1862

Mr. Allan Kardec,

I thankfully accept the title of honorary member of the Spiritist Society of Paris. To deserve such a distinction represents a commitment and the testimony of sympathy on the part of the members of this Society who awarded me with this title. I will always and everywhere do my best to help, as much as I can, in the proliferation of a doctrine that makes me happy here on Earth and will in a distant future do the same to those who still want to keep their eyes covered by the veil of disbelief. I see no harm or inconvenience in the publication of my answer to the director of the Abeille Agénaise and my letter to father F… My letter to the latter one was signed: A Catholic. I think that not a single reader will believe that the author wanted to remain anonymous since I have no fear for people’s judgment. I laugh at those who laugh because I am with the truth. Every true Spiritist must energize the timid followers through the example, holding high and strong the flag of one’s belief.

Please, Sir, extend my most sincere acknowledgment to the honorable Society to which I congratulate myself for taking part… etc.

Dombre, owner”

The fear for what others might say about Spiritism now diminishes significantly and the number of those who hide their opinion is minimal. It is reduced to those who are afraid of losing their jobs and among them there are more priests than one can imagine. We personally know of more than a hundred.


Yet we notice in all social positions, among public servants, military officers of all patents, medical doctors, etc., many people who just a year ago would not declare their opinion but who now feel honored by doing so. Such courage of opinion that faces mockery has as its first consequence the encouragement of the timid; it then shows that the number of followers is larger than originally

assumed and finally it imposes silence to the individuals surprised by hearing the word Spiritism from all sides and pronounced by people that one thinks twice before kidding. Hence, it has been observed that the jesters have lowered their voice for some time now. A few years more and their role will be over for their will be defeated by the opinion of all sides.


Mr. Dombre has courage. He faces the adversaries with resolution and challenges them to the discussion. It is here where we have the refusal of a journalist revealing weakness and a preacher to whom he offers the best occasion to promote his arguments, bashing the doctrine who sneaks out saying that he has no time to respond. Is not that desertion from the battlefield? If he were sure of himself and if religion were at stake here why not stay to defeat the adversary? In such occasions abandoning the game is the same as losing the match. A preacher has a huge advantage against a lawyer. He speaks without a contradictor. He can say whatever he likes and nobody will contradict. As it seems that is the way that the adversaries of Spiritism understand controversy.


At the moment, Mr. Dombre was not the only one to keep his cool. Bordeaux, Lyon and many other less important cities and even several villages have given us many individual examples that grow on a daily basis. Everywhere the followers show firmness and energy the adversaries show moderation.


Up until now such courage of opinion and action is more widely found in the middle and more obscure classes than in the more elevated ones but if a celebrity person who is fairly loved and honored for talents or social position embraces the Spiritist cause and openly holds its flag high would others dare to call such a person mad, a person whose genius and talent have been glorified? Wouldn’t such a voice impose silence to the cries of disbelief? Such a person will come, I guarantee. The dissidents will join in with their voices, yielding to the influence of moral authority. Such a person will also have a providential mission like all others who help with the advancement of humanity; a general mission like many others that are private and local. The latter ones, although more modest, do not have a lesser value because they pave the way. That is when Spiritism will sail at full power affecting and profoundly modifying the customs because the new ideas are different in all points. We sow and they will harvest because many more will follow the example.


Spiritists you must sow, sow in abundance so that the harvest be more abundant and easier. The past guarantees your future!

Several persons have sent us multiple reports of manifestations with respect to the history of Spiritism, which we have already addressed. To those who believed to have brought a brick to the construction of the edifice, we thank them for their intention but we must say that Spiritism is about something more serious than a catalogue of phenomena found in books.

Since Spiritism has marked its presence in the archives of humanity it will be interesting for future generations to know how it was started. It will then be the history of these events that characterized its first steps; the struggles endured; the obstacles erected and progress made throughout the world.


The true merit is modest and does not seek to impose. Humanity must know the names of the pioneers of the work, of those whose abnegation and devotion deserve to be inscribed in the archives; of the cities who were in the vanguard; of those who suffered in the name of the cause so that they can be blessed; of those who brought suffering to others so that we can pray for them to be forgiven. In a word, the history behind its dedicated friends and confessed or hidden enemies.


One must ensure that intrigue and ambition do not take the place where it is not theirs or the acknowledgement and honor that they do not deserve. If there is any Judas, they must be unmasked.


A part that will not be any less interesting is that of the revelations that successively announced all phases of this new era and the events that followed them.


To those who believe the task to be presumptuous, we say that, given our exceptional position, we have documents that belong to nobody and are safe from any eventuality. Considering that Spiritism is unquestionably called up to perform a great role in history, it is important that such a role is not diluted and that an authentic history be shown as opposed to apocryphal stories that could be fabricated for personal interests. When will that history be shown? It will not be soon and perhaps not in our lifetime since it is not supposed to satisfy our immediate curiosity. If we talk about that in anticipation it is so that nobody make the mistake about its objective. As a matter of fact Spiritism is at its beginning and many other things will happen before then. It is therefore necessary to wait until everything occupies its place, right or wrong.

Mrs. S… from Cherbourg sent us the following story:

A mariner from the Navy called Arsène Gautier returned to Cherbourg fifteen or sixteen years ago very sick as a result of an illness acquired along the African coast. He came to the house of one of my son-in-laws that was knowingly friends with his brother, a captain of the Merchant Navy who would arrive at this port in a few days. We welcomed him and, since he was sick, my daughter J… who was then fourteen or fifteen years old asked me to invite him to come closer to the fireplace to warm up and take some medication, which he would not find in his hostel as he waiting for arrival of his brother. My daughter had compassion and took good care of him. He died after returning to his house and since then nobody thought anymore about this event. Even the name that was placed on top of the spontaneous communication that he gave through my daughter, who is a medium today, did not help us to remember. We only recognized him by the details that he provided. He was a man of very limited intelligence and he had led a very tough life. Precluded from the loving care of his relatives, he had resigned to everything. Here is the communication:



“Arsène Gautier. You forgot me long ago, my friend, and I have not lost sight of you since I left this Earth for you are the only person, the only sympathetic spirit that I found on this Earth of pain. I loved you with the full strength of my heart when you were still a child and had but a feeling of compassion for me due to the terrible illness that should become my end. I am happy. That was the first life that God had given me. My spirit was young and since I did not know any others I had a strong connection with you. I am happy and about to return to Earth in order to carry on towards the Lord. I have hope in my heart. The path, so difficult to some, seems wide and easy to me. A good start like my previous life is a great encouragement. God shall help me. You will pray for me so that my shortcoming trial be useful to me as the other one was. I am not advanced but I will get there.”



We had no idea about the identity of the spirit who gave that communication, asking one another who that person was. The spirit responded: “I am the brother of a former captain from Nantes, who was friends with a relative of yours (that gave us a hint – the spirit continued). “Thank you for remembering me. I only regret the fact that in my new life I will be away from you for some time. Good-bye. I love you very much.

Arsène Gautier.”

OBSERVATION: This communication was read at the Parisian Society and we asked one of our spiritual guides if it was possible that it was the first incarnation of that spirit, as he said himself.

Here is the answer:

“His first incarnation on Earth is possible but not as a spirit. In their first incarnations the Spirits are almost unconscious and although little advanced he is far from his origin. He is one of those good Spirits who followed the good path. His progress will be fast for he will only have to eliminate his ignorance and will not have to fight bad tendencies like those who follow the other way.

A lady friend writes the following:

“One day my daughter received the following spontaneous communication from a spirit that started signing the name Euphrosine Bretel. Since the name did not ring the bell we asked: - Who are you?

A. I am a poor suffering spirit. I need prayers. I come to you because you know me since I was a child. We dug up our memories and I acknowledged that the family name was that of a nine or ten- year-old child that was from the same school as my daughter and had become sick just before the arrival of my daughter. Her father picked her up and the girls kept the memory of that sick and moaning child. She died at home. Her desperate mother soon followed her. The father became blind and died within the same year. As soon as we recognized the name the spirit wrote: - It is I. My last existence should have been a terrible test but I stepped back cowardly and since then I suffer. I beg you to ask God to provide me with the grace of a new trial. I will submit to that however hard it may be. I am so unfortunate. I love my father and my mother but they hate me. They run away from me and my punishment is to go after them to find myself rejected. I came to you because your memory of me is not totally extinct and you can pray for me and you are the only one who knows Spiritism. Good-bye. Do not forget me. We will see one another soon.”


My daughter then asked her jokingly: That means that I will die soon then? To what the spirit responded: “Time that is long for you, has no measure to us.”


We later verified that the name and surname were perfectly correct. I now ask myself if a spirit can step back before a test that has been initiated.”

We respond:

Yes, the Spirits can frequently retreat before chosen trials and that they do not have the courage to withstand and even face them when the time comes. That is the reason behind the majority of suicide cases. They also recede when desperate and suffering thus losing the benefits of the test. That is how Spiritism by revealing the cause, the objective and the consequences of life’s tribulations gives at the same time so much consolation and courage and keeps the thoughts away from the idea of shortening life. Which philosophy has produced such effects upon humanity?

An excellent medium from Maine-et-Loire, whom we know personally, sent us the following letter:


“One of our friends, one amongst the least believers but with a huge desire to learn, one day asked us if we could evoke an anonymous spirit and if that spirit could answer questions that he would frame in his mind and without the medium knowing about them. We answered that it was possible, as long as the spirit wanted and that is not always the case. Next I got the following answer:”


“I cannot tell you what you want because God does not allow it. However, I can tell you that I suffer. It is a generalized pain in all limbs, what must surprise you since, after death on Earth, the body rots. But we have another spiritual body that does not die. That makes us suffer as much as if we had our corporeal body. I suffer but I hope I will not suffer forever. Since we must satisfy God’s justice we need to resign in this life or in the next. I did not preclude myself enough on Earth and that forces me to repair the wasted time. Do not imitate me since that would cost you centuries of suffering. Eternity is a serious thing and we do not think enough about that. How unfortunate that we forget such an important subject like salvation! Think about that!


Your friend, cure A… T….”


“It was that cure that our friend wanted to evoke and these are the three questions that he wanted to make:”

“What to think about the divinity of Jesus Christ?” “Is the soul immortal?

“What can one do to atone the faults and avoid punishment?”

“We recognized perfectly the former cure by the style. The words corporeal body, in particular, shows that it is the spirit of a good provincial cure whose education was incomplete.”




OBSERVATION: Answers to mental questions are very common and more interesting to the good faith believer at it provides one of the most concluding proofs of the intervention of an occult intelligence. However the majority of the Spiritist phenomena are rarely obtained at will but do occur spontaneously at every step.


In the case described above the spirit offered himself willingly what is very rare for it is known that the Spirits do not like to answer questions about curiosities or to be submitted to tests. They only agree when there is utility and frequently do not evaluate things as we do. Since they do not submit to the caprices of people it is necessary to wait for the phenomena according to their good will or their capacity of producing them. It is necessary to understand and not provoke them. One then does need patience and perseverance and that is why the Spirits recognize the serious observers and those really wanting to learn. They give very little importance to those who are superficial and who think that it is just a matter of asking to be immediately attended.

Of all the works of Humanity, the most preferred are the ones that closely link human beings to the Creator and when the human being is constantly led to admire the divine works created by God omnipotent hands. It is a human duty to continually adore and worship the One who gave our Spirits the means of improvement to achieve supreme happiness, which is the final objective of all of us.

Even though intellectuals give humanity the means of elevating in intelligence, there is great danger with this advantage. History demonstrates that danger and how many evils it may engineer.

You are gifted with a superior intelligence. In that regard you are closer to the Divinity than your brothers and sisters in humanity and even though you are capable of denying that very Divinity or to think of Divinity in a way that is exactly the opposite of reality. It is never too much to say: Pride is the worst enemy of the human beings. If you had a thousand mouths, they all should repeat that endlessly. God created you all simple and ignorant.* You must advance in the safest possible way. That is entirely on you since God will never deny a grace to the one who asks for it in good faith.

Every human condition may equally lead you to the desired objective if you walk the path of justice and if you do not bend your conscience before the will of your caprices. Nevertheless, there are conditions in which it is more difficult to advance than in others. Hence God will take into account those who have chosen a slippery path but who walked through that without tripping or at least who have done their humanly possible to avoid slipping and to stand still.

There is where sincere faith is needed, an uncommon strength to resist the calls to leave the just path; that is also the opportunity to provide great help to the unfortunate brothers and sisters in journey. Ah! There is great merit to the one who touches the swamp without staining the clothes or oneself. It is necessary that a very pure flame shines internally. What a reward is then reserved after leaving this earthly life!**

* This statement relative to the primitive state of the souls was formulated for the first time in The Spirits’ Book and is nowadays repeated in the communications everywhere. It is thus consecrated both by the agreement and the logic since no other principle would better explain God’s justice. By giving everyone the same starting point it also gave them the same task to achieve the target. Nobody is privileged by nature. Given the free-will some progress faster than others. Such principle of justice cannot conciliate with the theory of creation of the soul at the time of birth of the body. That principle contains in itself the plurality of the existences for if the soul precedes the body it means that it has lived already.

** Some are surprised by the fact that the Spirits may choose a reincarnation in one of those environments surrounded by corruption. Among those living in such lower condition of society there are some who are there for sympathy and to satisfy their ignoble inclinations; others are there on a mission or on duty in other to help their brothers and sisters out of the quagmire and to have more merit themselves by fighting the dangerous invitations. Their reward will be proportional to the fierceness of the battles. It is the same situation of the worker that is paid in proportion to the dangers of the job.

May those in a similar condition give serious thoughts to these words; may they understand well their meaning and a true revolution will take place with the subtle impulses of the heart replacing the pressures of selfishness. Who shall transform the old self into a new self, as asked in the Gospels? What is needed to accomplish such a miracle? They must report their thoughts to what they are destined to be after death.

They are all convinced that tomorrow may not come but horrified by the somber and gloomy pictures of the eternal penalties in which they refuse to believe out of intuition. They let it go and follow the currents of present life. They are led by the febrile greed of always accumulating by all means, licit or not. They ruthlessly ruin the life of a breadwinner and nourish their vices with resources that could feed a whole town for a few days. Their eyes are deviated from the fatal day! Ah, if they could face it cold-bloodedly they would change so much! How fast would they return the stolen black bread to the legitimate owner, the bread that was unjustly used to grow an unjust fortune!

What is it that is necessary then? The Spiritist light is needed. One must say as the great general said about a great nation: Spiritism is like the sun. It blinds those who cannot look at it! Those who call themselves Christians and who reject Spiritism are perfectly blind people.

What is the mission of the doctrine that is currently sowed by the invincible hands of the Creator? It is to bring the unbelievers to faith, the desperate ones to hope and the selfish to charity. They believe to be Christians and say anathema to the doctrine of Jesus. They say that it is the disguised devil preaching such a doctrine in this world. Blind and miserable ones! Poor sick people! May God, in His inextinguishable goodness, stop their blindness and illnesses!

Who told you it was the evil spirit? Who? You know nothing about it. Have you asked God to clarify you about this? You did not or if you did it was with a preconceived idea. The evil spirit! You know who told you that? It was pride, the evil spirit itself – that is revolting! – make you condemn the Spirit of God represented by the good Spirits, God’s envoys to regenerate the world!

Analyze the issue and according to the established rule, condemn or acquit. Ah! If at least you wanted to give a hard look to the inevitable results brought about by Spiritism! If you wanted to see people embracing one another like brothers and sisters, convinced that sooner or later they shall come to terms with God regarding their own personal missions! If you wanted to see charity replacing selfishness all over the place, work replacing laziness since work is part of human nature. God turned work into a duty from which one cannot escape without breaching the divine laws. If you wanted to see the miserable ones who say on one side: “Since we are damned in this world and in the next let us be criminals and enjoy; and those who take away other people’s fortune say: the soul is just a word. God does not exist. If there is nothing to expect after death let us just enjoy this life. The world is made up of exploiters and exploited. I would rather be among the former than the latter. After me are just the floods.”


If you look at these two characters that represent pillage and deception, the kind of deception that leads to jail; if you saw them transformed by the belief in the immortality of the soul taught by Spiritism, would you still say that it was the evil spirit?

I see disdain in your lips and I can even hear you saying: “We are the ones who preach the immortality and we have the credit for that. They will always trust us better than those empty dreamers who are if not deceivers at least dreamers who believe that the dead left their graves and came to communicate with them.”

We always give the same answer to that: Investigate and, if convinced in good-faith, there will be no lack of that if you are sincere and instead of slander you will praise. That will be much more in agreement with God’s law.

God’s law! You believe to be the only depositary of those laws hence it surprises you that other people take the initiative that according to your beliefs should be exclusively yours. Listen to what the Spirits who are the envoys of God have to say:

“The ones who seriously face their duties will be blessed for they will have accomplished the works advised and determined by the divine Master. The ones who saw a human objective in priesthood will not be damned although they might have cursed others, but God reserves a more just punishment for you. A day will come when you will have to publically explain the Spiritist phenomena and that day will come soon. You will then meet the judgment since you have built your own tribunal. Who is the judge? God Himself since nothing happens without His consent. Now you see where the evil spirit, that is pride, has led you! Instead of worshiping and praying you resist against the will of the only one that has the right to say: I wish. Nonetheless you say that it is the devil saying: I wish! And now, if you insist that it is just the manifestation of the bad Spirits remember the words of the Master who was accused of expelling the evil Spirits in the name of Beelzebub: Every kingdom that is divided against itself shall be destroyed.”

Hippolyte Fortoul

Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, August 8^th, 1862 – medium Mr. Leymarie

Be suspicious of the smarmy ones. Race of liars. Incarnations of two faces that lie to deceive. Unfortunate are the ones who listen to them and believe for the concept of truth is perverted in them. Nevertheless, how many people are misguided by that deceitful adulation! They pay attention to the villain who praises their own weaknesses whilst rejecting the sincere friend to tell them the truth and give them good advice; they attract the false friend and keep away the real and selfless one. These people are satisfied by adulation, by the approval of everything, getting applause even for the most absurd of all things. And – this is really strange – they refuse really sensible advice and believe in the lies from the first one that shows up as long as those lies flatter their own ideas. What would you expect? They want to be deceived and so they are. They often acknowledge the consequences but the evil is done and sometimes without remedy.

Where does it come from? The causes are numerous. First and without denial it is pride that blinds these individuals as they consider themselves infallible. They easily consider themselves the model of commonsense. Then comes a lack of judgment that does not allow them to separate right from wrong. Pride is also there to stain their poor judgment. Without pride they would mistrust themselves seeking the advice of those with more experience. You must understand also that the bad Spirits are not oblivious to the situation and take the opportunity to mystify and trick them.

Who would more easily fall into those traps than the flattered proud one? Pride to them is like a lack of armor as greed is to others. They are skillful in taking advantage of that but they also make attempts with the stronger ones from a moral point of view.

Do you want to avoid the influence of the bad Spirits? Rise, rise in virtue to the point where they cannot reach you and then they are the ones who are going to fear you. However, if you stick to the tip of the rope they will find ways of forcing your defeat; they will call you with sweet voices, they will flatter your plumage and like the crow you will drop the cheese.

Sonnet

Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, August 8^th, 1862 – medium Mr. Leymarie

Seek moderation and conciseness in the word; a few words, many things. Language is like harmony: the more we try to complicate it the less melodious it will be. True science is always the one that touches the mass of intelligent people rather than a few proud sybarites, intelligent people that for a long time have been veered off from the true beautiful path, a path of simplicity. Following the example of their Master, the disciples of Jesus acquired this profound knowledge of speaking well, sober and concisely and their speech, like that of the Master, was marked by such subtleness, by a depth that in our days when we see ourselves surrounded by lies those words still turn the voice of Christ and the apostles into inimitable role models of concision and accuracy.

But truth came down from above. Like the apostles of the first days of the Christian era, the superior Spirits come to teach and guide us. The Spirits’ Book contains a whole revolution because it is concise and sober: a few words, lots of things; no flowers of rhetoric or images but only great and strong thoughts that give strength and consolation. That is why its reading is enjoyable and easily understood. That is the trait of the superior Spirits who dictated it.

Why then there are so many communications coming from Spirits that call themselves superiors, full of insensible things, plentiful of empty phrases, pages that say nothing? Rest assured that these are not superior Spirits but pseudo-wise Spirits who believe in replacing their lack of thoughts by empty words; the depth of ideas by obscurity. They cannot seduce anyone except who believe to have gold when they actually have brass and judge the beauty of a woman by her shinning outfit. Be suspicious then of the Spirits that use complicated and confusing language that requires a lot of effort to understand. You will acknowledge true superiority in the concise, clear and intelligible style that does not require power of imagination. Do not measure the importance of the communications by their extension but by the summation of ideas that they contain in a short text. To assess real superiority you must account for the words and ideas – I refer to just, sound and logical ideas – and the comparison will give you the exact measure.

Barbaret, familiar spirit

Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies – medium Mr. A. Didier

The human being is limited in intelligence and sensations. Without being able to understand things beyond certain limits the human being pronounces the sacramental word: Supernatural.

The word supernatural in the new science that you are studying is a conventional word. It does exist but explains nothing. In fact, what is the meaning of the word supernatural? Outside of nature; beyond what is understood by us. Nothing is more insensible than the application of that word to everything that is beyond us. To someone that thinks the word supernatural is not definitive. It is vague; it induces presentiment.

The banal phrase of the ignorant unbeliever is well known: “It is supernatural. Reason tells us…etc.” But what is the reason? Ah! When nature grows and acts sovereignly showing us unknown treasures reason becomes irrational and absurd since it persists despite the facts. Well, if something happens it is allowed by nature. Nature has certainly sublime manifestations to us but these are still very restrictive if we enter the domain of the unknown. Ah! You want to excavate nature, find the origin of things – the rerum cause – and still believe it to be unnecessary to keep your trivial reason aside? You must be joking, ladies and gentlemen. What is human reason other than the way of thinking in this world? If you travel from planet to planet do you believe that your reason should follow you? No, ladies and gentlemen. The only reason that you must have amongst all these phenomena is to keep cold blood and observation and start from that point of view and not from the point of view of disbelief.

We have touched very serious subjects lately as you remember but we have not concluded from this that it is only evil that comes from humanity. After many struggles and discussions we also see good thoughts, a new faith and new hope. Spiritism, as I told you recently, is the light that from now on must illuminate every intellectual being devoted to progress.

Prayer shall be the only dogma and the only practice of Spiritism, that is, harmony and simplicity. The art shall be new for it will be fertilized by new ideas. Believe that every work that is inspired by a philosophical-religious idea is always a powerful and sound manifestation. Christ shall always be humanity but not the suffering humanity: He will be the triumphant humanity.

Lamennais