April
Lavater’s unpublished correspondence with Empress Mary of Russia
Third LetterThe exterior fate of each soul stripped of its body will correspond to its interior state, that is, everything will appear to it as it is itself. To the good, all will appear good; evil will only appear to the souls of the wicked. Loving characters will surround the loving soul; the hateful soul will attract hateful creatures. Each soul will see itself reflected in the Spirits that resemble it. The good will become better and will be admitted into circles composed of beings who are superior; the saint will become holier by the mere contemplation of purer and holier Spirits than themselves; the loving Spirit will become more loving still; but also, every wicked being will become worse just by their contact with other wicked beings. If already on Earth nothing is more contagious and more enticing than virtue and vice, love and hatred, so is beyond the tomb, all moral and religious perfection, as well as all immoral and irreligious feelings, must necessarily become even more catchy and more contagious.
You, much honored Empress, you will become all love in the circle of benevolent souls.
What remains in me of egoism, of self-love, of lukewarmness for the kingdom and the purposes of God, will be entirely swallowed by the feeling of love, if it has been predominant in me, and it will purify again incessantly by the presence and the contact of the pure and loving Spirits.
Depurated by the power of our ability to love, widely exercised down here; purified still further by the contact and radiance upon us of the love of pure and elevated Spirits, we will gradually be prepared for the direct sight of the most perfect love, so that it cannot dazzle us, frighten us, and prevent us from enjoying it with delight.
But how, much revered Empress, could a weak mortal dare get an idea of the contemplation of this personified love? And you, inexhaustible charity! How could you approach the one who draws love from you alone, without scaring him and without dazzling him?
I think that in the beginning he will appear invisibly or in an unrecognizable form.
Hasn't he always acted this way? Who loved more invisibly than Jesus? Who better than him knew how to represent the incomprehensible individuality of the unknown? Who better than him to make himself unrecognizable, he who could make himself known better than any mortal or any immortal Spirit? He, worshiped by all heavens, came in the form of a modest worker, and retained the individuality of a Nazarene until death. Even after his resurrection, he first appeared in an unrecognizable form and was not recognized until later. I think he will always retain this mode of action, so analogous to his nature, his wisdom, and his love. It was in the form of a gardener that he appeared to Mary, in the garden where she was looking for him, and where she was already hopeless to find him. Unrecognizable at first, he was only recognized a few moments later.
It was also in an unrecognizable form that he approached two of his disciples, who were walking full of him and longing for him. He walked for a long time beside them; their hearts burned with a holy flame; they felt the presence of some pure and elevated being, but someone else and not him; they did not recognize him until the time of the sharing of bread, when he disappeared, and when they saw him in Jerusalem in that same evening. The same took place on the shores of Lake Tiberias, and when, beaming in his dazzling glory, he appeared to Saul.
Like all our Lord's actions, all his words and revelations are sublime and dramatic!
Everything follows a continuous march that, always pushing forward, approaches more and more a goal that is not the final goal, though. Christ is the hero, the center, the main character, sometimes visible, sometimes invisible, in this great drama of God, so admirably simple and complicated at the same time, that will never have an end, although having seemed finished a thousand times.
He always appears, unrecognizable first, in the existence of each of his worshipers. How could love refuse to appear to the loving one, just when this needs it the most?
Yes, you, the most human of men, you will appear to men in the most human way! You will appear to the loving soul to whom I write! You will appear to me also, unrecognizable first, and then you will make yourself known to us. We will see you an infinite number of times, always different and always the same, always more beautiful as our soul improves, and never for the last time.
Let us rise more often to this intoxicating idea that I will try, with God's permission, to clarify more fully in my next letter, and to impress you more by a communication given by a deceased.
September 1st, 1798
Lavater
Forth Letter
For the understanding of the matters that I will present to you in the following format, I believe it necessary to point out to you that I am almost certain that, despite the existence of a general, identical and immutable law of punishment and of supreme happiness, each Spirit, according to their individual character, not only moral and religious, but also personal and official, will have sufferings to endure after their earthly death and will enjoy the happiness that will be only appropriate to oneself. The general law will be individualized to every person, that is, it will produce in each one a different and personal effect, just as the same ray of light, passing through a colored glass, convex or concave, draws its specific color and direction from it. I would, therefore, like it to be accepted positively: that although all the blessed, less happy or suffering Spirits are under the same very simple law of similarity or dissimilarity with the most perfect love, we must presume that the substantial, personal character, of each Spirit constitutes a state of suffering or happiness, essentially different from the state of suffering or happiness of another Spirit. Each one suffers in a way that is different from another's suffering and feels pleasures that another would not be able to feel. To each of the material and immaterial worlds, God and Christ present themselves in a particular form, in which they appear to no one except oneself. Everyone has their own point of view. To each Spirit God speaks a language that is understandable only to him. To each one he communicates in a particular way and grants him with pleasures that only he can experience and contain.
This idea, that I consider to be a truth, serves as the basis for all subsequent communications given by the discarnate Spirits to their friends on Earth.
I will be pleased when I hear that you have understood how each man, by shaping his individual character and perfecting his individuality, can prepare for himself special pleasures and appropriate bliss for himself alone.
As nothing is forgotten so quickly, and nothing is less sought after by men than this happiness, appropriate to each individual, although each has every possibility of obtaining and enjoying it, I take the liberty, wise and respected Empress, to beg you to deign to analyze with attention this idea that you certainly cannot regard as useless for your own edification and your elevation towards God: God placed himself, and placed the universe in the heart of every man.
Every man is a particular mirror of the universe and of its Creator. So, let us make all our efforts, much venerated Empress, to keep this mirror as pure as possible, so that God can see in it himself and his thousand-fold beautiful creation, reflected to his entire satisfaction.
Johann-Kaspar Lavater
Zurich, September 14th, 1798
Letter of a deceased to his friend on Earth
About the state of the discarnate Spirit
I know that you have a great desire to get news from me, as well as about the state of all the discarnate Spirits in general, but it does not surpass mine to teach you what is possible to reveal. The power to love of the one who has loved in the material world, increases ineffably when he becomes a citizen of the immaterial world. With love, the desire to communicate to those he has known also increases, what he can, what he is allowed to transmit.
I must begin by explaining to you, my beloved, to you whom I love every day more, by what means it is possible for me to write to you, without being able to touch the paper and lead the pen at the same time, and how I can speak to you in a completely earthly and human language that, in my usual state, I do not understand.
This single indication should serve as a ray of light to you, to be able to understand how you should consider our present state.
Imagine my current state different from the previous one, much like the state of the butterfly fluttering in the air, differs from its state of chrysalis. I am precisely this transfigured and emancipated chrysalis, having already undergone two metamorphoses. Just like the butterfly hovers around flowers, we often hover around the heads of the good people, but not always. A light invisible to you mortals, at least visible to very few of you, gently radiates or shines around the head of every good, loving, and religious person. The idea of the halo that surrounds the heads of the saints is essentially true and rational. Considering that every blessed being is blessed by this light, such a light attracts us to them, according to the degree of compatibility of their enlightenment with ours.
No impure Spirit dares to or can approach this holy light. That light resting above the head of the good and godly man, we can immediately read his mind. We see him as he really is. Each ray that comes out of it is for us a word, often a whole speech; we respond to his thoughts. He does not know that we are the ones answering. We excite in him ideas that, without our action, he would never have been able to conceive, although the disposition and the aptitude to receive them are innate in his soul.
The man worthy of receiving the light, thus becomes a useful and very valuable organ for the sympathetic Spirit who wishes to communicate his lights to him.
I found a Spirit, or rather a man, accessible to the light, to whom I was able to approach, and it is through his organism that I am speaking to you. Without his intermediary, it would have been impossible for me to speak with you humanely, verbally, palpably, in one word, to write to you.
You thus receive an anonymous letter in this way, on behalf of a man whom you do not know, but who nourishes in him a strong tendency towards occult and spiritual matters. I hover above him; I rest on him, almost as the most divine of all Spirits rested on the most divine of all men, after his baptism; I give him ideas; he transcribes them by my intuition, under my direction, by the effect of my radiation. With a slight touch, I make the strings of his soul vibrate in a manner consistent with his individuality and mine.
He writes what I want him to write; I write through him; my ideas become his. He feels happy while writing. He becomes freer, more animated, richer in ideas. It seems to him that he lives and that he hovers in a more joyful, clearer element. He walks slowly, like a friend led by the hand of a friend, and this is how you receive a letter from me. The one who writes supposes himself to be free, and he really is. He does not suffer any violence; he is free as two friends are, who walking arm in arm, nevertheless lead one another.
You must feel that my Spirit is in direct relation with yours; you understand what I'm telling you; you hear my innermost thoughts. That's enough for this time. The day that I dictated this letter is called by you September 15th, 1798.
Fifth Letter
Again, a little letter from the invisible world.
In the future, if God allows it, communications will follow each other more closely.
This letter contains a very small part of what can be said to a mortal about the appearance and the sight of the Lord. It is simultaneously and in millions of different forms that the Lord appears to a myriad of beings. He wishes, and he multiplies himself through his innumerable creatures, individualizing himself, at the same time, for each of them in particular.
To you, Empress, to your Spirit of light, he will appear one day, as he appeared to Mary Magdalene, in the garden of the sepulcher. From his divine mouth you will hear one day, when you feel the greatest need, and when you expect the least, he will call your name Mary. Rabbi! You will respond to his call, imbued with the same feeling of supreme bliss as Madeleine was, and filled with adoration, like the apostle Thomas, you will say: “My Lord and my God!"
We hasten to cross the nights of darkness to reach the light; we go through deserts to reach the promised land; we suffer the pains of childbirth to be reborn to true life.
May God and his Spirit be with you and your Spirit.
Zurich, November 13th, 1798.
Johann-Kaspar Lavater
Letter from a blessed Spirit
To his earthly friend, about the first sight of the Lord
Of a thousand things I would have liked to talk to you about, this time I will only say one thing that will interest you more than all others. I have obtained permission to do so. The Spirits cannot do anything without special permission. They live without their own will, in the sole will of the Heavenly Father, who transmits his orders to thousands of beings at once, as if to one, and responds instantly to an infinite number of subjects, to thousands of his creatures who address themselves to him.
How can I make you understand how I see the Lord? Oh! In a very different way from what you, still mortals, can imagine.
After many appearances, instructions, explanations, and pleasures bestowed upon me by the grace of the Lord, I once crossed a paradisiac land, with about twelve other Spirits, who had roughly ascended the same degrees of perfection that I had. We hovered, hovered next to each other, in a soft and pleasant harmony, forming like a light cloud, and we seemed to experience the same drive, the same propensity towards a very elevated goal. We approached one another more and more. As we went along, we became more and more intimate, freer, more joyful, more enjoyable, and more able to enjoy, and we would say, “Oh! How good and merciful is he who created us! Hallelujah to the Creator! He is the love that created us! Hallelujah to the loving Being! Animated by such feelings, we continued our flight and we stopped by a fountain.
There we felt a light breeze approaching. It was not carrying a man or an angel, and yet there was something so human about what was coming towards us that it caught our attention. A resplendent light, similar in some way to that of the blessed Spirits, but not surpassing it, inundated us. "That one is also one of us!" we thought simultaneously and as if by intuition. It disappeared, and at first it seemed to us that we were deprived of something. “What an extraordinary being!” we said to ourselves; “What a royal behavior and at the same time what childish grace! What amenity and what majesty!"
While we were talking to ourselves like that, suddenly a graceful form appeared to us, emerging from a delicious grove, and gave us a friendly greeting. The newcomer was unlike the previous apparition, but there was something superbly elevated and indescribably simple at the same time. - “Welcome, brothers and sisters!”, he said. We answered with one voice:
- "Welcome, you, blessed of the Lord! The sky is reflected in your face and the love of God shines from your eyes."
- “Who are you?”, asked the stranger.
- “We are the happy worshipers of the Almighty Love”, we answered.
- “Who is the Almighty Love”, he asked with a perfect grace.
- “Don’t you know the Almighty Love?”, we asked in turn, or better, I was the one who asked in the name of all.
- “I know him”, said the stranger, with an even sweeter voice.
- “Ah if we were worthy of seeing Him and hearing His voice! But we do not feel pure enough to deserve to directly contemplate the holiest purity.”
In response to these words, we heard an echoing voice behind us, saying: "You are cleansed from all filth, you are cleansed. You are declared righteous by Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of the living God!"
An inexpressible bliss spread through us while turning to the direction from which the voice was coming, wanting to rush to our knees to worship the invisible interlocutor.
What happened? Each of us instantly heard a name, that we had never heard spoken, but that each of us understood and, at the same time, recognized to be our own new name, expressed by the voice of the stranger. Spontaneously, with the speed of lightning, we turned, as one being, to the adorable interlocutor, who addressed us thus with an unspeakable grace:
- "You have found what you were looking for. Whoever sees me, also sees the Almighty Love. I know that are mine and those that are mine know me. I give my sheep eternal life, and they will not perish in eternity; no one will be able to yank them out of my hand, or out of my Father's hand. My Father and I are one!"
How could I express in words the sweet and supreme bliss in which we blossomed, when the one who, at each moment, became more luminous, more graceful, more sublime, extended towards us his arms and spoke the following words, that will vibrate eternally for us, and that no power would be able to remove from our ears and from our hearts:
"Come here, chosen of my Father: inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from the beginning of the universe.”
After that, he embraced us all simultaneously, and disappeared. We remained silent, feeling ourselves closely united for eternity, we spread, without moving, one into the other, gently and filled with supreme happiness. The Infinite Being became one with us, and at the same time, our whole, our heaven, our life in its truest sense. A thousand new lives seemed to enter us. Our previous existence vanished for us; we began to be again; we felt immortality, that is, an overabundance of life and strength, that carried the stamp of indestructibility.
Finally, we recovered our speech. Ah! if I could communicate to you, even if only one sound of our joyful adoration!
He exists! We are! By Him, by Him alone! - He is - his being is life and love! - He who sees Him, lives, and loves Him, is inundated with the scent of immortality and the love coming from His divine face, from His gaze filled with supreme happiness!
We have seen you, Almighty Love! You showed yourself to us in human form, You, God of the gods! And yet You were neither man nor God, You, Man-God!
You were only love, almighty only as love! - You support us with your omnipotence, to prevent the force, even softened by your love, from absorbing us into it.
Is it You, is it You? - You whom all heavens glorify; You, ocean of bliss; - You, omnipotence; - You, who once embodied yourself in human bones, carried the burdens of Earth, and streaming with blood, hanging on the cross, made yourself a corpse?
Yes, it is You, - You, glory of all beings! A Being before whom all natures bow, that disappear before You, to be called to live in You!
One of your rays contains the life of all worlds, and from your breath only love springs!
This, dear friend, is only a very small crumb that fell to the floor of the table filled with an ineffable bliss on which I was nourishing. Take advantage of it, and soon more will be given to you. - Love, and you will be loved. - Love alone can aspire the supreme bliss. - Love alone can give happiness, but only to those who love.
Oh! my darling, it is because you love that I can approach you, communicate myself to you, and lead you faster to the source of life.
Love! God and heaven live in you, just as they live in the face and in the heart of Jesus Christ!
I am writing this, from your earthly chronology on November 13th, 1798.
Makariosenagape.
(Ends in the next issue)
The end of the world in 1911
The end of the world in 1911, such is the title of a small brochure in-18, of 58 pages, widespread in Lyon with profusion, found in that city at Josserand bookseller, place Bellecour, # 3. To the considerations drawn from the agreement of the current state of things with the precursor signs announced in the Gospel, the author adds, according to another prophecy, a cabalistic calculation that determines the end of the world in the year 1911, not more and not less, that is to say in 43 years; it means that among the living today, more than one will witness this great catastrophe. Now, there it is not a question of a figure; it is the very real end, the annihilation of Earth, the scattering of its elements, and the complete destruction of all its inhabitants. It is regrettable that the way by which such event will take place is not indicated, but something must be left to the unforeseen.
It will be preceded by the reign of the Antichrist; according to these same calculations, that were not done by Arago, this character was born in 1855 and must live 55 years and a half; and since his death must mark the end of times, that brings us right to 1911, unless there was some miscalculation, as for 1840.
We remember, in fact, that the end of the world had also been predicted for the year 1840; it was believed to be so certain that it was preached in churches, and we saw it announced in certain catechisms in Paris, to the children of the first communion, and that did not fail to annoyingly impress some young brains. As the best way to save one's soul has always been to give money, to get rid of the goods of this world that are a cause of downfall, there were reliefs and donations provoked for that purpose. But the evil Spirit slips in everywhere in this century of reasoners, and leads to the worst thoughts; we have heard, with our own ears, catechism students making this reflection: “If the end of the world arrives next year, as they said and we were assured, that will be for the priests as well as for everybody else; then, what will the money they ask be used for? There are no more children, really, but naughty children.
Will it be the same for the year 1911? The pamphlet in question gives us a certain means of making sure of that, it is the portrait of the Antichrist, whose original will be easy to recognize; it is characteristic enough that one cannot be mistaken. It is drawn by a famous German prophet, Holzauzer, born in 1613, who wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse.
According to Holzauzer, the Apocalypse is nothing other than the entire history of the Catholic Church, from its birth to the end of the world, a history divided in seven epochs, represented, he says, by the seven Churches addressed by Saint John. Here are some of the most characteristic features of the Antichrist and the events that must precede his coming:
“We are now approaching the end of the fifth epoch. It is then that these appalling misfortunes announced in the Apocalypse will occur (chap. VIII). Plague, war, famine, earthquakes will cause countless victims. All peoples will rise against one another; war will be general in Europe; but the fire will break out first in Germany...
After these formidable wars that will shed blood over the whole world, Protestantism will disappear forever, and the empire of the Turks will collapse. It will be the beginning of the sixth age.
The peoples exhausted by these deadly battles, frightened by the horrible plagues that will mark the end of the fifth epoch, will return to the worship of the true God. Out victorious from the countless struggles that it will have sustained against heresies, indifference and general corruption, the religion of Christ will flourish again, more brilliant than ever. Never has the Catholic Church had such a dazzling triumph. Its ministers, models of all virtues, will travel the world to make people hear the word of God ...
But this triumph of religion will be short-lived. Abated but not destroyed, vice will gradually raise its head, and soon corruption making rapid progress, will again invade all classes of society, and will penetrate even into the sanctuary. It is then that we will see the abomination of desolation, announced by the prophet. The whole world will be nothing more than an immense sentinel of vices and crimes of all kinds. Thus, the sixth age will end.
Then the one that the prophets and the fathers of the church have designated as the antichrist will come to earth.
Poor and unknown, he will live a miserable life during his childhood and early youth. Raised by his father in the study of occult sciences, he will devote himself to that with fury, making rapid progress. Endowed with an unusual intelligence, an ardent and resolute mind, and an iron character, since the cradle he will show the most violent passions. Recognizing in this child the formidable qualities of the one who must one day support him so ardently in his struggle against mankind, Satan will tremble with joy, and will gradually transmit all his power to him.
All those who approach him will be amazed by his speeches and actions. They will regard him as a child predestined to great things, and they will say that the hand of the Lord was extended on him to protect and guide him...
Little by little, with Pheme[1] helping, and further magnifying the wonders attributed to the young leader, the number of his sectarians will quickly become very considerable...
Soon, seeing himself at the head of a true army, made up of men committed to death, he will no longer hesitate to take the title of king. For some time, he will take care of organizing his power, and of putting a little order among his new subjects, while neglecting nothing to increase their number. Having no surname, he will take the name of Christ, that the Jews will have already given him...
His ambition growing with his fortune, he will form, in his pride, the plan to conquer the whole earth, and to subject all peoples to his laws ...
In a few days, the Antichrist will assemble an immense army, and we will see this new Attila engulfing Europe in the waves of his barbarian hordes. The enemy armies, struck with terror at the sight of the many wonders he will perform, will allow themselves to be dispersed and annihilated, without even trying to fight. Three great kingdoms will be conquered without striking a blow. Their sovereigns will atone their refusal of submission in the cruelest tortures; and the defeated peoples will be mercilessly delivered to the whole fury of a frenzied soldiery. Terrified by learning of these barbarian revenge, the other nations will immediately submit. The whole Earth will then form one vast kingdom only, that the Antichrist will rule at will. He will rebuild, with incredible magnificence, the city of Jerusalem, and make it the seat of his empire ...
Carried away by his fatal destiny, he will do his best to destroy all religions, and especially the Catholic religion. On the remains of the old cult, he will rebuild the edifice of a new cult, of which he will be both the high priest and the idol. This new religion will have its defenders and priests everywhere. One of the most bitter and the most terrible, that Saint John designated in verses 11, 12, 13, of chapter XIII, by the beast with two horns, like those of the lamb, will be the great apostate. Holzauzer calls him so because he will be one of the first to renounce Christianity to furiously devote himself to the cult of the Antichrist.
At that time a holy pontiff named Peter will reign on the throne of Saint Peter. Struck with grief at the sight of these appalling misfortunes and foreseeing the terrible dangers that the faithful will face, he will send holy exhortations throughout the Christendom to protect everyone against the seductions of the Antichrist, whose perfidy he will clearly reveal. Furious at this open resistance and the immense influence of the Holy Father, the great apostate will enter Rome at the head of an army, and will kill with his own hands the last successor of Peter, on the very steps of the altar...
Churches will be invaded everywhere, sanctuaries violated, objects of worship desecrated. The holy books will be burned, the cross and all the symbols of our august religion trampled underfoot and dragged in the dust. The paintings and statues exhibited for the veneration of the faithful will be overturned; the cursed statue of the Antichrist will rise in their place. - And this statue will speak, said the prophet...
And educated and eloquent men will be seen preaching this idolatry of a new kind, and in brilliant and colorful language exalting the praises of him whose statue speaks and works miracles ...
To strike the eyes of the crowds and subjugate the masses, the Antichrist will perform amazing wonders. He will lift the mountains, walk on the waters, and rise in the air, shining with glory. It will cause several suns to appear at the same time or will plunge Earth into complete darkness. At his voice, lightning will fall from the sky, rivers will suspend their courses, walls will collapse. Becoming invisible at will, he will travel from one place to another with marvelous speed, and he will show himself in several places at once. Finally, as we said, he will animate his image and communicate to it part of his power. But all these wonders will be, for the most part, only optical illusions, and the result of a diabolical phantasmagoria; they will not be true miracles, because Satan, with all his power, could not change the laws of nature…”
Observation: If these are not miracles, in the strict sense of the word, we do not know what else can carry this name; and if they are, for the most part, optical illusions, these illusions deviate singularly from the laws of nature, and would themselves be miracles, for we have never seen lightning strikes and walls falling apart by optical effects. What emerges more clearly from this explanation is the difficulty in distinguishing true miracles from false ones, and of making, in the effects of this nature, the part of the saints and that of the devil.
“At the same time that he will strike all minds with astonishment and admiration, the Antichrist will display all the appearances of the most austere virtue, to win all hearts. While he will indulge in the most shameful debauchery, at the back of his palace, he will seem to make people believe in his temperance and his chastity. Lavishing gold and silver around him, he will do great good for the poor, and everywhere there will be nothing but concerts of praise for his beneficence and his charity. We will see him every day spending whole hours in prayer in his temple; in short, he will cover himself with the mantle of hypocrisy with such skill that even his most faithful servants will be convinced of his virtue and his holiness.
The Lord, however, will not leave His children vulnerable and helpless during these times of trial. Enoch and Elijah will return to earth to preach the word of God, support the courage of the faithful, and expose the deceptions of false prophets. For twelve hundred and sixty days, or three and a half years, they will travel the world, exhorting all men to do penance and return to the worship of Jesus Christ. They will oppose true miracles to the pretended wonders of the Antichrist and his apostles ... But after they will have completed their testimony, the beast that rises from the abyss (the Antichrist) will wage war against them, overcome them and kill them."
Observation: Reincarnation could not be more bluntly affirmed. Here it is not an appearance, an optical illusion, it is indeed reincarnation in flesh and blood, since the two prophets are dead.
“Then, the pride of the Antichrist will know no limits. Proud of the victory he has just won over the two prophets who braved his power with such impunity, for three and a half years, he will have a magnificent throne built on the Mount of Olives, and there, surrounded by a legion of transformed demons as angels of light, he will be worshiped by the immense multitude who will be gathered to enjoy his triumph.
But on the twenty-fifth day, the body of the two prophets, animated by the breath of God, will be resurrected, and they will ascend into heaven, shining with glory, at the sight of the terrified crowd. Blinded by anger and hatred, the Antichrist will announce that he is going to go up to heaven to seek his enemies there, and to throw them down to earth. Indeed, leaving on the wings of the surrounding demons, he will rise in the air; but at that moment the sky will open, and the Son of the Man will appear in a luminous cloud. The Antichrist will be cast down from heaven with his entourage of demons, Earth will open, and he will descend alive into hell...
Then the end of the world will be near. No longer will years or months pass, but few days, the last term given to men for penance. The most frightening wonders will follow one another relentlessly, until the whole world perishes in immense upheaval.
This is what Holzauzer announces, and this is only the explanation of what is contained in the Apocalypse; it is the doctrine of all the Fathers of the Church, contained in the Gospel and the Acts of the apostles."
Observation: So, that is how the world will end! It is not a man's dream; it is the doctrine of all the Fathers who are the light of the Church. Those of our readers who have only a vague idea of the Antichrist, will be grateful for the description given to them, with some details, according to the competent authorities. If there is only forty-three years ahead, it will not be long before we see this wonderful reign. By these signs, we will recognize the proximity of the fatal date.
What is strange in this story is the erasure of the power of God and of his Church, before that of the Antichrist. Indeed, after a triumph of short duration, the Church succumbs again not to rise afterwards; the faith of its ministers is not great enough to prevent corruption from entering the sanctuary. Isn’t this a naive admission of weakness and helplessness? These are things that one can think of, but that is awkward to shout from the rooftops.
It would have been astonishing if Spiritism had not found a place in this prediction; it is, in fact, indicated as one of the signs of times, and here is in what terms. It is no longer Holzauzer speaking, but it is the author of the brochure:
“But here these noises becoming clearer, these horrors that seem chimerical, take on consistency and are clearly formulated. The end of the world is approaching, we cry from all sides! In Europe, in Catholic countries, we recall old prophecies that all herald this great event for our time ...
It is the knocking Spirits that raise the alarm. Open The Spirits' Book by Allan Kardec, you will read on the first page, in the prolegomena, the following words: "The Spirits announce that the times marked by Providence for a universal manifestation have arrived, and that being the ministers of God, and the agents of his will, their mission is to educate and enlighten men, opening a new era for the regeneration of humanity."
Observation: We do not see that to announce the regeneration of humanity is to announce its end; these two ideas contradict each other. Instead of sounding the alarm, the Spirits come to bring hope.
“And first the prophet Joel tells us: "In those days, magic will cover all the earth, and we will see even children at breasts doing extraordinary things and speaking like grown-ups."
Spiritism, that nineteenth century magic, has invaded the world. Only a few years ago, in America, England and France, surprising and unheard-of phenomena aroused general curiosity. Inert furniture, that came to life at the will of operators, gave way to the most fantastic evolutions, and answered, without hesitation, questions that were addressed to them. They sought what could be the intelligent cause of those intelligent effects. The tables answered, they are Spirits, the souls of men taken away by death, who come to communicate with the living. New phenomena were produced. There was a sound of blows struck in the furniture, in the walls of the dwellings; objects moving spontaneously were seen; voices and symphonies were heard; there were even appearances of people who have been dead for a long time. The wonders multiplied. You had to want to see; you had to see to be convinced.
Soon a new religion was organized. When questioned, the Spirits themselves wrote the code of their new doctrine. It was, it must be admitted, a philosophical system admirably well combined in all respects. Never has the most skillful sophist been able to disguise lies and paradox so well. Not being able, without revealing their origin and arousing suspicion, suddenly break with the ideas of God and of virtue, the Spirits begin by recognizing loudly the existence of this God, the necessity of this virtue; but they make so little difference between the fate of the righteous and that of the wicked, that one is necessarily led, by these beliefs, to satisfy all their passions, and to seek in death a refuge from misfortune. Crime and suicide are the two fatal consequences of these principles, that appear, at first glance, to be imbued with such a beautiful and pure morality.
To explain the anomaly of these communications from beyond the grave, the Spirits could not help announcing, as we have seen, that the times marked by Providence had come; but not wishing to speak of the end of the world, that did not enter their system at all, they added: "for the universal regeneration of humanity."
Observation: By a singular coincidence, on that very day, February 24th, when we received this brochure, addressed to us by one of our correspondents in Lyon, and at the time when we were reading these last paragraphs, we received a letter from the surroundings of Boulogne-sur-Mer, from which we extracted the following passages:
“It is from the bottom of an obscure valley in Boulonais that these few words reach you, reflections of a suffering existence; for Spiritism permeates everywhere, spreading light and consolation. Personally, what relief do I not owe it, as well as to you, sir, who are the provider of that!
Born from very poor parents, with eight children, of whom I am the eldest, alas! I have not yet earned my bread, although twenty-nine years old, by the weakness of my health. Add to this an innate propensity for pride, vanity, violence, etc., and judge what evils I had to endure in my miserable condition before Spiritism came to explain to me the enigma of my destiny. It was to the point that I had resolved to kill myself.
To that end, to calm my apprehensions and the reproaches of my conscience, I said to myself, in my Catholic faith: I will strike myself with a blow that, while being fatal, will not kill me instantaneously, and will allow me to have enough moments of life so that I have the possibility of confessing myself, of receiving communion and of manifesting my repentance; in short, to put myself in a position to ensure a happy life in the other world, while escaping the evils of this one.
My reasoning was very absurd, wasn't it, sir? And yet, wasn’t it consistent with the dogma that assures us that every sin, even every crime, is erased by the simple admission made to a priest who gives absolution?
Now, thanks to the knowledge of Spiritism, such ideas are forever banished from my thought; however, how many imperfections I still must strip away!”
Thus, Spiritism prevented an act, a crime that would have been committed, not in the absence of all faith, but by the very consequence of his Catholic faith, the person says. In this case, which was the most powerful to prevent the evil? Will this young man be disgraced for having followed the impulse of Spiritism, the work of the devil, according to the author of the pamphlet, and had he been saved, by committing suicide, but having received the absolution of a priest, before dying? May the author of the brochure answer this question with his hand on his conscience.
Having the fragments reported above been read at the Parisian Society, our former colleague, Jobard, spontaneously came to give the following communication on this subject, by a medium in spiritual somnambulism:
Parisian Society, February 28th, medium Mr. Morin
I was passing when the echo brought me the vibration of an immense burst of laughter. I listened and having recognized the sound of the laughter of the incarnate and the discarnate, I said to myself: The thing is undoubtedly interesting; let's go and see! … And I didn't think, gentlemen, that I would have the pleasure of coming to spend the evening with you. However, I am still happy about it, believe it, because I know all the sympathy you have kept for your former colleague.
I then approached, and the sounds of Earth came to me more distinct: The end of the world! they shout; the end of the world! … Hey! My God, I said to myself, if it is the end of the world, what will become of them? … The voice of your president and my friend’s voice reached me, I heard him reading a few passages to you, of a brochure announcing the end of the world as very imminent. The subject interested me; I listened attentively, and after having thought carefully, I come, like the author of the pamphlet, to say to you: Yes, gentlemen, the end of the world is near! … Oh! don't be afraid, ladies; for you have to be very close to it to touch it, and when you touch it, you will see it.
In the meantime, if you allow me, I will give you my assessment of this word, scarecrow of weak brains, and of weak minds; because, know it, if the apprehension of the end of the world terrifies the pusillanimous beings of your world, it also strikes with terror the inferior beings of erraticity. All those who are not dematerialized, that is, those that although Spirits, live more materially than spiritually, are frightened at the idea of the end of the world, because they understand, by this word, the destruction of matter. Do not be surprised then, that this idea touches certain spirits who would not know what would become of them, if Earth no longer existed; for Earth is still their world, their fulcrum.
I said to myself: Yes, the end of the world is near; it is there, I see it, I touch it… it is close to those who, unwittingly, are working to hasten its advent! … Yes, the end of the world is near; … but end of which world?
It will be the end of the world of superstition, despotism, abuses maintained by ignorance, malice, and hypocrisy; it will be the end of the selfish and proud world, of pauperism, of all that is vile and degrades man; in short of all the ignoble and greedy feelings that are the sad prerogative of your world.
This end of the world, this great catastrophe that all religions agree to foresee, is it what they mean? Shouldn’t we see in this, on the contrary, the fulfillment of the lofty destinies of humanity? If we think about everything that is going on around us, aren't these warning signs the signal for the beginning of another world, I mean another moral world, rather than that of the destruction of the material world?
Yes, gentlemen, a period of earthly purification is ending at this time; another is about to begin ... Everything is bringing the old world to an end, and those who strive to support it are working energetically, unwittingly, for its destruction. Yes, the end of the world is near for them; they have a presentiment of it and are frightened by it, believe it, more than of the end of the terrestrial world, because it is the end of their domination, of their preponderance, to which they hold more than to anything else; and it will not be God's vengeance towards them, for God does not avenge himself, but it will be the just reward for their deeds. The Spirits are, like you, the children of their works; if they are good, it is because they have worked to become so; if they are bad, it is not that they have worked to become so, it is because they have not worked to become good.
Friends, the end of the world is near, and I urge you to take note of this forecast; it is so close that we are already working to rebuild it. The wise foresight of the one from whom nothing escapes, wants everything to be built instead of everything being destroyed; and when the new edifice is crowned, when the ridge is covered, it is then that the old will crumble; it will fall on its own; so that between the old world and the new there will be no break in continuity.
That is how we must understand the end of the world, that already presages so many warning signs. And who will be the most powerful workers for this great transformation? It's you, madams; it is you, young ladies, with the help of the double lever of education and Spiritism. In the woman into whom Spiritism has sunk in, there is more than a woman, there is a spiritual worker; in this state, everything working for her, the woman still works much more than the man, in the edification of the monument; for when she knows all the resources of Spiritism, and knows how to use them, the greater part of the work will be done by her. By breastfeeding the body of her child, she will also be able to breastfeed her Spirit; and who is a better blacksmith than the son of a blacksmith, apprentice of his father? The child will thus suck, as he grows, the milk of spirituality, and when you have Spiritists, children of Spiritists and parents of Spiritists, won’t the end of the world, as we understand it, be accomplished? Are you then astonished, that spiritualism is the scarecrow to everything that pertains to the old world, and the ruthlessness with which they try to suffocate it in its cradle!
Jobard
[1] Greek mythology, goddess of fame (Wikipedia, T.N.)
Intolerance and persecution towards Spiritism
The parish priest of…, having learned that one of his parishioners had received The Spirits’ Book, came to find her at her house and made a scandalous scene, calling her by very little evangelical names; he also threatened not to bury her when she died, if she did not believe in the devil and hell; he then seized the book and took it with him.
A few days later, the lady that was not much affected by the uproar, went to the priest to ask him for her book back, telling herself that if he did not return it to her, it was not difficult to get another one, and that she would know how to put it in a safe place.
The book was returned, but in a condition that proved that a holy anger had come upon it. It was stained with deletions, annotations, refutations, in which the Spirits were treated as liars, demons, stupid, etc. The faith of that lady, far from being shaken, was only the more strengthened. It is said that more flies are caught with honey than with vinegar; the priest presented the vinegar to her, she preferred honey, and she said to herself: Forgive him, Lord, for he does not know what he is doing. Whose side was real Christianity on?
Scenes of this nature were very common seven or eight years ago, and sometimes had a vicious aspect that turned to burlesque. We remember this missionary who foamed with rage, while preaching against Spiritism, and was agitated with so much anger that one feared, for a moment, that he would fall from the pulpit. And this other preacher who invited all the holders of Spiritist books to bring them to him to set them on fire in a public square. Unfortunately for him, not even one was brought, and he compensated for it by burning all those that could be obtained from bookstores, in the courtyard of the seminary. Today, that they have recognized their uselessness and inconvenience, these eccentric demonstrations are very rare; experience has shown that they have deviated more from the Church than from Spiritism.
The fact reported above is of a particularly serious character. The priest is at home in his church, in his terrain; he is on his own right to give or refuse prayers, according to his conscience; sometimes, he undoubtedly uses it in a way that is more harmful than useful to the cause that he defends, but after all he is within his rights, and we find it illogical that people who are, in their thoughts, if not in fact, separated from Church, who do not fulfill any of the duties that it imposes, intend to compel a priest to do what, rightly or wrongly, he considers contrary to his rule. If you do not believe in the effectiveness of his prayers, why demand it from him? But, for the same reason, he exceeds his right when it is imposed on those who do not ask for it.
In the case in question, by which right was this priest going to violate the conscience of that lady in her own home, doing an inquisitorial visit there, and seizing what did not belong to him? What does religion gain from such excess of zeal? Clumsy friends are always harmful.
This fact itself is of little importance, and it is, ultimately, only a small annoyance that proves the narrowness of the ideas of its author; we would not have spoken of it, if it had not been linked to more serious facts, to actual persecutions, whose consequences are more serious.
Strange anomaly! Whatever the position of a man, officer, or subordinate in any capacity, he has every right to be Protestant, Jewish, or even nothing at all; he can be openly incredulous, materialist or atheist; he can advocate this or that philosophy, but he does not have the right to be a Spiritist. If he is suspected of Spiritism, as in the past one was suspected of Jansenism, he is suspect; if the matter is confessed, he is looked at suspiciously by his superiors, when they do not think like him, considered a disruptor of society, he who abjures any idea of hatred and revenge, whose rule of conduct is Christian charity in its most rigorous meaning, benevolence for all, tolerance, forgetting and forgiveness of insults, in a word, all the maxims that are the guarantee of social order, and the greatest curb of bad passions . Well! Something that always and among all civilized peoples, is an entitlement to the esteem of honest people, becomes a sign of reprobation in the eyes of certain people who do not forgive a man for having become better through Spiritism! Whatever his qualities, his talents, the services he renders, if he is not independent, if his position is not invulnerable, a hand, an instrument of an occult will, falls on him, strikes him, if possible, in his means of existence, in his dearest affections, and even in his consideration.
That such things are happening in countries where the exclusive faith establishes intolerance, in principle, as its best safeguard, it is not surprising; but that they take place in countries where freedom of conscience is enshrined in the Code of Laws, as a natural right, it is more difficult to understand. One must, therefore, be afraid of this Spiritism that they, nevertheless, vow to present as an empty idea, a chimera, a utopia, a stupidity that a breath of reason can destroy! If this fantastic light is not yet extinguished, it is not for lack of people blowing it. So, blow, always blow; there are flames that are fueled by blowing, instead of extinguishing them.
However, some will say, what can be reproached in those who wish and only practice good; who fulfills the duties of his office with zeal, probity, loyalty, and devotion; who teaches to love God and their neighbor; who preaches concord and invites all men to treat each other as brothers, without distinction of cults or nationalities? Isn’t he working to appease the dissensions and antagonisms that have caused so many disasters? Isn’t he the true apostle of peace? By rallying the greatest possible number of followers to his principles, by his logic, by the authority of his position, and above all by his example, won’t he prevent regrettable conflicts? If, instead of one, there are ten, a hundred, a thousand, won’t their healthy influence be all the greater? Such men are precious helpers; we never have enough of them; shouldn’t we encourage them, honor them? Isn't the doctrine that makes these principles take the heart of man through conviction, based on sincere faith, a pledge of security? Besides, where have the Spiritists been seen as turbulent and troublemakers? On the contrary, haven’t they always and everywhere identified themselves as peaceful people and friends of order? Whenever they have been provoked by malicious acts, instead of retaliatory, haven’t they carefully avoided anything that could have been a cause of disorder? Has law enforcement ever had to crack down on them for any act contrary to public tranquility? No, because an officer, in charge of maintaining order, said not long ago, that if all his citizens were Spiritists, he could close his office. Is there a more characteristic tribute paid to the feelings that animate them? And what slogan do they obey? To that of their conscience alone, since they do not relate to any obvious or hidden personality in the shadow. Their doctrine is their law, and that law commands them to do good and to avoid evil; by its moralizing power, it has brought exalted men back to moderation, fearing nothing, neither God nor human justice, and capable of anything. If it were popular, how much weight would it not bring in times of turmoil and in turbulent centers? How then can such a doctrine be a reason for reprobation? How can it draw persecution on those who profess and propagate it?
You are astonished that a doctrine that only produces good has adversaries! But don't you know the blindness of partisanship? Has it ever considered the good that a thing can do when it is contrary to its opinions or to its material interests? Do not forget that some opponents are opposed by system much more than ignorance. It is in vain that you would hope to bring them to you by the logic of your reasoning, and by the prospect of the positive effects of the doctrine; they know this as well as you do, and it is precisely because they know it that they do not want it; the more rigorous and irresistible that logic, the more it exasperates them, because it shuts their mouths. The more we demonstrate to them the good that Spiritism produces, the more they get irritated, because they feel that this is its strength; so, even if it had to save the country from the greatest disasters, they would push it back anyway. You will triumph over a skeptical, a sincere atheist, a vicious and corrupt soul, but never over biased people!
What do they expect from the persecution? Stop the rise of the new ideas through intimidation? Let us see, in a few words, if this goal can be achieved.
All great ideas, all renovating ideas, both scientific and moral, received the baptism of persecution, and it had to be, because they offended the interests of those who lived on the old ideas, prejudices, and abuses. But since these ideas were truths, have they ever seen persecution stopping their course? Isn't history of all times there to prove that they have, on the contrary, grown, that they have been consolidated, propagated by the very effect of persecution? Persecution was the stimulus, the sting that pushed them forward, and made them move faster by over-exciting the minds, so that the persecutors worked against themselves, and their only gain was to be stigmatized by posterity. They only persecuted ideas for which they saw a future; those that were deemed inconsequential were left to die their natural deaths.
Spiritism too is a great idea; it was therefore to receive its baptism, as its predecessors, because the minds of men have not changed, and what has happened to others will also happen to Spiritism: an increase in importance to the eyes of the crowd, and consequently a greater popularity. The more the victims are visible by their position, the more impact there will be, because of the extent of their relationships.
Curiosity is all the more excited when the person is surrounded by more esteem and consideration; everyone wants to know why and how; to know the bottom line of these opinions that arouse so much anger; one questions, one reads, and this is how a crowd of people who would perhaps never have been concerned with Spiritism, are brought to know it, to judge it, to appreciate it and to adopt it. Such was, as we know, the result of furious declamations, pastoral prohibitions, diatribes of all kinds; such will be that of persecutions; they do more: they elevate it to the rank of serious beliefs, because common sense says that one does not strike nonsense.
Persecution against false, erroneous ideas, is useless, because they discredit and collapse on their own; it has the effect of creating supporters and defenders for them, and delaying their fall, because many people regard them as good, precisely because they are persecuted. When persecution only attacks true ideas, it goes directly against its goal, because it promotes their development: it is therefore, in all cases, an ineptness that turns against those who commit it.
A modern writer regretted that Luther had not been burnt, to destroy Protestantism at its root; but since he could not have been burnt until after the emission of his ideas, if it had been done, Protestantism would perhaps be twice as widespread as it is. John Huss was burnt; what did the Council of Constance gain? It covered itself with an indelible stain; but the ideas of the martyr were not burned; they were one of the foundations of the reform. Posterity has bestowed glory on John Huss and shame on the council. (Spiritist Review, August 1866) Today, they no longer burn, but they persecute in other ways.
No doubt, when a thunderstorm breaks out, many people take shelter; persecutions can, therefore, have the effect of temporarily preventing the free manifestation of thought; believing to have suffocated it, the persecutors fall asleep in a deceptive security; but thought subsists, nonetheless, and repressed ideas are like plants in a greenhouse: they grow faster.
Spiritism in Cadiz, in 1853 and 1868
The Spiritists of Cadiz claim, for their city, the honor of having been one of the first, if not even the first in Europe to have a Spiritist meeting established, and receiving regular communications from the Spirits, by writing and typtology[1], on moral and philosophical subjects. This claim is in fact justified by the publication of a book printed in the Spanish language, in Cadiz, in 1854. First, it contains an explanatory preface on the discovery of the talking tables and how to use them; then the answers given by the Spirits, to the questions addressed to them in a series of sessions held from the year 1853. The process consisted in the use of a three-legged little table, and an alphabet divided into three series, each corresponding to one of the legs of the table. These answers are arguably very basic compared to what we get today, and not all of them are flawlessly correct, but most are consistent with the current teaching. We will only cite a few to show that at the time when, almost everywhere else, the turning tables were only taken as a matter of entertainment, in Cadiz they were already thinking of using the phenomenon for serious instructions.
“November 8th, 1853
- Is there a Spirit here?
- Yes.
- What's your name?
- Eqe.
- In which part of the world did you live?
- North America.
- Were you a man or a woman?
- Woman.
- Tell us your name in English?
- Akka.
- How do you translate bello into English?
- Fine.
- Why did you come here?
- To do good.
- To you or to us?
- To all.
- So, you can do us this good?
- I can; it's all in the work.
- How will we do that?
- By emancipating women; it all depends on her.
November 11th
The Spirit Eqe.
- Is there another way to communicate with the Spirits?
- Yes, by thought.
- In which way?
- I Read yours.
- And how could we get along with the thought of the Spirits?
- By concentration.
- Is there a way to get there easily?
- Yes, happiness.
- How do you get happiness?
- By loving each other.
November 25th
Anna Ruiz.
- Where does our soul go when it separates from the body?
- It does not leave Earth.
- You mean the body?
- No, the soul.
- Do you have the same pleasures in the other life as in this one?
- The same and better: we work throughout the universe.
November 26th
Odiuz.
- Do the Spirits take a form?
- Yes.
- Which one?
- The human form. There are two bodies, one material, the other light.
- Is the body of light the Spirit?
- No: it is an aggregation of ether; light fluids form the body of light.
- What is a Spirit?
- A man in a state of essence.
- What is his destiny?
- To organize the cosmic material movement; to cooperate with God in the order and the laws of the worlds in the universe.
November 30th
A Spirit, spontaneously
Order distributes the harmonies. This law tells you that every globe in the solar system is inhabited by a humanity like yours; each member of this humanity is a complete being in the rank they occupy; it has a head, a trunk, and limbs. Each has their marked destination, collective or terrestrial, visible, or invisible. The sun, like the planets and their satellites, has its inhabitants, with a complex destiny. Each of the humanities that inhabit these various globes has a double existence, visible and invisible, and a spiritual word appropriate to each of these states.
December 1st
Odiuz.
Read John, and you will have the meaning of the word verb. You will know what the verb of solar humanity is; each humanity has its Providence, its man-God; the light of the solar man-God is the anthropomorphic Providence of all the globes of the solar system.
December 8th
- Is there an analogy between material light and spiritual light?
- The sun shines, the planets reflect its light. Solar intelligence illuminates planetary intelligences, and those of their satellites. Intelligent light emanates from the brain of solar humanity, that is the intelligent spark, just as the sun is the material spark of all globes. There is also analogy in the mode of expansion of the intelligent light, in each humanity that receives it from the main focus, to communicate it to its members.
There is a unity of system between the material world and the spiritual world. We have a nature that reflects the laws that preceded creation. Then comes the human mind that analyzes nature to discover these laws, interpret them and understand them. That analysis is to the spiritual light what refraction is to the physical light for all of humanity forms an intellectual prism in which the unique divine light refracts in a thousand different ways.
January 4th, 1854
- Why don't the Spirits always come to our call?
- Because they are very busy.
- Why have some of the Spirits who have presented themselves so far answered with riddles or nonsense?
- Because they were ignorant or lighthearted Spirits.
- How to distinguish them from serious Spirits?
- By their answers.
- Can the Spirits make themselves visible?
- Sometimes.
- In which case?
- When it comes to humiliating fanaticism.
- In which form did the Spirit present himself to the Archbishop of Paris?
- Human form.
- What is the real religion?
- Love one another.”
The following extract, from a letter from our correspondent, dated August 17th, 1867, will give an idea of the Spirit that presides over the present Spiritist Society of Cadiz:
“For eleven years we have been in communication with Spirits of superior life, and in that length of time they have made important revelations to us on morals, spiritual life and other matters that concern progress.
We meet five times a week. The Spirit President of our Society, to which the other Spirits grant a certain supremacy, is called Pastoret. We have in Dona J… an excellent seeing and speaking medium. She communicates through a three-legged little table that only serves to establish the fluidic current, and she sees the words written on a kind of fluidic ribbon that constantly passes before her eyes, and she reads from that, like in a book. Such means of communication, together with the benevolence of the Spirits who come to our sessions, allow us to present our observations, and to establish almost familiar discussions with those same Spirits.
Each evening the session is opened by the presence of the Spirit of Doctor Gardoqui, whom we know and that practiced medicine in Cadiz, when alive. After giving advice to our brothers present, he goes to visit the sick people that we recommend to him; he indicates the necessary remedies, and almost always with success.
After the doctor's visit, comes the familiar Spirit from the circle, that brings us other Spirits, sometimes superior to instruct us, sometimes inferior so that we help them with our advice and encouragement. By indication of our guides, we periodically accomplish missions of charity towards the poor.
Besides ridicule, against which you, French people, must fight as well as we do, we fight against intolerance; however, we are not discouraged, because the strength of conviction that God gives us is more powerful than the obstacles.
We end each session with the following prayer:
Universal Father! Almighty Lord! We turn to you because we recognize you as the unique and eternal God. Father! We wish not to incur your disapproval, but on the contrary, to advance our purification to approach you, the only true good, supreme happiness promised to those who return to you.
Lord! We continually remind you of our sins so that you may forgive us after the atonement they deserve. What do we already owe to your great kindness! Be merciful to us.
Eternal Father, you gave me life, and with life intelligence to know you, a heart to love you and to love my fellow human beings. My intelligence will grow when I think of you, and when I rise to you.
Universal father of all beings, great architect of the Universe, holy water with which we quench our thirst for the divine love, neither the course of time, nor the difference of minds prevent us from recognizing you, because your great power and your great love can be seen everywhere.
Father! We deliver ourselves to your mercy, and as proof of our sincerity, we offer you our lives, our goods, all that you have given us. We don't have anything that doesn't come from you; we put everything at the disposal of our brothers in need, so that they benefit from the fruit of our intelligence and our work. We are your children, Lord! and we ask from your infinite goodness a ray of light to lead us on the road that you have shown us, until we arrive at the complement of our bliss.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us the trespasses that we have forgiven those who trespass against us, now and always until the hour of our death. We address our prayers to you, infinitely good Father, for all our brothers who suffer on earth and in space. Our thought is for them and our trust in you."
May the Spiritists of Cadiz receive, through us, the sincere congratulations of their brothers from all countries. The initiative they took, at the end of Europe, and on a refractory land, without relationships with other centers, without any other guide than their own inspirations, while Spiritism was still in its childhood, almost everywhere, is further proof that the regenerative movement receives its impulse from above Earth, and that its focus is everywhere; that it is thus reckless and presumptuous to hope to stifle it by repressing it on one point, since in the absence of an outlet, it has a thousand through which light will be done. What are the barriers for what comes from above? What is the use of crushing a few individuals when there are millions of them scattered all over the world who receive the light and shed it? Wanting to annihilate what is outside the power of man, isn't that playing the role of giants who wanted to climb the sky?
[1] Mediumship using the language of signs, tilting and/or knocking – alphabetical typtology. (T.N.)
Spiritist Dissertations
Joinville, Haute-Marne – March 10th, 1868 – medium Mrs. P…
The education of women is a most serious question at this time, because it will not contribute little to realizing the great ideas of freedom that lie dormant in the depths of hearts.
Honor to the courageous men who took the initiative! They can be assured in advance of the success of their work. Yes, the hour has struck for the woman’s emancipation; she wants to be free, and for that it is necessary to free her intelligence from the errors and prejudices of the past. It is through study that she will widen the circle of her narrow and petty knowledge. Free, she will base her religion on morality, that is of all times and of all countries. She wants to be, and she will be the intelligent companion of man, his counselor, his friend, the teacher of his children, and not a toy that one uses and then throw away to take another one.
She wants to contribute to the social edifice that is rising at this moment, before the powerful breath of progress.
It is true that once educated, she escapes from the hands of those who turn her into an instrument; like a captive bird, she breaks her cage and flies away into the vast fields of infinity. It is true that, by knowing the immutable laws that govern the worlds, she will understand God differently than she is taught; she will no longer believe in a vengeful, partial, and cruel God, because her reason will tell her that vengeance, partiality, and cruelty cannot be reconciled with justice and goodness; her God will be all love, clemency, and forgiveness.
Later, she will know the bonds of solidarity that unite peoples among themselves, and will apply them around her, by spreading with abundance treasures of charity, love, and benevolence for all. Whatever sect she belongs to, she will know that all men are brothers, and that the strongest received strength only to protect the weak and elevate them in society to the true level they should occupy.
Yes, woman is a perfectible being like man, and her aspirations are legitimate; her thought is free, and no power in the world has the right to enslave her according to their interests or passions. She claims her share of intellectual activity, and she will obtain it, because there is a law more powerful than all human laws, it is that of progress to which all creation is subject.
A Spirit.
Observation: - We have said it and repeated it many times, the emancipation of women will be the consequence of the diffusion of Spiritism, because it bases its rights, not on a generous philosophical idea, but on the very identity of the nature of the Spirit. By proving that there are no male and female Spirits, that all have the same essence, the same origin, and the same destiny, it blesses the equality of rights. The great law of reincarnation also comes to sanction this principle. Considering that the same Spirits can incarnate, sometimes men and sometimes women, it follows that the man who enslaves the woman can be in turn enslaved; that in this way, by working for the emancipation of women, men are working for general emancipation, and consequently for their own benefit. Women, therefore, have a direct interest in the propagation of Spiritism, because it provides the most powerful arguments that have yet been invoked to support their cause. (See the Spiritist Review, January 1866, and June 1867).
Allan Kardec