FEEB, the Spiritist Federation of Bahia State, and as president of CEOL, the Obreiros da Luz Spiritist Centre. As a poet and music writer, he sees in art a way of being passionate about life, as he says in this interview: 

How did you come across Spiritism for the first time? 

As we know nothing happens by chance, when I joined Petrobras in 1975 they posted me at an area where among the technicians working were two Spiritists, João Neves and José Ferraz, from the Manoel Philomeno de Miranda Project. They introduced Spiritism to my life, thanks to the Lord. 

So you didn’t need to go through a painful experience in your life in order to find Spiritism? 

Thankfully not. I became a Spiritist in one of the best phases of my life, when my eldest child had just been born and my wife and I were exultant. Experience shows that most people find Spiritism through pain, not through love, but that was not my case. 

Tell us a bit more about your work at FEEB, the Spiritist Federation of Bahia State. 

Under the guidance of my beloved sister Edinólia Peixinho, I coordinate two departments, 09 and 13, whose aim is to encourage integration and the union of Spiritist in Bahia. We work as the link between FEEB and the Spiritist Centres in the state. We have regular meetings in which we decide on action and campaigns to disseminate the activities of FEEB at Spiritist Centres. We choose a theme every year. “To Live in God” is this year’s theme. We host several state-level events every year to encourage the union of all Spiritist Centres and also keep a Facebook page. 

How many Spiritist Centres are members of FEEB at the moment? 

We have 646 Spiritist Centres registered, of which 284 are full members. In the state capital, Salvador, there are 197 Spiritist Centres registered of which 96 are members. 

What is your assessment of the Spiritist Movement in Bahia? 

Despite a number of factors and challenges, involving finances, interpersonal problems and the lack of proper facilities, I have noticed a great leap forward in the Spiritist Movement in Bahia. Twenty years ago, I remember, the vast majority of Spiritist Centres and their leaders were much more skeptical about getting engaged with the state Federation, FEEB. Now, despite the problems we still have, I have noticed great progress. The presence and the participation of Spiritist Centres in our events are very significant and very encouraging. 

You mentioned financial problems. How does FEEB do to raise funds and keep the good work going? 

We get donations and monthly contributions from our members. We also have fund-raisers, events etc. But our main source of income is the sale of books through our distributor. 

You are the current president of the Obreiros da Luz Spiritist Centre, or CEOL, in Salvador. Tell us a bit more about its activities. Do you have problems finding volunteers to work there? 

CEOL was founded on 27 November 1991 by my family group. We used to meet in the house of one of the founders. Later we built an extra floor on my mothers house, in the Mussurunga area of Salvador, and we are still there, carrying out a number of activities, including courses, youth groups, healing and distribution of food for people in need. We also have a dentist who attends for free on Saturday mornings. We do have a big problem finding volunteers to work with us. But that is understandable in the stage we are in the world at the moment, still struggling to find the right path that will lead us to full happiness. We try to encourage people with love and understanding and we try to motivate everyone, but none of that would have any effect if we didn’t lead by example. 

Is there anything from your experience as a Spiritist speaker that you would like to share with us? 

Yes, experience has shown me that Spiritism is still influenced by materialism, even though that is not very evident. The most popular Spiritist Centres are those where we have the phenomena and speakers who are mediums. I have been invited to speak at Spiritist Centres where I ended up delivering a talk to two people, two incarnates, the Centre’s director and his wife. With the new technology I have noticed a marked growth in the number of people attending Spiritist Centres, but many people continue to seek an immediate solution for their problems. This is my opinion, but I may, of course, be mistaken. 

You also write songs and lyrics. Do you use the arts in your Spiritist activities? 

Yes. Poetry occurs more frequently in my talks and lectures than music, but both will always be there. I believe that art is a very efficient tool to lift up the soul, making it easier for us to find the divinity we have inside us.