The practice of good can take on the most diverse
formulas

"Let us speak of a common belief, perhaps even universal, which, according to our understanding, it has a doctrinal basis, but, at the beginning, may cause strangeness to some of the scholars of Spiritism." (Paulo da Silva Neto Sobrinho, author of the article The evil eye in the spirit perspective, one of the highlights of this edition.)

It may seem strange, but there are still many prejudices in the Spirit practice, which is difficult to understand, since the Spiritist vision should be free of such addiction and, on the contrary, be welcoming of all beliefs that seek the truth and good, because, as the apostle Paul says, "all who practice charity are disciples of Jesus, whatever worship they may belong to." (The Gospel According to Spiritism, chapter XV, item 10.)

In some groups and centers there is a special aversion to "black-olds" and to entities such as Indians, lancers or Catholic phalanxes, when Spiritism should be a source of blessings for all who come to it for help, protection, restoration.

Sometimes, the spirit leaders of the mediumistic meeting request the participation of entities, so to speak, exotic, so that, with their extreme humility, they can clean up the environment and speak to our hearts.

It is well to remember, in this regard, that many "black-olds" present themselves like that because it was in this condition - certainly during slavery - that they acquired certain virtues of the heart, especially humility.

"Is the evil eye simply a superstition or a reality perceived by popular wisdom? (...) We are more increasingly convinced that when a thing is Universal, it is fact, although it can be misinterpreted given the lack of knowledge of the mechanisms that make it work. Perhaps a good example of this is the belief in ghosts, which is certainly Universal, which in Spiritism it has been shown to be the soul of the dead manifesting itself to the 'living'." (Paulo Neto, in the article quoted).

When a belief is general, it would be normal to seek its meaning. But it seems that the "strong spirits" consider it a thing of ignorant people to value what they classify as creeds or what they may only, according to they think, exist in folklore. They pity themselves for what is good only for lullabies. These are things that they do not need until the fantastic appears as the only resource, a fact that occurs, for example, in cases of an impossible solution for medicine. It is that pride is usually beaten only by pain.

The case of the shamans is emblematic. Anthropologists treat the practices of pajelance as a symbolic construct. And they are right. The symbology of healing process is part of the therapeutic power. But few are willing to remove the hard, bitter husk to sate with the almond, as Kardec says, and those who do so are considered mystics. It occurs, however, that no one among the skeptics can explain the cures.

"The healers are usually mature ladies with enviable detachment who, as a rule, practice the blessings only in children. (...) Emmanuel, in The Comforter, answering the question "The so-called ‘blessings’ in the popular midst, is a kind of pass?" He says categorically: "The so-called 'blessings', so common in the popular midst, always used in charity, are humble expressions of the regenerating pass, popularized in the spirit institutions of relief and assistance." (Paulo Neto, in the article quoted.)

Charity! The practice of good, as Emmanuel says, can take on the most diverse formulas and is the fundamental ingredient of the therapeutic action of the blessings. It is the charity that gathers the healing elements and distributes them by the callous hands with its branches and blessed water.

Every child is impressed and docile in the face of such humility and fraternal love. There are only a few healers who charge. As they are usually very poor, they accept, stained, some gift or donation. But this is not what invites them to work, because, in truth, they are moved by love.