Aristides Apolinário (photo) was born in the Brazilian town of Itapira 91 years ago. He has been married with Emma de Jesus Apolinário for 70 years and is the father of 12 children. He is also the founder of Juca de Andrade Spiritist Centre in the city of Santo Antônio de Posse, where he lives, in the state of São Paulo. He did a mail pharmacy course and, in a time when chemists where not available everywhere, his house became effectively a health practice, where he also gave healing and counseling to those in need. With his vast Spiritist and mediunimic experience, always serving the public, he may well be able to give us the answers we are looking for.

How do you feel being almost 100 years old?

What can I say? I am HAPPY, completely happy and I have no doubts about that. In almost a century, I have gathered many experiences in Spiritism and have been able to develop intellectually.

And how it is to have lived so many years having known Spiritism?

In reality, I am only a servant of JESUS. He is the one who tells me what I do. I don’t live anymore. I am a companion of Saint Paul and have tried to live like the apostle: I don’t live anymore, the Christ is who lives in me.

How did you get to know Spiritism?

It was in my childhood, as my mother always attended a Spiritist Centre and we used to go with her. So I can say I became a Spiritis in childhood.

How did you first feel that you were a medium?

Well, mediumship is something you don’t feel. I didn’t feel it: it just emerged and I converted when I was 33. But I began studying the Bible when I was 12. A Spirit spoke directly to me during a session at a Spiritis Centre.

What has been your most striking experience with mediumship?

It was when I was helping a 15-year-old boy who was under such negative influence of the negative forces that he was biting the wall. I then came by his bedroom’s door and the Spirit who was controlling him lifted his head and asked me: What are you doing here? He’s dumb. He can’t speak. At that very moment I felt a source of energy near me and said: You are now under Divine Protection. And the Spirit replied: That is what I needed. I then said: Leave the boy alone. And he move away from him. The boy then got up and asked me: Oh, Aristides, are you here? And I said: Yes, your mother told me you were ill. And then I found myself in the dark zone. I knew that because even my electric torch kept switching off. I walked for about 200 metres, praying, asking for God’s protection and a Spirit who was next to me said: Son, you need to develop that knowledge. I asked him: But how? He replied: Go to a Spiritist Centre – and that is what I did.

And how did you begin attending the public?

They began because I am a nurse and I began attending the people. And knowing both the spiritual and the mediunimic sides allowed me to work with both: nutrition, injections, medicines, doctors and pharmacy. And I paid for everything.

Is there a particular memory of your Spiritist practice that you would like to share with us?

I once found a written message among my things. It had not been written by anyone. I took it to a medium, who told me I had to get rid of it. I threw it in the river. And I regret it to this day!

Give us a centenary recipe to overcome the troubles that arise in our lives.

The best thing to do is to make an effort to disseminate Spiritism, even in politics, as we cannot miss the opportunity to enlighten people with these Teachings. Unfortunately, 50% of those who say they are Spiritists are not. They are looking for material healing, when we know that we have to heal the Spirit.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Yes, I received a materialized Spirit one day in my house. My wife and I talked to him and he told us about everything that was happening in my house. I even offered coffee for him and he said that he didn’t drink anything that was heated up in fire. My wife and I eventually opened the street door to him and he disappeared right there before our eyes.

Leave us with your final thoughts, please.

For those who are beginning and those already in Spiritism for longer I say that we must STUDY a lot and, mainly, to get to know the Bible to show where Spiritism is within it. And more: it is essential to be firm and determined in our work in the light of the Spiritist Teachings.