Ricardo de Souza Cavalcante (photo) was born in a Spiritist family in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. He works as an Infectious Disease Doctor in the city of Botucatu, where he also works as a volunteer at the Caminho da Luz (Pathway to Light) Spiritist Centre. 

How did you become interested in Infectious Diseases? 

Infectology is an area of Medicine that seeks to understand individuals as a whole, taking into account genetic, behavioural, social and environmental aspects. One of the aspects that drew me towards that area was the fact that I would be able to treat people who live in poverty or extreme poverty, where most infectious diseases happen.  

What are the links between that area of science and Spirtism? 

Anything that concerns human beings is linked with Spiritism. And it couldn’t be different in Medicine. As Allan Kardec mentions in “The Genesis”: Spiritism, having as its goal the study of one of the elements that constitute the universe (the Spirit), must forcibly deal with the majority of the sciences. The Spirit is responsible for its acts and faces the consequences of his or her own acts, according to the original intention (bad or good). Even though physical aspects pay a role, including eating habits, addictions and the infectious agents, the illness process has its origins on the soul, in disregarding Divine Laws, causing damage to the spiritual body, which pass it on to the physical body.  

What does Spiritism say about infections? 

Even though infections only happen with the invasion of a microorganism in our physical body, that is only possible if our organic defences are impaired. André Luiz says in “Evolução em Dois Mundos” that microbial invasion is enabled by a rupture in the harmony of immune system cells both in the spiritual and the physical body.  

Can we say that many infectious diseases affect us as a result of our moral standards and our unbalanced emotions? 

Absolutely. Manoel Philomeno de Miranda, through the mediumship of Divaldo Pereira Franco, says in the book, “Painéis da Obsessão,” that being in a bad mood and having feelings of pessimism, anger, hatred, jealousy, mischievousness and addictions of any kind cause serious damage to the cells of our physical body. He explains that such emotional behaviour leads to the loss of immunological control, rendering the immune cells incapable of acting properly to defend our body from infectious agents. In sum, I can say that the cause of every illness is the Spirit’s disregard for the Laws of God. The Spirit is involved by negative feelings, such as guilt, resentment, anger or outrage and prints on its spiritual body a weakened energy area. That may be the result of experiences in previous lives or of its current mental behaviour. The spiritual body, or perispirit, is closely linked with the physical body, which will follow the guidance from the mind and will damage its physical defences. Depending on the physical environment where the person is, he or she will get in contact with infectious agents, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi or protozoa. They will invade the body and cause illnesses.  

What is the main memory you have from your studies? 

I though it was very interesting a passage in the book “Missionários da Luz” when André Luiz explains that there are infectious agents in the Spirit World, which can affect both incarnates and discarnates, depending on their mental attitude and thoughts. Those microorganisms drain our physical and spiritual energies in the same way microorganisms do on Earth.  

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Spiritism provides us with a huge source of information to help us understand how we get ill. It shows us that illnesses come from the soul, which is the main object of study by Spiritism. It also gives us the necessary resources to overcome disease or to prevent it from happening. Those resources or tools are discussed in the work of Allan Kardec and can be found in the Gospel of Jesus. True healing will be achieved when we change our feeling and educate our soul.  

What are your final thoughts? 

In the face of the illnesses that affect our physical body, it is essential to use the resources provided by traditional medicine. But we must bear in mind that even though Medicine has progressed a great deal, it still needs to find the Spirit. Only when we educate our soul we will be able to find true cure. And there is a strong movement within Spiritism now focusing on the links between health and spiritual life. The Brazilian Medical Spiritist Association AME-Brasil) is ahead of this movement. Many books have been published and are available for those who want to find out more about this area.