The Revue Spirite of
1860
Part 11 -
final
We end in this issue the study of the Revue Spirite
of 1860, a monthly newspaper focused on the
divulgation of Spiritism, founded and directed by Allan
Kardec. The answers to the questions are at the end of
the text for reading.
Questions for discussion
A. Is it true to say, like Mr. Louis Figuier, that
Spiritist manifestations are modern?
B. How do we get rid of a Spirit that torments us?
C. What can happen in the spiritual life to a person who
has never helped anyone?
D. What does it take to acquire virtues?
Text for reading
228. According to Kardec, the pagan theogony and
mythology are nothing but a poetic painting of the
Spiritist life through allegories. (Page 384)
229. The Encoder says that Christian art resents the
austerity of its origin and draws its inspiration from
the suffering of the early followers, whose persecutions
have led men to isolation and seclusion. (Page 385)
230. Spiritism, in turn, opens to art a new field,
immense and not yet explored. When the Spiritist artist
begins to work with conviction, as the Christian artists
worked, he will reap the most sublime inspirations in
this source. (Page 386)
231. Kardec concludes his analysis of Louis Figuier's
book "History of the Marvelous," and states that it is a
mistake to say, as Figuier does, that Spiritist
manifestations are entirely modern. (Page 387)
232. Following, the Encoder highlights the incredible
progress of Spiritist ideas, which no press helped
divulging, and reports that the 2nd edition of The
Book of Spirits was sold out in four months. (Pages
387 and 388)
233. For Mr. Figuier, the philosophy contained in The
Book of Spirits is obsolete and its morality makes
one sleep. No doubt, says Kardec, he would have
preferred a funny and lively morality: "But what can I
do? It is a morality for the use of the soul, in fact,
it would always have an advantage: to make one sleep.
For him it is a prescription in case of insomnia". (Page
395)
234. The Spirit who identified himself as Baltazar (see
item 210) is actually Mr. G ... de la R ..., a person
known for his eccentricities, his fortune and his
gastronomic tastes, who confessed that his attachment to
material life "materialized" his Spirit to such a point
that it would take him a long time to break all earthly
bonds of the passions that bound him to the Earth.
(Pages 395 and 396)
235. Kardec analyzes the case of a Revue subscriber
who was tormented by a Spirit in a process of simple
obsession. At his request, the Encoder explained that he
would not be rid of the Spirit either by anger, or by
threats, but by patience, and that it was still
necessary to subdue him by the moral ascendant and seek
to make it better by good counseling. (Page 397)
236. Consulted, the obsessor confessed that he acted
like this out of envy. Kardec comments on the case by
saying that envy blinds and sometimes impels man to acts
contrary to his interests, whether in space or on
Earth. (Page
399)
237. The Revue brings a message from a guilty
Spirit who states that our earthly sufferings will never
allow us to understand the anguish of a soul that
suffers relentlessly, without hope, without repentance.
(Page 401)
238. The Spirit of Clare, who had never helped anyone on
Earth, said that her misery grew day by day, and she
cursed the guilty hours, the hours of selfishness and
oblivion in which, ignorant of all charity, all
devotion, she only thought of her well-being! (Page 402)
239. "Do you believe, then, that isolated prayers and
saying my name will be enough to calm down my
suffering?" "No, a hundred times no, I roar of pain; of
error without rest, without a home, without hope,
feeling the eternal sting of punishment enter my
rebellious soul" – this is Clara's outburst. (Page
403)
240. The spiritual guide of the psychic commented on
Clara's communication that she did not kill, steal, or
commit any crime in human eyes. She only had fun with
what we call earthly pleasures: beauty, fortune,
pleasure, adulation, in which everything smiled at her
and nothing was lacking. But she was selfish, she only
loved herself and now no one loves her. (Page
403)
241. Alfred de Musset (Spirit) says that the Fathers of
the Church, who founded this sublime religion in its
origin, were more Spiritist than us and preached the
same doctrine taught by Spiritism: charity, goodness,
forgetfulness, forgiveness and self-denial. (Page
404)
242. The Spirit of Delphine de Girardin lectures on
reincarnation and its logic and states that it is enough
to look within ourselves to find the evidence of
reincarnation. (Page
407)
243. "To acquire virtue, one must work", says Delphine.
Moral fortune is not transmitted with material fortune:
"To cleanse yourselves spiritually, you must live
through various bodies that carry with them, each time
they are replaced, a part of your impurities". (Page
408)
244. Speaking of the All Souls ’ Day, Charles Nodier
(Spirit) makes it clear that on that date the Spirits go
to the cemeteries because the thoughts and prayers of
the loved ones are there. (Page 408)
245. Nodier says, "According to the manner in which you
have lived down here, you will be received before God."
What is life, after all? It is a very brief emigration
of the Spirit on Earth, however, in which you may heap a
treasury of graces or prepare for cruel torments". (Page
408)
246. Lamennais (Spirit) compares the present world to
Lazarus and exclaims: "Oh world! Thou seest Lazarus:
nothing can restore thee to life: thy materialism, thy
foolishness, thy skepticism are so many bands that wrap
thy corpse, and you smell bad for it has been a long
time since you are dead. Who will shout at you like
Lazarus: In the name of God, rise up? It is the Christ,
who obeys the call of the Holy Spirit. Century, God’s
voice was heard! Are you more rotten than Lazarus?"
(Pages 409 and 410)
Answers to the questions
A. Is it true to say, like Mr. Louis Figuier, that
Spiritist manifestations are modern?
No, in his analysis of Mr. Figuier's book "History of
the Marvelous," Kardec stated that it is untrue to say
that the Spiritist manifestations are entirely modern,
since in every age there are innumerable records of
manifestations of the so-called dead. (Revue Spirite,
page 387.)
B. How do we get rid of a Spirit that torments us?
According to the Encoder of Spiritism, no one gets rid
of a Spirit by means of anger or threats, but by
patience, and in addition it is necessary to dominate it
by the moral ascendant and to seek to make it better by
means of good advice. (Ibid, page 397.)
C. What can happen in the spiritual life to a person who
has never helped anyone?
Each case has, of course, its peculiarities. In the case
of Clara, who never helped anyone on Earth, the magazine
records the information that her suffering was
increasing day by day and, therefore, she cursed the
hours of selfishness and oblivion in which, ignorant of
all charity, she only thought of her well-being here!
(Ibid, pages 402 and 403.)
D. What does it take to acquire virtues?
For this, says Delphine de Girardin (Spirit), it is
necessary to work, because the moral fortune is not
bequeathed with the material fortune. "To purify
yourselves, you must go through various bodies that take
with them, in each divestment, a part of your
impurities," said the Spirit. (Ibid,
pages 407 and 408).
Translation:
Eleni Frangatos -
eleni.moreira@uol.com.br
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