Spiritist art not only touches us, but comforts and clarifies us about the
reality of the future life, after the human being disembodies. It also serves as
self-help and provides the literary subjects with its confirmation of the sacred
as an essential part of our inter-existence on two planes of one same life:
physical and spiritual. On the other hand, Spiritist art, with its great
importance in literature, but not only in literature, opposes Materialism to the
theory of Spiritualism confirmed by the Spiritist Doctrine, based on the
scientific method of observation and experimentation, as Allan Kardec announced.
In this way, this art becomes more and more appreciated in Brazil and abroad.
We
have already had the opportunity to write about Spiritist Art in our article
published in the Reformer of August, 2016. In that text, we emphasize
Allan Kardec's position about this art, highlighting his words, published in
Posthumous Works (2009, page 211), when he says that this was still "an
entirely new field, immense and still unexplored". Through Art, Spirits interact
with us, directly or indirectly, since we know through them that their influence
"in our thoughts and in our acts" is much wider than is imagined (The Book of
Spirits, question 459).
From
the mid-19th century to the present day, the influence of the Spirits in Art, in
many countries, but mainly in Brazil, has become massive and very rich,
confirming, more and more, the words of the Encoder of Spiritism. As we have
seen, in the mentioned article, literature, theater, music and painting have
been used, over the centuries - and now the seventh art, cinema, has been added
- as creative manifestations of the Spirit within both existential planes:
physical and metaphysical.
And
it shall come to pass in the last days, said the Lord, that I will pour out of
my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream; and I will pour out
my servants and my maidservants in those days, and they shall prophesy; I will
cause wonders to appear above in the sky and signs on the earth below: blood,
fire and vapor of smoke (Acts 2:17 to 19).
Besides the psycho-graphed literary works and other Art, such as cinema, theater
and music, we have in the painting several mediums that paint pictures with
their hands and even with their feet under the influence of famous painters such
as Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and many others. Such sensitives are called
psycho-pictographic mediums. One of these psychics is Livio Barbosa, who
according to Romero (2016), on June 19, 2015, painted, live on TV, with his
hands, a painting by Oscar-Claude Monet, "the most famous impressionist painter
in the world" (on TV Cidade Verde, from the Brazilian state of Piaui), causing
amazement and commotion among those present at the studios and everyone, who
watched TV.
According to Romero (2016), during the event mentioned above, Livio Barbosa
clarified that mediumistic painting is not easy, since there is a need for
Spirits, who are artists, to transmit some of their technique and genius to
someone who knows nothing or almost nothing about this art, as it is the case of
the psycho-pictographic mediums. That may be reason why some art experts do not
believe in the authenticity of the Spirit's authorship, though the speed and
processes used in painting pictures are uncommon. When a medium paints these
works he uses his fingers or toes, instead of using brushes. In addition, it is
often seen that the medium does not even look at the screen or keeps his eyes
closed while painting. The colored inks are mixed in the appropriate container,
but when this polychromic mass is taken to the picture, by the fingers or feet
of the medium, it re-assumes its specific coloring, according to the desire of
the demonstrating Spirit.
Another psycho-pictography medium is Mrs. Valdelice Salum, 78 years old,
(11/05/1938), who can hardly read or write, born in a rural family in the
Brazilian state of Bahia. This medium paints with her hands and feet, for more
than thirty years, paintings attributed to the Spirits Aleijadinho, Anita
Malfatti, Monet, Picasso, Portinari, Renoir, Vincent, and so on. The income
obtained from the sale of the paintings is donated to charitable institutions.
And Valdelice is recognized for her work aimed at assisting the needy.
As a
young woman, Valdelice Salum used to see paintings "falling on her head" and did
not understand what was happening. Only after she was married did she decide to
look for Chico Xavier, since she was a devoted Chatholic. The medium encouraged
her to attend a Spiritist institution and study The Gospel According to
Spiritism, after telling her that there were many Spirits around her and
they were painters waiting for her willingness to spread the spiritual life
through mediumistic painting.
According to Zanella (2016), Valdelice's paintings in 2008, when she performed
live on an Italian TV, became a success in that country. It is now seen that
Spiritism occupies an increasingly prominent space, both in the scientific area
and in the most diversified artistic genres, in addition to literature.
To
think about immortality and about the possibility of disincarnate Spirits
intervening in our world, so palpably, was like breaking down barriers of
concepts and prejudices, of uncertainties and skepticism. The TV host himself
said publicly that it would be very difficult to forget the atmosphere of peace
and serenity that was breathed during the recording of the program and admitted
that he had never imagined seeing something similar happen before his own eyes (ZANELLA,
2016).
|
Pintura
mediúnica
de
Valdelice
Salum,
disponibilizada
por sua
filha
Suely
Salum em
12 de
set.
2016,
assinada
por
Monet
|
|
Pintura
mediúnica
de
Valdelice
Salum,
disponibilizada
por sua
filha
Suely
Salum em
12 de
set.
2016,
assinada
por
Vincent
|
These two images were made available to us by the daughter of the medium, Suely
Salum, who kindly gave us the right to publish her mother's works. We remember
that Valdelice's paintings are made with both her fingers and toes, although she
does not have any physical limitations that could prevent her from using the
brushes normally. The primary objective is to prove to us the survival of these
great painters and, consequently, our own immortality.
Other spiritual entities that operate through this psycho-pictographic medium
sign their paintings, which already count by hundreds of works, with the names
of P. Cezanne, H. Matisse, Renoir, Salvador Dali, Toulouse Lautrec and so on.
Presently there are several mediums of this pictographic art in Brazil. I quote
only these two and emphasize the mediumship of Valdelice - without
underestimating the work received from the Spirits by other mediums - in view of
the simplicity of Salum, who, being represented by her daughter, because she is
unlettered, has been for decades a humble and faithful instrument of the Highest
Spirituality. This and other mediums are channels used by the disincarnated
artists to confirm the words of the Prophet Joel, quoted by Peter:
And
it shall come to pass in the last days, said the Lord, that I will pour out of
my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream; and I will also pour
my Spirit upon my servants and my maidservants in those days, and they shall
prophesy; I will cause wonders to appear above in the sky and signs on the Earth
below: blood, fire and vapor of smoke (Acts 2:17 to 19).
Jesus was once sought by some Pharisees who asked for a sign to believe in Him.
The Divine Master told them that no sign would be given to them except the one
of Jonah. As we know, this Prophet was allegedly swallowed by a whale and stayed
three days in its belly, after which he was expelled alive. The first great sign
that Jesus gave us is represented symbolically: He was crucified and buried in a
cave, but three days later, He manifested Himself first to Magdalene and then to
His disciples. Another sign, too, that Christ gave us and continues giving, is
the gift of mediumship – this is the modern name we give to prophecies. There
are several gifts, but the main purpose is to prove the immortality of the soul
through mediumistic manifestations that are: psychography, psychophony,
clairvoyance, materialization, hearing and psycho-pictography, among other types
of mediumship.
Since immortality is proved, we have the main duty to repay all these blessings,
through study, observation, reflection, and by using common sense to repel, even
if they are ten truths, rather than accepting a single false theory, as the
Spirit Erastus warns us in The Book of Mediums (In: Kardec, 2013b,
Chapter XX), but to follow the maxim of Jesus: "by the fruits you will recognize
the good tree" (Luke 6:44).
From
what can be seen, the psycho-pictographic works of the self-denying mediums to
prove the immortality of the Spirit, and the beneficent performance of these
people, accredit them as examples of loyal servants of Jesus, for the good that
their work offers to Humanity. The good medium is always seeking to learn to
serve better, and is mindful of the Christ's recommendation: "Give what you have
freely received for free" (Matthew 10: 8).
He
does not boast of his mediumship, because he knows that it is a gift that, as it
has been given to him by God, it can also be withdrawn. He does not do this as a
means of material enrichment of his own, for he is aware that, if he does it, he
will be moving away from the influence of the Good Spirits and attracting the
company of ignorant entities. Always learn, because you know that the greater
your knowledge, the better your attunement to the Higher Spirits, who wish to
transmit through you the messages of their sublime Art.
Mediums such as Valdelice Salum, even though they did not have the opportunity
to become literate on a regular basis, they accept with pleasure the influences
of the Spirits, due to the knowledge they acquired in other existences. His gift
extends in the practice of prayer, vigilance and disinterested service to
others, according to Jesus' recommendation. Thus, when he frees himself from the
physical body through sleep at night, the good medium enters the high spiritual
regions, where he attends sublime lessons of enlightenment of his soul and hears
recommendations to practice humility, forgiveness and love of neighbor, to which
he must unconditionally serve and clarify through his mediumistic work and daily
example of the good.
His
relentless dedication to others and his willingness to learn the techniques of
mediumistic painting with these artists of the Beyond allow mediums such as
Valdelice Salum to reproduce with utmost fidelity the canvases from the
laboratories of the spiritual world, to show us our immortality. In this way, we
begin to think about the importance of being protagonists of each stage of our
eternal life and we realize that it is up to us to work, to learn and to serve
everywhere, in order to reach the happiness of the righteous.
Art
is an instrument of God that gives us the truth, the beauty and the joy of
living. That is why Good Spirits always use them for our delight and learning.
One of them is psycho-pictography.
(1)
References:
KARDEC, Allan. Posthumous Works. Translated by Evandro Noleto Bezerra.
Rio de
Janeiro: Brazilian Spiritist Federation, 2009.
______. The Book of Spirits. Translation by Guillon Ribeiro. 93rd
Edition. Brasilia: FEB, 2013. Historical edition.
______. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Translation by Guillon Ribeiro.
131st Edition. Brasilia: FEB, 2013a. Historical edition.
______. The Book of Mediums. Translation by Guillon Ribeiro. 81st
Edition, Brasília: FEB, 2013b. Historical edition.
ROMERO, Maria. Artist paints a mediumistic painting of Monet, live on TV Cidade
Verde. To access, click here
ZANELLA, Regina. Mediumistic painting is highlighted in the Italian media. To
read the report, here is the link
Text adapted from a chapter of
the author’s doctoral thesis, entitled Chamados de Assis: espaços
fantásticos do rio mutante na obra machadiana, approved at the University of
Brasilia on September 12, 2016.