Vítor Bruno de Sá Santos (photo),from Barcelos, in Portugal lives in the city of Évora. He became a Spiritist in 2002 and works as a volunteer speaker and study group coordinator. He is a member of the Luz (Light) Spiritist Centre in Coimbra, the Évora Spiritist Association (founding member), the Moura Spiritist Philosophy Studies Centre and the Portuguese Spiritist Centre, as he explains in the following interview.

Please tell us a bit about your activities in the Spiritist Movement.

It all began when I was a 21-year-old university student and came into contact with the Teachings. From then on I have got involved in a number of activities, working as a speaker, facilitator of study groups on the work of Allan Kardec, organising events and courses and helping in the management of Spiritist Centres. I am also in charge of broadcasting live on the Internet Spiritist talks and lectures and I have helped several Spiritist Centres with their web pages. I also publish daily messages, articles and Spiritist poetry on social media.    

What inspired you to write Spiritist poems and to create the webpage “Espírito poético” (Poetic Spirit)?

This page is a tribute to my Spiritual benefactor. In a respectful and loving initiative, I decided to call him Poetic Spirit.  This process began a long time ago, even though I only created the page in February 2017. My main motivation to write was a voice that began insinuating more and more to my spiritual sensitivity. It became increasingly present and gained life, until around 2010 it began to manifest more clearly. Before I wrote my first poem, the first verse was repeatedly sent to me. One day I said: I already know that, I’ve heard it hundreds of times. What do you want? What about the rest? He them released the first Quadra – a moment I will never forget. I ran to grab paper and pen and carried on writing ever since, in a fruitful partnership with the Spirit who inspires me.

How is your writing process? Do you have direct influence from the Spirit World?

The process is unique. It took me many years to reach a certain leve of maturity. I receive or capture the information intuitively, in a different process to that of automatic writing or psychography. Nothing is given to us without our personal effort. Before I began writing, I ready avidly the classic Spiritist literature. Before the poems came up, an inner voice that eventually became familiar only encouraged me to create a Spiritist library and study. Before writing, I read hundreds of books. Everything happened gradually. I think I am influenced by my Spiritual Benefactor in what concerns this poetic adventure, as I only do whatever I feel he will approve. I haven’t seen him, but I have felt his spiritual presence and deeply respect him. For many years I studied hard to fulfil my dream, of meeting my Spiritual Benefactor one day. That finally happened and I am deeply grateful to God for that.

Tell us about your collaboration with “Psicologia e Espiritismo” (Psychology and Spiritism) on Facebook and “Espiritismo Brasil Chico Xavier” (Brazil Spiritism Chico Xavier) on Facebook as well as other Internet groups and the social media in general.

These pages were created by Rui Pedro Zão and his brother, José Pereira, who invited me to collaborate. I have recently been invited to link my own page, Poetic Spirit, to theirs in a way of widening the access to my poems. They have, after all, up to 5 million followers in the social networks.

What is your assessment of the use of new technologies to disseminate Spiritism? How to increment and optimise their use? What are the main precautions to take.

The new technologies are an essential tool. With a simple post I have access every day to hundreds of people, while in Spiritist Centres we often speak to dozens of people. And a message on the Internet is forwarded to many more people. I will give a real, practical example. About 30 people attended my latest talk at the Spiritist Centre, which was packed by the way. It was watched live on the Internet by more than 300. And it has already been accessed by some 20,000 people, not to mention the number of people who forwarded the video – a figure we can’t really control. How can we ignore that? In a chat with Divaldo Franco he agreed with me. He said: Vítor, you Google Spiritism and you are already there. There is no longer a pretext not to go to a Spiritist Centre. Spiritism comes to us.

Taking into account the technological possibilities available these days, how do you think Spiritist talks and lectures need to change?

Spiritist speakers need to be better prepared to serve Jesus Christ. That includes buying the equipment if he or she can afford. Having a good library is no longer enough. We need multimedia, computers, cameras and projectors for the talks. We need to evolve with our times. My philosophy is: young people don’t come to the Spiritist Centre, but we can take the Spiritist Centre to where they are. It is logical. If well introduced, Christ will leave a seed that will never die, especially in the virtual world, where everything remains forever.  

What role can Spiritist communicators play in making this a better world?

That is how I view it: while some share violence and hatred, I share peace and love; while some say that God does not exist, I say that yes, God exists, and that its natural law rule inhabited worlds and our own existences. We need to send out our best vibrations in order to improve the earth’s atmosphere. Spiritism enlightens consciences. We won’t have a better world without more conscience, without more light in our minds and love in our hearts. That is the key: to use the Spiritist Teachings to improve ourselves and evolve and, through our example, spread it to others, to our brothers and sisters.

The external world changes when we change our internal world. Spiritist communicators need to become fully aware that they are a channel to give a voice to the immortal Spirits who bring with them the promised Consoler. At a personal level, that’s what I always wanted from life.

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