The Revue
Spirite of
1862
Part 14
We continue in this issue the study of the Revue Spirite
corresponding to the year of 1862. The condensed
text of the mentioned volume will hereby be presented in
sixteen parts, based on the translation of Julio Abreu
Filho and published by EDICEL.
Issues for discussion
A. Can anyone be incarnated on Earth for the first time?
B. Who paid the travel expenses when Kardec traveled to
the service of the Spiritist Movement?
C. Why was Guillaume Remone buried alive?
Text for reading
146. Kardec mentions his plan to write the history of
Spiritism, but stresses that such a work will not be
ready so soon and perhaps not even in this life. For
this purpose he had already gathered a lot of
documentation. (Pages 304 and 305)
147. From Cherbourg, the Revue publishes a
communication transmitted by a former seaman of the navy
named Arsene Gautier, of whom no one remembered and who,
nevertheless, gave evidence of having been in the house
of the medium, where he had died fifteen to sixteen
years before. As the Spirit said to be his first
incarnation, Kardec asked one of the guides of the
Society of Paris if this was possible. Here is the
answer: a first incarnation on Earth is possible; but as
a Spirit, no. We are all very far from our first
incarnations and we have no consciousness of them.
(Pages 305 and 306)
148. Answering a lady-friend who asked him if it was
possible for an incarnate Spirit to retreat from a trial
already begun, Kardec replied that it was. Spirits often
retreat from their trials and this is the cause of most
suicides. And they retreat also when they dismay and
murmur, thus losing the benefits of the trial.
(Page 307)
149. Is it possible to evoke a Spirit mentally, without
uttering its name and it answers the questions asked
mentally without the medium knowing anything? Kardec
said yes and this is even very common, but rarely
obtained at will, as they occur spontaneously at every
step. (Pages 307 and 308)
150. "The Child and the Atheist," by the Spirit of
Dulcis, and "The Pumpkin and the Sensitive," by Dombre,
also make up the October 1862 issue of the Revue.
(Pages 309 to 312)
151. Hippolyte Fortoul, communicating in the group of
Sainte-Gemme, writes about Spiritism and the Evil
Spirit, stating that pride is the most virulent enemy of
the human race and that the day will come when they will
be forced to explain themselves publicly all those who
attribute the Spiritist manifestations to the devil.
(Pages 312 to 316)
152. Three communications signed by Sonnet, Barbaret and
Lamennais close the October issue. Here are some of the
teachings contained therein: I - Pride obliterates
judgment about what we do. II. To subtract ourselves
from the influence of the evil Spirits, we must ascend,
ascend a lot by virtue, and they will not reach us. III
- Look for sobriety and conciseness in the word: few
words, many things. The Book of Spirits is a
revolution because it is concise and sober: few words,
many things. IV - We should not measure the importance
of communications by their extension, but by the ideas
they contain in a small space. V - Restricted in
intelligence and sensations and unable to understand
beyond certain limits, man then pronounces the
sacramental word: supernatural. VI - Spiritism is the
light that should illuminate, from now on, all
intelligence vested in common progress.
(Pages 316 to 319)
153. Kardec mentions, in the November edition, his trip
to Lyon, Bordeaux and several other places, in a total
of 20, which lasted for more than six weeks; he traveled
the equivalent to 693 leagues and attended more than
fifty meetings. Since the information regarding the trip
and the instructions transmitted to the Centers he
visited would occupy almost two numbers of the Revue,
a booklet of the same format was then made. (Note from
the Editor: presently this booklet is an independent
work. Its title is "Spiritist Journey in 1862"; and it
was published in Brazil by “Casa Editora O Clarim”).
(Pages 321 and 322).
154. The Encoder took the opportunity to clarify that
the expenses of this and other journeys were covered by
his personal resources, and not by the Spiritist Society
of Paris, as many thought. (Page 322)
155. Kardec also excuses himself because he is not able
to answer to all the letters sent to him during the
six-week period when he was away from Paris. (Page 322)
156. Evoked in the Spiritist Society of Saint Jean
d'Angely in August, 1862, the Spirit of Guillaume Remone
was present. His body - buried alive - would be one of
the mummified ones in the basement of the Tower of St.
Michael, in the city of Bordeaux. Here is, in short,
what the Spirit reported: I - His atonement was due to
the fact that he murdered his own wife, whom he had
smothered with two pillows, in the marriage bed. II -
The reason for this crime was jealousy. III - It was by
mistake that he was buried alive. IV - Soon after his
death, he saw himself on the Earth, an impression that
lasted for about 18 days. When leaving the body, he
found himself surrounded by a lot of Spirits, suffering
like himself. VI - The Spirit of the wife was the first
to appear to him, as if to censor his crime, and he saw
her for a long time, also unhappy. (Pages 323 to 328)
(Continues on next
issue).
Answers to the issues
A. Can anyone be incarnated on Earth for the first time?
Yes, a first incarnation on Earth is possible, but not a
first incarnation of the Spirit, since we are all very
distant from our first incarnations and we are not aware
of any of them.
(Revue Spirite of 1862, pages 305 and
306).
B. Who paid the travel expenses when Kardec traveled to
the service of the Spiritist Movement?
He paid for these expenses out of his own pocket; and
not those who he visited nor the Spiritist Society of
Paris, as many thought. (Ibid, pages 321 and 322).
C. Why was Guillaume Remone buried alive?
Guillaume, himself, in a communication transmitted in
August, 1862, explained it. His atonement was due to the
fact that he killed his own wife by suffocating her with
two pillows in their bed. The reason was his jealousy.
However, they buried him not knowing that he was alive.
(Ibid, pages 323 to 328).
Translation:
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br
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