The Revue
Spirite of
1862
Part 16 and
final
We end 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. What elements are really essential when treating
obsessions?
B. What did Charles Fourier write about reincarnation?
C. Do prayers help the suffering Spirits?
Text for reading
168. Closing the November edition, Erasto discusses the
origin of language. Here is some information contained
in this communication: I - Mankind has already gone
through three great periods: the barbaric phase, the
Hebrew and pagan phase and the Christian phase: the
Spiritist phase will follow the latter. II - Among the
gross ethnic groups, where gross sensations dominated,
some superior beings began to appear, with the task of
leading them to a better phase. III. Language itself,
like social life, did not begin to have a certain
character except from the Hebrew and pagan phase. IV -
The primitive language was uniform, but, as the number
of shepherds grew, these were new families and hence new
tribes, gradually differentiating the language then
used. This is how the different languages came about.
V - Humanity is now moving towards a single language, as
a forced consequence of a community of ideas in
morality, politics and, above all, religion. (Pages 351
to 354)
(Editor’s Note: “Esperanto” is a new universal language.
Its author is the Polish physician, L. Zamenhof, who in
1887 created this language, twenty-five years after
Erastus's message was received).
(Pages 351 to 354)
169. A curious fact: the Revue, in its November
1862 edition, informs a reader in La Calle, Algeria,
that "The Book of Spirits" and "The Book of Mediums" had
not yet been translated into Italian.
(Page 354)
170. An article by Kardec about what causes obsessions
and means of fighting it is the main subject of the
December 1862 issue, from which we copied the following
teachings: I - If a Spirit wants to act upon a person,
it approaches the person, and it wraps around as if it
is a cloak; the fluids penetrate, the thoughts and the
will become confused, and then the Spirit can use that
body as if it were his. The same happens regarding
mediumship. II - If the Spirit is good, its action will
be smooth and beneficent; if it is evil, it will do evil
things; If it is perverse and evil, it forces itself
until it paralyzes the person’s will and reason. III.
Such is the cause of obsession, of fascination and
subjugation, which are shown in several degrees of
intensity. The paroxysm of subjugation is generally
called possession. IV. In the treatment of obsessions
one must strive to acquire the greatest possible sum of
superiority by will, energy, and moral qualities. V. But
before wanting to dominate the evil Spirit, one must
master oneself. Of all means to acquire the strength to
achieve it, the most effective is the will, seconded by
the prayer. It is necessary to ask the Guardian Angel
and the Good Spirits to assist us in the battle. But it
is not enough to ask them to cast out the evil Spirit.
Remember the maxim: Help yourself, and Heaven will help
you, we must ask them, above all, the strength we lack
to overcome our evil inclinations, because they attract
the evil Spirits, in the same manner as carrion attracts
birds of prey.
(Pages 355 to 363)
171. The Encoder also recommends that we pray for the
obsessing Spirit. With perseverance, in most cases, it
ends up leading him to better feelings, transforming him
from obsessor into a grateful individual.
(Page 363)
172. In summary, says Kardec, earnest prayer and serious
efforts to improve themselves are the only means of
averting evil Spirits, who recognize as masters those
who do well, but laugh at the formulas.
(Page 364)
173. Kardec mentions some facts related to his passage
through Rochefort, where he had the satisfaction of
spending two evenings with the sincere and dedicated
Spiritists of the place. He also mentions an unfavorable
report on Spiritism signed with the pseudonym “Tony” in
the weekly Spectateur of 10/12/1862, in which the
journalist makes several objections to the Spiritist
practices and Doctrine. Kardec's reply reads as follows.
(Pages 365 to 372)
174. Copied from the Écho de Sétif, 09/18/1862,
the Revue publishes excerpts from a scientific
article by Jalabert, entitled "Mens agitat molem", in
which the author rationally demonstrates the possibility
of communication between the free Spirits and the
incarnated. (Pages 373 to 376)
175. Kardec copied in the December edition a letter sent
by a friend of Charles Fourier, in which he quotes
passages proving that Fourier was also a
reincarnationist, or rather, reincarnation was one of
the cornerstones of his theory. Commenting on the fact,
the Encoder recalls that Mr. Louis Jourdan, editor of
the Siècle, explicitly admitted the Doctrine of
Reincarnation in his book Prières de Ludovic,
first published in 1849, consequently before even
thinking of Spiritism.
(Pages 376 and 377)
176. Among Kardec's correspondence, he sought a letter
dated July 29, 1860, which deals precisely with the
theme focused on the article on Charles Fourier:
reincarnation. As said previously, Fourier said that
people are seen daily asking for charity at the door of
the castles, of which they were owners in a previous
life.
(Pages 379 to 381)
177. In his barrack in Paris, where several comrades
follow the Spiritist Doctrine, Mr. Perche received a
communication from his sister Marguerite, who comments
about the day the dead are celebrated. In the message,
she confirms the Spiritist thesis that prayers are
always useful to the suffering Spirits and shows the
happiness that many of them feel because they are
remembered and the affection that they relatives show
for them. (Pages 381 to 385)
178. The Revue informs that Mr. Canelle, an old
acquaintance of Kardec, founded a dispensary in Paris in
which the treatment is directed by him and by several
magnetizing doctors. In addition to the paid treatments,
the establishment devotes special sessions for free
magnetizations. (Page 386)
Answers to the issues
A. What elements are really essential when treating
obsessions?
There are two elements: prayers made with anointing, and
serious efforts to improve. These are, according to
Kardec, the only means to drive away the evil Spirits,
who recognize those who practice good as masters, but
laugh at formulas. (Revue Spirite, 1862, Pages
363 and 364).
B. What did Charles Fourier write about reincarnation?
Besides admitting it clearly, Fourier said that people
are seen daily asking for charity at the door of the
castles of which they were owners in a previous life.
(Ibid, Pages 379 to 381).
C. Do prayers help the suffering Spirits?
Yes. Prayers always help the suffering Spirits, and many
of them are happy because they are remembered and also
due to the love that their relatives show them. (Ibid,
Pages 381 to 385).
Translation:
Eleni Frangatos
eleni.moreira@uol.com.br
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