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Kardec, was he a psychic?
Part 2 (Final) |
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Later on,
Kardec did
confirm that
there was a
serious
error on the
30th line,
and he was
surprised
for having
committed
it. (KARDEC,
2006b,
p.306).
This tapping
episode
could only
occur if
someone gave
the
necessary
energy to
cause this
kind of
phenomenon
of physical
effect,
which we
call
ectoplasm.
L. Palhano
Jr.
(1946-2000)
explains it
as follows:
It is a
substance
that
emanates
from a
medium’s
body capable
of producing
phenomena of
physical
effects or
apparitions
at a
distance. It
is a like a
fluidic
breath,
sensitive to
thought,
visible or
invisible,
plastic,
with no odor
or taste,
originally
colorless,
and it
resembles a
protoplasmic
mass. (PALHANO
JR, 2004,
p.96).
Kardec was
probably the
giver of
this energy;
however, we
have no
information
that
anything
like this
happened
afterwards;
so we
prudently
prefer not
to identify
Kardec as a
medium of
physical
effects.
Kardec, in
the dialogue
with the
Spirit of
Truth, asks
him, "May I
invoke you
in my
house?" And
the
following
answer was:
"Yes, to
assist you
by thought:
but for
written
answers in
your house,
you will
only be able
to obtain
them after a
very long
time"
(KARDEC,
2006b, 306,
emphasis
added).
Well, from
this we can
already
conclude
that Kardec
was, at
least, an
intuitive
medium who
was assisted
by thought
by his
Guide, the
Spirit of
Truth.
Surely
objections
will turn up
regarding
this issue;
however, we
shall next
demonstrate
that we are
right.
We hereby
copy one of
the
dialogues
with the
Spirit
Pierre Le
Flamand,
published in
the Spiritist
Magazine
1859, on
May:
47. Let
us go back
to Mr. Allan
Kardec.
– A. I went
to his house
the night
before last;
he was busy
writing in
his
office... he
was working
on a new
book... Ah!
He shows the
best of us,
us poor
Spirits; if
we do not
become
known, it is
not his
fault.
48. Was he
alone? - A.
Yes, that
is, there
was no one
with him;
but approximately
twenty
Spirits were
whispering
above his
head.
49. Could he
hear them? -
R.He
could hear
them, though
he looked
everywhere
to see where
the noise
came from, to
see if it
did not come
from
thousands of
flies; then
he opened
the window
to see if it
was not the
wind or
rain.
Note -
The fact was
perfectly
accurate.
50. Among
all those
Spirits, did
you not
recognize
him? - R.
No, they are
not those of
my society;
I looked
like an
intruder and
I stood in a
corner to
watch.
51. Did
these
Spirits seem
interested
in what he
wrote? - R.
I believe
they did and
very much!
Above all, there
were two or
three who
blew what he
wrote and
who seemed
to counsel
with others;
he, he
naively
believed
that the
ideas were
his,
and he
seemed
pleased with
that.
(KARDEC,
1993a, pages
119-120,
emphasis
added).
If Kardec
managed to
hear Spirits
murmuring
around him,
and even
wrote what
some of them
were
blowing;
then, we
can, once
again,
confirm that
he was a
medium even
he was not
an
ostensible
medium. In
fact, this
happens a
lot with the
"inspired"
mediums, who
generally
think that
what is
written by
them comes
from their
own
inspiration
(creation)
and do not
imagine that
it comes
from another
source.
In the Spiritist
Magazine,
year 1861,
we find a
speech by
Allan Kardec
addressed to
the
Spiritists
of Bordeaux,
from which
we
transcribe
the
following
passage:
I was no
doubt helped
by the
Spirits in
the works I
did to
achieve the
purpose I
set for
myself,
just as they
told me
several
times, but with
no outward
sign of
mediumship.
I am not,
therefore, a
medium in
the ordinary
sense of the
word, and
today I am
glad that it
is like
this. By
means of an
effective
mediumship,
I would have
written only
under one
influence; I
would be led
to only
accept the
truth of
what was
given to me,
and this
perhaps
would be
wrong;
whereas, in
my position,
it was
convenient
that I
should have
absolute
freedom to
take good
wherever it
was, and
wherever it
came from;
therefore, I
was able to
make a
choice of
various
teachings,
without
prejudice,
and with
complete
impartiality.
I have seen
a lot,
studied a
lot,
observed a
lot, but
always with
a cool look,
and I want
nothing else
but to see
the
experience
that I
acquired be
used by
others, and
thus I am
glad to be
able to help
all
beginners
avoid the
natural
pitfalls.
(KARDEC,
1993b, 340,
emphasis
added).
Here Kardec
confesses
that he does
not have
mediumship
in the
narrow
sense, i.e.,
he had "no
great
mediumistic
power...
to transmit
the Spirits’
thought
through
writing or
word"
(Kardec,
1993a, 29,
emphasis
added);
however, he
was somehow
a medium,
what we will
prove next.
On September
14, 1863, in
Paris, a
message is
addressed to
Kardec, of
which we
highlight
the
following
passage:
I want to
talk to you
about Paris,
although
this does
not seem to
me to be of
any use,
since my inner
voices are
heard around
you and your
brain
perceives
our
inspirations
with an ease
that you do
not even
suspect. Our
action
especially
that of the Spirit
of Truth,
is constant
around you
and such
that you
cannot deny
it. So I
will not
enter into
idle details
about the
plan of your
work,
which, according
to my hidden
counsels,
you have
modified so
broadly and
completely.
You now
understand
why we
needed to
have you
under our
hands, free
of any other
concern than
that of the
Doctrine. A
work like
the one that
we elaborate
by mutual
consent
needs
contemplation
and sacred
seclusion. [...]. (Kardec,
2006b, 341,
emphasis
added).
The
statement
that "my
intimate
voices are
heard around
you and that
your brain
perceives
our
inspirations,
with an ease
that you do
not even
suspect" is
the
confirmation
of what we
are saying,
about Kardec
being a
medium of
intuition.
We can also
confirm this
fact taking
the very
words of
Kardec,
recorded in
the Spiritist
Magazine,
year of
1867; if
not, let us
see:
Although we
do not have
the outer
qualities of
an effective
mediumship,
we do not
doubt that
we are
assisted in
our work by
the
Spirits; we
have very
reliable
evidence of
this to
doubt it. We
undoubtedly
owe it to
our
goodwill,
and to what
is given to
each one
according to
his works. In
addition to
the ideas
that come to
us and that
we know that
are
suggested, it
is
noteworthy
that the
subjects of
study and
observation
- all that
can be
useful to
elaborate
the work -
always come
to us on
purpose, -
in other
times I
would have
said: such
as a spell –
in such a
manner that
the
materials
and
documents of
the work are
never
lacking. If
we have to
deal with a
subject, we
are certain
that without
having to
ask for
them, the
elements
necessary
for its
elaboration
are supplied
to us, and
this is done
naturally,
but
undoubtedly
caused by
invisible
collaborators,
in the same
manner as so
many things
that we
attribute to
chance.
(KARDEC,
1999, 274,
emphasis
added).
Now, to say
that
"without
having any
of the outer
qualities of
an effective
mediumship"
and "in
addition to
the ideas
that come to
us and that
we know that
are
suggested”,
it is to say
the same
about the
intuition
mediumship,
for through
thought they
transmitted
to Kardec
their ideas,
and based on
them he made
decisions,
as was told
to him.
Therefore,
we believe
we have
reached our
goal, which
was to show
that Kardec
was, rather,
a medium of
intuition.
This also
overthrows
the opinion
of the
anti-Spiritist
Rene Guenon,
who, in his
already
mentioned
work, says
the
following:
[...] In any
case, there is
an opinion that
is quite
known, even
among the
Spiritists, and
is entirely
wrong: that
Allan Kardec
would have
written his
books under
a kind of
inspiration;
the truth is
that he
himself was
never a
medium; hewas
on the
contrary a
magnetizer
(and we say
on the
contrary
because both
qualities
seem to be
inconsistent),
and that it
was through
his
"subjects"
how he got
the
"communications".
[...].
(Guenon,
2010, page
37, emphasis
added).
As we said
earlier,
Guenon does
nothing but
take Home's
ideas for
himself.
However, he
uses the
term
"inspiration";
we use
"intuition";
what is the
difference
between the
two? Let's
turn to the
confrere
Francisco
Aranda
Gabilan
(?-), who
thus defines
these words:
Inspiration is
the
transmission
of thoughts
and messages
from one
mind to
another, "a
breath" from
the
disincarnate
to the
incarnate so
that he can
freely make
use of a
certain
figure, an
idea, a
mental
picture.
Intuition is
the set of own
knowledge acquired
through the
multiple
experiences
of the
Being, which
comes to the
mind
spontaneously,
without the
need of
anyone to
transmit it,
since such
knowledge
belongs to
its peculiar
and
subjective
universe of
knowledge.
(GABILAN,
2000, in the
newspaper O
Semeador)
Thus, the
correct term
to be used
to define
Kardec's
mediumship
is
inspiration
and not
intuition,
as used by
Rene Guenon,
and perhaps
others
understand
it as well.
References:
AUBREE, M
and
LAPLANTINE,
F. The
table, the
book and the
Spirits: genesis,
evolution
and the
present of
the
Spiritist
social
movement
between
France and
Brazil.Maceio:
EDUFAL,
2009.
GUENON, R. The
Spiritist
Error (L'erreur
Spirite).
Paris: Ed.
Traditionnelles,
1984.
GUENON, R. The
Spiritist
Error (L'erreur
Spirite). Sao
Paulo: Rene
Guenon
Institute,
2010.
HOME, D. D. Lights
and Shadows
of
Spiritualism.
London:
Virtue,
1878.
KARDEC, A. The
Book of
Mediums.
Sao Paulo:
Lake, 2006a.
KARDEC, A. Posthumous
Works. Rio
de Janeiro:
FEB, 2006b.
KARDEC, A. Spiritist
Magazine
1858.
Araras, SP:
IDE, 2001a.
KARDEC, A. Spiritist
Magazine
1859.
Araras, SP:
IDE, 1993a.
KARDEC, A. Spiritist
Magazine
1861.
Araras, SP:
IDE, 1993b.
KARDEC, A. Spiritist
Magazine
1867.
Araras, SP:
IDE, 1999.
PALHANO JR.
L. Dictionary
of Spiritist
Philosophy.
Rio de
Janeiro:
CELD, 2004.
PIRES, J.
H. Mediumship:
life and
communication.
Conceptualization
of
mediumship
and general
analysis of
its current
problems. Sao
Paulo:
EDICEL,
1987.
DONHA, J. A.
V. An
anthropological
X-ray of
Spiritism.
In the
newspaper
Abertura no.
149. Santos,
SP: Espirit
Net, June /
2000,
obtained in
the site:
Abertura
2000, access
on
03.17.2011,
at 08: 08hs.
GABILAN, F.
A. Intuition
or
Inspiration? In O
Semeador no.
760, May /
2000. Sao
Paulo: FEESP,
obtained by
Feesp
website,
access on
03.17.2011,
at 06:15 hs.
MIRANDA, H.
Allan Kardec
and the
mystery of a
secular
fidelity.
Available
at: community,
access on
03.14.2011,
at 22: 06hs.
Translation:
Eleni
Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br