A book written through automatic writing, or psychography, by doctor Ana Paula Vecchi (photo), brings therapeutic Christian lessons for the progress of the soul, centuries after the Inquisition period in Europe. The author is a doctor, specialised in rheumatology and paediatrics, and lecturer at the PUC-Goiás Medical School.  

What was inspiration to write the book, A Inquisição e o Outro Lado (Inquisition and the Other Side)?

I am a medium working with psychography, or automatic writing, for more than 15 years. In 2011 I was invited to take part in a mediumship groups at the Spiritist Centre I attend, Centro Espírita Grupo André Luiz. We were getting the instructions from the Spirits in that group and from 2013 I start to receive poems, chronicles and small literary pieces. In June 2014 they began to dictate the story of Samuel. It continued in the followed week and so on and so forth, every Wednesday. We realised then that was a novel. In the beginning I didn’t know who was dictating or his or her aim, but eventually everything was revealed. Eça de Queirós [the late Portuguese writer] signed at the end of the third chapter and the title, as well as the cover, was delivered to me by Isabel of Aragon. I will never forget the night when I saw her!

We were gathered in the Spiritist Centre’s main room for a special meeting to receive guidance from the Spirits when I saw some of the most evolved Spirits kneeling down. From the top, a light descended on us and took the shape a woman. She had an old crown on her head and was holding the hem of her dress as though she was hiding something. It was flowers, roses with a wonderful scent. She then approached me and gave be a book with a dark leather cover, closed with a zipper. And on the cover the title was visible in high relief: “A Inquisição e o Outro Lado” (Inquisition and the Other Side). I was astonished and asked myself many times: “Why me?” and “What is the purpose of this book?” The first answer came from Eça de Queirós: “Those who are really sick are the ones who need Jesus”. Yes, I was the one who was most in need. This would be a great opportunity to learn and to heal in the presence of so many generous friends. I would be the great beneficiary by transmitting a message with the teachings of Jesus.

And then for two years, for an hour every Wednesday, we were together, Eça and me, writing this book through automatic writing. Other Spirits were also present, helping revise the book and assisting the author. We really bonded and I could feel his presence near me almost all the time during other days of the week. He often took me in Spirit to see scenes that I would eventually write for the book. Other times he didn’t reveal anything and I had a big surprise during and after writing the chapter. The purpose of the book was revealed to me later by Bezerra de Menezes: “Isabel of Aragon wants to return as flowers all the evil caused by the Inquisition set up by King Denis in Portugal in the XIII century, and to propose some therapeutic action”. The healthy emotional reactions of the readers could be helpful in the process of enlightenment and forgiveness of victims and tormentors.

Why should the Inquisition be revisited under the light of Spiritism?

Inquisition was a big mistake in the history of Christianity. Eça de Queirós shows us in detail the habits and customs of that era, of Jews, Catholics and Huguenots. His description makes us fall in love and empathise with his characters, as they had the nourished the same dreams of happiness as we do. Those were, however, all products of their time and little by little they build on their own spirituality. If they made mistakes, it’s not up to us to judge. We know that man Spirits who took part in the killings of the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre are now working for Jesus. They have achieved great spiritual progress, which many of us haven’t. Spiritism has taught us that the law of Action and Reaction is inexorable and that the bad deeds we do to others come back to us, often as pain, until we finally learn the lesson and progress. God gives us new opportunities to repair the bad deeds of our past through work. We can repay the damage we did in other lives with hard work and good deeds. We know that good and evil will be inside us until we reach a degree of total connection with the Creator.

What can the readers expect from this book?

When we read the novel, we see in the movements of the characters our own characteristics. We too are immortal Spirits seeking perfection. We can see light and shade, hits and misses. Jews, Christians, noblemen and serfs, we are all children of God, likely to make mistakes. We bring with us our vices and we need the forgiveness of one another and we are desperately need to learn to love. The great message of the book is that, despite our imperfections, God never abandons us! Even in the most difficult situations, new opportunities come up woven in threads of love and forgiveness, as mother Paulina, one of the characters, said: “Those who love are never alone!” Another important message is that God is not inside the stone temples nor trapped in this or that religious affiliation. It is inside us, shaped by our attitudes and thoughts. The book also brings us hope and faith that God is our guide and that one day we will be with Him.

The book can be bought through the website of the Spiritist Federation of Goiás State, on the following link: https://goo.gl/bZB3Mw