Raul Franzolin Neto (photo) is a veterinary surgeon and a retired university lecturer. He was born in the Brazilian city of Botucatu and lives in Pirassununga, both in the state of São Paulo. A Spiritist since 1975, he is the editor and coordinator of Virtual Meetings of the Grupo de Estudos Avançados Espíritas (GEAE), or Group of Advanced Spiritist Studies. In this interview, he speaks about the developments in the dissemination of Spiritism through the internet.

What is the GEAE and when did it start?

GEAE is a virtual Spiritist Group that has been on the internet since October 15^th, 1992. It started in the United States, when I was doing a post-doctorate degree at Wooster University, in Ohio. The internet was in its early phase and the hardware we used then was very basic. There were no www webpages or social media like today – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. It all started for us with a message I sent to a Brazilian network called Brasnet saying we had formed a group to debate a range of current issues in the light of Spiritism. In the beginning we issued a weekly publication, gathering the messages sent by the members. In 1995, GEAE created the first Spiritst internet site. It was developed by Sérgio Freiras, who was studying in Portugal. Our current webpage was redesigned at end of 2015. In October 2017 we discontinued the publication of the bulletins and began, in 2018, to focus on the Virtual Meetings, which take place every two weeks. You can access the GEAE website by on: www.geae.net.br

What inspired the creation of GEAE and what are the group’s principles?

We were advised by a Spiritual team that we would be involved in a very important project, which is the electronic dissemination of Spiritism using computers, the international network (internet) and other tools. We have always followed the basic principles set up by the codification of Spiritism and Allan Kardec: dedication, honesty, respect to other people and the use of rationality to deal with all issues and publications.

What is the main memory you carry from this long journey?

A year before I moved to the United States for my university course, I received a message from a medium. It said that I would have a very important experience there and would meet people involved with Spiritism. I then left Brazil with a bit of anxiety and expecting great things. After settling down in the US, I was a bit disappointed. After all, I hadn’t met anyone with any connection with Spiritism. After six or seven months, I started coming to the conclusion that there had been some mistake in the message. On my eighth month there, however, I received a message from a Brazilian friend saying I should join Brasnet, a network of researchers, lecturers and students living abroad. That’s what I did and after following the debates for a few weeks I decided to send a message around mentioning Spiritism and announcing the creation of GEAE. Much to my surprise, the message was very well received. That’s when I realised that the original message from the medium referred to meeting people virtually, not in person, something I couldn’t understand then as I didn’t know the internet before travelling to the US.

What is your assessment of the use of the internet to disseminate Spiritism now?

I wrote an article about that once. When we talk about a big spiritual project to help the development of the planet, we must bear in mind that there is nothing more important than having effective means of communication between all the different people and groups.

Spiritism has received a call to develop a stronger presence on the internet as a way of contributing towards the new era. Spiritism will grow more and more. At the same time, we have to be aware that there is a lot of false information available on the internet, or fake news. But that has always existed in humankind. Only the truth will prevail! And Spiritism, as the promised consoler, will always go forward!

Do you have any advice for our readers?

Make sure you follow the dissemination of Spiritism through the internet. Make the most of this opportunity. But do it in a balanced manner and don’t stop living your lives. We must have a balance in our lives between body, spirit and spiritual life. Our physical body must be preserved as much as possible. We must, therefore, control stress, have a social life, do physical activity and have regular medical check-ups. As a spirit, we must make good use of our time with productive activities and we must at all times reflect on the experiences we’ve been through so we can learn from them. Spiritual life is our main priority. That’s where we will live forever once we abandon our physical body. We must promote fraternity, charity and personal development. That is our greatest challenge.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Spiritism is spreading across the world. The great medium, Divaldo Franco, has played a key role in that process travelling the world and leaving a seed for the creating of new groups wherever he speaks. At GEAE we have addresses of what we call the World Spiritist Movement (WSM), with federations in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. That helps us envisage the pathway ahead for Spiritism. The internet has come to unite the different peoples under the flag of universal fraternity. There’s a long way ahead. Spiritism was brought to the world in 1857. The biggest means of communication the world has seen, informatics, came up in the following century. With the internet, Spiritism will become a spiritual haven for the new humanity. I believe the time has come for all Spiritists to intensify their work in all areas, always guided by the principle of universal fraternity.