When we study the life and work of Eurípedes Barsanulfo (1880-1918), our attention is drawn to his monumental educational work through the foundation and direction of Colegio Allan Kardec (1905). Eurípedes Barsanulfo, a Spiritist, medium and educator from the city of Sacramento, state of Minas Gerais, is known as an apostle of charity because of his great dedication to living the moral teachings of Master Jesus. First, because it was a school governed by the Spiritist philosophy, a true audacity in times of domination by the Catholic Church, even more in the interior of Minas Gerais. Second, because its functioning portrayed the ideas and experiences of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827), especially those he had implemented at the Iverdon Institute (1805-1825), in Switzerland. It was a school considered revolutionary and a model for the whole of Europe, having even inspired, later, the New School educators such as Ferriere, Montessori, Freinet and others, already in the first half of the twentieth century.

The Pestalozzi influence on European educators is understandable, after all his ideas, writings and educational achievements remained under study and debate, and several of his disciples had spread his philosophy, methodology and didactics across European countries. Therefore, how to explain that Eurípedes Barsanulfo, portrayed it at the Allan Kardec College, the Iverdon Institute, a hundred years later? He never left Sacramento, he did not study Pedagogy, and had no access to the books written by Pestalozzi (we should emphasize that until today, in the middle of the 21st century, we do not have any work by this educator translated into Portuguese),

The only plausible explanation involves the immortality of the soul and reincarnation, which Spiritism studies and proves so well, that is, Euripides must have had contact with Pestalozzi's ideas of education in a previous life. We are in the delicate terrain of the hypothesis that, as logical as it seems to us, needs proof. This proof can only come from an extra physical revealing source, that is, through the mediumistic phenomenon. However, we cannot accept information about the past lives of a character in human history without passing the information through analysis that proves its veracity. Let us see if we have any revelation of this order on which to rely for the study of this hypothesis.

Mediumistic information

Researching the Spiritist literature of mediumistic origin, we found an important revelation in the work Torments of Obsession (Tormentos da Obsessao), written by the spirit Manoel Philomeno de Miranda, through the psychographic mediumship of Divaldo Pereira Franco. For knowledge, and without doing any previous analysis, let us move on to the transcription of an excerpt from chapter 9, when the spiritual guide Albert clarifies about Eurípedes Barsanulfo:

“After innumerable fruitful existences, the missionary of love was reborn in Zurich, in the year 1741, with the name of Johan Kaspar Lavater, having manifested from a very young age a marked mystical inclination, which led him through the years to the adoption of the dominant religion, in the area of ​​Protestantism. Having been ordained a pastor, he contributed greatly to the spread of Christian thought stripped of any dogmatism, sectarian passion or strange denomination. An unusual speaker and profound thinker, with immense ability to unfold Jesus from the New Testament symbols in which he was besieged by the councils and subaltern interests of the religions of the past, his sermons attracted a large audience, especially since, at that time, they supported the revolution of new ideas that was spreading through Switzerland, recently arrived from France.

“Shortly after, because the French Revolution extrapolated in the dissemination of materialist theses, favoring absolute rationalism, it took a stand against the absurdity of the denial of God and the immortality of the soul, remaining linked to the mystical and sentimental currents, in which Jesus and His purposes of love for humanity. His reminiscences of other lifetimes, of sacrifice and dedication to the Christian faith, made him admired and respected.”

For this information to be carefully analyzed it is necessary to know Lavater’s life and work, a contemporary and fellow citizen of Pestalozzi, and to know if the two had any kind of connection that justifies the hypothesis that Eurípedes Barsanulfo is the reincarnation of Johan Kaspar Lavater, bringing itself knowledge of Pestalozzi's educational thought and work.

Who was Lavater?

Johan Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801) was a Protestant pastor, philosopher, poet, theologian, and magnetizer (he spread and practiced Mesmer's ideas of animal magnetism). He is considered the founder of physiognomy, the art of knowing the personality of people through physiognomic traits. His writings on mysticism were much appreciated and, in addition to his friendship with Mesmer, he was a friend of Pestalozzi too, with whom he lived in Zurich and later exchanged a variety of correspondence. Many biographers consider Lavater to be Pestalozzi's true mentor.

He was widely active in philosophical, political and social activities, having even participated in the Helvetic Revolution, which gave Switzerland a new government and new constitution, along the lines of liberal ideas disseminated by French Enlightenment philosophers and the French Revolution (1789).

He had a great influence on artists and writers, and from the analysis of his correspondence, one can see that he was a great friend of Pestalozzi, participating in several moments of his private and public life.

His letters to the Empress Maria of Russia, which were published in 1858, are famous, where he openly talks about his mediumistic experiences, his conversations with Spirits and his unshakable conviction of the future life after death. Allan Kardec (1804-1869) published and commented on these letters in the March, April and May pages of the Spiritist Magazine of the year 1868.

As we can see, he was a man of wide and deep vision about the human being and life, a great social influencer in his time and, a fruitful Spiritist too, having even come across the communications of the “dead”, who accepted with tranquility and founded his convictions regarding immortality.

His connection with the educator Pestalozzi was very strong. They exchanged ideas, knew each other very well, knew, therefore, what the Swiss master's educational thought was. However, as we can see from the date of his disincarnating (1801), he did not get to know the Iverdon Institute (1805), which does not invalidate the hypothesis we are studying: that Euripides is the reincarnation of Lavater. It does not invalidate it, because the institute was the practical culmination of ideas that had previously been widely publicized in articles, lectures and books by Pestalozzi, who was a prolific writer. The essence of the Pestalozzi method of teaching was well known to Lavater, who perhaps even helped to compose it.

Reincarnation and Innate Ideas

Knowledge, learning, experiences and memory belong to the Spirit, which never loses them. From one incarnation to the other, it accumulates them and reveals them through its innate ideas, its intimate and natural dispositions, without the educational influence of the family having yet exerted any modification in its character and intellectual dispositions. This is how we have children with high abilities (known as child prodigies), revealing musical, mathematical and other talents, surprising for their precocity, without science having any reasonable explanation for the phenomenon, which is stubborn and repeats itself in the passage of historical time.

Without the keys to the immortality of the soul and reincarnation, this phenomenon is inexplicable, but it is fully clarified, and in a rational way, with these two keys. Now, Eurípedes Barsanulfo always had a tendency to work in education. Even without technical training, in his youth he was active as a teacher in the Catholic affairs to which he belonged. His awakening to Spiritism took place through mediumistic phenomena that accompanied him. These facts are closely related to his last incarnation in Lavater's personality.

Most likely, Lavater must have inspired Pestalozzi, spiritually, in the creation of the Iverdon Institute, having followed its evolution over the years. This is perfectly possible, as two friends and confidants do not separate even with death, for the sacred bonds of love unite the two spirits.

For a conclusion

The objective of our writing is not the biography of Euripes Barsanulfo, nor that of Pestalozzi, but only the essentials of their lives to understand the existing reincarnation link. We leave to the reader a healthy research on the life and work of these two important characters.

Although we have not found another mediumistic source about Euripides being the reincarnation of Lavater, perhaps due to a deficiency on our part in the research. we believe that this information has a basis to be true, or, at least, it has grounds of truth, justifying how Colegio Allan Kardec, in the interior of Minas Gerais, at a time of poor communications, can portray the Iverdon Institute in its philosophy and methodology.

It is exciting to revisit history through mediumistic revelations. However, we have to be careful not to accept any revelation, as it does not always come from God, which, we believe, is not the case with the one we analyzed, brought by the mediumship of Divaldo Pereira Franco, who has already given sufficient proof of its fidelity to the principles of the Spiritist Doctrine.

Bibliography:

Incontri, Dora. Pestalozzi, Education and Ethics. Scipione: Sao Paulo, 1997.

Kardec, Allan. Spiritist Magazine. March. April and May 1868. Edicel: Sao Paulo.

Lopes, Luciano. Pestalozzi and Contemporary Education. AFE: Duque de Caxias, 1981.

Miranda, Manoel Philomeno de/Franco, Divaldo Pereira. Torments of Obsession. Leal: Salvador, 2001.

Wikipedia – LINK-1

Wurth, Thiago. Pestalozzi and Social Pedagogy. IPC: Canoas, 1971.

Marcus de Mario is from Rio de Janeiro/RJ. Educator, Writer and Speaker. He coordinates the Spiritist Group Seara de Luz. Founder and Director of Ibem Educa. Editor of the Spiritist Orientation channel on YouTube. Programmer and Presenter of programs on the internet. He has 35 published books