Chico Xavier's
mediumistic work,
notably the texts by
André Luiz and
Emmanuel, was
strongly influenced
by psychoanalytic
thought, hegemonic
throughout much of
the 20th century.
When the DSM -
Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders,
in its third edition
(1980), did not
validate the
Freudian concepts
about neurosis, due
to a lack of
scientific basis,
the work of André
Luiz and Emmanuel
was practically
completed.
One of the concepts
examined by André
Luiz is that of the
sexual impulse, or
creative impulse.
According to the
author, spiritual
individuality has a
special force in its
intimate structure,
invested with
powerful creative
faculties – the
creative impulse.
Moved by this force,
the human collective
slowly advances
towards the supreme
target of divine
love. Desire,
possession,
sympathy, affection,
creativity,
devotion,
renunciation, and
sacrifice constitute
aspects of this
sublimating journey,
in which the soul
gradually learns to
use the creative
impulse for nobler
achievements.1
He wrote:
[...] The natural
energy of sex,
inherent to life
itself, generates
magnetic charges in
all beings, due to
the creative
function it has,
charges that are
characterized by
clear potentials of
attraction in the
psychic system of
each one and which,
accumulating, invade
all the sensitive
fields of the soul,
as if obliterating
its other mechanisms
of action, as if we
were in front of a
factory demanding
adequate control.2
And also, in the
same work:
[...] the sexual
instinct is not only
an agent of
reproduction among
superior forms, but,
above all, it is the
reconstitute of
spiritual forces,
through which
incarnated or
discarnate creatures
feed each other, in
the exchange of
psychic-magnetic
rays that are
necessary for
progress.
In just one
instance, André uses
the expression
sexual energy.
Examining
sacrificial
marriages, he says
that this may happen
because, commonly,
it is necessary to
redeem this or that
debt that we
contract with sexual
energy, applied in
an unfortunate way
in light of the
principles of cause
and effect.3
Emmanuel frequently
used the expression
sexual energy,
giving it the same
meaning as creative
impulse or sexual
impulse. In the book
“Vida e Sexo,”
Emmanuel explains
what he thinks about
it:
Sexual energy, as a
resource of the law
of attraction, in
the perpetuity of
the Universe, is
inherent to life
itself, generating
magnetic charges in
all beings, in the
face of the creative
potentialities that
it possesses [...]
As individuality
evolves, however, it
comes to understand
that sexual energy
involves the
imposition of
discernment and
responsibility in
its application, and
that, for this very
reason, it must be
controlled by moral
values that
guarantee dignified
employment of said
energy [...]
[...] in no case
will we be allowed
to underestimate the
importance of sexual
energy which, in
essence, flows from
Divine Creation to
the constitution and
support of all
creatures.
Acting in this way,
out of love,
donating the body to
the service of
others, and, in this
way, supporting the
brothers and sisters
of Humanity, through
various ways, they
convert existence,
without sexual
connections, into a
path of access to
sublimation, setting
themselves in
different climates
of creativity,
because the sexual
energy in them has
not stopped its own
flow; this energy is
simply channeled
towards other
objectives – those
of a spiritual
nature.4
According to André
Luiz, Freud
identified this
impulse in the
libido – erotic
energy.5
According to Freud,
people are motivated
primarily by
impulses of which
they have little or
no awareness. Freud
used the German word
Trieb to refer to
this impulse or
stimulus within the
person. This term
was translated as
instinct, impulse,
or drive. Drives
operate as a
constant
motivational force.
The various impulses
can be grouped under
two headings: sex,
or Eros, and
aggression,
destruction, or
Thanatos. Freud used
the word libido for
the sexual drive.
The ultimate goal of
sexual drive
(reduction of sexual
tension) cannot be
changed, but the
path by which the
purpose is achieved
can vary. Because
this pathway is
flexible and because
sexual pleasure
comes from organs
other than the
genitals, many
behaviors originally
motivated by Eros
are difficult to
recognize as sexual
behavior.
For Freud, all
pleasurable activity
is traceable to the
sexual impulse. Most
people are able to
direct a portion of
their libido in the
service of higher
cultural values,
while at the same
time retaining a
sufficient amount of
sexual drive to
pursue individual
erotic pleasure.6
Neuroscience has
understood human
sexuality in a very
different way, as it
has failed to
identify this sexual
impulse as something
that exists and
flows naturally in
human intimacy. They
consider that the
human sexual
response constitutes
a set of
physiological
changes that occur
after a positive
sexual stimulus. In
other words, the
sexual impulse is
generated only as a
consequence of
specific
activations, and not
as something that
exists naturally.
These stimuli can
result from chemical
signaling
(particularly in
animals), sensory
(visual, auditory,
tactile, olfactory),
or resulting from
mental
constructions,
fantasies, or
memories of previous
experiences, acting
primarily on the
hypothalamus.
The
neurophysiological
bases of sexual
desire have not been
completely
delineated, but it
is known that: 1) it
depends on the
activity of a
specific anatomical
structure of the
brain; 2) contains
centers that
increase the impulse
in balance with
centers that inhibit
it; 3) it is served
by two specific
neurotransmitters –
an inhibitor and an
accelerant; 4) it
has extensive
connections with
other parts of the
brain, which allows
the sexual impulse
to be influenced and
integrated into the
individual's total
life experience.7
It is relevant to
comment that in
Kardec nothing that
comes close to the
concept of sexual
impulse proposed by
Freud and reproduced
by André Luiz can be
found. On the
contrary, Kardec
established that
sexual communion
depends on physical
organization and, in
this aspect,
sexuality is an
expression of
corporeality,
insofar as Spirits
do not have sex, as
sexes depend on
organization.8
Kardec clearly
defined that Spirits
do not have sex, as
sex only exists in
the organism;
Spirits, not
reproducing among
themselves, then
sexes would be
useless in the
spiritual world.9
When he came across
reports of
discarnate Spirits
fixated on
hedonistic
pleasures, Kardec
related them to
those who feel
hunger, thirst,
sleep, and fatigue.
He wrote: In
inferior Spirits
(their perispirit)
it approaches
matter, and this is
what determines the
persistence of the
illusions of earthly
life in low category
entities, who think
and act as if they
were still in
physical life,
having the same
desires and almost
we could say the
same sensuality.10
Examining the
suffering arising
from inferior
passions, Kardec
will say that
although passions do
not exist
materially, they
still persist in the
thoughts of inferior
Spirits.11
Referring to the
impossibility of
sexual intercourse
between them, he
comments that this
type of passion
causes torment in
the depraved spirit
who sees the orgies
in which he cannot
participate.12
It is also
interesting to note
that Joanna de
Ângelis, in a 2007
book, adopts the
ideas of
neuroscience, when
commenting that the
sexual phenomenon
takes place in the
diencephalon (seat
of the
hypothalamus), where
the varied states of
excitement are
expressed. In this
region,
neurotransmitters
specific to sexual
function produce the
urges of desire and
promote the organic
reactions essential
to the desired
physiological
communion. The
author adds that the
Divinity established
a specific area in
the brain, so that
reproduction could
happen through
automatisms, which
evolution qualified
for the better with
the conscious
cooperation of the
feeling of
affection. (13)
In conclusion, it
seems to us that the
concept of sexual
drive, as we have
traditionally admitted,
must be reviewed, as
it does
not find support in
scientific
Psychology, nor in
Kardec's texts.
Instead of an energy
that arises from the
intimacy of the
Spirit, needing to
be “drained”, the
sexual impulse
should be understood
as a sexual tension,
generated in groups
of neurons, as a
consequence of
positive sexual
stimuli. This
tension motivates
the individual to
search for a partner
to achieve sexual
communion. Once the
tension is relieved,
by the consummation
of the sexual act,
or by changing the
focus of interest,
the impulse
disappears.