Fernanda Marinho-Göbel:

“Now it’s time to help Spiritism reborn and show everyone the reality
of the Spirit”

Fernanda considers her guide to be the doctrine of Jesus through the Spiritist perspective, as codified by Allan Kardec. She believes it’s time to help the Doctrine reborn in Germany, through reaching brothers of all races and beliefs the necessary information Jesus’ Gospel brings us.

O Consolador:  Fernanda, where were you born?  

In São Paulo, Brazil.

O Consolador:   Where do you live nowadays? 

I live in Denkershausen; at the north of Germany.

O Consolador: Why have you moved to Germany? 

I got married 12 years ago to Dagobert Göbel, who is German. I met him through my parents Jarbas Marinho and Carmen Marinho who came to Germany representing the Brazilian Institute for Psycho biophysical Research (IBPP). Since 1985, they would come to Europe in order to present the work of Dr. Hernani Guimarães Andrade in Parapsychology Congresses. In one of these occasions, my parents were invited to talk on seminars about mediumship in Germany where they met husband.  Dagobert became spiritist as well, and started to organise seminars in the country and also translate research into the local language. In 1994, I came with my parents to Germany in order to help them in one seminar. I then met Dagobert, and we fell in love getting married two years later.

O Consolador: What is your education level?  

I have completed a degree in Visual Communication at the Mackenzie University. After that, I decided to work on the medical field and did a course in Surgery Instrumentation at the Hospital das Clínicas in São Paulo, Brazil. After that, I started working in this area.

O Consolador: What roles have you had within the Spiritist Movement?   

I have studied mediumship at the Spiritist Federation of São Paulo. I then worked for a few years at the group “Casa do Caminho”, which was founded and directed at the time by Mrs. Regina Moura. That is the place I got to know Dr. Hernani Guimarães Andrade. After a while I started to work at his institute, the Brazilian Institute for Psycho biophysical Research (IBPP), together with my parents. After Dr. Hernani passed away, the institute keeps its activities mainly by the hands of the Professor Suzuko Hashizume, who constantly sends us books and scientific material. Through the IBPP, Dr. Hernani started a research group about mediumship and I had the opportunity to work there for 15 years.

We also work together with the Group Noel that is lead by Mrs. Martha Gallego Thomaz. This group is based in São Paulo, Brazil, and provides social care to poor families. We used to help at the Ambulatory Medical and at the course held for poor pregnant women.  

We also work as medium for 15 years at the group Seara Bendita, where there were lots of courses in this area hosted by Mr. Renato Coutinho. Some of these courses would talk about the role of the leader in the spiritist work, the spiritist orientation, how to expose The Gospel According to Spiritism. When I moved to Germany 14 years ago, I started a study group with my husband a few friends. This group would offer healing, orientation and disobsession, in accordance with the principles asserted by Allan Kardec. Ten years ago, our group was registered as a non-profit organization called ALKASTAR – Allan Kardec Studien- und Arbeitsgruppe e.V. (Allan Kardec Study Group) www.alkastar.de.  

I had the great advantage of being aware of the work to be done in Germany through my parents. I was prepared for more than 20 years, through seminars orientated by Dr. Hernani Andrade, on the scientific aspects of mediumship and Spiritist here in Germany. We have nowadays a School of Mediumship in order to develop our workers’ mediumship and knowledge about this topic. 

O Consolador: What is your professional activity?  

Here in Germany I work in Surgery Instrumentation. In regards to spiritual work, I share with my husband the presidency of our group where I also work as a healing medium, counsellor and as an incorporative (talkative) medium. I also share with Dagobert the responsibility to teach Mediumship. Besides that, we take part of Spiritist Congresses, Work-shops and Events.  

O Consolador: When did you first get to know Spiritism?  

I first get to know Spiritism when I was 10 years old. 

O Consolador: Was there any important fact or event that facilitated this contact?  

Yes. My parents suffered a long time with obsession problems. When I was 10 years old, we were told to look for the Spiritist Federation of São Paulo. We were able to find spiritual treatment at that institution and decided to work there since. After this occasion, my parents became spiritist and so did I. 

O Consolador: Which of the triple aspects of Spiritism (science, philosophy and religion) attracts you the most? 

All triple aspects of Spiritism fascinate me. I believe they all complement each other.

O Consolador: Which Spiritist Authors do you like the most? 

After reading the Codifier of Spiritism, Allan Kardec, I would say Chico Xavier. Following these books, I also enjoy Dr. Hernani Guimarães Andrade’s books with his scientific view of Spiritism. This view is so important for our Doctrine. I also enjoy reading Divaldo Franco, Dr. Marlene Nobre and Hermínio Miranda. 

O Consolador: Which spiritist books do you consider essential to those who are starting to learn about Spiritism?  

I would start by reading the “Spiritist’ Book”, “What is Spiritism”, “The Medium’s Book” or “Spiritism in its simple expression” from Allan Kardec. 

O Consolador: If you were to spend a few years somewhere remote, with no access to spiritist activities, which books would you take with you?     

I would take books from Allan Kardec, Chico Xavier, Dr. Hernani Guimarães Andrade, Divaldo Franco and Dr. Marlene Nobre. 

O Consolador: There are very few doctrine deviations within our movement. One of these divergences refers to the so called “Lay Spiritism”. Do you believe Spiritism is a religion?  

In my personal opinion, Spiritism is a religion, but I do not believe we should present it as such, especially in Europe. In Germany, we have in our group a dedicated number of workers who are Muslims, Jews and Greek Orthodox. I also ask them to pray to God in accordance with their religion. We can see through André Luiz’s books that in the spiritual world all religions are respected. We also know that in order to work for a good cause we do not need to be labelled, but have love in our hearts. As we slowly study the Gospel, our hearts will start opening for Jesus. 

O Consolador: Another topic discussed in Spiritism is related to healing. We know the most common used in Brazil is by imposing hands. What is your opinion and which type is more common in Germany?  

I have studied mediumship at the Spiritist Federation of São Paulo (FEESP), which was founded and managed by Commandant Armond for many years. In our group ALKASTAR in Germany we use the standard healing format which was proposed by him. We also use a 5 phase method for the development of psychophony and psychography.  

My father used to teach it and during his mediumship and Spiritism seminars in Germany he introduced this method to the audience, who followed his teachings. Since it’s been well accepted over here, I see no reason to change what has been working so far. 

O Consolador: How is the issue of abortion faced in Germany and what is your opinion about it? Do you think spiritists should be more defensive about life, just like the church does? 

I believe there should be more campaigns in order to bring awareness to the reincarnation process the spirits go through and also to the laws of karma. We need to help the development of this greater awareness, and help all individuals to be more responsible in regards of sex and life. 

O Consolador: Euthanasia is not supported by the Spiritist Doctrine. Kardec and many others like Joanna de Ângelis have given us their opinion on this issue. Therefore, the idea of orthothanasia came up lately, which has been defended by some spiritist’s doctors. What is your opinion about it?    

We know through the work of Kardec and André Luiz that there are no casualties. We are all connected to the law of cause and effect. We have seen through André Luiz how the Divine Providence puts us always at the right place, at the right time, surrounded by the right people and living what is important for our evolutional process. I believe God, not us human beings, has the last word. 

O Consolador: Do you keep in contact with the Brazilian Spiritist Movement? Do you consider it active, or is it lacking a better disclosure of the doctrine?  

I believe the Brazilian Spiritist Movement is very active, although we lack to support the scientific aspect of the Doctrine. Not everyone can be convinced by reaching just their feelings with Spiritism. 

O Consolador: How is the Spiritist Movement in Germany? 

The Spiritist Doctrine started in Germany at the time of Kardec. There were many important names involved with the phenomena of mediumship such as: Prof. Karl Friedrich Zöllner from Leipzig University, Schrenck-Notzing, Du Prel, Oesterreich, Fechner, von Hartmann, Kiesewetter, von Langsdorff, Tischner etc. We should also mention the doctor Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer who was a German physician and astrologist, that discovered what he called magnétisme animal (animal magnetism). He lived before Kardec times and was the predecessor for magnetic healing. The Russian psychical researcher Alexander N. Aksakof is also a reference in Germany, even though he was not born in this country. He was born in Repiofka, Russia, and lived for many years in Germany.  

He founded a German monthly journal in 1874 called Psychische Studien (Psychic Studies), which is an equivalent of the Revue Spirite. Therefore, since Germany was involved in two World Wars, these books disappeared from the market. It is hard to find literature nowadays on these areas, which makes the disclosure of Spiritism more difficult. That is why spiritist groups in Germany find it difficult to propagate the Doctrine which was codified by Allan Kardec.  

I believe that as soon as the books become more available, spiritist movement will get a new push. We can not demand people to get informed about something they can not find able to read. We decided to start a small editor called “Lichttropfen” (Drops of Light) www.lichttropfen-verlag.de in order to translate and edit spiritist books as quick as we can.  

We were able to put some of the books available in the market, with the precious help of some German colleagues. Some of the books available from Allan Kardec are: “Spiritist’ Book”, “What is Spiritism”, “The Medium’s Book” or “Spiritism in its simple expression”, “Genesis”, “Heaven and Hell” and “Trau! - Schau wem!” (Collect of texts from Kardec). We also launched “Jacira and Ronaldo – a case of reincarnation”, from Dr. Hernani Guimarães Andrade. The following books have been translated and will soon be available in Germany: “Reborn for Love” from Dr. Hernani Guimarães Andrade and “The story of Fraternities” from Dr. Martha Gallego Thomaz. 

My husband Dagobert Göbel wrote a book called “Psychisch krank oder nur sensibel?” (Psicologically sick or just sensitive?). This work is based on the Biological Organizer Model from Dr. Hernani Guimarães Andrade, and approaches the scientific aspect of the mediumship phenomena. It also talks about disturbances and instability that mediumship could bring if not well understood.  

The scientific approach of the Doctrine works very well with Germans, as we could prove it with the 1^st German Medical Spiritist Congress (1. Deutscher Kongress für PsychoMedizin), which we organised last October. Dr. Marlene Nobre and other doctors from AME-International presented some very interesting topics at this congress and through it we managed to get a massive interest from German psychiatrics and psychotherapists.  

O Consolador: Can you please tell us more about the Spiritist Movement in Germany? 

As I mentioned earlier, Spiritism started in France with Allan Kardec. It then spread out to other European countries, including Germany, and then was taken to Brazil. The Doctrine’s roots are in Europe. At Kardec’s time, there were one million spiritists here in Germany! 

Spiritism disappeared from Germany due to the Two World Wars. Books came out of the market, and were only found in antique shops for a very expensive price. I believe this also happened in other countries, not only in Germany. It is known that at war times, there is no place for philosophy or even official religions are replaced by disbelief and/or materialism.  

Now it’s time to help Spiritism reborn. We need to show everyone the reality of the Spirit, making information available, talking about spiritual treatments and also making sure people who suffer from spiritual disturbance are aware of the Doctrine. We have in Germany groups of Brazilian colleagues who fight with difficulty to divulge the Doctrine.  In the site of the German Spiritist Union (DSV – Deutscher Spiritistischer Vereinigung) there is a list of all Spiritist groups in Germany: www.spiritismus-dsv.org. 

O Consolador: What is the acceptance regarding Spiritism?  

In Germany we need to start talking about it through the scientific aspect of the Doctrine. The German nation lived through 200 years witch-hunts, Inquisition and two World Wars. They became very materialistic; really disbelieved. A lot of them disconnected from the Protestant and Catholic Church because they were not able to find answers to their questions. Others are afraid of spirits and supernatural phenomena. Therefore, once they are aware of it through the light of science, they get interested in the topic and want to learn more about it. Then they usually open their hearts, become excellent disciplined and dedicated workers.  

O Consolador: We are aware that, most of the times, outside Brazil spiritist groups start with Brazilians. Which language do you use when you host your sessions: Portuguese or German, the official language of the country?  

In our Group, the studies and seminars are all hosted in German since 95% of our workers are Germans and do not understand Portuguese. I know of some groups were most of the workers are Brazilians and the meetings are hosted sometimes in German; other times in Portuguese. The main reason is because Brazilians who just arrived in Germany do not understand German. 

O Consolador: How do you see the level of criminality and violence that seems to increase in Brazil and around the world? How can we, spiritists, help to change this situation?  

Our planet goes through a very difficult trasitional period. It seems like evil overcomes the good. We know this is a temporary situation since the good always stays. We should not feel discouraged. I believe we need to have faith and trust the Spirituality so that through charity and prayers we can help our brothers and make through this painful period.

O Consolador: The preparation for the advent of a world of regeneration in our planet already gave its first steps, as we are aware of. How long will it take for Earth to stop being a world of tests and atonements, and become a world of regeneration where, according to Saint Augustine, the word love will be written everywhere and social relations will be perfectly fair?   

I believe this is a long and complex process since ‘nature does not jump’. If we observe the spiritual levels of evolution in our planet, we can conclude it will take some time to be able to live ‘Peace on Earth and Goodwill To Man’. But what could it be a few centuries in the evolutional history of Earth? We have the eternity ahead of us, thank God!

O Consolador: Due to all problems our society is facing just now, what should be the maximum priority of those who are leading the spiritist movement in the world?  

We need to get unified for a bigger cause – Charity with Jesus Christ. "WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO SALVATION" Theory is important, but to practice is essential. 

O Consolador: Is there anything else you would like to add? 

I don’t believe we have anything else to add. We would like to thank you with all our hearts for the opportunity of giving this interview. This allowed us a change to divulge Spiritism in Germany a bit more.