Spiritual obsession, cause of the great human anguishes

To secure ourselves against its influences one must strengthen faith through mental renewal and through the practice of good within the framework of evangelical codes

Dear Colleagues, once in a while we are asked why living on Earth is so complicated and life is so often bitter? I answer by saying that this sensation can eventually be an aspiration to happiness and freedom and that, as we are handcuffed to a physical wrapping which serves us as a prison, we apply useless effort to get out of it.  However, some fall into discouragement, and reverberate their lamentations all the time. However, we need to resist energetically despondency and sensations of despair, because the dreams of happiness of living are intrinsic to all men, though we must not eagerly look for them only in the material and the transitory experience of earthly life.

Commenting on melancholy, we find the Spirit François de Geneve dictating the following passage in the book The Gospel according to Spiritism:

Remember, during your exile here on Earth, you have a mission to fulfil that you do not even suspect; be it dedicating yourself to your family or fulfilling the various obligations bestowed upon you by God. If within the course of this exiled probation, while seeking exoneration, you feel about to collapse through anxiety, uneasiness, or tribulations, be strong and courageous enough to support these pressures. Stand up to them with resolution for they will soon pass. These are the only means by which you may reach those for whom you pine and who, jubilant at seeing you once again amongst them, will hold out their hands towards you so as to guide you to regions inaccessible to earthly afflictions. FRANÇOIS DE GENEVE (Bordeaux).*

There are, however, many disappointments which can have their origins in the infidelity to Christian commitments, hence melancholy is installed in the being, which can result in an obsessive process. Etymologically speaking, the term obsession has its origin in the word obsessione, a Latin word meaning impertinence, persecution. For some studious spiritist people, obsession is perceived as a great worldwide scourge. This view is of utmost gravity in society, which is nowadays well advanced technologically, be it in the fields of communication and computing, or be it in other areas of knowledge, broadening and deepening the responsibilities of each one of us before collective life.  

Obsession is a maleficent influence upon the mind 

The Portuguese language Dictionary “Aurélio Buarque” defines obsession as being a preoccupation with a determined fixed idea, which dominates the spirit in a sickly manner, resulting or not from repressed feelings; fixed idea; mania. In the same way the term “obsession” is used in a vulgar way, to mean a fixed idea on something, a nervous tic, a generator of manias, strange attitudes, and so on.  However, according to the spiritist point of view, the term has a broader meaning and interpretation. It is embodied in a maleficent influence relatively persistent which discarnated and/or incarnated, as much as or less spiritually developed than ourselves, can exercise on our mental life.

For the classical school of psychiatry, obsession is a thought, or a persistent or recurrent impulse which is unwelcome and distressing and which comes involuntarily to the mind, despite an attempt to ignore it or repress it. Psychiatrists who do not admit anything beyond matter cannot understand a hidden (spiritual) cause, but when the scientific community moves beyond its materialistic view, it will recognise in the action of the invisible world that surrounds us and in the environment in which we live, a force that acts upon physical stuff as well as upon moral things.  This will be a new open way to progress and the key of a multitude of badly understood phenomena of the human psychism.

Obviously the possibility of a psychosomatic anomaly is not discarded, but the Spiritist Doctrine allows us to acknowledge other sources of human misery, maintained through the moral frailty of the beings.

We recognise that the use of anti-depressive chemicals establishes a chemical harmony of the brain, improving the patient’s mood, however, they simply act on the effects, as these medicines do not cure obsession in its intrinsic causes, only re-establish the transit of neuronal messages, correcting the neuro-chemical functioning of the central nervous system. Socrates already affirmed way back that “if doctors are unsuccessful in treating most diseases, it is because they treat only the body without treating the soul”.

By insincerity, in our tenuous effort for inner moral reform, we prevent balanced and balancing relationships with others and with ourselves. Our entire disharmony leads to the development of vicious tuning in with other sick minds, be it discarnated or incarnated, which greatly sharpens our own inner disarrangement.

In the intimacy of the home, of the family, of the Spiritist Centre or of the work environment, bitter adversaries from the past get to meet up. Invited to readjustment by the Benefactors from Beyond, they are rarely able to overcome the aversion which they feel for each other, and feed this aversion again with passion in the inner essence of themselves and the toxic rays of aversion which, when concentrated, become magnetic sharp darts, susceptible to provoke illnesses and death itself.

Spiritual obsession is tuning in or exchange of similar vibes. Kardec defines obsession as a persistent action that a morally inferior Spirit exerts on an individual, presenting varied characteristics which go from a simple moral influence, without perceptible exterior signs, up to complete perturbation of the organism and of mental faculties. Obsession is the encounter of inferior forces portraying each other.  

The multiple facets of obsession 

There are cases of obsessions bursting out throughout everywhere and in all levels, be it discarnated upon incarnated or vice-versa; incarnated upon incarnated, as well as discarnated upon discarnated.

Our mental world rules the life which is peculiar to us in all its dimensions; however we find ourselves still at the beginning of understanding the implications of mental force, of the meaning and coverage of the mental formations in life. The obsessors¹ are skillfull and intelligent, perfect strategists who plan every step and have been following their prey for some time, observing their tendencies, their relationships and their ideals. They identify their prey’s vulnerable points (which are almost always to do with misguided sexual choices)

Thought is exteriorised and is projected, forming images and suggestions which are hurled into the objectives that one proposes to reach. When thought is good and edifying, it is adjusted to the Laws which rule us, creating harmony and happiness; however, when unbalanced and depressing, it establishes anguish and ruin. Mental chemistry acts as a basis of all transformations because we really evolve in deep telepathic communion with all those incarnated and discarnated who are similar to us.

Our mental universe is like a sky, but beneficial sunbeams and rain fall from the heavens towards planetary life, as well as, during the instant of friction between atmospheric elements and from the same sky, destructive electrical arcs. From it, balancing and restorative forces are originated for the trillions of cells of the physical body, but, when perturbed, it emits magnetic rays of highly destructive content towards our psychic structure.

In question 466 of “The Spirits’ Book”, the master from Lyon asked the Spirits “why does God permit spirits to incite us to evil?” Their answer was: "Imperfect spirits are used by Providence as instruments for trying men's faith and constancy in well-doing. You, being a spirit, must advance in the knowledge of the infinite. It is for this end that you are made to pass through the trials of evil in order to attain to goodness. Our mission is to lead you into the right road. When you are acted upon by evil influences, it is because you attract evil spirits to you by your evil desires, for evil spirits always come to aid you in doing the evil you desire to do; they can only help you to do wrong when you give way to evil desires. If you are inclined to commit murder, you will have about you a swarm of spirits who will keep this inclination alive in you; but you will also have others about you who will try to influence you for good, which restores the balance, and leaves you of your decision." 

Moral renewal as a basis for spiritual disobsession² 

The venerable Codifier, in The Mediums’ Book, affirms that moral imperfections give access to obsessors and the safest environment to get rid of them is to attract good Spirits through the practice of good. Obsession is impotent in face of redeemed Spirits! And what is a redeemed Spirit? It is one who recognises its limitations and, as announced by Apostle Paul, feels happiness in knowing itself to be “enrolled in the school of good”

This psycho-spiritual disarrangement should be eliminated from society in the instant that the legitimate example of love is experienced and disseminated in all directions, according to what Jesus consolidated and experienced up to the bitterness of his death, continuing from apostolic times until today.

Spiritism, unveiling the intervention of the Spirits hardened in evil in our lives, casts light on questions still ignored by materialistic sciences as a cause of psychopathology.

Many times Christ was sought out by obsessed people and he penetrated the causes of their restlessness and, using of his moral authority, freed both, obsessed and obsessors, allowing them to awaken to an exciting life towards recuperation and the pacification of the conscience. However, it is very important to remember that Jesus did not free the obsessed without imposing upon them the non-transferable need for inner reform, nor did he drive out the unconscious pursuers without giving them the address of God. 

Conclusion 

In synthesis, we always identify in spiritual obsession the result of a lack of vigilance and moral deviations. In order to guard us against its influence we should strengthen faith through mental renovation and through the practice of good within the evangelical codes proposed by Jesus Christ, not forgetting the divine advice of Watch and Pray.

Sources:  

Kardec, Allan. The Gospel according to Spiritism Rio de Janeiro: published by FEB, 2001, Chapter 5, item 25

Electronic Aurélio Dictionary; 21^st century. Rio de Janeiro, Nova Fronteira e Lexicon Computer, 1999, CD-rom, 3.0 version.

Xavier, Francisco Cândido. In the domains of mediumship, Rio de Janeiro: FEB edition, 2001, Chapter: Telepathic Domination

Kardec, Allan.The Spirits’ Book, 2003, question 466

Kardec, Allan. The Mediums’ Book, Rio de Janeiro: published by FEB, 1987- (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; LuKe 21:36 e  Peter 5:8).

Revue Spirite, February, March and June 1864. The obsessed young woman from Marmande.

Kardec, Alan. What is Spiritism, Chapter 2, The pitfalls of mediums, Rio de Janeiro: published by FEB, 2003

Kardec, Allan. The Gospel according to Spiritism, Summary of the doctrine of Socrates and Plato, item 19, Rio de Janeiro: FEB edition, 2001.

*Transcript from Allan Kardec’s book The Gospel according to Spiritism – English translation from 3^rd edition of the original French, translator Janet Duncan, 1987

¹Translator’s note: Obsessor: a perturbed and lost spirit attached to a person, thus, causing a maleficent impression on his victim. Hence its victim denomination - obsessed person.

²*Translator’s note: Disobsession (Deobsession): “In Spiritism, it is the practice whereby mediums receive lost and perturbed spirits and whereby another member of the spiritist centre talks to the spirit and evangelizes or “indoctrinates” it. These lost and perturbing spirists are not necessarily linked to the specific victims, and the people who have spirit attached to them do not need to be present at the disobsession meeting. (Non-Spiritists may refer to disobsession as “exorcism” which is a word rejected by Spiritists because of its implication, that is, it implies demons or other non-human spirits)(David J. Hess – “Spirits and Scientists – Ideology, Spiritism and Brazilian Culture”, 1991)” - (Extract from book “Obsession, Passes, Counselling” by Herculano Pires – translation by Jussara Korngold and Marie Levinson –SAB, 2004, New York)