Conceição Cavalcante (photo) works as a volunteer at GEABL. She is in charge of the Arts Department and also works with the development of mediumship. She is also a public speaker and member of the board of directors of the Spiritist Federation in the Brazilian capital. In this interview she talks about Spiritist arts:

How did you become a Spiritist and what do the Teachings mean to you now?

Spiritism is part of my life since I was a child, when my parents joined the Spiritist Group I am linked to now. I was four when I began coming to the group.  

What is your view on the arts? 

I appreciate all forms of art that reflect timeless beauty and encourage the will to become a better person. That is valid to a child’s drawing as well as a Bach sonata. The arts speak to my heart, my soul, shed light onto my life, drives me away. However, I owe this sensibility to the systematic study of Spiritism. I was encouraged at our Spiritist Group from a very early age to memorise poems and to sing Christian songs. We also acted in plays. With all that, we found valuable means of expanding on the teachings we were learning at the regular Spiritism courses. I believe my interest for the arts come from previous incarnations, as I have never, in this incarnation, spent time studying the arts. 

Is Spiritist art different from “secular” art? 

The art reflects the ideology and beliefs of its creator. It mirrors, in that way, the culture of a particular community in that particular time. I make here reference to a question made to the Spirit, Alfred de Musset, in 1860, which is in the Spiritist Revue. He said, in reference to pagan, Christian and Spiritist art: “The caterpillar is the caterpillar; it becomes a chrysalis and then turns into a butterfly. What could be lighter and more gracious than a butterfly? Well, pagan art is the caterpillar; Christian art is the chrysalis; Spiritist art will be the butterfly”. The Spirit of Vianna de Carvalho also addresses the same question and says that Spirits will see and feel art according to their stage of development. “Art is aimed at materialising the invisible beauty of everything, awakening our sensibility and deepening the sense of contemplation, pushing human beings up towards higher Spirituality”.

What I can say, therefore, is that there is indeed Spiritist art and the expression has been created not by me, but by the Spirits who were part of the group of the Spirit of Truth. What distinguishes secular art from Spiritist art is its author’s commitment to immortal and timeless beauty, to the moral laws that rule human and spiritual life. How can we identify these signs? Through the impact you get from the message: reflection, consolation, enlightening and the hope that make us stronger as Spirits and renew our energies for the trials and tribulations of life on earth. 

Art these days is often a synonym of cultural industry, celebrities, consumerism, multi-million figures. What does Spiritism gain and lose by accepting this model of art and engaging with it? 

The bigger aim of the Spiritual Benefactors is to disseminate Spiritism as the promised consoler and to prove that life goes on in the Spiritual World. To achieve that, they will use all the available means, including industrialised art, with all its possibilities, including audio-visual media. Spiritist producers, must, however, remain faithful to the principles of Spiritism, avoiding diversions dictated by their ego, pride, and selfishness. I would like to quote Vianna de Carvalho once again, when he says that: “The true artist does not expect the immediate applause. He knows that he is working for the future and, bearing that in mind, he trusts his work and expects posterity to consider and value what he has produced. Those who await for immediate response, gratitude and reward are still attached to the pattern of selfishness, hooked to vain pride, which muzzle their true feelings”. 

What is the aim of the arts in Spiritist Centres: to entertain, to adore, to console, to disseminate the Teachings? 

The purpose is the same of the use of art in Spiritual cities: education, entertainment, self-knowledge and therapy. I quote Vianna de Carvalho once again: “The benefits of the arts for people are undeniable, particularly as a form of entertainment and therapy, as not only work is needed to achieve spiritual development, but also rest, meditation and meeting yourself. In those moments, any form of art will help in the process of elevating and liberating thoughts, taking us to pleasant scenarios of happiness, peace and plenitude”.  

Certain Spiritist Centres (in Brazil) reject and forbid any form of art in their premises. What do you make of that? 

I believe that is due to the lack of information or awareness about the true value of the arts in the light of Spiritism, as well as prejudice encouraged by the misuse of the arts inside some Spiritist quarters and elsewhere. For both cases, I recommend that those in charge of Spiritist Centres study what the Teachings reveal in the way of the role played by the arts in the transformation of the planet. Also, we must cultivate beauty, starting by poetry. The first book written in trance by the great medium, Chico Xavier, was a collection of poems, Parnaso do Além-Túmulo. Other Spiritist pioneers, such as Eurípedes Barsanulfo, Leopoldo Machado and Nazareno Tourinho, also used the theatre and poetry as valuable tools to educate the Spirit, promote and disseminate the Christian-Spiritist message. It is clear, thus, that the arts have played and continue do play a crucial role in the dissemination of the Promised Consoler, Spiritism. Let us cultivate the arts in our Spiritist Centres, bearing all that in mind, and I am sure we will bear good fruits in the future.