Questions
A. What is the so called “second sight”?
B. What is the role of the perispirit in the second sight phenomena?
C. Since the spiritual sight does not operate through our physical eyes, is there light in the spiritual dimension?
Reading Text
928. It seems that at the time of Jesus, in Judea, there was a great number of obsessed and possessed, hence the opportunity He had to cure many of them. No doubt, the evil Spirits had invaded that country and caused an epidemic of possessions. However, individual obsessions, showing no epidemic character, are extremely common and can be seen under various aspects. But, if we have a thorough knowledge of the Spiritist Doctrine, we can easily detect these cases. They can often harm us regarding our health, worsening the existing diseases, or even causing them.
929. By disclosing what causes this evil, Spiritism offers the possibility of healing it and provides Science with the means to reach a cure when the efforts to do so fail on the ground that they are not capable of meeting the primary cause of evil.
930. The Pharisees said that Jesus cast demons when under their influence. According to them, the good that Jesus did was work of Satan. They did not think that if Satan cast out himself, he would be foolish. Note that, at that time, the Pharisees already claimed that all transcendental gift and, therefore, considered supernatural, was the work of the devil, because, in their opinion, Jesus received His power from the devil.
931. Resurrections - Having Jesus returned by boat to the other side, as soon as He landed, a great crowd surrounded Him. Then, Jairus, a synagogue leader, approached Him, fell down on his knees and pleaded earnestly: “I have a daughter and she is dying, thus come and do the laying on of the hands to cure and save her life”. Jesus went with him, and was accompanied by a great crowd, pressing around Him. When Jairus was still speaking, people, who worked for him, said, “Your daughter is dead, so why should you bother the Master and make Him go any further?” But Jesus hearing this, said to the head of the synagogue, “Do not grieve, just have faith”. And He allowed nobody to follow Him, except for Peter, James and his brother John.
932. Arriving at the synagogue leader’s house, he saw a crowd who cried and shouted. Entering, He said “Why are you making such a fuss and why are you crying? The girl is only sleeping”. They mocked Him. But Jesus made everybody leave the house, called the girl’s father and mother and the ones who had accompanied Him and went to where the girl was lying. He held her hand and said: “Talitha cumi”, which means “My child, get up, I order you to do so”. And immediately the girl got up and began to walk, as she was twelve years old already, and they were all amazed and astonished. (Mark, Chapter V, vv. 21 to 43).
933. Son of the widow of Nain - The next day, Jesus went to a city called Nain, accompanied by His disciples and a large crowd. When He approached the city gate, a funeral passed and it was of a young boy, his mother’s only son, and she was a widow too.
934. He pitied her and said: “Don’t cry”. Then, approaching the coffin, He touched it and those who were carrying it, stopped. Then Jesus said: “Young man, get up, I order you to do so”. The boy sat up at once and started to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. All those who were present were astonished and glorified God, saying “A great prophet is among us and God has visited His people (Luke, Chapter VII, vv. 11 to 17).
935. It would be contrary to the laws of nature and therefore miraculous, the fact of someone returning to life when already considered really dead. There is no need to resort to this order of facts to have an explanation of the resurrections operated by Jesus. If even today sometimes the medical professionals are deceived by looks, how frequently could this happen at that time and in a country where no precautions were taken and burial was immediate.
936. It is therefore likely that in both cases most probably a syncope or lethargy occurred. Jesus himself states with respect to Jairus' daughter: “This girl is not dead, she is just asleep”. Considering the fluidic power He possessed, there is nothing surprising in this life-giving fluid, driven by His strong will, reviving the girl’s senses, or even bringing back to her body the Spirit that was leaving it, since the perispiritic tie had not yet broken definitely. At that time, people considered someone dead if they had stopped breathing, and so these cases were considered resurrections.
937. The Resurrection of Lazarus in any way invalidates this principle. They say he was in the tomb for four days. We know that there are lethargies that last eight days and even more. They also say that he smelled bad, which is a sign of decomposition. This argument also proves nothing, since in certain individuals there is partial decomposition of the body, even before death occurs, and, therefore, there is a very bad smell. Death only happens when the essential organs of our body are destroyed. And who could say that Lazarus already smelt bad? It was his sister Mary who said it. But how did she know? Because, being Lazzarus buried for four days, she supposed he would smell bad, but she was not sure of it.
938. Jesus walks on water - Jesus made His disciples take a boat and pass to the other side before Him. He stood behind to say goodbye to the people. After having done this, He went up a hill to pray and, when night came, He found himself alone in that place. Meanwhile, the boat was heavily beaten by the waves, due to contrary wind. But in the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
939. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were astonished and said, “It is a ghost!” and they began to scream in fear. Then Jesus spoke to them saying, “Calm down, it is me, do not be afraid”. Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to go to you, walking on water”. Jesus said, “Come”. Peter stepped down from the boat, walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But then came a great wind, and he was afraid, and as he began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me”. Then, Jesus stretched out His hand and said, “You are a man of little faith! Why did you doubt?” And when He climbed into the boat, the wind stopped. Then, those who were in the boat came to Him and worshiped Him, saying: “You are, indeed, the son of God”. (Matthew, Chapter XIV, vv 22 to 33).
940. This phenomenon has its natural explanation based on the principles set in the Chapter XIV, no. 43, of this work. Similar Examples prove that there is nothing impossible or miraculous, because it occurs due to the action of nature's laws.
941. It can operate in two ways. Jesus, though He was alive, He could have appeared on the water with a tangible form, although His body was not really there. This is the most probable hypothesis. It is easy to find in this narrative some characteristic signs of tangible appearances. On the other hand, it may also have happened that His body was sustained and His gravity neutralized due to the same fluidic force that maintains a table in space without a point of support. A similar effect occurs often with human bodies.
Answers to the proposed questions
A. What is the so called “second sight”?
Second sight, or spiritual sight, is a psychic sight with which many people are gifted, although the majority would not like to have this gift. Using their second sight they can see the disembodied Spirits. The second sight is usually called clairvoyance. (Genesis, Chapter XIV, item 22).
B. What is the role of the perispirit in the second sight phenomena?
It is of undeniable importance. It is a connecting link between the bodily life and the spiritual life, and the second sight has its origin in the properties and irradiation of the perispirit. With the second sight or psychic sense, the person in question does not see with the eyes of the body, but instead sees with the eyes of the soul and the proof of this is that the person can see perfectly well even with the eyes closed and it can see much further and much more than by using the normal sight. (Genesis, Chapter XIV, items 22 and 23).
C. Since the spiritual sight does not operate through our physical eyes, is there light in the spiritual dimension?
Yes. Material light is made for the material world. In the same manner, for the Spiritual world there is a special light, the nature of which is unknown to us, but which is, no doubt, one of the properties of the ethereal fluid, suitable to the visual perceptions of the soul.
So there is a material light and a spiritual light. The first originates and is limited to luminous bodies. The second is focused everywhere. This is why there is no obstacle for the spiritual vision, which is not embarrassed either by distance or by the opacity of matter, and for it there is no darkness. The spiritual world is thus illuminated by the spiritual light, which has its own effects, in the same way the material world is illuminated by sunlight. (Genesis, Chapter XIV, items 24 and 25).
