The Spiritist review — Journal of psychological studies — 1858

Allan Kardec

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Private evocations - a conversion




The following evocation will not be of lower interest, although from a different point of view.

A gentleman, here named Georges, a pharmacist from a southern city, had lost his father some time ago, to whom he was tenderly affectionate and to whom he devoted profound veneration. The late Mr. Georges – the father – added to his higher education, all qualities of a good man, although he embraced materialistic views. With that regard, his son shared the same ideas, if not even beyond those of his father; he doubted everything: God, soul, future life. Spiritism did not adapt to those thoughts. On reading “The Spirits’ Book”, however, he felt a certain reaction, reinforced by a direct conversation we had with him. He would say: “If my father could answer me, I would no longer doubt.” It was then that the following evocation was carried out, in which we encounter numerous lessons.

1. In the name of the All Mighty, spirit of my father, I request that you manifest yourself. Are you by my side?

- Yes.
2. Why don’t you manifest directly to me, considering our mutual love?

- Later.
3. Can we meet one day?

- Yes, soon.
4. Shall we love each other as in this life?

- More.
5. In which condition you find yourself?

- I am happy.
6. Have you reincarnated or are you wandering (errant)?

- Wandering for a short time
7. What was your sensation on leaving the corporeal involucre (wrapping)?
- A perturbation.
8. How long did the perturbation last?

- Ten years for you, ten minutes for me.
9. But it was not long ago that I lost you. Was not that only four months ago?

- If you, as a living being, were in my place, you would have felt that time. 10. Do you now believe in a good and fair God?

- Yes
11. When living on earth did you also believe?

- I had the prior knowledge but did not believe. 12. Is God All Mighty?

- I have not gone up to him to know his power. It is only him who knows the limits of his power as it is only him who is his equal.

13. Is he occupied with men? - Yes.

14. Shall we be punished or rewarded according to our actions? - If you do evil things, you will suffer.

15. If I act in the right way, will I be rewarded? - You will advance in your path.

16. Am I in the right path?
- Do the good things and you will be.
17. I believe I am good but it would be better if I could find you one day, as a reward.

- May this thought sustain you and give you courage. 18. Will my son be good as his grandfather?

- Develop his virtues and eliminate his wickedness.
19. This is so wonderful that it is hard for me to believe that we are communicating now.

- Where does the doubt come from?
20. On sharing your philosophical ideas, I was led to believe that everything can be attributed to matter.
- Do you see at night what you do at daytime?

21. Oh my father! Then am I in the dark? - Yes.

22. What do you see today that is exceedingly marvelous? - Explain yourself better.

23. Have you met my mother, my sister and Ana, the good Ana? - I saw them.

24. Do you see them again whenever you want? - Yes.

25. Is my communication with you painful or enjoyable?
- It is happiness to me if I can lead you to the right path.
26. What can I do to communicate with you, on returning home, given that it gives me real

pleasure? This help would serve to guide me better and help me to educate my children. - Every time something leads you to do the right thing, follow it. I will inspire you.

27. I am quiet now as I am afraid I can bother you. - Speak still if you so wish.

28. Given that you allow, I shall make a few more questions. Which disease killed you? - My trial had come to an end.

29. Where did you acquire the manifested pulmonary disorder? - Never mind. The body is nothing. The spirit is everything.

30. What is the nature of the disease that so often wakes me up at night? - You will know later.

31. I consider my disease serious and wanted to live longer for my children. - It is not. Man’s heart is a life engine. Let nature follow its course.

32. Considering that you are present here, under which form do you show yourself? - The same appearance as my corporeal form.

33. Are you in a determined spot?
- Yes: behind Ermance (the medium).

34. Could you make yourself visible?

- It is not worth it. You would be frightened.
35. Do you have an opinion about each one of us present here?

- Yes.
36. Would you like to say something to each one of us?

- In which sense do you ask me this? 37. From the moral point of view.

- Another time. Let us call it a day.

The effect that this communication had on Mr. Georges was immense and an entirely new light seemed to clarify his ideas. In a session, which he attended the next day, in the home of Mrs. Roger, a somnambulist, he ended up eliminating the few doubts he would still have. Here is a summary of the letter he sent us:

“That lady spontaneously shared with me such precise details about my father, my mother, my children and my health; she described all circumstances of my life with such accuracy, even reminding me about facts that I had long forgotten; in one word, gave me patent proof of this marvelous faculty which the lucid somnambulists have that, since then, I had undergone a complete change of ideas. In the evocation, my father had revealed his presence. In the session of somnambulism I was, so to speak, the visual witness of the extra corporeal life, the life of the soul.”

In order to describe, with such details, two hundred leagues away, something that only I knew, it was necessary to be able to physically see. Well, as it was not possible with the eyes of the body, there was then a mysterious link, invisible, connecting the somnambulist to the absent people who she had never met! There was, thus, something outside matter. What could that be other than what is called soul, the intelligent being to which the body is only an involucre, but whose action goes much beyond our sphere of activities? Currently Mr. Georges not only is no longer materialist but he is also one of the strongest and most dedicated adepts of Spiritism, what makes him doubly happy by the confidence he now has in the future and by the pleasure he experiments with the practice of good. This evocation, very simple in the beginning, is not less notable from several aspects. The character of the old Mr. Georges reflects well in his brief and sentenced answers, according to his habits. He was a man of few words. Never spoke a useless word. But it was no longer the skeptical speaking. He acknowledges his error; his spirit is freer, more clairvoyant, and portrays the unity and power of God by these admirable words: “Only he is his equal”. He, who in his life, used to attribute everything to matter, now says: “The body is nothing. The spirit is everything.” And another sublime phrase: “Do you see at night what you do at daytime?”

To the diligent observer everything has an extension and this is how, step by step, he finds confirmation of the immense truths taught by the spirits.

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