The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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Affection of Spirits for Certain Individuals

484. Do spirits affectionately prefer certain individuals?
“Good spirits sympathize with all good men and women, or those who are capable of betterment. Lower order spirits sympathize with those who are bad, or who may become such. In either case, the bond is a consequence of the similarity of thoughts and ideas.”


485. Is the affection of specifc spirits for specifc individuals exclusively of a moral nature?
“True affection has nothing to do with the material world. When a spirit attaches to a living person, it is not always through affection because it may also be a recollection of human passions.”


486. Do spirits take an interest in our bad luck and prosperity? When we encounter troubles in life, do the spirits who wish us well mourn for us?
“Good spirits do all the good they can, and celebrate all your joys with you. They mourn your problems when you do not bear them with resignation, because that problem produces no benefcial result. You are like sick people who refuse to take the bad tasting medication that would cure them.”


487. What kind of troubles cause the most grief to spirits? Is it our physical suffering or our moral faws?
“Your selfshness and callousness, because these are the roots of all your troubles. They laugh at the imaginary sorrows stemming from pride and ambition, and celebrate those that will shorten your trial.”


The spirits know that physical life is only feeting and that its tribulations are the means to enable us to reach a happier state. The moral faws that hold us back sadden them more than our short-lived physical troubles.


Spirits attach as little importance to our physical problems as we do to the insignifcant sorrows of childhood. Seeing the burdens of life as the means of our advancement, they regard them only as a feeting calamity that will restore the sick to health eventually. They mourn our suffering, as we are saddened by that of a friend, but appreciate them differently from their higher perspective. While inferior spirits try to drive us to anguish to hamper our development, good spirits try to inspire us with the bravery needed to transform our trials into something benefcial for our future.


488. Do the friends and family who have passed on before us have more sympathy for us than spirits who are strangers to us?
“Of course, and they often protect you as spirits, depending on their power.”


a) Are they sensitive to the affection we maintain for them?
“Very sensitive, but they forget those who forget them.”

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