Spiritist Teachings and Dissertations Moral Influence of
the Mediums in the
Communications
(Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, medium Mr. D’Ambel)
We have already said that the mediums, as mediums, have only a secondary
influence in the communications of the spirits; that their
role is like that of the telegraph that dispatches messages between distant
points of Earth. Thus, when we want to dictate a communication we act
upon the medium as the telegraph typist does onto the device, that is, like
the clicks of the telegraph draw meaningful characters on a piece of paper
thousands of miles away, we also communicate through incommensurable
distances that separate the visible from the invisible world, the incarnate
from the immaterial world, transmitting all that we want to teach
you through the mediumistic instrument. However, like the atmospheric
conditions influence the quality of the telegraph transmission, the moral
influence of the medium acts and sometimes disturbs the transmission of our messages from beyond the grave, since we are forced to pass them
through a filter that is contrary to its own nature. In most cases though,
that influence can be nullified by our energy and our determination thus
avoiding the manifestation of a negative action. In fact, essays of elevated
philosophical reach and communications of perfect moral content are
sometimes transmitted through mediums that are not suitable for such
superior teachings; while, on the other hand, less constructive messages
also arrive through mediums who feel ashamed for having served as their
intermediary. As a general thesis one can say that similar spirits attract
similar spirits and that only rarely spirits of elevated spheres communicate
through bad filters when they have at their disposal good instruments, in
a word, good mediums.
Thus the lighthearted and less serious mediums attract spirits of the
same kind. That is why their communications are marked by banal and
frivolous things, ideas without proper coordination and sometimes very
unorthodox from a spiritist point of view. At times, they may say good
things, and they do, but it is exactly in this case that a very severe and
scrupulous exam is required because certain hypocritical spirits can skillfully
permeate controversy and lies as to mislead the good faith of the
audience. One must then suppress every mistaken word or phrase and
only retain from the dictation what is accepted by logic or something that
has been already taught by the Doctrine. Communications of this nature
should not be feared more by the isolated spiritists or recent and unenlightened
groups than in sessions where the followers are more advanced
and have gained more experience; regardless of how much the crow covers
itself with the feathers of a peacock it will always be mercilessly unmasked.
I shall not speak about those who enjoy and ask for obscene communications.
Let them be satisfied by the presence of cynical spirits.
As a matter of fact, communications of such a nature seek solitude and
isolation on their own. In any case they can only provoke disdain and
embarrassment amidst serious philosophical groups. But the moral influence
is really felt when the medium replaces the ideas that the spirits
struggle to transmit; when the medium extracts fantastic theories from
their own imagination, in good faith believing that the communications
were transmitted via their intuitive skills. There is a thousand in one
chance that in such case, it is a reflex of the medium’s own mind. There
is even the curious fact that the medium’s hand sometimes moves almost
mechanically, as if being driven by a secondary or inferior spirit. It is
against this critical test that the young and excited imagination crashes,
carried away by the enthusiasm of their own ideas, decorated by their
own personal knowledge, thus ignoring the simple thoughts of an elevated
spirit, exchanging the prey for its shadow and replacing the message
by an exaggerated paraphrase.
It is also against this formidable obstacle that ambitious personalities
crash, and thus in the absence of communications refused by the good
spirits they present their own work as if produced by the spirits. That
is why the leaders of the spiritist centers must have an accurate perception
and a rare sagacity to differentiate between authentic communications
and those which are not, and yet not hurting people who deceive
themselves. When in doubt, leave it out (more is less), says one of your old
proverbs; therefore, you must admit but only what is a certainty to you.
Whenever there is a new point of view you must test it against the crucible
of logic and reason. Anything that is rejected by reason and common
sense must be firmly declined. It is better to reject ten truths than to
accept a single lie, a single false theory. In reality a whole system could
be built on top of a false theory and that would ruin before the first breath
of truth, like a monument built on quick sand, whilst if some truths are
rejected today because they don’t seem to have been demonstrated clearly
and logically to you, soon an overwhelming fact or irrefutable demonstration
will come to attest their truthfulness. Yet, spiritists, remember that
there is nothing impossible to God and to the good spirits but injustice
and iniquity.
Spiritism is now sufficiently spread among humanity and has moralized
sufficiently the devout followers of its sacred doctrine so that the spirits
are no longer forced to utilize bad tools, imperfect mediums. Nowadays
if any given medium gives reason for suspicion by conduct or habits, out of pride or lack of love and charity, repudiate their communications for
there is a snake hidden in the grass. That is my conclusion about the
moral influence of the mediums.
Erastus
Apport and other
Tangible Phenomena
(Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, medium Mr. D’Ambel)
In order to obtain phenomena of this kind it is necessary to have mediums
that I will call sensitive, that is, endowed with the highest degree of
mediumistic faculties of expansion and penetrability because their easily
excitable nervous system allows them to abundantly project their animalized
fluid around them through certain vibrations.
Highly impressionable natures, where nerves vibrate before a minor
feeling, before a slight sensation, and are sensitive to moral or physical
influences, internal or external, these individuals are prone to become
excellent mediums of physical effects of tangibility and transportation.
In fact, their nervous system almost entirely devoid from a refractory envelope,
which isolates this system in the vast majority, for them, provides
for the development of this phenomenon. Hence, the phenomena of tangibility
is more easily obtained through a person with such structure and
whose other traits are not hostile to mediumization; these are knocks on walls and furniture, intelligent motions and even lifting of heavy and
inert matter in the air. With even more certainty, these results would be
obtained if instead of one medium, we have on hand several equally endowed
mediums.
However, there is a significant difference between tangible phenomena
and apports; the work carried out by the spirit in this case is not
only more difficult and complex but also there is the need to operate with
a single medium since several mediums cannot simultaneously contribute
to the production of the same phenomenon. On the contrary, it may happen
that the presence of certain individuals who are not sympathetic to
the spirit may radically hinder the work. That is why, as you see, apports
also requires greater concentration, and also the diffusion of certain fluids
that can only be obtained with the help of the most gifted mediums
who, in a word, have the best equipped electrical-mediumistic sensitivities.
Generally speaking the cases involved with the apport phenomena are
and will continue to be very rare. Needless to say, that these are and will
always be less frequent than other phenomena of tangibility; of which you
yourself, can infer why. Moreover, these phenomena are of such a specific
nature, that not only are special mediums required but also not every
spirit can produce them. There must be certain influence that exists between
the affinity between the spirit and the medium, a certain analogy,
certain similarity that allows the expansive part of the perispiritic fluid
of the medium * to mix, unite and combine with that of the spirit who
wishes to perform an apport. This fusion must be such that the resulting
force becomes, that is to say, of the same unique clarity as in a furnace
where the electrical current acts upon the coal.
You will then ask why this union, this fusion is necessary? For the
production of this phenomenon it is necessary that the essential properties
of the driving force of the spirit must be augmented by some of those
mediumized; that is the vital fluid, indispensable for the production of
all mediumistic phenomena, is an exclusive attribute of the incarnate and
thus, the acting spirit is forced to absorb it. It is only then that the spirit
can isolate, make invisible and move certain objects and even bodies, using
certain properties of your environment which are unknown to you.
For now, I am not allowed to reveal those specific laws that govern
the gases and fluids that surround you. In a few years though before one
generation has passed, these laws and the explanations of these phenomena
will be revealed to you and a new variety of mediums will appear,
falling on a cataleptic state when in trance. Now you see the difficulties
around the production of an apport. Hence, the logical conclusion is that
these are extremely rare occurrences and all the more reason, that spirits
are even less likely to be involved with them since there is the requirement
on their part for an almost all materialistic effort and that is tedious and
a nuisance to them. On another hand, it may also happen that despite
their energy and good will, the state of a medium itself may impose them,
creating an impassable barrier.
It then becomes obvious by your own reasoning, I have no doubt, that
the cases of raps, movement and levitation are simple phenomena that occur
by the concentration and expansion of certain fluids, and that they
can be provoked and obtained at will and by the work of mediums who
have those abilities, when assisted by good and benevolent spirits; whereas
the phenomena of apport is complex, demanding special circumstances
and cannot occur by the simultaneous action of several spirits, is carried
out by one medium only and require, in addition to the needs of tangibility,
a very particular combination of fluids in order to isolate and render
the apported object(s) invisible.
All of you spiritists, you must understand my explanations and be
aware of the need for that concentration of special fluids for the mobility
and tangibility of inert matter. Believe in that as you believe in the phenomena of electricity and magnetism with which mediumship has a
lot in common, and in a certain way its consecration and development.
As for the disbelievers, I have better things to do instead of trying to
convince them and I have no time for that. One day they will believe by
the sheer force of things, since it is necessary that they acknowledge the
unanimous testimony of spiritist facts, as they were forced to do before so
many other previously rejected phenomena.
To summarize: if the cases of tangibility are frequent those of apport
are comparatively very rare because the required conditions are difficult
and not a single medium can say: ‘at such time, at any given moment, I
will produce an apport’, because often even the spirit is prevented from
doing it. I must add that such phenomena are twice as more difficult in
public because we almost always encounter the presence of energetically
refractory elements that paralyze the efforts of the spirit and even more so
the action of the medium.
On the contrary, rest assured that in the majority of the cases these
phenomena are spontaneously produced, by default without the medium’s
awareness and without premeditation, almost always in private, and finally,
very rarely when the mediums are aware. From all the above you
must conclude that there is a legitimate reason for suspicion whenever a
given medium boasts about being able to produce them at will, that is,
being able to command the spirits as if they were anyone’s servants, which
is simply absurd. You must also consider as a general rule that the spiritist
phenomena are not events for exhibitions in spectacles and for the entertainment
of curiosity. There could be some spirits that lend themselves to
that type of activity, but then it is for the production of simple phenomena
and not those like apports which require special conditions.
Remember, spiritists, that if it is absurd to systematically reject all
phenomena from beyond the grave, it is not wise to blindly accept all of
them either. When phenomenon of tangibility, apparition, visibility or
apport manifests itself spontaneously and instantaneously, accept it; but
I strongly repeat, do not accept anything blindly. Every fact must undergo
a scrutiny, thorough and severe.. Believe me that Spiritism, so rich
in sublime and grand phenomena, has nothing to gain with these insignificant
manifestations that can be imitated by skillful conjurers. I know
what you are going to say: the phenomena are useful to convince the disbelievers.
However, know this, that if you were not given other means of
persuading them, you would not have even a fraction of the spiritists that
you can count today. Speak to their hearts. That is how you are going to
attain serious conviction. If you find it useful to convince certain people
by material phenomena, at least have them presented in such a way that
they may not give rise to false interpretations, and especially, do not move
away from the normal conditions of these facts because when they are
presented inappropriately they offer arguments to the disbelievers instead
of convincing them.
Erastus
______________________________________
* It is clear that when there is a lack of terms to express a new idea the spirits know perfectly
well how to create neologisms. The words electro-dynamic and perispiritic are not ours.
Those who criticized us for the creation of words like spiritist, Spiritism and perispirit may
do the same to the spirits.
About Animal Mediums
(Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, medium Mr. D’Ambel)
Today I want to discuss the subject of mediumship among animals,
brought up and supported by one of your most devout members.
Based on the maxim the one that can do the most can do the least, he believes
that we can pass mediumship to birds and other animals, using
them in our communications with humans. This is what in Philosophy,
or better said, in Logic, you simply call sophism.
He has said: “We know already, you can animate the inert matter, such
as a table, a chair, a piano; more so, you should then be able to animalize
matter that is already animated, especially in birds.” Well, according to the
principles of Spiritism this does not exist.
To begin with let us be clear about the facts. What is a medium? It is
an individual who serves as the intermediary to the spirits so that they can
easily communicate with people; incarnated spirits. Therefore, without
the medium there is no tangible, mental, written, physical or any other
type of communication. There is a principle that I am sure is accepted by
every spiritist: those who are similar act with their peers and as their peers act. Well then, who are the peers of the spirits if not the spirits themselves,
incarnated or not? Do we need to repeat it again? I will tell you once more:
Your perispirit and ours are both extracted from the same environment;
they have an identical nature. In one word they are similar. Both have the
property of assimilation and magnetization more or less developed which
enable us, disincarnate and incarnate, to promptly communicate with one
another. Finally, there is something that is truly part of the medium, a
special affinity, the very essence of the medium, and that at the same
time is a power of expansion that removes any deflection from occurring,
establishing something similar to an electric current between the medium
and us; like a fusion which facilitates our communications. In fact it is
exactly this deviated property of matter that opposes the development of
mediumship in most people who are not mediums. It is this same rejection
of property that one must attribute the fact that certain individuals
who are not mediums may develop mediumship by the mere contact with
novice or somewhat passive mediums, that is to say, if they are lacking
some mediumistic skills.
People are always willing to exaggerate everything. Some – I am not
talking about the materialists – refuse to believe that animals even have
a soul and others want to give animals a soul similar to ours. Why would
they want to confuse the perfectible with the non-perfectible? No, no.
Rest assured that the fire that animates animals, the breath that gives
them life, that makes them move and communicate through their own
language, has at present, no ability to blend, to unite, to merge with the
divine breath, the ethereal soul, in a word, the spirit, that animates the
essentially perfectible being, the human being, the king of creation. Now,
isn’t this character of perfectibility exactly what marks the superiority of
the human race above other Earthly species? Well Then! You must acknowledge
that it is not possible to attribute to any other living species on
Earth the inherent perfectibility of human beings.
Take the dog whose superior intelligence has made him a friend and
companion of humans; is the dog perfect by itself through its own personal
initiative? Nobody would accept that since dogs do not enable other
dogs to advance and the best trained dog is always trained by its human
trainer. The otter has always built its home on the water following
the same proportions and an unchanged rule since the world began. The
nightingales and the swallows have never built their nests differently from
their parents. A nest of a sparrow from before the floods is the same as
the one built in modern day, built in the same way and using the same
system of intertwining straws and debris of vegetation collected during
the spring, the season of love. The bees and ants in their little domestic republics
have never changed their habits of catering and provisioning, both
in their attitudes, customs and ways of production. Finally, the spider has
always weaved its web in the same way.
On another hand, if you are searching for the tents and huts built
with barks and leaves from human’s earlier times on Earth, you will find
castles and palaces of modern civilization in their places. Fine fabrics of
gold and silk replaced the outfits made of brute animal skin. You can find
proof of the advancement of human society in every step of the way.
There is a constant, invincible, undeniable progress of the human race
and an indefinite standstill of other animal species, therefore you will
acknowledge that while there are common principles uniting every living
creature on Earth, the breath of life and matter, it is not less true that only
you, the incarnate spirits are subjected to that unavoidable law of progress
that always and relentlessly pushes you forward. God placed the animals
by your side to feed you, dress and accompany you. They were given a
certain level of intelligence because they must understand you in order
to help you, and their intelligence is limited to the type of service they
are expected to do. God in His wisdom did not want them to follow the
same law of progress. They shall remain as they are until the extinction
of their species.
It has been said: the spirits act upon inert matter and make chairs,
tables and pianos move. They make them move, that is correct, but the
spirits don’t turn them into mediums! That is for the very reason again,
that none of those effects could have been produced without mediums.
What is so extraordinary is the fact that we give motion to the inert and passive matter, when it is that very passivity that is adequate for us to
determine the impulses and motions that we wish to give it? We need
mediums for that, it is true. But there is no need to have them present or
conscious since we can act with the elements provided by the medium,
by default and even in their absence, particularly in cases of tangibility
and apports. Our fluidic envelope, more imponderable and subtle than
the most imponderable and subtlest of your gases, mixing and combining
with the heavier and more animalized envelope of the medium, whose
properties of expansion and penetrability are not detected by your material
senses, nearly inexplicable to you, enables us to move furniture and
even break it in empty rooms.
The spirits can certainly become visible and tangible to animals,
often taken by surprise by a fear that doesn’t make sense to you and
that can be caused by the sight of one or several bad spirits who appear
unfriendly towards the individuals present or the animal’s owner. Very
often you will find horses that don’t want to move, stalling before an
imaginary obstacle. Well then! You can be certain that the imaginary
obstacle is frequently a spirit or a group of spirits who are having fun by
deterring them from moving forward. Remember the donkey of Balaam
that saw an angel with its flaming sword and refused to move. Before
making himself visible to Balaam the angel was first seen by the animal.
But I repeat, we do not act directly upon animals or inert matter. We
always need the conscious or unconscious support of a human medium
since we need the union of similar fluids, something that is not found in
animals or in inert matter.
They say that Mr. Thiry magnetized his dog. What happened? He
killed the dog; this unfortunate animal fell into a state of unresponsive
lifelessness as a consequence of being magnetized. In effect, infusing the
dog with a fluid of a superior essence to its nature, acted like a strike of
lightning, although much slower. Thus we instantly kill an animal by
trying to magnetize it for there is no feasible assimilation between our
perispirit and theirs.
Having said that, I still fully recognize that animals have several abilities;
that they may show certain feelings and passions similar to humans;
that they are sensitive and grateful, vindictive and hateful depending on
how they are treated. God, in doing nothing incomplete, has given domestic
animals as companions and servants, the qualities of sociability
that are missing entirely by the savage animals who live in the wilderness.
To summarize: mediumistic acts cannot occur without the conscious or
unconscious support of a medium, and it is only among humans that we
can find those capable of serving us as mediums. As for training dogs,
birds or other animals to perform this or that exercise, that is your business
and not ours.
Erastus
OBSERVATION: Regarding the discussion that took place at the Society
about animal mediumship Mr. Allan Kardec said that he had carefully
observed experiments carried out lately with birds to which people were
attributing mediumistic skills, adding that he was able to unequivocally
identify conjurer’s tricks employed with great ability to delude the spectator
who is easily satisfied by the appearances, without investigating the
bottom line. The birds in fact do things that could lead to the belief that
they have superior intelligence and that not even the most lucid somnambulist
would be able to reproduce, from which one could conclude,
contrary to the laws of nature, that these birds have intelligence superior
to human beings.
What is really remarkable about these experiments is the art, the patience
needed to train the animals, making them docile and attentive. In
order to achieve these results one need a lot of flexibility, typically found
in domesticated animals where there is much more habit than deception.
The proof is that if they are no longer trained for some time they soon
forget what was learned previously. The appeal of such experiments, as
with any other trickery, is in the secrecy behind the processes. Once the
process is known, the attraction is over. That is what happened when the conjurers wanted to imitate lucid somnambulism with their double vision.
There could not be any illusion to anybody who was familiar with somnambulism.
The same happens here with the mediumship of birds that
any experienced observer can easily demystify.
People! Silence!
(Sent by Mr. Sabò, from Bordeaux - Medium, Mrs. Cazemajoux)
I
Where do those children dressed in white robes run to? Their hearts
illuminating with joy; a playful swarm, frolicking in green meadows
where they will make an ample harvest of flowers and chase the
bright insects that feed out of their cups. Carefree and happy they do not
see beyond the blue horizon around them. If you do not hurry and incite
the spiritist teachings in their hearts, their demise shall be terrible. The
spirits of the Lord have crossed through the clouds and preach to you;
listen to their friendly voices. Listen carefully; people, be silent!
II
They have grown and become strong. The beauty of some, the grace and
abandonment of others are still alive in the hearts of their parents, the
sweet memories of a distant time, but the smile that still thrives on their
withered lips disappears to make room for serious concerns. It is they
too, who have also drunk deeply from the enchanted cup of illusions of their youth and its subtle poison has weakened their blood, irritated their
strength, aged their faces and receded their foreheads; they wanted to
prevent their children from having a taste from the same poisoned cup.
Brothers! Spiritism shall be the antidote that will prevent new generations
from its mortal devastations. The spirits of the Lord have crossed through
the clouds and preach to you; listen to their friendly voices. Listen carefully;
people, be silent!
III
They have reached the age of adulthood; they are serious and thoughtful
but not happy. Their hearts are jaded and have only one sensitive fiber:
ambition. All their efforts, all their energy is employed in the acquisition
of earthly goods. They see no happiness without distinctions and fortune.
Fools! The angel of deliverance will one day knock at your door and you
shall be forced to leave all those illusions behind. You are like exiles that
God may call back to the homeland at any moment. You must not build
palaces or monuments; a tent, clothes and bread, that is all you need. Be
happy with that and give the excess to your brothers who lack shelter,
clothing and food. Spiritism is here to tell you that the real treasures you
must acquire are the love of God and neighbor; that will make you eternally
wealthy. The spirits of the Lord have crossed through the clouds and
preach to you; listen to their friendly voices. Listen carefully; people, be
silent!
IV
Their foreheads now lean over the edge of the grave. They are afraid and
want to raise their heads, but time has hunched their shoulders, stiffened
their nerves and muscles and they are powerless to look up. Oh!
What anguishes assail them! They review, in the privacy of their inner
soul their useless and often criminal lives; remorse gnaws at them like a
hungry vulture. So many times they have denied their God and they will
appear at the edge of the grave, like an inexorable avenger. Have no fear,
brothers, but pray. God may punish you in his justice but he will take
your regret into account for Spiritism comes to tell you that there is no
eternal punishment and that you are reborn to atone and purify. Also,
you who are weary of your exile on Earth, you must make every effort to
improve yourself so that you don’t have to return. The spirits of the Lord
have crossed through the clouds and preach to you; listen to their friendly
voices. Listen carefully; people, be silent!
Byron
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(Medium, Mrs. Costel)
NOTE: The medium was involved with matters that were external to
Spiritism. She was prepared to write about personal issues when an
invisible power forced her to write the text below, despite her wishes to
continue something that she had already started. That explains the beginning
of the message.
“I am here Madam, although you have not called me. I come to tell you
things that are much different from your concerns. I am the spirit of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I have waited a long time for this opportunity of
communicating with you. Listen now.”
“I believe that Spiritism is a pure philosophical study of the secret
causes of the inner struggles of the soul, little or not at all defined so far.
It shows new horizons, even more so than it reveals them. Reincarnation
and the trials endured before the supreme objective is reached are no revelations but an important confirmation. I am impressed by the truth
that is illuminated by such an instrument. I say instrument on purpose
because the way I see it, Spiritism is a lever that removes the barriers of
blindness. The preoccupation with moral issues has still to be created;
politics are discussed that stir the general interest; the private interests are
also discussed; some are passionate about attacking or defending personalities;
the systems have supporters and adversaries, but the moral truths
that are the bread of the soul, the bread of life, those are left underneath
the dust accumulated over the centuries.”
“All improvements are useful to the eyes of the crowd except that of
the soul. Your education, your elevations are illusions good at most to occupy
the leisure of priests, poets, women or the status quo.
If Spiritism can resuscitate Spiritualism it will then return to society
the momentum that gives inner dignity to some, resignation to others,
and to everyone the need to rise to the Supreme Being, forgotten and
neglected by His ungrateful creatures.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Controversy
(Sent by Mr. Sabò, from Bordeaux)
“Oh! God! My Lord, my Father and my Creator, kindly provide
your servant with a little bit of that human eloquence that used
to speak to the hearts of our brothers, gathering around the pulpit to learn
about the truths that you have taught them.
By sending His spirits to teach your true duties towards Him and
your brothers God wishes above all that charity be the driving force in all
of your actions, and your brothers who still wish to revive their days of
regret remain on the path of pride. But these times are long gone for you,
and always praise the Lord for allowing humanity to stop their religious
disputes that have never produced anything positive and have been the
cause of so much harm. Why would you want to discuss the texts of the
Gospels, when you have already interpreted it in so many ways? Those
comments were produced when Spiritism was not here to clarify it for
you, and it tells you: The morality of the Gospels is the best that there is;
follow it. However, if deep down in your conscience a voice cries out to
you: For me there is still this or that obscure point that doesn’t allow me to think differently from my brothers! Elohim, my brother, leave aside
what disturbs you; love God and charity and you shall be on the right
path. What served as the fruit of my long vigils when I lived in your
world? Nothing. Many did not even read my texts that were not written
by the hand of charity and even attracted persecution onto my brothers.
Controversy is always fueled by a feeling of intolerance that can become
offensive and the stubbornness with which everyone sustains their
positions and postpones the time when the great human family will respect
all beliefs, acknowledging past mistakes and no longer raising their
weapons for the destruction of fraternal bonds. To give you an example of
what I have just said, open up the Gospel and you will find these words: ‘I
am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live”.
Many of you condemn those who don’t follow the religion that has
the teachings of the Incarnate Word. Many of them, however, sit by our
Lord’s side for they were righteous and through that they worshiped and
loved him; they respected their brothers’ beliefs; they sought the Lord
when they saw the bloodthirsty fight of the people in their religious struggles;
and yet they were unable to find the true meaning of Christ’s words
as blind instruments of their priests and ministers.
My God, I who lived in those days when our hearts stormed against
our brothers from a different faith, had I been more tolerant; had I not condemned
their interpretation of the Gospels, today they would be less belligerent
towards their Catholic brothers, and everyone would have moved
in strides towards the universal fraternity. However, the Protestants, the
Jews, all religions that are in more evidence have their shrewd priests
and doctors of the law and then, when a more disseminated Spiritism is
studied by those enlightened brothers in good faith they will do as the
Catholics did, and will bring the light to their brothers and appease their
religious scruples.
Allow God to continue his work of moral reformation that must elevate
all of you up to Him, all on the same level, and do not rebel against
the teachings of the spirits who were sent by Him.”
Bossuet
Poverty
(Sent by Mr. Sabò, from Bordeaux)
“The philanthropist of your world uselessly dream about something
that will never happen. Remember Jesus’ words: ‘You will always
have poor people among you’. Know that these words are the expression of
truth. Now that you know Spiritism my friend, don’t you find it fair and
equitable the inequality of conditions that raised your heart, full of grumbling
against God who had not created everyone equally rich and happy?
Now that you understand that God’s doing is fair and perfect and
that you know that poverty is a punishment or a trial, go and try to alleviate
that misery but don’t show them utopias that may lead the unfortunate
ones to believe in an impossible equality. It is certainly possible to
mitigate a lot of suffering through a smart social organization, and that
is what one must aim at, but pretending that poverty can be eliminated
from the Earth is a hallucinatory idea.
Earth is a place of atonement hence, there will always be poor people
making up for their previous abuse of their God given wealth, never
realizing the kindness of doing good to their brothers and sisters; who hoarded piece by piece to accumulate unnecessary wealth that served nobody;
who became rich off of the backs of widows and orphans. Oh!
Those who are guilty along with their selfishness will have terrible return!
Beware, however, to believe that all the poor suffer a punishment of being
guilty. While poverty is a great atonement to some, it is also a trial to
others, helping them to more rapidly achieve the sanctuary of the elected
ones. Yes, there will always be the poor and the rich so that some may have
the merit of resignation and others that of charity and devotion. Rich or
poor you stand on a slippery slope that can push you off the cliff, like an
incline where only your virtues can hold you back.
When I say that there will always be poor on the Earth, I mean that
while there are vices that maintain Earth as a place of reparation to the
perverse spirits that God will continue to send for their own punishment.
It is through your virtues that you shall have the merit and God will only
send good spirits and you will then create an earthly heaven out of an
earthly hell.”
Adolph, bishop of Alger
Concord
(Sent by Mr. Rodolphe, from Mulhouse)
“My friends, be united. In unity you will find strength. Eliminate
envy and the spirit of disagreement from your meetings. Do not
envy the communications received by a particular medium, each one receives
according to the disposition of their spirit and the perfection of
their organs. Never forget that you are brothers and that fraternity is not
illusory; it is a real fraternity; for he who may have been your brother in
another existence, may be among you, belonging to another family. Be
united in mind and heart; have the same communion of thoughts. Be
worthy of yourselves, of the Doctrine that you profess and of the lessons
that you were called upon to spread. Thus, be agreeable in your opinions,
they do not have to be absolute.
Look to enlighten one another. Be worthy of your apostolic mission
and give the world an example of good harmony. Be the living example
of human fraternity, and show what can happen when people are sincerely
devoted to the propagation of morality. With only one goal, you should have only one of the same thought and that is putting into practice
what you teach. Your motto should be: Union and concord; peace and
fraternity!”
Mardoqueu
The Dawn of a New Era
(Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, medium Mrs. Costel)
“I am here, the one that you did not evoke but who is willing to be
useful to the Society whose objective is as serious as yours. I will
speak about politics. Do not be afraid; I know the boundaries that must
constrain me. The current situation in Europe offers a remarkable opportunity
for study.
There has never been a time, and let us not forget the end of the last
century, when the prejudices and abuses that have oppressed the human
spirit; at no other time; has intellectual movement been bolder, more outspoken.
I say this frankly because the European spirit walks alongside the
truth.
Freedom is no longer a bloody phantom, but a beautiful and great
goddess of public prosperity. Even in Germany, the country that I have
described with so much love, the exciting breath of the times abates the
last stronghold of prejudice.
Be happy, you who live in such a time; but even happier will be your
descendants as the hour approaches; the hour announced by the Precursor; you will see the cleared horizon, but, as in the days of the Hebrews, you
will remain on the threshold of the Promised Land but will not see the
radiant Sun of new days.
Staël
