Retrospective look at the Spiritist movementThere is no doubt to anyone, to the adversaries as to the partisans of Spiritism, that this question agitates the minds more than ever. Is this movement, as some affectedly say, a flash in the pan? But this flash in the pan has been going on for fifteen years now, and instead of dying out, its intensity has only increased from year to year; well, this is not the feature of ephemeral things that only address curiosity. The last outcry that was expected to have it suffocated, only revived it, by over-exciting the attention of people that were indifferent. The tenacity of this idea has nothing to surprise anyone that has probed the depth and the multiplicity of the roots, by which it is attached to the most serious concerns of humanity. Those astonished by it have only seen the surface; most of them only know it by name but understand neither its purpose nor its scope.
If some fight Spiritism out of ignorance, others do so precisely because they feel its whole importance, have a presentiment of its future, and see it as a powerful regenerating element. It is necessary to realize that certain adversaries are quite converted. If they were less convinced of the truths it contains, they would not oppose it so much. They feel that the pledge of its future is in the good it does; to bring out this good in their eyes, far from calming them, is to add to the cause of their irritation. Such was, in the fifteenth century, the large class of copyist writers that would have gladly burnt Gutenberg and all the printers; it would not have been by showing them the benefits of printing, that was to supplant them, that it would have appeased them.
When something is true and the time is right for its emergence, it moves on, despite anything. Spiritism's power of action is evidenced by its persistent expansion, despite the little effort it makes to spread. There is a constant fact: it is that the adversaries of Spiritism spent a thousand times more effort to bring it down, without succeeding, than its supporters deployed to propagate it. It advances on its own, so to speak, like a stream that seeps through the land, makes its way to the right if it is stopped on the left, and little by little mines the hardest stones, and ends by bringing down mountains.
A notorious fact is that, as a whole, the progress of Spiritualism has not suffered any downtime; it may have been hindered, compressed, slowed down, in some localities, by contrary influences; but, as we have said, the current, barred at one point, emerges on a hundred others; instead of running to the brim, it splits into a multitude of threads. However, at a first glance, it seems that its pace is slower than it was in the early years; Must we infer that it is abandoned, that it finds less sympathy? No, just that the work it is doing, at the moment, is different, and less conspicuous by its nature.
From the onset, as we have already said, Spiritism rallied to everyone in whom these ideas were, in a way, in the state of intuition; it was enough to present itself to be understood and accepted. It immediately reaped bountifully, wherever it found the ground prepared. Having this first harvest done, there remained the fallow land that required more work. It is now through refractory opinions that it must emerge, and this is the period in which we find ourselves. Like the miner that easily removes the first layers of loose earth, it has reached the rock that it must break down, and into which it can only penetrate little by little. But there is no rock, no matter how hard, that can indefinitely resist a continuous dissolving action. Its progress is, therefore, conspicuously slower, but if, in a given time, it does not gather such a large number of frankly avowed followers, it nonetheless shakes contrary convictions, that fall, not all of a sudden, but piece by piece, until the gap is covered. This is the work we are witnessing, and that marks the present phase of progress of the doctrine.
This phase is characterized by unambiguous signs. Looking at the situation, it becomes obvious that the idea is gaining ground every day, that it is acclimating; it meets less opposition; it is less laughed at, and even those that do not accept it yet, are beginning to grant it the right of citizenship among the opinions. The Spiritists are no longer pointed at, as in the past, and regarded as curious beasts; this is what is observed, and especially by those that travel. Everywhere they find more sympathy, or less antipathy for the thing. It cannot be denied that this is a real progress.
To understand the facilities and difficulties that Spiritism encounters on its journey, we must imagine the diversity of opinions through which it must make its way. Never imposing itself by force or constraint, but by conviction alone, it encountered more or less resistance, depending on the nature of the existing convictions, with which it could more or less easily assimilate, some of which have received it with open arms, while others stubbornly reject it.
Two great currents of ideas divide present-day society: spiritualism and materialism; although the latter forms an indisputable minority, we cannot hide the fact that it has grown considerably in recent years. Both are divided into a multitude of nuances that can be summed up in the following main categories:
1st: The fanatics of all cults. - 0.
2nd: The satisfied believers, having absolute convictions, strongly fixed and without restriction, although without fanaticism, on all the points of the cult they profess, and that are satisfied there. This category also includes sects that, by the fact that they have split and carried out reforms, they believe themselves to be in possession of the whole truth and are sometimes more absolute than the mother religions. - 0.
3rd: Ambitious believers, enemies of emancipatory ideas, that could make them lose the ascendancy they exercise over ignorance. - 0.
4th: Believers of form, that simulate a faith that they do not have, out of interest, and almost always show themselves to be more rigid and more intolerant than the sincerely religious. - 0.
5th: The materialists by system, that are based on a rational theory, and many of whom stiffen themselves against the evidence, out of pride, so as not to admit that they may have been wrong; they are, for the most part, as absolute and as intolerant in their disbelief as the religious fanatics are in their belief. - 0.
6th: The sensualists, that reject spiritualist and Spiritist doctrines for fear that they will disturb them in their material pleasures. They close their eyes so as not to see. - 0.
7 ° The carefree, that live from day to day, without worrying about the future. Most cannot say whether they are spiritualists or materialists; the present is the only serious thing for them. - 0.
8th: The pantheists, that do not admit a personal divinity, but a universal spiritual principle in which souls merge, like drops of water in the ocean, without preserving their individuality. This opinion is a first step towards spirituality, and therefore, a step forward on materialism. Although a little less resistant to Spiritist ideas, those that profess it are in general very absolute, because it is, with them, a preconceived and reasoned system, and many do not call themselves pantheists so as not to admit being materialists. It is a concession that they make to spiritualist ideas to save the appearances. - 1.
9th: The deists, that admit the personality of a unique God, creator and sovereign master of all things, eternal and infinite in all His perfections, but reject all exterior worship. - 3.
10th: Spiritualists without a system, that do not belong to any cult by conviction, without rejecting any, but that have no established idea of the future. - 5.
11th: The progressive believers, attached to a determined cult, but that admit the progress in religion, and the agreement between beliefs and the progress of the sciences. - 5.
12th: The unsatisfied believers, in whom the faith is indecisive or null on the points of dogmas which do not completely satisfy their reason, tormented by doubt. - 8.
13th: The unbelievers for lack of anything better, most of whom have passed from faith to disbelief, and the denial of everything, for lack of having found, in the beliefs in which they have been lulled, a satisfactory sanction for their reason, but in whom disbelief leaves a painful void that they would be happy to see filled. - 9.
14th: The free thinkers, a new denomination by which are designated those who do not submit to the opinion of anyone, in matters of religion and spirituality, who do not believe themselves bound by the cult where birth has placed them without their consent, nor bound to the observation of any religious practices. This qualification does not specify any belief, in particular; it can be applied to all the nuances of rational spiritualism, as well as to the most absolute disbelief. All eclectic belief belongs to free thought; every man that is not guided by blind faith is, by that very reason, a free thinker; as such, the Spiritists are also free thinkers.
But for those that may be called the radicals of free thought, this designation has a more restricted and, so to speak, exclusive meaning; for them, to be a free thinker is not only to believe in what one wants, it is to believe in nothing; it is to free oneself from all restraints, even from the fear of God and of the future; spirituality is an embarrassment, and they don't want it. Under this symbol of intellectual emancipation, they seek to conceal what the quality of materialist and atheist has of repellent to the opinion of the masses; and, singularly, in the name of this symbol, that seems to be that of tolerance for all opinions, they throw stones at anyone who does not think like them. There is, therefore, an essential distinction to be made between those that claim to be free thinkers, with those that claim to be philosophers. They divide naturally into:
Incredulous free thinkers, who fall into the 5th category. - 0.
Believer free thinkers, that belong to all the nuances of rational spiritualism. - 9.
15th: Spiritists of intuition, those in whom Spiritist ideas are innate, and that accept them as something that is not foreign to them. - 10.
These are the layers of terrain that Spiritism must cross. By glancing at the different categories above, it is easy to see those to which it finds more or less easy access, and those against which it collides, like the pickax against the granite. It will triumph over these only with the help of the new elements that the renovation will bring to humanity: this is the work of the One that directs everything, and that brings about the events from which progress must emerge.
The figures placed after each category, indicate approximately the proportion of the number of followers, out of 10, that each has provided to Spiritism.
If we admit, on average, the numerical equality between these different categories, we see that the refractory part, by its nature, embraces about half of the population. As it possesses audacity and material strength, it is not limited to a passive resistance: it is essentially aggressive; hence, an inevitable and necessary struggle. But this situation can only have a time, for the past goes away, and the future arrives. Spiritism, however, marches with the future.
It is, therefore, in the other half that Spiritism must recruit, and the field to be explored is quite vast; it is there that it must concentrate its efforts and that it will see its borders augmenting. However, this half is still far from being entirely sympathetic to it; there it meets obstinate, but not insurmountable resistance, as in the first half, and most of which stem from prejudices that fade away as the aim and tendencies of the doctrine are better understood, and that will disappear with time. If one can be surprised at one thing, it is that, despite the multiplicity of obstacles that it encounters, of the pitfalls that are set before it, Spiritism managed, in a few years, to be where it is today.
Another not less obvious progress, is that of the attitude of the opposition. Apart from the battering that, from time to time, is launched by a host of writers, always more or less the same, that see nothing but a laughing matter everywhere, that would even laugh at God, and whose arguments are limited to saying that mankind turns to madness, greatly surprised that Spiritism has advanced without their permission, it is very rare to see the doctrine involved in a serious and sustained controversy. Instead, as we have already pointed out in a previous article, the Spiritist ideas invade the press, the literature, the philosophy; it is an appropriation without admitting them to ourselves; this is why we see, at every moment, emerging in the newspapers, in books, in sermons, in the theater, thoughts that one would say are drawn from the very source of Spiritism. Their authors would, undoubtedly, protest the qualification of Spiritists, but they are, nonetheless, under the influence of the ideas that circulate, and that seem right. This is because the principles, on which the doctrine rests, are so rational that they ferment in a multitude of brains, and emerge without their knowledge; they touch on so many questions that it is almost impossible to enter the path of spirituality without, involuntarily, doing Spiritism. It is one of the most characteristic facts that marked the year that has just passed.
Should we conclude that the fight is over? Certainly not, and we must, on the contrary and more than ever, be on guard, for we will have to face assaults of a different kind, but in the meantime expecting the ranks reinforced and the steps forward gained. Let us beware of believing that certain adversaries consider themselves beaten, and of taking their silence for tacit support, or even for neutrality. Let us be convinced that certain people will never accept Spiritism, neither openly nor tacitly, as long as they live, like some that will never accept certain political regimes; all reasoning to bring them to it is powerless, because they do not want it, at any price; their aversion to the doctrine grows in proportion to the developments it takes.
Open-air attacks have become rarer, because they have recognized their uselessness, but they do not lose hope in succeeding with the help of dark maneuvers. Far from falling asleep in a deceptive security, it is more than ever necessary to be wary of false brothers, that sneak in all meetings to spy, and then warp what is said and done there; that sow the elements of discord from underneath; that, under the guise of a factitious and sometimes self-interested zeal, seek to push Spiritism beyond the guidelines of prudence, moderation and legality; that, in its name, provoke reprehensible acts in the eyes of the law. Since they are unable to ridicule it, because it is a serious thing in its essence, their efforts tend to compromise it, making it suspicious to the authorities, provoking harsh measures against it and its members. Let us, therefore, beware of the kisses of Judas, and of those that want to embrace to suffocate us.
We must think that we are at war, and that the enemies are at our door, ready to seize the favorable opportunity, and that they are keeping intelligence in place.
In this case, what is there to do? Something very simple: to close ranks within the strict limits of the precepts of the doctrine; to strive to show what it is by one’s own example, and decline any support to what could be done in its name and that would likely discredit it, because this would not be adequate to serious and convinced followers. It is not enough to say that one is a Spiritist; the one that is at one’s heart, proves it by one’s actions. The doctrine preaching only good, respect for the law, charity, tolerance and benevolence for all; repudiating all violence done to the conscience of others, all charlatanism, all selfish thought in what concerns the relations with the Spirits, and all things contrary to evangelical morality, the one that does not deviate from these guidelines, may not incur any well-founded reprimand, or legal proceedings; moreover, whoever takes the doctrine as a rule of conduct, can only conquer esteem and respect of impartial persons; even mocking incredulity bows down before good, and calumny cannot stain what is spotless. It is under these conditions that Spiritism will cross the storms that will be stacked on its way, and that it will emerge triumphant from all struggles.
Spiritism cannot be responsible for the misdeeds of those that like to call themselves Spiritist, in the same way that religion cannot be responsible for the reprehensible acts of those that only have the appearances of piety. Therefore, before casting the blame for such acts on any doctrine whatsoever, it would be necessary to know whether it contains any maxim, or some teaching that could authorize or even excuse them. If, on the contrary, it formally condemns them, it is obvious that the fault is entirely personal, and cannot be imputed to doctrine. But this is a distinction that the opponents of Spiritism do not bother to make; on the contrary, they are too happy to find an opportunity to decry it, rightly or wrongly, unscrupulously attributing to the doctrine what does not belong to it, poisoning the most insignificant things rather than looking for mitigating causes.
For some time now the Spiritist meetings have undergone a certain transformation. Intimate and family gatherings have multiplied considerably in Paris and in the main cities, due to the ease of forming them, through the increase in the number of mediums and followers. Mediums were rare in the beginning; a good medium was almost a phenomenon; it was therefore natural for people to group themselves around them; but as this faculty has developed, the large centers have split, like swarms, into a multitude of small particular groups, that find it easier to come together, have more intimacy and homogeneity in their composition. This result, a consequence of the sheer force of circumstances, was foreseen. From the outset we have pointed out the pitfalls that were inevitably bound to large societies, necessarily made up of heterogeneous elements, opening the door to ambitions, and by that very fact, exposed to intrigues, plots, the deaf maneuvers of malevolence, envy and jealousy, that cannot emanate from a pure Spiritist source. In intimate meetings, without formalities, people are more confident, get to know each other better, and welcome whoever they want; reverence is better, and we know that the results are more satisfactory. We know a good number of meetings of this kind whose organization leaves nothing to be desired. There is, therefore, everything to be gained from this transformation.
The year 1866 also saw the fulfillment of the forecasts of the Spirits, on several points of interest to the doctrine, among others, on the extension and the new characteristics that mediumship was to take, as well as on the production of phenomena of a nature to draw attention to the principle of spirituality, although apparently foreign to Spiritism. Healing mediumship has come to light in circumstances more likely to cause a stir; it germinates in many other people. In certain groups there have been several cases of spontaneous somnambulism, of speaking mediumship, of second sight, and of other varieties of the mediumistic faculty that provided useful subjects for study. These faculties, although not exactly new, are still in the emerging state in a number of individuals; they only appear in isolated cases and are tried out, so to speak, in private; but over time they will acquire more intensity and become popular.
It is especially when they spontaneously appear in people foreign to Spiritism that they draw attention more strongly, because one cannot suppose collusion, nor admit the influence of preconceived ideas. We limit ourselves to pointing out the fact, that anyone can observe, and whose development would require too extensive details. We will also have the opportunity to come back to this in special articles.
As a summary, if nothing very striking has shown the progress of Spiritism in recent times, we can say that it continues in the normal conditions traced by the Spirits, and that we have only to congratulate ourselves for the state of things.
