In this issue we continue the study of the book Posthumous Works, published after Allan Kardec disembodied and containing texts written by him. The present work is based on the translation made by Dr. Guillon Ribeiro, published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation.
Questions for discussion
69. Can the mediums, who prescribe, be considered healing mediums?
70. What is obsession?
71. When does the phenomenon of possession occur?
72. Since there are evil Spirits that obsess and good Spirits that protect, we ask: After all, are the evil Spirits more powerful than the good ones?
73. Why don’t the protecting Spirits order the evil Spirits to leave?
74. What are the means to acquire the necessary moral strength?
75. When subjugation increases and paralyzes the will of the obsessed, what can be done?
76. Are there damages that are caused by the individual himself, without any participation of third parties?
77. Is exorcism ineffective in cases of possession?
Answers to the proposed questions
69. Can the mediums, who prescribe, be considered healing mediums?
No, the prescribing mediums are mere writing mediums and their characteristic is to serve as interpreters of the Spirits for medical prescriptions, but they task is exclusively limited to transmitting the thought of the Spirit and there is no influence on their part. (Posthumous Works, The Mediums).
70. What is obsession?
Obsession is the power that the evil Spirits have over certain people in order to control them and subject them to their will, because of the pleasure they feel in doing evil. The good or bad Spirit, when it wants to act on the individual, it involves him with its perispirit, as in a cloak; then the fluids penetrate the two thoughts and the two wills are mixed, and the Spirit can then serve itself of this body as if it is its own and make it act according to its will, talking, writing and drawing.
If the Spirit is good, its action is sweet and good. If it is bad, it makes the person do bad things. However, if it is perverse and evil, it constrains the person and paralyzes his will and judgement, which it suppresses by using its fluid, in the same manner as we put out a fire with water. It makes him think, talk, act for it, and it makes him do extravagant or ridiculous things. Resuming, it magnetizes and morally subdues him, and the individual becomes a blind instrument of the Spirit’s will. This is the cause of obsession, fascination and subjugation, which are shown in very different degrees of intensity. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
71. When does the phenomenon of possession occur?
When subjugation reaches its maximum point, we then call it possession. In this case, the individual is often aware that what he does is ridiculous, but he is constrained to do so, as if a stronger man makes him move his arms, legs and tongue against his will. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
72. Since there are evil Spirits that obsess and good Spirits that protect, we ask: After all, are the evil Spirits more powerful than the good ones?
No, it is not the good Spirit that is weaker. It is the individual that is not strong enough to get rid of the domain casted over him, to get free from the arms that embrace him, which, we have to say, sometimes pleases him. In this case, it is natural that the good Spirit cannot succeed, because the individual prefers another Spirit.
Let us imagine that the individual wishes to get rid of this fluidic casing, but his wish is not strong enough, not even his will is capable of doing so, because this is a fight against an opponent, and when two men fight, the one that is stronger knocks down the other. It is necessary to fight a Spirit, not bodily, but the fight has to be from one Spirit to another and the stronger will still be the one who wins. In this case, strength is part of the authority that one can have over the Spirit, and this authority is based on the moral superiority, which acts like the Sun that casts out the fog through the strength of its rays.
To acquire the power of mastering the inferior Spirits and keep them at distance it is necessary to become better by being good, by cleansing all imperfections, and improving morally. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
73. Why don’t the protecting Spirits order the evil Spirits to leave?
No doubt they can, and they do it sometimes. However, by allowing the fight, they give the merit of the victory to the victim of harassment. If they let this happen, it is for the merit of the individuals, who thus prove their endurance and make them acquire more strength to be good, like a kind of a moral exercise for them.
Certain people, no doubt, prefer another way of expelling the bad Spirits: some words to say, some signals, for example, and it would be easier than having to correct one’s faults.
However, we know that the only efficient way to beat an enemy is to become stronger than him. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
74. What are the means to acquire the necessary moral strength?
Of all the known means, the most effective is the will backed by prayer. Let us clarify: the prayer that comes from the heart, and not of words, because this case the mouth works more than the thought. It is necessary to pray and ask for the aid of our Guardian Angel and of the Good Spirits to help us in the fight. But it is not enough to just ask them to drive the evil Spirit away. It is necessary to remember this maxim: Help yourself and Heaven will help you, and ask them above all the strength we lack to overcome our evil inclinations, which are worse than the bad Spirits, because these are trends that attract them in the same manner corruption attracts birds of prey.
In short, a fervent prayer and serious efforts to improve are the only means to make the evil Spirits withdraw. They recognize as their superiors those who practice goodness while formulas make them laugh and anger and impatience stir them. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
75. When subjugation increases and paralyzes the will of the obsessed, what can be done?
In such a case the intervention of a third party becomes necessary, either by prayer, or by magnetic action. However, the strength of this intervention also depends on the moral ascendant over the Spirits, because if this moral is not stronger, then its action is useless. In this case, the magnetic action penetrates the fluid of the obsessed and he receives a better fluid and gets rid of the evil Spirit. It is worth remembering, however, that the strength of the fluidic action is due, not only to the power of will, but rather to the quality of the fluid introduced and this quality depends on the knowledge and the moral qualities of the magnetizer, from which follows that a common hypnotizer, which would act mechanically to simply magnetize, would not help at all, having no effect.
Therefore, it is necessary a Spiritist magnetizer acting with knowledge of the facts, with the intention to produce, not somnambulism or an organic cure, but the effects already mentioned above. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
76. Are there damages that are caused by the individual himself, without any participation of third parties?
Yes, certain states of illness and certain aberrations that are attributed to a hidden cause sometimes are simply due to the individual's own Spirit. The setbacks, which most commonly each one focuses on his own self, especially heartbreaks, makes him commit many eccentric acts that often is considered obsession. However, most of the times, the individual is his own obsessor. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
77. Is exorcism ineffective in cases of possession?
Yes, the ineffectiveness of exorcism in cases of possession is proven by experience, and there is evidence that, in most cases, it increases the evil instead of decreasing it. The reason is that the influence is entirely on the moral ascending exercised over evil Spirits and not an outward act or in the virtue of words and signs. Exorcism is a set of ceremonies and formulas and the evil Spirits laugh at them, while they give in to the moral superiority exercised over them. (Posthumous Works, Obsession and Possession).
