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
170. Did the difficulties predicted in the message addressed to Kardec happen?
171. What is the meaning of the word “tiara”, used by a psychic in reference to Kardec?
172. Where, when, and who was the psychic that used the expression “spiritual tiara”?
173. Did Ms. Cardone participate as a psychic in the elaboration of the Encoding?
Answers to the proposed questions
170. Did the difficulties predicted in the message addressed to Kardec happen?
Yes, he made a note on January 1, 1867 - ten and a half years after this communication was given – and in it Kardec said that it did come true in all aspects, because he had suffered all the difficulties they told him he would suffer and had been a target of the hatred of obstinate enemies, of libel, slander, envy and jealousy. Infamous libels were published about him, and his best instructions were denatured. He was betrayed by those he had trusted, and paid with ingratitude by those whom he had served. The Society of Paris, which he founded and directed, was a continued focus of intrigue woven by those who claimed to be his friends, and tore him up behind his back. They said that his supporters were employed by him with the money he obtained with Spiritism. He no longer could rest. More than once he collapsed by overworking, his health was altered, and his life was compromised. However, thanks to the protection and assistance of the good Spirits, he could say that not for one moment did he feel discouraged, and he constantly pursued his task with the same enthusiasm, and paid no attention to malevolence. According to the message of the Spirit of Truth, he should expect all this, and all of it happened. (Posthumous Works - Part Two - Future Events).
171. What is the meaning of the word “tiara”, used by a psychic in reference to Kardec?
Tiara [from the Persian by gr. TIARA and from the Lat. tiara] it is a noun that means: Pontiff’s miter; head ornament used once by the sovereigns of the East; adornment shaped like an arch that serves to hold the hair. Fig. Pontifical dignity. (Posthumous Works - Part Two - Future Events).
172. Where, when, and who was the psychic that used the expression “spiritual tiara”?
It was on May 6, 1857, at Mrs. Cardone’s and shortly after the publication of the first edition of The Book of Spirits. Mrs. Cardone was introduced to Kardec at a meeting at Mr. Roustan’s. Someone had told him, it seems like it was Mr. Carlotti, that she had a remarkable talent for reading hands. Kardec never believed in the meaning of the hand lines, but thought it might be that for some people, endowed with a kind of second sight, it could be a means of establishing a relation that would allow him, like the sleepwalkers did, to say true things. The hand signals would not be but a pretext, a means of fixing the attention, developing lucidity, as are the cards and said magic mirrors for individuals who have this faculty. The experience, more than once, confirmed that his opinion was right. Mrs. Cardone invited him to go and see her, and so he did.
Here is a summary of what the psychic, due to her gift, said: "You are born with an abundance of resources and intellectual means... an extraordinary power of judgment... Your style is formed, governed by the head, you balance inspiration through judgment; you subject the instinct, passion, and the intuition to method, to theory. You always liked moral sciences... The love of the absolute true... The love of the defined art. Your style comes from the number, dimension and from the cadence, but sometimes you switch a little from your precision to poetry. As an idealist philosopher, you have subject to others’ opinions; as a Christian philosopher, you now feel the need to create a sect. Judiciously Benevolence. You have an urgent need to relieve, to help, to comfort, and the need for independence.
You correct yourself very slowly regarding the readiness of your temperament. You are uniquely suitable for the mission entrusted to you, because you are more made to become the center of great developments than capable of isolated work... your eyes have the look of thought… I see here the sign of the spiritual tiara... it is very pronounced, look..." Kardec says that he looked and saw nothing. So he asked the psychic: What do you mean by spiritual tiara? Do you mean that I will be a Pope? If this should happen, it certainly would not be in this life. She answered: “Note that I said spiritual tiara, which means moral and religious authority and not an effective supreme power”.
Commenting on the subject, Kardec said that some points mentioned by Mrs. Cardone were true, but there was a passage obviously wrong, the one that mentioned the style and that he would change sometimes a bit of his accuracy by poetry. That, he said, was not true: "I have no poetic tendency; what I look for, above all, what pleases me, what I like in others, is clearness and purity and far from sacrificing this to poetry, I could rather sacrifice my poetic feeling to the dryness of the positive form. I have preferred what speaks to the intelligence, than what only speaks to imagination”.
As for the spiritual tiara, The Book of Spirits had just appeared: the Spiritist Doctrine was in its infancy, and one could not yet judge its subsequent results. (Posthumous Works - Part Two - Future Events).
173. Did Ms. Cardone participate as a psychic in the Encoding work?
No, because she left Paris the following year and Kardec only saw her eight years later, in 1866. Things were very much changed by then. She then told him, "Remember my prediction about the spiritual tiara? Here it is accomplished".
Kardec replied: What do you mean by accomplished? I am not - not that I know of - on the throne of St. Peter. She then replied, "No, that was not what I foresaw about you. But aren’t you, in fact, the leader of the Doctrine, recognized by the Spiritists all over the world? Is it not true that what you wrote is law? Aren’t your followers counted by the millions? Is there a man whose name has more authority than yours concerning Spiritism?
Are not titles like High Priest, even Pope, given spontaneously to you? Mainly by your enemies and ironically, I know, but they do indicate the type of influence they recognize in you: they sense your role and these titles will be with you forever. In short, you have conquered, without looking for it, a moral position that no one can take from you, because even considering any work that can be done after you, or concurrently with you, you will still be recognized as the founder of the Doctrine. Since that time, you have, indeed, the spiritual tiara, that is, the moral supremacy. So, you can see that I did tell you the truth. Do you now believe a little more in hand signs?" Kardec told her that regarding this point he believed even less, because he was convinced that, if she had really seen something, it would not be in the hand, but in his own Spirit. (Posthumous Works - Part Two - Future Events).
