In this issue, we continue the study of the book, Spiritism in its simplest expression, published in 1862 by Allan Kardec. The present work is based on the translation into Portuguese made by Salvador Gentile.
Preliminary issues
A. Some think that Spirits are vague, abstract, indefinite beings. Is this idea correct?
No. Spirits are not abstract beings; on the contrary, they are very real beings, having their individuality and a determined form. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
B. Which are the three essential elements in man?
First: the soul or Spirit, the intelligent principle in which resides the thought, the will and the moral sense. Second: the body, heavy and coarse material wrapping, which puts the Spirit in contact with the outside world. Third: the perispirit, a light fluidic wrapping, which serves as a bond and intermediary between the Spirit and the body. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
C. Many people think that the Spirits are in a higher level than ours and that, therefore, they have full knowledge and are fully wise. Is this true?
It is not true. This is a mistake that throughout experience became evident very quickly. Among the communications given by the Spirits, there are those that are sublime in depth, eloquence, wisdom, morality, and pass only kindness and benevolence; but there are also the very vulgar, frivolous, trivial, even coarse ones, through which the Spirit reveals the most evil instincts. The reason is simple: they are the souls of men who disembodied. Therefore, the Spirits do not become perfect at once just because they left the body. Until they have progressed, they preserve the imperfections of their corporeal life and that is why we see it in all degrees of goodness and evil, of knowledge and ignorance. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
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23. A completely false idea is generally made of Spirits. They are not as many imagine them: abstract beings, vague and indefinite, nor anything like a flash or a spark. Spirits are, on the contrary, very real beings, having their individuality and a determined form. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
24. One can have an approximate idea of them by the following explanation: there are three essential things in man: 1st: The soul or Spirit, an intelligent principle in which the thought, the will and the moral sense can be found; 2nd: The body, heavy and coarse material wrapping, which places the Spirit in connection with the outer world; and 3rd: The perispirit, a light, fluidic wrapping, which serves as a bond and intermediary between the Spirit and the body. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
25. When the outer wrapper is worn and can no longer function, it falls and the Spirit is stripped like the fruit of its peal, the tree of its crust: in a word, as one takes off an old garment out of its use. It is what is called death. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
26. Death, therefore, is nothing other than the destruction of the coarse wrapping of the Spirit: only the body dies, the Spirit does not die. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
27. During life the Spirit is in some way compressed by material bonds to which it is attached, and which often paralyzes its faculties. The death of the body unties him from these bonds. He becomes free and he becomes like a butterfly when it leaves its chrysalis; but it only leaves the physical body. It maintains the perispirit, which constitutes for him a kind of ethereal body, vaporous, imponderable for us and with human form, which seems to be the type form. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
28. In its normal state, the perispirit is invisible, but the Spirit can make it undergo certain modifications that make it momentarily visible and can be touched, something like condensed vapor; this is how it can sometimes show itself to us in the apparitions. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
29. It is with the help of the perispirit that the Spirit acts on inert matter, and produces the various phenomena of noise, movement, writing, and so on. Strokes and movements are, for the Spirits, the means of proving their presence and calling attention to them, just as when a person knocks to warn that there is someone. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
30. Some do not limit themselves to mild noises, but they make noises similar to crockery breaking, doors opening and closing, or furniture falling. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - History of Spiritism).
31. With the help of conventional blows and movements, they can express their thoughts, but writing offers them the full, fastest, and the most comfortable means to communicate. It is also the one they prefer. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - History of Spiritism).
32. In the same way they can write letters, the Spirits can guide the hand to draw, write music, play an aria, in a word, in the absence of their own body, which they no longer have, they serve themselves of a psychic to manifest themselves to men in a sensitive way. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - History of Spiritism).
33. Spirits can still manifest themselves in several ways, including through sight and hearing. Certain people, said audible mediums, have the faculty to listen to them, and may thus talk to them; others see them: they are the seer mediums. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - History of Spiritism).
34. Spirits who manifest themselves to sight, generally, appear in a form similar to that which they had when alive, but more vaporous; sometimes, this form looks just like a living human being. Many a times, they were taken by a real person in the flesh, with whom one could talk and even shake hands, without the interlocutor suspecting that they were, indeed, Spirits. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
35. The permanent and general view of Spirits is very rare, but individual apparitions are quite frequent, especially at the moment of death. The freed Spirit seems to rush to go and see his relatives and friends, as if to warn them that he has just left Earth and tell them that he lives forever. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
36. May each one of us recall the past, and we will see how many facts of this kind, of which we were not aware at the time, occurred not only at night, during our sleep, but in broad daylight, in the most complete waking state. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
37. These things were once regarded as supernatural and marvelous, and attributed to magic and witchcraft; today the unbelievers classify them as caused by our imagination; but since the Spiritist Science found what caused them, we now know how they happen and they are simply natural phenomena. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
38. It is further believed that the Spirits, by the mere fact of being Spirits, have full knowledge, as well as full wisdom; this showed to be a mistake. Among the communications given by the Spirits, there are those that are sublime in depth, eloquence, wisdom, morality, and are kind and loving. But there are also the very vulgar, frivolous, trivial, even coarse ones and through which the Spirits show their most evil instincts. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
39. It is therefore evident that they do not come from the same source, and that if there are good Spirits, there are also evil Spirits. Spirits, being nothing other than the souls of men, cannot of course become perfect just because they have left their bodies; until they have progressed, they maintain the imperfections of their corporeal life; therefore, we see it in all levels of goodness and wickedness, of knowledge and ignorance. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
40. The Spirits generally communicate with pleasure, and it is a pleasure for them to see that they have not been forgotten and voluntarily describe their impressions in leaving the Earth, their new situation, the nature of their joys and sufferings in the Spiritual World where they now are. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
41. Some are very happy, others are unhappy, and some endure horrible torments, according to the manner in which they lived and the good or bad, useful or useless employment they have made of life. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - The History of Spiritism).
42. In observing them in every phase of their new existence, according to their position on Earth, their kind of death, their character, and their habits as men, one arrives at a very precise knowledge of the invisible world, and we become aware of our future state and perceive the happy or unhappy fortune that awaits us there. (Spiritism in its simplest expression - History of Spiritism). (To be continued on the next issue).
