The Revue Spirite of 1860
Parte 5

We continue in this issue the study of the Revue Spirite of 1860, a monthly newspaper focused on the divulgation of Spiritism, founded and directed by Allan Kardec. This study is based on the translation into the Portuguese language made by Julio Abreu Filho and published by EDICEL. The answers to the questions are at the end of the text for reading.

Questions for discussion

A. Is it true that Kardec also faced a case of mystification?
B. What did Kardec learn when talking to the soul of a young idiot still incarnated?
C. Are all mediums subject to being deceived by Spirits?
D. Which shortcomings of the medium allow evil Spirits to easily access them?

Text for reading

101. St. Louis says: Be very careful when approaching scientific theories, because it is in this issue that you must fear the phony and the pseudo-wise Spirits. Occupy yourself with your own improvement. This is very important. (P. 171)

102. Kardec asks St. Louis to explain why in the previous week he had let a phony Spirit speak in his name, even though he was present. The answer makes us think and deserves to be considered. (Pages 172 and 173)

103. St. Louis tells him: "You wonder at what happened, but did you look closely at the faces of those who listen to you, when you make this invocation? More than once did you not see the smile of sarcasm on certain lips? And he warns: "That is why I tell you not to receive the first one that manifests; avoid the curious and those who do not come to learn". (P. 173)

104. Kardec says that Spiritism has from the beginning found great opposition in England, and he attributes the fact to the influence of the religious ideas of certain sects, clinging more to the word than to the spirit of their dogmas. The Spiritist Doctrine seemed to them contrary to their beliefs. (Pages 175 and 176) 

105. After some time, seeing that the Spiritist ideas have their source in the Christian ideas, nothing more was opposed to the progress of these new ideas. They quickly spread in that country and gave rise to the monthly newspaper "The Spiritual Magazine", released in May 1860. (P. 176)

106. Next, Kardec transcribes from the English newspaper a curious article signed by S.C. Hall, relating Spiritist facts that occurred in 1820 on the French coast, very similar to those of the Fox sisters (Pages 176 and 177)

107. One night, when the strokes were heard, as usually happened in that house, someone had the idea to ask: "If you are a Spirit, hit six strokes" and immediately the six strokes were heard. (P. 178)

108. One day, beyond the beatings, everyone heard a human voice: it was the Spirit that sang accompanying the incarnate singing too. Then the voice spoke to them in French, and the Spirit called himself Gaspard. (P. 178)

109. From Marseilles, Kardec received the information that a young man, who had died eight months ago, evoked by his family, has the habit of communicating with the aid of a basket. Every time he shows up, a puppy that he liked very much jumps on the table and starts to smell the basket, whining. (Pages 179 and 180)

110. Charlet explains that the dog is endowed with a very particular organism. He understands the man, feels and follows him in all his actions with the curiosity of a child. (P. 180)

111. The Spirit of Georges informs that, due to its nervous fibers, the dog is put in direct contact with the Spirits, almost as much as with men. The dog notices the apparitions; he realizes the difference between them and earthly things, and he is very afraid of them. (P. 181)

112. Kardec evokes Charles de Saint-G..., a 13-year-old idiot, still incarnate, whose intellectual faculties are such a nullity that he does not even recognize his parents. (P. 181)

113. Charles is aware of his condition and knows why he was born that way. "I am a poor Spirit bound to the Earth, like a bird stuck by its paw", he said. Kardec, commenting on the case, says that the imperfection of the organs is only an obstacle to the free manifestation of the faculties; it does not annihilate them. (Pages 182 and 183)

114. The psychic Mrs. Duret, disembodied in May and evoked by Kardec, tells him that she was often deceived by the Spirits and that there are few psychics who have not yet, more or less, gone through this experience. (P. 183)

115. This fact, she says, depends very much on the medium and on the one who questions the Sprit, i.e., it is always possible to preserve oneself from evil Spirits. And the first condition for this is not to attract them by weakness or shortcomings. (P. 184)

116. Speaking of obsession, Mme. Duret says that death does not free man from the obsession of evil Spirits, who continue to chase him. (P. 185)

117. Spiritist communications are all the more reliable according to the psychic’s qualities. The shortcomings that give more access to evil Spirits are pride and envy. A proud and envious psychic, who practices very little charity, has a higher chance of being deceived. (Pages 186 and 187)

118. Kardec is imperative: Every dictated advice or any inspired feeling that shows the smallest clue of an evil thought is therefore of suspect origin, whatever the qualities of style. (P. 187)

119. Mrs. Duret said that psychic seers can also be deceived by the Spirits when not inspired by God. (P. 187)

120. The psychic, talking about her disincarnating, said that from the point of agony, she had lost consciousness of herself, a fact that lasted for about 15 to 18 hours and which varies from person to person. (P. 188)

121. The spirits she had evoked in her life revisited her and this touched her very much. Then Duret exclaimed: "If you only knew how pleasant it is to meet your friends in this world!" (P. 189)

122. The world of the Spirits, then, seemed to him a new thing, a fact which, although surprising, is very common, and Kardec explains. (P. 189) (Continued on next issue).

Answers to the questions

A. Is it true that Kardec also faced a case of mystification?
Yes. In the middle of a meeting at the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, presided by Kardec, a phony Spirit spoke as if it were St. Louis. The Encoder perceived the fact and asked for an explanation for such an occurrence. St. Louis, in the following session, explained what happened. "You are surprised with what happened," said St. Louis. "But did you look closely at the faces of those who listen to you, when you make this invocation?" More than once did you not see the smile of sarcasm on certain lips? And he warned, "That is why I tell you not to receive the first one that manifests, avoid the curious and those who do not come to learn". The fact shows how prudence and seriousness are essential to the effectiveness of psychic sessions. (Revue Spirite, 1860, pages 172 and 173). 

B. What did Kardec learn when talking to the soul of a young idiot still incarnated?
The young man was Charles de Saint-G... he was 13 years old and his intellectual faculties were such a nullity that he did not even recognize his parents. In his conversation with Kardec, however, he showed that he was aware of his condition and knew why he had been born. "I am a poor Spirit bound to the Earth, like a bird stuck by its paw”.  Commenting on the case, Kardec says that the imperfection of the organs is only an obstacle to the free manifestation of the faculties, but does not annihilate them, which shows that the children we call exceptional or special, although often they cannot manifest, they are aware of what happens around them. (Ibid, Pages 181-183).

C. Are all mediums subject to being deceived by Spirits?

According to the medium Mrs. Duret, few mediums are not deceived by Spirits. She herself acknowledged, after disincarnating, that she had been deceived more than once; and Francisco Candido Xavier also admitted having faced this issue. This fact, says Mrs. Duret, depends very much on the medium and on the questioner, and the first condition for this is not to attract evil Spirits due to their weakness or shortcomings. (Ibid, pages 183 and 184).

D. Which shortcomings of the medium allow evil Spirits to easily access them?
The shortcomings that give more access to evil Spirits are pride and envy. In a medium in which there is pride, envy, and very little charity is practiced, there is more chance of being deceived. (Ibid, pages 186 and 187).

Translation:
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br