The Revue Spirite of 1860

Part 11 - final

We end 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. The answers to the questions are at the end of the text for reading.

Questions for discussion

A. Is it true to say, like Mr. Louis Figuier, that Spiritist manifestations are modern?

B. How do we get rid of a Spirit that torments us?

C. What can happen in the spiritual life to a person who has never helped anyone?

D. What does it take to acquire virtues?

Text for reading

228. According to Kardec, the pagan theogony and mythology are nothing but a poetic painting of the Spiritist life through allegories. (Page 384)

229. The Encoder says that Christian art resents the austerity of its origin and draws its inspiration from the suffering of the early followers, whose persecutions have led men to isolation and seclusion. (Page 385)

230. Spiritism, in turn, opens to art a new field, immense and not yet explored. When the Spiritist artist begins to work with conviction, as the Christian artists worked, he will reap the most sublime inspirations in this source. (Page 386)

231. Kardec concludes his analysis of Louis Figuier's book "History of the Marvelous," and states that it is a mistake to say, as Figuier does, that Spiritist manifestations are entirely modern. (Page 387)

232. Following, the Encoder highlights the incredible progress of Spiritist ideas, which no press helped divulging, and reports that the 2nd edition of The Book of Spirits was sold out in four months. (Pages 387 and 388) 

233. For Mr. Figuier, the philosophy contained in The Book of Spirits is obsolete and its morality makes one sleep. No doubt, says Kardec, he would have preferred a funny and lively morality: "But what can I do? It is a morality for the use of the soul, in fact, it would always have an advantage: to make one sleep. For him it is a prescription in case of insomnia". (Page 395)

234. The Spirit who identified himself as Baltazar (see item 210) is actually Mr. G ... de la R ..., a person known for his eccentricities, his fortune and his gastronomic tastes, who confessed that his attachment to material life "materialized" his Spirit to such a point that it would take him a long time to break all earthly bonds of the passions that bound him to the Earth. (Pages 395 and 396)

235. Kardec analyzes the case of a Revue subscriber who was tormented by a Spirit in a process of simple obsession. At his request, the Encoder explained that he would not be rid of the Spirit either by anger, or by threats, but by patience, and that it was still necessary to subdue him by the moral ascendant and seek to make it better by good counseling. (Page 397)

236. Consulted, the obsessor confessed that he acted like this out of envy. Kardec comments on the case by saying that envy blinds and sometimes impels man to acts contrary to his interests, whether in space or on Earth. (Page 399)

237. The Revue brings a message from a guilty Spirit who states that our earthly sufferings will never allow us to understand the anguish of a soul that suffers relentlessly, without hope, without repentance. (Page 401)

238. The Spirit of Clare, who had never helped anyone on Earth, said that her misery grew day by day, and she cursed the guilty hours, the hours of selfishness and oblivion in which, ignorant of all charity, all devotion, she only thought of her well-being! (Page 402)

239. "Do you believe, then, that isolated prayers and saying my name will be enough to calm down my suffering?" "No, a hundred times no, I roar of pain; of error without rest, without a home, without hope, feeling the eternal sting of punishment enter my rebellious soul" – this is Clara's outburst. (Page 403)

240. The spiritual guide of the psychic commented on Clara's communication that she did not kill, steal, or commit any crime in human eyes. She only had fun with what we call earthly pleasures: beauty, fortune, pleasure, adulation, in which everything smiled at her and nothing was lacking. But she was selfish, she only loved herself and now no one loves her. (Page 403)

241. Alfred de Musset (Spirit) says that the Fathers of the Church, who founded this sublime religion in its origin, were more Spiritist than us and preached the same doctrine taught by Spiritism: charity, goodness, forgetfulness, forgiveness and self-denial. (Page 404)

242. The Spirit of Delphine de Girardin lectures on reincarnation and its logic and states that it is enough to look within ourselves to find the evidence of reincarnation. (Page 407)

243. "To acquire virtue, one must work", says Delphine. Moral fortune is not transmitted with material fortune: "To cleanse yourselves spiritually, you must live through various bodies that carry with them, each time they are replaced, a part of your impurities". (Page 408) 

244. Speaking of the All Souls ’ Day, Charles Nodier (Spirit) makes it clear that on that date the Spirits go to the cemeteries because the thoughts and prayers of the loved ones are there. (Page 408)

245. Nodier says, "According to the manner in which you have lived down here, you will be received before God." What is life, after all? It is a very brief emigration of the Spirit on Earth, however, in which you may heap a treasury of graces or prepare for cruel torments". (Page 408)

246. Lamennais (Spirit) compares the present world to Lazarus and exclaims: "Oh world! Thou seest Lazarus: nothing can restore thee to life: thy materialism, thy foolishness, thy skepticism are so many bands that wrap thy corpse, and you smell bad for it has been a long time since you are dead. Who will shout at you like Lazarus: In the name of God, rise up? It is the Christ, who obeys the call of the Holy Spirit. Century, God’s voice was heard! Are you more rotten than Lazarus?" (Pages 409 and 410) 

Answers to the questions

A. Is it true to say, like Mr. Louis Figuier, that Spiritist manifestations are modern?

No, in his analysis of Mr. Figuier's book "History of the Marvelous," Kardec stated that it is untrue to say that the Spiritist manifestations are entirely modern, since in every age there are innumerable records of manifestations of the so-called dead. (Revue Spirite, page 387.)

B. How do we get rid of a Spirit that torments us?

According to the Encoder of Spiritism, no one gets rid of a Spirit by means of anger or threats, but by patience, and in addition it is necessary to dominate it by the moral ascendant and to seek to make it better by means of good advice. (Ibid, page 397.) 

C. What can happen in the spiritual life to a person who has never helped anyone?

Each case has, of course, its peculiarities. In the case of Clara, who never helped anyone on Earth, the magazine records the information that her suffering was increasing day by day and, therefore, she cursed the hours of selfishness and oblivion in which, ignorant of all charity, she only thought of her well-being here! (Ibid, pages 402 and 403.)

D. What does it take to acquire virtues?

For this, says Delphine de Girardin (Spirit), it is necessary to work, because the moral fortune is not bequeathed with the material fortune. "To purify yourselves, you must go through various bodies that take with them, in each divestment, a part of your impurities," said the Spirit. (Ibid, pages 407 and 408).

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