Part 4
We continue in this issue the study of the Revue Spirite
corresponding to the year of 1862. The condensed
text of the mentioned volume will hereby be presented in
sixteen parts, based on the translation of Julio Abreu
Filho and published by EDICEL.
Issues for discussion
A. Does the plurality of physical lives break family
ties?
B. Who does Jobard say he saw in the premises of the
Spiritist Society of Paris?
C. When is it easier to identify the Spirits?
Text for reading
36. Apologizing for not being able to answer the letters
of the readers, who reached the daily average of ten,
Kardec explains that the evocations, which many
proposed, could only be made when there was a general
interest in them. (Pages 63 and 64)
37. Kardec analyzes the issue - proposed by opponents of
the Doctrine of Reincarnation - that the plurality of
physical lives would break family ties. The Encoder says
that the exact opposite is true. (Pages 65 to 67)
38. Referring next to Swedenborg, who in the "Arcana"
attributes the aroma to the reproduction of flowers,
Kardec states that the volatile essential oil which
gives the aroma to flowers has never had the power of
reproduction, which resides solely in pollen. (Page 68)
39. Jobard manifested himself spontaneously in the
Spiritist Society of Paris and said of his impressions
at the time of the separation of his soul, after his
bodily death. After a strange shaking, his whole life
was clearly in his memory, from birth, through youth,
into old age. (Pages 69 and 70)
40. Here is some information provided by Jobard: I - He
remembered his previous lives and thought he was even
getting better. II - In the penultimate life, he was a
mechanic gnawed by misery and the desire to perfect his
work, which he accomplished as Jobard. III. In the
premises of the Society, he could see the Spirits there
and mentioned Lazarus, Erastus, and the Spirit of Truth,
and a multitude of friendly Spirits. IV - Now with
greater lucidity, the system that attributes the
formation of the Earth to the inlaying of four planets
was a mistake. (Pages 71 to 73)
41. Later evoked in another Spiritist group, Ms. Dozon
being the medium, Jobard said that "The Book of Spirits"
had made a true revolution in his soul and it was so
good that it was impossible to describe.
(P.75)
42. Months later, when a subscription was made by the
Spiritist Society of Paris in favor of the workers of
Lyons, a member cast 25 francs in the name of Jobard,
who thanked the memory of his name and praised the
gesture of his friends, saying that he would have done
the same, if he still lived in our world.
(P. 78)
43. When it was considered raising a monument to Mr.
Jobard through subscriptions of his friends, and asked
what he thought, he replied: "To start with, give your
money to the poor; and if by chance the pockets of your
vests have been left with a few francs, have a statue
erected". Subscription has opened.
(P. 79)
44. Kardec recalls that one of the difficulties of
Spiritism is the identification of the Spirits who
manifest themselves. The best proof, he says, is that of
the spontaneity of communications, but the identity of
the Spirits who lived in remote ages is more or less
impossible to verify, and therefore names are of a
relative importance. (P. 79)
45. It is no longer the case with the contemporary
Spirits, whose character and habits are known to us and
who can prove their identity by particularities and
details, which we must not ask but wait for. (P. 80)
46. The evocation of the Spirit of Carrere brought
specific peculiarities, confirmed later by Mr. Sabo.
(Pages 80 and 81)
(Continues on next
issue).
Answers to the proposed issues
A. Does the plurality of physical lives break family
ties?
Opponents of the Doctrine of Reincarnation say yes.
Looking at the subject, Kardec says that it does not and
states that the opposite is true, since reincarnation
makes relations between members of the same family
firmer and more stable. (Revue Spirite of 1862,
pages 65 to 67).
B. Who does Jobard say he saw in the premises of the
Spiritist Society of Paris?
Jobard stated spontaneously in his message that he had
seen several Spirits there, such as Lazarus, Erastus,
and the Spirit of Truth, and a multitude of friendly
Spirits. (Ibid, pages 70 to 73).
C. When is it easier to identify the Spirits?
According to Kardec, the identity of the Spirits, who
lived in remote eras, is more or less impossible to
verify, reason why one must consider names with a
relative importance. The same is no longer the case with
contemporary Spirits, whose character and habits are
known to us and who can prove their identity by
particularities and details which they themselves
provide. (Ibid, pages 79 and 80).
