"Who has already woken up is obliged to wake up those who are still sleeping, because time advances fast and those who remain asleep may miss the time of the last spacecraft." (BRUNO BERTOCCO)

In our studies, we often mention the collection of the Revista Espirita just to have the “pleasure” of seeing the face of astonishment of the majority. We noticed that most of the regulars never heard of it, although Allan Kardec (1804-1869), recommended its reading, even saying that its content completes the works: The Book of Spirits and the Book of Mediums (1). When listing the works for those who want to have preliminary notions of Spiritism, the Encoder recommends this order:
 

1st What is Spiritism - […].

2nd The Book of Spirits - […].

3rd The Book of Mediums - […].

4th Spiritist Magazine - Varied collection of facts, theoretical explanations and isolated excerpts, which complete what is found in the two previous works, and which, in a way, represent its application. Its reading can be done at the same time as that of those works, however, it will be more profitable and, above all, more understandable, if it is done after The Book of Spirits (²)

This should not surprise us, but perhaps we are studying the works of the Codification superficially and, therefore, going over important details. We confess to having been surprised by the recommendation to read What is Spiritism first, since, as a rule, it is recommended to start by reading The Book of Spirits.

In the At the time of Testimony, Jose Herculano Pires (1914-1979), guides us by saying:

[…] We need to study Kardec intensively, to learn the teachings of the basic works, to drop into the golden pages of the “Spiritist Magazine”, not only reading, but meditating about them, reinforcing them, rediscovering all the treasure of experiences, examples, teachings and morality that Kardec left us. […]. (³) (emphasis added)

Herculano Pires’ vision regarding the need to also study the Spiritist Magazine is very clear.

On another occasion we said that it is with great sadness that we see that, in the Spiritist environment, the Spiritist Magazine is not studied as suggested by Allan Kardec. In our studies, we have found very interesting things in it, which, many a times, gave us proof that we should read it, even if we do not do it in the order suggested by the Encoder.

Recently, when reading Allan Karkec’s Biography, we discovered that the biographer Henri Sausse (1851-1928), also shared this way of thinking:

One thing that has often caused me pain, and which I have often noted with sadness, during the twenty-five years in which, as president, I directed the work of the Fraternal Society, is the indifference of the Spiritists in reading the early years of the Revue Spirite. During this period, from 1858 to 1869, Allan Kardec traced the main lines of the fundamental works of the Spiritist Doctrine, in which he feels himself gushing with abundance and ardent faith and the deep conviction that animated him, faith and conviction that he knew how to make so communicative. Many believe, however wrongly, that these writings have aged, that they are no longer up to date, that, having the idea advanced since then with giant steps, this reading offers no interest in our day. Deep and pitiful mistake. No, Allan Kardec's writings did not age, they did not become obsolete; on the contrary, they have retained all their vigor, all their purpose, in their clear brightness and are, more than ever, current.

How many wise precepts, how many prudent and enlightened advices, how many examples lived in these first twelve years of the Revue Spirite and how much, in my opinion, we have been wrong to neglect this source of information on all the points that may concern us, regarding to the Spiritist Doctrine. (⁴) (emphasis added)

We transcribe these two paragraphs from Sausse's “Preamble”. The significant detail, which we cannot fail to mention, is that it is dated March 31, 1909. Thus, it is proven that the little value given to this work of the Codification is not of today.

Returning to Herculano Pires, now with the work On the Threshold of Tomorrow, we see these explanations:

[…] It is also necessary to remember that there is also the Spiritist Magazine, by Allan Kardec. There are no less than 12 volumes, with about 400 pages each, but it is an indispensable collection for a good knowledge of the Spiritist Doctrine. […].

The Spiritist Magazine, by Allan Kardec, already exists, fortunately, in Brazil, edited in Portuguese in 12 volumes. After Kardec, the magazine continued to be published. But what interests us, from the doctrinal point of view, is the collection referring to the time of the Encoder (1858 to 1869), because it brings not only his thought, but also the facts he observed, the research he did during about 12 years, at the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies.

These 12 volumes of the magazine include the research reports, the important communications received by him and his studies, developing aspects of Spiritism that he, naturally, could not develop in the Basic Works, which had the purpose of structuring the Doctrine, but not entering in minutiae, in details, that would come later and that are important for your deeper knowledge. (⁵) (emphasis added) 

We understand that it is an essential collection for the doctrinal study, we cannot focus only on the works of the “Kardec’s Pentateuch”, we have no idea who invented this designation, perhaps someone still attached to the theological concepts of his original religion, as well says Herculano Pires in The Spirit and Time:  

[...] Doctrinal learning requires unity and sequence, in order to achieve a global vision of the Doctrine. All of Kardec's works must appear in these works, from the initial books, through the Codification itself, to the volumes of the Spiritist Magazine. We need to convince ourselves of this reality that not everyone achieves: Spiritism is Kardec. Because he was the structurer of the Doctrine, permanently assisted by the Spirit of Truth. All other spiritist books, whether mediumistic or not, are subsidiary. Studying, for example, a work by Emmanuel or Andre Luiz without relating it to the works of Kardec, on the pretext that these spiritual authors have surpassed the Teacher (whose works we do not yet know sufficiently) is to demonstrate a lack of understanding of meaning and nature of the Doctrine. These and other respectable authors contribute to our greater understanding of Kardec. They cannot replace it. […]. (⁶) (emphasis added)

Unfortunately, in our environment, we see the study of other works, without wanting to belittle them, to the detriment of what Herculano Pires called “Spiritism is Kardec”.

It is true that no one is forbidding to study other works, however, what should not be done is to concentrate on them as if in matters of Spiritism only they contained something to teach. We can safely say that the possibility of learning will be much greater when we look at the Spiritist Magazine, to learn more about the work of the Encoder.

In the Spiritist Magazine 1865, in January, Allan Kardec tells us about the serious case of obsession of a young woman from Marmande, a French commune, in which he gives an explanation that we only saw in the Spiritist Magazine, at least as the way he explained it:

If one were to ask why God allows evil spirits to satisfy their rage in the innocent, we will say that there is no undeserved suffering, and the one who today is innocent and suffering, certainly still has some debt to pay. These evil spirits serve, in this case, as an instrument of atonement. Furthermore, their malevolence is a trial for patience, resignation and charity. (⁷)

We can, say with absolute certainty, we will learn a lot from reading the collection of the Spiritist Magazine. That is the reason why we wrote this small article to present it to you.

References:

KARDEC, A. The Book of Mediums. Brasilia: FEB, 2013.

KARDEC, A. The Spiritist Magazine 1865. Araras (SP): IDE, 2000.

PIRES, J. H. At the Time of Testimony. Sao Paulo: Paideia, 1978.

PIRES, J. H. On the Threshold of Tomorrow. Sao Paulo: Editora Camille Flammarion, 2001.

PIRES, J. H. The Spirit and Time. Sao Paulo: Paideia, 2003.

SAUSSE, H. Allan Kardec’s Biography. Sao Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional, 2015.

___________________ 

[1]   KARDEC, The Book of Mediums, p. 53.

[2]   KARDEC, The Book of Mediums, p. 40-41.

[3]   PIRES, At the Time of Testimony, p. 19.

[4]   SAUSSE, Allan Kardec’s Biography, p. 12-13.

[5]   PIRES, On the Threshold of Tomorrow, p. 115. 

[6]   PIRES, The Spirit and Time, p. 190-191. 

[7]   KARDEC, Spiritist Magazine 1865, p. 14.