The
pioneer mediums
of Spiritism
We present in this issue
the topic #98 from the
Systematized Study of
the Spiritist Doctrine,
that is being presented
weekly, according to the
programme elaborated by
the Brazilian Spiritist
Federation (FEB),
structured in 6 modules
and 147 topics.
If the reader uses this
program for a study
group, we suggest that
questions proposed be
discussed freely before
the reading of the text
that follows. If you
would like to study
alone, we ask you to try
to answer the questions
at first and only then
read the text that
follows. The answer key
can be found at the end
of the lesson.
Questions
1. Arthur Conan Doyle,
in his book "History of
the Spiritism"
designates three mediums
as the pioneers of
Spiritism. Who are they?
2. The first of the
mediums mentioned by
Conan Doyle was born in
Sweden. In which time
did he live in and what
were the mediumistic
faculties that
distinguished him?
3. How did the Swedish
psychic describe life in
the Spiritual
Plan?
4. Who was Edward Irving
and which phenomenas
occured in his church?
5. Which mediumistic
faculties distinguished
the medium Andrew
Jackson Davis?
Text
Swedenborg is considered
one of the pioneers of
the Spiritism
1. In his book "History
of the Spiritism,"
Arthur Conan Doyle
designates as pioneers
of the Spiritism three
extraordinary mediums:
Emmanuel Swedenborg,
Edward Irving and Andrew
Jackson Davis. In the
chronological order of
their appearance in the
world, the first one was
Swedenborg.
2. The creator of the
detective Sherlock
Holmes says that it has
never been seen so much
knowledge in a single
medium. Mining engineer
and an authority on
metallurgy, Swedenborg
was, as military
engineer, responsible
for the success of many
campaigns carried out by
Charles XII of Sweden.
But his culture was not
limited to engineering,
because, being an
authority in Physics and
Astronomy as well,
Swedenborg was the
author of important
works on the tides and
on the determination of
latitudes, possessor of
an extensive knowledge
in the field of zoology,
anatomy, public finances
and politics.
3. Studious of the Bible,
had his psychic
development revealed at
the age of 25 and it
could be verified and
attested by several
witnesses, as the
philosopher Kant, who
wrote a letter about it,
which became famous,
addressed to Mrs. of
Knobich.
4. Emmanuel Swedenborg
was born in Stockholm,
Sweden in 1688 and
disincarnated in London
in 1772. Gifted with the
faculty of the sight, he
used to see quite often
scenes of the spiritual
world and of
disincarnated people who
he met in life, being
one of the first mediums
to describe the
ectoplasm as a "fluidic
vapor" that fell to the
floor on the carpet.
In the Spiritual Plan,
there are houses,
temples and palaces
5. Swedenborg - who left
us many works from his
mental faculties –
verified that the
spiritual world is
consisted of many
spheres and that each
one of us, after the
corporeal death, will go
to the one that best
fits our spiritual
condition. Long before
the revelations brought
by Chico Xavier,
Swedenborg described
houses located in the
Spiritual Plan in which
families lived in,
temples where they
practiced worship,
auditoriums where
spirits would gather for
social purposes, palaces
where the leaders
certainly should live.
His main works of
mediumistic origin were:
Heaven and Hell, The New
Jerusalem, Celestial
Arcana, Angelica Wisdom,
Apocalypse Revealed etc.
6. Death, said
Swedenborg, was soft,
because celestial beings
helped newcomers in
their new existence.
There, in the spiritual
plan, he saw angels and
demons, which were not,
however, different kinds
of us, but human beings
who had lived on earth
and souls that were
either overdued such as
demons, or highly
developed, as angels. We
do not, said the Swedish
visionary, change with
death, because we take
to the spiritual world
our acquired mental
habits, concerns and
prejudices. There is no
eternal punishment;
those who were in Hells
could work on their
departure using their
willpower.
7. Edward Irving
belonged to the poorest
class of labour workers
of Scotland, where he
was born in 1792 in the
town of Annan. He was a
giant physically and a
Hercules in strength.
His intelligence,
likewise, was masculine,
broad and bold, though
distorted by the first
education he received at
the bashful school of
the Scottish church,
which, when adult,
became pastor.
8. Irving, while
attracting huge crowds
to his sermons, created
serious problems with
the Church he served
because of his
theological opinions, in
a way, quite independent
and bold for that time.
When the siege around
him got tighter, several
mediumistic phenomenas
began to occur in his
church, especially
direct voices. Initially,
it was heard screams of
people as of a possessed,
at other moments, the
screams of men and women
in an incomprehensible
language, and with the
voices it could also be
heard, in an increasing
intensity, noises and
other sounds.
Andrew Jackson Davis
predicted the advent of
Spiritism
9. The voices quieted
down or the sound would
silence before the
appeals from Irving, but
that succession of
strange events led to a
great misunderstanding
on the part of his
superiors, successive
crises arose from this
which eventually
exhausted him. The
middle-aged giant
shrivelled and shrank,
its framework bowed, his
face became pale and
carved. However, working
until the end and having
on the lips these words:
"If I die, I will die
with The Lord," Irving
did not doubled and his
soul went to that
condition in which the
light is clearer and
more golden.
10. Andrew Jackson
Davis, nicknamed by some
in the United States, as
the "Father of the
Modern Spiritualism,"
the "Prophet of the New
Revelation" or "The
American Allan Kardec”,
for having announced the
advent of the Spiritism,
was born in 1826 in a
rural district located
in the State of New York
on the banks of the
Hudson River, and
disincarnated in
Watertown,
Massachusetts, in 1910.
11. When in trance,
spoke several languages,
including Hebrew, all of
them unknown to him,
when he discussed
matters of geology,
archeology, mythology,
as well as language and
social themes, although
he knew nothing of
grammar and of the
subject matters.
Clairvoyant and audient,
Davis was at the
beginning of his work,
used by Livingstone to
the achievement of
medical diagnosis. The
body of the people was
transparent to his
spiritual eyes; every
organ appeared to him
clearly and presented a
special and peculiar
radiation, which got
obscured in the event of
illness.
12. Inspired and guided
by the Spirit of
Swedenborg, Davis left
many mediumistic books
under the generic name
of Harmonic Philosophy
and Divine Revelations
of the Nature. In one -
"Principles of Nature" -
he predicted the advent
of the automobile, the
typewriter and the
Spiritism. Years later,
on January 25, 1863, he
founded the first
Spiritist School of
America, at Dodsworth
Hall, Broadway, New
York.
Answer
Key
1. Arthur Conan Doyle,
in his book "History of
the Spiritism"
designates three mediums
as the pioneers of
Spiritism. Who are they?
A.: Emmanuel Swedenborg,
Edward Irving and Andrew
Jackson Davis.
2. The first of the
mediums mentioned by
Conan Doyle was born in
Sweden. In which time
did he live in and what
were the mediumistic
faculties that
distinguished him?
A.: Emmanuel Swedenborg
was born in Stockholm,
Sweden in 1688 and
disincarnated in London
in 1772. Gifted with the
faculty of the sight, he
used to see quite often
scenes of the spiritual
world and of
disincarnated people who
he met in life, being
one of the first mediums
to describe the
ectoplasm as a "fluidic
vapor" that fell to the
floor on the carpet.
3. How did the Swedish
psychic describe life in
the Spiritual
Plan?
A.: Swedenborg said that
the spiritual world is
consisted of many
spheres and that each
one of us, after the
corporeal death, will go
to the one that best
fits our spiritual
condition. Long before
the revelations brought
by Chico Xavier,
Swedenborg described
houses located in the
Spiritual Plan in which
families lived in,
temples where they
practiced worship,
auditoriums where
spirits would gather for
social purposes, palaces
where the leaders
certainly should live.
4. Who was Edward Irving
and which phenomenas
occured in his church?
A.: Edward Irving
belonged to the poorest
class of labour workers
of Scotland, where he
was born in 1792 in the
town of Annan. He was a
pastor at a Scottish
church, where several
mediumistic phenomenas
began to occur,
especially direct voices.
Initially, it was heard
screams of people as of
a possessed, at other
moments, the screams of
men and women in an
incomprehensible
language, and with the
voices it could also be
heard, in an increasing
intensity, noises and
other sounds.
5. Which mediumistic
faculties distinguished
the medium Andrew
Jackson Davis?
A.: When in trance,
spoke several languages,
including Hebrew, all of
them unknown to him,
when he discussed
matters of geology,
archeology, mythology,
as well as language and
social themes, although
he knew nothing of
grammar and of the
subject matters.
Clairvoyant and audient,
Davis was at the
beginning of his work,
used by Livingstone to
the achievement of
medical diagnosis. The
body of the people was
transparent to his
spiritual eyes; every
organ appeared to him
clearly and presented a
special and peculiar
radiation, which got
obscured in the event of
illness.
Bibliography:
History
of Spiritism;
by Arthur Conan Doyle,
Ed. O Pensamento, 1st
edition, Pages 34 to 60.
In the
Invisisble;
by Léon Denis, FEB, 9ª
Edition, Page 402.
Basic
Spiritism;
by Pedro Franco Barbosa,
1ª Edition, Pages 175
and 176.
Allan
Kardec;
by Zeus Wantuil and
Francisco Thiesen, FEB,
1a. Edition,
2o volume,
Pages 86 to 91.
