The union of the soul
with the body

We know today that the union of the soul to the body begins at conception, but is only complete at the time of birth, but this was not the information conveyed in the work of Kardec's codification in the early years of Spiritism 

This article is a brief view of the development of spiritual union between the soul and body. We present an overview on the history of the doctrine; getting information that might help the scholars of Spiritism. 

Follow the comments of Allan Kardec on this item:

"The spirit or soul joins the body at the time the child sees the light and breathe. Before the birth the child has only organic life without soul. She lives as the plants, only the blind instinct of conservation, common in all living beings. "

At the beginning Spiritism says that the union of spirit with the body is at birth. In the uterus the child lives the life of plants, as we read in the above quote.

1860  

A change occurs in the second edition of The Spirits' Book, published in 1860, with regards to that.

" Question 344. In what time does the soul joins the body?

       "The union begins at conception, but is only complete at the time of birth. From the moment of conception, the spirit inhabiting a body designated for this is bound by a fluidic tie, which is increasingly tightening till the moment when the child sees the light. The baby’s cry announces that now it belongs to the living and is one of the servants of God. "  

Here the union does not start at birth, but it is complete then. It is the conception that marks the beginning of this union.

The spirits speak of a fluidic tie that binds the body and the soul and it is always tightening. This is the established thesis that we see in other works, and in 1868 is developed in greater detail.

Everything leads us to believe that the changed theory first appeared in the second edition of the cited work. We cannot guarantee it because we do not have their first editions of the works shown in the second thesis, published before 1860. All issues that the group has access are after the year of 1860. The only example is the March 1858 issue of the "Spiritist Journal: Journal of Psychological Studies."

1858  

In this copy we find the evocation of a spirit known as Dr. Xavier. He was asked several "Psychophysiological” questions.  

The introduction of this article is as follows:

"A physician (doctor) of great talent, who we call by the name of Xavier, which died a few months ago and had been very busy with magnetism, left a manuscript, which were supposed to revolutionize science. Before dying had read The Book of Spirits and had the desired contact the author but the disease that took him did not allowed him to do so. His evocation was made at the request of his family, and his answers were so instructive that they led us to include them in this collection, but removing all that was of particular interest. "  

Throughout the conversation between Allan Kardec with this Spirit we read the following:

"24. Q. – At what time does the union between soul and body happens in children?

A. - When the child breathes, as if he/she got the soul with the air outside.

25. Q. - How then do you explain the intrauterine life?

R. - As the plant that vegetates. The child lives his animal life."   

This answer is from the first edition, published the previous year. In another response the Spirit gives more details of this process:

"29. Q. – Is the union between soul and body instant or gradual? That is, does it require a considerable time for this union to complete?

R. - The Spirit does not come suddenly in the body. To measure this time, imagine that the first breath that the child receives is that the soul enters the body: the time that the chest rises and lowers it."  

However, at the end of the dialogue, Allan Kardec makes the following note:

"The theory given by the Spirit on the moment of union between the soul and the body is not accurate. The union starts from conception, that is, from the moment the Spirit, without being incarnated, connects to the body by a fluidic tie, which is tightening more and more, until the birth. The incarnation is only complete when the child breathes (See The Spirits' Book, paragraph 344 and following)."

Obviously this note came after the publication of the second edition of The Spirits’ Book, as the item 344, quoted by Allan Kardec, only deals with this theme in the 1860 edition.

It occurs that the 12 copies of the annual review were bound in one volume and sold later. The binding volume at our disposal dates 1863. 

1859  

We must cite another example of further editing showing this change. The book "What is Spiritism?" is a work from 1859, but we only have its second edition which was published in the following year, 1860.  

The text of this issue:

"116 - How and when does the union between soul and body happen?

Since the conception the Spirit, even when wandering, connects to the body that must become by a fluidic tie. This link is increasingly close as the body grows. Since that time, the Spirit is taken from a disturbance that will grow without ceasing, in the vicinity of the birth the disturbance is complete, the spirit loses consciousness of himself and only recover his ideas gradually from the moment the child breathe. It is then that the union is complete and final."

Here the established thesis is presented. Let us know if it was added in 1860, or is already present in the work in 1859.

Something worthy of note is that “the Spirit, even when wandering, connects to the body that must become by a fluidic tie” eg: Even with this initial union, the spirit is still in erraticity or wandering, the spirit is still in the world of spirits.  

Something interesting in The Spirits' Book of 1860 is that the item 86 of the first edition is not entirely discarded. The idea is redeveloped in a new item:  

"354. How do you explain intrauterine life?

"It's like a plant that vegetates. The child lives an animal life. The man has a vegetative life and an animal life that, at birth, form the spiritual life."  

In the edition of 1857, the spirits respond to Allan Kardec that the soul joins the body at birth. Before that, the child has no soul. It lives "as the plants."

In 1860, the spirits change their argument. Now is not the life of the plant, but the child lives an “animal life” and through birth begins to live a spiritual life. An answer that that fits more to the final thesis, presented in Section 344 of the same book. The spiritual life occurs when the union is complete. When? At birth.  

Going back to 1860  

Still in 1860, we find in the Spiritist Magazine of July an observation that gives details about the final thesis on the union of soul and body.  

Allan Kardec makes this observation when he published the evocation of Mrs. Duret, "psychography medium, killed on the 1st of May 1860, in Setif, Algeria. First invoked in the home of Mr. Allan Kardec, on 21st of May and then on the 25th in the Spiritist Society."

Observation:

"It is known that at the time of conception, the designated spirit to inhabit the body for that birth should be taken by a disturbance that will grow as the fluidic ties that unite the field, is tighten up by the vicinity of birth. At this time, the spirit loses all awareness and only begins to retrieve the ideas at the time the child breathes. Only then it becomes a complete and definitive union between the spirit and body."  

In 1861, Allan Kardec publishes "The Book of Mediums: Guide for Mediums and evocators." The chapter 25, entitled "Evocations", presents the following item:

"51st - Can one evoke a spirit whose body still attached to the mother?

"No, you know at that time the Spirit is in complete disturbance."

Note. The incarnation only becomes finalized when the child breathes, but since the conception of the body, the designated Spirit to animate it is stuck in a disturbance that increases as the birth approaches and it clouds its awareness and therefore they are unable to respond.  

Here we see that, although the reincarnation is not definitive, the spirit experiences a disturbance that is intensifying up to the birth. 

1864  

In 1864, in The Gospel according to Spiritism, St. Augustine seems to show a variation of the argument:

"Finally, after years of meditation and prayer, the Spirit takes advantage of a body in preparation in a family of someone who he hated, and asks the spirits responsible for transmitting the orders from above, the permission to go and fulfil the fate of the body just formed on earth."  

Here the reincarnating spirit seems to be searching a body. At the beginning of the quoted text, we could say that the body in preparation was not conceived yet. It would be about to become, indicated by the desire of the parents that the conception would happen soon. However the end of the sentence makes the idea clear: the body "has just being formed” and the spirit asks for permission to fill it.

This does not overturn the previous argument, is only another starting point for the union. This variant is not found in any other work of Allan Kardec. 

1868  

Finally, the year of 1868, with the publication of "The Genesis: The Miracles and Predictions according to the Spiritism", we see a more detailed explanation of the object of the first part of our text: the union of soul with the body:

"18th - When the Spirit must be incarnate in a human body in its developing stages, a fluidic tie, which is only an expansion of the perispirit, attaches the spirit to the germ on which it is attracted to by an irresistible force since the moment of conception. As the embryo develops, the tie is tightened, under the influence of the vital principle of the material germ, the perispirit, which has certain properties of matter, unify molecule by molecule with the body being formed; where we can say that the Spirit, through its perispirit, take in some way to root this germ, as a plant on earth. When the seed is fully developed, the union is complete, then he comes to live outside".  

In this detail of the argument we see the use of terms that, even in the set of spiritists ideas, only now are used to complete the explanation. Remember. The Spirit connects through a fluidic tie that is tightened up to the birth and that it is a complete union with the matter. The Spirit goes into a disturbance in which it loses consciousness of itself. It is with the birth he recovers some spiritual awareness. 

Now we are able to answer some questions.  

1. What is this fluidic tie?

It is an expansion of the perispirit.  

2. What does this tie do?

Attaches the Spirit to the germ on which it is attracted to by an irresistible force from the moment of conception.  

3. How does this union happen?

It happens by the unification of Molecule to molecule.  

4. Why is this molecular union possible?

This union is possible because the perispirit has certain properties of matter.  

5. What makes this union be complete?

The union is complete by the full development of the germ, that is, the total formation of the body to be used by the incarnating spirit.