The irregular practice
of Mediumship

 
We present in this issue the topic #111 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- What is necessary for someone to develop the mediumship?

2- Is it dangerous to throw yourself to spiritual experiments without prudence?

3- Does mediumship mean trouble itself even if there isn’t mal practice of it?

4- Does mediumship mean that the medium himself has any kind of pathologic disturbance?

5- Can the exercise of medianimity lead to madness?

Text

It’s necessary to be prudent when dealing with the spiritual world 

1- Leon Denis teach us that a individual has to submit himself/herself to a complex preparation and follow some rules of conduct to develop mediumship. It’s also necessary to be intelligent, to meditate, to concentrate and not to be too interested in the material things.

2- Not evolved spirits are in our environment all the time, incapable of wanting better things which  are not in the material world. They influence our life, they participate of the work and leisure of the ones they feel connected to somehow; because of  similar habits or character. Sometimes they are able to completely control and dominate weak characters that don’t know how to combat their bad influence. In this case, their spiritual influence can lead people to crime and madness.

3- The ones who throw themselves without prudence to spiritual experiments are in danger. The individuals with good hearts, with mature and reasonable way of seeing things, can learn valuable things from the communications. But the individual driven only by material interest or who saw in the communication only reason to be amused, is taking the risk of being victim of mystifications and a toy for not evolved spirits. Theses spirits would get this individual’s trust  and use it against him/her in the future to create disappointment and make fun of his/her life.

4- It’s important to be prudent when dealing with the spiritual world. The good and the bad, the truth and the lie are part of the spiritual world and it’s necessary to be attentive and scrutinise all the communications to select the ones which are only good and truthful.   

Mediumship doesn’t have anything to do with disease or madness 

5- Another important issue for mediumship is to avoid that mediums take advantage of it. The long exercise of any practice can drain any individual and the same happens to mediumship. Mainly mediums of physical spirit-phenomena, which needs a considerable amount of fluids to happen, forcing the medium to rest to not be drained. That’s the explanation for the medium being tired and needing rest.

6- Does mediumship mean trouble itself even if there isn’t mal practice of it? Answering to this question, the evolved spirits say: “"There are cases in which the physical or moral state of a medium may render imprudent, or even necessary, to abstain from exercising it, or, at least, to exercise it with great moderation. A medium is generally warned, when this is the case, by his own feeling; and he should always abstain from using his medianimity when he is Conscious of fatigue in so doing." ( The Medium’s Book, item 221, question 3).

7- The information above doesn’t mean that mediumship brings any kind of diseases. Mediumship doesn’t have anything to do with disease. There are many healthy mediums, and the ones who are not, cannot blame mediumship for it. They should look for the reasons in other origins.

8- The same observation must be made about the quote that mediumship can lead individuals to madness. "No more than anything else may produce it, when there is a predisposition to brain-disease. Mediumship will not produce madness, where the germ of madness does not exist; but, where that germ exists (which is easily known), commonsense should suffice to show you the necessity of avoiding every kind of mental excitement." (The Medium’s Book, item 221, question 5).   

Madness has its roots in actions from the past 

9- Kardec affirms: “Intense mental application of any kind may induce cerebral disease; science, art, religion even, have all furnished their quota of madmen. The predisposing cause of madness is to be found in some tendency of the brain that renders it more or less accessible to certain impressions; and, where the predisposition to insanity exists, its manifestation takes on the character of the pursuit to which the mind is most addicted, and which then assumes the form of a fixed idea. This fixed idea may be that of spirits, in the case of those who have been deeply absorbed by spiritist matters; as it may be that of God, of angels, the devil, fortune, power, an art, a science, a political or social system. It is probable that]at the victim of religious mania would have gone mad on Spiritism, if Spiritism had been his predominant mental occupation; just as he who goes mad over Spiritism would, under other circumstances, have gone mad over something else. We assert, therefore, that Spiritism does not predispose to insanity; nay, more, we assert that, when correctly understood, it is a preservative against insanity.” ( The Spirit’s Book, Introduction, item XV).  

10- When it’s affirmed that madness has, as a primary cause, a physiologic  predisposition of the brain, we would like to clarify that the brain has it for a karmic reason. Madness itself has its roots in the actions practiced by the spirit in past lives.  

11- It’s given the name of “karmic causes” to those which were precedent to the present life, and that come printed in the perispirit of the individual, connected to the mistakes he/she has made in precedent lives. Mistakes related to people whom he/she lied to, used, tricked and hurt. It’s all explained in the book Grilhoes partidos by the spirit of Manoel Miranda and by the medium Divaldo Franco.  

12- There isn’t a real reason for people to believe that mediumship leads to madness. On the contrary, as Allan Kardec affirmed. Mediumship under the light of Spiritism is a preservative against insanity because spiritualists see the world through another perspective and their convictions give them the power of resigning. Resigning preserves them against despair that could lead them to disturbance and even suicide.

Answer Key