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O Consolador: What are the activities you develop related to Spiritism?

Besides representing the Polish Society for Spiritist Studies (Polskie Towarzystwo Studiów Spirytystycznych), I also translate spiritist lectures from Brazilians who come to Poland to bring the spiritist message. I have translated speeches from Divaldo Franco and Sérgio Thiesen. I have also translated several articles from French and Portuguese to Polish. I have now started to translate the first book from the André Luiz series into Polish: OUR SPIRITUAL HOME (Nosso Lar). Nosso Lar (Our Spiritual Home) gives us valuable insights into the workings of the next life and the many ways the higher spirits can teach us for the spiritual improvement of our souls. 

O Consolador: How was your first contact with Spiritism? 

I read THE SPIRIT'S BOOK for the first time in Brazil. My wife comes from Rio de Janeiro, and I found this book at her house. Philosophical topics have always intrigued me, which was why I read the book in a few hours. Interesting enough, THE SPIRIT'S BOOK didn’t seem to be a new revelation for me. I felt I knew those answers already, and it opened up a new door within my mind. It took me another year to start getting involved with Spiritism, since my mind needed time to process all this. I then came to conclusion this was the philosophy of life I was searching for, and now I want to share it with everyone.

O Consolador: What was your family’s reaction?  

90% of the Polish population is catholic. Even those who are not involved with religion have a catholic mind, let’s say. This religion is part of our culture and tradition. A part of my family accepted Kardec’s ideas out of curiosity. Nevertheless, some people didn’t like the fact I followed a different path. 

O Consolador: How do you Spiritism?

Only Spiritism can explain where we came from, who we are and where we are going.  Spiritism is the answer to all questions Humanity has been wondering for centuries. It makes us be able to say: «I know»; not «I believe». It is the only doctrine that places love in a spot-light, but never above charity. It is a patch worth to be followed. 

O Consolador: Which of the threes aspects of Spiritism (Science, Philosophy or Religion) attract you the most? 

The aspects of Spiritism that matter the most for me are Science and Philosophy. Allan Kardec defined Spiritism as a science by saying it will be a science, or it won’t exist. I will always support the work aimed to prove spiritist phenomena, but what attracts me the most in Spiritism is Philosophy. Spiritist philosophy explains the reason for suffering in such a logical way, and it also shows us the path we should be following. 

O Consolador: How do you see abortion and the discussion that is going on around this topic?  

Education throughout society is very important, and we need to talk about abortion as well. Even Allan Kardec developed a pedagogical educational work, since this is the best way to obtain good results from society. If a person receives good moral education, I believe this individual will know which path to choose. Abortion is being discussed in Poland for many years. The church has an important role here and has our support on it. I believe the polish society is also conscious about impact of abortion, which is why we don’t believe to be important now to focus on it. 

O Consolador: Have you had contact with the Brazilian Spiritist Movement?  

I am in constant contact with spiritists from different parts of Brazil and worldwide. I had the opportunity to take part on different events organised by the Brazilian Spiritist Movement, and I admire the social work developed in Brazil through Spiritism. Therefore, I believe Brazilian spiritists are struggling to disclose the Doctrine outside Brazil. I have noticed in many countries that its members are mostly Brazilians. As a consequence, the work is being developed in Portuguese. We go through the same difficulties over here.  In the beginning, the polish movement had mostly Brazilians involved and the meetings were held in Portuguese. I knew deep down we couldn’t move forward if we kept working like that. We needed to get into the hearts of the Polish people. There are not many Brazilians here, let alone Brazilian spiritists, which is why we had to change our attitude. The meetings are all held in Polish now, and the foundation of our group is made of mostly Polish colleagues.  

O Consolador: Why can’t Brazilians disclose Spiritism efficiently in other countries? 

A few years ago I went to a spiritist congress in Boston. There were 100 people there, but only two were not Brazilians: me and a Spanish guy who came with his Brazilian girlfriend. I thought to myself: what have we missed? I had the same experience in my home country. I talked to my Brazilian friends about that, and came to conclusion two factors had a big influence on that. First, we have this sense of pride, which I know I also struggle with, of knowing Spiritism. We know a lot about the Doctrine and are based in a country which needs this knowledge so deeply. Second, I used to think I was one disciple who was in Poland to convert people, but I was wrong. My work does not involve converting anyone.

My work involves learning, especially learning to respect others point of views, their convictions and talk about mine without hurting anyone. Once I have spoken to a friend of mine about Spiritism. He said something I will never forget: «I like what you say, but I will continue being Catholic». These words were very important for me. Our work is to talk about Spiritism, without imposing our ideas to anyone. That’s why I focused on the internet.  

I here present what I believe to be the most beautiful Philosophy of Humanity. The Spiritist Doctrine is so logical that sooner or later everyone will accept it. Some people need more time, perhaps many incarnations. If they feel their religion is the right one to be followed, we should not force them to change. I learn a lot from Catholic friends. Allan Kardec said: «Without charity there is no salvation». Chico Xavier said: «If Allan Kardec had said: without Spiritism there is no salvation, I would have chosen a different path. Thanks God, he said: Without charity there is no salvation». 

O Consolador: What other factor is making it difficult to disclose the Spiritist Doctrine outside Brazil? 

Societies are made of people, and people have varied cultures. The way to present Spiritism in different countries should also change. Spiritism in India or will need to be different from the way we present it in America or Europe. In these countries, people have different points of reference, hence Krishna’s image will be closer for them to Jesus’ imagine. This is beautiful. If we all were similar, the world would be boring, wouldn’t it? Different views, different ideas enrich our planet; our Humanity.  

We need to think about the person who is listening to our words when we disclose the spiritist message. The important part will always be the individual we are talking to, rather than our EGO. Jesus knew that very well. He never used difficult words. When he talked to fishermen, he used metaphores. We need to follow his example. We need to look for the links that unite us to our audience, which are points we have in common. We have many. If a person comes to me saying they want to develop Spiritism in another country rather than his own, I always advice them to ask themselves: «What can I learn from the people I am surrounded by now? How can I show them Spiritism in a way they feel this Doctrine is suitable for them?».  

Quite often spiritist centres in America or europe are simply centres where Brazilians who live outside their country meet. Locals go there and sometimes might like to get involved,but they feel uncomfortable. The first barrier is the language. Let us imagine someone who needs help and goes somewhere in Brazil where Chinese is spoken. Even if you identified yourself with the Doctrine they would stay there for long. The meetings need to be held in local language. Even if there are only Brazilians, the language needs to be the local one. This is usually not done in some groups, but it is fundamental.

O Consolador: When and how has the spiritist movement in Poland started? 

Poland is country that suffered from many wards, and has gone through many changes on the last two centuries. That’s why it’s never been possible to develop spiritist activities here.  

Our history is connected to scientific work that is linked to spiritist phenomena. Before the II World War, we had mediums known worldwide such as Kluski ou Guzik. Nevertheless, we never had a real spiritist movement similar to one that now exists in many countries. There were groups, maganizes and scientific research but it was not strong enough to survive through the difficult times.  

Poland was always an importnat country for Allan Kardec, who related at the Spiritist Review some projects done here. Besides that he also included at the Gospel According to Spiritism some messages received in Cracow. Poland was veryy important for Léon Denis who had many polish friends. He wrote a special preface for the Polish reader in the translation of the book «After Death». The war and the Comunism changed dramaticaly Spiritism in our country. The Catholic Church grew from strength to strength. It got even stronger when a Polish person, Karol Wojtyła, was chosen to become the Pope. He was one of the most important Popes in the history of the Church. The spiritist work that was done here before the war stoped completely, Kardec’s books desappeared from the bookshops and the Doctrine was left aside. We had to wait more than 50 years for the spiritist message to come back to our country. At aroud 1890’s the first spiritist group was founded in Bydgoszcz, but it is no longer working now. At that time, the first books from Kardec were translated into Polish, and we started to take part on international spiritist events. It is all very small in comparison with Brazil or France. Therefore, I believe Poland will increase its role in the spiritist movement. Polish people are able to establish a link between the materialistic west, but developed from a scientific point of view, and the east where misticism dominates. They know here is where people seem to be closer to God.  

O Consolador: How is the Spiritist Movement in Poland today? 

The Spiritist Movement in Poland is going well; taking its first steps. We don’t have an official organization, apart from our spiritist group, which was founded in May. It is registered as the Polish Society for Spiritist Studies (Polskie Towarzystwo Studiów Spirytystycznych). We have an online portal, which is growing bigger everyday: www.spirytyzm.pl

O Consolador: Are there spiritist books translated to the Polish language? 

The Mediums' Book and The Spirit's Book have been translated to Polish. Heaven and Hell will be published this year. We have 2 or 3 books from Léon Denis, which were translated before the War. They were re-edited in the 90’s. We have just finished translating the book «Happy Life» psychographed by Divaldo Franco, but it will take a while for it to be found in bookshops. We are now concentrating on the books that were translated before the war. We want to promote small spiritist events, and disclose the study of the Doctrine. There are people interested in the Doctrine from all over Poland, which is why most of the work is being done through internet. This is the perfect tool to be able to reach people from different parts of the country.  

O Consolador: How accepted are the spiritist teachings in Poland? 

People are generally curious about life after death here. This is something the Church can not help with. At the time of a relative’s death, people tend to look for more information about what happens next. I have noticed the consciousness about the spiritual world is quite high among 20 to 30 year olds. Most people who coordinate the work are around this age, and some of them are students of Philosophy and History.   

A big obstacle is the strong connect the Church has with our tradition. I see people who are afraid to say: «I am spiritist». They are afraid to declare being spiritists, since they will need to reject a tradition that was part of their lives for many years. We can say it has improved nowm, but Spiritists keep finding challenges on their way. I know some people lost their jobs due to their involvement with Spiritism or had personal problems because they organised a spiritist lecture.

O Consolador: How do you see the level of criminality and violence that seems to increase throughout the country? How can we, spiritist, collaborate to revert this situation?  

Education is the answer to this problem. If we increase the level of education we will change the world, since we will show through study people can get whatever they want.  

The level of violence increases in countries where the level of education is low. This happens in Brazil where violence takes place first at the slums. In Europe, it happens with immigrants, who didn’t have the opportunity to study, and end up using guns. As Joanna de Ângelis says, we live at a time where love is more present than any other time in the world. Humanity has progressed hugely in the last 100 years, and increased the level of education. It is hard, for example, to find someone in my country who can’t read or write, and this is the reality since the beginning of the 20th century.  

Spiritists should make an effort to increase the level of education and organise courses to help poor children who are not able to attend schools with high quality.