Explains” contest?

It is a process where we select articles written about current themes or facts and which are analyzed through the prism of the Spiritist Doctrine, based on the Spiritist codification. The main objectives are to spread out the doctrine, develop new Spiritist writers, to provide new publishing material to the Brasilia Spiritist newspaper as well as to provide quality study material to the Gremio Espirita Atualpa institution. It is important to mention that the text should be based on an article published by the public media, and analysed upon the light of the Spiritist doctrine. The text source must be mentioned in the text content.

O Consolador: When did it started and what was your motivation?

The Doctrine Explains works in cycles that vary between 2 and 3 years, resulting in 12 or more articles published each time. Several states join the contest (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, etc) but the majority of the participants are from Brasília.

O Consolador: The contest was organised by a institution or was it a private initiative?

Our friend Wilson Abreu started the contest back in 1989, when he organised the first one which involved youngsters of Gremio Espírita Atualpa institution. The first contest generated articles that were published in the Brasilia Spiritist newspaper on the second half of that same year. The second contest happened in 1999 by initiative of the Brasilia Spiritist newspaper, which also organised other ones in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009. In 20 years there were a total of 6 contests.

O Consolador: What was the greatest experience acquired in these 20 years of contest?

The most interesting experience happened in the contest of 2001 when we involved our brother Raul Teixeira in the process. We invited him to attend the presentation summary of all articles that enrolled for the contest on that year. The presentation took around two hours and a half and had a diversity of artistic formats such as poetry, theatre, jester, etc. During the meeting Raul, through his automatic writing mediumnship, received a poem written by the Spirit Sebastiao Lasneau, named “Job Binder”. Each verse of the poem has addressed one of the themes of the competition. Before lunch, Raul made a speech where he spoke about the contest main objectives. It was a real Spiritual feast!

O Consolador: Are there awards? What kind?

The greatest reward is to acquire a better understanding of the meaning of life, which by itself, is immeasurable.
We can not forget the hour-bonus earned by those who certainly will help ignite the spark of light in other souls. Without doubt, what we offer as a prize is very small if compared with the spiritual gain. The authors of the best articles chosen by the examiners receive a book with a special note written by the contest committee and the selected ones are published in the Brasília Spiritist newspaper.

O Consolador: Have the participants kept in touch with the contest committee?

Yes, many began to write and publish articles in the Spiritist Brasilia newspaper on regular basis.

O Consolador: What are the main criteria for evaluation and award?

All articles are evaluated by a group of examiners, considering the following criteria:

Consistency between the explanation and the Spiritist Doctrine;
Creativity in the theme choice and how the subject was approached;
Clarity and objectivity in exposing ideas;
Logical coherence and conciseness of arguments;
Relevance of the proposed theme to a better understanding of the Spiritist Doctrine;
Proper use of references;
Correct use of the Portuguese grammar

O Consolador: What are the highlights of the contest?

The “Doctrine Explains” contest fulfils the dual role of spreading the Spiritist doctrine as well as to discover new Spiritist writers. Everyone has the opportunity to study, research and write a Spiritist article. We also see that the contest can to some extent, assess the quality of knowledge acquired at the Spiritual Centre. If the examiners find anything in disagreement with the doctrine, they request the author to rectify the text and they also contact the Spiritual Centre and suggest them to reinforce their study program.

O Consolador: Have the award-winning articles from previous editions been published? Is there a publishing plan?

All selected articles are published in the Brasilia Spiritist newspaper, within two years after the contest.

O Consolador: Some final words.

The Spirit’s Book was structure in the format of questions which were carefully elaborated by Allan Kardec and wisely answered by a high hierarchy of Spirits. It explains us the meaning of problems according to the Spiritist law and our relationship with the Spiritual life. In addition to books codified by Allan Kardec, we have a large number of complementary books such as the ones received through the automatic writing mediumnship of Chico Xavier , as well as the ones published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. Disease, violence, wars, evil, relationship problems at home and at work, personal limitations, social movements, and several other intriguing issues that fulfil our daily lives are clearly explained by the Spiritist Doctrine.


Grêmio Espírita Atualpa Barbosa Lima’s website is www.atualpa.org.br