Marriage, fate and free will  

Many people, even the spiritists, think that everything that happens in marriage was predetermined and that there is no space for unplanned events, since the spirits program their reincarnation and the main experiences they will face in the new life.

However, experience shows that this thought is incorrect. Just observe what happens in the artistic industry, both in Brazil and abroad, where there are actors and actresses who are already on their third or fourth marriage. It would be naive to think that this is as a result of a program previously developed in the spiritual world.

In fact, when examining the theme of fatality, spiritual instructors have told Kardec: "You must not suppose that everything which happens to you was 'written,' as people express it. An event is often the consequence of something you have done by an act of your free-will, so that, had you not done that thing, the event would not have taken place.” (The Spirit’s Book, item 859-A). 

In with regards to marriage, during an interview to the newspaper “The Immortal”, Divaldo Franco has said that some marriages are programmed and others are a result of an act of precipitation. In the latter, we can list all these unions which are solely motivated by a moment of attraction, and do not last more than six months.

We can therefore say that the reincarnation plan is subject to change,  and that a man - thanks to his free will - can perfectly be involved with a woman who was not included in his reincarnation plan and they can even have children together, which does not mean that the children come by chance, simply because chance does not exist.

A neophyte in Spiritism will certainly ask how this is possible. The reason is not difficult to understand: the Spiritual Benefactors take every opportunity to do something good. The son born of an involvement of this nature has links with the parents or at least with one of them, in most cases with the mother.

Kardec has addressed the issue very clearly in section 872 of The Spirits' Book, which teaches that free will influences a person’s life in two quite different ways. In erraticity (the state of errant spirits, that is, disembodied spirits, during the interval between two material existences), it is expressed when the spirit chooses its reincarnation programme. When on earth, free will allows the individual to adopt this or that conduct, which can meet or not to what was initially programmed.

There are cases where it is necessary to reprogramme an existence. When there is an emergency, it is possible to give a new direction to someone’s life history. We can find inumerous examples in the books of Andre Luiz. For instance, there is one case when the husband commits suicide, leaving the wife and children in a helpless situation. A second marriage in the life of this woman may well be established with the help of the Spiritual Benefactors.

The case of Otávio is narrated in chap. 7 of the book The Messengers, by Andre Luiz. It shows us what can happen in the life of a man who rebels against his defined reincarnation plan, and reveals that, despite not having planned a marriage, a person can do it and even have children. However, because this is against what has been originally agreed and confirmed, the man will suffer all the consequences of his act.