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Does the
soul sleep in
the mineral
kingdom?
Part 1
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We often
hear the
phrase: "The
soul sleeps in
the stone,
dreams in the
vegetable,
stirs in the
animal
and awakens in
man," the
authorship of
which is
attributed
to Léon Denis. Curiously
however no one
has shown
us that in fact
he ever
said exactly
that.
Yet in the
pursuit of that
which we
strive to
find, we
eventually come
across the true
phrase. Let us
take a look: In
the plant,
intelligence
slumbers; in the
animal, intelligence
dreams, only in
man does it wake
up, it gets to
know itself, it
owes itself and
it becomes
conscious.
From there on
progress of some
fatal fate in
lower forms of
Nature can only
be carried
out by agreement
of the human
will with
the eternal
laws. (DENIS, 1989,
p. 123.)
(emphasis
added).
Obviously,
even in a
figurative
sense, "to
sleep in the
plant" is not
the same as
"sleeping in the
stone," which
is a theme that
still causes
controversy in
our midst.
Well, the
question is
whether the
successor to
the codifier (aka:
Allan
Kardec) contradicted what
was said by him.
Particularmente,
acreditamos que
não.
We
particularly do
not believe that
Léon Denis did
so.
We
initially call
upon what Kardec
said in the
introduction of
the first
edition of The
Spirits’ Book:
Whatever it may
be, it is a fact
that cannot be
denied because
it is a result
of observation.
The reason
being is that
organic
beings have
within
themselves an inner
strength that
produces the
phenomenon of
life, while
this force
exists; material
life is common
to all
organic beings and
that this
force is
independent of
intelligence and
thought: that
intelligence
and thought are
themselves
faculties
of certain organic
species, and
finally, that
between the
organic species
endowed with
intelligence and thought,
there
is one endowed
with a special
moral sense
which gives this
species incontestable
superiority over
the others;
it is mankind.
We call animal
intelligence ultimately
the intellectual
principle common
to the varying
degrees in men
and animals,
regardless of
the vital
principle,
and whose
source is
unknown to us.
(Kardec, 2004,
page 3) (our
emphasis).
The organic
beings are born,
grow, reproduce
and die
This was
necessary only
to
verify that, ever
since
the first edition
of this book,
Kardec
bluntly states
that
"intelligence and
thought
are faculties peculiar
to certain organic
species", defining
them as follows:
The organic
beings are
those who have
in
themselves a source
of intimate
activity that
gives them life.
They are
born, grow,
reproduce and
die. They
are provided
with special
organs for the
performance
of different acts
of life. These
organs are
appropriate to
the needs of
these agencies that
conservation imposes
on them. Men,
animals and
plants
are included in
this class. (KARDEC,
2007a, page 91.)
(emphasis
added).
And in order
that we
can separate
them from the
inorganic, we
also bring the
definition of
inorganic
beings.
Seres
inorgânicos são
todos os que
carecem de
vitalidade, de
movimentos
próprios
e que se formam
apenas pela
agregação da
matéria.
Inorganic beings
are all those
which lack
vitality, and their
own proper
motions and
are
formed only by
the
aggregation of
matter.
These are the
minerals, water,
air, etc.. (KARDEC,
2007a, p. 91.)
(emphasis
added).
So according
to Kardec we can
classify the
organic
beings as men,
animals and
plants.
When he
studies Instinct and
Intelligence (Chapter 3) in
the book Genesis, he makes
several considerations in
which we will
find something
to dispel possible
doubts.
It says the
following:
Instinct is the
hidden
force that
prompts organic
beings to
spontaneous
and involuntary
acts, in order
to conserve them.
In instinctive
acts there is no
reflection or combination, or
premeditation.
And so it is in
this way that
the plant seeks
air, turns
itself
towards the
light, directs
its roots towards
water and
towards the
nutritious soil;
the
flower alternately
opens
and closes,
as it is
necessary for
itself; that the
vines are coiled around that
which will
sustain them or
they will
grasp it
with their
tendrils.
It is by
instinct that
animals are
warned of what
it is convenient
or harmful to
them; seek the
right climate
according to the
season; build
without prior
teaching and
with more or
less skill,
according to the
species, soft
bedding and
shelter for
their progeny;
make traps to
catch the prey
upon which they
feed; deftly
handle the
offensive and
defensive
weapons with
which they are
provided; the
sexes approach
each other; the
mother suckles
her young and
they seek her
nipples.
Instinct only
dominates exclusively
in early life in
humans.
It is by
instinct that
the child
makes its
first movements,
takes the food,
cries out
to express its
needs, mimics
the sound of
voice and tries
to talk and
walk. Some
actions in the
adult
are instinctive;
such
as spontaneous
movements to
avoid a risk, to
flee from
danger, to
balance the
body, the blinking of
the eyelids to
moderate the
brightness
of light, the
mechanical opening of
the mouth to
breathe, etc. (Kardec, 2007b,
page 89)
(emphasis
added).
Instinct varies in
its
manifestations,
according
to each
species and
their needs
In this speech
of Kardec it is
clear that he
admits instinct in
plants, animals
and men. But
"what has
the instinct to
do with
intelligence?”
someone
could ask us.
Well, that
question was
answered by the
Spirits, who
affirmed that
instinct
is a kind
of intelligence, a
non rational
intelligence
(response
to question 73).
A little further
on in the book,
upon commenting
on the answer to
question 75, the
codifier explains:
Instinct
is a rudimentary
intelligence
which differs
from intelligence itself.
Manifestations
of instinct
are often spontaneous, while those
from
intelligence
are the result
of a combination
and
of a deliberate
act.
Instinct varies in
its
manifestations,
according to the
species and
their needs. In
people who have
consciousness
and
perception of
external things,
instinct allies
with
intelligence, that
is, to the
will and to
freedom. (KARDEC,
2007a, page 97)
(Emphasis
added).
Therefore, in
order, plants,
animals and men
have the
intelligent
principle,
differing
only in the
degree of its
manifestation.
However,
until now, there
has been nothing
that also
attributes this
principle to the
minerals, nor
that this
principle has also
lived for
some time
in inorganic
beings. It is
a difficult
thing to
understand,
since these
beings have
no vitality, and
therefore are
not subject to
"being born,
growing
and dying," the
indispensable
cycle for the
occurrence of
intellectual
progress of this
principle – so
we believe.
The
destruction is
just a transformation,
which is aimed
at the
renewal of the
living beings
Clarification about
the instinct of
conservation will
help
us further clarify this
issue. We read
in The
Spirits’ Book:
702. Is the
instinct of
self-preservation
a law of nature?
"Undoubtedly so.
It is given
to all living
creatures,
whatever their
degree of
intelligence;
in some it is
purely
mechanical, in
others it is
allied to
reason.”
703. To what
end has God
given the
instinct of
self-preservation
to all living
beings?
"They are all
necessary to the
working out of
the providential
plans; and
therefore God
has given them
the desire to
live. And
besides, life is
a necessary
condition of the
improvement of
beings; they
feel this
instinctively,
without
understanding
it."
728. Is
destruction a
law of nature?
"It is necessary
that all things
should be
destroyed so
that they may be
re-born and
regenerated;
for what you
call destruction
is only a
transformation,
the aim of which
is the renewing
and amelioration
of living
beings."(KARDEC,
2007a, pages 378
to 389)
(emphasis
added)
From that we
conclude
that all living
beings have intelligence to
some degree;
that life is
necessary for
their progress
and that
destruction
is necessary for
this to happen,
however, when it
comes to
minerals, we
believe
that none of
this applies.
Returning to the
book Genesis, we
find one of Kardec’s
speeches, which
in our
view, puts an
end to how he
saw the matter.
Let's see when
he speaks of
the "Union of
the spiritual
principle and
matter", in item
10 of
Chapter 11:
Having matter being
the object of
work of the
Spirit for the
development of
the Spirit’s
faculties, it
was necessary
that the Spirit
could act on
it, since the
Spirit came to
inhabit it,
as the
woodcutter inhabits
the forest.
Having matter to
be at the
same time, the
goal and the
instrument of
labour, God,
instead of
joining the
Spirit to
the hard stone,
created for the
Spirit’s
use, organized
bodies which are
flexible and
capable of
receiving all
the impulses of
their
will and lend
themselves
to all their
movements.
The body
is therefore both
the garb and
instrument of
the Spirit,
and as
it acquires new
skills it
takes another suitable
garb (body) for
a new kind
of work it must
perform, just as
it is done
with a worker
who is given an
instrument less coarse
and as the
worker goes on
showing he is
capable
of performing better
cared for
work. (Kardec, 2007b,
pages 241 to
242.) (emphasis
added).
Inert matter,
which
constitutes the
mineral
kingdom, only
has in itself
a mechanical
strength
From what we
can deduce from
this speech, there
is an
admission that
the intelligent
principle has had
internship in
the mineral
kingdom,
unless contrary
to what has been
said by Kardec.
In explanation
of the answer to
question 71 of
The Spirits’
Book, the
codifier makes
the following
account:
Intelligence
is a special
faculty,
peculiar
to certain
classes
of organic
beings and gives
them, with
thought the
will to act, the
awareness of
organic beings
that they exist
and that each is an
individual, as
well as the
means
to establish
relationships
with the outside
world and to
cater for their
needs.
The organic
beings can be
distinguished as
follows: 1st – Inanimate
beings:
consisting of
matter, without
vitality or
intelligence.
They are
the gross bodies; 2nd -
Animate
beings: those
who do not
think and are
formed of matter
and endowed with
vitality, however, devoid
of intelligence; 3rd - Thinking animate
beings, formed of
matter
and endowed with
vitality and
having intelligent
principle which
gives them the
ability
to think. (KARDEC,
2007a, page 96)
(Emphasis added)
The three kingdoms of
nature are
therefore
classified, in
three
kinds: mineral, vegetable
and animal, in
the order cited
by Kardec. Thus,
it is clear from
what he
wrote that the
mineral has
no vitality or
intelligence,
which still confirmed
by this excerpt: "Inert
matter which
constitutes the
mineral kingdom has
only
a mechanical
force in itself." (KARDEC,
2007a, page 327)
(Emphasis
added).
Searching also
question 136, we
see that the
hypothesis of a
presence of the
intelligent
principle in the
mineral
kingdom is unlikely, because: "Organic
life can
animate a body
without a soul,
but the soul
cannot inhabit a
body devoid
of organic
life". (KARDEC,
2007a, page 125)
(Emphasis
added).
The organic
scale follows
the progression
of intelligence
in all beings,
from the
polyp to man
In the spiritist
magazine
Spirite Revue
date of 1868,
Kardec makes
some comments on
the belief
that the Earth
would
have a soul,
which is of
interest to our
study.
Let’s see:
(...)
Is Earth a
living being?
We know that
certain
philosophers,
who are more
systematic than
practical,
consider planet
Earth and all
other planets as
animate beings,
based on the
principle that
everything lives
in Nature, from
the mineral to
man.
At first, we
believe there
is one major
difference between
the molecular
motion of
attraction
and repulsion, of
aggregation
and of
disaggregation of
the
mineral and vital
principle of the
plant; there
are different
effects that
point
to different
causes, or at
least cause a profound
change in first
cause, if it
is unique. (Genesis,
chapter 10,
paragraphs 16 to
19.)
But let us
assume for a
moment that the
principle of
life has its
source in
the molecular
motion,
one cannot deny
that it
is even more
rudimentary in the
mineral than in
the plant. However,
from this thence
a soul whose
essential
attribute
is intelligence, the
distance is
great and we
believe no one
thought of
endowing a pebble or a piece
of iron with the
faculty of
thinking,
wanting and
understanding.
Even
making every
possible
concession to
this system that
is to say that
by looking at it
with the same
point of view as
those
who confuse
the vital
principle with the
soul itself; the
soul of the
mineral would
not be only in
the state
of latent germ,
since in this
state the soul
does not become
unveiled by
any demonstration.
A fact no less
evident than
that we just
talked about is
that organic
development is always
in relation
to the
development of
the intelligent
principle; the
body is
completed as the
faculties of the
soul multiply.
The organic scale follows
constantly in
all beings the
progress
of intelligence,
from the
polyp to man;
and this could
not be
otherwise, since
the soul
lacks an appropriate
instrument for
the
importance of
the functions
that the soul
must fill.
What use would
it be to
oysters to have
the
intelligence of
a monkey without
the necessary
organs for
its manifestation?
Therefore,
if the Earth
were an animated
being used as a
body by
a special soul,
this soul should
be even more
rudimentary than
that of
a polyp, since
the Earth does
not really
have the same
vitality of a
plant, while the
role that
is attributed to
this soul,
especially by
the theory of
incrustation,
Earth becomes a
being endowed
with reason
and with the
most complete
free will, a
superior Spirit;
which in a
word, is neither
rational nor consistent
with the general
law, because
never has a
Spirit been
so trapped and
so divided.
(This
article will be
completed in the
next issue of
this journal.)
Sources:
DENIS, L.
The problem of
the Being, of
Destiny and of
Pain.
Rio de Janeiro:
FEB, 1989.
KARDEC, A.
Genesis,
Araras-Sp:IDE,
1993.
KARDEC, A.
The Spirits’
Book
– 1st
Edition of 1857.
Itaim Bibi, SP:
IPECE, 2004.
KARDEC, A.
The Spirits’
Book.
Rio de Janeiro:
FEB, 2007.
KARDEC, A. La
Revue Spirite
1865.Araras,SP:IDE,
2000a
KARDEC, A. La
Revue Spirite
1866.
Araras, SP:IDE,
1993b.
KARDEC, A. La
Revue Spirite
1868.
Araras, SP: IDE,
1993a.
XAVIER, F. C.
Evolution in Two
Worlds. Rio
de Janeiro:FEB,
1987.
XAVIER, F. C.
In the Higher
World. Rio
de Janeiro: FEB,
1984.
NETO SOBRINHO,
P. S. The
Souls of
animals: earlier
stage of the
human soul?
Divinópolis-MG:
Panorama
Espírita, 2006.
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