The author of the book A Grande Transição da Terra: o Sentido de Urgência (The Great Earth Transition: the Sense of Urgency) tell us that people must be freed from the lies imposed by the system, which makes us believe that our happiness is linked to consumerism.

I was influenced by two books: Exilados de Capela, by Edgar Armond, and After Death, by Léon Denis. The latter, with its eloquent spirituality, really grabbed me and led me to studying Spiritism. It was a water shed in my personal identity: I was a person before reading that book, I became a different person. 

What is your view on the transition that the planet is going through, the great Earth transition, as in the title of your recently published book? 

From a wider perspective, the Great Transition is a synergy of many facts and phenomena that have linked the end of a cycle of evolution and the beginning of another one. Those facts and phenomena have made it possible for the planet, humankind and spirituality to carry on developing simultaneously, amidst a selective process that encompasses the widespread migration of Spirits between the many planets. On a personal level, the Great Transition is a state of spirit, which is profoundly influenced by the events of the current phase, leading to a transition in our inner beings. 

How to become an ethical being in the current phase of transition? 

The answer is complex because we are complex beings. I would say that Spiritism provides all the elements we need to live an ethical life. I have made a point, as someone who was lucky to have been born in the Amazon, that we must be particularly ethical in our relationship with our planet. Let me make a provocative statement: is it ethical to be indifferent to the destruction that is going on on planet Earth? 

How would you define transition at a personal level? 

The pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus highlights the importance of change. No one walks into the same river twice, as both the river and the person change. In other words, change is part of the dynamic of the universe and life. We need change, movement, transformation. In the same way the planet undergoes great changes, we need to tune into the transformation that is going on around us, we need to make our individual transition. If planet transition demands that we become more careful with nature, we must carry out that change in our lives. It it demands more peace, we must promote peace as a value in our behaviour. If the current phase of transition on Earth asks for more collective thinking, we must switch from individualism to solidarity. Individual transition is therefore the change from our self-centred, materialistic and unsustainable approach to life towards a collective, spiritualised and sustainable model.  

How did you get engaged in the environmental movement? What is your overall goal? 

Living in the Amazon, in the city of Belém, enables you to have a natural engagement with the environmental debate. Bad news about serious damage to the environment is reported on a daily basis. In many cases, it affects us in the Amazon directly. On the other hand, great thinkers, activists and environmental leaders live in the region, and many of them are Spiritists. My aim is to show the link between nature and spirituality and to show the power individuals and groups have to act in that area. As an author, I try to encourage the golden triad: to think, to get ready and to act. 

In your view, how can Spiritists take an effective participation in the environmental debate? 

They can and they have an ethical duty to get engaged, especially as we are fully aware that the planet is going through a turbulent period of transition. And we must go beyond the phase of debates, as there is no more time for good intentions only. We must act as citizens, demanding real changes and changing our habits as consumers. We must avoid consumerism, materialism, waste. As parents, we must educate our children. As children of God, we must defend this wonderful planet. And as Spiritists, we must put the Gospel into practice and apply our knowledge of Spiritism in our relations with nature. But we should not mix up consuming with consumerism. Our life as material beings demands that we consume to meet certain demands, to feed ourselves, for example. We must consume, but we should not be driven by consumerism. And we must combat waste. How can we Spiritists throw away food when 1 billion people around the world are starving? We must consume only what is necessary and stick to three points: reduce, reuse and recycle. 

Is Jesus at the helm? 

Your question is very relevant. Yes, Jesus is at the helm of the earthly ship. We are not alone, we are not prisoners of our own luck. The Spiritual Benefactors are working hard alongside us. But let us remember that life is subject to its laws and we have our free will. There is no point in being optimistic if we are destructive. There will be no magic. If we sow pepper seeds, we will not produce strawberries. In every transition there is a crossing point, with its own risks. Our daily decisions, the use of our free will took us to the point where we are now and will determine how our crossing will be towards the phase of regeneration. Most environmentalists believe we will face rough sea in our crossing. If you look around, you will see that we are already facing many storms. What we need to avoid is tsunamis. Jesus is with us, but are we helping Him? 

What should be, in your opinion, the focus of the environmental debate under the light of Spiritism? 

Ecology and Spiritism are naturally linked proposals. They both widen our perception of life and teach us to respect what is sacred – either belonging to the natural or to the spiritual world. We need now to discuss practical aspects of the Great Transition, such as the need to change destructive habits, the real threats we are facing and how to prepare to deal with certain scenarios and events. As we become more spiritualised, we need to become better people in all aspects of life, and that includes looking again at our ethical approach towards the planet. I believe that only by becoming more spiritual human beings will be freed from the lies imposed by the system, which associates our happiness to buying power. Our happiness is a state of spirit, it is not linked to our capacity to buy more, to consume more.