Questions
A. Where are the fantastic and unreal images seen during sleep derived from?
B. How does Spiritism explain the phenomena of catalepsy and apparent deaths?
C. How does healing through magnetic action work?
Text for reading
942. The transfiguration - Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them alone with him to a high mountain in an isolated place, where he was transfigured in front of them. And while he was praying, his face appeared completely different; his garments turned brilliantly luminous and as white as snow, such that no bleach on earth could have made them so white. And Elijah and Moses appeared and began conversing with Jesus. Then, Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here; let us make three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah,” for he did not know what he was saying, being so afraid. At the same time, a cloud appeared, which covered them; and from the cloud a voice came proclaiming these words, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” Immediately upon looking around, they saw no one except Jesus, who remained alone with them. When they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them not to tell anyone about what they had seen until the Son of Man was raised from the dead. And they kept these events secret, asking each other what he had meant by the words: Until the Son of Man was raised from the dead. (Mark 9:1-9)
943. It is once more in the properties of the perispiritual fluid that the explanation of this phenomenon may be found. Transfiguration, explained in chap. XIV, no. 39, is a very common phenomenon, which, as a result of fluidic radiation, can change an individual’s appearance. However, the purity of Jesus’ perispirit enabled his spirit to give him an exceptional brilliance. As for the apparition of Moses and Elijah, it falls completely within the realm of all the phenomena of the same genre. (See chap. XIV, nos. 35 ff.)
944. Of all the faculties revealed in Jesus, there were none which were outside the conditions of humanity, or which could not be found in the most ordinary individuals, because such faculties are part of nature. However, because of the superiority of his moral essence and his fluidic qualities, such faculties attained proportions in him far above those of the common folk. Apart from his corporeal envelope, they would represent for us the state of the pure spirits.
945. Jesus calms the storm - One day, he was on a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us go to the other side of the lake. Then, they set out. And while they were crossing, he fell asleep. A great windstorm suddenly struck the lake so that their boat, filling with water, was in danger. His disciples approached him and woke him up, saying, “Master, we are perishing.” Jesus got up, spoke threateningly to the wind and the raging waves; they subsided and there was a great calm. Then, he said to them, “Where is your faith?” However, they were full of fear and wonder and asked one another, “Who is this who orders the wind and waves in such a way and they obey him?” (Luke 8:22-25)
946. We do not yet know enough about the secrets of nature to say whether or not there are hidden intelligences that preside over the action of the elements. If such a hypothesis were affirmed, the phenomenon in question could have been the result of an act of authority over such intelligences and would demonstrate a power that has not been given to any man or woman to exercise. In any case, Jesus sleeping peacefully during the storm attests to a confidence that may be explained by the fact that his spirit saw that there was no danger, and that the storm would subside.
947. The wedding at Cana - This miracle, mentioned only in the Gospel of John, is presented as being the first one Jesus performed, and as such, it must have been one of the most noteworthy; however, it seems to have had very small impact because none of the other Evangelists mention it. Although this incident could possibly be explained up to a certain extent by a fluidic action, which, like the examples offered by magnetism, would have changed the properties of the water giving it the flavor of wine, this hypothesis is not very probable, considering in such a case that the water, having only the taste of wine, would have retained its color – a fact which would not have failed to be noticed.
948. The multiplication of the loaves - The multiplication of the loaves is one of the miracles that have most intrigued commentators; at the same time it has incited the eloquence of disbelievers. Without going to the trouble of probing its allegorical meaning, they see it as only a childish story. However, the majority of serious persons have seen in this narrative, although in an unusual form, a parable comparing the spiritual nourishment of the soul with the nourishment of the body.
949. Nonetheless, one may see in it more than an allegory and, from a certain point of view, one may accept the reality of a factual event without having to resort to a miracle. It is known that intense mental preoccupation or attention given to a matter can make one forget hunger. Now, those following Jesus were individuals eager to listen to him. Consequently, there is nothing surprising that fascinated by what he was saying and also, perhaps, by the powerful magnetic action he was exerting on them, they had not felt the physical need to eat.
950. Because he had foreseen this result, Jesus could thus put his disciples at ease by telling them in his usual, figurative language that the loaves – assuming there really were a few loaves – would suffice to satiate the crowd. At the same time, he was providing his disciples with a lesson: “You yourselves give them something to eat,” he said. He was thus teaching them that they too could provide nourishment by means of the word.
951. The yeast of the Pharisees - Now, his disciples, having crossed to the other side, forgot to bring bread along. Jesus said to them, “Take care to guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” But they thought and said to each other, “It is because we did not bring any bread.” Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Men of little faith, why are you telling each other that you did not bring any bread? Do you still not understand and do you not remember that five loaves were enough for five thousand men, and how many baskets-full you collected? Why do you not understand that I was not talking to you about bread when I told you to guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?” Then, they understood that he was not telling them to guard themselves against the yeast that is added to bread, but the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:5-12)
952. The bread of heaven - On the following day, the people, who had remained on the other side of the sea, noticed that there was no other boat there, and that Jesus had not gotten into the one with his disciples, but that only the disciples had gone. And since other boats from Tiberiades had arrived later close to the place where the Lord had fed them with the five loaves after giving thanks, and since they finally realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
953. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Lord, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them, “Verily, verily I say to you that you have come looking for me not because of the miracles you saw, but because I gave you bread to eat and you were satisfied. Work not in order to have food that perishes but food that endures to eternal life, and which the Son of Man will give to you, because it is upon him that God the Father has placed his seal and character.” They asked him, “What must we do to do the works of God?” Jesus replied, “The work of God is that you believe in him whom he has sent.” They further asked him, “Then what miracle will you perform so that in seeing it we may believe in you? What will you do that is extraordinary? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, according to what is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus responded, “Verily, verily I say to you that Moses did not give you bread from heaven; but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he who has descended from heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to him, “Lord, give us always of this bread.” Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I have already told you: you have seen me but you have not believed. “Verily, verily I say to you, he who believes in me has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert and they are dead. But here is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that whoever eats it shall not die” (John 6:22-36, 47-50)
954. In the first passage, Jesus, recalling the effect produced previously, clearly means that he had not dealt with physical loaves; otherwise, the comparison he had made with the yeast of the Pharisees would have lacked an object: “Do you still not understand,” he said, “and do you not remember that five loaves were enough for five thousand men, and that seven loaves were enough for four thousand? How is it that you do not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread when I told you to guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees?” This comparison would have been meaningless in the event of a physical multiplication. The incident was extraordinary enough in and of itself to have struck the imagination of his disciples, who, however, did not seem to remember it.
Answer Key
A. Where are the fantastic and unreal images seen during sleep derived from?
It is in the fluidic creations of thought, that one can find the cause of certain fantastic images that have nothing real about them as far as the material life is concerned, but which for the spirit have a reality that is sometimes such that the body suffers its repercussion – hair has even turned white under the impression of a dream. Such creations can be provoked by eccentric beliefs, by retrospective memories, by likes, desires, passions, fear or regret, by habitual preoccupations, by bodily needs, or by a breakdown in the functions of the organism; and finally, by other spirits with either a benevolent or malevolent purpose, depending on their nature. (Genesis, Chap. XIV, items 27 and 28)
B. How does Spiritism explain the phenomena of catalepsy and apparent deaths?
In certain pathological states when the spirit is no longer in the body and the perispirit adheres to it only at a few points, the body displays all the appearances of death, and it is the absolute truth to say that life is hanging on by only a thread. Such a state may last for a longer or lesser length of time; some parts of the body may even begin decomposing without life having permanently gone out. As long as the last thread has not yet been broken, the spirit can, whether by an energetic action of its own will or whether by an equally powerful outside fluidic influx, be called back to the body. This can explain certain prolongations of life against all odds, and also certain supposed resurrections. It is like a plant that sometimes sprouts from only a sprig of a root. Nevertheless, when the last molecules of the fluidic body have disengaged from the corporeal body, or when the latter is in an irreparable state of decay, any return to life becomes impossible. (Genesis, Chap. XIV, items 29 and 30)
C. How does healing through magnetic action work?
The universal fluid is the primitive element of both the corporeal body and the perispirit, which are merely transformations of it. By its very nature this fluid, condensed in the perispirit, can supply reparatory elements to the body. The driving agent is the incarnate or discarnate spirit that injects a portion of the substance of its fluidic envelope into a deteriorating body. The healing occurs by replacing an unhealthy molecule with a healthy one. The curative power is thus a direct result of the purity of the injected substance; it also depends on the energy of the will, which causes a more abundant fluidic emission and gives the fluid a greater penetrating power. The effects of the fluidic action upon the ill are extremely varied, depending on the circumstances. This action is sometimes slow and requires a prolonged treatment, as in the case of ordinary magnetism. At other times it is quick like an electric current. There are individuals endowed with a power such that they perform instantaneous healings on the ill simply by laying their hands on them, or even solely through an act of their will. Between the two poles of this faculty there are infinite variations. All healings of this kind are varieties of magnetism and differ only in intensity and speed of action. The principle is always the same: it is the fluid that performs the role of therapeutic agent, and whose effects depend on its quality and the particular circumstances. (Genesis, Chap. XIV, items 31 to 34)
