In this issue, we continue the study of the book, Practical Instructions on Spiritist Manifestations, work published by Allan Kardec in 1858. This work which we suggest you read, refers to the edition published by “Casa Editora O Clarim”, and is based on Cairbar Schutel’s translation.
Questions for discussion
A. Is there a difference between the words evocation and invocation?
B. What is clairvoyance? Can we say that clairvoyance and lucidity are synonymous?
C. What does animal magnetism mean and where does this expression come from?
Reading Text
11. Spirits (Agénères): It is a variety of tangible apparitions, a state of certain Spirits that can momentarily take the form of a living person as to deceive observers completely. (Vocabulary, pages 18).
12. Soul: It has several meanings, the Spiritist Doctrine says that the Spiritist Soul, or simply Soul, is the immaterial being, distinct and individually attached to the body that serves as its temporary housing, that is, the Spirit when incarnate, and that only belongs to the human species. (Vocabulary, pages 18 and 19).
13. Hallucination: It is an apparent perception of external objects, not present at the time; daydream; illusion. Spiritist phenomena that come from the emancipation of the soul prove that: what is qualified as hallucination is often a real perception similar to that of a second sight, somnambulism or ecstasy caused by an abnormal state, one of the effects of the faculties of a soul free from tangible ties. (Vocabulary, pages 19).
14. Angel: according to the Spiritist Doctrine, the Angels are not different beings or of a special nature: they are Spirits of a first order, that is, those who reached the state of Pure Spirits after having gone through all their spiritual tests. (Vocabulary, pages 19 and 20).
15. Archangel: the word angel is a generic term that applies to all pure Spirits. If we assume, for angels, that there are different degrees of enlightenment, we can, using familiar terms, designate them by Archangels and Seraphim. (Vocabulary, pages 20 and 21).
16. Atheist, Atheism: Atheism is the absolute denial of God. Every religion necessarily rests on the belief in a deity. The absolute atheism has few proselytes, because the feeling of divinity exists in the human heart, regardless of any teaching. Atheism and Spiritism are incompatible. (Vocabulary, pages 21).
17. Deist: is the one who believes in God, without admitting external worship. Sometimes, deism and atheism are wrongly considered the same thing. (Vocabulary, page 22).
18. Demon: both in Greek and in Latin, the word demon applies to incorporeal beings, good or bad, and believed to have knowledge and power superior to man. In modern languages this word is usually taken in a bad sense, and limited to malevolent geniuses. The Spirits teach that God, being supremely just and good, could have not created beings doomed to evil and damned for all eternity. According to them, there are no demons in the absolute and strict sense of the word; there are only imperfect Spirits, and all of them can become perfect by means of their own will. The Spirits of 9th grade (unclean Spirits) are the real demons, if this word does not imply the idea of a perpetually evil nature. (Vocabulary, pages 22 and 23).
19. Demonology, demonomancy: demonology is the same as demonography – it is a treaty on the nature and influence of demons. Demonomancy means the alleged knowledge of the future by the inspiration of demons. (Vocabulary, page 23).
20. God is the supreme intelligence, primary cause of all things. He is eternal, immutable, immaterial, unique, omnipotent, supremely just and good, and infinite in all his perfections. (Vocabulary, page 23).
21. Devil: according to common belief, it is a real being, a rebellious angel, chief of all the demons and that has a power large enough power to fight God himself. He knows our most secret thoughts, stimulates all evil passions and takes all means to induce us to evil. According to the Spiritist Doctrine, the devil is the personification of evil. He is an allegorical being that sums up all the bad passions of imperfect Spirits. His horns and tail symbolize a beast, i.e., brutality and animal passions. (Vocabulary, page 23).
22. Elves: mischievous Spirits, more mischievous than evil, belonging to the group of frivolous Spirits. (Vocabulary, page 24).
23. Emancipation of the soul: particular stage of human life during which the soul, detaching itself from its material bonds, recovers some of the faculties of a Spirit and enters more easily into communication with the incorporeal beings. (Vocabulary, page 24).
Answers to the proposed questions
A. Is there a difference between the words evocation and invocation?
Yes, there is a difference, although they have the same root, vocare: to call, invocation and evocation are not perfect synonyms. Evoke is to call, make someone come to you, and make that someone appear by means of magic ceremonies, by spells. Invoke is to call to you or in your rescue a superior or supernatural power. God is invocated through prayer. In the Catholic religion the Saints are invoked. Every prayer is an invocation. The invocation is within the thought, evocation is an act. When invoking, the being we address hears us. When evoking, that being leaves the place where it was to come to us and shows his presence. The invocation is only directed to high beings, which we assume can help us. Lower and Higher Spirits can be evoked. (Spiritist Vocabulary, pages 35 and 36).
B. What is clairvoyance? Can we say that clairvoyance and lucidity are synonymous?
Lucidity and clairvoyance designate the power to see without the aid of our eyes. It is an inherent attribute to the nature of the soul or the Spirit, who lives in his whole being; that is why in all cases where there is emancipation of the soul, man has independent sense perceptions. The word clairvoyance is more general; said clarity is used to more particularly define somnambulism clarity. A sleepwalker is more or less lucid as the emancipation of the soul is more or less complete. (Spiritist Vocabulary, pages 21, 37 and 38).
C. What does animal magnetism mean and where does this expression come from?
The animal magnetism can be defined as follows: interplay of two living beings through a special agent called magnetic fluid. The animal magnetism expression (from Greek and Latin, magnes (magnet) came by analogy with the mineral magnetism. Since experience showed that this analogy does not exist or is only apparent, the name is no longer accurate. However, as it is used in general, and since the added epithet does not induce in error, it would cause more inconvenience to change the name. Some people replace it by the word Mesmerism; however, this expression did not prevail. (Spiritist Vocabulary, pages 38 and 39).
