The Revue Spirite of 1862

Part 10

We continue in  this issue the study of the Revue Spirite corresponding to the year of 1862. The condensed text of the mentioned volume will hereby be presented in sixteen parts, based on the translation of Julio Abreu Filho and published by EDICEL.

Issues for discussion

A. How do we explain the similarity of tastes and skills in members of the same family?

B. What happens to those who commit suicide?

C. Is it good to be prepared for the great journey?

Text for reading

102. Answering a Wiesbaden’s subscriber, Kardec analyzes the hereditary faculties issue. (Page 202)

103. To explain his article, the Encoder copied two communications written by Erasto and St. Louis, from which we mention the following passages: I. Physical resemblance in a family is due to a physiological question, independent of any spiritual action. II - Similar aptitudes and tastes result from the fact that similar Spirits attract each other; hence the families of heroes or the races of warriors. III. Often vicious and evil individuals are born into worthy families, sent there to serve as a touchstone, or to be perfected under the influence of a virtuous environment. IV - The same is true for the morally advanced Spirits who reincarnate among backward Spirits, to show them the path of progress. (Pages 204 and 205)

104. In any case, says St. Louis, sympathy or antipathy already existed before birth and are developed in family relations, by imitation and habit. (Page 205)

105. From Bordeaux, the Revue publishes the poem "The Child and the Vision", in which the girl Gabriela tells her mother that the then deceased father was next to his bed and smiled at both of them. (Pages 206 to 207)

106. The Palmira affair - in which she committed suicide with her lover, out of loyalty to her husband, because they would not be able to stop their love for each other - is told in the Revue. (Editor's Note: Kardec later included it in Heaven and Hell, Chapter V) (P.207)

107. Saint Augustine, aware that Palmira was, out of parental interest, compelled to marry a young man, although she liked another man, says that such suicides will only stop when the heart beats are no longer influenced by the cold assessment of material interests. And he said that, as a consequence of his act, lovers would not see each other for a long time, suffering - as Georges explains - the double torment of foreboding and desire. (Page 210)

108. When spiritually evoked eight days later, Palmira gave the following information: I - She saw nothing, not even the Spirits who wandered with her wherever she was. II. Upon awakening from death, it was cold and yet it burned. The ice flowed in her veins and the fire was on her face. III There, at the meeting, she saw only a black crepe on which, at certain times, a head was weeping, it was the image of a man who suffered and whose moral life on Earth she had killed for a long period. Kardec then comments on Palmira’s communication. (Pages 210 to 212)

109. In a message given in Bordeaux, a Spirit says that God allows those who love one another sincerely, and have known to suffer with resignation, to meet in the world of the Spirits, where they will progress together, in order to obtain reincarnations in higher worlds, in which they may unite with the bonds that most please their hearts. (Pages 213 to 215)

110. The Spirit of Truth, remembering that every day we are exposed to undertake the most important of all trips, recommends that we be prepared for this moment and teaches that the map that will allow us to know the country where we will go is the initiation in the mysteries of the future life. (Pages 215 and 216)

111. As for the friends we meet there, these are old acquaintances. What we must get rid of are the evil feelings, because unhappy is the one whom death surprises with hatred in the heart. The business that we must put in order is the forgiveness of those who have offended us, and the mistakes committed towards our neighbor and that need to be repaired. (Pages 216 and 217) (Continues on next issue).

Answers to the issues

A. How do we explain the similarity of tastes and skills in members of the same family?

In communications obtained from the Spiritist Society of Paris, Erasto and Saint Luis dealt with the subject. Here's what they said about this matter and other family-related issues: 1) the physical resemblance in a family is due to a physiological issue, independent of spiritual action. 2) Similar aptitudes and tastes result from the fact that Spirits alike attract each other; hence the families of heroes or the races of warriors. 3) Often vicious and evil individuals are born into decent families, and are sent there to serve as a touchstone, or to perfect under the influence of a virtuous environment. 4) The same is true about morally advanced Spirits who are reincarnated among backward Spirits, to show them the way to progress. (Revue Spirite, 1862, pages 204 and 205).

B. What happens to those who commit suicide?

There is no rule that applies to all cases. In the case of Palmira, who, although married, killed herself for the sake of another man, the Revuerecorded the following information which she herself transmitted: 1) Palmira saw nothing, not even the Spirits who wandered with her wherever she was. 2) Upon awakening from death, it was cold and yet it burned. The ice flowed in her veins and the fire was on her face. 3) There, at the meeting, she saw only a black crepe on which, at certain times, a head was weeping: it was the image of a man who suffered and whose moral life on Earth she had killed... (Ibid, pages 210 to 212).

C. Is it good to be prepared for the great journey?

Yes. The Spirit of Truth, remembering that every day we are exposed to undertake the most important of all trips, recommends that we be prepared for this moment and teach that the map that will allow us to know the country where we will go is the initiation in the mysteries of the future life. As for the friends we meet there, these are old acquaintances. It is from the evil feelings that we must rid ourselves, because unhappy is the one to whom death surprises with hatred in the heart. The business that we must put in order is the forgiveness of those who have offended us, are the mistakes committed towards our neighbor and that need to be repaired. (Ibid, pages 215 to 217).

Translation:

Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br