Spiritism: Myth or reality

Allan Kardec, French pedagogue and teacher, whose real name is Léon Rivail, codified spiritualism in 1857. This spiritualist philosophy gave birth to a socio-cultural movement in Europe, then attracted many followers in Latin America and particularly in Brazil. The principles of this philosophy will be exposed in the famous Book of Spirits. Spiritualism is based on belief in God, reincarnation and responds to moral laws. The use of spiritual energy, called perispirit, will allow mediums to contact the deceased. According to this doctrine, the human being is composed of three elements: the physical body, the spirit and the perispirit, this energy which sets our organs in motion and determines our strength.  Accepting the existence of God, eternal life and reincarnation are all prerequisites for the successful completion of these practices. At this time, spiritualism was less popularized than today and positioned itself between science and religion. We then use scholarly terms such as doctrine, philosophy, Kardecism, religion of spirits, etc.

In reality, it all started in the United States with the Fox sisters, in New York State in 1847. The family lived on a farm in Hydesville where the girls heard noises and knocks in the partitions and furniture responding clearly to them. And, one thing leading to another, this phenomenon is becoming widely known throughout the country. Then, he will reach England where turntables will be fashionable even in France. Léon Rivail will also be interested in this phenomenon which he will study with a lot of observations and questions. He will attend numerous spiritualism sessions where the tables are magnetized and where people exchange with the deceased. He will write the book of spirits and very quickly the success will lead to such popularity of the phenomenon that despite himself, this current of thought will be born. After this theoretical publication, followed its experimental counterpart, the book of mediums in 1861. And spiritualism spread throughout France giving birth to spiritualist centers. A. Kardec  travels a lot and gives lectures to rooms full of people. Gradually, he will focus on taking charge of philanthropic and social works working for the most disadvantaged and will leave the experimental part to others. In 1869, he died of an aneurysm. Over the years, and particularly from 1917, under the influence of the Vatican which prohibited Catholics from participating in spiritualism sessions, the phenomenon experienced its decline. From there, various currents will appear with metapsychia, parapsychology… And the 20th century sees this frenzy of spiritualism in France gradually die out. Brazilian intellectuals are taking over.  Spiritualism is taking hold and spreading further in Latin America. Adopted homeland, Brazil became the stronghold of spiritualism. It is the third religion. It is almost an institution whose works are recognized as being of public utility (nurseries, orphanages, dispensaries, retirement homes, etc.). Spiritist psychiatric hospitals are subsidized and it is even considered that mental disorders could be the consequence of a previous life or the influence of spirits. Neighboring countries like Mexico, Argentina or Cuba are also fansof spiritualism. On the European continent, Iceland remains the country most marked by this influence.

Concerning the techniques used, followers of spiritualism use several methods, that of typtology, the table, glass, ouija, mediumistic trance, transcommunications and direct voices, or even that of channeling, crystal ball, pendulum, cards… In practice, if a spiritualism session allows you to speak with the souls of deceased people, it does not offer the choice of spirits with whom you wish to communicate. It is therefore possible to find yourself face to face with a good spirit, as well as an evil spirit. Caution is therefore essential when supporting a real specialist or medium. As with all types of mediumship, it is very easy to fall into the hands of malicious and unscrupulous people.  It is clear that if a person is required to consult this means that they are in a state of worry, that they are wondering about their future, that the disappearance of a loved one is weighing on them. In short, we can easily imagine that this person has found themselves weakened and needs help.

According to practitioners, we must respect certain rules in order to prevent evil spirits from wandering around us and attacking us. This evil spirit can lead the individual to depression and even drive him crazy. We cannot call on a particular spirit and we must accept the one who comes to us. These spirits have a strength that man does not possess so it must be respected so that the exchange takes place as best as possible. He will then be able to inform us, console, support, advise… There are different spirits, those who are part of the people we have known, friends, family who will essentially come to console, those considered to belong to a higher order and whose role is to allow man to access a spiritual approach to live better, those of an average order who come to support in a trial or to guide in a choice, those who come to inform of an event or even those who come to ask for help because they are spirits wandering or even terrestrial who have not yet managed to cross the beyond. They will indeed need prayer or other intervention to return to their final resting place. In principle, during invocation, when the spirit appears, one is supposed to recognize whether it is good or not. The good spirit provides a feeling of peace, harmony, happiness while the bad one pierces you with anxiety, cold sweat and makes you want to flee, to leave everything.

Most people who have tried spiritualism with friends in the evening, in the darkness of their apartment, report strange experiences, sometimes lacking in seriousness or just funny. Many came out strangely disturbed because a presence was felt, the glass moved and they had answers to their questions….Others regret having ventured into the spirit world because they feel that the encounters were painful and negative for them (fear, uneasiness, suffering, possessed…). Some have fallen into a form of addiction that makes their lives impossible. Indulging in spiritualism without any supervision can create a climate, destabilizing to say the least, around you with extraordinary dependence and a state bordering on paranoia. If one is disturbed by nocturnal visits from wandering souls at night, a young woman from Reunion recommends collecting holy water fromthe church and to have coarse salt blessed at the same time. Then, it will be necessary to place salt in the four corners of the house and recite prayers of invocation to the Holy Cross. Today, everyone is connected and generation 2.0 finds more answers to their questions about the beyond with a simple click. On some sites, you just need to share your questions and submit your request, then a medium will respond to you. Obviously, the Internet user is comforted in his approach. He is told that his request is legitimate, that he is absolutely right to contact one of his deceased parents. We will give him advice on the time or the most favorable moment for the exchange, the type of information he can receive, the support (image, vision, sensation, etc.). It is certain that from the moment the service is paid for, the pseudo medium will do everything possible to make you plunge into the twists and turns of the beyond. Its interest is to ensure that you yourself are convinced of the merits of your approach and that at no time do you have regrets or doubts as to its ability to communicate with the deceased.  

This is how a young woman, convinced by a friend whose experience with a spiritualist medium, named Françoise, was positive, agreed to go to the office for a consultation. When making an appointment, the spiritualist clairvoyant asked him for his date of birth and his first name in order to prepare a guide and tell him who his guardian angel was. In a room adjoining her apartment, Françoise receives the young woman without getting up from her seat. The decor is, all in all, classic and very basic: candle, porcelain angel, representation of Christ and the Virgin on images… In her small office of 9 m2, where there is a small table with her armchair, that of the client in front of her, a display case with a few trinkets and a small bench, Françoise receives the sum of 63 euros per session. Barely a glance exchanged with her client, she begins to read the two pages that she took care to write. The young woman shrugs a few times. It seems that Françoise’s comments are a little too general. “You are sad, you have to take a new step.. Thanks to your date of birth, I know that your angel is called Mikael..I will tell you how you are perceived by your guide. Only you can recognize yourself. They say that you are endowed with great sensitivity and great intuition. Your guide tells me: You need to be happy and realize yourself, which is not your case at the moment!” After a few minutes, the young client interrupts Françoise by asking her how she can get more information about her guide. The clairvoyant replies very annoyed: “Well, he’s the one who gives them, it’s not your place to ask him. You see mine, he’s in Egypt….” She drowns the fish. When the client points out that she has only given him generalities, Françoise becomes upset and her face reddens even more: “I am repeating to you what your guide tells me”. She tries not to lose her train of thought and repeats the same information worded differently. Using the cards that were placed completely carelessly in a bookend, she draws the cards from him and once again repeats the same sentences. They tell me: “you are going to take another path…” The young client, visibly disappointed with the service, asks Françoise for news of her parents. ““Yourfather is old but he is doing well.” This is too much! The Client replies: yes except that he is deceased! Embarrassed, Françoise looks for a subterfuge: “your relationship is so deep that he is there, by your side”…. Neither gives up.  “So give me a specific element, an anecdote about my father, an element which indicates to me that people speak well of him?” the customer asks him. There the medium tenses up: “he says to me, why do you want to know something that you already know!! He said to me: “you’re not in a guessing game”! Very stoic and calm, the client replied: “okay”. Then, the clairvoyant talks to him about his mother and tells him that the parents are not together because they do not have the same level of belief. She closes her eyes, presses her temple as if to receive information that comes too loudly to her: your guide tells me… When the young woman reprimands the medium, telling her that she has just used a term that her mother does not approve of, the spiritualist gets angry and tells her that she can very well stop the session. The young client remains perplexed and wonders about her guide: how can I be sure that this guide is really my guide? I have the feeling that he doesn’t know me!” Indeed, the following response, linked to the professional field, turns out to deal with a sector far removed from that in which the client works. She expresses her desire to stop the session and the medium replies that it is preferable if she does not get along with her guide. The young woman replies that this guide is not suitable for her and that it therefore seems inappropriate to continue. She pays for the session despite this feeling of total dissatisfaction and leaves the office. The experience of this young woman shows to what extent a session of clairvoyance, of spiritualism hangs by a thread. If we are weakened, lacking confidence and argument, we can very quickly fall under the yoke of unserious and incompetent people whose sole aim is to trade in a dangerous practice. It is certain that a malleable person will enter into the game of the medium, especially since the reference to deceased loved ones will always be imbued with a certain benevolence. Their wise advice, their affection and their thoughts can only heal the wounds of a suffering being. And then comes the question of free will, at what point will the client be master of his destiny? Won’t these practices create a certain form of dependence and addiction? It is relatively easy to detect the faults and weaknesses of an individual to guide a session. Perhaps it is better to invoke your guide yourself and question him?  For many, spiritualism sessions are practiced in groups because it is the way to invoke the world of the deceased without getting lost and benefiting from the support of others. On the other hand, you must also show yourself capable of receiving and being touched by the emotion of the other, of this person who may have come into contact with a deceased loved one. The smooth running of a spiritualism session is due to the fact that everyone must be involved in the project. Otherwise, the session is aborted and communications will be impossible or distorted.

Living a spiritualist experience without causing spiritual or psychological problems requires extreme vigilance, but no one is safe from mishaps as there are so many scams linked to these practices.

YG