The Science of Spiritism

The dictionary defines a "philosophy" as a particular set of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life; a set of ideas of how to live.  Spiritism is definitely a philosophy, but it is also a science - as it can be proven. Science is defined as the state of knowing or knowledge from studying the natural world, based on facts learned through experiments and observations. 

Allan Kardec (above) used the scientific tools of study and observation when he began to witness the frequent and popular spiritual phenomena of the 1850's (such as raptures, table turning, and later mediumistic writings). He was skeptical at first, but Kardec eventually became a serious student of spirit communication. The spirits revealed that they were not created as a separate class of beings; they were the souls of those who had lived on Earth or other worlds, who were now liberated from the material body and able to move freely through space. 

Kardec wrote, "These facts themselves fall into two categories: those that are spontaneous and those that are provoked. Among the former are the visions and apparitions, the noises and movement of objects without a material cause, and a great number of uncommon effects that we used to look upon as supernatural. The latter are those obtained through mediums."  Let's look at each type:

Spontaneous is defined as: coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency; without effort or premeditation; natural and unconstrained; unplanned.  In our sessions, many of the participants arrive at our table after a spontaneous interaction with a spirit.  A spirit has been around them (for any possible reason, such as attention, retribution, etc.) and that spirit makes them feel uncomfortable.  Frequently, the participants may not even remember the specific details of the interaction with a spirit until there is some communication with the spirit through a medium. For example, we passed a spirit who wanted to burn down a house, and the resident of the house had accidentally burned herself earlier that day.  Kardec subjected the numerous examples of spirit communication he had received from various places around the world, to systematic and methodical analysis, as well as cross-examination.

The first questions he needed to address were: What are these spirits? What is their role in the universe? To what end do they communicate with us? The answers to those questions brought serious proof of not only the existence of the soul, but also of the soul's survival and continued individuality after death.

Provoking the spirits is the job of the mediums in regards to the participants at the table. It is important to note that "provoke" does not always involve anger, as the definition of the word is " to cause the occurrence of a feeling or an action to make something happen." The medium is provoking the spirit (trying to get the spirit to sit) by asking questions to determine the intent of the spirit.

When someone attends a session, a spirit only sees the energy of that person - as our appearance varies from lifetime to lifetime. Even if we look similar to the way we did in our last incarnation, it's important for a spirit to hear us speak before they agree to sit. Kardec learned that by provoking communication with the spirits, they provided more information about people, places, and times often previously unknown to anyone present - sometimes in languages completely unknown to the medium. There were even written messages that were received in the medium's native language despite the illiteracy of that particular medium.

The science of experimental Spiritism began to emerge, which Gabriel Delanne described, in the book "O Fenomeno Espirita" (Spiritist Phenomena), as "a science, whose purpose is the experimental demonstration of the existence of the soul and its immortality, by way of the communication with those who we inappropriately call 'the dead'."

In the mediumship sessions, the spirits revealed that they were the souls of former men and women on Earth. They were able to explain the habits and behaviors that they had in their past lives and shared how the consequences of their choices affected their present state. They revealed, in detail, why they were around people in this life. 

Of course, each new piece of information that was revealed only brought more philosophical questions. This process resulted in a collection of information so significant that Kardec, (following the instructions from the higher spirits), published several questions and answers in the first book of Spiritism's codification, entitled "The Spirits' Book".

The practice of observation and analysis that resulted in the birth of Spiritism is still alive and active today. With time and progress, we continue to learn more about the nature of our world and the divine laws under which it is governed. Why not visit a Spiritist Center and test it out for yourself? 

Resources:
Kardec, Allan. Christian Spiritism (a compilation of two Kardec books: Spiritism Reduced to Its Simplest Expression and What is Spiritism). Trans. Allan Kardec Educational Society (translated from original French editions, published 1860 and 1859, respectively). Philadelphia, PA. Allan Kardec Educational Society. 1985. 4; 59; 193-195.

Barbosa, Pedro Franco. "O Espiritismo Cientifico" [Scientific Spiritism] Espiritismo Basico [Basic Spiritism]. 3rd ed. Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil: Federação Espírita Brasileira [Brazilian Spiritist Federation].1987. 105-106.