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Special Portuguese Spanish    

Year 10 - N° 497 - January 1st, 2017

ROGÉRIO MIGUEZ
rogmig55@gmail.com
São José dos Campos, SP (Brasil)

 

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

 
 

Rogério Miguez

Allan Kardec and the Magnetic Banquets

The Animal Magnetism Principles have accompanied us since the beginning of History, and even before, after all, they are Laws of God. We are emitters and receivers of magnetic fluids, whether we like it or not, regardless of our creed, race, and evolutionary stage.
The ability to manipulate Fluid Magnetism is embedded in the essence of the Spirit, it can be controlled by the will, but cannot be suppressed; it is part of the mechanics of divine postulates.

It is not uncommon for famous men to be particularly interested in certain matters during their childhood or youth, and due to this early knowledge they may have favored in the future the conduction of the particular mission of these Spirits.

We believe that this was the case of Allan Kardec. He was basically an educator, a nationwide writer of didactic books, this in France, perhaps the most outstanding culture of the world in the nineteenth century.

Before he began his special mission - the elaboration of the Spiritist Pentateuch - in 1823, at the age of 19, Professor Rivail focused his attention on the magnetic phenomena and began to attend the works of the Society of Magnetism in Paris. From that moment on he became involved for 35 years with magnetism and magnetizers, becoming himself one of them. Why did he involve himself so young with magnetism? Undoubtedly, this initiation in the laws of magnetism, this "magnetic" past, certainly helped him greatly in the elaboration of the Spiritist theory, because nothing happens unintentionally.

In those days there was great interest and acceptance in the world by the so-called Magnetism Science, but there were also strong opponents and the scientific mentality itself did not see with good eyes the so-called magnetic passes. There was certain mistrust that everything was just charlatanism, led by its greatest promoter and practitioner: Franz Anton Mesmer.

Why two annual banquets in tribute to Mesmer?

In spite of this resistance, Magnetism became very important at the time of Kardec, because several cures occurred due to this practice, and one cannot go against facts. Every May 23,  Mesmer’s birthday, the scholar par excellence of Animal Magnetism held two banquets with Paris best magnetizers, as well as foreign magnetizers too, as recorded in the Spiritist Magazine of 1858.(1)

Professor Rivail, magnetizer and also a scholar of the subject, was invited and participated of these events, and he asked: For which reason was this date always celebrated in two rival banquets, where each group drank to the health of the other, and where with no positive result, they still made a toast to this union? 

The fact was "justified", because there was a division among the sympathizers and practitioners of Mesmerism. Something similar to what happened and will happen in many other fields of knowledge.

At that event, I also thought: One has the impression that they are about to understand each other. Why, then, a split between men who are dedicated to the good of Humanity and to the worship of Truth? Is not the Truth presented to them in the same light? Do you have two ways of understanding the good of Humanity? Are you divided on the principles of your Science? Absolutely. They have the same beliefs and the same master, who is Mesmer, disembodied in 1815. If this master, whose memory they invoke, attends to their call, as we believe, he must suffer when he sees that his disciples are not united.

The magnetizers – through the movement or imposition of hands, among other methods – tried to transmit the salutary magnetic fluids, seeking the cure of all those who sought them, coming from this fact the questioning of the Encoder. After all, their final purpose was noble – to heal the sick – so how could they disagree on this attempt? 

The appeals of spirituality for the sake of unification

Then he continues his reasoning: As harmless as this war is, it is no less regrettable, even considering that it is limited to the strokes of a quill and to the fact that each one drinks in his corner.  We would like to see the men united by the same feeling of fraternization. With this Magnetic Science would profit in progress and consideration.

And who wouldn’t, too? The amazement of the Gaulish Sage was fully justified, for he could not understand how the followers of this useful Science could be divided, leaving for the future a little edifying example. After all, he began a very important task in order to enlighten Mankind, and a great work still awaited him. Could the same thing happen to the Doctrine of Consolation in the process of being prepared? Perhaps, he also wondered about this.

This happened several decades ago; the master of Lyon had just published The Book of Spirits in 1857 - the first lights that were to begin the process of enlightenment of Humanity were already shining, but the fact presents a surprising parallel to the present moment. The focus shifted, the followers are others, but the split continues, now among the followers of the Doctrine of the Spirits itself.

Spirituality has sent several calls in order to make unification feasible. However, we believe, it has not had the desired effect, for divisions continue, whether in practice, in theory, or in both, although the basic Spiritist books are exactly the same, nothing has changed. It is a fact: much has been added by the work of dedicated mediums, notably Chico Xavier, Divaldo Franco and Raul Teixeira, among many others, making it possible to receive various instructions from noble and trained Spirits, however let us highlight that none of them has changed the solid content of the Pentateuch. 

Examples of the current misconduct in Spiritist disputes

Even so, each Spiritist Association wants to possess its truth. They argue that they are the Doctrine of full freedom, and are not wrong, but they wrongly conclude that each one has the choice of how to practice it, to interpret it, and of what books to adopt, forgetting that freedom must always be accompanied by Responsibility.(2)

Let us mention very few examples of the current misconduct of some followers of Spiritism:

1. There are already reports of more than 50 mediums psycho-graphing messages from the disincarnated Spirit Chico Xavier, and as if that were not enough, there is already one or more centers receiving mediumistic orientations of the medium born in the state of Minas Gerais, their particular "mentor";

2. Others, in the name of their peculiar interpretations of the Laws of God, based on unreliable literature, claim to exist toilets on the spiritual plane, where the Spirits would necessarily need to use them for their "perispirit cleansing" functions;

3. Books of any kind are sold in certain Spiritist centers, used or new, regardless of their content, aiming only at obtaining income;

4. There are reports of Spiritist centers performing wedding ceremonies, baptisms, blessings of wedding rings, when the participants wear white robes and are accompanied by their respective godparents;

5. Adepts of the spiritualist music have innovated and present themselves as old religious groups, bringing to the interior of the centers the church atmosphere, extolling this or that religious personage of our History or even disembodied Spiritists, as if they were saints;

6. Parties are organized in the premises of the Spiritist centers, leaving nothing to be desired at any party room of our urban environment;

7. On the spiritual pass, it is a special chapter, since there are several modalities and all its practitioners justify themselves based on the examples of Jesus, in details of the Codification, and, unfortunately, on non-Spiritist proposals. There are even those defending and teaching that there is no transmission of vital fluid during the laying on of hands!

How to avoid this pitiful situation? 

One can easily understand by this small number of simple examples how Spiritism in Brazil goes. Kardec, wherever he is, will surely also be thinking about this situation, with the aggravation of not only being a division in the segment of practitioners of magnetism, but of the Spiritist movement as a whole.

How to avoid such a situation? One possible solution, perhaps the most effective suggestion, would be to remain faithful to the concepts contained in the basic works, and only to follow other literature proven Spiritist.

One should not be impressed by Spiritist pseudo-literatures when – due to the fact that the books bring on their back covers the words "Spiritist books" - they are accepted and, even more worrying, studied, as if they were Spiritist material, even being recommended in certain Spiritist associations as initial studies to those who enter the centers for the first time, without any guidance to the neophytes.

The so-called Magnetic Banquets have left us this troubling lesson, and we ask: when will we become attentive and vigilant regarding the "Spiritist pseudo-novelties”, not accepting them, and thus minimizing the divisions within the Spiritist community, since those come in the tens at this moment of planetary transition, many of them inviting us to forget the Gaulish Master? 

 

References:

(1) KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Magazine: Journal of Psychological Studies. Year 1, no. 6, June 1858. Translated by: Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Varieties - The magnetic banquets.

(2) MIGUEZ, Rogerio. See the article entitled "Speaking of Freedom," published in the Magazine “Reformador”, year 132, no. 2.225, August 2014, pages 46-48.



 


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