In this issue, we continue the study of the Revue Spirite of 1859, a monthly newspaper focused on the divulgation of Spiritism, founded and directed by Allan Kardec. This study is based on the translation into the Portuguese language made by Julio Abreu Filho and published by EDICEL. The answers to the questions are at the end of the text for reading.
Questions for discussion
A. Are the Spirits differentiated by gender?
B. How did a Spirit describe Kardec working in his office?
C. Are there musicians in the spiritual world?
D. When was it mentioned for the first time in the Revue Spirite the information about a luminous trace seen with the apparitions of the living?
Text for reading
54. There are certain social tasks, says a subscriber of the Revue, which are invincible obstacles to spiritual progress, such as the slaughter men in slaughterhouses and executioners. Thus, he asks: What is the need of these professions in our social state? (P. 104)
55. Kardec answers by saying that only gradually can the Spirit progress: he must successively pass through all degrees, so that every step forward is a basis for new progress. No one can bridge the gap between barbarism and civilization. (P. 104)
56. The enterprises that God blesses, whatever their proportions, are those that correspond to His designs, and therefore adding to the collective work. (P. 106)
57. Experience shows that a medium's ability to do this or that work depends on the flexibility he presents to the Spirit. (P. 111)
58. The knowledge of the job and the material means with which they execute their task do not constitute the talent, but it is evident that in such a medium the Spirit finds less mechanical difficulty in contacting him. (Pages 111 and 112)
59. Commenting on a dialogue held with the Spirit of Poitevin, a former aeronaut, Kardec says that men on Earth who have a specialty are not always the most adequate to our clarification. (P. 118)
60. Kardec says that although he is against mercenary mediums, there is nothing to oppose against mercenary somnambulists, because they act for themselves and it is their own Spirit that detaches and sees more or less well. (P. 120)
61. Spirits incarnate as men or women, because they have no gender. Each gender imposes special tests and duties on them. (P. 121)
62. According to the Spiritist Doctrine, solidarity is not restricted to earthly society: it embraces all worlds and is therefore universal. (P. 121)
63. There are meetings of Spirits that many cannot attend: the Higher Spirits control this. (P. 125)
64. Pierre Le Flamand, who died fifteen years ago, confesses that he is not happy in erraticity, because he lacks the reality of pleasures. Not yet sufficiently evolved to enjoy moral happiness, he wants everything he sees, he gets bored and tries to kill time as he can, but time does not pass!... (P. 126)
65. Would it not be helpful for him to see and hear good and useful things to help him in his progress? He says yes, but for that he would need to know how to practice what he learns through the lessons. He prefers, however, to watch the scenes of love and debauchery, which in no way help him. (P. 127)
66. In the following speech, Pierre says that from a few days to now he has seen a Spirit that seems to follow him everywhere, who impels or contains him. If he wants to do something wrong, he stands in front of him. (P. 129)
67. Pierre says that when he went to visit Kardec, he saw the professor alone in the study, surrounded by about twenty Spirits. Two or three were blowing what he wrote, and they seemed to hear the opinions of others. Kardec believed, however, that the ideas were his own. (P. 131)
68. Then eight or ten people arrived and gathered in another room with Kardec, who answered their questions. One was called the Prince, another was called the Duke, and a big crowd of Spirits arrived: there were more than a hundred, of which some had a sort of crown of fire. (P. 131)
69. Pierre says that he witnessed a robbery: the thief was welcomed by two Spirits; one urged him to steal, the other encouraged him to resist. Pierre warned the trader and the robbery did not happen. (Pp. 131 and 132)
70. Pierre caused a strong sneeze on the trader, and he went down to the shop to fetch the snuff box when he surprised the thief. (P. 132)
71. Mozart and Chopin manifest themselves: the first confirms that in the world where he lives, all Nature has melodious sounds. (P. 135)
72. Chopin confirms that he is a melancholic and sad person because he undertook a test and he did not know how to do well, and lacked the courage to restart it. (P. 136)
73. Chopin says that in erraticity there are legions of performers who play their compositions with a thousand times more art than any musician on Earth. They are complete musicians. The instrument they serve is the throat itself, aided by instruments, species of organs, precision and melody that we cannot understand. (P. 136)
74. Kardec asked Mozart, and he explained: There are worlds particularly meant for wandering beings, worlds where they can temporarily live in, a kind of bivouacs, or rest camps. Bivaque is the name given to an area in which the troops can park and only have natural shelters, especially trees. (P. 137)
75. St. Augustine confirmed the information and said that Spirits are progressing while they are stationed on these intermediate worlds. (P. 138)
76. Mr. R ..., former resident minister of the United States to the King of Naples, reported to Kardec that he had met in England a psychic seer who noticed in the apparitions of the living a luminous trace, starting from the chest, through the Space, and ending in the physical body. (P. 140)
77. If I were a priest, Kardec says, and wanted to prove that there is something more than the body in us, I would demonstrate it in an irrefutable way by the phenomena of natural or artificial somnambulism. (P. 146)
78. Kardec says that he carried out special studies on somnambulism for 35 years (from the age of 20 onwards) and could therefore say that the medium is endowed with a particular gift which cannot be mistaken with the somnambulist, and that the complete independence of his thought is proved by facts of the greatest evidence, to those who observe them impartially. (P. 146)
Answers to the proposed questions
A. Are the Spirits differentiated by gender?
No. The Spirits incarnate as men or women because they have no gender. Each gender imposes special tests and duties on them. (Revue Spirite, page 121).
B. How did a Spirit describe Kardec working in his office?
He said he had seen Kardec alone in the study, surrounded, however, by about twenty Spirits. Two or three were blowing what he wrote, and they seemed to hear the opinions of others. But Kardec believed that the ideas were his own. (Cited above, page 131)
C. Are there musicians in the spiritual world?
Yes. The Spirit of Chopin says there are, in erraticity, legions of performers who play their compositions with a thousand times more art than any musician on Earth. They are complete musicians. The instrument they use is the throat itself, aided by instruments, a kind of organ, of such a precision and melody that we cannot understand. (Cited above, page 136)
D. When was it mentioned for the first time in the Revue Spirit the information about a luminous trace seen with the apparitions of the living?
It was in 1859. The information was given to Kardec by Mr. R..., a former resident minister of the United States to the King of Naples, who said that he had known in England a psychic seer who noticed in the apparitions of the living a luminous trace that left the chest, through space, and ended in the physical body. (Cited above, page 140)
