Delanne: researcher of
Spiritism
(2nd and last part)
Delanne - Writer
Up to now we avoided to
talk about the books
written by Delanne, only
talking about the
magazines in which he
collaborated with. His
first book was published
in 1885, with the title
“Spiritism before the
Science”. Divided into
five parts, it initially
talks about the many
theories related to the
existence of the soul;
the history and theory
of magnetism,
somnambulism and
hypnosis; the
experiments
that
prove
the
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immortality of the soul,
the perispirit,
evidences of its
existence, its
composition and its role
in disincarnating,
finishing with a part
talking about mediumship. |
Lantier (1971, p. 77)
talks about this book,
which leads us to
believe he had not read
it: “The author, living
up to his capacity,
combats in it
materialism with
arguments that are more
based on the realities
of electromagnetism than
the teachings of
Kardec”. When he
referred to
electromagnetism,
Lantier was supposed to
be talking about
Mesmer’s animal
magnetism and its
successors, of whom
Delanne talks about in
the second part. How can
one attribute the theory
of the perispirit to
someone that is not
Kardec? How can one
attribute the different
kinds of mediumship to
electromagnetism? To put
it bluntly, Jacques
Lantier either has not
read the book he
comments, nor does he
know Allan Kardec. The
Brazilian Portuguese
translation was done by
Carlos Imbassahy and
revised by Lauro S.
Thiago, for the second
issue of 1993. This
issue, which served as
basis to this article
dated 1993, shows that
have been printed, up to
then, ten thousand
books, shall we not
forget it has not been
published in decades.
Delanne’s second book
was “The Spiritist
Phenomenon”, which came
out in 1896. A sort of
introductory course to
Spiritism, this book
shows the communication
with the dead since the
ancient times,
dedicating a whole
chapter to the modern
times, where it shows,
rightfully, the
development of the
Anglo-American “new
spiritualism” since the
Fox sisters, Kardec’s
work and his successors
and the German
researches from Justinus
Kerner to his
successors. Then we have
the phenomena of
physical effects and a
discussion of different
theories to mediumship,
with many facts that
prove the four basic
faculties of it. The
second part wraps up
with “Transcendental
Spiritism”, term used to
refer to phenomena of
materialization,
dematerialization,
transport and other
faculties of physical
effects. The third part
of the book is aimed to
the Spiritist groups,
giving suggestions to
its functionality. The
fourth and last part
discusses the
materialistic part and
show arguments
pro-reincarnation. This
is a work that deserves
to be suggested to
beginners of Spiritism
who like to read. It is
mandatory reading to
those who preach the
Doctrine of the Spirits.
Its translation was done
by Ewerton Quadros, and
it had more than 29,000
printings by FEB, in
1992.
Kardec’s disciple next
contribution to the
Spiritist literature was
published in 1897 and
has the title “Animism
Evolution”. This work is
a compared analysis
between the Spiritist
teachings and the
Physiological Psychology
of the time. There are
topics such as life
(organically speaking),
memory, multiple
personalities, madness,
heredity and the
Universe, in which is
discussed the cosmic
evolution and the
earthly one. Translated
to Portuguese by Manuel
Quintão, in 1992 FEB had
already printed 34,000
books.
His fourth book, whose
first issue was released
in 1898, is yet to be
translated to
Portuguese, and its
possible title would be
“On the Mediumship”.
Regnault and Bodier have
decided not to discuss
this book, and the
suspicious Lantier
mentions, laconically,
its publication.
Hermínio Miranda,
however, got the French
edition of 1902,
according to his
“Diversity of Charisma”.
In the same year,
Delanne wrote the
preface of “Katie
King: histoire de ses
aparitions”, whose
author is unknown by
Lantier. In 1899,
Delanne published “The
Soul is Immortal”, his
fifth book in five years
of work. In it he
discusses the
immortality of the soul,
the perispirit, the
projections out of the
body of the human being,
the fluidic body after
death, the experiment by
De Rochas about
sensitiveness, the
pictures of
disincarnated spirits,
the fluidic creations of
will, the scientific
theories of the time,
space, energy
conservation and its
weight. Translated to
Portuguese by Guillon
Ribeiro, it was already
in its fourth edition by
1978.
After a break of ten
years, Delanne writes
what his biographers
consider to be his
masterpiece. In
Portuguese it could be
translated as
“Materialized
Appearances of Dead and
Alive”. Its first volume
was published in 1909
and the second in 1911.
Regnault and Bodier
(1990, p. 61) say that,
in the first volume,
“Gabriel Delanne answers
all the objections that
are made about the
existence of the soul.
To do so, he offers a
huge documentation,
based on multiple
scientific experiences.”
They keep talking about
the second volume, as it
follows.
“In the second volume he
shows the analogy that
exists between what
happens during the life
of embodied people and
what happens when,
having no more a
physical body, they can,
though, manifest its
survival through
communications “post
mortem”. In some
centuries, when
historians want to make
known what happened in
the age of barbarism,
when there were
materialists, humans
from this epoch will be
astonished to see that
metapsychics were
right.”
Eighty-five years have
passed without the
Brazilian Spiritist
could have the pleasure
to read, in their
language, the actual
work. There are some
privileged ones who
still own it, what can
be done is wait for one
of the dedicated
scholars, in the
Brazilian Spiritist
movement, decides to
translate it, certain
that it won’t be a
“best seller”, but it
will certainly
contribute for a better
comprehension of the
human soul and the
history of Spiritism.
In 1922, Delanne wrote
the preface of “The
Ranch of Silence” by
Paul Bodier, published
in Portuguese by FEB and
had a great response
from the French readers,
when released. The
“chant of the swan” of
the researcher of
Spiritism was dictated
in 1924 and rumour has
it there was a
posthumous publication
in 1927. Regnault and
Bodier refer to it as
“Documents to Serve the
Study of Reincarnation”,
and is published in
Portuguese with the
title “The
Reincarnation”.
Controversial theory
along with the English
spiritualists, Delanne
talks about
reincarnation in other
cultures and strives to
find evidences of
reincarnation with the
aid of the theory of
integral memory. The
casuistry is extensive
and what the modern
researchers would
consider as methods of
spontaneous and provoked
memory have place in
this book, showing
procedures and results.
Translated by Carlos
Imbassahy, the book is
in its eighth edition
already, having been
printed nearly 40,000
copies.
Last Words
Why do we believe in
spirits? Possibly some
adepts of Spiritism
nowadays would answer
this question referring
to a certain medium
whose faculties brought
them some evidence of
life beyond the matter.
Others will remember
works that are read as
if they were fiction,
but are respected due to
the authority of a
vibrating lecturer who
makes it true. Hermínio
Miranda, however,
reported that, at the
beginning of his studies
about Spiritism and
mediumship, his
introducer to Spiritism
recommended him Kardec’s,
Denis’ and Delanne’s
books. Certainly, the
Spiritist who has
studied the work of this
giant of the Spiritism
thinking will have a
different conviction, as
to Spirits and
mediumship.
Conviction based on
facts and reflexion.
Philosophical-scientific
conviction.
Precious and rare gem on
the days where “new
comers” queue up in
search of news, so
different and unlikely,
from the supposed “world
of spirits”, mixed with
“world of imagination of
pseudo-mediums”.
Let us observe carefully
Delanne’s translators.
Those who know the
history of the Brazilian
Spiritist movement
acknowledge their value.
Quintão, Imbassahy,
Guillon Ribeiro, Ewerton
Quadros... No one else,
no one less.
The number of editions
is small, if compared to
best-sellers such as
“Our Home” or “The
Gospel According to
Spiritism”, which
determine the potential
of the Spiritist market
in our country. Without
doubt this situation
will be different when
scholars Spiritist
lecturers become aware
of the relevance of the
work by Gabriel Delanne
and follow his advice,
spreading it.
We sincerely thank, to
wrap it up, the
Spiritist Centre Léon
Denis, who has making
such sacrifices, in
direction to a better
known Spiritism.
Certainly we wouldn’t
have access to the
thorough work by
Regnault and Bodier were
it not for the patience
of Professor José Jorge
and the teamwork of
these students and
workers for the
Spiritist cause.
Bibliography:
BODIER, Paul, REGNAULT,
Henri.
Gabriel Delanne: life
and work.
Rio de Janeiro: CELD,
1990.
DUMAS, André. History of
Spiritism. in: História
do Ocultismo Porto: Nova
Crítica, 1980.
LANTIER, Jacques.
Spiritism. Lisboa:
Editions 70, 1971. p.
74-83.
MIRANDA, Hermínio.
Diversity of Charisma.
Niterói: Arte e Cultura,
1991.
WANTUIL, Zêus; THIESEN,
Francisco. Allan Kardec
(vol. III). Rio de
Janeiro: FEB, 1980. p.
120-122, 314-316,
373-379.
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