Reincarnation returns
to soap operas 

 
Last 24th, Globo TV once again started displaying the soap opera Alma Gêmea (Soul Mate), written by Walcyr Carrasco, which has the theme reincarnation as its background and the always controversial question about soul mates.

According to the plot, Luna and Rafael used to be a couple until Luna dies after getting shot. Moments afterwards, in an indigenous tribe, a woman gives birth to a baby girl called Serena, who would be – in the author’s understanding – Luna’s reincarnation. Obviously that, being Luna and Serena the same individual, her love for Rafael continues, reason for the soap opera’s title.

The love between Rafael and Luna (now Serena) is presented covered by mysticism. However, neither the story is related to any specific religion nor the soap opera is Spiritist, explained Walcyr Carrasco, although mentioning reincarnation, one of the fundamental principles of Spiritism. “The aim – said the author – is to show that life renews itself, that we always have the chance to change.”

In the Spiritist literature, as we know, there are renowned Spiritist romances that would compose great soap operas, such as the classic Amor e ódio (Love and Hate), psychographed by Yvonne A. Pereira, also responsible for the extraordinary trilogy Nas voragens do pecado (In the Vortices of Sin) , O cavaleiro de Numiers (The Knight of Numiers)  and O drama da Bretanha (Drama of Britain), but the Brazilian authors rarely get it right when taking subjects perfectly elucidated by respected researchers, like reincarnation, to TV.

We know, for instance, that a Spirit of an adult person seldom returns immediately to corporeal existence. In addition to nine months of gestation – given that the reincarnating Spirit is related to the physical body since the moment of conception – a minimum time is required in order to elaborate its reincarnatory programming, an important item in the evolvement process, which is one of the objectives of a human being’s passage through corporeal existence.

Regarding the theme soul mates, it’s necessary to say that there are controversies concerning this subject, even among Spiritists. Of course that, from the literature’s perspective, there’s nothing to be opposed against the thesis of soul mates. However, if we bring the theme to the Spiritist discussion, how should we face it?

According to Emmanuel, soul mates do exist. And it seems to be clear that various renowned desincarnated authors, such as Jésus Gonçalves, André Luiz, Manoel Philomeno de Miranda and Victor Hugo, reinforce the idea.

Once it is accepted, the problem consists in defining what soul mates are. It’s recommendable not to forget that, in accordance to the doctrine presented in The Spiritist’s Book, there are neither souls made in pairs nor souls identical to each other, and the ordinary concept of   twins, as we use when referring to brothers born from the same pregnancy, isn’t applicable to Spirits. Soul mates would be people that look for each other, that nourish a special care for one another, and such a relationship continues until both reach the level of perfection.

Lastly, we must say that Emmanuel is right when he affirms that the thesis about soul mates has nothing to do with the questions 298 to 303 of The Spirits’ Book, because soul mates aren’t eternal counterparts, which is the subject approached by Allan Kardec in the referred work.