Eduardo Dubal da Veiga (photo) was born into a Spiritist family in Rio Grande do Sul state. A law graduate who migrated to the world of cinema in São Paulo state, he is a volunteer worker at the Nosso Lar Spiritist Centre – Casas André Luiz in Guarulhos, São Paulo. He also works with Spiritist TV   channel  Mundo Maior as director of program-

mes, documentaries and short films. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on the dissemination of the Teachings in the media and how Spiritism can influence the arts:

Taking into account your professional experience with the image, how do you see is the interaction between modern communication and the dissemination of Spiritism? 

I think it is only natural to try to use the modern media to disseminate the Teachings, especially if you look back at the history of Spiritism. We should bear in mind that Allan Kardec in the XIX Century published what was considered at the time an avant-garde magazine. We must follow the steps of the pioneers and carry on our attempts to make the best use of all the media, modern or traditional. 

What do you make of the way Spiritism principles are portrayed in the arts and the media? 

I believe the arts are a reflex of our search for answers, which is something natural in all human beings. That search for answers pushes us towards our development. Spiritism, in my opinion, is now on the philosophical edge that will take us to a wisdom and knowledge our society was not even able to envisage. Our literature, our theatre, our cinema begins, little by little, to enter this new cosmic perspective in a legitimate and irreversible manner. 

What is your main concern when you produce a video aimed at disseminating the Spiritist message? 

The main challenge is to introducer the wider public a message that must appeal to them. We must show the unifying character the Teachings entail. You add to that the fact that we must come across as young and lively without disregarding the educational aspect in the core of the Spiritist message. 

What about other forms of art, such as the music, drama, dance etc?

I would say the principles are the same: we need to aim for the Beautiful and the Fair, the sensorial climax brought about by the arts. But we cannot detach it from the universal principles of ethics that are in the core of Spiritism, encouraging reflection, the search for the immortal ego. We need to encourage plays that depict the drama of the empty tomb when you wake up on the other side; forms of dance that go towards the movement of the universal fluid of which everything in the universe is made of; the music that aims at materialising on Earth the melodies of the higher spheres. 

How do you, as someone who works in the Spiritist media, see the impact of the message codified by Kardec with the wider public? 

I am very glad to see that the public has responded very well to Spiritist themes in all the different media. The renowned Spiritist film producer, Oceano Vieira de Melo, calculated recently the number of people who have seen the 10 Spiritist films released in the last few years in Brazil at 100 million. That number includes access through television, subscription channels, cinema etc. That shows that we need and welcome Spiritist art, that it will reach more and more people in all parts of the world. 

What is the main challenge of our times as new technologies and resources are made widely available? 

It remains to honour the work of the pioneers, such as Allan Kardec in France and Cairbar Schutel in Brazil, who were ahead of their time. In a nutshell, the Spiritist Movement and especially those involved in its media departments need to make use of any technology available. 

Do you think the main guidelines and concepts of Spiritism have already been well assimilated by those who have seen films, plays and soap operas with those themes in Brazil? 

As Spiritism predicted, we are entering a new phase of moral development in the planet, called Regeneration. In this new cycle, the arts will play a leading role. We have seen in Brazil a new wave of films, soap operas etc. dealing with Spiritist themes – not always with 100% accuracy, it must be said. It is plausible that the core values of Spiritism will be, in a matter of years, known to many more people, even if they do not declare themselves Spiritists. In the first stage, we have the principles being accepted. In a second stage, those principles will be fully absorved and put into practice, paving the way for the internal reform of each one of us. 

What would you like to highlight about your experience with the Spiritist TV network Mundo Maior? 

In my job there I have the privilege of combining my personal beliefs with a proper professional job, for which I am paid. But with that comes a big responsibility, which becomes even bigger when I come to think of the transition period we are going through on the planet. At the TV, we do not yet have access to ideal financial and technological resources needed to disseminate the Teachings as we should, but I am hopeful. I firmly believe that new initiatives, projects similar to TV Mundo Maior, will soon begin in other parts of Brazil and the world.