EDITORIAL

THE AMERICAN SPIRITIST CONGRESS
HOTEL DUPONT PLAZA CENTER, MIAMI, FL, OCTOBER 5TH-8TH 2000
(More information at www.spiritistcongress.com)

It is with great pleasure that the United States Spiritist Council (USSC) invites you to take part in the last great Spiritist event of the 20th century, the American Spiritist Congress (ASC).

Everything possible has been arranged to show our hospitality. From discount airline tickets, lodge and meals at reasonable prices, to our warm welcome, all is in place to make your stay an enjoyable one. Pack your bags! Come and share four incredible days of learning and fellowship with us!

WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN SPIRITIST CONGRESS!
That is how we will be greeting you at the opening of the American Spiritist Congress!

INTERVIEW WITH WANDERLEI D C MARQUES
(ON THE IDEA AND DETAILS OF THE AMERICAN SPIRITIST CONGRESS)

I) How did the idea or need to create the United States Spiritist Council arise?

The idea arose from observing the constant growth-without much guidance-of the Spiritist Movement in the country. Problems such as religious eclecticism, administrative difficulties, and lack of communication between the spiritist institutions were indicative of the urgent need of finding solutions, of the need to unite them, and the need for the unification of the Spiritist Movement.

II) When and how were the first measures put into place?

At the First Spiritist Meeting in Florida, in August of 1994, we made the first contact with the International Spiritist Council (CEI) and some of its directors, specially its current Secretary General, Nestor Masotti, Treasurer Benjamim Rodriguez Barrera, and Altivo Ferreira, Representative of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB) at the CEI. These preliminary contacts were subsequently expanded through our travels to Brasilia, and their travels to Washington D.C.
As a result of follow-up conversations with Benjamim Rodriguezp-who besides his post at CEI was also President of the Spiritist Federation of Florida letter was sent by him to the directors of all known spiritist institutions in the U.S. territory inviting them for a First Meeting of U.S. Spiritist Directorates in Washington, D.C., to be held on 24 November, 1996. At the same time, Benjamim Rodriguez sent an invitation to Nestor Masotti to conduct a seminar on Organization and Unification of the Spiritist Movement to take place during this meeting.

The event was attended by 20 U.S. institutions among them the Spiritist Federation of Florida, a Spiritist Study Group from Toronto, Canada, and sixty persons in their individual capacity. During the meeting, an Interim Commission, composed of six people, was created with the purpose of finding and listing all existing U.S. spiritist institutions, and to prepare a draft of by-laws and articles of incorporation for the proposed national organization.

III) What was the result of this undertaking?

Exactly a year later, on 15 November 1997, at the Second Meeting of Spiritist Directorates, seventeen institutions and eighty people in their individual capacity met in Washington, D.C., to analyze and approve the proposed by-laws and articles of incorporation. The national non-profit entity, to be head quartered in the nation's capital, was then created under the name United States Spiritist Council . Also at that time, the Board of Directors, the Administrative Council, and the Auditing Council were established and names assigned to fill the different posts.

IV) Was this initiative supported by any of the international lecturers who normally visit the spiritist institutions in the U.S.?

Yes. Nestor Masotti, who is responsible for the Spiritist Movement at the international level, has given us total and unconditional support and invaluable guidance, as he has done with new organizations in many continents.

We also are extremely grateful to Raul Teixeira for his constant incentive and support - along with his encouraging phone calls from Brazil - in the creation of this council. He was present at the Second Meeting of U.S. Spiritist Directorates where he gave a lecture on "The Codification of the Spiritist Doctrine." We also would like to mention Durval Ciamponi's early support during his trips to Washington at the beginning of the movement in 1994.

V) Why the name "Council"? Why not "Federation"?

The name "Council" was chosen by the General Assembly at the same time the By-laws and Articles of Incorporation were approved. The name "Federation" was not chosen because at the time the Council was created the states represented through member institutions were relatively low, if you consider the fifty states in this country. Hopefully one day we will have members from many more states, which would then justify the name "Federation."

VI) What is the official language of the Council?

The official language is English. All our documents are written in English notwithstanding the fact that the great majority of people in the spiritist groups are Hispanics and Brazilians. Although they conduct most of their meetings in Spanish and Portuguese, our goal is to reach the American public. The majority of spiritist institutions offer at least one weekly public meeting in English

VII) What are the objectives of the Council?

According to its By-laws, they are the following:

- To promote the fraternal union of the U.S. Spiritist institutions and the unification of the Spiritist Movement.

- To promote the study, diffusion, and practice of the Spiritist Doctrine in the United States according to its principles and postulates, and in all its fundamental scientific, philosophical, religious, ethical, and moral aspects.

- To promote the practice of spiritual and material charity, in the light of the Spiritist Doctrine; and

- To represent the Spiritist Movement in the United States.
It is also emphasized in the By-laws that the Council’s purposes and objectives are based on the Spiritist Doctrine as codified by Allan Kardec.

VIII) What are your principal activities?

 Again, as provided in the By-laws, the following are under the responsibility of the Council:
The promotion of periodic meetings of its members for the exchange of information and expertise.

- The promotion of efforts in providing permanent support and encouragement to its members in their quest to improve their activities, whether educational, clerical, or administrative.

- The coordination and promotion of courses, meetings, symposia, conventions, and other events aimed at the diffusion of the Spiritist Doctrine,
the improvement of the Spiritist Movement, and the Spiritist institutions; and

- The publication of books, magazines, bulletins, and other printed materials regarding the Spiritist Doctrine in particular, and the Spiritist Movement in general.

IX) What are the Council's guidelines regarding supporting materials?

Each and every program as well as any supporting materials offered by the Council are not mandatory. It remains at the discretion of each member institution whether to adopt them, in whole or in part, or to adapt them to their own necessities and conveniences.
Samples of by-laws and articles of incorporation (to be adapted to any local and state laws) are offered to spiritist groups not yet duly incorporated in order to help and facilitate their process into becoming institutions recognized by the law.

X) How is the current Council structured?

The Council is currently composed of twelve U.S. Spiritist societies duly registered and incorporated who outline their activities according to the principles established in the Kardecian Codification. These societies are located in the states of Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
The institutions which compose the Council maintain their autonomy, their independence, and their freedom of action.
Affiliation to the Council is always voluntary, aiming principally at the fraternal union, the strengthening of the activities of the institutions and the Spiritist Movement.

XI) How many spiritist institutions are there in the U.S.?

According to data from 1997, there are approximately 45 spiritist groups throughout the states of California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas. From these, sixteen are societies or spiritist centers, meaning that they are duly registered and incorporated. And from this group of sixteen, twelve societies are affiliated to the Council.

XII) Do you have any information regarding the beginning of the Spiritist Movement in the U.S.?

We do not have complete information yet. A search is being conducted which we expect will be concluded by the time the American Spiritist Congress takes place in October 2000, in Miami, Florida. Because we might err, we will not further our remarks on this issue. We can tell you, however, that Divaldo Pereira Franco had a prevalent role in the implantation and consolidation of the Spiritist
Movement in the United States.

XIII) Would you like to make any other comments regarding the American Spiritist Congress?

Gladly.On behalf of the United States Spiritist Council, I would like to extend an invitation to our fellow spiritists and to anyone else interested - from any part of the world - to attend this event taking place from 5-8 October, 2000, in Miami, Florida, and which is so important for the strengthening of the Spiritist Movement in this country.

Moreover, throughout this publication, readers will be able to notice the Congress Executive Commission's efforts in securing discount rates in lodge and transportation. This should greatly contribute to their access to other attractions while in this country.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (subject to change without previous notice)

AUDITORIUM I

Thursday, Oct. 5th

9:00am-5:00pm Reception

5:00pm-6:30pm Moments of Art

6:30pm-7:45pm Official Opening

7:45pm-9:00pm Divaldo Franco - Spiritism:Science, Philosophy and Religion for the Third Millennium

Friday, Oct. 6th

9:00am-9:05am  Opening Prayer

9:05am-10:05am Juan Durante (Argentina) - Spiritism and Self Reform

10:05am-10:35an Altivo Ferreira (Brazil) - The Meaning of Love in the  Third Millennium

10:35am-10:55am Break

10:55am-11:55am Roger Perez (France) - Allan Kardec: The Apostle of the Third Revelation

11:55am-12:55pm Alberto Almeida (Brazil) - Sexual Energies and Spiritism

12:55pm-3:00pm Break

3:00pm-3:30pm Sergio F de Oliveira (Brazil) - Science with Jesus

3:30pm-4:00pm T/D

4:00pm-5:00pm Marlene Nobre (Brazil) - Sex and Responsibility

5:00pm-5:15pm Break

5:15pm-6:00pm Moments of Art

6:00pm-7:00pm Raul Teixeira (Brazil) - Reencarnation and the Third Millennium

Saturday, Oct. 7th

9:00am-9:05am Opening Prayer

9:05am-10:05am Sergio F Oliveira (Brazil) - Medicine and Spiritism

10:05am-10:35am Luiz Sell (USA) - Jesus: the Doctor of the Law

10:35am-10:55am Break

10:55am-11:55am Cesar Reis (Brazil) - The Spiritisty Way of Living

11:55am-12:55pm Edwin Bravo - Spiritist Treatment for Obsession

12:55pm-3:00pm Break

3:00pm 3:30pm Nestor Masotti (Brazil) - Spiritism in the World

3:30pm-4:00pm Katy Meira (USA) - Fraternal Reception in the Spiritis Center

4:00pm-5:00pm Antonio C P Carvalho (Brazil) - Spiritual Aspects of the  Discovery of America

5:00pm-5:15pm Break

5:15pm-6:00pm Moment of Art

6:00pm-7:00 Jorge Andrea (Brazil) Mediumship through the eyes of Science

Sunday, Oct. 8th

9:00am-9:05am Opening Prayer

9:05am-9:35am Janet Duncan (England) - Home Meetings as base for Spiritist Institutions

9:35am-10:05am Jusara Korngold (USA) -  Angels and Demons

10:05am-11:05am John Zerio (USA) - Spiritism in America

11:05am-11:25am Break

11:25am-11:55am Henrique de Sa (USA) - Pain and Evolution

11:55am-12:55pm Divaldo Franco (Brazil) - The Human Being in his Integrity

12:55pm-3:00pm Break

3:00pm-4:15pm Judy Guggenheim - After Death Communication

4:15pm-5:15pm Moment of Art

5:15pm-6:00pm Closing Ceremony

6:00pm-7:00pm Raul Teixeira (Brazil) - Happiness: Everyone's Destiny

AUTITORIUM II

Friday, Oct. 6th

9:00am-9:05pm Opening Prayer

09:05am-09:35am Maria de Ender (Panama)  - Divine Love

09:35am-10:35am  Santiago Gene Mateu (Spain) - New Attitudes For a New Millennium

10:35am-10:55am Break

10:55am-11:55am  Antônio C. Perri Carvalho (Brazil) - Death: Return to Life

11:55am-12:55pm  Ana Guimarães (Brazil) - Jesus: A Role Model For Humankind

12:55pm-3:00pm Break

Saturday, Oct. 7th

9:00am-9:05am Opening Prayer

09:05am-10:05am  Heloísa Pires (Brazil) -  Obsession through the Spiritist View

10:05am-10:35am  Alvaro Velez (Colombia) -  Regeneration: Earth's Next Step

10:35am-10:55am Break

10:55am-11:55am  Nilton Andrade (Brazil) - Education of Feelings

11:55am-12:55pm  Alberto Almeida (Brazil) - Faith which gives Freedom

12:25pm-12:55pm  Benjamim Rodriguez (USA) -  Kardecian Codification

12:55pm-3:00pm  Break

3:00pm-3:30pm  Gladys Ledesma (Uruguay) - Reborn Christianity

3:30pm-4:00pm Armando Velez (USA) - The Spiritist Center: School of The Soul

4:00pm-4:30pm  Marlene Nobre (Brazil) - Abortion and Free-Will

4:30pm-5:00pm  Roger Perez (France) - The Law of Progress

Sunday, Oct. 8th

9:00am-9:05am  Opening Prayer (Prece Inicial)

9:05am-9:35am  Edwin Bravo (Guatemala) - Instrumental Transcommunication

9:35am-10:05am  Carolina Fernandez (Argentina) -  To Progress Always, That Is The Law!

10:05am-10:35am Alamar Regis (Brazil) - Spiritist Dissemination  (Divulgacion Espirita; Divulgação Espírita)

10:35am-11:05am  Miguel de Jesus Sardano (Brazil) -  Life In The Spiritual World

 TEXT

 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF FLORENCE COOK
Sent by Antonio Leite

Source:
http://www.noahsark.clara.net
http://www.noahsarksoc.freeserve.co.uk
http://home.freeuk.net/noahsark

Florence Cook (1856-1904) is best remembered as the medium who was able to produce the full materialization of her controls, the first of these being Katie King. Following the widespread attention that she attracted, becoming a household name within nineteenth century Spiritualism, she continued her remarkable physical mediumship into the current century. Although she married in 1874, becoming Mrs. Corner, it is the name of Florence Cook that has continued to be associated with some of the most remarkable physical mediumship witnessed in this country.

It was after her fourteenth birthday, that the Cook household noticed that Florence began to fall into trance states. One record of how Florence developed her mediumship is that she began experiments with her friend and her family, and it was at this time that her talents became evident. She was advised by spirit communicators of her future skills and directed to the Spiritualist Association at Dalston, in East London, and participated in their activities.

With support and encouragement from the circle that she joined, Florence's mediumship continued to develop; her abilities came to public notice with mention of her mediumship in the "Spiritualist" in 1871. She worked with other physical mediums, and further development occurred with her becoming acquainted with her own control, Katie King, the daughter of John King and his wife (also called Katie). Under Katie's direction, Florence, still a young girl, began to use a cabinet in her mediumistic work; initially, there were materializations, but only in a basic form, and attempts were made to assist the next- world visitors to manifest themselves entirely.

When only fifteen years of age, Florence lost her employment as a teacher due to poltergeist-type phenomena that occurred when she was present at the school, and consequently, she was able to fully devote herself to her development. In this period, when physical mediumship was not so rare as the present time, there was a definite pressure on novice mediums to develop. Two other young physical mediums, e.g. Kate Cook (Florence's sister) and Mary Showers, were coming to prominence and attracting attention; Florence therefore continued to develop her mediumship to facilitate full materializations. This occurred in 1873 when the materialization of Katie King joined the circle: a momentous event indeed, as, 'she represented for confirmed Spiritualists the final empirical evidence for the reality of spirit life and the existence of an unseen world'.(1)Florence had agreed that a reporter from the Daily Telegraph be present during her seances; on the first occasion, he saw faces, and the following year he witnessed the materialization of Katie King and took photographs of her. In view of the the precautions taken, i.e., Florence bound with seals, 'he was baffled'.(2) The reports by the journalist appeared in the "Daily Telegraph"  of 10 October 1872 and 12 August 1873.

The success of Florence's abilities led to various prominent persons attending her seances and the inevitable patronage. In 1872, she had begun to receive financial support from the businessman and Spiritualist, Charles Blackburn, that ensured she would be able to develop her mediumship. Podmore remarked on how she 'took no money from her seances', and through Blackburn, she was 'free to give her services when required'.(3) In December 1873, Volckmann (who later married the medium, Mrs. Guppy, who was extremely jealous of Florence's success), was present at a seance and attempted to seize Katie King. Two other sitters took hold of him (in the course of which, he lost part of his beard) and prevented any serious damage occurring. Dunphy, a barrister and writer, witnessed the event and said that Katie partly dematerialized during the escapade. On examining Florence, she was still secure with tape and a seal, as at the beginning of the seance.

As reported in the "Daily Telegraph", 13 January 1880, Sitwell, one of the sitters at a seance at the BNAS, seized the materialization and found Florence to be missing from the cabinet, and declared her to be a fraud. It was admitted by one of the sitters who had the responsibility of securing Florence that it had been deliberately arranged that the medium could free herself. Supporters of Florence argued this was a case of unconscious fraud, as claimed with Eusapia Palladino in following years, while in a trance-state; there was also of course a state of confusion after Sitwell's action. However the incident is interpreted, it is interesting to note that in his book, "Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism" (1877), D. D. Home, who was highly critical of other mediums and described fraudulent behaviour in the book, referred to the materializations produced by Florence as providing 'undeniable certainty of the phenomenon'.

Florence encouraged a happy and lively atmosphere at her seances, believing that it assisted the phenomena. Undoubtedly, Katie King promoted this as she 'was known for her fun-loving attitude and a certain amount of roguishness was accepted with good grace'.[4] After Crookes became involved in Florence's mediumship in 1872, he wrote in the "Spiritualist" (April 1874) of a recent seance, and related how, 'Katie never appeared to greater perfection, and for nearly two hours she walked about the room, conversing familiarly with those present'. Unfortunately, Katie's forwardness and Crookes's fondness for her created problems that has soured his involvement ever since: Crookes's response to Katie 'caused offense amongst some spiritualist observers who were apparently unimpressed by Crookes' standard of morality and scientific impartiality'.(5) There were accusations about Crookes allowing fraud to be committed by Florence due to the relationship with her, but Beloff, while recognizing the difficulties that are present, offers a number of decisive reasons for rejecting the accusations made.(6)

Something needs to be said about Crookes's involvement with Florence's mediumship as the accusations made against him may be viewed as invalidating at least some of Florence's mediumship. Firstly, Crookes brought about much of the criticism that was directed towards him, e.g. he unwisely quoted from "Don Juan" to describe Katie's 'perfect beauty'.
Additionally, he was less than consistent in his attitude: he was initially prompted to enquire into Spiritualism after the death of his brother in 1867. By 1870, he apparently accepted that the dead could communicate, and his biography stated that at this point, he was a 'convinced spiritualist',(7) and certain events support this view. However, he chose not to openly display this belief, and offered a clinical view of the subject, referring to some aspects of Spiritualism as 'worthless' that should be categorized as 'the limbo of magic and necromancy'; he further argued that it was 'a subject which, perhaps, more than any other lends itself to trickery and deception'.(8) By 1874, he wrote that he had been unable to obtain proof that the dead were able to communicate, and believed that spirit communications might originate from non-human agencies rather than the dead,(9) a view that surely arose from his interest in the Theosophical Society, of which he was a member for over thirty years.

When he spoke at the SPR on 2 November 1895, he stated that all the mediums that he had seen, 'with hardly any exception [the exception being D. D. Home]...resorted to trickery'. Later, with age, and certainly after 1916, with the death of his wife, he not only returned to his earlier stance, but went further, e.g. accepting spirit photography of his wife that was felt by others to have been produced by fraud. While persons are of course fully entitled to be skeptical or develop their thinking, Crookes's change of opinion that went more than full circle, and was primarily effected through his own personal circumstances, hardly inspires much confidence in his conclusions. This is apart from the fact that he 'left no records of his seances...that would satisfy a skeptic's thirst for precise data', and he was 'accustomed...to have [his] word believed without witnesses' and took exception to persons challenging his record of events.(10) In sum, his contribution to the mediumship of Florence Cook is problematic, and it is unfortunate that it was he rather than another researcher who investigated her. Fortunately, despite the customary image presented, the mediumship of Florence Cook was certainly not dependent upon the testimony of Crookes, and her talent, as Spiritualism itself, is more than capable of standing on its feet without having to gain endorsement from elsewhere. The accusations made concerning Crookes is not a major concern as Florence's mediumship was witnessed by many others who made the quality of this more than evident.

An example of the many testimonies given concerning Florence Cook's mediumship is that of Aksakoff, a Russian aristocrat; he reported how, when attending a seance, the medium was bound 'with twined tape and sealed knots', and her hands were brought behind her back and these were also bound. Then, a lengthy piece of tape was fixed to her that was brought outside from where she was sitting: this would indicate any movement by her. After a short period, and light from a lamp being present, they saw 'a human figure standing upright... it was completely clad in white...That was Katie...All the time the sitting lasted Katie chattered away with the sitters'. Katie asked whether there were any questions and Aksakoff asked to see Florence; Katie invited him to where Florence sat and on not being able to see her adequately was told by Katie to use the lamp. He did so and there was Florence, 'in a deep trance... sitting on a chair, with both her hands bound fast behind her back'.(11)

Such occasions were important as the common challenge was that Katie King and Florence Cook were in fact the same person, as they were very similar in appearance. Apart from Crookes seeing both women at the same time during a seance on 29 March 1874, Katie was taller than Florence, her ears were not pierced as Florence's, her face was larger, her hair was of a different colour, together with other physical differences. In addition to these disparities, Florence wore black during seances, but Katie was always clad in white apparel. Furthermore, at one seance, Florence was suffering from a blister on her neck, but when Katie materialized, no blister was present on her. There was also the occasion when Katie had dye placed on her hands, but none was found on Florence. In addition to the photographs taken of Katie by the Daily Telegraph reporter, Crookes took forty-four himself. When Florence Marryat detailed her experiences, she related how, through the complexities of materialization, that Katie sometimes resembled Florence, while at other times 'she was totally different' She added that she possessed a photograph of Katie taken while Florence looked on. She had also seen Florence's 'dark curls nailed down to the floor, outside the curtain, in view of the audience, whilst "Katie" walked about and talked with us'.(12)

In March 1874, Varley, a Fellow of the Royal Society, conducted a test where platinum wires were fastened to Florence with a low electric current running through her body and making her part of an electrical circuit. Varley demonstrated how even a movement of her hands would register on the galvanometer through which the current passed. After Florence fell into trance, Katie materialized (with no wires attached), moved around the seance room and spoke to the sitters. Varley testified that 'the current was not interrupted an instant during the whole seance', and when Florence became conscious, he found the wires 'were exactly as I had left them them'.(13)

It is claimed that Katie has materialized in other locations since the time of Florence's mediumship, e.g. Philadelphia, Winnipeg and Rome. In the case of the latter (in July 1874), a series of remarkable photographs were taken of the event that lasted a full thirty minutes. In this, Katie greeted the twenty- three sitters present, and after embracing the medium, dematerialized leaving gladioli and rose petals behind. Interestingly, when Katie made her last appearance with Florence Cook as the medium, she left a flower with each sitter. After Katie King departed in 1874, Leila became Florence's control; in 1875, Mrs. Crookes wrote to Florence saying that 'most of the seances have necessarily been held here, but Leila has also appeared at three other houses...on several occasions we have all seen you and Leila at the same time'. Mrs Crookes also referred to physical differences between Leila and Florence in this letter.(14) Other materializations occurred through Florence's mediumship: in an undated letter to Blackburn, Florence told him how 'A full form appeared in less than 5 minutes...The spirit was neither Katie nor Leila.'(15)

After the period of Leila as control and a period of inactivity by Florence, a French girl calling herself Marie took on this role; she remained Florence's control for much of the period until shortly before Florence's death. A photograph was taken of her at a seance in about 1902, and appeared in "Psychic Science" (January 1927); one of the sitters made the important observation that those present 'saw the form of the tall slim young woman that appears in the picture; Mrs Corner [Florence Cook] being short, rather stout, and of darker complexion'. As Medhurst and Goldney note: '"Marie" and other "spirit forms", would emerge, sometimes singly and sometimes together. Most of the reports stress that "Marie", normally bare-footed, was a number of inches taller than Florence, this being stated by several authors to have ascertained by direct measurement'. Although the writers refer to the difficulty in determining the accuracy of such reports, they agree there are a number that 'give a fair amount of detail'.(16)

Florence's ability as a medium was still very much present in her later life as can be seen by events in 1900 when the sitters declared: 'We, the undersigned, testify...we saw Mrs. Corner and her control, "Marie", at the same time'. Before this seance, Florence dressed in the garments provided and 'was not left a moment alone. She was most securely bound to her chair, which was fastened to an iron ring in the floor and each hand was tied to an arm of the chair...everything was found intact afterwards'.(17) In addition to materializations, Florence's mediumship also facilitated direct writing. This was reported to have occurred on tables some considerable distance from her, and written communications from persons who had been known to the sitters were provided.

Through Florence's mediumship, communicators other than the control could speak to the sitters. Although there was a dearth of sitters from the SPR (Society for Psychical Research), on an occasion in May 1903 when one was present, Miss Dallas, 'a respected figure in the Society', she recorded that a figure in white emerged after Florence, dressed in black, had been secured to her chair. This was followed by a noise from the cabinet, the unrefined voice of a man who spoke affectionately about Florence, saying that she had helped him grasp the reality of the next life. Until only months before her death in South London in 1904, Florence was continuing to demonstrate her mediumship. The final words may be those of the communicator referred to above. Miss Dallas also detailed how after he had spoken of the assistance received from Florence, he reminded the sitters of the reality that he had now discovered through her patient help: he did this in one succinct statement: 'You are never dead'.(18)

References

[1] A. Owen, "The Darkened Room"(London: Virago, 1989), p.48.

[2] B. Inglis,"Natural and Supernatural" (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977), p.267.

[3] F. Podmore,"Modern Spiritualism" (London: Methuen, 1902), p.97.

[4] Owen,Op. Cit., p.228.

[5] Owen, Op. Cit., pp.229,230.

[6] J. Beloff, "Parapsychology: A concise history" (London: Athlone Press,  1993), pp.53-55.

[7] F. d'Albe,"Life of Crookes", (London: Fisher, Unwin, 1923), pp.181,190,215.

[8] W. Crookes, 'Spiritualism Viewed by the Light of Modern Science', "Quarterly Journal of Science", July 1870.

[9] The letter was reproduced in "Light", May 12, 1900.

[10] J. Oppenheim,"The Other World"(Cambridge: CUP, 1985), p.342. Gauld also refers to an instance where Crookes's account 'is so sketchy that one can hardly form any proper opinion as to what was going on' (A. Gauld, "The Founders of Psychical Research" (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968), p.81). Salter also remarks on Crookes's lack of care saying that in the early stages, Crookes showed 'a complete disregard of commonsense precautions against fraud' "Zoar"(London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1961), p.65). An example of Crookes's carelessness is demonstrated by the contradictory content of a report concerning a seance on 25 November 1871 in his "Reserches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism"(London: Burns, 1874), and later in "PSPR", XV (1889), pp.121-124.

[11] Cit., G. Zorab, 'Foreign Comments on Florence Cook's Mediumship',"PSPR", 54 (1964), pp.174,175.

[12] F. Marryat, "There is no Death"(London: Psychic Book Club, 1917, p.143.

[13] "Spiritualist", 20 March 1874.

[14] Cit., R. G. Medhurst and K. M. Goldney, 'William Crookes and the Physical Phenomena of Mediumship',"PSPR", 54 (1964), p.69.

[15] Cit., Medhurst and Goldney, Ibid., p.71.

[16] Medhurst and Goldney, Op.Cit., pp.82,83.

[17] Cit., Medhurst and Goldney, Op. Cit., pp.84-85.

[18] "Light", 14 October 1916.

 SHOWCASE

SPIRITIST ART:"THE INTERACTION GROUP"
Flavia

We've had a little release of our  artistic group work called Grupo Interação ( Interaction Group) published in the Portuguese edition of GEAE #382, asking for appreciation and support.

By accessing your site, we thought we could ask you to consider having our page published in your  New Links - Brazil / Spiritist Artist Pages. What do we have to do?

Please, we'd be very pleased to have your comments on our site and suggestions to better reach other links in Spanish too.

Thanks in advance for your attention.

http://pessoal.mandic.com.br/~grupointera

Grupo Interação
Flávia

 QUESTIONS

INFO ON SPIRITIST GROUPS
Francisca and Genival Barros

Thanks for the information. My husband and I were pleased to share this  moment too. Since we came from Brazil to Rochester-NY we are looking for a Spirit center  in our city, but it seems that such information is not available very often. Doing us a favor, is it possible from your group of studies to help us find  any contact from the Spirit center group in Rochester_NY-USA?

Francisca and Genival Barros
345 Hawks Nest Circle - Rochester- NY 14626 - USA

MIRABELLI MATERIALIZATION PHOTOS

Greetings to everyone at GEAE!

Do you know, if the very seldom Photographs, made while the historic sittings with Carlos Mirabelli round 1930, are somewhere to be seen in the web?
Do you have the Internet address, or the address with other photos made my materializations while sittings in Brazil?
Thank you

Kai Mügge Hanau/Germany

Suggestions write to Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.

 SPIRIT WORD

Life never ceases. Life is an ever flowing source, and death is only an obscure effect of illusions.

The great river follows its own course before joining the vast sea. Likewise, the soul follows equally varied routes and passes through different stages, receiving here and there tributaries of knowledge, strengthening its personality and perfecting its qualities before  reaching the Ocean of Eternal Wisdom.

The closing of our earthly eyes is such a simple event.

The shedding of the physical body does not solve the fundamental problems of enlightenment, just as changing ones clothes has nothing to do with the deep questions of life and destiny.

Ah, paths of the soul, mysterious ways of the heart! One must walk their full lengths before facing the supreme equation of Eternal Life. It is essential for you to live all their conflicts and to know them fully in the long process of spiritual ascension.

How childish to imagine that the mere "ringing down of the curtain" would settle transcendental questions of the Infinite.

One life is but a single act.

One body - a garment.

One century - a day.

One task - an experience.

One triumph - an acquisition.

One death - a breath of renovation.

How many lives, how many bodies, how many centuries, how many  tasks, how many triumphs, how many deaths are still allotted to us?

And yet religious philosophers will speak of final decisions and  immutable situations!

Alas, everywhere we find scholars in doctrine who are spiritual  illiterates!

It takes great effort for man to enter the School of the Gospel, and his admission thereto nearly always comes to pass in a strange manner - he finds himself alone with the Master, struggling through a difficult course, learning lessons in an invisible classroom, and attending long lectures of unspoken words.

Long, very long therefore, is our arduous journey. Here our humble efforts can bring you only a glimpse of this fundamental truth.

I speak to you as an anonymous friend, in this anonymity which stems from brotherly love. The great majority of mankind is like a fragile vessel which cannot yet contain the whole truth. Therefore, we restrict ourselves here to conveying only the profound experience itself in its collective values. We will not torment anyone with the idea of Eternity. Let the vessels first become stronger. Thus we dedicate this brief record to the eager spirits of our brothers struggling for their  spiritual ascent, who understand, as we do, that "the wind blows where it wills".[John, 3:8]

And now, my friend, let my thanks fall upon this paper, and thence rise and merge into a great silence of sympathy and gratitude. Attraction, appreciation, love and joy live in the soul. Be sure that in the depths of mine I hold these sentiments toward us.

May the Lord bless us.

Andre Luiz.

 ARTICLE

 FROM  THE  WORLD  OF  DEATH   TO   THAT   OF   LIFE
Andrei   Melnikov

In this article we are going to examine the concept of  death  in  the history of spirituality. From the very early days of the existence  of humanity, death has been the most sorrowful and  terrible  thing  that ever may happen to us; no one will  avoid  it.  This  feeling  is  not proper only to humans as animals know well the same  emotion;  we  can even say that the fear of death descends from the animal part of human nature. However the psychology of humans  is  totally  different  from that  of  animals  in  several  decisive  points,  one  of  which   is self-awareness that leads us to think there is something besides  body in our Ego. No wonder that humans have always  tried  to  connect  the invisible non-material Ego with immortality to  save  themselves  from death at least partially.(*)

The social institute that reflects this  side  of  human  activity  of thought has been religion. In its earliest form, religion  represented a cult of ancestors who went to another world and  became  spirits  of nature one could get in contact with. This type is still  alive  among the least developed tribes of Africa and Australia; the high level of their occult competence being compared to  their  total  backwardness, refutes atheists' statement  that  religion  appeared  itself  without supernatural influence or that religious  thought  was  not  primarily proper to human mind.

The next step in religious evolution was  heathendom;  nature  spirits became gods whose human roots became less evident but still  sensible. According to Scandinavian myths,  souls  of  bold  warriors  left  for Valholl where they would play and feast with gods;  however  even  the latter ones could die and obeyed the law of  fate.  Consequently  this period is characterized by faith in fate as something that one  cannot get rid of like in the case of death, so the fear of death is the same as fear of fate.

No matter what you do on the opposite, what is destined to happen will happen. The traces of pessimistic fatalism and the fear of  inevitable death are seen in the book of Job in Old Testament - the holy writ  of the first well-known monotheistic religion:

"I loathe my life; I would not live for ever. Let  me  alone,  for  my days are breath." (7:16) "If a man die, shall he live  gain?  All  the days of my service I would wait, till my release  should  come...  But the mountain falls and crumble away and the rock is removed  from  its place; the waters wear away the stones; the  torrents  wash  away  the soil of the earth; so thou destroyest the hope of man." (14:14-19)

The Bible, especially the Old Testament, has attracted a good deal  of critical arrows from humanists and atheists because of the cruelty of the image of God - a new figure in human religion who personifies  the strongest power existing in the  universe.  Illnesses,  wars,  murders caused by this divine power are so many that the common look seems too dark, fatal and mournful. However a question raises in our  mind:  How can God who is so perfect and an example of ideal being (Matthew 5:48) be also cruel? Either God is not that  perfect  or  His  cruelty  has another meaning. We think that the latter point of view  is  not  very far from truth and in order to save the situation we  suppose  here  a very special meaning of death: sinfulness caused  by  separation  from God, Adam's sin, unobeying divine laws or  whatsoever  it  is  called. Thus the idea of God's cruelty  disappears  at  once,  it  should  be understood as an ancient metaphor like that of the victim  offered  by man in God's favor - it used to be imaged as dead offered  animals and not our egoistic wishes and private plans what is the  true  sense  of this sacred act. So if we transform  God's  "cruelties"  into  modern language a quite different look  opens  to  our  eyes:  it  shows  His justice and strictness to sinners. This means that the  formula  "save our souls from death" means "save us from sin" rather  than  "save  us from death" in its literary interpretation. On the other  hand,  being physically alive does not mean being alive in spiritual sense.

The same meaning of death appears in New  Testament  but  in  a  quite different situation. First we remember Lucas 9:59-60:

"To another he [Jesus] said, Follow me, and he answered, Lord, give me leave to go home and bury my father first.  But  Jesus  said  to  him, Leave the dead to bury their dead; it  is  for  thee  to  go  out  and proclaim God's kingdom."

This extract was commented by Kardec  in  the  "Gospell  According  To Spiritism", ch. XXIII,7, where Kardec writes:

"Life in the spiritual world is in effect the real life, the normal life of a Spirit. Terrestrial existence, being transitory and passing, is a kind of death when compared to  the  splendours and  activity  of  the spiritual life. The body is nothing  more  than a gross covering which temporarily clothes the Spirit."

It proves  that  we  have  been  not  the  first  who  discovered  the sacramental sense of  death  in  the  Bible.  However  our  'biblical' interpretation slightly differs from that of  Kardec:  death  of  soul originates  in  violating  God's  laws  and  unbelief   whence   comes concentrating on terrestrial life and body what Kardec touches in  his turn. Anyway if we return to the whole New Testament we discover  that the very important difference from the previous revelation  is  belief in ... resurrecting the dead!

"...just as the Father bids the dead rise up and gives them  life,  so the Son gives life to whomsoever he will" (John 5:21)

"Believe me, the time is coming, nay, has already come, when the  dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen to it will live." (John 5:25)

"But this I admit to thee, hat in worshipping God, my Father, I follow what we call the way, and they call a sect. I put my trust in all that is written in the law and the prophets, snaring before  God  the  hope they  have  too,that  the  dead  will  rise  again,  both   just   and unjust."(Acts 24:15) ("So didst thou bring me  back,  Lord,  from  the place of shadows, rescue me from the very edge of the grave."  (Psalms 29:4) )

Here we need to come back  to  the  episode  where  Jesus  talks  with Nicodemus (John 3) that we discussed in a previous article  (Spiritist Messenger, No...).  We suggested that Jesus simply talked about a  new birth, next incarnation. This point was  based  on  the  opinion  that death was meant in its everyday sense, consequently  a  new  birth  is just a new birth [the  return  to  a  new  material  life]  (the  same conception was accepted by Kardec, s. Gospell,  ch.IV).  However  if Jesus was sent to save people from spiritual death, He was supposed to suggest the renovation of spirit that can take place only  once.  Here we are going  to  supplement our first  interpretation  with  a  new emphasis. Obviously Jesus said more than just about moving to paradise - resurrection is an internal process rather than an external  motion. Nicodemus' wondering witnesses that he realized the right direction of Jesus' suggestion but did not understood it exactly or in its literary look. Let us look again at the original text  in  order  to  establish what namely Jesus told Nicodemus:

John 3:4:"Why, Nicodemus asked him, how is  it  possible  that  a  man should be born if he is already old?"  - so if  he  is  young  he  can resurrect? Yes, because he has more time, forces and  age  flexibility to improve himself. Nicodemus'  reaction  helps  us  reconstruct  what Jesus had said before in the speech Nicodemus referred to: Jesus spoke about the spiritual resurrection  that  everyone  will  ever  undergo. Nicodemus educated in old traditions wondered about those who  due  to natural reasons could not succeed to resurrect and were going to  what we call hell.

We do not need to examine  again  the  whole  episode  that  has  been commented by  us  and  Kardec  in  "Gospel  According  To  Spiritism". Nevertheless we want to point out that the right sense of Jesus' words was that anyone can resurrect on earth no matter  how  much  lives  it will take. Jesus says the sentence that rejects  any  suppositions  of the birth in heaven (**):

"You cannot trust me when I tell you of what passes on earth; how will you be able to trust me when I tell you of  what  passes  in  heaven?" (John 3:12)

Yes, He says: spiritual awakening must  happen  on  earth,  things  of Heaven are to be discussed afterwards... If He had said that only  one life is given for the resurrection then why Nicodemus  wondered  about the womb as he must have understood that anyone can  resurrect  within one life? Any opinion that rejects reincarnation actually is  unbelief that "the dead" can become alive. Nicodemus as an  Israelite  really understood this contradistinction of the old and new doctrines. Jesus' words "we testify of what our  eyes  have  seen"  witness  that  Jesus himself had survived various incarnations and may had spoken  of  them to the audience or that He had seen other resurrected people.

What kind of connection there is between both sorts of death? The  tie is obvious: the more one is distant from God the deeper he is immersed in animal nature and consequently the more afraid of the dead  of  his physical ("animal") body. So it turns out that the further we progress from our initial state the more sinful we become? But in this  way  we develop our self-awareness that is destined to  help  us  realize  our spiritual nature. However the destination is not  reached  yet;  human self-awareness is only potential and actually shows itself in  egoism, misusing nature and atheism. Any revelation appealed to the  level  of the development of human civilization and  hence  to  its  concept  of death. Moses' laws were destined for undeveloped  people,  they  were laws of self-preservation or how to avoid the usual death. The law  of love introduced by Jesus contradicts that of self-preservation but  it helps realize  eternal  life  and  saves  from  the  spiritual  death; Christ's post-mortal appearances symbolize the result of resurrection. Learning the fact of post-mortal  existence  without  concept  of  the spiritual resurrection lead to contact with dangerous spirits  and  do not help to reach God; this is the reason why  contacts  with  spirits are prohibited in the Old Testament and permitted in the New.  However the way of complete resurrection is not shown clearly in the Bible, it is  being   in  parables,  old  formulae,  symbolism  and  mixed  with hard-readable historical descriptions.

Christianity denying reincarnation and admitting eternal  martyrs  for sinners kills the faith in the dead's resurrection in its  real  sense and automatically generates atheism. And here  we  come  at  the  most actual issue here - Spiritism of Allan Kardec, Leon  Denis  and  their followers. In this doctrine reincarnation becomes apparent - it  shows the outlook of spiritual developing; sin is represented as  a  result of spiritual ignorance whereas every spirit evolves from the  ignorant state to the divine heights through  numerous  lives;  physical  death almost definitely loses its  tragic  look  and  "resurrected"  spirits descend to incarnated people and inspire them every day.

We must admit that we are still very far from the final point  of  our evolution; the great revelations of Moses, Christ and  Spiritism  have shown the outlook but it does not mean that all the way is as easy  as seeing the shining with closed eyes. For those who do not realize  all the difficulty of the way, reincarnation  is  a  pessimistic  reminder about hard work that is expecting everyone. Reincarnation really drops from heaven onto earth both in literary and figurative sense.  May  be it is pessimistic for lazy people or for those who  has  got  a  wrong selfish image of spiritual progress, but fortunately  they  will  need many lives to realize their mistakes and to progress faster make. Only Spiritism  unites  the  concept  of  Christian  love   and   that   of reincarnation as the way to resurrect for the  dead  in  one  integral doctrine. Thus Spiritism destroys the impassable walls between  people having different opinion, faith and  moral  because  it  suggests  the eternal happiness for anyone in face of  which  any  local  difference disappears and thus increases the feeling of universal fraternity:

"Man believes in the future instinctively, but not having found so  far any solid basis for its determination, he allows his own imagination to create systems that generate oppositions among religions.  Not  being a product of a more or  less conceived imagination, but the result of the observation of  material  facts which are presently occurring before our eyes, the Spiritist  doctrine  will  unite the divergent or superficial opinions on regard to this future and will lead to the union of beliefs. This converging faith will not be based solely upon hypothesis,but on a firm certainty.The unification, concerning the destiny of the souls, will constitute the first point of approximation among the believers of different cults, a giant initial  step  toward  religious tolerance and then total fusion."

" (Allan Kardec, Heaven And  Hell,  Part One, ch.I, No. 14)

Comments (by A L Xavier, Jr)

(*) There is some contribution  given  by  some  Spirits  (in  medium's communications) on regard to the fear of death: people fear  of  death as  an   unconscious   recollection   during   our   successive   past reincarnations. People have generally died in traumatic  ways  in  the past. This trauma appears in the unconscious mind materialized  as  a strong fear of death (In ordinary people). It is obvious  that  modern psychologists hardly take into account this idea, because the majority do not consider past lives in their explanations.

(**) There are some modern Spirit writings, mainly  by  Emmanuel  which point exactly in this direction: Jesus' words can  be  interpreted  in two different - but not contradictory - ways; the first as a statement about reincarnation, and the second one, considerably subtler,  as an affirmation about the need of our spiritual awakening. Both oppose  to the most accepted version, that of material baptism. In this sense the "saved ones" are those who already have undergone  the  process. From this comes the new interpretation of  "salvation"  and  "resurrection" quite similar to the one by Melnikov.

Comments write to
Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.

 REVIEW

 KATE SILBER'S BOOK: PESTALOZZI - THE MAN AND HIS  WORK
Antonio Leite

In  their  Allan  Kardec's  biography,  Zeus  Wantuil  and   Francisco Thiesen1 (reference # 1) emphasized the great role  played  by  Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Allan Kardec's educational life. Actually,  the first of the three volumes from this extraordinary biography  is  half taken to describe  the  latter  educational  process  at  Pestalozzi's Yverdon Institute and the influences that the  schoolmaster  had  upon Allan Kardec. In his "Explanations to the Reader", Volume I, page  25, Francisco Thiesen stated (reference # 2):

"The  nineteenth  century  lived  under  the  empire  of  materialism, although from time to time somebody would come out  with  spiritualist ideas trying to save mankind from drowning  into  permanent  darkness. Amongst those rose the bright figure of Pestalozzi, whom turned out to be Rivail's 'spiritual father', enlightening his mind with instruction and consolidating the lights of his spirit through education."

All the explanations and references contained in the  biography  above mentioned show the tools employed  by Pestalozzi  in  order  to build his educational  system.   The   authors   emphasize   his   permanent struggle in order to show that  his  educational  method  was  not  so complicated. Actually, the foundation  of  that  method  rely  on  the family as the most known, reliable and efficient  school  ever.  Under the guidance of a structured family the child would  learn  the  basic values of life, such as love, gratitude, integrity, obedience, charity and responsibility. Through the development of his  own  intuition  he would discover, step by step, the existence of a world that  surrounds him and would learn  how  to  better  relate  with  this  very  world. Undoubtedly the tools for these first movements in this world have  to be given by the family to the young.

Under these perceptions Pestalozzi developed  his  educational  method which made him known as the "mankind educator".  His   influence  upon Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail, known as "Allan Kardec", the  man  who codified the Spiritist Doctrine,  was  definitely   tremendous.  Zeus Wantuil and Francisco Thiesen demonstrated that influence  in  a  very clear way through the pages of the first volume of their work.

Much has been written throughout the  world  about  Pestalozzi and his educational ideas. In  addition  to  what  is  written  above  as  an introduction to the matter, the main purpose of these lines is to show in brief words, how Kate Silber, a  Professor  in  the  Department  of Germany at the University of Edinburgh, describes the schoolmaster,  a
man  of  great  stature,  on  the  pages  of  her  outstanding   work: "Pestalozzi - The Man and his Work". (reference # 3)

In fact she starts by assuring that "he is  no longer considered to be only a schoolmaster and inventor of a new teaching  method,  nor merely a kind-hearted lover of children and helper of  the poor. He is now seen in  a  wider context  and  ranked among social critics, political reformers, and  teachers  of  mankind  of  a  large stature. In my view the ups and downs of  Pestalozzi's  development,  the  wide range of  his  experiences,  and  the  inspiring  impact   of   his personality are of greater interest than what goes by the name of  his educational thought". (reference # 4)

Undoubtedly, this is a book that should be read not only  by  teachers and students of education, but also by parents and the general  reader interested in human experience  and  the  lives  of  exceptional  men. Pestalozzi was one among many human beings who came to this Planet and did his best in order to help mankind to move ahead in terms of social and moral progress. To Pestalozzi, education is  the  main  tool  that will drive men and women to be fully  integrated  as  well  as  active participants of their own community. He envisioned education in a wide sense, as a way to extirpate the most  crucial  problems  that  affect nowadays societies.

Many scholars  and  educational  experts  throughout  the  world  have written much about his ideas and teachings. Nevertheless,  it  appears that most of them give too much importance to the technical aspects of his  structured method,  forgetting  about  the  simplicity  and  the essential point in his teachings. According to his ideas,  the  family is an undeniable path in order to acquire education in a wide sense. A healthy family would enable the child to reach  "the satisfaction  of natural wants that creates inner peace" [reference # 5]  and  develops unconsciously his capacities for love, confidence and gratitude,  even before the notions of obligation and duty be understood.

His method relies basically on family values under a perception  of  a true relationship among its members, all guided by love.  His  precept [reference # 6] "Love is the eternal basis  of  education"  gives  the direction to be followed by the parents in their effort  to  help  the child with his moral development. The child must be educated to be not only a skilled laborer, or an artisan, or a scholar, he also has to be oriented in order to be a satisfactory husband to his wife, father  to his son, citizen of his country. He must be  able  in  his  particular place in  the  community  to  be  self-reliant  and  to  help  others. Stretching out Pestalozzi's believe on the family as a major influence in the child educational process, Kate Silber emphasizes [reference  # 7]: "Common sense is more important than book learning. This  is  best taught by father and mother. No schoolmaster can be to  a  child  what his parents ought to be." [reference # 8] "And so  it  is  God's  will that all men learn their  most  important  lessons  in  their  homes",
reinforces Pestalozzi.

Pestalozzi had a powerful determination to serve his people in a  very active way. In order to reach that goal he took education for  granted and dedicated his entirely life in developing  permanent  projects  at the cost of his family personal comfort. He had no  major  concern  in creating fancy formulas or scientific treatise  that  would  make  him famous into the eyes of the great figures of the time. As mentioned by the author Kate Silber [reference # 9] "Man and his destiny  were  his main concern. To the improvement of man's inner self and his outer lot Pestalozzi's energies were to be devoted."  He was indeed devoted to a great cause as he emphasized it [reference # 10]:

"I wished  to  do  what  others  only  talked  about.  I  was  vitally interested in all that concerned men's hearts and was naturally led to seek honor and love rather in the path of sacrifice and  charity  than in that of thinking and research".

Pestalozzi also  understood  the  profound  influence  and  the  very important  role  that  religion  plays  in  the  educational  process, although he  did  not  take  any  formal  religion  for  granted,  but acknowledged the importance of a true Christianity, understanding this to be "not only a doctrine but also a way of life". In  his  thoughts, the relationship which exists between mother and child  would  develop the idea of God in the soul of the latter. That is the reason  for  he had stated [reference # 11]: "The feelings of love, trust,  gratitude, and the readiness to obey must be developed in me before I  can  apply them to God. I must love men, trust  men,  thank  men,  and  obey  men before I can aspire to love, trust, thank, and obey God"

"Religious education should not be a matter of formal instruction  but the turning to spiritual advantage of  the  daily  happenings  in  the shared lives of the house father and the children" [reference 12] says Kate Silber when interpreting the religious influence on  Pestalozzi's approach.

At  Pestalozzi's  time,  the  religious  establishment  had  a   great influence over the educational process in Europe, as well as all  over the world, but with  more  intensity  than  in  our  days.  Since  the schoolmaster didn't take any formal religion for granted in  order  to build his ideas in his educational method, it is  easy  to  understand why only after almost a hundred years ahead of  his  time  his  method spread out through Europe and the rest  of  the  world.  In  financial terms, his enterprise performed rather in a very unsuccessful way. One should not  be  surprised  with  this  fact  if  one  recognizes  that Pestalozzi had no interest in playing  according  to  the  educational rules of the religious establishment. His religious point of view  had nothing in common with those that were running in the  mainstream.  He believed in religion as a mean of helping mankind  to  accomplish  his task of acquiring intellectual and moral progress.

"Religion does not call man away  from  earthly  responsibilities  but gives him strength to carry  out  every  human  duty  until  his  last moment. Man is not made for religion but religion is made for man;  it is not a thing apart that diverts him from his  worldly  business;  it teaches and strengthens him to make good use of the world. The way  to
heaven lies in the fulfillment of duties on earth" [reference  #13]

Pestalozzi's  educational  method  envisioned  a  system   where   the connection between physical training, intellectual education and moral attitude should be part of the educational process  as  a  whole.  For this reason, the family environment should be seen as a natural  stage to the development of these skills. Kate Silber concisely  shows  this aspect in Pestalozzi's ideas by mentioning [reference# 14].

"It is in the home, more than anywhere else, that the best  conditions exist for a well-balanced education. Watching his mother's daily  work has a beneficial influence  on  the  child's  moral  development;  his father's example stimulates  his  intellectual  and  physical  powers. These are the truly 'elementary' means of developing all  the  child's faculties in a natural way and of making his sills habitual.  For  the child lives in these conditions from morning till night; his  family's work, joys, and sorrows provide the  first  impression  on  which  all further experiences can be built. The love he receives calls forth his own love; it awakes his other moral faculties. Even  the  checking  by his parents of his faults and misdeeds does not jeopardize this love; on the contrary, it strengthens his  better  powers  in  the  struggle against his animal nature. In a home where 'love  and  action  are  in agreement' the success of education cannot fail; 'the child must -  he cannot do otherwise - become good".

Preceding his most successful experience at Yverdon, Pestalozzi opened an educational institute in Burgdorf in the autumn of 1800.  Within  a few months the household consisted of ninety people and soon  exceeded one hundred. After only eighteen months of  existence  the  experience showed great results and all the visitors remarked on the relationship between teachers and pupils and  the  ease  and  cheerfulness  of  the children. Pestalozzi then invited the Notability of Berne to come  and hold an inspection at the institute. A highly  favorable  report  was issued and later published in the name of  one  of  the  distinguished experts,  J.  S.  Ith,  president  of  the  council   for   education. Emphasizing the difference between  the  deadly  boredom  in  ordinary infant schools and the lively activity in the Pestalozzian  institute, the report suggested [reference # 15]:

"Everything the child learns is acquired by his  own  observation,  by his own experience. It calls this way of teaching essentially new  and therefore a real discovery and considers it a  duty  to  commend  this method because of its intrinsic excellence, to  further  it,   and  to desire its general use as  one  of  the  most  important  benefits  to mankind,  especially  to  their  more  numerous  and  more   neglected sections"

Through the pages of  "How  Gertrude  Teaches  her  Children"  2(1801) Pestalozzi describes his ideas toward a new method for  educating  the infants and proclaimed something entirely new in the field of  popular education. The book brought him fame and  launched  his  revolutionary ideas in the mainstream of one of  the  most  arguable  subjects  ever treated: popular  education.  These  ideas  pointed  to  a  system  of education consisting of three equal parts: intellectual, physical  and moral. It also established the family  as  the  main  stage  where  it should start, being also the  natural  environment  where  the  infant would take the first steps in order to bring out his innate  ideas  of goodness  and cultivate  his  powers  driving  him  to  independence. Summarizing his  thoughts  on  the  subject,  Kate  Silber  emphasizes [reference # 16]:

"Education, then, is the art of bringing to life  and  fortifying  the good which is inherent in every human being; it  consists  in  guiding the child towards the best realization of himself and of the things of the world. It does not impose anything alien upon him  but  draws  out what lies in him,  either  latent  or  obstructed;  it  takes  as  its starting-point the child himself. It cultivates  his  own  powers  and encourages his independence. Thus the educator acts as  Socrates  has said, more as a midwife than as a begetter of men. He merely  prepares the way which the pupil must travel himself."

Such is the spiritual perception that the schoolmaster  envisioned  in his ideas. Foreseeing a new pattern of knowledge that  would  soon  be given to mankind, he managed to make men aware of  this  new  reality; the reality of the spirit, the  eternal  power  in  its  long  journey toward the truth. The human being permanently struggles  in  order  to attain happiness and, as a consequence of this, he is  always  seeking for the truth. As always had been said, the truth lies inside oneself. Here is how Kate Silber shows Pestalozzi's ideas  in  this  particular [reference # 17]:

"The recognition of truth, he declares, comes  from  intuition.  Thus, truth is the aim of development, and intuition,  the  most  elementary power of the human mind, its basis. Only through going  back  to  this fundamental principle which accords with the essence of  human  nature will it be possible to raise man to a state  where  he  can  recognize 'truth and right in the spirit and in truth, as sacred and inviolable, with authority replacing that of his father and mother'. For it is not the intention of  our  Father  that  man  should  perish  through  the corruption of his instinct but rather that he be 'brought to recognize his true nature and be led towards  perfection,  even  as  our  Father which is in heaven is perfect'. This is the religious justification of Pestalozzi's  method  of  education  and  of  its   basic   principle, intuition."

Kate  Silber,  as  any  other  scholar,  tries  to fully   interpret Pestalozzi's method and often points to some incorrectness perpetrated by  the  schoolmaster.   Furthermore,  she  even  admits  Pestalozzi's failure  for  the  reason  that   his   practical   enterprises   were unsuccessful  and  his  theoretical   system   remained   fragmentary. Nevertheless, looking  through  a  more  accurate  telescope,  perhaps without knowing this  reality  and  using  the  same  basic  principle discussed above, the intuition, Kate  Silber  recognized  Pestalozzi's remarkable task bay saying [reference # 18]:

"Pestalozzi certainly attempted more than one single man can  achieve. His aim was not merely to establish a new method of teaching, not even to educate children, or to improve the lot of the poor. His dream  was to promote the well-being of all  men  through  the  strengthening  of their own better powers and thereby to bring peace and security to the world - a goal certainly  not  unlike  the  Abbe  St.  Pierre's  'paix perpetuelle' with which it had been compared. In this 'most  ambitious days', as he called them, he tried to achieve no less than  a  harmony between a complete theory of education and practical  policy  for  the happiness of mankind."

In fact, we could mention many who failed in their task of  trying  to show mankind the right path to happiness. The question would rather be if those who attempted this goal really failed. As far as  we  realize that we are responsible  for  our  own  progress,  another  conclusion immediately comes out and we find no failure in those attempts at all. I would rather see a mankind's failure  in  not  taking  advantage  of these teachings in order to speed up its own  progress  toward  a  new level of consciousness.

Under a theoretical point of view, one can find failure  everywhere. Unfortunately this is a field where many are accused of having failed. Pestalozzi, Abbe St. Pierre, Mahatma Ghandi, Socrates,  Joan  of  Arc, you name it. Even Jesus  Christ  is  considered  a  failure.  However, having delivered the simplest message to mankind,  his  teachings  got mixed up many times in the vast mainstream of religious controversy.

Kate Silber's "Pestalozzi - The Man and his Work" is a masterpiece and a moving story about a man who gave his best in order to help  mankind to move forward. It is a book to be read by the layman concerned with his own spiritual progress and those that surround him.

References

Reference # 1:  Z  Wantuil  and  Francisco  Thiesen,  Allan  Kardec  - Meticulosa Pesquisa Biobibliografica - Three Volumes  -  2a  Edição  - Copyright by FEB (Federação Espírita Brasileira ) 1973

Reference # 2: Ref. 1, volume I pp. 25

Reference # 3: Kate Silber, "Pestalozzi -The man and his  Work"  First published 1960 by Routlede & Kegan Paul Ltd, London

Reference # 4: Idem (Ref.3) in the preface pp. x-xi

Reference # 5: Idem, pp. 34

Reference # 6: Idem, pp. 154

Reference # 7: Idem, pp. 45

Reference # 8: Idem pp. 46

Reference # 9: Idem pp. 17

Reference # 10: Idem pp. 11

Reference # 11: Idem pp. 147

Reference # 12: Idem pp. 23

Reference # 13: Idem pp. 45

Reference # 14: Idem pp. 177-178

Reference # 15: Idem pp. 127

Reference # 16: Idem pp. 137

Reference # 17: Idem pp. 153

Reference # 18: Idem pp. 272-273

  LETTER

SAN DIEGO STUDY GROUP
Luiza Marques

Dear Friends,

I would like to request if it is a possibility to update the Spiritist Center List that you have for California.

Our San Diego Group has been together for approximately 3 years and  I wanted to find out if there is a way to add our address to your Center list.

San Diego Study Group,
Address: 4431 Paola Way, San Diego, California 92117.
Tel (858) 278-4839

Email: Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.

Attention: Luiza Marques

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 SPIRIT WORD

There is no point in winning without improving ourselves.

The place where you live is your field of work.

The enemies to conquer are inside ourselves.

The others are always the public who follow us.

Your field of action is your own work.

Relatives and friends are companions and inspectors.

Your  most  efficient  and  important  weapons  are  love,   humility, knowledge and patience.

Orders to followed: Work and serve.

Daily programme: love your neighbor as yourself.

Indication of promotion: duty accomplished.

Mark of victory: inner happiness with the blessings of God,  which  no word in the world can express.

Andre Luiz
Message received by the Brazilian medium Francisco Candido Xavier,  at the meeting on April/8/1975 in Minas Gerais - Brazil.

 EDITOR NOTE

In his interesting book "A lawyer presents the case for the  afterlife - the  irrefutable  objective  evidence",  Victor  Zammit  exposes  a collection of reports on  the  'objective  evidences'  sustaining  the afterlife thesis.

In the defense elaborated by Zammit (he is a experienced lawyer) there is  sufficient  proofs  which  show  the  necessity  of  a  better consideration of the afterlife idea  (a  point  already  discussed  by Kardec at lengths in his first works).

In the next issue of the SM, we will bring a  detailed  discussion  of the conception of 'scientific evidence' and objectivity  in  Science. This account will serve to emphasize the importance of Zammit's  works since the majority of the psychic  phenomena  are  in  a  sense  'more objective' than many physical (material) facts. However, in order  for a kind of phenomenon  to  be  scientifically  valuable,  it  must  not necessarily be observable by  the  common  senses  (the  so  called  5 senses), but should be correctly connected to a theoretical background that sustain the existence of the phenomenon.

GEAE editorial board.

 BOOKS

 A  LAWYER  PRESENTS  THE  CASE  FOR  THE  AFTERLIFE  "THE  IRREFUTABLE OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE"

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~vwzammit
Victor Zammit

Revised Version   July 1999

Victor Zammit BA (Psych) MA (Hist) LLB. PhD    Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.

Retired Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South  Wales  and  the High Court of Australia - Psychic researcher and Lecturer  in  psychic phenomena.

Contents

Part 1

1. Introduction: essential information
2. What's wrong  with  being  a closed-minded skeptic?
3. Respected scientists  who  investigated
4. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)
5.  Instrumental  Transcommunication (ITC)
6. Recent advances in ITC- under construction
7.  Rebutting  the skeptics on EVP and ITC
8. Einstein's  E=mc2  and  materialization
9. Other psychic laboratory experiments
10. Scientific  observation  of mediums
11. Leonor Piper- a US medium who convinced all  skeptics
12. Two closed minded cheats
13.  Materialization  mediumship
14.  Helen Duncan- a magnificent British medium
15. Direct voice mediumship
16. A modern medium  who  confounds  the  skeptics
17.  Irrefutable  proof- Frederick Myers Cross Correspondences
18. Proxy  sittings  refute  the allegation of mind reading
19. Science and the Out of Body  Experience
20. Science and the Near Death Experience
21. Science and  apparitions
22. Deathbed Visions
23. Science and  the  magnificent  aura
24.  The ouija board
25. Xenoglossy
26. Poltergeists and  the  failure  of  the
(British) SPR
27. Reincarnation
28. Summing up the objective  evidence
29. Communicating with afterlife intelligences
30.  What  does  happen
when we die?
31. Bibliography for  afterlife  research
32.  Links  to
similar sites

Part 2

Theoretical physics backs survival
British Physics analyst RON PEARSON- author, lecturer on  subatomic particles

Part 3

The Seven Laws of Psychic Energy
Dr   Victor   Zammit (Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.)

INTRODUCTION: ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

Excerpt kindly authorized for publishing by V Zammit

                                                                               'The greater the ignorance, the greater the dogmatism.'
                                                                                                                            Sir William Ostler MD

There is undeniable  scientific evidence to-day for the  afterlife.  I am an open minded skeptic lawyer, a former practicing  attorney-at-law formally qualified in a number of university disciplines.

The argument that  follows  is  not  just  an  abstract,  theoretical, academic legal argument. As an open minded investigator I set  out  to investigate the existing evidence for  survival  and  with  others  to create conditions to test for ourselves claims that communication with intelligences from the afterlife is possible.

After  many  years  of  serious  investigation  I  have  come  to  the irretrievable conclusion that there is a great body of evidence  which taken as a whole absolutely and unqualifiedly proves the case for  the afterlife. I will not be arguing that the objective evidence has  just very high value. Nor am I suggesting that this  evidence  be  accepted beyond reasonable doubt. I am arguing that the  evidence  taken  as  a whole constitutes overwhelming and irrefutable proof for the existence of the afterlife.

There have been millions of pages written about psychic phenomena  and scientific  research  into  the  afterlife.  Using   my   professional background as an attorney and my university  training  in  psychology, history and scientific method, I have very carefully selected  aspects of psychic research and afterlife knowledge  which  would  technically constitute objective evidence in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United States, the House of Lords in England, the High Court of Australia and in every civilized legal jurisdiction around the world.

When  the  objective  evidence  -  the  Electronic  Voice   Phenomena, Instrumental Transcommunication, Psychic Laboratory  Experiments,  Out of Body Experiences, Near  Death  Experiences,  Xenoglossy,  the  Best Mediums,  Direct  Voice  Mediumship,  Cross   Correspondences,   Proxy Sittings, Poltergeists, Apparitions, and all  of  the  other  evidence contained in this work is seen collectively, the case for survival  is absolutely stunning and irrefutable.

The evidence presented in this  work  also  proves  the  existence  of so-called 'psychic  phenomena',  which  are  interconnected  with  the afterlife and can only be explained  satisfactorily  by  survival.  In absolute terms the evidence presented in this work will  convince  the rational and intelligent open, unprejudiced  skeptic  or  the  genuine searcher about the existence of the afterlife.

For many years there has been a hostility to psychic  science  in  the mainstream media and in universities and in some of the churches.  The discoveries of serious scientists working to prove the afterlife  have been misreported, distorted and ignored. High  profile  skeptics  have been given unfair license by the media to ridicule cheat and lie  with the result that the general public know very little  about  the  great body of scientific research which has been accumulated.

Many people who are genuinely seeking and are anxious to explore  this fascinating area  have  not  been  able  to access  unbiased  factual information because they may not have the skills or the time  to  read and analyze fairly esoteric literature  which  in  some  societies  is simply not available because of formal and informal censorship.

Initially,  'subjective'  knowledge  includes  all  information  which cannot  be  independently  substantiated.   This   includes   personal religious beliefs - Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,  Judaism. Subjective knowledge also includes skepticism because  in  context  of the afterlife, no skeptic (or atheist or agnostic) can use science  to objectively prove that skepticism is scientific or that nothing exists in the afterlife.

Like religion, skepticism is a personal, subjective  belief  which  is subject to fundamental error and to complete invalidation.  Because  a personal subjective religious or skeptical belief does  not  have  the substance of science, any subjective religious or skeptical belief can be absolutely invalid.

Objective knowledge - science - is where the same results and the same cause-effect connection can  be  demonstrated  over  time  and  space. Science is regarded as 'objective' in that any person who follows  the scientific formulas, keeping variables constant,  will  get  the  same results. So a scientist who mixes acid and alkali in Sydney  Australia in 1998 will get the same result as a scientist working in  Moscow  in 2,000 or in any other year. The studies in Electronic Voice  Phenomena (EVP) and Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC)  have  clearly  showed this element of repeatability. Investigators working independently  in many different countries have been  able  to  duplicate  each  others' work. Inevitably the objective always prevails over the subjective.

But not all science is conducted in the scientific laboratory.

Within the definition  of  science  there  is  also  the  'scientific, systematic observation of a phenomenon'. For example, whilst we accept and believe that thunder and lightening and storms do occur, we cannot duplicate them under laboratory conditions.

Case studies too, are important in scientific method. As long as there is strict adherence to scientific method when measuring anything,  the results of the experiment necessarily become scientifically based.

What I found in many of my meetings is that some people accept much of the information presented  but  some  want  to  put  emphasis  on,  or disagree about reincarnation or astrology, or meditation or prayer  or crystals or even atheism or agnosticism.

For the purpose of the record, it is not the intention of  the  author to try to change anybody's beliefs or religion or atheism. This is not religious crusading. This is not a matter of faith or belief. This  is a matter of either  acceptance  or  non-acceptance  of  the  objective evidence.

The author is giving you  access  to  some  very  important  objective information  about  the  afterlife,  undoubtedly  the  most  important information  you  will  ever  come  across  in  your   lifetime.   But ultimately, given all the information, you the  reader  will  have  to decide what you accept or reject.

In the past the clergy refused to accept science because it conflicted with the clergy's personal religious beliefs, as  history  records  in the Galileo affair. After 200 years or so the clergy had to eventually accept that science  prevailed  over  personal,  subjective  religious beliefs. It can never be any other way.

You the reader have to take extreme care not to fall into the  comfort zone trap, rejecting objective information just because the objective, scientific  information  conflicts  with  your  personal,   subjective beliefs - be they religious or skeptical. As I mentioned above, where there is an inconsistency between objective information and subjective
belief there is a need for either more investigation or  a  change  in the subjective belief._

It is submitted that once  people  feel  comfortable  with  a  set  of beliefs, they do not  want  to  change  their  beliefs  even  if  new, objective and scientific information shows that part  or  all  of  the beliefs are completely wrong and even fundamentally invalid.  Many  of the beliefs become part of the psychological and emotional  makeup  of the believer's personality. These beliefs become very hard to shift.

Of course, history and experience  show  that  there  are  those  more refined and enlightened  people  who  can  assimilate  new,  objective information immediately.

Victor Zammit
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~vwzammit

  SPIRIT WORD

 Editor Note - The Astral City - A story of a  doctor's odyssey in the Spirit World

In a series of archives we will bring to our readers the whole content of "The Astral  City"  by  Andre  Luiz  (Spirit  author)  through  the mediumship of Francisco C Xavier.

This book was translated in 1986 by S J Haddad in a monumental  effort together with the team of the Christian  Spiritist  Center  (NC).  The version we will  publish  in  "The  Spiritist  Messenger"  was  kindly provided by Mrs.Phyllis Haddad (Mr. Haddad's widow) whom we would like to thank. We also thank the Christian Spiritist Center  in  Elon College, NC, for the legal authorization.

Finally, without the work of Antonio Leite (NY) the new publication in the SM would not be possible. Mr. Leite was responsible  for  most  of the  text  digitalization  besides   being   one   of   the   greatest collaborators of GEAE. His kind help must be much acknowledged.

A few words on "Astral  City"  are  welcome.  The  original  book  was published in Brazil in 1943 under  the  title  "Nosso  Lar"  (or  'Our Home') and is a classical of the Brazilian Spiritist literature.

In this book, Andre Luiz (a  former  physician)  composes  a  detailed report on his situation after death.  Some  readers  will  perhaps  be shocked by seemingly terrestrial climate of the Spirit colony where  A Luiz was conducted after his rescue from "the lower  zones".  However, one must understand (according to several  Spirit  descriptions)  that the situation of the majority of man and woman (that is average  level humans) is not changed miraculously with death. Besides  the  material plane where we live is a copy of the spirit world. Many of  the  works we have  (environments  for  living,  musical  tendencies,  ideals  of beauty) are in fact brought by discarnated and incarnated spirits from the Spirit world down to Earth in a process of strong interaction. The interaction between the terrestrial plane is so intense that  many  of the technological improvements  (and  scientific  works)  are  planed, studied and developed in  close  collaboration  among  incarnated  and discarnated spirits. No wonder why so many new  ideas  appear  in  the world simultaneously by the hand of different authors who hardly  know each other. In the arts, we can surely affirm that this interaction is even stronger.

In the words of Mr. Haddad:

"'The Astral City' is undoubtedly one of  the  most  remarkable  works contributing to this new awareness. It stands as one more sign that  a new era of transcendental knowledge is in process, and that the age of veiled references to the life  beyond  is  receding.  Furthermore,  it presents to us a Spirit world of an  amazingly  realistic  nature.  At times, we tend to be surprised at the quasi-material aspects  of  'The Astral City' colony. After careful consideration, however, we begin to see the wisdom of  God's  laws  which  afford  the  spirit  a  gradual adaptation to a life without the grosser material body.  It  has  been repeatedly confirmed by reliable messages that the etherical  replicas of the physical world  are  a  common  event  in  the  next  plane  of existence. Indeed, the similarities of the two worlds are at times  so confusing to the newly departed that  the  spirit  mistakes  them  for material life, often ignoring the fact that  death  has  occurred  and that he has lost his physical body. Bearing in mind  these  and  other basic principles of transition expounded by 'The Astral City' we begin to conceive of a hereafter that is within the realm of Nature; a realm equally ruled by just laws of cause and effect."

"The Astral City" is an essential item in the modern Spiritualist's library.

Chapter 1 IN THE LOWER ZONES

I was under the impression that I had lost  all  notion  of  time  and space.

I was convinced that I no longer belonged to the world of the  living, yet I continued to inhale deep breaths of air.
Since when had I become the puppet of irresistible forces? I could not say. I felt like a prisoner, trapped in the dark cage of horror.  With my hair on end, my heart thumping uncontrollably, a prey  to  terrible fear, many times I shouted like a raving lunatic. I begged  for  mercy and clamored against the bitter despondency with had take hold  of  my spirit. But my cries  fell  only  on  silence;  or  were  answered  by lamenting voices still more  moving  than  my  own.  At  other  times, sinister roars of laughter rent the  stillness,  as  if  some  unknown companion must be close-by me,  a  prisoner  of  insanity.  Diabolical forms, ghastly faces, bestial countenances crossed my way from time to time, increasing my panic. The scenery, when it was  not  pitch  dark, was bathed in a lurid light, as if shrouded in a thick fog  warmed  by the sun's rays.

Thus I proceeded on that strange journey. To what end? Who could  say? I only knew that I kept fleeing. Fright drove  me  on  blindly   Where were my home, my wife and children? I had lost all sense of direction. The fear of the unknown and my dread of darkness had annulled  all  my powers of reasoning from the very moment  I  had  broken  free  of  my physical body in the grave.

My conscience tormented me. I would have preferred the  total  absence of reason, or non-existence. Copious  tears  ran  constantly  down  my cheeks, and only rarely was I blessed with a  few  minutes  of  sleep. What rest I had was often interrupted as monstrous beings awoke me and mocked me, and I was obliged to go on fleeing. I saw now that I was on a different plane of life, which rose from the emanations of the Earth. But it was too late. Anguish weighed  heavily on my mind, and when I  started  making  plans  for  action,  numerous incidents would lead me on to bewildering avenues  of  thought.  Never had the religious question loomed so large before my eyes. Principles,
purely political, philosophical and scientific, now seemed  to  me  of secondary importance  to  human  life.  Although  they  were  valuable acquisitions on Earth, I had to admit that  mankind  was  not  mad  of transitory generations, but of immortal Spirits on their ascension  to a glorious destination. I was beginning to realize  the  existence  of one thing that stands above all  that  is  material  or  intellectual: Faith a divine manifestation to man. Such an analysis,  however,  came too late. It is true that I was familiar with the  Old  Testament  and had often read through the Gospels. But I was forced to recognize that I had never searched the sacred writings with the light of my heart. I had embraced the interpretation of writers who were  not  inclined  to sentiments and conscience,  an  who  were,  at  times,  even  in  open disagreement with the fundamental truths. On other  occasions,  I  had taken an ecclesiastical point of view,  entering  voluntarily  into  a circle of contradictions.

In truth, I did not believe that I was a criminal in my  life,  though my philosophy of living for the  immediate  present  had  absorbed  me fully. My  earthly  life,  now  transformed  by  death,  had  been  no different from the life of so many others.

Born of perhaps excessively generous parents, I had graduated from the University without much effort, and shared the dissipation  and  vices of the youth of my time. Later, when I married and started a family, I was blessed with children, gained a stable and lucrative position, and was spared all financial  worries.  Yet  on  self-examination  I  feel deeply that I had wasted time and I now hear the silent  pangs  of  my conscience. I had lived on Earth, enjoyed  its  benefits,  reaped  the good things of life, and yet never contributed  anything  towards  the repayment of my heavy debt. I  had completely  ignored  my  parent's generosity and sacrifices, just as I had ignored those of my wife  and children. I had selfishly kept my family only to myself.  I  had  been given a happy home, and had closed my doors to those  seeking  help.  I had delighted in the joys of my family circle, yet never  shared  that precious gift with  my  greater  human  family.  I  had  neglected  to undertaken even the most elementary duties of fraternal solidarity.

Now that my life was over I was  like  a  hothouse  plant,  unable  to withstand the weather of eternal realities. I had not  cultivated  the divine seeds the Father of Life had sown in my soul. They were  choked by the weeds of my insatiable desire for comfort and enjoyment. I  had not trained my faculties for this new life. It was only  right,  then, that I should enter it like a cripple, thrown into the infinite  river of eternity, unable to swim, or like a wretched beggar at the  end  of his strength, wandering about in the middle of a stormy desert.

Oh, dear friends on Earth! How many of you may still avoid the  bitter road of sorrow by cultivating the inner fields of your heart. Light up your lamp before crossing the threshold of  the  shadows.  Search  for Truth, lest the truth find you unprepared. Sweat and  toil  now,  lest you weep afterwards.

Chapter 2  CLARENCE

Suicidal  criminal!  Infamous  wretch!  I  heard  insults   from   all directions. But where were they  coming  from  ? At  times  I  caught glimpses of them as they slipped in and out of the  darkness.  Through my despair, mustering all my strength, I threw myself against them. In vain I beat the air in my show of  rage.  I  heard  laughter  as  they vanished again into the shadows.

Whom could I turn to for help? I was tortured by  hunger  and  parched with thirst. The demands of my physical existence on  Earth  continued here: my beard kept growing, my garments were beginning  to  show  the signs of my struggles. Yet the most painful part of my  trial  ws  not the pitiful abandon in which I found myself, but the incessant attacks of the evil forces which surrounded me in the darkness.I was  unnerved and utterly unable to coordinate my situation, to weigh its causes and establish  new  currents  of  thought.  But  those   accusing   voices bewildered me beyond my imagination.

"What are you seeking,  you  miserable  fool?  Where  are  you  going, suicidal wretch?" Such accusations,  ceaselessly  repeated,  threw  my mind into absolute confusion. I might well be miserable, but suicidal? Never! Those charges were wrong, as far as I could see. I had left  my body most unwillingly, after a desperate struggle with death. I  could still hear the last medical diagnosis at the  hospital.  I  remembered clearly the efficient care and  the  painful  dressings  during  those weary days that followed my intestinal operation. The recollection  of the closing scenes of my earthly days was so vivid that I  could  even feel the touch of the thermometer and the disagreeable  prick  of  the hypodermic needle. Finally,  my  last  recollection  before  my  great sleep: my wife, still young, and my three children  gazing  at  me  in anguish at the prospect of eternal separation.  Then,  afterwards,  my awakening to dreary and damp surroundings, to a never-ending nightmare flight.

Why was I being accused of suicide when I had been forced to  give  up my hope, my family and all that I held dear? Even the strongest man must come to the end of his emotional powers of resistance. So it was with me. Firm  and  resolute  at  the  start,  I gradually began to fall into long lapses  of  depression,  and  in  my total ignorance of the fate  in  store  for  me,  my  usual  fortitude yielded to despondency. More and more frequently tears  welled  in  my eyes, long pent-up in heavy heart.

To whom could I appeal? With all  of  the  sophisticated  intellectual culture I had brought from the world, I could do nothing to  alter  my present situation. Before the Infinite, my knowledge was like  a  tiny soap bubble, blown about by the impetuous winds of the transformation. Surely I was not out of my senses! I did not feel  different.  I  felt that my conscience was alert and that I was essentially the  same  man with the same feelings and culture as before. My  physiological  needs continued unchanged. A gnawing hunger preyed on my every fiber; yet in my ever-increasing weakness I never  reached  the  point  of  complete exhaustion. Now and then I came across some wild herbs  growing  along mere trickles of water.

I devoured the unfamiliar leaves and drank the water  avidly. I  could stop only a few seconds at a time, for those irresistible forces  were ever spurring me on. Oftentimes I tasted  the  mud  by  the  roadside, recalling with burning tears the daily bread of olden days. Frequently I was obliged to hide from enormous herds of  monstrous  beings  which trampled past  me  like  a  band  of  insatiable  beasts.  Those  were blood-curdling sights! When my despair had almost reached its  climax, it began to dawn on me that somewhere a Creator of  Life  must  exist. The thought seemed to comfort me. I, who in the world  had  hated  all religious creeds, was now feeling the need for spiritual  consolation. As a physician who prided himself on his  ultra-modern  principles  of skepticism, so much in vogue in my time,  I  had  to  admit  I  was  a perfect failure. Gone was all the self-importance which had seemed  so real to my eyes. I saw now that I had to change my mental attitude.

When at last I came to the end of my strength and lay helpless in  the mire, unable to rise, I implored that Creator of All  Things  to  take pity on me and come to my aid in my desperable plight.

How long did my pleading last? How may hours did I spend praying  like a frightened child? It was impossible to say. I only knew that copious tears ran down my cheeks and my whole being seemed to merge  into  one anguished plea. Had I been utterly abandoned? Was I not also  a  child of God, although in the whirl of earthly vanities I had never given  a thought to His divine works? I knew the Eternal Father  would   surely forgive me. Did He not extend His loving care to the birds of the  air and flowers of the field?

Ah, one must suffer a great deal in order to understand the mysterious beauty of prayer. One must know remorse, humiliation and utter  misery to fully appreciate  the sublime sweetness of Hope!  It  was  at  that moment that the dense mist all around cleared away, and a person  came forward. An envoy from Heaven! He was a fatherly  old  man,  who  bent over me and gazed intently into my face with his  large,  clear  eyes. With a benevolent smile he said to me:

"Courage, my son! The Lord has not forsaken you."

Heart-felt tears seemed to flood my very soul. I tried to  express  my grateful relief, to thank him for the consolation he had brought,  yet I only had the strength to ask: "Who are you,  generous  messenger of God.?"

My unexpected benefactor  smiled  kindly  and  replied:  "My  name  is Clarence. I am only a brother."

And, noticing my exhaustion, he added: "You must keep quiet and  calm. It is necessary for you to rest to restore your strength."

Then we called two persons who were waiting attentively, and  ordered: "Let us provide our friend with first aid."

They spread a white sheet on the ground and, using it as an  emergency stretcher, prepared to transport  me.  They  lifted  me  gently.  Then Clarence spoke to his assistants: "Let us start without delay. I  must reach the Astral City as soon as possible."

In the next issue of "The Spiritist Messenger" - Chapter 3  and 4.

 TEXT

 PREFACE TO THE FIRST ELECTRONIC EDITION OF "ASTRAL CITY" BY GEAE

News from the afterlife reach us since time immemorial. They teach us, alert us and give us solace. From  Saul  consulting  the  dead  Samuel (Samuel 28:1) on the direction of Israel, to the disciples in  Galilee (Matthew 28:16-28:20) visited by the Master after  crucifixion. From Peter freed from prison by an angel of the Lord (Acts  12:1-12:10)  to the voices which guided  Joan  D' arc  for  the  salvation  of  France. Messages on the state of the human spirit after  death  often  remains hidden in these news.

Messages translated into the proper  language  and  customs  of  their times speak us about  heavens  and  hells,  where  human  beings  find themselves and the results of their actions. These are  more  or  less happy resorts according to the spiritual state of  their  inhabitants. In many instances they are covered with poetry, as in  Dante's  Divine Comedy, or hidden under the symbols of the great mystics.

Even recently, at a time of positivist science, the flux of  news  did not stop. On the contrary, starting in 1848 it has grown increasingly, finding elucidation in the gigantic effort of analysis and compilation carried out by Allan Kardec. Starting with "The Spirit's Book"  (1857) they continued through "Posthumous Works" (1890), strongly intertwined by the 'Revue Spirite' (1858-1859). "To be born, to died, to  be  born again and always move forward" - the several plans of human  existence are unveiled, each one endowed with its proper aim  within  the  great work of evolution.

Spiritism, the set of teachings contained  in  Kardecian  works,  has organized and spread the  interchange  of  news  among  incarnate  and discarnate. Groups were established  in  several  countries.   In  the Brazilian lands however a propitious environment for good mediumnistic work and practical application of the Spiritist postulates was  found. Bezerra de Menezes, Caibar  Schutel,  Euripedes  Barsanulfo  and  many others vividly spread the "Good news", that actually  death  does  not exist, that we found ourselves under transitory study in this material world, that opportunities of work and improvement abound in the  "many Father's mansions"

In a continuously changing world, in which the domain of matter  takes place and the human inner universe remains unknown, materialism  seems little by little to triumph over all the spiritual conquests, reducing to pious myths all the religious  creeds.  In  this  world,  Spiritism stands up straight, marching forward in the enlightenment  of  people. At the very moment when man  find himself far from God, a  masterpiece shows him his supreme target, shaping forever the behavior  of  future generations.

"Nosso Lar" (or "The Astral City"  in  the  present  English  version) appeared on Earth in 1943 through the mediumship of  Francisco  Xavier and edited by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB). The book tells us the odyssey of a recently departed physician who introduces himself under the pen name "Andre Luiz"  (see  forewords  by  Emmanuel  and  J Haddad). The author discloses a spiritual society, a  colony  of  work located in the vicinity of the Earth  surface,  where  one  finds  the happy of sad results of one acts after reaching "the  other  side"  of life. Far from abstractions  or  purely  philosophical  argumentation, Andre Luiz speaks about the actual reality of imperfect spirits  still alive, working and preparing themselves for the next life's struggles.

"Nosso Lar" is an evolving society, much similar  to  the  terrestrial one. It displays many patterns of the Brazilian society at  the  time, forecasting other ones that would arise in the following years.  Using a comparison, "Nosso Lar" is a kind of spiritualized  Rio  de  Janeiro or, more exactly, Rio is a material "Nosso Lar" in so far as  many  of its inhabitants come from this spiritual colony.

Putting aside the Brazilian feature of the colony, "Nosso Lar"  is  an universal example. Wherever the human spirit goes after death, be it a spiritual colony of an English speaking country or a spiritual town in ancient India, it always meets itself,   carrying   its  conquests  or past mistakes, beloved affections or inner enemies. In  one  word,  it goes to a place with which it has strong affinities. And then, perhaps under different customs or dressings, the spirit finds a reality  much similar to the one revealed by Andre Luiz.

So we strongly recommend to all our dear friends the reading  of  this  work. We also hope that  it  can  consolidate  the  certainty  in  the  afterlife and in the maxim "without charity there is no salvation"  as  it did to many Brazilian  fellows.  We  remark  that  just  after  the edition of this book,  as  if  reinforcing  a  practical  teaching  by Bezerra de Menezes, Brazil saw the appearance of many Spiritist groups attached to the ideal of social and  spiritual  assistance  works.  In this way, Spiritism became one of the leading schools  of  thought  in Brazil.  Thanks  to  this  book,  we  find  today   assistance   works everywhere, no matter how small the Spiritist group.

Finally, we would like to recall one of the strongest messages of this book: "work appears when the worker  is  ready".  Let  us  be  in  the service of our beloved sisters and brothers, that God  will  open  the closed gates, placing us at the exact position  where  required  hands lack.

Sincerely,

Carlos A Iglesia Bernardo,
GEAE editor.
October 15th 2000.

 ON   THE   MIND-BODY   PROBLEM
Victor Zammit

The mind/brain debate has been going for too many  centuries.  Without any objective evidence, materialists claim that mind and brain are the same thing. As a psychic investigator, I state in absolute terms  that there is overwhelming objective evidence that  the  mind  is  not  the physical brain. The physical brain dies when the physical  body  dies, but the mind survives physical death.

Accordingly, the uniqueness of the mind  has  to  inevitably  be  seen whole-istically and in context of human survival.  My  research  shows from Silver Birch and other highly spiritually evolved  intelligences, the mind is not only where the brain is situated - the mind transcends earth's existence, i.e. I will be including everything I came  across regarding the full functioning of the mind.

The mind - is pure vibrating energy:

•  is the conscious, semi-conscious and the unconscious,

• retains all experiences whether consciously accessed or not,

•  includes the subtle bodies  attached  to  the  main  duplicate physical body,

• can create matter in  a different dimensions,

•  includes the aura which is the energy being projected from the body,

• is like a television station: it can send and  receive  vibrations by way of sound and pictures,

• has the capacity to read other minds - telepathy,

• has the capacity to move solid objects  and  levitate  objects and humans,

• has  the  capacity  to  decrease  and  increase  its   body's vibrations - materializations and dematerializations,

• has the capacity to initiate, direct and target  positive  and negative energy  towards  inanimate  objects  and  to  living  things, including human beings,

• has the capacity to heal another mind, body and spirit.

Not all minds are equal in development, some  minds  are  more powerful and other minds are extremely more powerful than others, a superior mind can  influence and  manipulate  inferior,  less evolved minds - even from great physical distances, in the afterlife can transfer the etheric body from one  place to another faster than the speed of light, is eternal because it is part of the 'Universal  Cosmic  Mind' - or as others see it is as a 'spark' of the  Divine.

Victor Zammit PO Box 1810
Dee Why 2099, Australia
Telephone/Facsimile:
+61  2   9453   5119
E-mail:   Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.
WEB   SITE:
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~vwzammit

 SHOWCASE

TALKS SHOWS AND SPIRITISM

Here is a list of URLs for the talk shows I am regularly submitting an introduction to Spiritism request. It would not hurt if  many  of  us could make a show suggestion.  Ten minutes a week is all it takes!  We need to come together on this.

http://www.oprah.com/email/reach/email_reach_suggest.html

http://www.montelshow.com/show/email1.vep

http://www.studiosusa.com/maury/mp.mee.ask.email.html

http://jennyjones.warnerbros.com/cmp/write.html

http://www.sallyjr.com/sally3/form_showideas.html

http://www.ricki.com/

This is what  I  am  requesting:  I  would  like  to  introduce,  "The Christian Spiritist  Movement  in  America,"  to  the  North  American Audience.  Our belief is based on Christianity combined  with  Science and Philosophy.  Below you will find URL that explain who we are  and what we do.  Please take a moment to visit these  sites  or  phone  me directly.  I promise you will not regret doing so.

http://www.spiritistcongress.com/

http://www.allan-kardec.org/newsite/

http://www.connect.com.br/%7Eespirit/english/index.htm

Lets take a stand!  Help me do this!

Janice

P.S.  Where can I get 1000 or so pre-printed flyers  about  Spiritism. I.e., what we had in the bookstore during the Miami Convention.  Should I write to the Washington D.C. office?  I would like to convert  these flyers into mailers and mail them locally.  Also place these flyers in public distribution areas.  DISSEMINATE!

Janice Diamond

Este endereço de email está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa do JavaScript ativado para vê-lo.
Raintree
109 West Main Street
Annville PA 17003
http://www.raintree.com
717.867.5617
1.877.867.5617 (toll-free)

  SPIRIT WORD

SPIRIT WORD THE ASTRAL CITY - "Nosso Lar"

A story of a doctor's odyssey in the Spirit World By Andre Luiz, through Francisco C Xavier CHAPTER 5 & 6. PDF version (~800 Kb) available at http://www.geae.inf.br/htdocs/en/books/AstralCity.PDF and http://www.geocities.com/xavnet2/moral/Messa1.htm

(Translated from the 25th Portuguese edition entitled "Nosso Lar". First Portuguese edition published in 1944 by Federação Espírita Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.)

Chapter 3 COLLECTIVE PRAYER

As we advanced, I saw from  my  stretcher  the  pleasant  surroundings which slowly unfolded to my view. Clarence, leaning on a staff made of some luminous substance, stopped before a  heavy  gate  built  into  a
great wall which was covered with a flowery wine. He touched a certain spot in the wall, the gate opened wide, and we  entered  in  a  silent procession.

A warm glow bathed everything there. The graceful play  of  lights  in the distance reminded me of a beautiful sunset in  springtime.  As  we proceeded, I saw before me charming buildings and  beautiful  gardens. At a sign from Clarence my stretcher was laid down and in front of  us there stood an entrance to  a  great  white  building  similar  to  an earthly hospital. Two young men in white  tunics  ran  eagerly  to  my stretcher, moved me into an emergency bed, and carried me  in.  Before he left, I heard Clarence say: "Take him to the pavilion to the right. I am expected elsewhere now, but  I  will  come  to  see  him  in  the morning." I gave that generous old man a parting smile of gratitude as I was taken away to a large, pleasant, richly furnished room and  laid
on a comfortable bed.

My heart was overflowing with gratitude towards my kind attendants.  I tried to address them but only managed to ask: "Friends, I  beg  you, what is this new world I find myself in?  From  what  star  does  this bright invigorating light emanate?" One of them laid a tender hand  on my forehead as if I were an old friend, and explained: "We are located in the spiritual spheres close to the  Earth,  and  the  Sun  that  is shining on us at this moment is the same one that warmed you on Earth. However, our visual perception is far keener here. We can see that the star the Lord lighted to guide our activities is  far  more  beautiful than we ever realized while on Earth. Our Sun is a  divine  source  of life which has its light's source in the Creator of All Things."

I felt a profound sense of veneration and awe as I gazed at  the  soft light streaming through my window. I realized  that  on  Earth  I  had never looked up at the Sun and raised my thoughts to the One,  in  His infinite mercy, had given it to us to shine on our journey. I was like a blind man who, after living so long in darkness, is blessed with the ability to see the splendor of nature.

Just then they brought me some stimulating broth and a glass  of  cool water, refreshing water. The water seemed  infused  with  some  divine fluid (*), for just a little of it quickly produced a reviving  effect. The food, whether a soothing nourishment  or  extraordinary  medicine, revived me beyond my expectations;  new energies  pervade  my  entire being and profound emotions stirred in the depths of my spirit. I ate, unaware of the experience which was soon to follow.

I had scarcely finished when heavenly music  -  soft  waves  of  sound rising to higher spheres - floated into my room. That wonderful melody went straight  to  my  heart.  I  looked  to  my  attendant  for  some explanation, and he said: "This is the eventide service of the  Astral City. Every department of this colony of service, dedicated to Christ, is attuned with the prayers at the Government  House. Now stay here in peace. I will return as soon as the service is over." As  he  prepared to leave, I was suddenly filled with anxiety. "May I go with  you?"  I pleaded. "You are still weak," he explained, "but if you feel that you can"

That music had filled me with renewed energies, yet I was barely  able to rise from my bed. Aided by my attendant and with faltering steps  I reached the enormous hall where a great assembly was praying in  deep,
silent concentration. The delicate garlands of flowers which hung from a brilliantly lit dome seemed to form a symbol of higher spirituality. I could hardly contain my feelings of overwhelming  surprise.  No  one seemed to notice my presence  they all looked as if they were  waiting for something. I had to work to hold back all of the questions forming in my mind. I quickly noticed in the background  an  intensely  bright light reflected on  a  giant  screen.  By  some  process  of  advanced television, a marvelous temple appeared on the screen a moment  later. In it was the image of a venerable old man, dressed in white,  sitting in prayer. Around his head shone a halo of brilliant  light.  Slightly below him, seventy-two figures accompanied him in silent prayer. I was surprised to see that Clarence was among the.

I was unable to restrain my curiosity. I pulled at my attendant's arm, and he  responded,  whispering  so  softly  his  words  resembled  the murmuring of a light breeze:  "Keep  quiet.  All  the  residences  and institutions of the Astral City are praying, with the Governor through long distance projection  of  sound  and  light.  Let  us  praise  the invisible Heart of Heaven." He had scarcely finished speaking when the seventy-two figures began singing a sweet  and  exquisitely  beautiful hymn. As I looked at Clarence, his countenance seemed to shine with an intense high light. The celestial voices rose in  melodious  cadences, in a most beautiful hymn of gratitude. Mysterious vibrations of  peace and joy floated in the atmosphere, and as the silvery notes died away, a wonderful heart, blue with golden rays (**), became visible above  us in the same distance. Soft music began, seeming to arise perhaps  from distant spheres, and suddenly we were  showered  with  beautiful  blue flowers.

Although I could easily seem  them,  I  could  not  grasp  those  tiny flowers with my hands. On touching our foreheads they melted away, and at one touch of their fluidical petals I felt an  extraordinary  surge of energy, as if some soothing balm had been applied to my heart.

As soon as the impressive service was over I returned to the  chamber, tenderly aided by my assistant. I was no longer the ailing patient  of a few hours before. The first collective prayer I had attended at  the Astral City had worked a radical change in  me.  An  unexpected  peace filled my soul for the first time in many years of suffering,  and  my heart, so long empty, was once again filled with hope.

(*) In Spiritist terminology, fluid and fluids designate a substance of magnetic nature that can be manipulated by both spiritual  beings  and man on Earth.

(**) Note by the spiritual author: "A symbolic  image  created  by  the mental vibrations of the Colony."

Chapter 4  THE SPIRIT DOCTOR

I awoke the following day after a deep, refreshing sleep. A comforting light poured through my window, bathing everything in  the  room  with radiance and felling my heart with hope. I felt like a new man, filled with renewed energy and the joy of living. Only one thing  clouded  my soul - I longed for my home and for my family so far away.

Numerous questions troubled my mind, but my feeling of relief  was  so great that it calmed my spirit and kept me from further contemplation. I wanted to get up and enjoy the beauty of my surroundings but I could not. I realized that without the magnetic cooperation of my  attendant I would not be able to leave my bed.

I had scarcely gotten over the many experiences when the  door  opened and Clarence entered, accompanied by a friendly stranger. They greeted me cordially, wishing me peace. My rescuer  from  the  Lower  Zones (*)
asked about my general health, and my attendant quickly came to inform him.

Henry de Luna of the medical staff of the  spiritual  colony.  Brother Henry was dressed in white  and  his  face  radiated  benevolence.  He examined me at length, then smiled and spoke:

"It is a pity that you've come here by way of suicide."

Clarence remained calm but  I  felt  a  surge  of  revolt  within  me. Suicide? I remembered the accusations of those perverse beings in  the Lower Zones. Even though I was grateful to my benefactors, I  couldn't accept this accusation.

"I believe you are mistaken," I said, distressed, "my  departure  from the world had other  causes.  I  fought  over  forty  days  trying  to overcome death. I suffered through two serious operations  because  of an intestinal occlusion."

"Quite so," the doctor continued, calm and  perfectly  composed,  "but the occlusion was the result  of  very  serious  causes.  Perhaps  you haven't thought it over enough. The spirit body presents within  it  a complete history of the actions practiced on Earth."

Leaning over me, he went on, pointing to different parts of  my  body. "Let's look at the intestinal zone," he said, "the occlusion  was  due to cancerous elements, which in turn arose from some indiscretions of yours, in which you contracted syphilis. The disease  might  not  have assumed such grave characteristics  had  your  mental  attitudes  been firmly based on the  principles  of  moderation  and  brotherly  love. Instead, you chose a dark, exasperating way of  life  which  attracted destructive vibrations from those around you. You never imagined  that anger attracts negative forces, did you? Your lack of self control and your thoughtlessness  in  dealing  with  others,  whom  you  so  often unthinkingly offended, frequently left  you  under  the  influence  of sickly and inferior beings.  These  circumstances  greatly  aggravated your physical state."

After a long pause, in which he went on examining me  attentively,  he continued: "Have you observed, my friend, that your liver was  damaged through your action? That your kidneys were also  mistreated  in  your
reckless disregard for the divine gift of physical existence?"

I felt deeply disappointed, but the doctor, seemingly  unaware  of  my anguish, continued to clarify: "The bodily organs possess incalculable reserves in accordance with the Lord's designs. You, my friend, evaded many excellent opportunities  and  wasted  the  precious  blessing  of physical existence. The long term assignment which you had been  given by those of greater  spiritual  accomplishment  was  reduced  to  half hearted attempts at  work  which  you  never  completed.  Your  entire gastronomical  system  was  destroyed  as  a  direct  result  of  your "harmless" excesses in food and drink,  and  your  essential  energies were devoured by the  syphilis  you  contracted  through  still  other excesses. As we see, the diagnosis is incontestable."

I thought about problems of human life,  and  reflected  on  the  many opportunities I had lost. In my life on Earth I had  own  many  masks, tailoring them to the situation at hand. I had never imagined I would be asked to account for those seemingly unimportant episodes. I had at that  time  conceived  of  human  error  according  to  human  laws  everything not prohibited by those laws was  natural  and  acceptable. Here, however, I found another system of judging those errors.  I  was not confronted by stern judges pronouncing harsh verdicts,  or  facing torture or the infernal abyss. Instead, smiling benefactors  commented on my weaknesses as if they were dealing with a wayward  child.  Their superior compassion struck a blow to my human pride.  If  only  I  had been tormented by diabolic beings I would have found my  failure  less bitter. Clarence's sympathetic kindness, the doctor's  warm  tone  and the attendant's good-natured patience all served to turn my  pride  to shame. I covered my face with my  hands  and  sobbed  brokenheartedly, realizing  that  Henry  de  Luna's  conclusions  were  irrefutable.  I admitted the full extent of my faults. Only one  torturing  truth  now remained before me: I had truly committed suicide. I  had  wasted  the precious opportunity of human  life,  and  was  nothing  more  than  a castaway rescued by charity.

It was then that Clarence, stroking my  hair  in  a  fatherly  manner, spoke: "Stop lamenting, my son. I went in search of you in  answer  to the intercessions of those who love you in the  higher  spheres.  Your tears will grieve their hearts. Surely  you  would  rather  show  your gratitude by remaining calm during the  examination  of  your  faults, wouldn't you? True, your diagnosis points clearly to  suicide,  but  I assure you that hundreds of others leave the Earth  daily  in  exactly the same way you did. Therefore, still your heart. Use the treasure of
repentance well; keep the blessing of remorse in  your  soul,  however late it has arrived. Don't forget  that  worrying  doesn't  solve  our problems. Put your trust in the Lord and in  our  brotherly  devotion. Rest your troubled heart; for many of us have already  gone  the  same way as you." At these generous words I  rested  my  head  against  his shoulder and wept.

(*) Lower Zones are the shadowy regions where excessively self-centered souls or those with a guilty ridden conscience find  themselves  after death. (Translator's note.)

In the next issue of "The Spiritist Messenger" - Chapter 5 and 6.