Spiritism, the overview of a religion

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Spiritism is a spiritualist religion within the new religious movements. It originated in France in the 19th century with the studies of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail under the pen name of Allan Kardec.


History


The 19th century was a moment that oscillated between experimentation with the occult and positivistic rationalism. Upper middle class families would meet in salons (salon de la bonne societe) and play parlour games as a form of entertainment. Some of the most popular games were to put a top hat on a table and see it move and shake, reportedly moved by spirits. A second game would be for the participants to put their fingers around the table and see it move and levitate supposedly with the power of the spirits. This turning tables game (des table tournantes, in French) attracted the curiosity of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail who decided to investigate the phenomenon a little further.


Most participated in the turning tables as a game or a pastime. In a different game participants would ask questions and the table would make the sound of a knock for “yes” and two knocks for a “no”. Hippolyte had an intuition that was something bigger behind it. With the use of a small basket turned upside down and a pencil the spirits gave were capable of giving longer answers. These baskets would only work with a person capable of establishing a connection between the spirits and the tool, this middle point was called a medium and the process, channeling.


Over time the basket and pencil were discarded and mediums were capable of being in a state of trance where they would write long letters and essays. This process of the spirits influencing the writing of the writing was called psychography and was done during special meetings called seances. The phenomenon sparked the interest of many intellectuals curious to learn if this tool could give us more information about the supernatural world.


Hippolyte decided to apply the scientific method to the psychography and went to different situations asking the same questions, “What is God?”, “What happens after death?”, “What is the meaning of life?”. The answers were compiled to exclude answers that differed from the norm, the compilation was published as a book in 1857 as the Spirits Book (Le Livre des Spiritis). Organized in a format of 982 short questions and answers, most of one or two paragraphs.


While in the United States spiritualists affirmed resurrection after death, in France the spirits affirmed the existence of reincarnation as a progress of individual development. To separate this reincarnationist movement the author used the term Spiritist in opposition to the American Spiritualists . During one of the meetings a spirit said that Hippolyte was a druid in a past life, called Allan Kardec. The author used this previous name as his pen name for all the books published.


Spiritism was intended to be a scientific investigation of the spiritual world. Its followers called it a doctrine that brings together science, philosophy and religion. Over time the movement grew as it became more of a religion or a heterodoxical denomination of Christianity than a science. The movement today is the 12th most followed religious denomination with 4 million followers in Brazil and thousands around the world. The movement also influenced other religions such as Umbanda, Ramatism, Christian Rationalism, the Christian Renovation and others. Spiritism is also considered a transactional religion, while believers seek support in Spiritist centres while identifying with doctrinal religions (Christianity or Judaism).



Organization and structure


Its followers are called Spiritists and in Portuguese are called either espiritas or espiritistas. The temples are called centres (centros), other names are possible.


Centres are independent from each other and can be associated under a national organization, in Brazil the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB, Federação Espirita do Brasil).


As Spiritism was not created to be a religion but a science or a philosophy centres tend to be simple with little to no decorations.


A similar consequence is seen in ritualistics. Rituals are also not regarded as proper religious rituals but opportunities of study together with the Spiritist codex or canon. Most centres offer a Sunday lecture on the canon and a fraternal meeting of counselling for followers in distress. Mediumistic meetings and passes are explained further below.


Mediumship is considered a gift available to all (similar to the concept of universal priesthood of believers in evangelical Christianity). When it is a religious structure it means there is no role of priests and the management of the temple is made by a group of volunteer members.


Beliefs and books of reference


After the Kardec’s investigation of the seances his results were public in five main books, forming the spiritist codex or canon:


A sixth book is a short introduction to the religion, Introduction to the Philosophy of Spiritism. Other than these books the Parisian Spiritist Society published a series of journals from 1859 to 1869 under the direction of Allan Kardec.


The book that establishes a reference of doctrine for Spiritism is the Spiritism Book. It is organized similar to the catechism of the Catholic Church, starting with a definition of God and passing through all topics of interest to religions (what happens after life, what is the meaning of life, what is a moral life).


Much like the Catholic catechism the book is organized in questions and answers. The Q&A extends for 982 questions that were made to the spirits during seances and their answers.

 


The main beliefs or points of the doctrine are:

  • Oneness: That there is only one God omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, creator of all things (Question 1)

  • Spirit-Body Dualism: That man is body and soul (Question 26)

  • Reincarnation: That after death the soul migrates to a different body (Question 166)

  • Law of progress: That reincarnation is but a mechanism to continue to develop the spirit, starting in the simplest forms of life and developing to the most enlightened forms (angels).

  • Fatalism: Progress between incarnations is inevitable. The souls may halt in a level of evolution or advance, but never retroact. (Question 778)

  • Law of charity: That progress of the souls is made through works of charity (salvation by works alone). There are no sacred temples, holy books, rituals or priests. In the Gospel According to Spiritism Kardec the title of chapter 15 is “Without charity there is no salvation”.

  • Universalism: That being said, there is no need to proselyte. The true Spiritists are the Christian Spiritists (Question 28, Book of Mediums).

  • Christianity: That Jesus is the most moral example and is a role model to be followed. (Question 625)

  • Magnetism: That a spiritual energy flows between humans and has potential to heal and cure diseases. Kardec, influenced by the writings of Mesmer, called this energy “magnetism”; future development called this energy “universal fluids” (Question 27 and 556).


Further developments added an idea of purgatory (in Spiritism called umbral), where souls condemn themselves to temporary punishment before they are purified for a new incarnation. The concept was not present in Kardec’s works but is followed by most Spiritists.


After Kardec


Spiritism is a religion open to new revelations. As such other religious movements are formed bringing influence from Kardec’s writings. Some of the most popular movements include the Fraternidade Branca (lit trans. the White Fraternity), the movement from the revelations of Ramatis, Umbanda, Santo Daime, the União Vegetal (free trans. the Plant Union) and others.


There was also significant development inside of Spiritism. New names and guiding spirits called mentors were significant for the development of the religious movement outside of France. To name a few of the most popular guiding spirits we could name Doctor Fritz and Zé Arigó.


The religion was also influential in Brazilian popular culture. In the 1960s a famous medium, Chico Xavier, attracted the attention of millions by his appearance on national television. The medium went on to publish more than a hundred books with all revenue being donated to charities in Brazil. TV channels prepared soap operas with Spiritist topics and books based on Spiritist themes figured between the best-sellers for decades.


Even with a more cohesive doctrinal body and cultural elements Spiritism is still considered a transactional religion in Brazil, following the article from Tito Romão (2018). Many who identify with other denominations seek support in Spiritism for the letter of a family member who has passed away. Chico Xavier described Spiritism as the religion of consolation for the souls of the family members who lost a parent or a son, giving hope for reunification in the afterlife.


This article was written by Eduardo Guimarães and registered in the Brazilian National Library. The content is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or profit is prohibited. With reproduction without a profit motive is allowed with the consent of the author.


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