291- Besides a general sympathy46 that results from various similarities, are there special affections among spirits?
“Yes, just as among humans; however, the link that unites spirits is stronger in the absence of the body because they are no longer exposed to the vicissitudes of the passions.”
46 See the footnotes to nos. 211 and 213 for the definitions of sympathy and sympathetic in this context – Tr.
292- Is there hatred among spirits?
“There is no hatred except among impure spirits, and these are the ones who sow enmity and dissensions amongst you.”
293- Will two beings who were enemies on earth retain their resentment in the spirit world?
“No, usually they will understand that their hatred was senseless and its motive childish. Only imperfect spirits retain a sort of animosity until they are purified. If it was nothing more than a material interest that had separated them, they will no longer think about it no matter how little dematerialized they are. If there is no antipathy between them, and if the cause of their dissension no longer exists, they can meet each other again with pleasure.”
Exactly like two schoolboys who, having reached the age of reason, realize the childishness of their infantile quarrels and no longer hold a grudge.
294- Is the remembrance of the wrongs that two individuals have committed against each other an obstacle to their sympathy?
“Yes, it makes them keep their distance from each other.”
295- What sentiment do those whom we have wronged in this world experience after death?
“If they are good, they forgive you according to your repentance. If they are evil, they may hold on to their resentment and at times even pursue you in another existence. God can allow this as a chastisement.”
296- Are spirits’ personal affections susceptible to change?
“No, because they cannot be mistaken about each other; they can no longer deceive each other. They no longer wear the mask behind which hypocrites hide themselves and that is why their affections are unchangeable when they are pure spirits. The love that unites them is a source of supreme bliss.”
297- Does the affection that two beings had for each other on earth always continue in the spirit world?
“Yes, of course, if it is based on true sympathy; however, if physical attraction has had more influence than sympathy, it will cease with the cause. Affections among spirits are more solid and lasting than on earth because they are not subject to the whims of material interests and self centeredness.”
298- Are souls who must get together predestined for such a union from their origin, and does each one of us have, in some part of the universe, “our other half”, whom we will someday inevitably join?
“No, there is no particular and predestined union between two souls. Unity exists among all spirits, but in different degrees, according to the order they occupy, i.e. according to their degree of purification. The greater their purification, the more united they are. All the ills of humankind are born from discord; concord gives rise to complete happiness.”
299- In what sense should we understand the term “other half”, which certain spirits use to designate sympathetic spirits?
“The expression is incorrect. If one spirit were another spirit’s other half, it would be incomplete when separate from the other.”
300- When two perfectly sympathetic spirits are united, will they remain so throughout eternity, or can they separate and unite with other spirits?
“All spirits are mutually united. I am referring to those who have already reached perfection. In less evolved spheres, after a spirit has improved itself, it no longer has the same sympathy for those whom it has left behind.”
301- Are two sympathetic spirits each other’s complement or is such sympathy the result of perfect affinity?
“The sympathy that attracts one spirit to another is the result of the perfect harmony of their tendencies and instincts. If one of them were necessary to complete the other, it would lose its individuality.”
302- Does the affinity needed for perfect sympathy consist only in a similarity of thoughts and sentiments, or does it also consist in a uniformity of acquired knowledge?
“It consists in the degree of their evolution.”
303- Could spirits who are not sympathetic today become more so later?
“Yes, all will be someday. Thus, when a spirit who today inhabits a certain less evolved sphere is perfected, it will reach the sphere where the other dwells. Their reunion will occur more quickly, however, if the more evolved spirit has remained at a standstill because it has poorly borne the trials to which it submitted itself.”
– May two sympathetic spirits cease to be sympathetic?
“Certainly, if one of them is idle.”
The theory of “eternal halves” is an image that represents the union of two sympathetic spirits. It is an expression used even in ordinary parlance and must not be taken literally. Spirits who have used it certainly do not belong to the highest order. The sphere of their ideas is necessarily limited, and they express their thought through the terms they used in corporeal life. We must reject this idea of two spirits created for each other, who must someday be inevitably reunited in eternity after having remained separated for a more or less long span of time.
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