As we stated previously, the beings who communicate have identified themselves as spirits, and at least some of them say that they have lived before as human beings on the earth. They comprise the spirit world, as during our life on earth we comprise the corporeal world.
We will now briefly sum up the main points of the Doctrine that they have transmitted to us so that we may more easily reply to certain objections:
“God is eternal, immutable, immaterial, one, all-powerful, and supremely just and good.
“God created the universe, which includes all animate and inanimate, material and immaterial beings.
“The material beings comprise the visible or corporeal world, whereas the immaterial beings comprise the invisible or spirit world, i.e. the world of spirits.
“The spirit world is the normal, primitive, eternal, preexistent and all-surviving world.
“The corporeal world is secondary; it could cease to exist – or it might never have existed in the first place – without changing the essence of the spirit world.
“Spirits temporarily take on a perishable material envelope and its destruction by death returns them to freedom.
“From among all the different species of corporeal beings, God chose the human species for the incarnation of spirits who have reached a certain degree of development. This endows them with a moral and intellectual ascension over the others.
“The soul is an incarnate spirit; the body is only its envelope.
“Human beings are composed of three things: first, the body or material being, similar to that of the animals and animated by the same vital principle; second, the soul or immaterial being, the spirit incarnated in the body; and third, the link that unites the soul to the body, an intermediary principle between the body and spirit.
“Human beings thus have two natures: by means of their body they share in the nature of the animals and share the same instincts; by means of their soul they share in the nature of the spirits.
“The link or perispirit unites the body and the spirit. It is a sort of semi-material envelope. Death destroys only the denser envelope, i.e. the physical body. The spirit retains the perispirit, which comprises its ethereal body. The perispirit is invisible to us in its normal state, but the spirit can render it visible and even tangible, as occurs during the phenomenon of apparitions.
“Therefore, a spirit is not an abstract, indefinable being that can only be conceived of by thought. It is a real, circumscribed being that in certain cases may be perceived by our senses of sight, hearing and touch.
“Spirits belong to different orders and they are not all equal in power, intelligence, knowledge or morality. Those of the first order are the most highly evolved spirits. These spirits are distinguished by their perfection, knowledge and closeness to God, in addition to the purity of their sentiments and their love of the good10. They are angels or pure spirits. The other orders are in various degrees more distant from such perfection. The spirits of the lowest orders share our base passions – hatred, envy, jealousy, pride, etc. – and actually take pleasure in wrongdoing. Among these are spirits who are neither very good nor very evil, and who are usually more troublesome and scheming than downright wicked. Essentially mischievous and inconsequential, they are the foolish and frivolous spirits.
“Spirits do not belong to the same order forever. They all improve themselves, passing through the different degrees of the spirit hierarchy11 This improvement occurs through incarnation, which is imposed on some as an expiation, and on others as a mission. Earthly life is a trial to which they submit themselves many times until they reach perfection. It is a kind of sifter or purifier from which they emerge at different degrees of refinement or improvement.
“Upon leaving the body, the soul returns to the spirit world from which it came. Following a longer or shorter stay in the spirit world, it will once more start a new physical life.12
“Since our spirit must pass through many incarnations, it follows that we all have had many existences, and that we will have still others along the course of the different stages of advancement.
This will occur either on the earth or on other worlds.
“The incarnation of spirits always occurs in the human species. It would be an error to believe that the soul or spirit could incarnate in the body of an animal.
“The many corporeal lives of a spirit are always progressive and never regressive, but the speed of its progress depends on the efforts that it makes to reach perfection.
“The qualities of the soul are those of the incarnate spirit.
Thus, a moral person is the incarnation of a good spirit, while a wicked person is that of a little-evolved spirit.
“The soul has its own particular individuality before incarnating, and it retains it after it separates from the body.
“Upon its return to the spirit world, the soul reencounters all those whom it had known while on earth, and all of its former lives are delineated in its memory. It can thus recall all the good and evil it had done.
“The incarnate spirit is under the influence of matter.
Persons who overcome this influence by elevating and purifying their soul grow closer to the good spirits, among whom they will be counted someday. However, those who allow themselves to be controlled by their evil passions, and who take full pleasure in satisfying their crude appetites by yielding to their animal nature, grow closer to the lower order spirits.
“Incarnate spirits inhabit various globes throughout the universe.
“Discarnate or errant spirits do not occupy any fixed or circumscribed region. They are everywhere, in space and beside us, watching and intermingling with us all the time. They comprise an invisible population that is always active around us.
“Spirits constantly act upon the mental world and even upon the physical world. They act upon matter and thought. They comprise one of the powers of nature and are the actual cause behind a multitude of phenomena that have been unexplainable or poorly explained until now, and which have not found a rational solution except in Spiritism.
“Interaction between spirits and humans is constant. Good spirits encourage us to follow the path of the good. They support us in the trials of life and help us to bear them with courage and resignation. Evil spirits, on the other hand, encourage us to take the path of evil. It is a pleasure for them when they see us succumb and fall to their level.
“Spirit communications with humans are either concealed or direct. Concealed communications – undetectable in a physical sense – occur through the good or bad influence they exert on us without our even suspecting it and it depends on our own judgment to distinguish between their good and bad inspirations. Direct communications occur through writing, speech or other physical means, usually by way of mediums who serve as their instruments.
“Spirits manifest either by appearing spontaneously or by being evoked. We can evoke all spirits, whether they have animated obscure individuals or the most illustrious personages, regardless of when they lived. We can evoke our relatives, friends or enemies.
Through written or verbal communications we may obtain advice, information about their current situation, their thoughts about us – whatever revelations they are permitted to convey.
“Spirits are attracted according to the affinity they have with the moral nature of the persons who evoke them. High order spirits enjoy serious meetings, where the love of the good and a sincere desire to learn and grow predominate. Their presence repels low order spirits. These find free access to and can influence frivolous persons or those who are only guided by curiosity, or wherever else evil instincts may be found. Rather than receiving any good advice or useful information from these spirits, we should expect nothing more from them than frivolities, lies, mischievous pranks and deceitfulness. They frequently use venerable names in order to better induce us to error.
“Nevertheless, distinguishing between good and evil13 spirits is extremely easy. The language of high order spirits is always dignified, noble, imbued with the highest morality and free from every lower passion. Their counsels reveal the highest wisdom and always address our progress and the good of humankind.
Low order and inconsequential spirits are almost always trite and can even be crass. They might sometimes say things that are good and true, but more often they make erroneous and absurd statements either out of malice or ignorance. They laugh at people’s gullibility and amuse themselves at the cost of those who question them, flattering their vanity and cajoling their desires with false hopes. In sum, serious communications, in the perfect meaning of the term, only occur at serious centers14, where the members are united by an intimate communion of thought directed toward the good.
“The morality of high order spirits may be summed up in the Gospel maxim of Christ: ‘Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you’; that is, practice the good and not evil. In this principle, humankind finds the universal rule of conduct even for the smallest actions.
“They teach us that selfishness, pride and lust are passions that drag us down to our animal nature, keeping us enslaved to matter; that those on earth who free themselves of matter through their disregard for worldly frivolities, and who cultivate love for their neighbor, draw closer to their spiritual nature; that each one of us should make ourselves useful according to the faculties and means that God has placed in our hands to put us to the test; that the strong and powerful should support and protect the weak, for those who abuse their strength and power in order to oppress others violate God’s law. Lastly, they teach us that nothing can be hidden in the spirit world; that hypocrites will be unmasked there and all their evil exposed; that the inevitable and constant presence of those whom we have harmed is one of the punishments awaiting us there; that the unevolved and evolved states of spirits in that world correspond to sorrows and joys that are unknown to us on earth.
“However, they also teach us that there are no unforgivable sins, none that cannot be erased by expiation.15 Depending on our desire and effort, we find the necessary means to expiate them in the many existences that enable us to advance on the path of progress toward perfection, our final objective.”
This is the summary of the Spiritist Doctrine as it appears in the teachings of the Spirits. Let us now look at the objections made against it.
10 The good: “Moral righteousness; virtue” (Webster’s op. cit.). – Tr.
11 See pt. 2, chap. I, nos. 100 ff. – Tr.
12 Between this particular doctrine of reincarnation and that of metempsychosis, as held by certain sects, there is a characteristic difference that will be explained in the course of this work – Author.
13 See definition of “evil” in the footnote on p. 100. – Tr.
14 That is, Spiritist centers. – Tr.
15 This is a very important term in Spiritism. According to Webster’s, to expiate means “to atone for; make amends or reparation for.” (ibid.) – Tr.
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