INTRODUCTION – XV

There are still individuals who see peril everywhere and in everything they are unfamiliar with, and there is no lack of those who have drawn unfavorable conclusions about Spiritism from the fact that some individuals have become so involved in studying it that they have lost their minds. But how could reasonable people accept this argument? Does the same not happen with all intellectual pursuits when the mind is weak? How many lunatics and maniacs have been produced by the study of mathematics, medicine, music, philosophy, etc.? Should we therefore ban studying them? What does that prove? Through physical labor one can injure one’s arms and legs, the instruments of physical action; through mental labors one can injure the brain, the instrument of thought. However, even if the instrument is broken, the spirit is not – it remains intact. Once freed from matter, it will again enjoy the fullness of its faculties. In its field and as an individual it is simply a martyr to its work.
All great intellectual pursuits may cause madness: the sciences, the arts and even religion have all supplied their contingents. Insanity has an organic predisposition of the brain as its primary cause, making it more susceptible or less so to certain impressions. Whenever this predisposition exists, it shows up in a person’s main preoccupation, turning it into a fixation. It may be about spirits for those who occupy themselves with that particular subject; it may involve God, angels, the Devil, fortune, power, the arts, a science, motherhood, or a political or social theory. Victims of religious insanity would probably become insane Spiritists if Spiritism were their predominant preoccupation, just as insane Spiritists would express their madness under other forms if the circumstances were different.
I therefore state that Spiritism is not especially privileged in this respect. However, I will go even farther and state that Spiritism rightly understood is a safeguard against insanity.
Among the most frequent causes of cerebral over-excitement we should count disappointments, misfortunes and broken hearts, which are all the most frequent causes of suicide. But true Spiritists see the things of this world from a much higher point of view. They seem tiny and petty to them in light of the future awaiting them.
Life is so short and fleeting that its troubles seem like nothing more than the unpleasant incidents of a journey. Things that in other individuals would produce violent emotions affect Spiritists but little, for they know that life’s sorrows are trials that lead to advancement if they endure them without complaining, and that they will be rewarded according to the courage with which they have borne them. Their convictions give them a resignation that safeguards them against despair, a frequent cause of insanity and suicide. Furthermore, through spirit communications Spiritists know the fate of those who intentionally shorten their days, and that picture is sufficient to make them stop and think. Thus, the number of those who have been deterred at the brink of that deadly precipice is considerable – one of the results of Spiritism.
The incredulous can laugh all they want. Nevertheless, I wish for them the same consolation Spiritism has provided to all those who have put forth the effort to probe its mysterious depths.
Among the causes of insanity we must also include fear. For instance, fear of the Devil has deranged more than a few minds, and who knows the number of victims whose weak imaginations had been impressed with the threat of the Devil, a threat which becomes even more terrifying through hideous details. Some say that the Devil, as well as the Bogeyman and the Werewolf, is only used to frighten children in order make them behave. However, when these children no longer fear the Devil, they become naughtier than ever. In trying to control their behavior, those who use such stories do not take into account the mental health risks of scaring such delicate minds. Religion would be quite weak if a lack of fear were to compromise its power. Fortunately, this is not the case. Religion has other ways of acting on souls, and Spiritism could furnish it with highly effective and serious tools, if religion knew how to utilize them. Spiritism shows the reality of things and thus neutralizes the dreadful effects of exaggerated fear.

Contents
Home