525- Do spirits exert any influence on the events of life?
“Certainly, because they counsel you.”
– Do they exert this influence in any other way besides the thoughts they suggest? Do they act directly in the outcome of things?
“Yes, but they never act outside natural laws.”
We erroneously think that the action of spirits must only manifest through extraordinary phenomena. We would like for them to come to our aid through miracles, and we always imagine them to be armed with some kind of magic wand. But such is not the case. Rather, their intervention always appears veiled and what is accomplished through their concourse seems entirely natural. Thus, for example, they cause the meeting of two persons who seem to have met by accident; they inspire someone with the thought of passing by such and such a place; they call a person’s attention to a specific point if it will lead to the result they desire; thus, they work in such a way that individuals, believing they have only followed their own impulse, always retain their free will.
526- Since spirits can act upon matter, can they cause certain effects with the aim of producing a given outcome? For example, a man’s time is up; he climbs a ladder, the ladder breaks and he dies from the fall. Did spirits cause the ladder to break so that the man’s fate would be fulfilled?
“It is certainly true that spirits have an influence on matter, but in order to fulfill the laws of nature and not to derogate from them by causing an unexpected event at a given moment and contrary to such laws. In the example you have just mentioned, the ladder breaks because it is rotten or because it is not strong enough to support the man’s weight. If it were the man’s fate to die in this way, spirits would inspire him with the thought of climbing the ladder, which would then break under his weight. Thus, his death would stem from a natural cause without the need for any kind of miracle.”
527- Let us take another example, but one in which the natural state of matter does not intervene. A man is destined to die from lightning; he seeks refuge under a tree, lightning strikes it and he dies. Did spirits cause the lightning and direct it at him?
“It is still the same thing. The lightning struck the tree at that particular moment because the event happened according to the laws of nature. The lightning was not directed at the tree because the man was under it, but because he was given the inspiration to take refuge under the tree where lightning would strike. The tree would have been struck anyway, whether the man had been under it or not.”
528- An ill-intentioned man shoots at another but the bullet barely grazed him. Could a benevolent spirit have deflected the shot?
“If the individual was not meant to be struck, the benevolent spirit may have inspired him with the thought of moving out of its path, or it may have confused his enemy in such a way as to make him miss. Once the bullet is on its way, however, it must follow the line of its trajectory.”
529- What should be thought about magic bullets that are referred to in certain legends, and which fatality hit their mark?
“Pure imagination. Humans delight in the marvelous but are not content with the marvels of nature.”
– May the spirits who direct the events of life be thwarted by spirits who have desires to the contrary?
“What God has willed must occur. If there is any delay or hindrance, it is the divine will.”
530- Mightn’t frivolous and mocking spirits cause the little difficulties that undo our plans and upset our calculations? In other words, aren’t they the authors of what we commonly call the petty troubles of human life?
“They take pleasure in such annoyances, which are trials for you and are meant to try your patience; but they stop when they see that nothing comes of it. However, it would neither be just nor correct to blame them for all your frustrations, of which you yourselves are the main authors through your own carelessness. Thus, if your dish breaks, it was probably due more to your clumsiness than the fault of spirits.”
– Do spirits who cause annoyances behave in such a manner as a result of personal animosity, or do they attack the first person whom they meet out of simple malice and without any set motive?
“They act from both motives. Sometimes they are enemies whom you have made in this life or in a previous one, and who pursue you as a result. At other times there is no motive.”
531- Is the rancor of the beings who have harmed us on earth extinguished with their corporeal life?
“They often realize the injustice and the wrong they have done, but if God allows them, they will continue to pursue you in their hatred in order to test you further.”
– Is there a way to put an end to it, and if so, by what means?
“Yes, by praying for them and by paying back their evil with good. That way they will end up comprehending their errors. In all cases, if you know how to place yourselves above their schemes, they will cease them upon seeing they have gained nothing from them.”
Experience has shown that certain spirits continue their vengeance from one existence to the next, and that sooner or later we will expiate the wrongs we may have caused someone.
532- Do spirits have the power to divert misfortunes from certain persons and to attract prosperity to them instead?
“Not entirely, because there are misfortunes that belong to the designs of Providence. Nevertheless, they can lessen your pain by giving you patience and resignation.
“Also, be aware that it frequently depends on you yourselves to divert such misfortunes, or at least to mitigate them. God has given you intelligence so that you may use it, and it is especially in this way that spirits help you by suggesting favorable thoughts to you; but they only help those who know how to help themselves. That is the meaning of the words, ‘Seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.’
“Moreover, what looks like misfortune to you is not always such in reality. Frequently, something good will result from it that is far better, but that is what you do not comprehend because you think only of the present moment or of your own selves.”
533- Can spirits enable us to obtain the gifts of fortune if we ask them to?
“Sometimes, as a trial. Most often, however, they will refuse, just as you would refuse a child’s inconsiderate request.”
– Are they good spirits or evil ones who grant such favors?
“Either. It depends on their intention, but usually they are spirits who desire to lead you into evil, and who find an easy means of doing so in the pleasures that fortune provides.”
534- When obstacles seem to fatally inflict our projects, is it because of the influence of some spirit?
“It is sometimes because of the influence of a spirit; other times, and more frequently, it is because you yourselves have mismanaged your projects. Position and character have much to do with it, and if you persist in following a path that is not right for you, spirits have nothing to do with it – you yourselves become your own evil spirit.”
535- When something fortunate happens to us, should we thank our protector spirit?
“Above all, thank God, without whose permission nothing takes place; afterward, thank the good spirits, who were God’s agents.”
– What would happen if we forgot to thank them?
“The same thing that always happens to ingrates.”
– Nevertheless, there are many people who neither pray nor give thanks, but for whom everything turns out well anyway.
“Yes, but it is necessary to see the end. They will pay dearly for this temporary undeserved happiness, for the more they have received, the more they will have to render account for it.”
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