DOCSLIB.ORG

The Spiritist Review - 1863

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Spiritist Review - 1863 The Spiritist Review - 1863 Journal of Psychological Studies ALLAN KARDEC Original Title – La Revue Spirite – Allan Kardec Translator: Luiz A.V. Cheim IDEAK - Instituto de Divulgação Espírita Allan Kardec Spiritist Review Journal of Psychological Studies January 1863 Studies about the possessed of Morzine The causes of obsession and the means of fighting it Second Article1 In last December’s article we reviewed the method used by spirits to exert material actions upon human beings. It causes is entirely in the perispirit that is not only the principle of all Spiritist phenomena but also of a number of moral, physiological and pathological effects that were misunderstood before the knowledge of this agent whose discovery. When the time is right this will open new horizons to science when science decides to acknowledge the existence of the invisible world. As we have seen before the perispirit plays an important role in every phenomena of life. It is the source of multiple affections whose cause is uselessly addressed through surgery and other medical methods. One can also explain the reactions from individual to individual, the instinctive attractions and repulsions, the magnetic action, etc. In a free Spirit, that is discarnate, the perispirit replaces the material body. It is the sensitive agent, the organ through which the Spirit acts. The Spirit reaches the individual upon whom wishes to act, surrounding, penetrating, magnetizing and involving that individual through the fluidic and expansive nature of the perispirit.perispirit. People, embedded in that invisible world, are incessantly submitted to that influence in the same way that we are influenced by the atmosphere that we breathe and such influence is translated by moral and physiological effects that go unnoticed and that are frequently attributed to entirely opposite causes. This influence naturally differs according to the good or bad qualities of the Spirit as explained in the preceding article. If the Spirit is good and benevolent the influence or impression if you wish will be pleasant and healthy. It is like the caress of a mother with the baby in her arms. If the Spirit is bad and devilish the influence will be tough, painful, harmful and full of anxiety. It feels like a constraint rather than an embrace. We live in this fluidic ocean endlessly fighting contrary currents that we attract or repel or allow ourselves to be carried away according to our personal qualities but in which the individual always preserves the free- will, essential attribute of mankind, and according to which one can always choose the path to follow. As one can see this is entirely independent of the mediumistic faculty as it is commonly understood. Since the action of the invisible world is part of nature it is exerted upon individuals regardless of any knowledge about Spiritism. We are submitted to that influence as we are to the action of atmospheric electricity even 1 See December 1862 without knowing physics; as we become sick without knowing medicine. Now, as physics teaches us the cause of certain phenomena and medicine of certain diseases the study of the Spiritist science teaches us the cause of phenomena due to the occult influence of the invisible world and explain that to us, something that without such a cause would go unexplained. Mediumship is the means of observation. The medium – allow us the comparison – is the laboratory tool through which the action of the invisible world is translated in a positive way. It is through the facility that we are offered to have the experiments repeated that mediumship allows us to study the modes and several nuances of that action. It was from that study and observations that the Spiritist science was born. Every individual that in any way feels the influence of the Spirits is for that matter a medium and hence it can also be said that every individual are mediums. However, it is through effective, conscious and facultative mediumship that the existence of the invisible world was demonstrated and it was through the diversity of the obtained or provoked manifestations that we learned about the quality of the beings that inhabit that world and role they play in nature. The medium did to the invisible world the same that the microscope did to the world of the infinitely small. In a word it is then a new force, a new power, a new law that was revealed to us. It is really unconceivable that disbelief alone may repel this idea for it presupposes the existence of a soul in us, an intelligent principle that outlives the body. If it were about the discovery of a material substance, rather than an intelligent one, it would be accepted without difficulty but the action of an intelligence beyond mankind is a superstition. If we go back to the general facts based on the observation of mediumistic events, we conclude by the similarity of causes given the similarity of effects. It is through the analogy between the Morzine phenomena and those that are observed daily through mediumistic means that it seems evident to us that there is a participation of malevolent Spirits. In those cases, it would not be less evident for anyone who have given some thought to the isolated cases reported in the Spiritist Review. The only difference is in the aliment’s characteristics. History registers several similar cases among which the religious women of Loudun, the convulsionary of Saint-Médard, the case of Cévènes and the possessed from the times of Jesus Christ. The latter ones in particular presented remarkable analogy with those of Morzine. Something that deserves a special note is the fact that wherever those phenomena were produced, there was a dominant idea that they were due to the Spirits and such idea was somehow intuitive in those who were affected. If we want to refer to our first article with the theory of the obsession contained in The Mediums’ Book and the events reported in the Spiritist Review, we will see that the action of the bad Spirits upon the creatures that are taken over presents nuances that are extremely varied in intensity and duration according to the degree of evilness and obstinacy of the Spirit and also according to the moral state of the person that gives them a more or less easy access. Such action is frequently momentary and accidental, more malicious and unpleasant than dangerous, as in the case that we reported in the preceding article. The following fact belongs to that category. Mr. Indermühle, from Berne, a member of the Spiritist Society of Paris, told us that the administrator of his estate in Zimmerwald, a man of herculean strength, felt the other night as being grabbed by someone who shook him violently. It was like a nightmare. But the man was very much awake and stood up trying to fight back for some time. When he finally freed himself, he took his sword that was hanging by his bed and unsuccessfully sought the aggressor in the dark. He then lit a candle and searched everywhere finding nothing. The door was closed. As soon as he returned to bed the gardener who was sleeping in the adjacent bedroom started to ask for help shouting that he was being strangled. The caretaker rushed to the gardener’s bedroom but like in his case found nothing. A woman servant that was also sleeping in the same building heard a noise. On the day after they all came horrified to tell Mr. Indermühle what had happened. After learning about every single detail and certifying that no stranger could have entered the rooms Mr. Indermühle concluded that it was a bad prank from some Spirit because for some time now unequivocal physical manifestations of several kinds had manifested themselves in his own house. He appeased his servants asking them to carefully observe the details of any occurrence in case it happened again. Since he and his wife are mediums, he then evoked the disturbing Spirit that confessed the event and apologized saying: “I wanted to speak with you because I am unhappy and need your prayers. For a long time now I have been doing everything I can to draw your attention: I touch you – I have even pulled your ear (confirmed by Mr. Indermühle) but all without any result. I then thought that creating the situation last night you would think of calling me. You have just done that so I am happy but I assure you that I had no bad intention. Promise you will call me again a few times and pray for me.” Mr. Indermühle gave him a severe warning, repeated the conversation and gave him moral advices that he listened attentively. He prayed for the Spirit and asked his people to do the same. They did, as they were all sympathetic, and everything went back to normal. Unfortunately, not every Spirit has good intentions. This one was not bad. There are some, however, whose actions are tenacious, permanent and can even bring unpleasant consequences to the health of the individual and more than that to the intellectual capabilities, if the Spirit subjugates the victim to the point of neutralizing the free-will and hence leading to carry out extravagances. This is the case with obsessive insanity that, although similar in its effects, is very different to pathological insanity with respect to its causes. In our travels we saw the obsessed young man that we mentioned in the January 1861 issue of the Review with the title “The Rapping Spirit of Aube” and we heard from his father and from an eyewitnesses the confirmation of these facts.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Patient Satisfaction with Spiritist Healing in Brazil Darrell William Lynch University of Tennessee, Knoxville
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-1996 Patient Satisfaction with Spiritist Healing in Brazil Darrell William Lynch University of Tennessee, Knoxville Recommended Citation Lynch, Darrell William, "Patient Satisfaction with Spiritist Healing in Brazil. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1996. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4225 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Darrell William Lynch entitled "Patient Satisfaction with Spiritist Healing in Brazil." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Michael H. Logan, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Benita J. Howell, Yulan Washburn Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Darrell William Lynch entitled "Patient Satisfaction with Spiritist Healing in Brazil." I have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology.
    [Show full text]
  • The Science of Mediumship and the Evidence of Survival
    Rollins College Rollins Scholarship Online Master of Liberal Studies Theses 2009 The cS ience of Mediumship and the Evidence of Survival Benjamin R. Cox III [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls Recommended Citation Cox, Benjamin R. III, "The cS ience of Mediumship and the Evidence of Survival" (2009). Master of Liberal Studies Theses. 31. http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/31 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Rollins Scholarship Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Liberal Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of Rollins Scholarship Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Science of Mediumship and the Evidence of Survival A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Liberal Studies by Benjamin R. Cox, III April, 2009 Mentor: Dr. J. Thomas Cook Rollins College Hamilton Holt School Master of Liberal Studies Winter Park, Florida This project is dedicated to Nathan Jablonski and Richard S. Smith Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 The Science of Mediumship.................................................................... 11 The Case of Leonora E. Piper ................................................................ 33 The Case of Eusapia Palladino............................................................... 45 My Personal Experience as a Seance Medium Specializing
    [Show full text]
  • Dissociation and the Unconscious Mind: Nineteenth-Century Perspectives on Mediumship
    Journal of Scientifi c Exploration, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 537–596, 2020 0892-3310/20 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Dissociation and the Unconscious Mind: Nineteenth-Century Perspectives on Mediumship C!"#$% S. A#&!"!'$ Parapsychology Foundation [email protected] Submitted December 18, 2019; Accepted March 21, 2020; Published September 15, 2020 https://doi.org/10.31275/20201735 Creative Commons License CC-BY-NC Abstract—There is a long history of discussions of mediumship as related to dissociation and the unconscious mind during the nineteenth century. A! er an overview of relevant ideas and observations from the mesmeric, hypnosis, and spiritualistic literatures, I focus on the writings of Jules Baillarger, Alfred Binet, Paul Blocq, Théodore Flournoy, Jules Héricourt, William James, Pierre Janet, Ambroise August Liébeault, Frederic W. H. Myers, Julian Ochorowicz, Charles Richet, Hippolyte Taine, Paul Tascher, and Edouard von Hartmann. While some of their ideas reduced mediumship solely to intra-psychic processes, others considered as well veridical phenomena. The speculations of these individuals, involving personation, and di" erent memory states, were part of a general interest in the unconscious mind, and in automatisms, hysteria, and hypnosis during the period in question. Similar ideas continued into the twentieth century. Keywords: mediumship; dissociation; secondary personalities; Frederic W. H. Myers; Théodore Flournoy; Pierre Janet INTRODUCTION Dissociation, a process involving the disconnection of a sense of identity, physical sensations, and memory from conscious experience, has been related to mediumship due to the latter’s sensory and motor automatism and changes of identity. In recent years there have been some conceptual discussions of dissociation and mediumship (e.g., Maraldi et al., 2019) as well as empirical studies exploring their 538 Carlos S.
    [Show full text]
  • PUBLISHED for the PROPRIETORS, at 110, St
    Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research, “ Light! More light '."—Goethe. “Whatever doth make manifest is light.”—Pa rtf. tlol. —January to Jcccmbcr, 1900. ONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, At 110, St. Martin’s Lane, W.C. LONDON : THE FRIARS PRINTING ASSOCIATION, LIMITED, 2(>A, TUDOR STREET, E.U. Digitized by Google INDEX. Invisible Interlopers, 112 fter-Death States. By ‘Quaestor ,Vita* ’31), 70,S3 Toaster, The Meaning of, 209 After-Death States. By Thomas Atwood, Ego,’Some Experiences of the. By Charles Inward Light, 237 A 175,196, 221 Dawbarn, 332, 344 ' Agnostic Journal,’ 613 Ego, The Nature and Possibilities of the, 393 unior Spiritualists’ Club Conversaziones, 168, 592 American Contemporaries, Our, 130 Egypt: Recent Discoveries, 480, 489 American Spiritualists’ Convention, 534 Electronic, 2 Eminent Experimenters’ Opinion on Mediumship, AndnS, Fate of. A Clairvoyant Vision, 462 J^aradja, Princess, Experiences of, 379, 513 Animals and Immortality, 321, 359 405 Animals, Clairvoyant Powers of, 46, 347 Episodes, Recent. By ‘ An Old Correspondent,’ 353, 367, 382, 493, 498, 530 Animism and Sir William Crookes, 62, 95, 223 Everitt, Mr. and Mi’s., Tour in the North, 479, 554 Animism or Spiritualism ? 346, 413 eading Articles— Evil, The Mission of, 338, 374, 388, 421 Advent-tide, 574 Animistic Theory, 82, 123,124, 322 Experiences of Joseph Barker, 394 LAnother Good Confession, Rev. S. E. Cooney, Answers to Questions, by the Controls of Madame M.A., 538 Montague, 135 Experiences of Rev. Arthur Chambers, 547 A Solemn Hour, 620 Answers to Questions, by the Controls of Mrs. E. W. Experiences of Princess Karadja, 379 Bible Spiritualism.
    [Show full text]
  • Road to Spiritism
    THE ROAD TO SPIRITISM By MARIA ENEDINA LIMA BEZERRA A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2002 Copyright 2002 By Maria Enedina Lima Bezerra To my beloved parents, Abelardo and Edinir Bezerra, for all the emotional and spiritual support that they gave me throughout this journey; and to the memory of my most adored grandmother, Maria do Carmo Lima, who helped me sow the seeds of the dream that brought me here. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My first expressions of gratitude go to my parents for always having believed in me and supported my endeavors and for having instilled in me their heart-felt love for learning and for peoples and lands beyond our own. Without them, I would not have grown to be such a curious individual, always interested in leaving my familiar surroundings and learning about other cultures. My deepest gratitude goes to the Spiritists who so warmly and openly welcomed me in their centers and so generously dedicated their time so that 1 could conduct my research. With them I learned about Spiritism and also learned to accept and respect a faith different from my own. It would be impossible for me to list here the names of all the Spiritists I interviewed and interacted with. In particular, I would like to thank the people of Grupo Espirita Paulo e Estevao, Centra Espirita Pedro, o Apostolo de Jesus, and Centro Espirita Grao de Mostarda. Without them, this study would not have been possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Witchcraft, Sorcery and Spirit Possession - Pastoral Responses in Africa
    LENY LAGERWERF WITCHCRAFT, SORCERY AND SPIRIT POSSESSION - PASTORAL RESPONSES IN AFRICA A symposium participant cited the case of a Protestant pastor whose son was seriously ill. On the quiet his wife consulted a diviner. The latter prescribed that a sacrifice be offered on the tomb of the child's grandfather. She then . urged her husband that they act on the diviner's advice. But he angrily refused, and left the healing of their child to God's will. The boy died. The relatives of the wife then accused the pastor of being the sorcerer of his own son. Heroic as the pastor may have been, the pathos of this case consists in having defined his dilemma from the fundamentalist viewpoint: either yield back to paganism, or remain unswerving in the faith. But Fr. Hermann Hochegger_expressed his conviction . that, guided by the sound principles of "Incultura- tion Theology", Christianity in the Bandundu region still needs to equal the ritual creativity of the native religion (P. Estepa, When Medicine Man Met Missionary, in : Verbum SVD, 1982/3, 319). In spite of all the endeavours of the Missions sorcery and witchcraft are a reality in the lives of many Christians in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately the churches did not always seem to take their members' fears seriously. In - fact they often made it impossible to speak about these matters at all. During the 1960's, however, the first signs of a new attitude among pastors became visible. Rev. H. Edjengu6l6, Principal of the Theological College at Ndoungue Cameroon, in his thesis "La puissance de 1'Evangile face au paganisme Minieh des Mbo" (1966) reports on a regional Pastors' conference of the Evan- gelical Church of Cameroon in 1962, during which some young pastors, includ- ing himself, protested against the other pastors' assertion that witchcraft does not exist or is dying out, and in this wise unknowingly inviting wizards to hide in the Christian congregations.
    [Show full text]
  • Mediumship: Study and Practice Program 2
    Mediumship: Study and Practice Program 2 1 Federação Espírita Brasileira Mediumship: Study and Practice Program 2 Organized by: Marta Antunes Moura Translated by: SUMMARY 2 3 Mediumship: Study and Practice - Program 2 Introduction Further to the launch of the Program I: Mediumship Course: Study and Practice, we present to the Spiritist Movement the Program II which completes the doctrinal content planned for the formation of mediumship workers in the Spiritist House. In this program, the study and practical activities have become more compressed and focused on Mediumistic practice, expected to be developed within six months, including the complementary activities, considered optional. The weekly meetings remain up to two hours, and the presentation of each theoretical theme is at maximum between 30-40 minutes, reserving the remaining time (1 hour and 30/20 minutes) to the Mediumistic exercise, developed in the form of a supervised Mediumistic meeting. Upon completion of the course, if the course coordination understands that participants need more time for Mediumistic practice, they may extend the supervised Mediumistic practice to one or two semesters, in accordance with the existing possibilities. Another possibility, always keeping consistency with the existing conditions in the Spiritist institution, is to direct participants who effectively demonstrate spiritual conditions to join a Mediumistic group, assuming their commitment to the work of mediumship. Participants should be aware that the completion of the course does not guarantee them referral to a Mediumistic group, considering that the Mediumistic experience demands of each one, not only doctrinal knowledge itself, but the persevering effort of moral improvement, dedication, attendance and mental health.
    [Show full text]
  • Spirit Possession Perspectives on Pastoral Assessment and Care
    Theology ︱ Dr Marta Illueca Spirit possession Perspectives on pastoral assessment and care Most of us are familiar with hroughout the past two decades, symptoms that are characteristic of both demonic possession as depicted and despite widespread demonic possession, and mental health in popular culture, for example in T scepticism, there has been an disorders. Practitioners often fail to horror films such as The Exorcist. increase in interest from the academic discern what a patient needs, i.e., medical While these representations community on the phenomenon of attention and psychiatric diagnosis, or are usually exaggerated, they spiritual distress related to spirit or spiritual intervention. The consequences are frequently based on real-life demonic possession. In her graduate of misdiagnosis can compromise well- accounts of the phenomenon. work at Yale Divinity School, Dr Marta being, and lead to social stigma. Evolution of the knowledge about demonic possession. Despite widespread academic Illueca researches the topic of demonic Graphic design by Cynde A. Bimbi, CAB Graphics & Design, USA. scepticism, pastoral care and possession: spirit possession by an evil Dr Illueca notes that formal research mental health practitioners are entity. Her background in both medicine and empirical data are sparse, which possession, and how it differs from or microbial contamination. In the worst of demonic possession is described becoming increasingly aware and theology makes her ideally placed has led to a misrepresentation of those the mental health disorders with which cases the evil spirit controls and uses worldwide across cultures and continents. of the affliction, and the need to inform and advise on this topic.
    [Show full text]
  • O Que E O Espiritismo
    – Second Edition – WHAT IS SPIRITISM? WHAT IS SPIRITISM? INTRODUCTION TO KNOWING THE INVISIBLE WORLD, THAT IS, THE WORLD OF SPIRITS Containing THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE SPIRITIST DOCTRINE AND A RESPONSE TO SOME OF THE MAIN OBJECTIONS AGAINST IT by Allan Kardec AUTHOR OF THE SPIRITS’ BOOK AND OF THE MEDIUMS’ BOOK Without Charity there is no Salvation Translated by Darrel W. Kimble, Marcia M. Saiz and Ily Reis Copyright © 2010 by INTERNATIONAL SPIRITIST COUNCIL SGAN Q. 909 – Conjunto F 70790-090 – Brasilia (DF) – Brazil All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private use without prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 978-85-7945-026-6 Original French Title: QU’EST-CE QUE LE SPIRITISME ? (Paris, 1859) Translated by Darrel W. Kimble, Marcia M. Saiz and Ily Reis Cover design by: Luciano Carneiro Holanda Layout: Rones José Silvano de Lima Edition of INTERNATIONAL SPIRITIST COUNCIL SGAN Q. 909 - Conjunto F 70790-090 - Brasilia (DF) - Brazil www.edicei.com [email protected] 55 61 3038 8400 Sales: + 55 61 3038 8425 Authorized edition by International Spiritist Council Second Edition 10/2011 INTERNATIONAL DATA FOR CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION (ICP) K27g Kardec, Allan, 1804-1869. What is Spiritism? : introduction to knowing the invisible world, that is, the world of spirits / by Allan Kardec; [translated by Darrel W. Kimble, Marcia M. Saiz and Ily Reis]. – Brasilia, DF (Brazil): International Spiritist Council, 2011.
    [Show full text]
  • Spiritists Compared to Mental Health Professionals in Puerto Rico and Brazil Alexander Moreira-Almeida and Joan D
    Psychiatry 72(3) Fall 2009 268 Treatment in Puerto Rico and Brazil Moreira-Almeida and Koss-Chioino Recognition and Treatment of Psychotic Symptoms: Spiritists Compared to Mental Health Professionals in Puerto Rico and Brazil Alexander Moreira-Almeida and Joan D. Koss-Chioino This article expands psychosocial and cultural perspectives on the experience and expression of psychotic symptoms and the treatment of schizophrenia by exploring how Spiritism, a popular religion in Latin America, provides healing to persons with severe mental illness. Beliefs and treatment by Spiritist healers of persons with psychotic symptoms, some diagnosed with schizophrenia, are described. Reactions by mental health professionals (psychologists, mental health technicians and psychiatrists) to this alternative treatment are described. Qualita- tive data have been collected through in-depth interviews with 49 Spiritist medi- ums in Puerto Rico,and case histories of 22 patients and their family members, all of whom gave informed consent. In Brazil, interviews were conducted with a sample of 115 Spiritist mediums, with their informed consent. These mediums responded to semi-structured interviews and standard measures of social adjust- ment and mental health. As expected, beliefs and practices of Spiritist healers regarding psychotic symptoms, whether manifested by themselves or by clients diagnosed with schizophrenia or other disorders, differ substantively from con- ventional psychiatric constructs and treatment approaches. According to patients’ self reports and researchers’ observations, spirit healers often achieve positive re- sults with persons manifesting psychotic symptoms or diagnosed with schizophre- nia in that symptoms become less frequent and/or social adjustment improves. We suggest psychosocial mechanisms to explain these findings and raise questions for future research.
    [Show full text]
  • Practical Guide for Magnetic and Spiritual Healing
    2 Practical Guide For Magnetic and Spiritual Healing Jussara Korngold English Revision: Maria Levinson and Edward Christie Dedicated to Tete Pretti, Maria Levinson and Nilce Palotta, the star-guides of my soul. 3 Copyright © Spiritist Group of New York, 2003 Spiritist Alliance for Books/Spiritist Group of New York http://www.sgny.org P. O. Box 2223 - Radio City Station, New York, NY 10101-2223 Email:[email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior permission in writing from the copyright holder. Library of Congress Control Number: Main entry under title: Practical Guide for Magnetic and Spiritual Healing 1. Religious Philosophy 2. Spiritist Doctrine 3. Christianity ISBN Cover Design and Chakras Drawings: Claudia Stranings Jennings Edition: Crisley Thomé Edited and revised by the Editorial and Publishing Department of the Spiritist Group of New York (SGNY) and the Spiritist Alliance for Books (SAB) 2001. The Spiritist Group of New York (SGNY) is a non-profit organization, has the sole aim to promote and disseminate the Spiritist Doctrine in English, as codified by Allan Kardec. The group was officially established on April 12th, 2001. However, the members of the group have been earnestly fostering the dissemination of the Spiritist Doctrine in the United States for over six years. As a result, a number of its founders and participating members have founded The Spiritist Alliance for Books (SAB), which is an organization that aims to unite people from all over the world who are willing to volunteer in the effort of translating spiritist books (which were originally written in other languages) into English.
    [Show full text]
  • History of 'Spiritist Madness' in Brazil
    HPY 16(1) Moreira-Almeida 1/28/05 9:02 AM Page 1 History of Psychiatry, 16(1): 005–025 Copyright © 2005 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi) www.sagepublications.com [200503] DOI: 10.1177/0957154X05044602 History of ‘Spiritist madness’ in Brazil ALEXANDER MOREIRA-ALMEIDA * University of São Paulo ANGÉLICA A. SILVA DE ALMEIDA University of Campinas FRANCISCO LOTUFO NETO University of São Paulo Edited by Dr TOM DENING Spiritism is widely accepted in Brazil and influences psychiatric practice, especially through religious-oriented hospitals. However, during the first half of the twentieth century it was considered an important cause of mental illness. This paper first reviews opinions on ‘Spiritist madness’, written by the most eminent psychiatrists of the time, and then discusses the epistemological factors that have contributed to the conflict between medicine and Spiritism. We critically examine the appropriateness of the methods used in the debates, and how this has led to inferences about associations and causal relationships. Keywords: dissociation; history; mediumship; mental hygiene; possession; prejudice; spiritism; spiritualism; trance Introduction Throughout the last century, the psychiatric community has had a range of different attitudes to so-called mediumistic experiences. Although such experiences are ancient and exist in every culture, well-controlled studies of the subject are scarce. Nowadays, psychiatry considers that spiritualist experiences are culturally related, and are non-pathological in most cases, * Address for correspondence: Rua Caetés 737/205, Perdizes 0516-081, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Email: [email protected] HPY 16(1) Moreira-Almeida 1/28/05 9:02 AM Page 2 6 HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRY 16(1) even contributing to psychological development and well-being (Cardeña, Lyinn and Krippmer, 2000; Grof and Grof, 1989; Lukoff, Lu and Tuner, 1992).
    [Show full text]