1858 The Spiritist Magazine Allan Kardec ipeak instituto de pesquisas espíritas allan kardec Allan Kardec The Spiritist Magazine Journal of Psychological Studies January 1858 Preface to the English Edition The Spiritist Magazine was written and published by Allan Kardec from January 1858 to April 1869. Kardec died on March 31st, 1869. He had finished the April 1869 issue of the Magazine which was published after his death. In total there are 136 monthly fascicles of the Magazine, bundled in volumes of 12 fascicles per year, yielding 12 volumes. It is the largest spiri- tist productionof Allan Kardec. In The Mediums’ Book, part I, chapter III, about The Method, the author makes the following observation about the Magazine: “Diverse col- lection of facts, theoretical explanations and isolated sections, that comple- ment the scope of what is found in the two preceding works (The Mediums’ Book and The Spirits’ Book), forming in a certain way their application.” While complementing the two main books of the Spiritist Doctrine, and showing their most important applications, the Magazine is indispen- sable to all those willing to have an in-depth understanding of Kardec’s thought. It is the most comprehensive piece of work about the spiritist move- ment of the XIX century, containing the formation and modus operandi of the spiritist groups as well as statistics about the adepts around the world. In addition to the profound study of the spiritist theory and the expla- nations about several questions raised by the spiritists, the Magazine shows the evolution of Kardec’s thought during the construction of the Spiritist Science. It analyzes new phenomena, like for example the possessions. Some theoretical adjustments were proposed, showing the evolutionary character of the Spiritist Science. It is the most adequate collection of texts which demonstrate Allan Kardec’s lucidity, equilibrium and common sense. 3 The Spiritist Magazine 1858 Allan Kardec The Spiritist Magazine is all that and much more. His academic and professional experiences, as well as his knowledge of We have always cherished the the desire of having the Magazine pu- the required languages, although not a native English speaker, are testimo- blished in English. nies of the quality work that he is developing. I his own words: “I beg you The world needs to know that grandiose work of Karkec. English has and the spiritist community for your forgiveness with respect to my failures become the official language of the whole world. English is also the most and limitations, at the time that I thank Jesus and Kardec for having given important vehicle of dissemination of any Science which have adopted this me such an undeserved opportunity…” language as their main mode of communication in all corners of the world. Our IPEAK was born with the objective of promoting the works of The Spiritist Science needed an English version of Kardec’s largest pro- Kardec to the whole world. We thank all members of this Institute for their duction. dedication and tireless contribution. Thanks to the dedication of a dear friend, Dr. Luiz Americo Venturini Thank you my dear friend Dr. Luiz Cheim, for this current English Cheim, the Spiritist Research Institute – IPEAK can now see this dream translation. come true, virtually allowing everybodyaround the world to have access to Thank you so much dear master Allan Kardec for providing us with the Spiritist Magazine in English. this remarkable doctrine which gives us the opportunity and privilege of le- I met Dr. Luiz Cheim in the late 70’s when both of us were young arning and studying for our own betterment and for the progress of huma- undergraduate students at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. nity. Thank you also for the expressions of true friendship and love which His major was Electrical Engineering, mine was Physics. Since those days blossom around us thanks to our initial understanding of the underlying we were united by Spiritism, creating a group of enthusiastic youngsters for principles of this unique doctrine. the study of Spiritism in the hall of residence of that University. We shared CosmeMassi that experience for about four years. Time went bye. Our professional lives led us to very different jour- neys and places. He continued his studies abroad, seeking his PhD at the Translator’s biography: University of Nottingham, in England. I stayed in Brazil and obtained my Luiz A. V. Cheim was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 5th, Doctor’s Degree at Unicamp. We were then separated for some time by our 1959. He graduated from the School of Electrical Engineering at the Fede- careers and life commitments. ral University of Rio de Janeiro (URFJ) in 1982, obtained his M.Sc. degree Our spiritist ideals and profound admiration for Kardec’s work outli- from COPPE-UFRJ in 1987 and further studied at the University of Not- ved all that and maintained an invisible bond between us. tingham, England (1989-1993), where he obtained his PhD degree also in In 2010, together with a group of friends in Curitiba, Brazil, we crea- Electrical and Electronic Engineering. During his doctoral studies Dr. L. ted the IPEAK’s website, aiming at promoting all works of Kardec, already Cheim worked on secondment having been granted a full scholarship from achieved in Portuguese and French. We lacked the site in English. In order the Brazilian Government (CNPq) for the whole four years of studies in to achieve that it was necessary to have the Spiritist Magazine translated England. His employment history includes 18 years with the Center for into English. Electric Power Research (CEPEL) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10 years with On hearing about the IPEAK project, our dear friend Dr. Luiz Cheim Siemens Transformers in Brazil (7 years) and in the USA (3 years), and offered to translate all works of Kardec which were not yet available in more recently working as a Research and Development Consultant Engi- English. neer with ABB Transformers Group since August 2009 (1 year in Canada, Spiritism united us once again through this new project of the IPEAK. 3 years in the USA). Dr. L. Cheim was awarded the Cigre-Paris Technical We now have the great satisfaction of offering to the public this cur- Award 2006 for his technical contributions to Cigre and the work he did rent translation of the Spiritist Magazine carried out by Dr. Luiz Cheim. for the advancement of Cigre in Brazil, as the local Chairman of the SCA2 4 5 The Spiritist Magazine 1858 Allan Kardec (Transformers) from 2000-2006. In 2013 he was awarded the Global ABB The Spiritist Magazine Service Innovation Award conferred in Zurich by ABB’s Executive Com- Journal of Psychological Studies mittee. Luiz has been a member of the IEEE Transformers Committee January 1858 since 2007 and Cigre since 1985. Introduction The speed of propagation of the strange spiritist manifestations, all over the world, isa demonstration of the interest they attract. Starting as a simple object of curiosity they soon drew the attention of serious inves- tigators who, since the beginning, perceived the inevitable influence they would have on the moral condition of society. The new ideas which stem from them become more popular daily and nothing can stop their progress as everybody, or almost everybody can have access to these phenomena, and no human power will impede their manifestation. If muffled in one point, they appear in one hundred others. Those, therefore, who would find any given inconvenient in such manifestations, would be embarrassed to suffer their consequences by the force of the facts, as the same happens to new technologies which may hurt particular interests in the beginning but gets naturally accommodated with time. What was not said and perpetrated against magnetism! However, every blow against it, every weapon which hurt it, including ridicule, collided with reality and only served to give magnetism more evidence. Magnetism is a natural force and facing natural forces man is like a pygmy, like these little dogs barking against everything that scares them away. What happens to somnambulism also happens to the spiritist mani- festations: if they do not take place in day light and publicly, nobody will preclude them from happening in the intimacy, as each family may find a medium in the household, from the children to the elderly, as they can also find a somnambulist. Thus, what if the first to be found is a medium and a somnambulist? Who can preclude that? There is no doubt that the contesters did not think about it. We insist: when a force is part of Nature, it can be temporarily stopped but never eliminated! Its course maybe only deviated. Well, the force revealed in the phenomena of manifestations, whatever its cause may be, is part of Nature, like magnetism, and will not 6 7 The Spiritist Magazine 1858 Allan Kardec be destroyed, as the electric force will not be either. It is then necessary and in any case, the characteristics of an exact Science and it is precisely in that those manifestations be observed and studied in all their phases, in this aspect that those who intend to judge and experiment are in error, as if order to realize their governing laws. If it is an error and an illusion, time they were dealing with a chemical analysis or a mathematical problem; The will tell; if it is the truth, that is like the steam: the more it is compressed fact that it is a philosophical Science is already enough. Every Science must the higher its expansion capability.Is it a surprising fact that in the Ameri- be based on facts but those, by themselves, do not constitute the Science cas, only in the USA, there are seventeen journals dedicated to the subject, which is born from the coordination and logic inference of the facts: it is not counting a large number of non-periodical publications; France, the the set of laws which govern those facts.