!1 SPIRITIST REVIEW JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES 1859 Translator: Luiz Cheim Reviser: John Madden Layout Designer: Anderson Spinelli 2015 !2 SPIRITIST REVIEW JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES 1859 Every effect has a cause. Every intelligent effect has an intelligent cause. The power of the intelligent cause is proportional to the greatness of the effect. Containing the narrative of the material or intelligent manifestations of the Spirits, apparitions, evocations, etc. as well as all the news about Spiritism. The teaching of the Spirits about matters of the visible and invisible worlds, about sciences, moral, the immortality of the soul, the nature of human beings as well as their future. The history of Spiritism in antiquity; its relationship to magnetism; the explanation of popular legends and beliefs, the mythology of all peoples, etc. !3 Preface to the English Edition The Spiritist Review 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 Review which was published after his death. In total there are 136 monthly Issues of the Review, bundled in volumes of 12 issues per year, yielding 12 volumes. It is the largest spiritist production of Allan Kardec. In The Mediums’ Book, part I, chapter III, about The Method, the author makes the following observation about the Review: “Diverse collection of facts, theoretical explanations and isolated sections, that complement 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 Review is indispensable to all those willing to have an in-depth understanding of Kardec’s thoughts. It is the most comprehensive piece of work about the spiritist movement of the 19th century, containing the formation and modus operandi of the spiritist groups as well as statistics about the number and distribution of followers around the world. In addition to the profound study of the spiritist theory and the explanations about several questions raised by the spiritists, the Review 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. The Spiritist Review is all that and much more. We hope you will enjoy reading this volume as well as the others. United States Spiritist Council June 2015 !4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface to the English Edition January 1859 Letter to HM Prince G 9 Mr. Adrien, clairvoyant medium - (2nd Article) 13 The elf of Bayonne 16 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Chaudruc Druclos 21 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Diogenes 24 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: The guardian angels 26 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: A forgotten night or Manouze, the witch (cont.) 27 Spiritist aphorisms and select thoughts 30 Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies 31 February 1859 Hurdles to the mediums 32 The Agénères (non-entity) 37 My Friend Hermann 41 Noisy spirits - how to get rid of them? 44 Dissertation from beyond the grave - Infancy 45 Correspondence – Letter of Morhéry, Doctor in Medicine 46 A forgotten night or Manouze, the witch (conclusion) 48 March 1859 Study about the mediums 52 Self-serving mediums 55 Phenomenon of transfiguration 57 Diatribes 60 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Paul Gaimard 62 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Mrs. Reynaud 66 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Hitoti, a Tahitian chef 71 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: An elf 73 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Pliny, The Young Man 76 April 1859 Portrayal of the Spirit’s Life 80 Spiritist Frauds 85 Moral Problem – The Cannibals 87 Commercial Enterprises and Spiritism 88 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Benvenuto Cellini 89 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Girard de Codemberg 94 !5 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Poitevin, the airman 96 Poetic thoughts 100 Paid Somnambulists 101 Spiritist Aphorism and Select Thoughts 102 Warning 103 May 1859 Scenes of the Spirit’s Private Life 104 Music from Beyond the Grave: Mozart and Chopin 115 Intermediate or Transient Worlds 118 Bond between Body and Spirit 120 L’Univers (The Universe) Article – A Rebuttal 121 The Spirits’ Book among the South American Natives 127 Spiritist Axioms and Select Thoughts 128 June 1859 The Cracking Muscle 129 Spiritism and Science 136 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Mr. Humboldt 139 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Goethe 144 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Black Father Cesar 147 Varieties - The Princess of Rebinine - From the Courrier de Paris 149 Major Georges Sydenham 151 July 1859 Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies - Speech given at the closing of the social year 1858-59 153 Bulletin of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies 162 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: The Zouave of Magenta 163 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: A High-Ranking Officer Killed in Magenta 169 Answer to the Reply of Abbot Chesnel 171 Varieties - Lord Castlereagh and Bernadotte 173 What is Spiritism? - New book published by Mr. Allan Kardec 175 August 1859 Furniture from beyond the grave 176 Pneumatography or Direct Writing 183 A Servant Spirit 187 Mrs. Mally’s Guide 190 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Voltaire and Frederic 193 Bulletin of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies 196 A M. L., de Limoges 200 !6 September 1859 Process to Send the Bad Spirits Away 201 Confessions of Voltaire 207 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: An Officer from the Italian Army 211 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: General Hoche 213 Death of a Spiritist 215 The Storms - Role of the Spirits in the Natural Phenomena 220 The Home of a Spiritist Family 222 Spiritist Aphorisms and Select Thoughts 224 October 1859 The Miracles 225 Magnetism Recognized by the Judiciary 228 Inert Mediums 232 Bulletin of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies 235 Spiritist Society in the XVIII century 240 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Father Crépin 242 Mrs. E. de Girardin, Medium 245 The Flying Tables 247 November 1859 Should We Publish Everything the Spirits Say? 249 Unintentionally Medium 251 Uranie - Fragments from a poem by Mr. de Porry, from Marseille 252 Swedenborg 259 The Wondering Soul - by Maxime Ducamp 264 The Spirit and the Juror 266 Warning from Beyond the Grave: The Officer from Crimea 268 The Convulsive of Saint-Médard 270 Observations Regarding the Word Miracle by Mr. Mathieu 272 Warning 273 December 1859 Response to Mr. Oscar Comettant 274 Effects of Prayer 278 A Spirit that does not acknowledge his death 281 Doctrine of Reincarnation Among the Hindus 284 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Mrs. Ida Pfeiffer 286 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Privat d’Anglemont 288 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Dirkse Lammers 295 Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave: Michel François 297 Spontaneous Communications at the Society 300 !7 A Former Drayman 303 Bulletin of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies 306 The Convulsionaries of Saint Médard (cont.) 315 Spiritist Axioms and Select Thoughts 316 !8 January 1859 Letter to HM Prince G Your Majesty has given me the honor of enquiring about several questions regarding Spiritism. I will try to respond to them with the state of the art knowledge on the subject, summarizing in a few words what we have learned through study and observation. The referred issues are based on the principles of the Science. In order to give more clarity to the solution it is necessary to have those principles in mind. Thus, allow me to consider the subject from a little more elevated stand point, establishing certain fundamental preliminary propositions that will serve, as a matter of fact, as answers to some of those questions. Outside the visible and corporeal world there are invisible beings that constitute the world of the spirits. The spirits are not disconnected beings but the souls of those who lived on Earth or in other worlds and have detached from their material envelope. The spirits show all levels of intellectual as well as moral development. Hence, there are good and bad, liars and frivolous, scoundrels and hypocritical spirits that try to deceive people, encouraging them to wrongdoings, as there are those spirits who are well superior in everything, who don’t do anything else but the good deeds. Such distinction constitutes a capital point. The spirits surround us incessantly. They guide our thoughts and actions irrespectively, thus influencing over the events and destinies of humanity. They sometimes reveal their presence through material effects. Those effects have nothing to do with the supernatural; they only seem supernatural to us because they are founded on bases that are outside of our known laws of matter. Once those bases are known, the effects become part of the category of the natural phenomena. That is how the spirits can act upon the inert bodies and move them without the support of our external agents. Denying the existence of unknown agents just because we don’t understand them is the same as restraining God’s power, and believing that nature has already given us the last word. Every effect has a cause, and nobody denies that. It is then illogical to deny the cause just because it is unknown. Since every effect has a cause then every intelligent effect must have an intelligent cause. When we observe the parts of the telegraph producing signs which correspond to a human thought we don’t conclude that those components are intelligent but that they are moved by intelligence.