Mr. Louis Jourdan and The Spirits’ BookSince we are talking about journalists with respect to Spiritism let us
not stop on the way. We are not generally spoiled by those gentlemen
and considering that we don’t hide their criticism they must allow
us to present our counterpoint and arguments against the opinion
of Mr. Deschanel and others like a writer whose celebrity and influence
are unquestionable, and without being accused of self-serving interest.
The praises in fact are not directed to us, personally; at least we don’t
take them personally and always address them to our spiritual guides that
kindly supervise our work. Therefore we could not benefit from any merit
that might be found in our work; we accept the praise not as a confirmation
of our personal worth but as a recognition to the endeavor that with
the help of God we hope to take on successfully for we have not finished
yet and the most difficult part is yet to come. From that point of view, Mr.
Louis Jourdan’s opinion has some weight because everyone knows that he
does not speak lightheartedly just to fill out the columns of a newspaper
with empty words. He can certainly be wrong, like anyone else, but his
opinion is always conscientious.
It would be premature to uphold that Mr. Jourdan is a confessed follower
of Spiritism. He himself declares that he has not seen any manifestation
and that he is not in touch with any medium. He analyzes from his own personal thoughts and since he does not base his opinion on
the denial of the soul or any other extra-human power, he sees in the
Spiritist Doctrine a new phase of moral life and a means of explaining
what was inexplicable up until now. Behold, by admitting the foundations
his reason does not absolutely refuse to admit their consequences
while Mr. Figuier cannot admit such consequences since he repels the
fundamental principle.
He did not study everything nor had he investigated everything of
this vast science, hence it is not surprising that his ideas are not well established
about all points and for that reason certain questions may seem
hypothetical. As a sensible man, however, he does not say: “I don’t understand,
hence it cannot be.” He, on the contrary, says: “I don’t know
because I did not learn that but I don’t deny it.” As a serious man he does
not ridicule an issue that addresses the most serious interests of humanity
and as a wise man he remains silent about things that he ignores, afraid
of having his denials belied by the facts, as it has happened to so many
others who then hear the irresistible argument: “You speak of something
that you don’t know.”
He then releases matters of detail, confessing his incompetence, limiting
himself to the appreciation of the principle, admitting its possibility
is only led by reason as commonly happens every day. Mr. Jourdan
first published an article about The Spirits’ Book in the #8 issue of the ‘Le
Causeur Magazine, in 1860. It is now over a year since that publication
and we had not yet mentioned the fact in our Review, a demonstration
that we don’t hastily prevail from the praises during a time when we textually
cited or indicated the bitterest criticisms, also a demonstration that
we are not afraid of their influence. That article was reproduced as a full
chapter in his new book ‘Un Philosophe au coin du feu *. We extracted the
following passages from that article:
“I formally promised to return to a subject about which I only mentioned
a few words and that deserves a very special attention. It is
about The Spirits’ Book that contains the principles of the spiritist
doctrine and philosophy. The word may sound barbarian to us but
what can one do? New things do need new names. The turning tables
led to Spiritism and today we have a complete doctrine, entirely revealed
by the spirits since The Spirits’ Book was not produced by any
man. Mr. Allan Kardec’s function was limited to the collection and
organization of the answers given by the spirits to the many questions
addressed to them, brief responses that do not always satisfy the curiosity
of the interrogator, but when considered as a whole they actually
form a doctrine, a moral and even perhaps a religion.”
“You must appreciate it yourself. The spirits provided clear explanations
about the primary causes, about God and the infinite,
about the attributes of God. They gave us the general elements of the
universe, knowledge about the principle of everything, the properties
of matter. They discussed the mysteries of creation, the formation of
the worlds and the living beings, and also the causes of diversities in
the human races. From there to the vital principle it is just a step, and
they also told us what the vital principle is, the meaning of life and
death, intelligence and instinct.”
“Then, they unveiled the spiritual world, that is, the world of
the spirits, and told us about its origin and nature; how the spirits
incarnate and the objective of such incarnation; the process of returning
from the corporeal to the spiritual life. Wandering (errant) spirits,
transient worlds, perceptions, sensations and sufferings of the spirits,
relationships beyond the grave, sympathetic and antipathetic relationships
among the spirits, return to the corporeal life, emancipation
of the soul, intervention of the spirits on the physical world, occupations
and missions of the spirits, hiding nothing from us.”
“I said that the spirits were not only founding a doctrine and a
philosophy, but also a religion. They have in fact established the code
of moral life in which there are laws that seem of great wisdom to me, not even missing the future penalties and rewards that could be
understood from words like heaven, purgatory and hell. As seen from
the above, it is a complete system and I have no problem in admitting
the fact that if it does not show the powerful cohesion of a philosophical
work, if there are contradictions here and there, it is at least of
remarkable originality given its elevated moral reach and for the unforeseen
solutions given to the complex issues that have concerned the
human spirit at all times.”
“I am a total stranger to the spiritist school; I don’t know its leader
or its followers; I have never seen any little table dancing or turning;
I don’t have any contact with any medium; I have not witnessed
any of those supernatural or miraculous events that are reported to
me by the spiritist publications. I don’t absolutely confirm or deny
the communications with the spirits; in principle I believe that such
communications are possible and it does not shock my reason at all.
In order to believe in them I don’t need the explanations given to me
by a scholar, friend of mine, Mr. Louis Figuier, about facts that he
attributes to the magnetic influence of the mediums.”
“I don’t think that it is impossible to establish communication between
the invisible world and us. Don’t ask me how and why; I know
nothing about it. That is more a question of feeling than mathematical
demonstration. Hence, I am expressing my feeling, but it is a far
from a vague feeling, a feeling that leaves a well-defined impression
in my heart and in my spirit.”
“If we can capture the vital fluids from the infinite space around us,
through the movement of our lungs, it is evident that we are constantly
interacting with the invisible world. Is such a world populated by wandering spirits, like lost souls, always ready to respond to our
calls? That is more difficult to admit but also premature to deny
absolutely.”
“Undoubtedly it is not difficult to believe that God’s creatures
are not all like us, the sad inhabitants of our planet. We are very imperfect,
submitted to unrefined material needs, thus it is not difficult
to imagine that there are superior beings who are not subjected to any
corporeal penalty; bright and luminous creatures, spirit and matter
like us but a more subtle, pure matter, less dense and not so heavy;
fluid messengers uniting the universes, sustaining the multiple races
and planets for the accomplishment of their missions.”
“Through breathing we are in contact with a myriad of creatures
whose existence we cannot understand and whose shapes we
cannot reproduce. Thus, it is not absolutely impossible that some
of those beings may accidentally get in touch with us but what does
seem trivial is the need for a material support of a table, a basket
or a medium so that those relationships may be established.”
“Those communications are either useful or pointless. If useful
then the spirits must not need to be mysteriously evoked and
questioned in order to teach people what people need to know. If
pointless, why resort to using them?”
“I have no problem with the idea of accepting these influences,
inspirations, revelations if you will. What I do absolutely deny is
when people say: God said so, so you must obey. And that under pretext
it is a revelation. God spoke through Moses, Christ, Mohamed
thus you will be Jewish, Christian or Muslim otherwise you shall
endure the eternal penalties and while we wait we will damn you
here on Earth.”
“No, no. I don’t accept similar revelations at any price. There is
a supreme law above all revelations, all inspirations and all prophets,
past and future: the law of freedom. I can accept anything that you
like as long as that law is in its foundation. Remove that law and it
is only violence and darkness. I want to have the freedom of believing or not believing and admitting that out loud. It is my own right and
I want to use it. It is my freedom and I want to preserve that. If you
tell me that I will lose my soul if I don’t believe what you teach me;
it is possible. I want to stretch my freedom to that limit; I want to
be able to lose my own soul if I desire to do so. Who will then be the
judge of my salvation or my loss? Who will be able to say: That one
was saved, this one here is lost for good? Shouldn’t the mercy of God
be infinite? Will anyone be able to assess the abyss of the conscience?”
“The same principle is found in the curious book by Mr. Allan Kardec
and that is why I am reconciled with the spirits that were questioned
by him. The briefness of the answers is a proof that the spirits have no
time to waste; what surprises me is the fact that they still waste some
in order to complacently address the call of so many people who waste
theirs in the evocations.”
“Everything more or less clearly stated by the spirits, and whose answers
Mr. Allan Kardec compiled, was developed and exposed with
remarkable clarity by Michel who is certainly to me the most complete
and most advanced of all contemporary mystics. His revelation
is at the same time a doctrine and a poem, a healthy and energizing
doctrine, bright poetry. The only advantage that I find in the questions
and answers published by Mr. Allan Kardec is the fact that
they are given in a much more accessible format to the general mass
of readers, and in particular to the female readers, the main ideas
about which is important to have their attention. Michel’s books
are not of an easy reading; they continually require a very attentive
reader. The book that we mentioned above, on the contrary, may
be considered a kind of vade mecum (handbook); if we take it and serendipitously open it in any page the questions will call our attention,
raising our curiosity. The questions addressed to the spirits
are typically those that concern all of us. The answers are sometimes
very weak; on other occasions they encompass the most complex issues
in a few words and always offer vivid interest and healthy indications.
I am not aware of a more attractive, more consoling, and
more fascinating course of moral. There one finds confirmation of
the greatest principles on which modern civilizations are founded,
particularly the principle of all principles: freedom! Heart and spirit
are smoothed and strengthened by that book. The chapters about
the plurality of the systems and the law of individual and collective
progress have a special appeal and exert a powerful attraction. As
for me, Mr. Allan Kardec’s spirits have not taught anything about
that. I believe since long ago that there is a progressive development
of life through the worlds; that death is the portal to a new life whose
trials are in proportion to the achievements of a previous existence.
This is in fact the old Gallic faith, the druidic doctrine and the
spirits invented nothing here but they did add a series of deductions
and excellent practical rules to guide one’s life. That book may have
great utility, regardless of the interest and curiosity generated by its
origin, particularly to the indecisive minds, to the insecure souls that
navigate the turbulent waters of doubt. Doubt is the worst evil! It is
the most horrific prison from which one needs to escape at any price.
This strange book will help men and women in the consolidation of
their lives, breaking the shackles of their prisons, precisely because it
is presented in a simple and elemental way, like a popular catechism
that everybody can understand.”
After the citation of a few questions about marriage and divorce that he
finds trivial and not handled according to his personal taste, Mr. Jourdan
finishes his article as below:
“I must say, however, that the spirits’ answers about this subject are
not superficial. The whole book is remarkable; the general subject
is marked by a certain magnificence and a lively originality. May
it stem out or not from a wonderful source, the work is exciting in
several aspects and just because it has made me largely interested I am
led to believe that many people may also be interested.”
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* A philosopher by the fire – 1 vol., Dentu edition
