BibliographyThe Mediums’ Book
Second Edition
The first edition of The Mediums’ Book published in the beginning
of this year was sold out in a few months and this is not one of the
least indicators of the progress of the spiritist ideas. We attested ourselves,
in our journeys, the healthy influence that this book has exerted on the
direction of the practical studies of Spiritism. Thus, deceptions and mystifications
are much less significant than in the past because this book
teaches the means of uncovering the tricks of deceiving spirits. This second
edition is much more complete than the previous one. It contains a
large number of very important new instructions and several new chapters.
The whole part specially dedicated to the mediums, to the identity of
the spirits, to the obsession, to the question that may be addressed to the
spirits, to the contradictions, to the means of distinguishing between the
good and bad spirits, to the formation of spiritist groups, and the matters
of fraud in Spiritism received remarkable developments, as a result of experience.
In the chapter about the spiritist dissertations we added several
apocryphal communications followed by adequate observations aiming at
providing the means of finding the fraud of deceiving spirits who use false
names. We must add, that the book was entirely revised by the spirits who brought numerous observations of the highest importance to the point
that we can say that the book is as much theirs as ours.
We highly recommend this new edition as the most complete guide
both to the mediums and to the simple observers. We can affirm that
by strictly following it, one can avoid the so common hurdles against
which so many inexperienced novices will face. After having read and
given serious thought to that work, those who will still be mystified will
only be able to blame but themselves since they were given all means of
clarification.
Spiritism or
Spiritualism in Metz
First series of publications by the Spiritist Society of Metz *
In the last issue of our Review, we mentioned this publication just as a
reminder, then proposing to return to the subject. We read it attentively
and can only congratulate the Spiritist Society of Metz for its results. She
has in her heart, a large number of enlightened people, who we hope will
learn to stay on guard against the traps of bad spirits who will continuously
try to veer them from the good path they have put in place.
The publication is not a periodical. Metz’ Society proposes to do the
same from time to time but on unspecified dates, thus inserting the best
communications that they might have up until then. Such procedure has
the advantage of not having a commitment with subscribers to whom one
must nonetheless serve and also for the reason that the costs are always
proportionate.
All communications contained in this first brochure have an eminently
serious character and an irreproachable moral. We found nothing
that could be classified as non-orthodox, from the point of view of Science
and that of The Spirits’ Book. If our friends, the spiritists of Metz, allow
us to give them a piece of advice, we would stimulate them to continue to
bring in future publications in the same circumspection that we found on
this one; that they must be convinced that inopportune publications may
be more damaging than useful to the propagation of Spiritism. We count
on the wisdom and sagacity of those who are behind it so that they may
not yield to the enthusiasm of more eager than thoughtful followers. May
they always remember this maxim: Nothing is gained by running, if you do
not start on time!
The two communications below extracted from this first volume will
give you an idea of the spirit in which they were produced.
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* Brochure 8-in, price 1 franc, in Paris Didier and Co. Edition, Quais des Augustin,
35; Ledoyen, Gallerie Palais Royal, 31; in Metz with Veronnais, Rue de Jardin 14 and with
Warrion, Rue de Palais, 8
The Universal Fluid
(September 29th, 1860)
The universal fluid interconnects all worlds; and according to the impulses
given by our Creator’s will, it entails every phenomenon of
Creation. It is life itself and bonds the different matters in our world. It
is this fluid that through properties that are subordinated to laws regulates
the different nuances of physical and material affinities that are so
mysterious to you. That is how you can see the past, the present and the
future, particularly when the matter that obstructs your soul is nulled or
weakened by any given cause. Then, through this second-sight (although
less developed until after death), sees, touches and feels everything in this
fluid-like medium, its element and the exact mirror of what has been and
will be, for it is only the more coarse parts of that fluid that suffer sensitive
changes in composition.
Henry, former magnetizer
Effects of Prayer
(October 15th, 1860)
Prayer is a sublime aspiration to which God has given a magnificent
power constantly claimed by the spirits. Like gentle dew that brings
refreshment to the poor exile on Earth and acts as a proven fruitful process
for the soul. The prayer operates directly upon the spirit to whom it
is addressed. It does not transform thorns into roses but modifies the life
of suffering (nothing can be done against the immutable will of God),
exciting impulse of the will that raises courage, giving strength to fight
against adversities and dominate them. By this means, the path that leads
to God is shortened and nothing can be compared to prayer in its wonderful
effect. Only an inferior spirit would speak in vain against prayer and
would be bound to the earth and behind in evolution not understanding
the need to reach out to this anchor of salvation.
Pray, it is a word that descends from heaven; it is the drop of dew on the
edges of a flower; it is the support of the reed during the thunderstorm; it
is the wooden board to the poor shipwrecked during the storm; it is the
shelter to the orphan and the beggar; it is the cradle for the infant to sleep. Prayer, a divine emanation, is what connects us to God through language,
calling God’s attention to us. Praying for us is to love God. Begging for
a brother or sister is one of the most meritorious acts of love. Prayer that comes from the heart is the key to the treasures of grace; it is the steward
that provides benefits in the name of the infinite mercy. A soul that elevates
to God through such sublime impulse of prayer, detached from its
material envelope, seems to be plentiful of confidence before God; certain
that what has been asked with humility will be granted.
Pray! Oh pray, make a reservoir of your holy aspirations to be discharged
on the day of justice. Prepare the granary of abundance, so valuable during
the famine. Bury the treasure of your prayers until the God chosen
day for the distribution of your rich deposit. Accumulate it for you and
your fellow beings and that will reduce your anguishes and will help you
to transpose more rapidly the distance that separates you from God. Give
thought to your miserable nature, counting the deceptions, the risks;
probe the deep abyss to where passions can drag you to; look at those who
fall around you and you will feel the inexorable need to resource to prayer.
It is the anchor of salvation that will prevent the destruction of your ship,
when it becomes stricken by worldly storms.
Spiritism in America
Fragments translated from the English by Ms. Clémence Guérin *
Spiritism in America accounts for a number of very renowned individuals
who have assessed its scope from the beginning and have seen in it
something more than merely manifestations. Among them we find Judge
Edmonds, from New York, whose writings on these important subjects
are much appreciated and still not known enough in Europe due to lack
of translation. We are grateful to Ms. Guérin for giving us an idea about
these writings based on some fragments that were published in her brochure,
and at the same time we regret the fact that she had not finished
the work in a more comprehensive translation. She also adds some not less
remarkable extracts from Dr. Hare, of Philadelphia; who was also one of
the first to make a statement of faith regarding the new revelations. Ms.
Guérin lived in America for a long time where she saw the production and
development of the first manifestations, and she is one of those sincere
and conscientious spiritists, judging everything with calmness, coolly and
without enthusiasm. We have the honor of having met her in person and
we gladly give her here the much deserved testimony of our profound
admiration. By the fragment of her preface transcribed below one can see
that our opinion is thoroughly justified.
“Like the Americans, we have a deep faith and radiant hope that this
Doctrine, so eminently based on charity (not alms, but love), is the
one that will regenerate and pacify the world. Never before has fraternal
solidarity been so clearly demonstrated and more seductively.
The spirits come to reassure us, help us, teach us and indicate to us the
best use of our faculties, in seeing to the future; the spirits are evidently
so much altruistic that one cannot hear them without feeling the
need to imitate them; without reaching out to others, willing to share
the benefits that we have so generously been given. The human being
does so with much more good will when he finally understands that
it is the price to pay for his own advancement and that he only enjoys
the merit of his own actions in the great book of God, aiming at the
moral or material well-being of his brothers and sisters. What the
spirits are successfully at doing right now has already been attempted
several times on Earth by noble hearts and courageous souls but who
were and still are unknown or ridiculed. People now have an idea
about their devotion but this only happens when they disappear and
then have a chance of being assessed with impartiality. That is why
God allows them to continue their work after what we call death. It
is an opportunity to repeat from Andrew Jackson Davis: ‘Brethren,
fear Not: for Error is mortal and cannot live; Truth is immortal and
cannot die!’
Clémence Guérin”
The passage below from Judge Edmonds will show how accurately he had
foreseen the consequences of Spiritism. One must not forget that he wrote
it in 1854, a time when Spiritism was new in America as it was in Europe.
“Others will evaluate if my deductions are true or false. My objective
will be achieved if by speaking about the effects produced in my
spirit by these revelations I give rise to the desire in some people to
also investigate them, and thus bring new light into the study of these
phenomena since up until now the most vehement adversaries, who hout against the imposture, these are also the most obstinate in their
resolution to not hear or read anything about this subject; the most
adamant to remain in complete ignorance about the nature of the
facts. People that uphold the reputation of knowledge, if not Science,
are not ashamed for providing explanations that satisfy no one, based
on superficial observations carried out with such a light-heartedness
that would make a young student blush. However, this new power
connected to the human being is not something indifferent and it will
undoubtedly have a considerable influence on good or evil.”
“And we can already see that since its origin just five years ago the
spiritualist idea propagated with a speed that the Christian religion
did not equal in a hundred years. It does not seek deserted places, is
not surrounded by mysteries, but comes openly to people inviting a
detailed examination, not demanding a blind faith but recommending
the exercise of reason and free judgment at all times.”
“We saw that the attack of the philosophers could not shake a
single believer; that the sarcasm of the press and the anathemas of
the Academy are equally powerless to stop its progress and, most importantly,
we can already attest its moralizing influence. The true
believer always becomes a wise and better person because it was demonstrated
to him or her that the existence after death has been positively
proven. All of those, who have carried out serious and sincere
investigations on the subject, have found irrefutable proof. How could
it be otherwise? Here you have an intelligence that speaks to us every
day. It is a friend (In general, Americans begin by talking to relatives
or friends.) He proves his identity by a thousand circumstances, leaving
no room for doubts and through recollections that only he may
have. He speaks about the consequences of the Earthly life and paints
the future life with such rational colors giving an assurance that he is
telling the truth since it agrees with our innermost ideas of divinity
and the duties imposed on us.”
“Our loved ones are not separated from us after death and they
are often close to us, we are helped and consoled through the hope of a certain reunion. How many times have I heard them, through me or
through others! How many desolated people I have seen calmed by the
gentle certainty that the beloved relative ‘brought back by the bonds
of love is around them, whispering in their ear, gazing upon their
soul, conversing with their spirit?’
“Consequently, death is stripped from the entourage of mysterious
and undefined terrors with which it was surrounded by those who
expect more from the degrading passion of fear than from the noble
feeling of love. Note that in passing, regardless of the variations in
the teachings of the new philosophy, every disciple agrees that death
is not a threatening specter but a natural phenomenon; a transition
to an existence that is free from a thousand ailments of the material
life and from the barriers that confine them to a single planet, the
spirit may travel the infinity of the worlds and set flight to the regions
where the Glory of God is actually visible.”
“It is equally demonstrated that our most secret thoughts are
known by those who were our loved ones and that continue to
watch over us. It is in vain to try to escape this terrible inquisition
by its benevolence. One cannot doubt it even if they wanted too.
Often I was stunned and shuddered at the unforeseen but irrefutable
revelation that our most intimate thoughts and conscience may
be examined by the very ones from whom we wanted to hide our
weaknesses.”
“Isn’t that a healthy obstacle against having bad thoughts, criminal
acts that in their majority are carried out because the guilty mind
was assured by these words: ‘Nobody will know...’? If anything can
confirm this truth so terrifying to some, it is the memory that all of
us experience after a good deed, even when it was a secret: an inner
satisfaction that cannot be compared to anything else. They know
well because the left hand ignores what the right hand did. It is then
rational to assume that if our friends may congratulate us, they can
also reproach us; if they see our meritorious actions they also see our
mistakes.”
“By this we do not hesitate in attributing the incontestable and
uncontested fact that there is not a single believer that has not become
a better person. Our future destiny depends on our conduct. Not on
our adhesion to this doctrine or other particular religious sect, but
on our submission to this great precept: LOVE GOD AND THY
NEIGHBOR… We must not postpone our conversion. We have to
work towards our own salvation, not later but now; not tomorrow
but today.”
“There is nothing more reassuring, more strengthening to a virtuous
soul in the trials and vicissitudes of this life than the thorough
assurance that one’s future happiness depends on one’s actions, actions
that can be guided. On the other hand, the wicked, the vicious, the
cruel, the selfish and especially the selfish will endure self and mutual
torments, torments that are worse than a material hell, something
that even the most deranged imagination could ever imagine.”
Allan Kardec
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* Large brochure, 18-in, price 1 franc. Dentu Edition, Palais Royal, Galerie D’Orléans
