SPIRITISM
A Religion for "The Spiritual But Not Religous"
Alan Kardec (1804-1863)
SPIRITISM
A Religion for "The Spiritual But Not Religous"
Alan Kardec (1804-1863)
SPIRITISM is a new religion founded by the Spirit-Medium ??????????????? (a.k.a. Allan Kardec) in the 1840s in France. It is a religion for "the spiritual but not religious". It is for people who do not believe in any formal organized religion. It is for people who are "spiritual but not religious".
Spiritism is for people who are "turned off" by the organized religion, but who still believe in God and want to know how to live their lives according to His Will.
Spiritism teaches that God has communicated to us via three Ages:
*The Age of the Father
*The Age of the Son
*The Age of the Spirit
In the Age of the Father, God revealed Himself as a stern but loving Father, such as Jehovah, or Brahma. In the Age of the Son, God revealed Himself as the Son of God, Jesus Christ. But in the Age of the Spirit, God reveals Himself via the Spirit of Truth. We can "tap in" to that Spirit via a process called "Mediumship".
The Age of the Father began with the Revelation of God to Zoroaster, the ancient Prophet of Persia, who lived about 4,000 B.C.
In the Age of the Father, the Father communicated to mankind via "prophets" and "wise men". Among these are the Hebrew prophets, the Zoroastrian Magians, the Hindu Rishis ("Seers") and many others.
The Age of the Son, of course, began with the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The Age of the Spirit began in the year 1260 A.D. when the Holy Spirit began to communicate directly with men and women known as "Seers".
There have been many Seers of the Spirit. One such Seer was Nostradamus. There have been many such Seer, some Japanese, some in India, some in America, some in Europe. These were not people who channelled the dead, but those who channeled the Spirit of Truth.
Of coure, the uninspired leaders of religion always reject the newest Revelation. The leaders of Judaism rejected Jesus Christ. The leaders of Christendom rejected the Seers, even though what the Seers revealed was pure truth.
Spiritism was founded in the 19th century by the Frenchman known to us today as Alan Kardec. He claimed to be in contract with "The Spirit of Truth"; the same Spirit Jesus mentions in the Gospels as the "Comforter" that would teach His disciples "all things".
Kardec taught that the Spirit of Truth could be contacted via Mediums; hyper-sensitive spiritual people who have the ability to read minds, and to contact the Astral World. He taught that Jesus Christ wanted His disciples to receive divine guidence via The Spirit of Truth in this manner (Mediumship), but that the early Christians soon rejected this form of communication, and, because of it, were left with only fallible human leaders to guide them.
Kardec claimed to be a Medium for the Spirit of Truth who communicated to him via questions and answers. Kardec produced five books of Revelation from the Spirit of Truth which form the basis of Spiritism.
Spiritists believe that these five books form the basis for their beliefs.
Collectively these are known as The Spirit-Revelations. These are NOT revelations from dead people, or from demons, but Revelations from the Spirit of Truth that Jesus said would "teach us all things" (John 16:20)
In addition to the Five Books, Spiritists also accept the Messages of Mediums as divine revelation. Such Message can be to a person (get this job, don't get that job), or to a local Spiritist community, or to a Spiritist Federation (over a country), or to the International Spiritist Council.
In addition to The Spirit-Revelations and the Messages, Spiritists can also get information from other Spirit-Mediums, such as Edgar Cayse, or the works of Martin Jensen of Denmark, or the writings of Dr. Dahesh: the miracle-working Spirit-Medium of Lebanon. These are known as New Spirit-Revelations.
Belief in The Spirit-Revelations are mandatory for all members of Spiritist societies. Acceptance of the Messages and New Revelations are optional for Spiritists.
For Spiritists, the Bible is NOT a "Revelation" but rather a collection of historical books some of which were written by Prophets (who were Spirit-Mediums of Israel). The books of the Bible have various authors, who were inspired to various degrees, and they are considered inspired books, but are not our Guidebooks for the Age of the Spirit.
For example, the Bible, in the Old Testment, commands the death penalty for the following offenses:
*Adultery (women only)
*Homosexuality (men only)
*Blashemy
*Using God's name is vain (swearing)
*Eating pork
*Eating shell-fish
*Working on a Sabbath day
If the Bible is our "Guidebook" for today, why aren't Christians enforcing these rules and laws?
They have no answer. There is none.
We live in the Age of the Spirit, and Spiritists are those who are guided by the Spirit of Truth (via Spirit-Mediums). We are not guided by old religions or old Revelations that are no longer relevant for us today.
Spiritism teaches:
*God exists as a Intelligence Force throughout the Cosmos, with a Light and Dark side.
*Organized religion was necessary because most people could not read, and had to have the Law of God taught to them. But today, because of literary and modern communication, organized religion is no longer necessary.
*We all live many lifetimes, on this planet and other planets (reincarnation).
*Christianity is true, but Christendom (the Christian churches) are dead without the Spirit, and the Spirit of Truth has communicated with Seers, and we can read those Communications for ourselves, to guide our lives.
*Judism and Christianity are not the only true Revelations from God. The Spirit has communicated with many Prophets, Sages, and Seers throughout the history of human beings, many whose names we know and many whose names we do not know.
*We do not need pastors or priests in the Age of the Spirit. If we can read, we can read the Spirit-Revelations ourselves. If we cannot read, then those who can read can read the Spirit-Revelations to us. We do not need a Priest to forgive our sins, or a Pastor to tell us what God's Will is for us.
*The Law of Karma is operative upon all things: whatever a man soeth so shall he reap.
*When we die we go to the Astral World to await our next incarnation.
*We existed on other planets before this one, and we will have lives on other planets after this one.
Spiritism address many subjects that are not clearly addressed in the Bible, such as the Afterlife, abortion, euthanasia, killing in war (sin or no sin?), homosexuality, suicide, etc.
Do not confuse Spiritism with "Spiritualism". They are not the same. Spiritism is a religion based upon the Spirit-Revelations; divine communication between Seers and the Spirit of Truth. "Spiritualism" is the belief and practice that we can communicate with the dead.
Spiritism is not about communicating with the dead! A "Spirit-ist" means "a follower of THE SPIRIT"; meaning the Spirit of Truth.
Spiritists agree with Spiritualists, that communication with the dead is possible, but Spiritism is about the Spirit of Truth guiding us; not about getting communication from the dead humans.
The Spirit of Truth is the Holy Spirit. It is the same Spirit that entered Jesus Christ at His baptism, and spoke through Him. Jesus was "possessed" by the Spirit of Truth for three and one half years. The Spirit of Truth left Jesus on the Cross, and this is why Jesus shouted:
"My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"The Holy Spirit left Jesus on the Cross simply because its "mission" was completed. The Spirit had spoken through Jesus, and had no reason to dwell in Him to the moment of His death, so It left.
The Spirit of Truth communicated with various Spirit-Mediums, including Alan Kardec, who founded Spiritism in the 1840s.
The Spirit (under the name "Jabreel") appeared to Muhammad in 610 A.D. and taught him the "Qu'ran" (Arabic: "Recital"). The purpose was to educate the ignorant Arabs in the Law of God, but, again, after Muhammad died the Muslims rejected any further communication with the Spirit, and Islaam, as Christianity had done, became fragmented, and uninspired men re-interpreted the Qur'an according to their own ignorance and superstitions.
Yet, there have been some very holy Muslim men over the centuries that have been in communication with the Spirit of the Truth; such as The Brethren of Purity and the Sufis ("soofees"). Only a small percentage of Muslims have been guided by the Spirit of Truth over the centuries.
Most Muslims today are guided by the Spirit of Error, otherwise known as the "Over-soul". Our egos are all part of the Oversoul. Most Christians are similar guided by the Oversoul (i.e. uninspired men who are religious leaders).
There have been a few Mediums of the Spirit of Truth in Judaism. They were the authors of the Kaballah (Hebrew: "Tradition"), the mystical aspect of Judaism. One such Medium was Ba'al Shem Tov; otherwise known as Besht. His real name was Israel ben Elizer. He was born in the 1700s in Poland, and worked many miracles, and taught gilgul (reincarnation). His revelations agree with those of the Spirit-Revelations.
The Old Testament does not address the subject of the Afterlife. The God of the Old Testament (Jehovah) offers no promise of Heaven, no punishment of Hell-fire in the Afterlife. This is because "Jehovah" is the God of the Living, as Jesus said:
"God is the God of the living, not of the dead."The New Testament only says that the righteous dead will be with Jesus in some place called "Paradise" and that the unrighteous will go to a place called "Gehenna"; a place of fire and sulfur.
Most Christians believe that they will go to "Heaven" at death, to join a Heavenly Choir where they will sing songs for all eternity, while the Damned will go to Hell; there to be tortured, burning for all eternity.
The Spirit-Revelations explain the meanings of "Heaven" and "Hell" as not literal, but symbolic. For example, we live on a world where the rays of the Sun burn our skins. Our skins get old, wear out, and we die. In life we suffer. We experience pain and death. We are in Hell now.
When Jesus was on the Cross, a thief said, "Master, remember me when you come into your kingdom!" Jesus said, "Truly, I say into you, Today you shall be with me in Pardes".
The word Pardes (translated "Paradise" in English Bibles) is not a Hebrew or Greek word. It is not Aramaic (the language Jesus spoke). It is a Persian word. It is specifically a Zoroastrian word. It means simply: "Garden".
Jesus belonged to a sect of Jewish Zoroastrians called the "Nazarenes". Their village was called "Nazareth" (place of the Nazarenes). They believed in "The Teacher of Righteousness" whom we known today as Zoroaster, the Persian Prophet.
According to the Spirit-Revelations of Dr. Dahesh (1909-1984), the miracle-working Spirit-Medium of Lebanon, "Paradise" refers to the Paradise-planets, literal planets that exist in the Core of the Galaxy. It is upon these planets that the souls of the righteous rest until their next incarnation.
The Spirit-Revelations explain many things in the Bible that are obscure, or whose meaning is unclear.
The purpose of The Spirit-Revelations is to guide our lives so that we may find greater happiness in this life as well as a good incarnation on our next life.
Spiritism teaches that at one time organized religion was necessary; when most people were illiterate. Since most people could not read, and there were no printing presses to mass-produce literature, the Revelation had to be read or taught to the common people, via teachers. Teachers had to be trained and organized into orders and churches, with rules of discipline, and hierarchies. Jesus had to form His "Church" with apostles, prophets, evangelicals, pastors, and teachers, because the common people could not read, and, even if they could, there were no printing presses. The Gospels had to be copied by hand.
Today, there is no "need" for various ranks of "teachers" because The Spirit-Revelations can be mass-produced, on the Internet, and in inexpensive book form, in multiple languages, and we can read them for ourselves.
But today, times have changed. Most people are literate and can read for themselves. Literary and the printing press allows us to read The Spirit-Revelations ourselves.
What we need is to read and study The Spirit-Revelations for ourselves. They are very clear in what they say. Once we have read these Revelations, then we shall know for ourselves what the Spirit of Truth wants us to do.
Today, one sees the thousands of different religions and thousands of different sects within each of the religions. This is because mankind follows the Spirit of Error instead of the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of Error is the "OVER-SOUL"; the collective "Self" of humanity.
All religious people, except for the Spiritists, follow the Spirit of Error. For example, over 1 billion people today follow the Roman Catholic Popes. These men used to teach the world is flat, that people who kill others for the Catholic Church are saved, while those people who kill themselves will burn in Hell forever. Former popes used to teach that all Protestants will burn in Hell forever. But more recent popes teach the opposite; that Protestants are "separated bretrhen" and are saved as well.
Protestants are divided as well, each group following this man, or that man, or that woman, all saying, "Lo, here is Christ!". All believe he/she is following the right path of God.
A hundred years ago all Protestants believed that the Papacy was the Anti-Christ and Muhammad the "false prophet" of Revelations. Today, very few belief either. A hundred and fifty years ago Southern Baptists believed that slavery was of God, and that women can have abortions and that was not a crime. Now, they believe just the opposite on both issues!
Obviously, the varioius religions of the modern world are NOT following the Spirit of Truth. They are following the opinions and beliefs on uninspired men (and sometimes women) who are equally as ignorant; relying on other human guides.
The term "Yoga" means "union". It means "union" with God. All organized religions have "Yoga". When Evangelicals uplift their hands and shout "Praise the Lord" and sing sons of praise to Jesus, that is a form of "Yoga" (although they would not admit this). There are hundreds of forms of Yoga. Meditation is a form of Yoga.
The Spirit-Revelations teach a form of Yoga which is reading the Spirit-Revelations. This produces a calming of the mind, and in "unites" one with the Holy Spirit. For those who cannot read, for whatever reason, The Spirit-Revelations can be read to them by a Spiritist-Worker (a Spiritist who volunteers to help another without pay or thought of something in return).
Most Christians think that Jesus wanted His followers to sing songs of praise to Him continuously, but Jesus never told His followers to sing praises to Him. Rather, He told His followers to do the following:
PURE RELIGIONSpiritist Yoga consists of Reading the Spirit-Revelations and in doing unselfish service for others. That is the form of Yoga we practice.
Yoga helps us to be more "spiritual" and the more spiritual we are, the more "good" we do, and the more "good" we think-say-do, the less bad Karma we collect, and less we must suffer in this life and the next to "burn" awa that negative Karma.
Evangelical Christians and Catholics will claim that "Spiritism is of the Devil". This is no surprise. When Jesus appeared, the orthodox ministers of His day claimed He was of the Devil, and did miracles via co-operation with demons. Jesus said, "Can a house be divided against itself?" In other words, was Jesus teaching good or evil? Were the miracles that Jesus produced "good" or "evil"? How can something teaching us to do "good" be of the evil one?
The same is true of Spiritism. Does it preach good or evil? If it preaches evil, it is of the Devil. If it preaches good, then it is of the Spirit.
Many Christians will say, "The Bible alone is our only Guide!" Yet, did Jesus say:
"I shall go away, but I shall inspire men to write the Bible, and the Bible shall guide you and be your only guide!"NO! He said that the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, would guide His disciples. The Bible is simply a "record"; a history of God's dealings with the Jews and Jewish Christians. It was never meant to be a "guidebook".
The New Testament was not written and compiled until about 350 A.D. What guided the Christians before that? Before the New Testament the early Christians were guided by Spirit-Mediums called "Prophets". Jesus' Church included Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. The Prophets were Mediums between Christian communities and the Spirit of Truth. What happened to them? Why are they not still guiding Christian churches today?
Simple answer. There was a group of Christians who rejected the Christian "prophets" and raised up "bishops" instead, who were not in communication with the Spirit of Truth. These "bishops" later organized into the Catholic Church.
The Bible was never supposed to be the ONLY GUIDE for Christians! The Bible is a collection of "historical books"; not guide-books!
The Spirit-Revelations, on the other hand, are Guidebooks; that is what they are meant for. They are not "history" books like the Bible. They are Guidebooks to guide those who follow the Spirit of Truth.
Spiritism teaches that all humans have one or more "Guardian Angels". These angels look out for us. We can communicate with these guardians via Spirit-Mediums. These personal messages to us are called Spirit-Messages. Our Guardian Angels, or Spirit-Guides, want only what is best for us. Sometimes they can communicate with us in dreams, but these dreams will, more often than not, be vague and unclear. But, via Spirit-Mediums, we can get direct verbal communication with our Guardian-Angels.
There is a sharp difference bewtween "channeler" and "Spirit-Medium". A "channeler" claims to be in contact with spirits of the dead, such as the magician Houdini, or Napolean, or the dead relative of a person of a loved-one. In Spiritism, a "Medium" (also called "Spirit-Medium") is spiritually-sensitive person who communicates messages from the Guardian Angel of person to that person. Certain individuals are born Spirit-Mediums. They have the natural ability to communicate with the Spirit-World. Every Spiritist Society has at least one or more Mediums. These are the same as the "Prophets" of the early Christian communities. They receive messages for others, and answer questions such as:
*Will I get married?
*Will I be rich?
*Who should I marry?
*What career should I work in?
*Should I move or stay here?
Mediums are conduits to the Spirit of Truth. None of the Spirit-Mediums are paid; these would lead to deception and charlatanism. All Mediums who are Spiritists volunteer their services. None of them do this "for a living". All have normal jobs, and assist others in giving them "Readings" not for money, but because these are "good deeds" which help burn away bad karma.
Even though Spiritism preaches against an organized "Church" with priests and rituals, there are Spiritist societies. Brazil has more than 2 million Spiritists, all of whom who honor Allan Kardec and believe his books are Spirit-Revelations.
There are Spiritist organizations in about 20 countries at the current time. They are all members of the International Spiritist Council which acts as the umbrella orgranzation. This is democratic council, like the "United Nations" for Spiritists. In no way is it a "top-down" organization like the Roman Catholic Church; where the Pope commands a heirarcy of Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and Priests. On the contary, the ISC is the "UN" for Spiritist organizations worldwide. It produces a magazine called The Spiritist Review, which has editions in different languages:
Spiritists are organized as follows:
1* Spiritist Group (an unorganized group of Spiritists with no Medium in a particular area who gather occassionally for fellowship)
2* Spiritist Assembly (an organized group with at least one Medium but is not a legal entity who meet for Readings and fellowship).
3* Spiritist Society (an organized group in one jurisdiction, such as a city, township, or county, that has at least one Medium and who is legally incorporated as a non-profit society in that jurisdiction)
3*Spiritist Council (an organization which includes all Spiritists Groups and Societies within a certain juridiction such as a province or state)
4* Spiritist Federation (an organization which includes all Spiritist Councils within a country or several countries)
5* International Spiritist Council (the international council of Spiritist organizations worldwide)
All of the various "Spiritist Federations" in the various countries are Members of the International Spiritist Council which in headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Spiritism does NOT require that Spiritists become members of any "society" even a Spiritist society. But, because humans want to fellowship with those who think as they do, societies have been created.
Also....wouldn't you like to get direct verbal Message from your Guardian Angel? This can happen via the Mediums who belong to Spiritist societies.
Many people go to Spiritualist Mediums who charge money for "Readings". These are called "Money-Mediums". Some of these people are true Mediums. Others are con-men or con-women who want to take your money. How can you tell which is which? You can't!
Not all Money-Mediums are con-men and con-women! Many Money-Mediums are true Mediums. Others are self-deluded. Some are charlatans.
Spiritist Societies are necessary to help Spiritists avoid false Mediums. Charging money for mediumship attracts too many charlatans and self-deluded types. Since paid-mediumship is forbidden in Spiritist societies, this is one way for Spiritists to avoid charlatans (phoney mediums) who are con-men and con-women who want to take their money, who are in fact not Mediums at all and will give people phoney readings
Spiritism has no churches nor temples, and, futhermore, wants none. The only "temples" that Spiritists want to build are hospitals for children, hospices for the dying, and orphanages, as Jesus said:
PURE RELIGIONSpiritist Groups meet in the homes of other Spiritists; either once per week, or once per month. When they become an Assembly (at least 20 active adults) they can begin to rent halls, like Masonic Halls, for Fellowship Meetings.
Spiritists believe that building glorious and expensive churches and temples are from the Over-soul; these are ways to flatter our egos. Rather, we seek to build hosptitals for the poor, orphanages, and hospices to care for the dying. These are are temples and churches and synagogues.
All Spiritists subscribe to "the Spiritist Practice" which reads as follows:
All Spiritist practices are gratuitous, following the orientation of the moral principle found in the Gospel: "Give for free what you receive for free."
Spiritism is practiced with simplicity, without any external forms of worship, within the Christian principle that God should be worshipped in spirit and in truth.
Spiritism has no clergy, nor does it adopt or use at any of its meetings or during its practices the following: altars, images, candles, processions, sacraments, concession of indulgences, paraments, alcoholic or hallucinogenic beverages, incense, tobacco, talismans, amulets, horoscopes, cartomancy, pyramids, crystals, or any other objects, rituals or external forms of worship.
Spiritism does not impose its principles. It invites those interested in knowing it to submit its teachings to the test of reason before accepting them.
Mediumship, which allows the Spirits to communicate with Human Beings, is a faculty which many individuals bring with them at birth, independent of whatever religion or beliefs they may come to adopt.
Spiritist mediumship practice is solely that which is exercised based on the principles of the Spiritist Doctrine and within the Christian morality.
Spiritism respects all religions and doctrines; values all efforts towards the practice of goodness; works towards peace and fellowship between all nations and all peoples, regardless of race, color, nationality, creed, cultural or social standing. It also recognizes that the truly good person is one who complies with the laws of justice, love, and charity in their highest degree of purity.
(INTERNATIONAL SPIRITIST COUNCIL, Preparation of Workers for Spiritist Activities Oct. 1999)
United States Spiritist Council
International Spiritist Council
The Spiritist Review (English Edition)
