what IS SPIRITISM?

Spiritism is, at once, a science, a philosophy, and a religion. 

The science of Spiritism studies the existence and nature of spirits, which are nothing more than the immortal souls of men, created by God.

The philosophy, which was derived from a serious study of information received in communications with discarnate spirits, deals with the details of spirit life and the journey of evolution through the process reincarnation. A natural consequence of that tha.t philosophy is the understanding of the role we play in our own spiritual evolution, which is ultimately achieved through the efforts we make to grow, both morally and intellectually.

Spiritism helps us to understand the natural laws that govern that process of evolution. From a moral perspective, we follow the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ, as our model and guide.

The religious aspect stems from the moral ties between ourselves, and others, and the direction that Spiritism leads us, toward God, our creator, by helping us to understand life and by teaching us, ultimately, how to develop the ability to love, in the greatest sense of the word

history of spiritism.

By the year 1848, several strange phenomena were gaining notoriety in the United States, consisting in noises, raps and movement of objects with no apparent cause. They would happen spontaneously, several times, with a characteristic intensity and frequency.  However, it soon became clear that these phenomena could also occur through the presence of certain people whom were known as ”mediums”.  These people could provoke the phenomena at will, making experiments possible. Such experiments were made using tables, not because these objects are more favorable than others, but because they were more convenient, movable, and because it was easier to sit around them than any other furniture. In this way the rotation of tables was achieved, and subsequently, movements in all directions: jumps, turns, fluctuations, violent strokes etc. These phenomena were originally called ‘table dancing’ or ‘table turning’.

The text above was written by Allan Kardec in the 1860s, giving his personal explanation of the circumstances that led him to write the Spiritist codification.

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