The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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Form and Omnipresence of Spirits

88. Do souls have a fxed, limited, and unchanging form?
“For us, yes but not for you. You can imagine them as a fame, gleam or ethereal spark.”
a) Is this fame or spark colored?
“To you, it would vary between a dull gray and brilliant ruby, depending on the degree of the spirit’s purity.”
Geniuses are usually represented with a fame or star on their foreheads – an allegorical allusion to the essential nature of spirits. The fame or star is on the head because it is the center of intelligence.

89. Do spirits require any time to travel through space?
“Yes, but their travel is as rapid as thought.”

a) Isn’t thought the soul itself moving from one place to another?
“Wherever the thought is, the soul is with it since it is the soul that thinks. Thought is an attribute.”

90. When a spirit travels, is it conscious of distance it travels and space it crosses, or is it suddenly transported to its desired destination?
“A spirit can travel either way. If it so wishes, it can be aware of the distance it travels, or it can completely disregard the sense of distance. This depends on the spirit’s will and degree of purity.”

91. Does matter impede a spirit’s movement?
“No, spirits pass through everything. Air, earth, water and even fre are all equally accessible to them.”

92. Do spirits have the gift of omnipresence? In other words, can a spirit divide itself, or exist at several points in space at the same time?
“A spirit cannot be divided, but every spirit radiates in all directions. That is how a spirit may appear to be in several places at once. The sun is only one body, yet it radiates in all directions and its rays of light travel great distances, but it is not divided.”

a) Do all spirits have the same power of radiation?
“This depends on the degree of their purity and varies greatly.”
Each spirit is an indivisible unit, but it has the power of extending its thought without dividing itself. It is only in this sense that spirits are omnipresent. This capability is like that of a spark, emitting its brightness so strongly that it can be perceived from every point on the horizon; or like individuals who can transmit orders or signals to many distant points in several different directions without changing their position or dividing themselves.

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