The Spiritist Review - JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES - 1861

Allan Kardec

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Bulletin of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies

Summary of the minutes
Friday, December 21st, 1860
(Private session)
Admission of two new members.

SEVERAL COMMUNICATIONS:
1st – Multiple communications obtained outside the session were read.

2nd – Mr. Allan Kardec reads a letter from Bordeaux with a proposal to evoke Ms. H… who died a short time ago. The Society accepted the proposal.

WORKS CARRIED OUT DURING THE SESSION:

1st – Spontaneous dissertation signed by Lazarus, obtained by Ms. Costel; another signed by Gerard de Nerval, obtained by Mr. A. Didier. The spirit develops the thesis based on the communication about the Three Characters: Hamlet, Don Juan and Tartuffe, on December 14th. The spirit elaborates about Hamlet’s character. He is requested to provide his opinion about La Fontaine. Another dissertation signed by Torquato Tasso, received by Ms. H… The spirit also gives his opinion about La Fontaine.

2nd – Evocation of Lady Esther Stanhope, who spent most of her life in the mountains of Lebanon, amidst Arabic peoples who had named her The Queen of Palmyra.

Friday, December 28th, 1860
(General session)

MULTIPLE COMMUNICATIONS:

1st – Several communications obtained outside the Society were read, among them a tale signed by Hoffmann, received by Mrs. Costel, and the evocation of an African American person in New Orleans, carried out by Mrs. B… This is remarkable by the ingenuity of the ideas and the reproduction of the language typically employed by that particular group.

2nd – Letter received from Mrs. T. D…, from Krakow attesting the progress of Spiritism in Poland and Ukraine. This lady has been a medium for seven years. She adds another four communications clearly indicating the superiority of the spirit who gave them and also requests to take part in the Society.

3rd – Mr. Allan Kardec addresses the spirits with the speech below, thanking them for their contribution during the year that is about to end:

“We don’t want to finish the year without giving our thanks to the good spirits who have kindly enlightened us. We thank particularly St. Louis, our spiritual leader, whose protection of the Society he has taken under his support is so evident, and hopefully, that he will kindly continue to do so, praying that he continues to inspire in all of us the sentiments which can make us dignified. We equally thank those who came spontaneously to give their advice and instructions in our sessions, as well as in the private communications given to our mediums, later transmitted to us. Among them, we cannot forget Lamennais who dictated pages of great eloquence to Mr. Didier; Channing, Georges, whose communications have been admired by all readers of The Review; Mrs. Delphine de Girardin, Charles Nodier, Gérard de Nerval, Lazarus, Tasso, Alfred de Musset, Rousseau and others. The year 1860 was eminently prosperous to the spiritist ideas. We hope that with the support of the good spirits the New Year that is about to begin will not be different. As for the spirits in suffering that came to us, spontaneously or evoked, we will continue to pray for them, asking for God’s mercy and for His protection to those who are in the path of repentance and clarification to those still in the dark avenue of evilness.”

WORKS CARRIED OUT DURING THE SESSION:

1st – Spontaneous dissertation about the year 1860 signed by J. J. Rousseau, through Mrs. Costel. Another signed by Necker, received by Ms. H… and another one about 1861 signed by St. Louis.

2nd – Evocation of Lady Stanhope, Hoffmann and the African American from New Orleans.

3rd – Several questions raised: - About the memory of previous existences in Jupiter and about the multiple apparitions to Mr. Pr… mother-in-law, present at the meeting.

Friday, January 4th, 1861
(Private session)

Admission of Mr. W…, painter, as a member.

SEVERAL COMMUNICATIONS:

1st – Letter from Mr. Kond…, doctor in Medicine, from Vaucluse, complaining that the minutes of the Society are not entirely published in The Review. “The followers of Spiritism, he says, “that cannot attend the sessions feel awkward with respect to the issues that are studied and solved in such scientific assembly. Every month we eagerly expect the arrival of The Review. When we receive it we waste no time to read it all. We read and read again and then we discover a number of problems that will always remain without an answer.” He asks if there wouldn’t be a way of solving such an issue. Mrs. Costel informs us that she has also received letters with the same issue.

Mr. Allan Kardec says that this alone demonstrates something that must give us great satisfaction: the value attributed to the works of the Society and the credit given by the true spiritists. The publication of the summary of the minutes show those who don’t belong to the Society that it only deals with important things and serious studies. The reputation that the Society has conquered outside is due to its moderation and its cautious movement on this new path, the order and seriousness that presides over our meetings, as well as to the essentially moral and scientific character of its works. It is then an encouragement to the Society to remain within the guidelines that grant it consideration and respect, taking the example of people that write asking to take part in the Society, from abroad and even from Poland. Responding to Mr. K… a very special complaint that has flattered all of us for starters, for the complete publication of everything that is dealt with by the Society would require multiple volumes. Among the evocations that are carried out, there are many that don’t correspond to the expectation or don’t offer enough interest to be published. These are maintained in the archives so that they can be consulted and just mentioned in the Bulletin. The same applies to the spontaneous communications: only the educating ones are published. Mr. K… is mistaken if he thinks that the external spiritists are deprived from the multiple questions and moral problems that sometimes are of general interest. He is led to believe so by the fact that the abundance of subjects and the need to consolidate them rarely allows the publication of all issues in the number of The Reviews mentioned in the Bulletin. Sooner or later they will have their place. Besides, that material is one of the fundamental elements of the books about Spiritism: they were used in The Spirits’ Book and in The Mediums’ Book where they were classified according to the subjects and none of the essential ones were omitted. Thus, Mr. K… and the other spiritists may rest assured. If they cannot attend the sessions of the Society remotely and would not like to miss a single word that is said during the meetings they must understand that nothing considered important is hidden behind the curtains. Nonetheless, The Review will strive to correspond to the wishes expressed by the worthy corresponding member.

2nd – Following the report given by a New York businessman attending the session, Mr. Allan Kardec points out the progress achieved by the spiritists principles contained in The Spirits’ Book in the United States of America. Several fragments of the book were translated into English and the doctrine of reincarnation now counts many supporters there.

3rd – An elegant and charming communication in a medieval style and received by Ms. S… was read. Another one about the immateriality of the spirits, received by Mrs. Costel.

WORKS CARRIED OUT DURING THE SESSION:

1st – Critical analysis of the dissertation given by the spirit of Necker in our last session. The spirit of Madam Staël manifests spontaneously, explaining the meaning of the message and justifying her father’s words.

2nd – Evocation of Leo X who had spontaneously manifested in the session of December 14th. He responds to several questions and explains the comparative analysis he did about the character of the Americans, French and English; about the way each of those peoples see Spiritism; about the unavoidable advances of that doctrine, etc.

3rd – Spontaneous conversation between Monsignor Sibour and his murderer.

4th – Questions addressed to St. Louis about the African American evoked on December 28th, his character and his origin.

5th – Evocation of Ms. J.B. carried out by her mother who was at the meeting. The communication of an essentially private interest offers a touching image of the affection that certain spirits devout to their loved ones on Earth.

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