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132. What is the aim of the incarnation of spirits?
"It is a necessity imposed on them by God, as the means of attaining perfection. For some of them it is an expiation; for others, a mission. In order to attain perfection, it is necessary for them to undergo all the vicissitudes of corporeal existence. It is the experience acquired by expiation that constitutes its usefulness. Incarnation has also another aim - viz., that of fitting the spirit to perform his share in the work of creation; for which purpose he is made to assume a corporeal apparatus in harmony with the material state of each world into which he is sent, and by means of which he is enabled to accomplish the special work, in connection with that world which has been appointed to him by the divine ordering. He is thus made to contribute his quota towards the general weal, while achieving his own advancement."
The action of corporeal beings is necessary to the carrying on of the work of the universe; but God in His wisdom has willed that this action should furnish them with the means of progress and of advancement towards Himself. And thus, through an admirable law of His providence, all things are linked together, and solidarity is established between all the realms of nature.
133. Is incarnation necessary for the spirits who, from the beginning, have followed the right road?
"All are created simple and ignorant; they gain instruction in the struggles and tribulations of corporeal life. God, being just, could not make some of them happy, without trouble and without exertion, and consequently without merit."
- But it so, 'what do spirits gain by' having followed the right road, since they' are not thereby exempted from the pains of corporeal life?
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"They arrive more quickly at the goal. And besides, the sufferings of life are often a consequence of the imperfection of the spirit; therefore, the fewer his imperfections, the less will be his sufferings. He who is neither envious, jealous, avaricious, nor ambitious, will not have to undergo the torments which are a consequence of those defects."
134. What is the soul?
"An incarnate spirit."
- What was the soul before its union with a body?
- Souls and spirits are, then, the very same thing?
"Yes; souls are only spirits. Before uniting itself with a body, the soul is one of the intelligent beings who people the invisible world, and who temporarily assume a fleshly body in order to effect their purification and enlightenment."
135. Is there in man anything else than a soul and a body?
"There is the link which unites the soul and the body."
- What is tile nature of that link?
"It is semi-material - that is to say, of a nature intermediate between soul and body, as it must necessarily be, in order that they may be enabled to communicate with each other. It is by means of this link that the spirit acts upon matter, and that matter acts reciprocally upon the spirit."
Man is thus formed of three essential elements or parts: -
1st. The body, or material being, analogous to the animals, and animated by the same vital principle;
2d. The soul, or incarnated spirit, of which the body is the habitation;
3d. The intermediary principle, or perispirit; a semi-material substance, which constitutes the innermost envelope of the spirit, and unites the soul with the body. This triplicity is analogous to that of the fruit, which consists of the germ, the perisperm, and the rind or shell.
136. Is the soul independent of the vital principle?
'“The body is only the envelope of the soul, as we have repeatedly told you."
- Can a body exist without a soul?
"Yes; but it is only when the body ceases to live that the soul quits it, Previous to birth, the union between the soul and the body is not complete; but. when this union is definitively established, it is only the death of the body that can sever the bonds that unite it to the soul, and thus allow the soul to withdraw
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from it. Organic life may vitalise a body without a soul, but the soul cannot inhabit a body deprived of organic life."
- What would our body be if it had no soul?
"A mass of flesh without intelligence; anything you choose to call it, excepting a man."
137. Can the same spirit incarnate itself in two different bodies at the same time?'
"No; the spirit is indivisible, and cannot simultaneously animate two different beings." (Vide, in The Medium's Book, the chapter on Bi-corporeality and Transfiguration.)
138. What is to be thought of the opinion of those who regard the soul as being the principle of material life?
"That is a question of definition; we attach but slight importance to mere words. You should begin by agreeing among yourselves as to the exact meaning of the expressions you employ."
139. Certain spirits, and certain philosophers before them, have defined the soul as "An animated spark that has emanated from the Great Whole"; why this contradiction?
"There is nothing contradictory in such a definition. Everything depends on the meaning you attribute to the words you use. Why have you not a word for each thing?"
The word soul is employed to express very different things. Sometimes It is used to designate the principle of life and in this sense it is correct to say, figuratively, that the soul is an animated spark that has emanated from the Great Whole. These latter words designate the universal source of the vital principle, of which each being absorbs a portion, that returns to the general mass after its death. This Idea does not exclude that of a moral being, a distinct personality. independent of matter, and preserving Its own individuality It is this being which. at other times, is called the soul, and it is in this sense that we speak of the soul as an incarnate spirit. In giving different definitions of soul, the spirits who have given them have spoken according to their various ways of applyng that word, and also according to the terrestrial ideas with which they are more or less imbued. This apparent confusion results from the insufficiency of human language, which does not possess a specific word for each idea an insufficiency that gives rise to a vast number of misapprehensions and discussions. It is for this reason that the higher spirits tell us to begin by distinctly defining the meaning of the words we employ.¹
140. What is to be thought of the theory according to which the soul is subdivided into as many parts as there are muscles in the body, and thus presides over each of the bodily functions?'
"That, again, depends on the meaning attached to the word soul. If by soul is meant the vital fluid, that theory is right; if
¹ Vide, in the Introduction, the explanation of the word soul, sec. ii.
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the word is used to express an incarnate spirit, it is wrong. We have already told you that a spirit is indivisible; it transmits movement to the bodily organs through the intermediary fluids, but it undergoes no division."
- Nevertheless, there are spirits who have given this definition.
"Spirits who are ignorant may mistake the effect for the cause."
The soul acts through the intermediary of the bodily organs. and those organs are animated by the vital fluid which is distributed among them, arid more abundantly in those which constitute the centres or foci of movement for each organism. But this explanation becomes inadmissible when the term soul is employed to designate the spirit which inhabits the body during life and quits it at death.
141. Is there any truth in the opinion of those who suppose that the soul is exterior to the body and environs it?
"The soul is not shut up in the body like a bird in a cage. It radiates in all directions, and manifests itself outside the body as a light radiates from a glass globe, or as a sound is propagated from a sonorous centre. In this sense the soul may be said to be exterior to the body, but it is not therefore to be considered as enveloping the body. The soul has two envelopes; the first, or innermost, of these, of a light and subtle nature, is what you call the perispirit the other, gross, material, heavy, is the body. The soul is the centre of both these envelopes, like the germ in the stone of the fruit, as we have already said."
142. What is to be thought of that other theory according to which the formation of the soul of the child is carried on to completion during the successive periods of the human lifetime?
"The spirit is a unit and is as entire in the child as in the adult. It is only the bodily organs, or instruments of the manifestations of the soul, that are gradually developed and completed in the course of a lifetime. Here, again, you mistake the effect for the cause."
143. Why do not all spirits define the soul in the same way?
"All spirits are not equally enlightened in regard to these matters. Some spirits are still so little advanced intellectually as to be incapable of understanding abstract ideas; they are like children in your world. Other spirits are full of false learning, and make a vain parade of words in order to impose their authority upon those who listen to them. They, also, resemble too many in your world. And besides, even spirits who are really enlightened may express themselves in terms which appear to be different, but which, at bottom, mean the same thing, especially
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in regard to matters which your language is incapable of expressing dearly, and which can only he spoken of to you by means of figures and comparisons that you mistake for literal statements of fact."
144. What is to be understood by the soul of the world?
"The universal principle of life and intelligence from which individualities are produced. But, very often, they who make use of these terms do not know what they mean by them. The word soul is so elastic that every one interprets it according to his own imaginings. Certain persons have also attributed a soul to the earth, which must he understood as indicating the assemblage of devoted spirits who direct your actions in the right direction when you listen to them, and who are, as it were, the lieutenants of God in the administration of your globe."
145. How is it that so many philosophers both ancient and modern have so long been discussing psychological questions without having arrived at the truth?
"Those men were precursors of the eternal truths of the true spiritist doctrine, for which they have prepared the way. They were men, and therefore subject to error, because they often mistook their own ideas for the true light; but their very errors have served the cause of truth by bringing into relief both sides of the argument. Moreover, among those errors are to be found many great truths which a comparative study of the various theories thus put forth would enable you to discover."
146. Has the soul a circumscribed and determinate seat in the body?
"No but it may be said to reside more especially in the head, in the case of men of great genius and of all who think much, and in the heart, in the case of those who feel much, and whose actions have always a humanitarian aim."
- What is to be thought of the opinion of those who place the soul in a centre of organic life?
"The spirit may be said to inhabit more especially such a part of your organism, because it is to such a part that all the sensations converge; but those who place it in what they consider to be the centre of vitality confound it with the vital fluid or principle. Nevertheless, it may be said that the soul is more especially present in the organs which serve for the manifestation of the intellectual and moral qualities."
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147. Why is it that anatomists physiologists, and in general those who apply themselves to the pursuit of the natural sciences, are so apt to fall into materialism?
"The physiologist refers everything to the standard of his senses. Human pride imagines that it knows everything, and refuses to admit that there can be anything which transcends the human understanding. Science itself inspires some minds with presumption; they think that nature can have nothing hidden from them."
148. Is it not regrettable that materialism should be a consequence of studies which ought, on the contrary, to show men the superiority of the intelligence that governs the world?
"It is not true that materialism is a consequence of those studies it is a result of the imperfection which leads men to draw a false conclusion from their studies, for men may make a bad use of the very best things. The idea of annihilation, moreover, troubles those who profess to hold it more than they will allow to be seen; and those who are the loudest in proclaiming their materialistic convictions are often more boastful than brave the greater number of the so-called materialists are only such because they have no rational ground of belief in a future life. Show a firm anchor of rational belief in a future state to those who see only a yawning void before them, and they will grasp it with the eagerness of drowning men."
There are those who, through an aberration of the intellect, can see nothing in organised beings but the action of matter, and attribute to this action alt the phenomena of existence. They have seen, in the human body, only the action of an electrical machine they have studied the mechanism of life only in the play of the bodily organ; they have often seen life extinguished by the rupture of a filament, and they have seen nothing but this filament. They have looked to see whether anything stilt remained, and as they have found nothing but matter that has become inert, as they have neither seen the soul escape from the body nor been able to take hold of it, they have concluded that everything is reducible to the properties of matter, and that death is consequently the annihilation of all thought. A melancholy conclusion, if such were really the case for, were it so, good and evil would be alike devoid of aim every man would be justified In thinking only of himself, and in subordinating every other consideration to the satisfaction of his material Instincts. Thus all social ties would be broken, and the holiest affections would be destroyed for ever. Happily for mankind, these ideas are far from being general. Their area may even be said to be a narrow one, limited to the scope of invidious opinions; for nowhere have they been erected into a system of doctrine. A state of society founded on such a basis would contain within itself the seeds of its own dissolution; and its members would tear each other to pieces like so many ferocious beasts of prey.
Man has an intuitive belief that, for him, everything does not end with the life of his body; he has a horror of annihilation. No matter how obstinately men may have set themselves against the idea of a future life, there are very few who, on the approach of death, do not anxiously ask
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themselves what is going to become of them for the thought of bidding an eternal adieu to life is appalling to the stoutest heart. Who, indeed could look with indifference on the prospect of an absolute and eternal separation from all that he has loved? Who, without terror, could behold, yawning beneath him, the bottomless abyss of nothingness in which all his faculties and aspirations are to be swallowed up forever? Who could calmly say to himself, "After my death there will be nothing for me but the void of annihilation; all will be ended. A few days hence, all memory of me will have been blotted out from the remembrance of those who survive me, and the earth itself will retain no trace of my passage. Even the good that I have done will be forgotten by the ungrateful mortals whom I have benefited. And there is nothing to compensate me for all this loss, no other prospect, beyond this ruin, than that of my body devoured by worms!"
Is there not something horrible in such a picture, something that sends an icy chill through the heart? Religion teaches us that such cannot be our destiny; and reason confirms the teachings of religion. But the vague, indefinite assurance of a future existence, Which is all that is given us either by religion or by reason, cannot satisfy our natural desire for some positive proof in a matter of such paramount importance for us and it is just the lack of such proof, In regard to a future life, that, in so many cases, engenders doubt as to its reality.
"Admitting that we have a soul," many very naturally ask, "what is our soul?” Has it a form, an appearance of any kind? Is it a limited being. Or is it something undefined and impersonal? Some say that it is 'a breath of God.' Others, that it is a ‘spark;’ others, again, declare it to be 'part of the Great Whole, the principle of life and of Intelligence. But what do we learn from these statements? What is the good of our possessing a soul, if our soul is to be merged in immensity like a drop of water in the ocean? Is not the loss of our individuality equivalent, so far as we are concerned, to annihilation? The soul is said to be immaterial; but that which is immaterial can have no defined proportions. and therefore can have no reality for us. Religion also teaches that we shall be happy, or unhappy, according to the good or the evil we have done; but of what nature are the happiness or unhappiness thus promised us in another life? Is that happiness a state of beatitude in the bosom of God, an external contemplation, with no other employment than that of singing the praises of the Creator? And the flames of hell, are they a reality or a figure of speech? The Church itself attributes to them a figurative meaning but of what nature are the sufferings thus figuratively shadowed forth? And where is the scene of those sufferings? In short, what shall we be, what shall we do, what shall we see, in that other world which is said to await us all?"
No one, it is averred, has ever come back to give us an account of that world. But this statement is erroneous; and the mission of Spiritism is precisely to enlighten us in regard to the future which awaits us to enable us, within certain limits, to see and to touch it, not merely as a deduction of our reason, but through the evidence of facts. Thanks to the communications made to us by the people of that other world, the latter is no longer a mere presumption, a probability, which each one pictures to himself according to his own fancy, which poets embellish with fictitious and allegorical images that serve only to deceive us it is that other world itself, in its reality, which is now brought before us, for it is the beings of the life beyond the grave who come to us, who describe to us the situations in which they find themselves, who tell us what they are doing, who allow us to become, so to say, the spectators of the details of their new order of life, and who thus show us the inevitable fate which Is reserved for each of us according to our merits or our misdeeds.
Is there anything anti-religious in such a demonstration? Assuredly not since it furnishes unbelievers with a ground of belief, and inspires lukewarm believers with renewed fervour and confidence.
Spiritism is thus seen to be the most powerful auxiliary of religion. And, if it be such, it must be acknowledged to exist by the permission of God, for the purpose of giving new strength to our wavering convictions, and thus of leading us back into the right road by the prospect of our future happiness.