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#REDIRECT ] |
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{{original research|date=November 2011}} |
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{{Refimprove|date=November 2007}} |
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{{rcat shell| |
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] was founded by ] in France in the middle of the 19th century, influenced by ], the ] and the popularity of ] ] in his time. He did not claim that his ] was entirely new, but conceded that it was based on notions known to mankind since the greatest antiquity. |
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{{r from subtopic}} |
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{{r to section}} |
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==Foundation== |
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}} |
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With his ] background, once he was convinced of the ] explanation for the ] that he investigated between 1855 and 1856, ] began looking for a way to turn the survival of the human ] (and ] with it) into something useful for ], in the ] and ] fields. Moreover, he thought that religions were becoming unable to lead men to effective ] improvements, due to their failure as human ]s. Science, concomitantly, grew wider than ever, bringing numerous direct benefits to man. Both factors together contributed to an increasing disbelief in human ] at all levels of European ]. Kardec saw in it an undesirable social tendency that should be reverted by a new paradigm for understanding ]. Its main characteristics would be: |
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* Promoting the dialog between the three classical ] (], ] and religious) in order to achieve a deeper and wider comprehension of reality; |
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* Providing access to ], instead of the "Hermetic" way philosophical and scientific knowledge had been produced; |
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* Human relationship with the ] without any institutional mediation. A ] would be enough and more appropriate for human realisation. |
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==International influence== |
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After the death of ] Spiritism continued to spread and was internationally famous. Many well educated people from Europe and the United States embraced Spiritism as a logical explanation of ], including themes related to ], such as God and ]. Thousands of ]s were founded throughout Europe, North America and, especially, Brazil and the Spiritist principles were so much disseminated in some countries that Spiritism was considered for inclusion in regular school and college programmes in Europe.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} |
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==Declining== |
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This situation continued until the First World War, which would be the beginning of the end of the fame of Spiritism. Later, with the ascension of ] in many European nations, a degree of repression took hold across the whole continent regarding Spiritisim (and many other ] and ] movements). |
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Among the causes of this loss of popularity in the beginning of the 1900s, are a series of factors: |
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* reaction of traditional religions |
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* death of famous converts, like ], ] and ] |
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* development of scientific explanations for spiritual phenomena which were claimed by Spiritism (like the explanation of ] by ]) |
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* some scientists are still skeptical about important scientific believes of the doctrine which doesn't use the same nomenclatures ( such as electricity is not a "fluid", "animal magnetism" seems not exist, etc.) |
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However the appearance of new leading personalities promoting the Spiritist doctrine like, Francisco "Chico" Candido Xavier, Waldo Vieira, Divaldo Pereira Franco, amongst many others in Brazil, has been reviving ever since the interest in the afterlife communication, moral, charity and self improvement not only in that country but in many other neighbouring countries, Africa, North America, Europe and Asia. |
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==Survival of Spiritism== |
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Part of the problems faced by Spiritism were shared by the Internationalist movements, and probably due to this. Besides spiritists, ], socialists, and others were also the target of repression by ]. Repression to Spiritism was particularly strong in Italy and Portugal. |
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In South America, on the other hand, none of the above factors was enough to weaken the spreading of the doctrine. ] was losing popular support, the government did not oppose Spiritism, most people were not aware of scientific discoveries and the religion had not spread only among the upper classes. Thanks to the works of a few dedicated preachers it managed to lay solid foundations which allowed it survive as an important movement still today. |
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Such relocation occurred most successfully in Brazil, where more than 4 million people declare themselves "Kardecist Spiritists", according to the last ] census data, making Brazil the largest Spiritist country in the world. |
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Survival did not mean, however, remaining entirely faithful to the original practice. Spiritism has since changed into a considerably more religious doctrine there. |
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Spiritism has influenced Brazilian ]s like ], ], ] and ], all of them often claiming the name formally or informally. |
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==Relationship with traditional religions== |
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] and other phenomena studied by Spiritism were not "recent". They had manifested themselves in man's ] and are closely related to ]. Most other religions also contain them to some degree. The ] veneration of the Saints, for instance, is likened to the veneration of the ''Enlightened Spirits'' in Spiritism and both are related to ], which is found all over the world, being present in religions like ], ], ] and African tribal religions. |
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In ] it was believed that the dead inhabited ] and that it was possible to reach them, either by mediumship or by a type of ]. ] and ] are two characters who went to the Hades eventually. In the ], ] and Ulysses also used a bloody sacrifice to summon the souls of the dead. |
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The ]s were famously afraid of ]s and ]s and their superstitions formed the bases for most of European ] and ] during the ], added with significant ] elements. Spiritists believe that many stories told in ] and ] are better explained by the intervention of Spirits. |
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Spiritist phenomena were also present in other places as well. The ban on the ] of spirits found in the ] is, for instance, solid evidence that it was extensively practiced among the ]s and the manifestation of the ] at ] is explained by Spiritism as a mass manifestation of ]. The life of Jesus is moreover filled with circumstances that fit well with the ]. |
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In the ] it was believed that the dead could eventually come back and haunt persons or places (this being the origin of the legends of ]s and ]s). However, such phenomena were seen as ] in nature and the Catholic Church would eventually try to enforce a strict control over them, quoting the ] ban. People displayind any signs of ] were ] or executed by the ], especially during the ] crazes. |
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By the time of ] popular belief in ghosts was widespread in ], and he used them as plot devices in several of his works, such as ], ] and ] and a lot of other such tales flourished then. |
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==Spiritism and Shamanism== |
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Asian ]s have claimed to have fully accomplished the ability to communicate with the dead and the gods and served as intermediates between them and the living people. ] ] have also claimed the same ability. However, Kardec either was not fully aware of these religions or merely disregarded them as unimportant (a product of his time, he was strictly ] to the point of not giving attention to ], a vastly more ancient religion that also features a prominent role for ]). |
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==Spiritism and Christianity== |
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Christianity has traditionally been critical of Spiritism, mostly because ] clearly forbade the Jewish people all forms of communication with the dead (Deut. 18: 10-14). Some Christians hold that the supposed spirits of the dead are actually ]s, while others claim that the clear rendering of scripture teaches they are demons (while some equate demons with fallen angels). |
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Most of the Christian opposition to Spiritism is found among Protestant Christians, who believe salvation is a free gift of God, which we are unworthy of. Contrary to this, Spiritism states that all spirits will eventually attain full illumination. ]s also reject spiritism following the ] on the subject of the dead. Reincarnation is also a subject for further criticism among many Christian denominations, since several passages in the ] seems incompatible with it (most notably Hb. 9:27). |
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The Catholic Church clearly forbids its members to take part in mediunic sessions, or any type of reunion concerning the evocation or the communication of spirits. Most religions have a similar position; however, depending on the country, there seems to be more tolerance. This is especially observable in Brazil. |
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In the United States, where Spiritism is not as widespread as ], there are many Christian Spiritualist organizations and denominations, such as the Progressive Spiritualist Church<ref name="progressive">{{cite web|title=Progressive Spiritual Church|url=http://progressivespiritualist.org/AboutSpiritualism.aspx|quote=We consider Jesus the Christ to be our Wayshower and Elder Brother, and embrace the teachings of other Masters, such as the Buddha, Master Lao, and Zoroaster. We believe that all sacred texts are valid and important.|accessdate=05/12/2011}}</ref> and the ]. |
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==Syncretic religions== |
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Kardec's ] and Anglo-American ] were actually more or less the same thing and existed simultaneously for a long time, each aware of the other and often very close. They were both middle to upper-class phenomena, related to anti-clericalism and ] and may be seen as an intermediate step for those who wished to relinquish their relationships with religions they saw as ] or ] but did not want to become ]s. It waned in popularity as socialism found more acceptance and was later banned in most of Europe by ]. |
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The doctrine would, however, find elsewhere safe ground to develop. In Brazil, as early as 1900 hundreds of ]s were to be found throughout the country. Spiritism reached its peak of popularity in the 1970s but lost it in the 1990s, being now apparently about to recover. |
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] religions, which were banned in Brazil until 1950, quickly noticed Spiritism and claimed the name for themselves, as a disguise, as Spiritism was a "white man's" religion that was tolerated, while ], ], ] and others were not. Due to this misuse of the term, there persists a confusion regarding the religion, which is often resolved by referring to Spiritism as "Kardecism" or "Kardecist Spiritism". And yet the terms "Kardecist" or "Kardecism" should not be used by those who really understand the difference and know about the ].{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} |
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Although the centres are autonomous, they are assembled in unions that are assembled in federations that are linked to the "Conselho Federativo Nacional" (national federate council) in Brasília -Brazil. The "Conselho Federativo Nacional" is presided by the "Brazilian Spiritist Federation" www.febnet.org.br (site in Brazilian Portuguese) |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* ]. '']''. |
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* Kardec, Allan. '']''. |
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{{Spiritism and Spiritualism}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Spiritism}} |
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] |
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