This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jggouvea (talk | contribs) at 00:52, 8 August 2006 (→Spiritism in the XX Century). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 00:52, 8 August 2006 by Jggouvea (talk | contribs) (→Spiritism in the XX Century)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Spiritism was founded by Allan Kardec in France in the middle of the XIX century, influenced by Franz Mesmer, the Fox sisters and the popularity of table-turning séances in his time. He did not claim that his doctrine was entirely new, but conceded that it was based on notions known to mankind since the greatest antiquity. This claim, and the nature of the revelation on which he based his work, caused a great deal of controversy between Spiritism and other religions.
"Ancient Spiritism"
Mediumship and other phenomena studied by Spiritism were not "recent". They had manifested themselves in man's ancient religions and are closely related to Shamanism. Most other religions also contain them to some degree. The Catholic worship of the Saints, for instance, is likened to the veneration of the Enlightened Spirits in Spiritism and both are related to ancestor worship, which is found all over the world, being present in religions like Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and African tribal religions.
In Ancient Greece it was believed that the dead inhabited Hades and that it was possible to reach them, either by mediumship or by a type of astral projection. Ulysses and Orpheus are two characters who went to the Hades eventually. In the Iliad, Achilles and Ulysses also used a bloody sacrifice to summon the souls of the dead.
The Romans were famously afraid of ghosts and demons and their superstitions formed the bases for most of European witchcraft and sorcery during the Middle Age, added with significant Germanic elements.
Spiritists believe that many stories told in Greco-Roman mythologies are better explained by the intervention of Spirits.
Spiritist phenomena were also present in other places as well. The ban on the evocation of spirits found in the Bible is, for instance, solid evidence that it was extensively practiced among the israelites and the manifestation of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost is explained by Spiritism as a mass manifestation of mediumship. The life of Jesus is moreover filled with circumstances that fit well with the doctrine.
"Mediaeval Spiritism"
In the Middle Ages it was believed that the dead could eventually come back and haunt persons or places (this being the origin of the legends of ghosts and haunted houses). However, such phenomena were seen as diabolic in nature and the Catholic Church would eventually try to enforce a strict control over them, quoting the Deuteronomy ban. People displayind any signs of mediumship were lynched or executed by the Inquisition, especially during the Witch Hunt crazes.
By the time of William Shakespeare popular belief in ghosts was widespread in Britain, and he used them as plot devices in several of his works, such as Hamlet, Julius Caesar (play) and Macbeth and a lot of other such tales flourished then.
Shamanism
Asian Shamans 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. American Native medicine men 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 eurocentric to the point of not giving attention to Hinduism, a vastly more ancient religion that also features a prominent role for reincarnation).
Spiritism and Christianity
Christianity has traditionally been critical of Spiritism, mostly because Mosaic Law 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 fallen angels, while others claim that the clear rendering of scripture teaches they are demons (while some equate demons with fallen angels).
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. Christian Fundamentalists also reject spiritism following the Mosaic Law on the subject of the dead. Reincarnation is also a subject for further criticism among many Christian denominations, since several passages in the New Testament seems incompatible with it (most notably Hb. 9:27).
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.
Spiritism in the XX Century
After the death of Allan Kardec Spiritism continued to spread and was internationally famous. Thousands of Spiritist centres were founded throughout Europe, North America and, especially, Brazil. This situation continued until the First World War.
By the beginning of the XX century, however, Spiritism started to lose its newly-gained popularity as the result of a series of factors:
- reaction of traditional religions
- death of famous converts, like William Crookes, Arthur Conan Doyle and Camille Flammarion
- repression by fascist regimes, which did not favour Spiritism's strong support for internationalism
- development of scientific explanations for some phenomena which were claimed by Spiritism (like the explanation of obsession by Psychoanalysis)
- scientific discoveries that proved that central tenets of the doctrine were wrong (electricity is not a "fluid", "animal magnetism" does not exist, etc.)
In Brazil, on the other hand, none of the above factors was enough to weaken the spreading of the doctrine. catholicism 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 dedicate members, like Bezerra de Menezes, the doctrine remained strong and took roots that allowed it to still exist today, while it has nearly disappeared almost everywhere else.
Syncretic Religions
Kardec's Spiritism and Anglo-American Spiritualism 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 secularism and may be seen as an intermediate step for those who wished to relinquish their relationships with religions they saw as wikt:old-fashioned or wikt:corrupt but did not want to become atheists. It waned in popularity as socialism found more acceptance and was later banned in most of Europe by Fascism.
The doctrine would, however, find elsewhere safe ground to develop. In Brazil, as early as 1900 hundreds of Spiritist centres 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.
Afro-Brazilian 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 Candomblé, Umbanda, Quimbanda 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."