Kardecist spiritism

[18] The term spiritisme was created by the French educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail (known as Allan Kardec) to refer to his ideas in The Spirits' Book (1857).

Thus, those who adhere to the teachings codified by Kardec in the basic works (with varying degrees of tolerance for concepts that are not strictly doctrinal, such as apometry) simply identify themselves as spiritists, without the addition of Kardecist.

In the philosophical sense, Spiritism is a religion, and we take pride in it because it is the doctrine that establishes the bonds of fraternity and communion of thoughts, not on a mere convention, but on more solid foundations: the very laws of Nature.At the International Spiritist Congress held in Paris in 1925, there was a proposal to remove the religious aspect from Spiritism, but the important French Spiritist philosopher Léon Denis opposed it with tenacity, even in his already weak physical condition of health.

In the case of Christianity, the fundamental dogmas that stand out are the divinity of Christ, the Holy Trinity, salvation or justification by grace (more than by individual works or efforts), and the existence and importance of the Church as a spiritual entity, not just human.

[27] Kardec's main intention as a Spiritist was to provide some support to human spirituality at a time when science was advancing rapidly and religions were losing followers.

He analyzed accounts of numerous mediumistic occurrences spread throughout Europe and the United States, unifying the information he interpreted in order to codify this type of practice and the teachings transmitted.

[45] Victor Hugo, during his exile on the island of Jersey (1851–1855), participated in numerous table-turning sessions with his friend Auguste Vacquerie and came to believe that he had made contact with deceased spirits, including his late daughter Léopoldine and great writers such as Shakespeare, Dante, Racine, and Molière.

[50] The Spiritist doctrine aims to establish a dialogue between science, philosophy, and religion, with the goal of obtaining an original form that is both more comprehensive and profound, in order to better understand reality.

"[22][51] The Spiritist doctrine, in general, is based on the following principles:[53] Additionally, secondary characteristics can be mentioned:[62] Spiritism does not have an official symbol and prioritizes a denotative language.

"[80] However, the current scientific consensus considers parapsychology a pseudoscience,[81] disregarding the alleged paranormal phenomena that underpin spiritism, such as mediumship, reincarnation, obsession, table-turning, séances, automatic writing, spiritualist art, and typology.

[85][86][87] According to Joseph McCabe, citing the claims of Arthur Conan Doyle about scientists confirming the alleged spiritual phenomena for 30 years, the mediums deceived the researchers.

Hașdeu, Alexandre Aksakof, Cesare Lombroso, Camille Flammarion, Carl Jung, Charles Richet, Gabriel Delanne, Frederic Myers, Hans Eysenck, Henri Bergson, Ian Stevenson, J. J. Thomson, J.

Spiritism constitutes a vast international movement of charity and healthcare institutions, as evidenced mainly by the existence of such associations, numerous hospitals and spiritist centers, and a notable promotion of psychiatry and homeopathy.

Spiritist writers such as José Reis Chaves and Severino Celestino da Silva also claim that reincarnation was part of early Christianity until it was condemned by the Second Council of Constantinople.

[96][97] This controversial thesis was popularized even earlier by Leslie Weatherhead but has also been questioned based on statements from the Church Fathers and the lack of references to reincarnation during that Council.

Dr. Antônio Flávio Pierucci, professor at the Department of Sociology at the University of São Paulo (USP) and scholar of Brazilian religiosity, is one of those who affirm that Spiritism is "not a Christian religion.

[107] According to Spiritism, all Christian morality is summarized in this axiom: Outside of charity, there is no salvation.The Brazilian Spiritist Federation is a public utility entity[108] founded on January 2, 1884, in Rio de Janeiro.

It is a civil, religious, educational, cultural, and philanthropic society whose purpose is the study, practice, and dissemination of Spiritism in all its aspects, based on the works of Allan Kardec's Codification and the canonical Gospels.

[121]Through Bezerra de Menezes[122] and Chico Xavier,[123] Spiritism had the opportunity to become popular throughout the country, spreading its teachings across a large part of the Brazilian territory.

Although socially tolerated, especially after the actions of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB) in the first decades of the 20th century, the practice ceased to be officially prohibited only with the promulgation of the penal code of 1940.

[128] The state capitals with the highest percentage of Spiritists are Florianópolis (7.3%), Porto Alegre (7.1%), Rio de Janeiro (5.9%), São Paulo (4.7%), Goiânia (4.3%), Belo Horizonte (4.0%), Campo Grande (3.6%), Recife (3.6%), Brasília (3.5%), and Cuiabá (3.5%).

[citation needed] In the decades of 1850–1860, Spiritism reached Mexico, attracting the intellectual elite with its proposals of modernism, anticlerical reform, and liberalism of free thought.

"[137][139] In addition to its academic presence, popular Spiritism emerged, incorporating indigenous practices and local cults, with a strongly present folkloric imagery in the figure of Teresa Urrea, a spiritual healer who was supported by the spiritist Lauro Aguirre.

[137][140] The feminist Laureana Wright, an already renowned writer, converted to Spiritism in 1889 to promote the debate of thought and women's equality, inspired by examples of female emancipation that she observed in other countries, and started holding sessions attended by various public figures, later becoming the president of the Sociedad Espírita Central.

[141] Spiritist groups emerged in various locations, and after a brief decline at the end of the 19th century, attention on Spiritism intensified in the early 20th century through press coverage after Francisco Madero, who promoted it through works he distributed, organized congresses, and, inspired by allegedly psychographed letters, published a book that promoted the Mexican Revolution, becoming the president of Mexico for a short period until he was assassinated.

[142] On the other hand, Spiritists who do not accept the work The Four Gospels, coordinated by Roustaing, believe that Jesus had a material body like any other incarnated human being, and its genesis was also similar, through the fusion of sperm and ovum.

[145] In Brazil, since the second half of the 1950s, some Spiritist centers have followed the doctrine allegedly dictated by the spirit Ramatis (mainly embodied in the works psychographed by Hercílio Maes).

[155] The Brazilian soap opera Somos Todos Irmãos (1966), produced by the extinct TV Tupi, was inspired by the spiritist novel A Vingança do Judeu psychographed by the Russian medium Vera Kryzhanovskaia.

[156] The soap opera A Viagem (1975), produced by TV Tupi, was inspired by the spiritist novels Nosso Lar and E a Vida Continua... psychographed by Chico Xavier, developing a complex plot addressing concepts such as mediumship, death, spiritual obsession, reincarnation, and others.

[157] The soap opera O Profeta (1977), produced by the extinct TV Tupi and also with a remake conceived in 2006 by Rede Globo, portrays the main character as a medium capable of predicting the future.