The Spirits' Book - Couverture rigide

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1940849012 ISBN 13 : 9781940849010

Editeur : Ancient Wisdom Publications, 2013

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur :

The figure-head of the Spiritist movement, Allan Kardec, was born Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail on October 3rd, 1804, in Lyon, France. He came from a long line of lawyers and legal professionals and was expected to follow suit but broke with family tradition to explore his interests in philosophy and the sciences. Hippolyte finished his studies in Switzerland where he became an acolyte and colleague of the famed educational maverick Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. By the time he had finished his education Rivail had quite a collection of qualifications and skills such as Bachelor of the Arts degrees in science and letters and a doctorate in medicine. He was also fluent in Spanish, German, Italian and English and all of the talents and honours he had acquired made him an ideal collaborator for Pestalozzi. Hippolyte's work with Pestalozzi helped to lay the foundations for the teaching model in schools in France and Germany. He was a member of many scientific societies and wrote extensively on various subjects and one of his papers, 'Which System of Study Is Most Harmonious with the Needs of the Time?', lead to his induction in the Royal Academy of Arras. Rivail's interests in science expanded beyond conventional studies and by the early 1850's he had taken an interest in Franz Mesmer's theory of 'animal magnetism'. Mesmer's theory was all the rage in the upper reaches of society and so was the phenomenon of 'spirit tapping'. Spirit tapping had become very popular in France and the USA and it involved the apparent unaided movement of objects by spirit forces to answer questions by tapping out noises on surfaces with the amount of knocks translating to numbers of the alphabet. Such widespread fascination in the incidents piqued the interest of Rivail and so he decided to investigate the strange goings on. He attended his first seance in the May of 1855 and recorded his thoughts on this initial exposure to the phenomenon: These meetings provided me with my first opportunity for serious studies of the subject that later led to the Spiritist Doctrine-study filled less with revelation and more with systematic observation. As to any new subject, I applied rigorous method to the investigation: avoiding preconceived notions, I observed attentively, compared observations, and deduced the consequences. I tried to identify the causes of the phenomena by linking the facts logically, and I did not accept an explanation as valid unless it could resolve all the difficulties of the question. This was the way I had always, from the age of fifteen or sixteen, proceeded in my scientific investigations. I understood from the beginning the gravity of the exploration I was undertaking. I foresaw in those phenomena, the key to the solution of problems so obscure and so disputed, both in the past and in the future, which I had searched for all my life; the phenomena posed a complete revolution in ideas and beliefs. It was necessary, therefore, to act not lightly, but rather with circumspection, to be positive rather than idealistic, so as not to be carried away by illusions.A" During the many seances he attended Kardec communicated with a collection of entities that called themselves 'The Spirit of Truth'. The group talked about many lofty subjects such as life after death, good and evil, the universe and the origin of spirits, amongst others. Thomas of Aquino, Voltaire and Augustine of Hippo all came through in the sessions and after a number of seances with the group Revail decided there was enough proof to convince him that there was life after death. Sensing that his revelation wasn't meant just for him he decided to spread the message and 'codified' the Spirit of Truth's teachings and listed them as answers to questions. The resulting text made up his first book on the topic, 'The Spirits Book', and the book was published under the pseudo

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Allan Kardec's supreme handbook about the world of the spirits and the movement of Spiritism is a valuable and insightful guide to existences beyond our corporeal realm.

In the mid-19th century, Allan Kardec was a noted scholar working in Paris with qualifications in the medicine and the natural sciences. A fashionable trend at the time was seances; something which Kardec undertook with enthusiasm. Struck by the results of the process, he commenced to write several studies which would prove popular among those convinced in the power of spirits to demonstrate influence or power.

Kardec begins this work by delving into the historical significance of spirits, their connection with God and the physical universe. How spirits are situated in the world, and how they move unseen between the planes of existence, is discussed.

The second part concentrates on The Spirit World in greater detail. The types of spirits and how they are incarnated are detailed, with Kardec proposing that several distinct planes of existence are extant, and that most individuals proceed through life without knowing or seeing their influence. A chapter is devoted to how spirits might intervene in our everyday, corporeal world. Often these excursions have a purpose; the spirits are on a mission to inform someone, or change something, that harmony may be restored.

The third part concerns the ten, eternal and unchanging moral laws which govern both humanity and the spirits. Proclaimed by God, these laws offer insight into the behavior of the spirits, who largely seek to conform to these laws. Through spiritual consultations we may learn more about the moral laws, that we grasp the truths behind good and evil. Each of the laws receives a thorough examination by the author.

The fourth, concluding part of this book discusses how people may treat their knowledge of the spirits. Although we are subject to Earthly joys, sorrows, good fortune and misfortune, the knowledge that spirits are present is a consolation from the hardships of existence.

The book is arranged so as to pose a series of questions, which the author then answers. This format is retained for the entirety of the work, with a total of over one thousand questions regarding spirits answered. The reader will emerge knowledgeable and poised to begin their own investigations into the spiritual realms beyond our own.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Ancient Wisdom Publications
• Date d'édition: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1940849012
• ISBN 13: 9781940849010
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 468