Important Points
- Superiority, or inferiority, of spirits can be determined by their language to a large part.
- Spirits giving a particular name does not guarantee identity, nor superiority. Superior spirits usually do not give
a name. It is the message that is most important.
- Accept of spirit communications, only what is good, generous, rational, and approved alike, by your intellect and
your conscience.
- One can NEVER be certain of the truth of any spirit communication. Therefore judge each one on its own merit.
- Earnest thought, directed at God, can be an effective deterrent against deceptive spirits but it is not a guarantee
that one will never be deceived.
- Spirits can send proxies (substitutes) when needed.
- if one is deceived by spirits it is because of our imperfection, and for that imperfection and consequent
deception, we ALONE are to blame. God permits this in order to both test you and to enlighten your judgment, by
teaching you truth from error; if you cannot do this it is because you are not sufficiently advanced, and need to
learn further lessons.

Conclusion  

- listen and/or read spirit communications carefully.
- judge the communication weighing the language carefully.
- be wary of spirits giving names.
- judge each message on its own merit.
- you may accept was is rational and reject what is not, or you may defer judgment.

[The Mediums Book, Chapt. XXIV]


As we explore and study the spiritual world with its interaction with the material world, especially during spirit
communication seances or sessions, most people want to know if the spirit who is communicating is indeed, who
they say they are.

Before we can fully answer that question there are certain facts that need to be discussed. Spirits cannot be
controlled by anyone in this material world. Any medium who says they can produce certain phenomena every
time at will, or has a certain spirit at their beck and call, is either a fraud, or, is in the grip of obsessing spirits in
control of the medium. In addition, spirits in the spirit world are at different levels of knowledge of their world, so
just because they have entered the spirit world does not mean instantaneously they know all "the mysteries of
the universe." So, each spirit is limited by their intellectual. spiritual, and moral development when they
communicate. Morally superior spirits control inferior ones with the force of their will and nothing happens
without the Will of God. Another thing, spirits do not wait around waiting to communicate with us. they have
duties and responsibilities according to their level of advancement, and/or they may not be in a position to
communicate at all, either due to still making adjustments to their return to the spirit world, or they may have a
previous engagement. In addition. spirits can send substitutes who will claim the name of the spirit in question,
when it serves their purpose and God's purpose.

So what does all this mean? Each person must decide for themselves if they believe the spirit who is
communicating is who they say they are, based on the information given. But, the message and information given
in the communication itself should be closely pondered upon. If the information (mannerisms, way of speaking.
detailed information given, etc.) was sufficiently specific regarding the individual we wanted to speak to, it can be
assumed it was them. But, since there are never any guarantees. a suitable substitute spirit may have been used
but, we should understand that this should not make that communication any less meaningful.  

At first glance, this may seem rather unfair, but letīs look at it from a more spiritual point of view. First, if the
spirit wants to and can communicate, and it is permitted that they can do so, they usually will. If they can't for
whatever reason. and it would be important to the spiritual and moral well-being of the individual who is waiting
for a communication in the material world, a substitute will be sent, or a messenger will be sent explaining that
the particular spirit could not come. But, any message we have given them will be relayed to the appropriate
individual spirit, sooner or later, when they can receive it, depending on their situation.

God knows ahead of time what we, in the material world, are waiting and wanting for, in regards to spirit
communications and He gives us what we need. This is very reasonable because God loves us, wants to comfort us,
and wants us to know about the spiritual world. If we do not receive what we think we need or want, there is a
just cause for that. All of these facts, do not negate the fact that there is actual spirit communication from the
material world.

It is for these reasons, at our Spiritist Center, we never invoke a particular spirit, we leave it in God's Hands and
His Superior Messengers to allow whatever spirits may need to communicate, to do so.