1 - Introduction

Spiritual and Moral Laws

This section attempts to explain the science regarding the Spiritual Forces in the Cosmos (although we do not pretend it is complete). Forces that traditional religions and conventional science has yet to accept, has either misconstrued, and/or not completely understood. Traditional religions consider many of these phenomena as supernatural or miracles, and, conventional science (since it finds it difficult to study spirits who have freewill who will cooperate or not) holds the general opinion they do not exist and consider them either a figment of our imagination or are hallucinations due to chemical reactions in our brain. But, Spiritists know they are factual by way of our reason, through diligent study, and over 120 years of practical experience regarding these phenomena. Many people in the world who don’t know about “Spiritism” have an inner intuition about these moral and spiritual laws because they are universal in nature and their own spirit is aware and has knowledge of them.

This section discusses the effects of: 1) the Creator (the Supreme Intelligence and First Cause of all things in the Cosmos, without which nothing would exist or occur); 2) spirits and some of their qualities; 3) the spirit world; and, 4) the interaction of these upon us in the material world. New words are used to explain some of these ideas and phenomena, they are introduced to you, and Spiritists continue to use these terminologies. Kardec stated, “the fundamental principle of Spiritism is the relation of the material world with spirits.” There is no other science that currently exists for this specific purpose. This science has religious and philosophical implications as well. What currently comprises the Spiritist Doctrine for Spiritists is only a base from which to continue further studies in this field and that is what Spiritist organizations all over the world continue to do.

This section also presents explanations regarding Moral Laws that provide an explanation for what appears to be the inequities of material life, but nevertheless have logical and just causes.

Used in this section are excerpts from Anna Blackwell’s English translation of the books of Allan Kardec from the French. They are: The Spirits’ Book and Heaven and Hell – The Divine Justice vindicated in the Plurality of Existences (chapter VII). Also used is information from the Kardec book The Gospel According to Spiritism translated from the Spanish by Yvonne Limoges.

Persons wishing to seek a more comprehensive explanation should read these books in full.

Spiritist Society of Florida

March 2004

2 - The Creator

First Cause and Creator of all things

(The Spirits' Book, First Book, Chapter I)

What we call the Supreme Intelligence, the Creator, or God is not completely knowable by us at our current level of spiritual, moral, and intellectual development. (Spiritists do not believe in an anthropomorphic or pantheistic God)

The Creator’s Supreme Will is All Powerful. The Creator is Eternal, Unique, Totally Perfect, and All Love.

The Creator Knows All things: past, present, and future, and from the smallest to the greatest of things.

The Creator is Supremely Just and Good.

The Creator’s Works can be seen in the harmonious order and beauty of Creation. The Power and Wisdom of the Creator is manifested in Creation.

The Supreme Intelligence Created Universal Laws to govern the Cosmos. But in addition, nothing is allowed to occur unless it is permitted by the Supreme Intelligence; for the Supreme Will continues to exert influence upon all planes of existence. (It would be illogical to assume that the Creator would cease to be active after creating the Cosmos)

The Creator created the spirit world, the material world, and the universal fluid (this last one permeates and acts as an intermediary between the two worlds).

The Creator Created spirits (or souls) that are the intelligent principles of the Cosmos. “They were created in a state of simplicity, ignorance, and with freewill so as to receive the merit of their own deeds. They were given a mission, with a view to enlighten themselves and gradually arrive at relative perfection by gaining knowledge of the truth that would bring them closer to knowing the Creator. This relative perfection is a condition of eternal happiness for them. All spirits eventually come to this state.” (from Kardec’s The Spirits Book - Second Book Chapter I)

Purifying ourselves of all materiality and practicing unconditional Love in its purest form is how we can eventually reach closer to comprehension of the Creator.It can be said that the Omnipotent Creator Demonstrates Unconditional Love, Beneficence, and Solicitude towards us that can be seen and expressed, through and from, the morally superior spirit messengers, who are sent to assist, protect, inspire, and communicate with us to further our spiritual and moral progression.

3 - The Universal Fluid

(The Spirits' Book, First Book, Chapter II & Chapter IV)

It permeates all of Creation and is the most primitive substance in the Cosmos. It has special properties of which we cannot understand or know at this time.It is the intermediary between spirit and matter.

It is fluidic and is subject to innumerable combinations with matter, which together give it properties of which apart from it, it would not have.

In our present state of existence we can only feel and see some of the variations of the universal fluid, an example being electricity.

It is the vehicle upon which thoughts and feelings can be carried (examples: telepathy, telekinesis, and prayer).

It is the vehicle that allows for spirits to communicate between themselves in the spirit world and allows them to communicate with humans, in the material world, and vice versa.

The universal fluid is also involved as a force in facilitating spiritual healing (the “laying on hands,” magnetic passes, and the like).

Those persons who have strong faith (and with the force of their will power and strong desire) when directed towards acts of goodness, unconsciously use the universal fluid to perform what many would call miracles but are nothing more than the exercise of a natural phenomena.

What Spiritism calls the vital principle (which allows things to become what we would call “alive” and have action and movement) originates from the universal fluid. The amount of vital principle in an organic being varies. This fluid can be transmitted from one individual to another through the force of a being’s will. Some may be more able to do this then others. Upon the physical death of an organic being, the vital fluid returns to its original source, the universal fluid. (Note: the vital principle is not the spirit, or soul.)

4 - The Spirit (or Soul) and The Spirit World

(The Spirits' Book, First Book, Chapter II & Second Book, Chapter I)

A spirit is the intelligent principle of the Cosmos. It is “who we are.” It contains our intelligence, our will, and our personality. A spirit retains its individuality, whether in the material or spirit world.

Spirits have no gender and do not procreate. Spirits incarnate into male and female bodies in the material world, depending on the type of incarnation that is necessary for the advancement of a particular spirit.

A spirit’s original and true home is in the spirit world. This spirit world exists all around us although we are mostly unaware of it while we are in the material world.

Time and space in the spirit world does not exist, as we know it in the material world.

When the spirit returns to the spirit world (depending on its level of advancement) it can generally remember its past lives and all the knowledge it has gained in those past lives. There it can truly be itself at its full potential in intellect, spirituality, and morality; it is in a freer state of existence. While in a physical body, the spirit is like a prisoner until the moment of release, in what we humans call “death.”

When a spirit incarnates into the material world it is subject to the various limitations of the body it may have; some physical limitations are more severe then others, examples are: mental retardation, blindness, deformities, and other physical, and, organic related mental and emotional conditions.

The spirit controls its physical body by way of what Spiritists calls the perispirit (see separate section on this) when it is incarnated in the material world. The spirit can either control its impulses, or indulge in the physical sensations it feels through the perispirit from its physical body.

The spirit, when incarnated in a physical body, needs to reenergize itself, so that is why the physical body (which also needs rest) must sleep. That is also when the incarnated spirit comes into more direct contact with spirits in the spirit world. Sometimes spirits remember these visits as dreams. But most of the time the spirit does not remember its activities upon waking in the material world because the physical body’s matter is too dense for these impressions to come through.

When the physical body sleeps, the spirit can visit all those friends and relatives it has known from other lives or those who have passed into it from their current one before them. It can visit with those loved ones who are still incarnated in the material world (but are physically asleep). It can visit with inferior or superior spirits. It can consult with its assigned “guardian angel” (a more superior spirit guide) regarding its trials and tribulations in the material world and more directly receive the advice it may need.

Spirits are assigned a spirit protector during their sojourn into the material world; many times we call them guardian angels. These spirits who are superior to us having already evolved further, have accepted the mission of looking after us; they try and influence our thoughts and inspire in us to do and be good. They act as our conscience.

A spirit’s condition in the spirit world, whether happy or unhappy, is the direct consequence of the degree of its advancement or its imperfections. Spirits receive and see what they need. Many need much rest from their trials and tribulations in the material world. Some may report they are in hospitals or rest homes. Others report they attend classes with others, learning many things regarding morality and improving their condition. Depending on the level of morality and intelligence, spirits receive special assignments. Difficult and very important assignments go to more superior spirits.

Spirits in the spirit world exercise a tremendous influence over humans in the material world, for good and for bad. Spirits are one of the Forces of Nature of which conventional science does not yet realize and this is the primary knowledge of which Spiritism brings to the world in a logical and concise manner. When this fact becomes general knowledge it will provide clearer explanations of the processes of: inspiration, intuition, foreknowledge, spiritual healing, and certain types of mental and emotional disorders, and much more.

Superior spirits, with their moral superiority, have authority over all those spirits inferior to them and strictly control those spirits in the spirit world and their influence upon those in the material world. They do this through a force of their will and can exercise what may be called a certain kind of “mind control.” Superior spirits also influence those who are incarnated in the material world to assist mankind in its intellectual and moral progression. They sometimes incarnate into our world to inspire and guide mankind through special missions.

It has been consistently communicated to us by the spirit world that the spirit of the person we know as Jesus of Nazareth, was and is, the most morally superior spirit to have incarnated upon the planet earth to date. His mission was to teach Love towards our Creator, Love to one another, and to bring us the knowledge of an afterlife. We call it the spirit world (He called it the “Kingdom of Heaven”). He emphasized that we should concentrate on spiritual matters over material ones (which are transitory). He is our model to strive for in our own moral conduct.

Finally, the Creator’s Will is Supreme over all, whether upon the material or spirit world. The Supreme Intelligence has a continued influence upon the direction of the Cosmos (and as a result upon us) in harmony with universal laws. We just cannot fully comprehend at our present level of evolutionary stage the influence of the Supreme Intelligence. But communicating spirits insist that it exists and nothing can occur without permission from the Divine Will.

5 - The Perispirit Envelope of the Soul

(The Spirits' Book, Second Book, Chapter I)

The perispirit is the semi-material envelope of the spirit (even when it is in the spirit world) and it is this intermediate nature that enables the spirit and the body to act upon each other when it is incarnated in the material world. The perispirit is drawn from the universal fluid.

The perispirit unites the spirit with the physical body when the spirit is incarnated in the material world; the spirit has two envelopes then, the perispirit and the physical body when incarnated.

The spirit with its perispirit can radiate out beyond its physical body.

When a spirit in incarnating into the material world, its spirit with its perispirit, attaches itself at the moment of human conception in a process that is complete upon a live birth.

The perispirit disperses throughout the physical body and, upon physical death it removes itself, fast or slow, depending on the circumstances of death and the moral and spiritual elevation of the spirit involved.

The physical body, the perispirit, and the soul (or spirit) are all considered what we call “matter” but all are at different stages of evolutionary development. The physical body, of course, is of a more gross and solid nature in comparison to the perispirit and spirit that are both more ethereal and fluidic. All three evolve into a more refined state, as the spirit evolves intellectually, morally, and spiritually.

Spirits from the spirit world, through the force of their will, can (utilizing their perispirit) assume many different appearances (good and bad) to those in the spirit and material world. In the material world, spirits can use it to make sounds, make things move, and can make themselves visible and tangible to our touch.

The vital principle (taken from the universal fluid) under the action of a spirit can give artificial and momentary life to inert objects. Inferior spirits generally do not know how they really do this; they just do it through a force of their will.

Many people in the material world, especially mediums, can “read” or pick up a person’s thoughts, feelings, desires, and more, off of the perispirit of other individuals. Their own spirit is what “sees” or “feels” these things. This can be called “soul sight.” When mediums, and others, see visions, they are generally seeing these things with their spirit not their material eyes. Superior spirits oversee what is allowed to be “seen” or “picked up” by mediums and/or any spirits.

What people call auras, chakras, and the like are manifestations of the perispirit and/or the vital principle. The exact nature of the perispirit is not known at this time but its effects have been studied by Spiritists over 120 years.

People can feel the effects of the perispirit fluids of other persons, whether in the material world or the spirit world. A person can meet someone for the first time and “feel” like they don’t like them without any reason to base this on. What is happening is that the person with its own spirit, is “feeling” the effects of that other person’s perispirit who may not be very nice. At other times, we may feel good around someone because that is the type of perispirit fluids they have around if they are generally a nice person.

Mediums in the material world (people who can see, hear, and communicate in more direct ways with spirits in the spirit world), in general, are much more sensitive to the perispirit fluids of others. Fluids of disturbed or malevolent spirits (whether in the spirit world or incarnated in the material world) can cause them to become “physically” ill and even feel physical pain, depending on the moral nature of the fluids. Mediums should be very careful of their environment and whom they frequent with (review “medium education” section on this same website).

The fluids of the perispirit of a medium and those perispirit fluids of spirits in the spirit world, in conjunction with the universal fluid, are used in the process of spirit communications, spiritual healings, and in spirit materializations as well.

Our spirits (with our perispirit) have qualities of which not all can be manifested in the material world. It is only when spirits are in the spirit world where this can be accomplished.

6 - The Law of Cause and Effect

(Heaven and Hell, Chapter VII)

Spirits (in their evolutionary process) start and end at the same place. In this regard we are all equal before the Creator. A spirit’s goal is to progress ever towards relative perfection, devoid of all materiality and towards superior morality and intellect. It accomplishes this through reincarnation (soul evolution), through successive incarnations in material worlds. It is only in the material world that a spirit can put into practice, through trials and tests, its good intentions and evolve to its final purified state. It cannot accomplish this after one material existence and then continue evolving solely living in the spirit world.

A purified spirit no longer suffers or must undergo reincarnations. They assist in the Divine order and harmony of the Cosmos and are the messengers of the Creator in the exercise of the Supreme Will.

Happiness belongs exclusively to a state of relative perfection; this is the state of a spirit’s complete purification. Every imperfection is a source of suffering and deprivation of enjoyment.

The acquiring of knowledge and of goodness brings with it an increase of enjoyment and diminishes the sources of suffering.Every imperfection of the spirit produces its own inevitable consequences of suffering. Every good quality of the spirit produces, by virtue of the same law, its own natural and certain fulfillment of happiness. This is the Law of Cause and Effect.

Therefore, the amount of a spirit’s suffering is exactly proportioned to the degree of its imperfections, and, the amount of a spirit’s happiness is exactly proportioned to the degree of its intellectual and moral advancement.

Each spirit, through the force of its will and the effort it makes, has the power to acquire the good qualities it lacks and rid it of the bad traits it has.

Each spirit receives the merits or suffers the consequences of all their deeds but the path to redemption and total purification is open to all.

We (spirits) find our own unhappiness (our “Hell”) or happiness (our “Heaven”) wherever we may be, whether in the material world or the spirit world.

The good or wrongdoing that we commit is the result of the good or bad qualities that our spirits possess. Not to do all the good which we have the power to do is also the result of an imperfection on our part. Consequently, since every imperfection is a source of unhappiness, we suffer not only for all the wrongdoing we commit, but also for any good we could have done but did not do.

7 - Three Conditions for the Elimination of a Fault

(Heaven and Hell, Chapter VII)

Since the Justice of the Creator is Infinite, through the Law of Cause and Effect, an exact accounting is kept for each soul, of all the good and all the wrongdoing done in the material or spirit worlds. No evil deed, no evil thoughts, however slight, fails to produce it own appropriate consequence.

On the other hand, no good deed, however minute; no right feeling, however minor; no virtuous aspiration, however faint, is ever overlooked and provides for it proper and good recompense.

Every misdeed shall receive its just and appropriate punishment, and, every good deed shall receive its just and appropriate reward, exactly proportioned, in either case of the action, of which it is the consequence.

Each spirit is the sole arbiter of its own condition. We are personally responsible for our own conduct. Our true intentions and degree of culpability are at times more important in this matter then our specific actions.

In order to progress and get away from wrongdoing, we must analyze what must be done to eliminate wrongdoing or faults. The three conditions, which are necessary for the elimination of a fault, are: repentance, expiation, and reparation. All these are involved in the process of reincarnation.

Repentance is the first step towards reformation as it paves the way to rehabilitation. But, repentance alone is not enough to deliver the wrongdoer from the consequences of their wrongdoing. In order to accomplish this, expiation and reparation are also necessary.

Expiation is when a spirit suffers through the wrongdoing which it has committed in order that, its attention being concentrated on the consequences of that wrongdoing, it may better understand its disastrous nature, and be led to cure itself of the imperfection to which the wrongdoing was due. Expiation consists in the sufferings, both physical and moral, that are the direct result of a spirit’s wrongdoing, until all traces of the wrongdoing have been effaced. This explains the painful and horrible circumstances in which we sometimes find ourselves which are the direct result of our own wrongdoing.

Reparation is returning good to those whom we have wronged. It is only through reparation that we can annul the suffering and the effects of our wrongdoing. One who does not make reparation in a given life for the wrongs they have done in that life, will be brought again, in a new earthly existence, into contact with the parties they have wronged in the former life, under conditions they will have chosen beforehand, and which have been contrived in such a way as to give them the opportunity of proving their devotion to them, and of enabling them to do as much good to them as they formerly did them harm.

Expiation and reparation annuls the cause and consequences of the wrongdoing. Repentance (just being sorry for our wrongdoing) is not enough to do this.

There are also faults that we may be guilty of but do not cause any direct personal harm to other people. In these cases, the reparation of a fault is accomplished in another incarnation by doing what they ought to have done, but did not do so, in a former one, whether by discharging duties which they neglected or did not see they were incumbent to do, or by fulfilling missions which they failed to fulfill in that former life, or by practicing the virtues which are the opposite of the vices in which they indulged. This last means being humble when one was prideful; kindly, if one was unkind; hardworking, if one was idle; being helpful, if one was useless; setting a good example where one had set a bad one; and so on. It is in this that a spirit progresses by turning to profitable account the experience and lessons of past existences.

Whatever may be a spirit’s inferiority or perversity, the Creator never abandons it. Every spirit has its guardian spirit who watches over it, takes note of every movement of its soul, and endeavors to awaken in its mind good thoughts and the desire to progress and to make reparation, in a new existence, for any wrongdoing committed. We are never alone in our sufferings.

A spirit must work out its own amelioration through the action of its own will. It does right, or does wrong of free choice. Suffering due to wrongdoing is temporary, subordinate to repentance, expiation, and reparation which is dependent on the freewill of the wrongdoer, and are the moral medicines, so to speak, which will cure all moral maladies.

The Creator has ordained that happiness (upon reaching the state of a purified spirit) shall be the result of effort, and not of favor, in order that each may obtain it as the result and the reward of their own individual labors. Each is free to labor diligently or do nothing, for its own advancement. Those who work hard and quickly, gain their wages sooner, those who misemploy their energies or lose time, are longer in gaining their reward but have only themselves to blame.

Suffering is a condition of imperfection. Everyone has the power of freeing themselves from imperfections through the exertion of their will; therefore, everyone is able to avoid the sufferings, which are the consequences of those imperfections, and to ensure their future happiness.

8 - The Science of Prayer

(The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter 27)

Prayer is an invocation by our thought to the Creator or to others (whether in the material or spirit worlds). Prayer can be to ask for forgiveness, to ask for blessings, to give thanks, to ask for healing, to plead for help, for mercy, for indulgence, for assistance to correct a fault, and for glorification.

Prayer is transmitted by the force of our will carried by the Universal Fluid to the recipient. It is an action that has an actual and determined effect. The more pure and sincere sentiments, the stronger the potency of the prayer. Good people’s prayers have more effect than those who are not so good.

Good spirits that want to compensate the efforts of those who sincerely pray can second their prayer by a force of their own will.

Through prayer we can receive the assistance from the good spirits if it is in accordance with the Supreme Will and universal laws.

Prayers can cause change and can work in unison with universal laws such as those of cause and effect. Many times prayers are answered in such a manner that they may seem to us an effect of chance or received out of the ordinary course of things.

Some of our prayers may be answered (and some things may never have occurred had we not prayed) and some prayers are not answered if it is not in our own best interests for the progression of our spirits or would cause a bad outcome in the future unknown to us.

Sincere and heartfelt prayer (not those by rote or mechanically said) can provide us with the spiritual assistance we need to have patience, courage, and resignation to support Life’s trials and tribulations. Prayer is nourishment for the soul.

Prayer makes it easier for us to undergo our trials because the good spirits, to reward our humble efforts in praying for help, bathe us with their beneficial spiritual fluids from the spirit world that can calm us and make us feel more tranquil.

Prayer can also inspire (by suggestions from the good spirits) good ideas we may need to resolve our problems.

Prayer is very important and should be practiced sincerely every day. It can be done at any time and anywhere. It can be short or long, the most important thing is that it is done with humility and is sincere and heartfelt.

9 - The Law of Reincarnation

(The Spirits' Book, Second Book, Chapter II & Chapter IV and The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter 5)The aim of reincarnation is the progressive improvement of spirits (and with it mankind).

The spirit, in purifying itself, undergoes a transformation, but in order to effectuate this transformation, it needs the trial of material life. In each new existence, the spirit takes a step forward in its evolutionary progress and when it has stripped itself of all of its impurities, it has no further need of the trials of material life. It enters the state of happiness as a purified spirit.

Reincarnation, in keeping with the Supreme Justice of the Creator, is the only process that can explain the apparent inequities of life. We suffer wherein we have committed wrongdoing. Our freewill in this life determines our future life and our present situation is the result of our past life. We also cannot learn or experience everything we need to evolve to the state of a purified spirit in only one lifetime.

Reincarnation explains why there are geniuses and prodigies. It also explains why all the peoples of the earth are at different levels of intelligence and morality.

The doctrine of Heaven and Hell goes against reason and the Perfect Justice of the Supreme Intelligence. Why should those who were not that good go to “Heaven”? How can the justice of God be reconciled with a doctrine that would condemn wrongdoers eternally to “Hell” without hope of redemption? We forgive our own children, would not the Creator Forgive us Infinitely and Give us the means to improve and redeem ourselves no matter how long it took?

Reincarnation is one of Hope - for the doors of redemption are never closed and we alone determine through our own conduct how many lifetimes we must fulfill. The amount of personal responsibility involved in this process is too much for many to accept or handle. Nevertheless, reincarnation is a universal law. Other religious beliefs seem to provide an easy pathway to God yet still do not answer the question, “Why does a good person suffer?” Only reincarnation can answer this, for we do not know what faults or crimes that “good person” may have had or committed in a past lifetime for which now they may be atoning for, by their own choosing, in order to spiritually and morally progress.

The inequitable situations seemingly good people find themselves in exist only in appearance as they are considered only from the perspective of the present lifetime.

If we agree that the Creator is Infinitely Just, all suffering must have a just cause. The Creator does not punish, we do it to ourselves through the law of cause and effect.

Suffering can be from the immediate and obvious actions we have committed in this lifetime.

Suffering can be from the effects of wrongdoing we have committed in past lifetimes. It is this last type that confuses many because we see people suffer seemingly for no reason (example: those with terrible diseases, born with deformities, those with mental and emotional disorders, those born in horribly poor or violent circumstances, etc.).

It is only through the plurality of existences that we can see the Supreme Justice of the Creator and can explain the apparent inequities of the distribution of happiness and unhappiness upon the earth.

All suffering does not necessarily mean a person has a certain fault or is expiating a wrongdoing. Sometimes a spirit has requested a trial in material life with a particular suffering for further purification of its soul. They elected the trial for further moral and spiritual advancement.

In addition, many spirits ask for difficult missions, small and/or great, for which they will be properly compensated if they carry it out successfully.

In order to obtain merit for any trials and tribulations we undergo and progress, we must suffer them with calm resignation as much as possible, praying to our spirit guides and the Creator for moral and spiritual strength to support whatever we may be going through. Otherwise, we will have to repeat the lesson all over again in another lifetime.

Those spirits that keep repeating the same trials and are very stubborn and continue to persist in wrongdoing can reincarnate in even worse conditions then the lifetime they were previously in, in order to correct their defects or expiate their wrongdoings.

Material life may be compared as somewhat similar to a school were we learn lessons and past tests at each grade level. We never retrograde but we can mark time in the same grade and repeat the same lesson over and over until we finally get it right. Some spirits work faster at this then others. We all have our freewill to do, or not to do, good or bad, and can only blame ourselves for our actions or inactions.

10 - The Universal Control of the Spirits

(The Gospel According to Spiritism, Introduction)

The information contained in what we call the Spiritist Doctrine or Spiritism was not the invention of any human being but teachings communicated to humans by spirits from the spirit world. Although humans who were mediums were used as instruments to transmit these teachings, the same information was consistently transmitted through different mediums unknown to each other and at different times and in different places. What Allan Kardec did, using his scientific reasoning, was to compile the information that was logical, consistent, and corroborated by more than one spirit communication, in order to finally publish the books he did.

Spirits have been communicating with mankind since its existence but more intelligent spirit teachings and messages have now been allowed as mankind has advanced in science and progressed to a certain level of intelligence and morality and where superstition would have no place.

As we evolve on this planet we will continue to receive spirit communications teaching us many new things… but only when we are ready to receive them.

The guarantee that what they teach us, after first using our reason to decide if the information makes sense, is if the same new idea or teaching is spontaneously received by a large number of mediums who do not know each other and are located in different places.

The spirit world has worked (and continues to do so) in unison under a Divine Plan according to the law of progress to help propel mankind to evolve to higher levels of understanding regarding its true nature and purpose on this planet and in the universe.

11 - Plurality of Worlds

(The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter 3 and The Spirits' Book, Book One, Chapter III)

Our current technology has discovered that there are more planets in the universe then our own earth and in our own solar system. This information was already transmitted to us by the spirit world in the 1850’s. The spirits also tell us that there is intelligent life on other worlds as well (although we have yet to discover this).

This plurality of inhabited worlds fits in with reincarnation because as beings evolve, so does the population of the planet. Those beings too stubborn to change their ways and who try to impede the law of progress will be sent to more inferior worlds more in keeping with their backwardness. Those who progress faster then the population of a world can be sent to more morally advanced and peaceful worlds.

The spirits have taught us that although beings evolve unevenly on a particular planet as a whole it can be said that generally there are five basic categories of planets. They are: the primitive worlds, the worlds of tests and atonements, the regenerating worlds, the blessed worlds, and the celestial worlds. The populations of all the worlds evolve changing themselves each time into a world of a higher intellectual, moral, and spiritual level.

Our earth has already transformed from a primitive world to one that is currently a world of tests and atonements. We can see that based on our current state of affairs (where misery, evil, and violence abound) we have a long way to go in this progression before our transformation into a world of regeneration where the majority of the spirits will be striving to be good and where evil will not predominate.

In general, an individual spirit incarnates into a world where it advances through all phases of progress that it can on a particular world. It passes on to morally higher worlds to evolve further until it has reached its goal as a purified spirit. A spirit is rewarded for its progress by ascendance to better worlds. Persistence in wrongdoing and/or continued indulgence in materiality and wanton sensuality in all aspects cause it to prolong its stay in the unhappy worlds of tests and atonements. It takes constant efforts towards our own moral improvement to incarnate into the spiritually higher worlds. But, sooner or later, we will all become residents in those celestial worlds; such is the law of progress.

12 - Conclusion

The ideas here expressed have been transmitted by the spirit world throughout the ages, at different times in different ways and in different places, presented in ways that the various peoples may understand them. The worlds’ religions and philosophies contain many moral and spiritual truths. But, humans being imperfect have many times distorted or misinterpreted these messages and added their own imperfect ideas.

The time has come when the spirit world can communicate more fully, clearly, and completely all over the world.

For those who find other doctrines, religions, or beliefs lacking, you may possibly quench your thirst for spiritual and moral truths in knowledge of Spiritism.

Spiritism teaches us who we are, where we come from, how we should conduct ourselves, what the purpose of suffering and material life is, and what our final goal should be. It teaches us that there is a Divine Plan, that we are looked after by morally good and superior beings who care very much for us, what we call “death” is only a necessary change with nothing to fear, and what appears to be chaos in the world is only the effects of evolutionary changes which are temporary and transitory compared to the big scheme of things in the universe. Material life may be extremely difficult at times but it seems to me nothing good is ever attained easily.

The law of progress dictates all will change in our world for the better and we will be the ones to accomplish it, so we can receive the fruits of our own labors. Isn’t that hopeful and satisfying?

I thank the Creator and the superior spirits who watch over us!

Yvonne Crespo Limoges

Spiritist Society of Florida