''The Book on Mediums'' or ''Mediums and Evokers' Handbook'' (a.k.a. ''The Mediums' Book'' —''Le Livre des Médiums'', in French), is a book by
Allan Kardec
Allan Kardec () is the pen name of the French educator, translator, and author Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail (; 3 October 1804 – 31 March 1869). He is the author of the five books known as the Spiritist Codification, and the founder of S ...
published in 1861, second of the five
Fundamental Works of Spiritism
Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Riva ...
— the philosophy Kardec had been publishing — being the tome in which the experimental and investigative features of the doctrine were presented, explained and taught.
Scope
It is intended to be an actual ''
handbook
A handbook is a type of reference work, or other collection of instructions, that is intended to provide ready reference. The term originally applied to a small or portable book containing information useful for its owner, but the ''Oxford Engl ...
'' for would-be mediums, containing
doctrine
Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...
and
practices that one must master in order to become a
medium
Medium may refer to:
Science and technology
Aviation
*Medium bomber, a class of war plane
*Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data
* Medium of ...
, an elementary course on theories and basic methods to assess the ''new light'' that had never been tried by
rational inquiry before: the interaction of the
physical
Physical may refer to:
*Physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
and spiritual worlds.
''The Book on Mediums'' set the bases and the terminology that guided
Parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...
and
Paranormality for quite sometime. In its pages one will find a classification of paranormal phenomena, with a special focus on those capable of communicating messages, and thorough descriptions of the mechanisms that — according to Spiritism — were involved. It also contains serious warnings against unguided use of the gift of
mediumship
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or ghost, spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship o ...
, especially without the necessary seriousness.
Contents
The book's signature is its focus on theory instead of practice: not a single line of ritual is given (Spiritists believe all rituals are superfluous), unless one consider recommendations for prayer (without giving formulae) as "ritual". In its first part, there is an overall introduction to the fundamental points of Spiritism. The following topics are examined within the book:
First Part (Preliminary Topics)
This part appears to contain a defense of Spiritism on
empiric and
logical
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
grounds.
* Are there spirits?
* The difference between the extraordinary and the supernatural (with the apt conclusion that most things seen as ''supernatural'' are only extraordinary but natural phenomena).
* How to reason against those who, for several types of reasons, will not believe Spiritism.
* Exposition of the
fallacies
A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning, or "wrong moves," in the construction of an argument which may appear stronger than it really is if the fallacy is not spotted. The term in the Western intellectual tradition was intr ...
of most explanations of Spiritism.
* Cautionary exposition of some views of Spiritism that bordered on
fanaticism
Fanaticism (from the Latin adverb ''fānāticē'' ren-''fānāticus''; enthusiastic, ecstatic; raging, fanatical, furious is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm.
Definitions
Philosopher George Santayana ...
,
Obscurantism
In philosophy, the terms obscurantism and obscurationism describe the anti-intellectual practices of deliberately presenting information in an abstruse and imprecise manner that limits further inquiry and understanding of a subject. There are two ...
,
polytheism
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...
or
charlatan
A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through false pretenses, pretense or deception. Synonyms for ''charlatan ...
ism.
This last aspect shows that ever since the beginnings of Spiritism there were "deviant" groups with a different interpretation, ''some of which tried to identify themselves with the term Spiritism, which Kardec claimed to be an original term created by him to avoid such confusion.''
Second Part (Manifestations of Spirits)
This part first describes and categorises the kinds of phenomena that are related to spirits, like:
* Production or modification of
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic partic ...
*
Table-turning
Table-turning (also known as table-tapping, table-tipping or table-tilting) is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations. The table was purportedly made to serve as a means of comm ...
*
Incorporation of spirits
*
Haunted house
A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...
s
*
Transfiguration
*
Apparition
*
Psychography
Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged spir ...
*
Psychophony
Psychophony (from the Greek ''psyke'', soul and ''phone'', sound, voice) is the name given by Spiritism and some other spiritualist traditions to the phenomenon where, according to them, a spirit talks using the voice of a medium.
Spiritist Doct ...
*
Telekinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
, which Kardec knew as
Poltergeist
In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...
Then it goes into explaining how to deal with the intelligent manifestations ("communications"). It is noteworthy that very little is "taught" on ''how to produce the spiritist phenomena'', as in Kardec's view these were natural and spontaneous. Kardec regards as more important the correct understanding and the tight control of conditions ''during'' and ''after'' the phenomeon took place. He thought it was wiser that the would-be medium knew what to expect and how to behave before he was given any instructions on how to engage on
evocation
Evocation is the act of evoking, calling upon, or summoning a spirit, demon, deity or other supernatural agents, in the Western mystery tradition. Comparable practices exist in many religions and magical traditions and may employ the use of mi ...
. There were, apparently, some cases of
mania
Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a mental and behavioral disorder defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together wit ...
or
personality disorder
Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...
related to prolonged infatuation with Spiritism, which he was careful to advise how to avoid.
Among the main advice we find:
* Do not believe the spirit to be who he purports to be unless there is evidence supporting his claim, but even then, wait until others confirm what one has said.
* Do not judge the spirits by their purported names, but by the quality of the morals and the philosophy found in their communications.
* Do not let yourself too entertained with the evocation or incorporation of spirits enough to disregard what is more important, like living your own life and helping your neighbour.
* Do not live by the spirits' advice: the communications from the spirits are to be studied and revered — but they should not be taken as the word-by-word expression of the ultimate truth.
* Do not judge the quality of the communication by the culture or the social status of the medium by which it was brought.
In the final chapters Kardec present the rules and the
statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
s of the Spiritist Society he had helped found in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, which he hoped could be useful as models to other societies worldwide.
Important concepts developed or introduced in this Book
''The Book on Mediums'' repeats, develops and extends into detail some broad concepts about Spirits found in ''The Spirits' Book''. It also introduces some new ones.
* Perispirit: The
Perispirit
In Spiritism, perispirit is the subtle body that is used by the spirit to connect with the perceptions created by the brain. The term is found among the extensive terminology originally devised by Allan Kardec in his books about Spiritism. Its fir ...
, a semi-material envelope (or body) which is the link between pure spirit and pure matter. Such envelope is called
Perispirit
In Spiritism, perispirit is the subtle body that is used by the spirit to connect with the perceptions created by the brain. The term is found among the extensive terminology originally devised by Allan Kardec in his books about Spiritism. Its fir ...
(from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, meaning ''Outer Spirit'' or ''Around the Spirit'') and is renewed each time a spirit
reincarnates. The perispirit has roughly the same appearance of the spirits' last incarnation and is what we actually see in
apparitions
Apparition may refer to:
Supernatural
*Apparitional experience, an anomalous, quasi-perceptual experience
* A vision, something seen in a dream, trance, or religious ecstasy
*Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear ...
.
* Serfdom in the Spirit World: Lower spirits, especially those in
penance
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...
are often hired by higher spirits as their apprentices or even serfs. Weak spirits of low morals may be even enslaved by strong, evil others, especially if they were enemies when incarnated.
* The cause of Poltergeists: The perturbation popularly named
poltergeist
In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...
is caused by an evil or clueless spirit taking advantage of an untrained natural medium. If the medium learns how to control his/her powers he will not be disturbed by it. Sometimes the medium loses his/her powers after puberty.
* Mind over matter: Spirits are capable of moving, transporting, dematerialising and rematerialising inanimate objects, with the help of mediums
* Instrument or Medium?: Throughout the book Kardec used both terms interchangeably, but he prefers to use ''instrument'' instead of medium when talking to spirits.
*
Sleep
Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...
is the emancipation of the
mind
The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...
: While we are asleep our spirit loosens its ties to matter and wanders the spiritual world. Because of it, it is theoretically possible—although uncommon—to see the spirit of a living person as an
apparition.
* Sometimes it is just an illusion: Kardec admits that often people who report apparitions or poltergeist are victims of
delusion
A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...
,
hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...
or are just lying.
* The spiritual world is a mirror of the material world, except for the lower spirits (for whom it is something not unlike
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
) or the higher ones (for whom it is ideal, immaterial).
* Haunted houses are haunted all the time, not only at night: But it is much easier to hear and to see spirits when it is quiet and dark.
* Because spirits are of varied degrees of knowledge and morality, their communications are also diverse, ranging from inane, stupid, common-place, common sense, elevated but lacking originality to name a few. Only a small portion of the communications are worth keeping record of. Technically, nothing prevents a spirit from producing communications of pornographic nature, if he/she is so inclined. The only way to select the quality of communication is by sympathy: spirits are drawn by similar tastes, so each medium will attract spirits that share his interests or know his weaknesses.
* There are different types of mediums, as many as the different types of phenomena spirits can produce. A few mediums can produce more than one type of phenomenon, in that those who see/hear cannot produce physical effects, those who write cannot see, and so on. The most common types are: physical effects, seer, hearer, psychographer, sensitive, incorporative (talkative), sleepwalking, healer and intuitive.
* Mediumship can be tiring, painful or even downright dangerous to the health of the body or of the mind.
* Most mediums are under the risk of being overwhelmed by evil spirits and made their puppets. The only way to prevent this is to lead a moderate and ethical life.
* No medium can produce phenomena at will, but only when some spirit is willing to.
* Animals are mediums too : they can see spirits, hear them or even be haunted by them.
* A large amount of the evil that exists in the world is the work of lower evil spirits that obsess the minds of the weak of will.
See also
*
Spiritism
Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Riva ...
* ''
Spiritism
Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Riva ...
''
*
Spiritist Codification
Allan Kardec () is the pen name of the French educator, translator, and author Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail (; 3 October 1804 – 31 March 1869). He is the author of the five books known as the Spiritist Codification, and the founder of S ...
* ''
The Spirits Book
''The Spirits' Book'' (''Le Livre des Esprits'' in French) is part of the Spiritist Codification, and is regarded as one of the five fundamental works on Spiritism. It was published by the French educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, under ...
''
External links
''The Spirits' Book'' codified by Allan Kardec (PDF); o
''The Book on Mediums''by Allan Kardec (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Book on Mediums
Occult books
Spiritism
Books about spirituality
1861 books