Spiritist Knowledge

Ectoplasm (from the Greek ektos, meaning "outside", and plasma, meaning "something formed or molded") is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums .( Wiki quote ) There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding concerning the purpose and raison d'etre of such material that today stands as a mythical substance so many times discredited and ridiculed by skeptics, but that is the basis of some psychic manifestations produced by physical mediums. The production of this substance requires a unique set of special conditions besides a capable physical medium. Such conditions were reproduced in several séances that took place in Campinas/SP, Brazil, between 1955 and 1965 under the mediumship of Mrs. Otília Diogo and Mr. Antônio Feitosa and that were investigated by Mr. Nedyr M. da Rocha (1932-2010) and dozens of other people. In our previous post , we have already discussed and presented s...

A new book (in Portuguese) was recently released: " O fotógrafo dos Espíritos " by Nedyr Mendes da Rocha (1932-2010) (Edited by EME ). This is a long waited account by Mr. da Rocha who had the opportunity to make hundred photographs of spirit materializations in 1960´s and before with the mediums Mrs. Otília Diogo and Mr. Antônio Feitosa. Translations of some book excerpts will be presented here in many posts.    The book has 4 Chapters; Chapter I and II, the author presents his life story, how he became interested in Spiritism and psychic phenomena; he gives a short historic introduction to Spiritualism and the appearance of the "Spirit's book" by A. Kardec; how the first seances at Casa do Caminho  (or 'House of the Way', at his father´s house) in Campinas/SP had began. He also give us a description of a seance in Andradas/MG around 1950 where he first witnessed many physical effects. Chapter III gives further details of the regular sittings at Casa ...

“ Unshakable faith is only that which can meet reason face to face in every Human epoch .” - Allan Kardec. What it is • “Spiritism is a science which deals with the nature, origin and destiny of Spirits, as well as their relationship with the corporeal world.” • It is the set of principles, as revealed by the Superior Spirits, contained in Allan Kardec’s works, which constitute the Spiritist Fundamentals: The Spirits’ Book, The Mediums’ Book, The Gospel Explained by Spiritism, Heaven and Hell, and The Genesis. Allan Kardec (Taken from Qu’est-ce que le Spiritisme? - Préambule) Translated from the original French What it reveals • It reveals more profound concepts with respect to God, the Universe, the Human Being, the Spirits and the Laws which govern life itself. • Furthermore, it reveals who we are; where we have come from; where we are going to; what is the objective of our existence; and what are the present and past causes of pain and suffering. What it encompasses • Spi...

The principal international scientific organization studying parapsychology and the nature of consciousness, the Parapsychological Association (PA) will be hosting its 54th annual convention on August 18-21, 2011 in Curitiba, Brazil. Leading scientists and other academics from around the world will gather to present the latest parapsychological research into psi and other phenomena, such as extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis, psychic healing, altered states of consciousness, mediumship and survival of bodily death. Open to the public and academics alike, with most events in English but simultaneous translation available in English and Portuguese, the PA convention coincides with UNIBEM's 7th Psi Meeting and the 6th Journey into Altered States , adding local academic and experiential dimensions to the combined events. In addition to hosting the largest contingent of PA members and affiliates outside of the US and Europe, Brazil contains a rich diversity of groups and individu...

Dear Colleague, We are glad to invite you to the 7th MEETING OF THE LEAGUE OF RESEARCHERS ON SPIRITISM ( 7th LRS Meeting or ENLIHPE in Portuguese), São Paulo, Brazil, August 20-21, 2011. The event will be hosted by the CCDPE – Centro de Cultura, Documentação e Pesquisa do Espiritismo , an emerging center for studies in Spiritism in Brazil. The goal of the seminar is to bring together Brazilian and international scholars working on current issues in Spiritism. Thereby we will learn about different worldwide spiritist research and create a setting where work in progress can be improved and discussed in-depth. Especially the attendance and moderating function of members of League of Researchers on Spiritism offers an excellent possibility to receive meaningful feedback for submitted work. Therefore, we encourage submission of analytical, empirical and experimental research. Proposal submission deadline: 15th June 2011 . Goals To promote the exchange of ideas on Spiritist theori...

To find each of the language levels discussed before in many automatic writtings by C. Xavier is an interesting exercise. Mophology, sintax, semantics, pragmatics and intention all show up vividly in the many psychographic letters, but not with the same intensity and uniformity. Such observation reveals hidden aspects of the mediumship process that are totally in accordance with the notion of interference of the mediumship vehicle. The presence of medium's interference is a strong evidence of a communication process in action, since every communication occurence is affected by interference to some degree. The influence of interference in automatic writtings depends, however, on the linguistic level that is taken into account, but it increases at lower levels. the higher the cognitive functions that are required to manifest certain linguistic features (at higher levels) so the weaker will the interference be. Pragmatics and intention in F. C Xavier automatic writtings is dire...

" Of mediumship there are many grades, one of the simplest forms being the capacity to receive an impression or automatic writing, under peaceful conditions, in an ordinary state; but the whole subject is too large to be treated here ." Sir Oliver Lodge. Read more about this case here (access to SKL repository).   I n simple terms, a communication process is a set of stages that transfers a message from emitter to receiver. This is a very popular image of communication and we can call it ‘information transfer’ model. It is, however, severely limited in spite of its success in a variety of cases, mainly electronic devices. Recently, research about communication has been carried out by modern linquistic theories although other research fields – such as semiotics – study communication of ‘non human’ content (e. g. plants, animals etc). Modern linguistic approaches attempt to explain communication not in terms of information transfer only. An efficient communication proces...