Spiritist Knowledge

During the 7th ENLIHPE (last August 20 2011), we have the opportunity to present the work: " A statistical approach for the determination of the time interval between succesive reincarnations ."  As it is well known, Spiritism as introduced by A. Kardec, was the first spiritualist movement in the West to fully understand the importance of reincarnation. Reincarnation is the only mechanism that can simultaneously explains many anomalies in the human personality but also show a world view more in accordance to principles of a natural justice and equity. Therefore, it is important to undestand the consequences of reincarnation not only for all of us (as individuals) but as a social and demographic phenomenon.  Assuming reincarnation as universal law of Nature, it is valid for all human beings and, therefore, it surely has collective consequencies. The aim of this work was to build a numerical model to calculate the time interval between sucessive reincarnations of a human in...

By Michael E. Tymn Although little is known of him outside of Brazil and other parts of the Portuguese-speaking world, Francisco Candido "Chico" Xavier is considered by those who knew him and witnessed him to be one of the greatest mediums ever. His biographer, Guy Lyon Playfair of the United Kingdom, a long-time investigator of psychic phenomena, subtitles his book, "Medium of the Century." Xavier, who dropped out of school at age 13, produced, by means of automatic writing, 458 books with sales in excess of 50 million. All of the royalties were donated to charity as Xavier lived on a very modest income from his government job and pension. In 2000, a newspaper in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerias asked its readers to vote for "person of the century." With more than 700,000 readers responding, Xavier won the vote over an aviation pioneer, a former president of the country, and the legendary soccer player, Pelé. More than 120,000 people lined up in a ...

Visit the journal's new website at www.paranthropology.co.uk to download the July 2011 issue for free. Download current issue at http://www.box.net/shared/namkaf0chc08vnzuqglj Welcome to the July 2011 issue of Paranthropology. This issue marks the first anniversary of the journal’s existence. By now the journal has attracted well over 200 subscribers and is continuing to grow and develop in new directions. At this point I think it would be useful to try to outline some of the directions I would like to see the journal move towards. The first is to put together a board of reviewers to peer-review articles submitted to the journal and to thus increase the academic respectability of the publication. This, I feel, is a necessary step as it will, to a degree, improve the way in which this sort of eclectic research is perceived by the academic establishment. This will also ensure that the quality of the articles published in the journal maintains a high st...

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...