FOLHA ESPÍRITA – April, 1974

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Exclusive interview with Chico Xavier commenting on:

THE FREEZING OF BODIES AND THE EXPERIENCE OF ANCIENT EGYPT

We open a parenthesis in our tumultuous daily life and Chico Xavier’s warm smile illuminates our hearts; his words imbued with Christian truths evoke in us the yearning to love and understand life, realizing the best within and outside of us. Here, Chico Xavier responds to you:

— Chico, how do you view the launch of Folha Espírita?

— I recognize in Folha Espírita a constantly renewed light that illuminates our spiritual paths. The term communication has gained much strength among men recently; however, it has been a constant teaching in Spiritist literature for a little over a century.

— Considering this pioneering character of Spiritism, what would be the most important contribution of the Spiritist movement today?

— We are convinced, according to the affirmations of our Spiritual Benefactors, that the highest function of Spiritist Doctrine is to restore the teachings of Jesus with the help of Allan Kardec’s explanations, for the real happiness of creatures.

— Space probes have conducted important investigations in the solar system. How does the Higher Plan view this type of  research?

— Astronautics, in the opinion of our dear Emmanuel, is the blessed science that invites Man to study the greatness of the Universe.

— Will Medicine achieve greater success in the near future in the field of Psychiatry? Will current neurological studies contribute to a better understanding of psychic phenomena?

— Undoubtedly, the journey is long, but Science is always in pursuit of truth and, with truth, Psychiatry and related disciplines will confirm the immortality of the Spirit, refining their own speculations.

— Freezing bodies immediately after physical death with the purpose of bringing them back to life after a few decades or centuries, that is, when medicine will have discovered cure for physical ailments, will this bring greater disturbance to the disembodied spirit?

— Marlene, I transcribe here what I am hearing from our Emmanuel, to whom I requested precise clarification: “Yes, the freezing of the body occupied by the spirit, in the process of discarnation, may retain it, for some time, close to the physical form, causing difficulties and disturbances to it. This, in some way, has happened in Ancient Egypt, when embalming kept us, for an indefinite time, close to the forms we stubbornly sought to preserve. However, such retention only occurs within the framework of the law of cause and effect. And, regarding freezing, if some of those involved – due to their own trials – reclaim the cold body in order to reheat it, science cannot assure them an organically clear equipment as would be desirable, especially regarding the brain, which indefinite freezing will leave it in conditions currently unpredictable.”

— Chico, what message do you have for the families so severely affected by the painful tragedy of the “Joelma Building”?

— We share in the suffering of all our brothers who still mourn the fire that occurred on February 1st, praying to Jesus to strengthen us all to safely understand the Divine Laws that govern our lives. Immortality is the heritage of all, and with faith in God’s Wisdom and Goodness, we will overcome our own struggles.

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 EDITORIAL

Our Objective

FOLHA ESPÍRITA aims to be the dissemination vehicle for Spiritist activities in our country, also synthesizing international events of interest to the doctrine or providing interpretations for various facts with the explanatory projection of Spiritism onto contemporary history.

Similarly, in artistic expressions, seeking to penetrate the deepest aspects of representation, be it in plays or in movies.

We do not wish to establish dogmatic positions, even because Spiritist doctrine is the doctrine of reason, of reasoning, of conviction, and it is preferable, as Kardec said, to reject truths than to admit a lie.

But, concerning doctrinal fidelity, we cannot make mistakes, because Kardec’s Codification, with the assistance of the Spiritual World, has outlined the philosophical, scientific, and religious directions of Spiritism.

Therefore, the editorial staff takes responsibility for the concepts issued by its contributors regarding doctrinal guidance, precisely because the material would not be published if it were not faithful to Kardec’s principles.

We can see how much Spiritism has progressed in our country, under the auspices of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation and its state counterparts, under the remarkable guidance established by BEZERRA DE MENEZES, its great president during the phase of unification and pacification of the Brazilian Spiritist family.

The distortions observed in some religious groups that claim to be Spiritist do not affect the doctrine, nor do they elicit hasty criticisms from laypeople.

A center that employs rituals, conducts baptisms, promotes marriages or baptisms etc., is not a SPIRITIST CENTER, and therefore, confusion must be avoided in attempting to associate such groups with the doctrine.

The progress of Spiritism in Brazil can be recognized by the enormous popular interest surrounding psychographed works, translations of fundamental doctrine books, or studies and research on mediumship.

And the variety of these editions is such that alongside the Brazilian Spiritist Federation, private Spiritist publishers are now in close and fruitful cooperation, not only reissuing fundamental works of Spiritism but also lighter works of popular interest, such as messages of Christian compassion and poems of spiritual enchantment, which we owe particularly to Francisco Cândido Xavier and other psychographers who are the backbone of these publishing houses, providing a service whose spiritual and historical importance only time will be able to demonstrate.

The prestige of the doctrine has also been revealed in the tributes that all of Brazil, regardless of religious  or political convictions, has paid to Spiritism and its evangelizing and assisting work, utilizing Chico Xavier due to his being the most expressive, albeit the most humble, figure in the field of communication between the two worlds, the visible and the invisible.

Although uncomfortable in his modesty, Chico Xavier has been subjected to the constraints of contacts with crowded ceremonies and solemn sessions in Chambers and Legislative Assemblies, but fortunately, he has understood that it is not to him that the tributes are paid, but to the social and fruitful, evangelizing and fraternal action of the doctrine that serves as his support, thanks to the richness of psychography that allowed him to transmit over 120 books, which, in editions of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of volumes in various languages, are a sweet sowing that the Divine Reformer distributed abundantly along the paths of primitive Christianity.

This newspaper is just the beginning of a Spiritist dissemination plan on a national scale, and if it is published once a month, it is not because we cannot produce at least a weekly edition.

Our friends who planned the publishing of Folha Espírita believe that a few months of experience and consolidation will lead to a structure capable of eventually elevating FOLHA ESPÍRITA to the status of a DAILY paper.

We call on all those who dream of this broad and efficient dissemination of the doctrine, and who believe in the historical responsibilities of our country in the spiritual formation of the planet, to rally around our newspaper.

The choice of the date for its launch — April 18 — signifies the determination in which we find ourselves to provide our colleagues and all those interested in the knowledge of the doctrine and mediumistic phenomena, with a source of clear water.

Each issue will feature the presence of a Spirit who will speak to us through the psychography of Francisco Cândido Xavier, as per the commitment made by the medium from Uberaba with our management.

A current affairs interview in each issue, a summary of a Spiritist book, the collaboration of several of our most prominent Spiritist fellows, will allow our newspaper to prepare for the broad circulation plan on a daily basis, a timeframe we will not set, because it will depend more on our collaborators and Spiritist entities throughout the country.

We are aware of the obstacles on our journey, but we are confident that Providence will not fail us in our moments of difficulty and that the blessings of the Divine Master will be the stimulus for the tasks entrusted to us in the area of communication and dissemination of Spiritist Doctrine.

THE MANAGEMENT

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Preserving Doctrinal Purity

SPIRITISM is a return to primitive Christianity, without ignoring scientific progress.

Indeed, over the centuries, Christianity had been losing its social and fraternal substance.

Temples were built, magnificent churches were erected, taking centuries to construct.

Statues and monuments to the apostles of Christianity, to its saints, to its martyrs, were raised.

However, the essence of Christianity, namely the well-being of man, was left behind.

That brotherhood which made man a brother and the needy his neighbor lost its content and faded into the night of time.

That devotion to the simple, the ignorant, the needy, the wanderer of life’s paths, was replaced by devotion to sumptuous altars, constructed in gold and alabaster.

Spiritism revived that simplicity which was the hallmark of Christian life.

The living Christ, the Sublime Reformer, transcends the gentleness of His heart in every nursery, in every child’s home, in the night shelter or in the Spiritist hospital, projection of the group that gathers for doctrinal debates, but knows how to transform into in actions the lessons of the Gospel.

The Gospel teachings do not remain confined to doctrinal discussions and companions’ comments.

Action is conducted with the combined effort of all those who have learned that words without action are like a flower without perfume.

But all the concern to conduct charitable work, filling the gaps and deficiencies in the sector, must be based on maintaining doctrinal purity.

Thus, the first of inquiries relates to obedience to charity supported by faith and hope.

To ascertain the doctrinal fidelity of a medium or a Spiritist center, it is necessary to inquire about the detachment with which they work, the disinterest with which they render service, the habit of reading Kardecian texts, and constant study of the doctrine.

The tree is known by its fruits.

Man is known by his works and actions.

Fidelity to Kardecian principles is the foundation of every good Spiritist organization.

When there are so many distortions, it is necessary to demand obedience to the essential principles of the doctrine.

Preserving doctrinal purity is the assurance of this fidelity to primitive Christianity and the guarantee that Spiritism will endure through the centuries as philosophy, religion, and science — the trilogy of hope for peoples who eagerly seek a God as if they were seeking in the night of times, the safe harbor for their anxieties.

Preserving doctrinal purity is to follow Kardec, so demanding in respect for Christian principles and in his intimate relationship with the Love that absorbs everything, reigniting in hearts the faith that moves mountains and charity, without which there is no salvation.

The Management