Allan Kardec is the pen name of the French educator, translator, and author Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail. He is the author of the five books known as the Spiritist Codification, and the founder of Spiritism.
Spiritism or Kardecism is a reincarnationist and spiritualist doctrine established in France in the mid-19th century by writer and educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail. Kardec considered his doctrine to derive from a Christian perspective. He described a cycle by which a spirit supposedly returns to material existence after the death of the old body in which it dwelled, as well as the evolution it undergoes during this process. Kardecism emerged as a new religious movement in tandem with spiritualism, the notions and practices associated with spiritual communication disseminated throughout North America and Europe since the 1850s.
Spiritualism is a social religious movement primarily popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries according to which an individual's awareness persists after death and may be contacted by the living. The afterlife, or the "spirit world", is seen by spiritualists not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to evolve. These two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans—lead spiritualists to the belief that spirits are capable of providing useful insight regarding moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God. Some spiritualists speak of a concept which they refer to as "spirit guides"—specific spirits, often contacted, who are relied upon for spiritual guidance. Emanuel Swedenborg has some claim to be the father of spiritualism.
A séance or seance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word séance comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French seoir, "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma". In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits. In modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a séance.
Chico Xavier or Francisco Cândido Xavier, born Francisco de Paula Cândido, was a popular Brazilian philanthropist and spiritist medium. During a period of 60 years he wrote over 490 books and several thousand letters claiming to use a process known as "psychography". Books based on old letters and manuscripts were published posthumously, bringing the total number of books to 496.
The Gospel According to Spiritism, by Allan Kardec, is a book published in 1864 that relates the teachings of Jesus to Kardecist Spiritism, the moral and religious philosophy that Kardec had been publishing. It is intended to demonstrate that Spiritism clarifies and extends the most important teachings of Jesus. It is one of the five fundamental works of Kardecist Spiritism.
A spiritualist church is a church affiliated with the informal spiritualist movement which began in the United States in the 1840s. Spiritualist churches are now found around the world, but are most common in English-speaking countries, while in Latin America, Central America, Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, where a form of spiritualism called spiritism is more popular, meetings are held in spiritist centres, most of which are non-profit organizations rather than ecclesiastical bodies.
The Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) is a Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest Spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is Light, Nature, Truth.
The Spirits' Book 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 the pen name of Allan Kardec on April 18, 1857. It was the first and remains the most important Spiritist book, because it addresses in first hand all questions developed subsequently by Allan Kardec.
The Book on Mediums or Mediums and Evokers' Handbook, is a book by Allan Kardec published in 1861, second of the five Fundamental Works of Spiritism — the philosophy Kardec had been publishing — being the tome in which the experimental and investigative features of the doctrine were presented, explained and taught.
Thomson Jay Hudson, was an American author, journalist, a chief examiner of the US Patent Office, and a prominent anti-Spiritualist psychical researcher, known for his three laws of psychic phenomena, which were first published in 1893.
Obsession, also known as spirit obsession, is a technical term within the Spiritist belief and practice defined by the author Allan Kardec as the interference of a subjugating spirit with a weaker spirit. Although the term most commonly refers to the negative influence of the spirit of an evil deceased person on the mind or spirit of a living person, obsession can occur in either direction.
What Is Spiritism? is a brief introduction to Spiritism written by Allan Kardec in 1859, which is about a quarter of the length of The Spirits Book. Modern editions are augmented by a brief biography of the author, written by Henri Sausse, in 1896 which is mostly focused on his role in the History of Spiritism.
Union Espiritista Cristiana de Filipinas, Incorporada is a religious Association with more than a thousand affiliated local and foreign based centers (churches), and considered as the biggest association of Christian spiritists in the Philippines. Foreign based centers are located in California, Texas, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Greece, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hawaii, Germany, Italy, and Russia, where there are large Filipino communities. Union members are called "Christian Spiritists".
Espiritismo is a term used in Latin America and the Caribbean to refer to the popular belief that evolved and less evolved spirits can affect health, luck and other aspects of human life.
Léon Denis was a notable French spiritist philosopher, and, with Gabriel Delanne and Camille Flammarion, one of the principal exponents of spiritism after the death of Allan Kardec. Denis lectured throughout Europe at international conferences of spiritism and spiritualism, promoting the idea of survival of the soul after death and the implications of this for human relations. He is known as the apostle of French spiritism.
Spiritualism is a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least two fundamental substances, matter and spirit. This very broad metaphysical distinction is further developed into many and various forms by the inclusion of details about what spiritual entities exist such as a soul, the afterlife, spirits of the dead, deities and mediums; as well as details about the nature of the relationship between spirit and matter. It may also refer to the philosophy, doctrine, or religion pertaining to a spiritual aspect of existence.
Astral City: A Spiritual Journey is a 2010 Brazilian drama film directed by Wagner de Assis, starring Renato Prieto. It is based on the book of the same name by the medium Francisco Cândido Xavier, and features a soundtrack composed by Philip Glass.
Following the emergence of modern Spiritualist events in Hydesville, New York, United States, via the mediumship of the Fox sisters (1848), the phenomena quickly spread to Europe where, in France, the so-called "turning tables" became a popular fad. In France, this type of phenomenon, in 1855, caught the attention of the educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail. As a result of his research, he published the first edition of The Spirits' Book, under the pseudonym "Allan Kardec". The foundation of the Spiritist doctrine is contained in this book and four others published later: The Mediums' Book, 1861; The Gospel According to Spiritism, 1864; Heaven and Hell, 1865; The Genesis According to Spiritism, 1868. These combined books are called the "Kardecist Pentateuch".
Denominated basic works of Spiritism, also referred to as Codificação Espírita, are five books published by the French educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec, between 1857 and 1868. The Basic Works are part of the Fundamental Works of Spiritist Doctrine, which comprise 11 publications by Allan Kardec.
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