The hypothesis of twin-souls is merely a figurative representation of the union of two sympathetic spirits, and must not be understood literally. The spirits who have made use of this expression are certainly not of high order; and, therefore, as their range of thought is necessarily narrow, they have sought to convey their meaning by using the terms they were accustomed to employ in their earthly life. The idea that two souls were created for each other, and that, after having been separated for a longer or shorter period, they will necessarily be eventually reunited for all eternity, is, therefore, to be entirely rejected.
Remembrance of Corporeal Existence 304. Does spirit remember his corporeal existence?
"Yes; having lived many times as a human being, he remembers what he has been, and often smiles pityingly at the follies of his past."
As aman, who has reached the age of reason, smiles at the follies of his youth and the silliness of his childhood.
305. Does the remembrance of his corporeal existence present itself to a spirit, complete, and spontaneously, immediately after his death?
"No; it comes back to him little by little, in proportion as he fixes his attention upon it, as objects gradually become visible out of a fog."
306. Does a spirit remember the details of all the events of his life? Does he take in the whole of his life at a single retrospective glance?
THE SPIRITS’ BOOK "He remembers the things of his life more or less distinctly and in detail, according to the influence they have exercised on his state as a spirit; but you can easily understand that there are many things in his life to which he attaches no importance, and which he does not even seek to remember.”
- Could he remember them if he wished to do so?
"He has the power of recalling the most minute details of every incident of his life, and even of his thoughts; but when no useful purpose would be served by exerting this power, he does not exert it."
307. In what way does his past life present itself to a spirit’s memory? Is it through an effort of his imagination, or is it like a picture displayed before his eyes?
"It comes back to him in both ways. All the actions which he has an interest in remembering appear to him as though they were present; the others are seen by him more or less vaguely in his thought, or are entirely forgotten. The more dematerialised he is, the less importance does he attach to material things. It has often happened to you, on evoking some wandering spirit who has just left the earth, to find that he remembers neither the names of persons whom he liked, nor details which to you appear to be important. He cares but little about them, and they have faded from his memory. But you always find that he perfectly remembers the main facts of his life which have conduced to his intellectual and moral progress."
308. Does a spirit remember all the existences which have preceded the one he has just quitted?
"His entire past is spread out before him like the stages already accomplished by a traveller, but, as we have told you, he does not remember all his past actions with absolute precision; he remembers them more or less clearly in proportion to the influence they have had upon his present state. As to his earliest existences, those which may be regarded as constituting the period of spirit-infancy, they are lost in vagueness, and disappear in the night of oblivion.
309. How does a spirit regard the body he has just quitted? "As an uncomfortable garment that hampered him, and that he is delighted to be rid of."
- What feeling is produced in him by seeing the decomposition of his body?
ALLAN KARDEC " Almost always that of indifference; as something about which he no longer cares."
310. After a time, does a spirit recognise the mortal remains, or other objects, that once belonged to him?
"Sometimes he does so; but this depends on the more or less elevated point of view from which he regards terrestrial things."
311. Is a spirit's attention attracted to the material relics of himself by the respect entertained for those objects by his survivors, and does he see this respect with pleasure?
"A spirit is always gratified at being held in kindly remembrance by those he has left. The objects thus preserved in remembrance of him serve to recall him to the memory of those by whom they are preserved; but it is the action of their thought which attracts him, and not those objects."
312. Do spirits retain the remembrance of the sufferings endured by them in their last corporeal existence?
"They frequently do so; and this remembrance makes them realise all the more vividly the worth of the felicity they enjoy as spirits.”
313. Does he who has been happy down here regret his terrestrial enjoyments on quitting the earth?
"Only spirits of inferior degree can regret material satisfactions in harmony with impurity of nature, and which are expiated by suffering. For spirits of higher degrees of elevation, the happiness of eternity is immeasurably preferable to the ephemeral pleasures of the earthly life."
As the adult despises watch constituted the delights of is infancy.
314. When a man, who has commenced a series of important labours in view of some useful end, has seen these labours interrupted by death, does he, in the other world, feel regret at having had to leave them unfinished?
"No, because he sees that others are destined to complete them. On the contrary, he endeavours to act upon the minds of other human beings, so as to lead them to carry on what he had begun. His aim while upon the earth was to be useful to the human race: his aim is the same in the spirit-world."
315. When a man has left behind him works of art or of literature, does he preserve for them in the other life the interest he took in them while living upon the earth?
THE SPIRITS’ BOOK "He judges them from another point of view, according to his elevation, and he often blames what he formerly admired."
316. Does a spirit still take an interest in the labours which are going on upon the earth, in the progress of the arts and sciences?
"That depends on his degree of elevation, and on the mission he may have to fulfil. What appears magnificent to you often appears a very small matter to spirits; if they take an interest in it, it is only as a man of learning takes an interest in the work of a school-boy. They examine whatever indicates the elevation of incarnated spirits and mark the degree of their progress."
317. Do spirits, after death, retain any preference for their native country?
"For spirits of elevated degree, their country is the universe; in regard to the earth, their only preference is for the place in which there is the greatest number of persons with whom they are in sympathy.”
The situation of spirits, and their way of looking at things, are infinitely varied, according to their various degrees of moral and intellectual development. Spirits of a high order generally make but short sojourns upon the earth all that goes on here is so paltry in comparison with the grandeurs of infinity, the matters to which men attribute most importance appear to them so puerile, that the things of this earth have very little interest for them, unless they have been sent to it for the purpose of quickening the progress of its people. Spirits of lower degree visit our earth more frequently, but they judge its affairs from a higher point of view than that of their corporeal life. The common ruck of spirits may be said to be sedentary' among us they constitute the great mass of the ambient population of the invisible world. They retain very much the same ideas, tastes, and tendencies which they had while clothed with their corporeal envelope, and mix themselves up with our gatherings, our occupation, our amusements in all of which they take a part more or, less active according to their character. Being no longer able to satisfy their material passions, they take delight in witnessing the excesses of those who abandon themselves to their indulgence, to which they excite them by every means in their power. Among their number are some who are better disposed, and who see and observe in order to acquire knowledge and to advance.
318. Do spirits modify their ideas in the other life?
"Very considerably. A spirit's ideas undergo very great modifications in proportion as he becomes dematerialised, He may sometimes retain the same ideas for a long period, but little by little the influence of matter diminishes, and he sees more clearly. It is then that he seeks for the means of advancing."
319. As spirits had already lived in the other world before being incarnated, why do they feel astonished on re-entering that world?
ALLAN KARDEC "This feeling is only momentary, and results from the confusion that follows their waking; they soon recover their knowledge of themselves, as the memory of the past comes back to them, and the impression of the terrestrial life becomes effaced." (Vide 163 et seq.)
Commemoration of the Dead - Funerals 320. Are spirits affected by the remembrance of those whom they have loved on earth?
"Very much more so than you are apt to suppose. If they are happy this remembrance adds to their happiness; if they are Unhappy, it affords them consolation."
321. Are spirits specially attracted towards their friends upon the earth by the return of the day which, in some countries, is consecrated to the 'memory of those who have quitted this life? Do they make it a point to meet those who, on that day, go to pray beside the graves where their mortal remains are interred?
"Spirits answer to the call of affectionate remembrance on that (lay as they do on any other day."
- Do they, on that day, go specially to the burial-place of their corporeal body?
"They go to the cemeteries in greater numbers on that day, because called thither by the thoughts of a greater number of persons, but each spirit goes solely for his own friends, and not for the crowd of those who care nothing about him."
- In what form do they come to these places, and what would be their appearance if they could render themselves visible to us?
"The form and appearance by which they were known during their lifetime."
322. Do the spirits of those who are forgotten, and whose graves no one visits, go to the cemeteries notwithstanding this neglect? Do they feel regret at seeing that no one remembers them?
"What is the earth to them? They are only linked to it by the heart. If, upon the earth, no affection is felt for a spirit, there is nothing that can attach him to it; he has the whole universe before him."
323. Does a visit made to his grave give more pleasure to a spirit than a prayer offered for him by friends in their own home?
THE SPIRITS’' BOOK "A visit made to his grave is a way of showing to a spirit that he is not forgotten; it is a sign. As [have told you, it is the prayer that sanctifies the action of the memory; the place where it is offered is of little importance, if it come from the heart."
324. When statues or other monuments are erected to persons who have quitted this life, are the spirits of those persons present at their inauguration; and do they witness such ceremonies with pleasure?
"Spirits often attend on such occasions, when able to do so; but they attach less importance to the honours paid to them than to the remembrance in which they are held."
325. What makes some persons desire to be buried in one place rather than in another? Do they go thither more willingly offer their death? And is it a sign of inferiority on the part of a spirit that lie should attribute importance to a matter so Purely material?
"That desire is prompted by a spirit's affection for certain places and is a sign of moral inferiority. To an elevated spirit, what Js one spot of earth more than another? Does he not know that his foul will be reunited with those he loves, even though their bones are separated?
- Is it futile to bring together the mortal remains ins of all tile members of a family in the same burial-place?
"Such reunion is of little importance to spirits; but it is useful to men, whose remembrance of those who have gone before them is thus strengthened and rendered more serious."
326. When the soul has returned into spirit-life, is it gratified by the honours paid to its mortal remains?
"When a spirit has reached a certain degree of advancement, he is purified from terrestrial vanities, for he comprehends their futility. But there are many spirits who, in the early period of their return to the other life, take great pleasure in the honours paid to their memory, or are much disturbed at finding themselves forgotten; for they still retain some of the false ideas they held during their earthly life."
327. Do spirits ever attend their own funeral?
"Spirits very often do so; but, in many cases, without understanding what is going on, being still in the state of confusion that usually follows death."
ALLAN KARDEC - Do they feel flattered by the presence of a large concourse of persons at their funeral? "More or less so, according to the sentiment which has brought them together." 328. Is a spirit ever present at the meetings of his heirs?
"Almost always. Providence has so ordained it for the spirit's own instruction, and for the chastisement of selfishness. The deceased is thus enabled to judge of the worth of the protestations of affection and devotion addressed to him during his life and his disappointment on witnessing the rapacity of those who dispute the property he has left is often very great. But the punishment of greedy heirs will come in due time."
329. Is the respect which mankind, in all ages and among all peoples, has always instinctively shown to the dead, to be attributed to an intuitive belief in a future state of existence?
"The one is the natural consequence of the other; were it not for that belief, such respect would have neither object nor meaning."
CHAPTER VII RETURN TO CORPOREAL LIFE 1. PRELUDES TO RETURN - 2. UNION OF SOUL AND BODY: ABORTION. - 3. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES OF MANKIND. - 4. INFLUENCE OF ORGANISM - 5. IDIOCY AND MADNESS - 6. INFANCY -7. TERRESTRIAL SYMPATHIES AND ANTIPATHIES - 8. FORGETFULNESS OF THE PAST.
Preludes to Return 330. Do spirits foresee the epoch of their next return to corporeal life?
"They have the presentiment of that return, as a blind man feels the heat of the fire he is approaching. They know that they will be reincarnated, as you know that you will die; but without knowing when the change will occur."-( 166.)
- Reincarnation, then, is a necessity of spirit-life, as death is a necessity of corporeal life? "Certainly." 331. Do all spirits occupy themselves beforehand with their approaching incarnation?
"There are some who never give it a thought, and who even know nothing about it; that depends on their greater or less degree of advancement. In some cases, the uncertainty in which they are left in regard to their future is a punishment."
332. Can a spirit hasten or retard the moment of his reincarnation?
"He may hasten it by the action of a strong desire; he may also put it off if he shrink from the trial awaiting him (for the cowardly and the indifferent are to be found among spirits as among men), but he cannot do so with impunity. He suffers from such delay, as the sick man suffers who shrinks from employing the remedy which alone can cure him."
ALLAN KARDEC 333. If a spirit found himself tolerably happy in an average condition among errant spirits, could he prolong that state indefinitely?
"No, not indefinitely. The necessity of advancing is one which is felt by every spirit, sooner or later. All spirits have to ascend it is their destiny."
334. Is the union of a given soul with a given body predestined beforehand, or is the choice of a body only made at the last moment?
"The spirit who is to animate a given body is always designated beforehand. Each spirit, on choosing the trial he elects to undergo, demands to be reincarnated; and Cod, who sees and knows all things, has foreseen and for known that such and such a soul would be united to such and such a body."
335. Is the spirit allowed to choose the body into which lie will enter, or does he only choose the kind of life which is to serve for his trial?
"He may choose a body also, for the imperfections of a given body are so many trials that will aid his advancement, if he succeeds in vanquishing the obstacles thus placed in his way. This choice does not always depend on himself, but he may ask to be allowed to make it."
- Could a spirit refuse, at the last moment, to enter into the body that had been chosen by him?
"If lie refused, he would suffer much more than one who had not attempted to undergo a new trial."
336. Could it happen that a child about to be born should find no spirit willing to incarnate himself in it?
"God provides for all contingencies. Every child who is predestined to be born viable, is also predestined to have a soul. Nothing is ever created without design."
337. Is the union of a given soul with a given body ever imposed by God?
"It is sometimes imposed, as well as the different trials to be undergone by a spirit, and especially when the latter is still too backward to be able to choose wisely for himself. A spirit may be constrained, as an expiation, to unite himself with the body of a child that, by the circumstances of its birth, and the position it THE SPIRITS’ BOOK will have in the world, will become for him an instrument of chastisement."
338. If several spirits demanded to incarnate themselves in a body about to be born, in what way would the decision be made between them?
"In such a case, it is God who judges as to which spirit is best fitted to fulfil the destiny appointed for the child; but, as I have already told you, the spirit is designated before the instant in which he is to unite himself with the body."
339. Is the moment of incarnation accompanied by a confusion similar to that which follows the spirit's separation from the body?
"Yes, but much greater and especially much longer. At death the spirit is emancipated from the state of slavery; at birth, he re-enters it."
340. Does the moment in which he is to reincarnate himself appear to a spirit as a solemn one? Does he accomplish that act as something serious and important for him?
"He is like a traveller who embarks on a perilous voyager, and who does not know whether he may not find his death in the waves among which he is venturing."
Just as the death of the body is a sort of re-birth for the spirit. so reincarnation is for him a sort of death, or rather of exile and claustration. He quits the world of spirits for the corporeal world just as a man quits the corporeal world for the world of spirits. A spirit knows that he will be reincarnated, just as a man knows that he will die but, like the latter, he only becomes aware of the change at the moment when it occurs. It is at this moment that the confusion produced by the change takes possession of him. as is the case with a man in the act of dying and this confusion lasts until his new existence is fully established. The commencement of reincarnation is, for the spirit, a sort of dying.
341. Is a spirit's uncertainty, in regard to the successful issue of the trials he is about to undergo in his new life, a cause of anxiety to him before his incarnation?
"Yes, of very great anxiety, since those trials will retard or hasten his advancement, according as he shall have borne them ill or well."
342. Is a spirit accompanied, at the moment of his rein carnation, by spirit-friends who come to be present at his departure from the spirit-world, as they come to receive him when he returns to it?
"That depends on the sphere which the spirit inhabits. If he belongs to a sphere in which affection reigns, spirits who love him ALLAN KARDEC remain with him to the last moment, encourage him, and often even follow him in his new life."
343. Is it the spirit-friends who thus follow us in our earthly life that we sometimes see in our dreams manifesting affection for us, but whose features are unknown to us?
"Yes, in very many cases; they come to visit you as you visit a prisoner in his cell." Union of Soul and Body 344, At what moment is the soul united to the body?
"The union begins at the moment of conception, but is only complete at the moment of birth. From the moment of conception, the spirit designated to inhabit a given body is united to that body by a fluidic link, which becomes closer and closer up to the instant of birth; the cry then uttered by the infant announces that he is numbered among the living."
345. Is the union between the spirit and the body definitive from the moment of conception? Could the spirit, during this first period of that union, renounce inhabiting the body designed for him?
"The union between them is definitive in this sense namely, that no other spirit could replace the one who has been designated for that body. But, as the links which hold them together are at first very weak, they are easily broken, and may be severed by the will of a spirit who draws back from the trial he had chosen. But, in that case, the child does not live."
346. What becomes of a spirit, if the body he has chosen happens to die before birth? "He chooses another body."
- What can be the use of premature deaths?
"Such deaths are most frequently caused by the imperfections of matter."
347. What benefit can a spirit derive from his incarnation in a body which dies a few' days after birth?
"In such a case, the new being's consciousness of his existence is so slightly developed that his death is of little importance. As we have told you, such deaths are often intended mainly as a trial for the parents."
THE SPIRITS’ BOOK 348. Does a spirit know beforehand that tile body he chooses has no chance of living?
"He sometimes knows it; but if he chooses it on this account. it is because he shrinks from the trial he foresees."
349. When, from any cause, a spirit has failed to accomplish a proposed incarnation, is another existence provided for him immediately?
"Not always immediately. The spirit requires time to make a new choice, unless his instantaneous reincarnation had been previously decided upon."
350. When a spirit is definitively united to an infant body, and it is thus too late for him to refuse this union does lie sometimes regret the choice he has made?
"If you mean to ask whether, as a man, he may complain of the life he has to undergo, and whether he may not wish it were otherwise, I answer, Yes; but if you mean to ask whether he regrets the choice he has made, I answer, No, for he does not remember that he has made it. A spirit, when once incarnated. cannot regret a choice which he is not conscious of having made; but he may find the burden lie has. assumed too heavy. and, if lie believes it to be beyond his strength, he may have recourse to suicide."
351. Does a spirit, in the interval between conception and birth, enjoy the use of all his faculties.?
"He does so more or less according to the various periods of gestation; for he is not yet incarnated in his new body, but only attached to it. From the instant of conception confusion begins to take possession of the spirit, who is thus made aware that the moment has come for him to enter upon a new existence; and this confusion becomes more and more dense until the period of birth. In the interval between these two terms, his state is nearly that of an incarnated spirit during the sleep of the body. In proportions as the moment of birth approaches, his ideas become effaced, together with his remembrance of the past, of which. when once he has entered upon corporeal life, he is no longer conscious. But this remembrance comes back to him little by little when he has returned to the spirit-world."
352. Does the spirit, at the moment of birth, recover the plenitude of his faculties?
ALLAN KARDEC "No; they are gradually developed with the growth of his organs. The corporeal life is for him a new existence; he has to learn the use of his bodily instruments. His ideas come back to him little by little, as in the case of a man who, waking out of slumber. should find himself in a different situation from that in which he was before he fell asleep."
353. The union of the spirit and the body not being completely and definitively consummated until birth has taken place can the foetus be considered as having a soul?
"The spirit who is to animate it exists, as it were, outside of it; strictly speaking, therefore, it has no soul, since the incarnation of the latter is only in course of being effected; but it is linked to the soul which it is to have."
354. What is the nature of intra-uterine life?
"That of the plant which vegetates. The foetus, however, lives with vegetable and animal life, to which the union of a soul with the child-body at birth adds spiritual life."
355. Are there, as is indicated by science, children so constituted that they cannot live, and if so, for what purpose ore they produced?
"That often happens. Such births are permitted as a trial, either for the parents or for the spirit appointed to animate it."
356. Are there, among still-born children, some who were never intended for the incarnation of a spirit?
"Yes, there are some who never had a spirit assigned to them, for whom nothing was to be done. In such a case, it is simply as a trial for the parents that the child arrives."
- Can a being of this nature come to its term?
"Yes, sometimes; but it does not live."
- Every child that survives its birth has, then, necessarily a spirit incarnated in it? "What would it be if such were not the case? It would not he a human being."
357. What are, for a spirit, the consequences of abortion?
"It is an existence that is null, and must be commenced over again."
358. Is artificial abortion a crime, no matter at what period of gestation it may be produced?
THE SPIRITS’ BOOK "Every transgression of the law of God is a crime. The mother, or any other, who takes the life of an unborn child, is necessarily criminal; for, by so doing, a soul is prevented from undergoing the trial of which the body thus destroyed was to have been the instrument."
352. In cases in which the life of the mother would be endangered by the birth of the child, is it a crime to sacrifice the child in order to save the mother?
"It is better to sacrifice the being whose existence is not yet complete than the being whose existence is complete."
360. Is it rational to treat the foetus with the same respect as the body of a child that has lived?
"In the one, as in the other, you should recognise the will and the handiwork of God, and these are always to be respected."
Moral and Intellectual Faculties 361. Whence has man his moral qualities, good or bad?
"They are those of the spirit who is incarnated in him. The purer is that spirit, the more decidedly is the man inclined to goodness."
It would seem, then, that a good man is the incarnation of a good spirit, and a vicious man that of a bad spirit?
"Yes; but you should rather say ‘of an imperfect spirit,’ otherwise it might be supposed that there are spirits who will always remain bad, what you call devils."
362. What is the character of the individuals in whom light and foolish spirits are incarnated?
"They are hare-brained, prankish, and sometimes mischievous." 363. Have spirits any passions that do not belong to humanity? "No; if they had, they would communicate them to you."
364. Is it one and the same spirit that gives a man both his moral and his intellectual qualities?'
"Certainly it is the same. A man has not two spirits in him."
365. How comes it that some men, who are very intelligent, which shows that they have in them a spirit of considerable advancement, are also extremely vicious?
"It is because the spirit incarnated in a man is not sufficiently purified, and the man yields to the influence of other spirits still ALLAN KARDEC worse than himself. The upward progress of a spirit is accomplished by slow degrees; but this progress does not take place simultaneously in all directions. At one period of his career he may advance in knowledge, at another in morality."
366. What is to be thought of the opinion according to which a man's various intellectual and moral faculties are the product of so many different spirits incarnated in him, and each possessing a special aptitude?
"The absurdity of such an opinion becomes evident on a moment's reflection. Each spirit is destined to possess all possible aptitudes; but, in order to progress, he must possess one sole and unitary will. If a man were an amalgam of different spirits, this unitary will would not exist, and he would possess no individuality, because, at his death, all the spirits would fly off in different directions, like birds escaped from a cage. Men often complain of not comprehending certain things, and yet how ingenious they are in multiplying difficulties, while they have within reach the simplest and most natural of explanations! I Such an opinion is but another instance of the way in which men so often take the effect for the cause. It does for man what the pagans did for God. They believed in the existence of as many gods as there are phenomena in the universe; but, even among them, the more sensible ones only saw in those phenomena a variety of effects having for their cause one and the same God."
The physical and moral worlds offer us, in regard to this subject, numerous points of comparison. While the attention of mankind was confined to the appearance of natural phenomena, they believed in the existence of many kinds of matter. In the present day, it is seen that all those phenomena, however varied, may very probably be merely the result of modifications of a single elementary matter. The various faculties of a human being are manifestations of one and the same cause, which is the soul or spirit incarnated in him, and not of several souls just as the different sounds of an organ are the product of one and the same sir, and not of as many sorts of air as there are sounds. According to the theory in question, when a man acquires or loses aptitudes or tendencies, such modifications would be the result of the coming or going of a corresponding number of the spirits conjoined with him, which would make of him a multiple being without individuality, and, consequently, without responsibility. This theory, moreover, is disproved by the numerous. manifestations of spirits which conclusively demonstrate their personality and their identity.
Influence of Organism 367. Does a spirit, in uniting itself with a body, identify itself with matter?
THE SPIRITS’ BOOK "Matter is only the envelope of the spirit, as clothing is the envelope of the body. A spirit, in uniting himself with a body, retains the attributes of his spiritual nature."
368. Does a spirit exercise his faculties in full freedom after his union with a body?
"The exercise of faculties depends on the organs which serve them for instruments. Their exercise is weakened by the grossness of matter."
- It would appear, then, that the material envelope is an obstacle to the free manifestation of a spirit's faculties, as the opacity of ground glass is an obstacle to the free emission of light?
"Yes, an obstacle which is exceedingly opaque."
The action exercised upon a spirit by the gross matter of his body may also be compared to that of muddy water, impeding the movements of the objects plunged into it.
369. Is the free exercise of a spirit's faculties subordinated, during his incarnation, to the development of his corporeal organs?
"Those organs are the soul's instruments for the manifestation of its faculties; that manifestation is, therefore, necessarily subordinated to the degree of development and perfection of those organs, as the perfection of a piece of manual work depends on the goodness of the tool employed."
370. May we, from the influence of the corporeal organs, infer a connection between the development of the cerebral organs and that of the moral and intellectual faculties?
"Do not confound effect and cause. A spirit always possesses the faculties that belong to him; but you must remember that it is not the organs that give the faculties, but the faculties that incite to the development of the organs."
- According to this view of the subject the diversity of aptitudes in each 'man depends solely on the state of his spirit?
"To say that it does so ‘solely,’ would not be altogether correct. The qualities of the incarnated spirit are, undoubtedly, the determining principle of those aptitudes; but allowance must be made for the influence of matter, which hinders every man, more or less, in the exercise of the faculties inherent in his soul."
A spirit, in incarnating himself, brings with him certain characterial predispositions therefore, if we admit the existence, for each of these, of a special organ In the brain. the development of the cerebral organs is seen to be an effect, and not a cause. If his faculties were a result of his bodily organs, man would be a mere machine, without free-will, and would not be responsible for his actions. Moreover, if such were the case, ALLAN KARDEC ALLAN KARDEC we should be forced to admit that the greatest geniuses-men of science, poets, artists-are only such because a lucky chance has given them certain special organs whence it would follow, still further, that, but for the chance-acquisition of those organs, they would not have been geniuses, and that the stupidest of men might have been a Newton, a Virgil, or a Raphael, If he had been provided with certain organs a supposition still more flagrantly absurd, if we attempt to apply it to the explanation of the moral qualities. For, according to this system, Saint Vincent de Paul, had he been gifted by nature with such and such an organ, might have been a scoundrel and the greatest scoundrel alive, had he only been gifted with an organ of an opposite nature, might have been a Saint Vincent de Paul. If, on the contrary, we admit that our special organs, supposing such to exist, are an effect and not a cause, that they are developed by the exercise of the faculties to which they correspond, as muscles are developed by movement, we arrive at a theory which is certainly not irrational. Let us employ an illustration equally conclusive and commonplace. By certain physiognomic signs we recognise a man who is addicted to drink. Is it those signs that make him a drunkard, or is It his drunkenness that produces those signs? It may be safely asserted that our organs are a consequence of our faculties.
Idiocy - Madness Idiocy - Madness 371. Is there any foundation for the common belief that the souls of idiots are of a nature inferior to those of others?
"No; they have a human soul, which is often more intelligent than you suppose, and which suffers acutely from the insufficiency of its means of communication, as the dumb man suffers from his inability to speak."
372. What is the aim of Providence in creating beings so ill-treated by nature as idiots?
"Idiots are incarnations of spirits who are undergoing punishment, and who suffer from the constraint they experience, and from their inability to manifest themselves by means of organs which are undeveloped, or out of order."
- Then it is not correct to say that organs are without influence upon faculties?
"We have never said that organs are without influence. They have very great influence on the manifestation of faculties, but they do not give faculties; there is just the difference. A skilful player will not make good music with a bad instrument, but that will not prevent his being a good player."