The Spirits Book New English Edition

New English translation of "Le Livre des Esprits", the foundational work of the Spiritist Doctrine, written by Allan Kardec, and first published in 1857 in Paris.

"The Spirits' Book" is the foundational work of Spiritism, a school of thought first established in France in the mid-nineteenth century by the French educator Allan Kardec. Currently, Spiritism includes over fifteen million adherents, the eleventh largest spiritual following worldwide, ahead of more historically traditional religions such as Judaism (twelfth) and Jainism (fourteenth).This new translation is based on painstaking research of the French text, so as to provide the most faithful rendering in English of Kardec's seminal work. By analyzing the nuances in meaning and usage of vocabulary (in both French and English), as well as different stylistic choices that must be made in English, this new translation strikes a balance between literal accuracy and readability. "The Spirits' Book" represents a philosophical guide for real people, encompassing the analysis of all the fundamental questions underpinning human existence.

New English translation of "L'Evangile selon le Spiritisme", the most widely read work of the Spiritist Doctrine, written by Allan Kardec, and first published in 1866 in Paris.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Durham under the title: Christ's proclamation to the imprisoned spirits: 1 Peter 3:18-22 in its tradition historical and literary contexts.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1898 Edition.

When two "grave and serious" spirits began speaking to a French academic through two young mediums and "completely revolutionized [his] ideas and convictions," Allan Kardec decided to set down these spiritualistic revelations. The result electrified the high society of the mid 19th century, which was already fascinated by "spirit tapping" and other paranormalities, and earned Kardec-a pseudonym his spirits commanded him to use-a place in this history of the paranormal as the father of spiritism. Kardec "interviews" the spirits, asking more than 1000 questions about morality, the nature of the soul, the history of humanity, and more, including: . "Is the soul reincarnated immediately after its separation from the body?" . "Does the spirit remember his corporeal existence?" . "Could two beings, who have already known and loved each other, meet again and recognise one another, in another corporeal existence?" . "What is to be thought of the signification attributed to dreams?" . "Are good and evil absolute for all men?" . "What is the aim of God in visiting mankind with destructive calamities?" . "Is it possible for man to enjoy perfect happiness upon the earth?" Promising nothing less than the secret of the destiny of the human race, this extraordinary book, first published in 1856, is as curious today as it was a century and a half ago. French scholar HIPPOLYTE LEON DENIZARD RIVAIL (1804-1869), aka Allan Kardec, was a longtime teacher of mathematics, astronomy, and other scientific disciplines before turning to the paranormal.

Bettina E. Schmidt explores experiences usually labelled as spirit possession, a highly contested and challenged term, using extensive ethnographic research conducted in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil and home to a range of religions which practice spirit possession. The book is enriched by excerpts from interviews with people about their experiences. It focuses on spirit possession in Afro-Brazilian religions and spiritism, as well as discussing the notion of exorcism in Charismatic Christian communities. Spirits and Trance in Brazil: An Anthropology of Religious Experience is divided into three sections which present the three main areas in the study of spirit possession. The first section looks at the social dimension of spirit possession, in particular gender roles associated with spirit possession in Brazil and racial stratification of the communities. It shows how gender roles and racial composition have adapted alongside changes in society in the last 100 years. The second section focuses on the way people interpret their practice. It shows that the interpretations of this practice depend on the human relationship to the possessing entities. The third section explores a relatively new field of research, the Western discourse of mind/body dualism and the wide field of cognition and embodiment. All sections together confirm the significance of discussing spirit possession within a wider framework that embraces physical elements as well as cultural and social ones. Bringing together sociological, anthropological, phenomenological and religious studies approaches, this book offers a new perspective on the study of spirit possession.

"For new ideas new words are needed, in order to secure clearness of language by avoiding the confusion inseparable from the employment of the same term for expressing different meanings. The words spiritual, spiritualist, spiritualism, have a definite acceptation; to give them a new one, in order to apply them to the doctrine set forth by spirits, would be to multiply the causes of amphibology, already so numerous."...