Prolegomena

Phenomena that escape the laws of common science manifest themselves everywhere, revealing, in the cause that produces them, the action of a free and intelligent will.

Reason says that an intelligent effect must have as its cause an intelligent force, and the facts have proved that this force can enter into communication with men by means of material signs.

Questioned about its nature, this force declared that it belonged to the world of spiritual beings who have divested themselves of the corporeal envelope of man. Thus it is that the Doctrine of the Spirits was revealed.

The communications between the spiritual world and the corporeal world are part of the nature of things and constitute no supernatural fact, which is why we find their traces among all peoples and in all epochs. Today they have become generalized and have become evident to all.

The Spirits announce that the times marked by Providence for a universal manifestation have arrived, and that, being the ministers of God and the agents of His will, their mission is to instruct and enlighten men, opening a New Era for the regeneration of Humanity.

This book is the repository of their teachings.

It was written by order and under the dictation of superior Spirits, to establish the foundations of the true Spiritist Doctrine, free from errors and prejudices.

It contains nothing that is not the expression of their thought and that has not been examined by them.

Only the order and the methodical distribution of the matters, as well as the material form of some parts of the writing, constitute the work of him who received the mission to publish it.

Among the Spirits who contributed to the realization of this work, many lived in diverse epochs on Earth, where they preached and practiced virtue and wisdom.

Others, by their names, belonged to no personage whose memory History has preserved, but their elevation is attested by the purity of their doctrine and their union with those who bear venerated names.

These are the terms in which they gave us, in writing and through many mediums, the mission to write this book:

“Occupy yourself with zeal and perseverance with the work you have undertaken with our concurrence; this work is also ours.

We shall review it together, so that it may contain nothing that is not the expression of our thought and of the truth; and when the work is finished, we shall order you not only to print it but to propagate it; it is a thing of universal usefulness.

You have understood your mission well; we are content with you. Continue and we shall never abandon you. Believe in God and walk with confidence!

We shall be with you whenever you ask it, and you too shall be at our orders every time we call you, for this book is only a part of the mission that is confided to you and that one of us has already revealed to you.

Among the teachings that are given to you, there are some that you must keep only for yourself, until further order. When the moment comes for you to publish them, we shall inform you. While you wait, meditate upon them, so that you may be ready when we tell you.

You shall place at the head of the book the vine that we have drawn for you, 68 because it is the emblem of the work of the Creator.

Therein are gathered all the material principles that can best represent the body and the spirit.

The body is the vine; the soul is the grape; the spirit is the sap. 69 21 Man quintessences the spirit through work, and you know that it is only through the work of the body that the spirit acquires knowledge.

Do not let yourself be discouraged by criticism.

You will encounter obstinate contradictors, principally among those who have an interest in abuses.

You will encounter them even among the Spirits, because those who are not yet completely dematerialized often seek to sow doubt out of malice or ignorance.

Proceed always; here we shall be to sustain you, and the time approaches when the truth will shine forth from all sides.

The vanity of certain men, who think they know everything and want to explain everything in their own way, will give rise to dissident opinions.

But all those who have in view the great principle of Jesus will be merged in one same sentiment of love for the good and will unite themselves by a fraternal bond, which will embrace the whole world; 28 they will set aside the miserable disputes of words, in order to occupy themselves only with what is essential.

And the Doctrine will always be the same, as to its foundation, for all who receive communications from superior Spirits.” 70