On suicide.

Questions addressed to Saint Louis through Mr. C…, speaking and seeing medium, at the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, in the session of October 12, 1858.

Why would the man who has the firm intention of destroying himself revolt at the idea of being killed by another and defend himself against the attacks, at the very instant in which he is about to carry out his design?

Answer. – Because man always has a fear of death; when he commits suicide, he is overexcited, his head is deranged, and he carries out that act without courage or fear and, so to speak, without having consciousness of what he is doing, whereas, if he could choose, you would not see so many suicides. Man's instinct leads him to defend his own life and, during the time that elapses between the instant in which his fellow man approaches to kill him and that in which the act is committed, there is always a movement of instinctive repulsion from death which leads him to repel that phantom, which is terrifying only to the guilty Spirit. The man who commits suicide does not experience that sentiment, because he is surrounded by Spirits who impel him, who assist him in his desires and make him completely lose the remembrance of all that is not himself, that is, of his parents and those who love him, as well as of another existence. In that moment man is all egoism.

Is he who, weary of life, although not wishing to commit suicide, desires that his death serve for something, guilty of seeking it on the field of battle while defending his country?

Answer. – Always. Man must follow the impulse that is given to him; whatever the career he embraces, whatever the life he leads, he is always assisted by Spirits who lead and direct him, in spite of himself. Now, to attempt against their counsels is a crime, seeing that they are there to direct us and, when we wish to act of our own accord, to assist us. However, if man, dragged along by his own Spirit, wishes to leave this life, he is soon abandoned, recognizing later his fault, on finding himself obliged to begin another existence anew. To raise himself, man must be tried; to restrain his actions, to put a fetter on his free will, would be to go against God, and the trials, in that case, would become useless, because the Spirits would not commit faults. The Spirit was created simple and ignorant. To reach the happy spheres it is necessary, then, that he progress, that he raise himself in science and in wisdom, it being only in adversity that he acquires an elevated heart and better understands the grandeur of God.

One of those present observed that there seemed to have been a contradiction between these last words of Saint Louis and the preceding ones, when he said that man may be impelled to suicide by certain Spirits who excite him to it. In this case, he would be yielding to an impulse that would be foreign to him.

Answer. – There is no contradiction whatsoever. When I said that the man impelled to suicide was surrounded by Spirits who solicited him to it, I was not referring to the good Spirits, who make every effort to dissuade him from that idea; this should be understood. We all know that we possess a guardian angel or, if you wish, a familiar guide. Now, man has his free will; if, despite the counsels that are given to him, he perseveres in this criminal idea, he carries it out and, for this, he is assisted by the frivolous and impure Spirits who surround him and who feel happy to see that man, or incarnated Spirit, lacks the courage to follow the counsels of his good guide and, often, of the Spirits of deceased relatives who envelop him, above all, in such circumstances. [1] Publisher's Note: See “Explanatory Note,” p. 537.