Goethe.

Evocation.

Answer. – I am with you.

In what situation do you find yourself as a Spirit: wandering or reincarnated?

Ans. – Wandering.

Are you happier than when alive?

Answer. – Yes, for I have freed myself from the gross body and perceive what I did not see before.

It seems to me that in life you did not have an unhappy situation. In what does the superiority of your present situation consist?

Answer. – I have just said it; you, adepts of Spiritism, must understand this situation.

What is your present opinion of Faust?

Le Faust de Goethe — Google Books.

Answer. – It is a work whose objective was to show the vanity and emptiness of human science and, on the other hand, in that which was beautiful and pure, to exalt the sentiment of love, chastising it in what it contained of the unbridled and the evil.

Was it by a certain intuition of Spiritism that you described the influence of evil Spirits over man? How were you led to make that description?

Answer. – I had the almost exact memory of a world where I saw the influence of Spirits over material beings at work.

Did you remember, then, a previous existence?

Answer. – Yes, certainly.

Could you tell us whether such existence occurred on Earth?

Answer. – No, because here one does not see the Spirits acting; it was indeed in another world.

But then, it must have been a world superior to Earth, since there you could see the Spirits in action. How could you come from such a world to reincarnate on an inferior orb like ours? Did you retrogress? Deign to explain what took place. Answer. – It was a world superior up to a certain point, but not as you understand it. Not all worlds have the same organization, without their thereby having a great superiority. Moreover, you know perfectly well that among you I fulfilled a mission that you cannot dissemble, because you still perform my works. There was no retrogression, considering that I served and still serve for your moralization. I applied what there might be of the superior in the previous world to correct the passions of my heroes.

In fact, your works are still performed. They have just made the theatrical version of Faust. Did you attend its staging?

Answer. – Yes.

Could you express your opinion on the manner in which Mr. Gounod interpreted your thought through music?

Answer. – Gounod evoked me without knowing it. He understood me perfectly. As a German musician I would not have done better. Perhaps he thinks as a French musician.

What do you think of Werther?

Werther — Google Books.

Answer. – Today I reproach its ending.

Would that work not have done much harm by exalting the passions?

Answer. – It did and caused misfortunes.

It was the cause of many suicides. Are you responsible for that?

Answer. – If there was a harmful influence spread by me, it is for that very reason that I still suffer and repent of it.

I believe that in life you nurtured a great antipathy for the French. Is it the same at present?

Answer. – I am very patriotic.

Are you still attached to one country, in preference to another?

Answer. – I love Germany for its thought and for its almost patriarchal customs.

Could you give us your opinion on Schiller?

Answer. – We are brothers in Spirit and in missions. Schiller had a great and noble soul, which was reflected in his works; he did less harm than I. He is quite superior to me, because he was more simple and more truthful.

What is your opinion on the French poets in general, compared to the German poets? It is not a vain sentiment of curiosity, but a matter of our instruction. We trust that your elevated sentiments will dispense us from the need of asking that you do so impartially, setting aside any national prejudice. Answer. – You are quite curious, but I will satisfy you: The modern French often write beautiful poems; however they use pretty words more than good thoughts; they ought to devote themselves more to the heart than to the mind. I speak in general, but I make some exceptions in favor of a few: a great poor poet, among others.

(A name is whispered in the assembly); is it to him that you refer?

Answer. – Poor, or who passes for such.

We would feel happy if we obtained a dissertation on a subject of your choice, for our instruction. Would you have the goodness to dictate something to us?

Answer. – I will do so later, and through other mediums; evoke me on another occasion.

[1] [see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.]