Answers to the question of the fallen angels.

Observation. – We have received from various places answers to all the questions presented in last January's issue. [see Monitoring of Spiritist Teaching.] Their length does not allow us to publish them all at the same time. Today we shall limit ourselves to the question of the rebel angels.

(Bordeaux.

– Medium: Mrs. Cazemajoux.)

My friends, the theory contained in the summary you have just read [Attempt at an interpretation of the doctrine of the fallen angels,] is the most logical and the most rational. Sound reason cannot admit the creation of pure and perfect Spirits revolting against God and seeking to equal Him in power, majesty, and grandeur.

Before reaching perfection the Spirit, ignorant and weak, left to its own free will, often takes the path of corruption and plunges with pleasure into the ocean of iniquity. But what mainly causes its ruin is pride. It denies God, attributes to chance its existence, the marvels of creation, and universal harmony. Then, woe to it! it is a fallen angel. Instead of advancing toward happy worlds, it is exiled from the very planet on which it dwells, in order to expiate, in inferior worlds, its incessant rebellion against God. Guard yourselves, brothers, against imitating them: they are perverse angels. Make every effort not to increase their number; may the torch of Spiritist faith enlighten you as to your future duties, so that you may one day avoid the fate of the rebel Spirits and ascend the spiritual ladder that leads to perfection.

Your Spiritual Guides.

(The Hague.

– Holland; Medium: Baron de Kock.)

Concerning this article, I shall have little to say, except that it is sublime truth. Nothing to add or to subtract. Blessed are those who join faith to these beautiful words, those who accept this doctrine written by Allan Kardec. Kardec is the man chosen by God for the instruction of the creatures of the present. They are words inspired by the Spirits of good, very superior Spirits. Have faith; read, study the whole doctrine: it is good advice that I give you. Your Protecting Guide.

(Sens.

– Medium: Mr. Pichon.)

Q. – What should we think of the interpretation of the doctrine of the fallen angels, which Mr. Allan Kardec published in the last issue of the Spiritist Review?

Answer. – That it is perfectly rational, and that we ourselves could not have explained it better.

Arago. n

(Paris. Private communication – Medium: Miss Stéphanie.)

It is well defined, but – one must be frank – there is one thing that displeases me: why speak of that dogma of the Immaculate Conception? Have you had revelations concerning the mother of Christ? Leave those discussions to the Catholic Church. I regret this comparison all the more, the more the priests will believe and say that you wish to court them. A Spirit.

Sincere friend of the medium and of the director of the Spiritist Review.

(Lyon.

– Medium: Mrs. Bouillant.)

Formerly we believed that the angels, after having dwelt in the most radiant of worlds, had revolted against God and deserved to be expelled from Eden, which God had given them as a dwelling. We sang of their fall and their weakness and, believing in this fable of Paradise Lost, we had adorned it with all the flowers of rhetoric that we knew. For us it was a theme that offered a special charm. That first man and that first woman, expelled from their oases, condemned to live on Earth, subject to all the evils that beset Humanity, were for the author a great source for developing his ideas, and the subject lent itself above all and perfectly to our melancholy ideas. Like the others, we believed in error and joined our word to all those that had already been pronounced. But now that our existence in space has allowed us to judge things from their true point of view; now that we can understand how absurd it was to admit that the Spirit, having arrived at its highest degree of purity, could suddenly retrograde, revolt against its Creator and enter into struggle with Him; now that we can judge through how many crucibles the liquor must be filtered to be purified, to the point of becoming essence and quintessence, we are in a position to tell you what the fallen angels are and what you should believe of Paradise Lost. In His immutable law of progress, God wills that men advance, advance incessantly, from century to century, in epochs determined by Him. When the majority of the beings who inhabit the Earth become much superior to the terrestrial part they occupy, then God orders an emigration of Spirits; those who have fulfilled their mission conscientiously go to dwell in regions designated to them, whereas the recalcitrant and lazy Spirit, who is out of keeping with the picture, is obliged to remain in the rear. In this purification it is repelled, as chemists do with the substances that have not passed through the filtration. Then the Spirit finds itself in contact with other Spirits inferior to it and truly suffers the constraint imposed upon it. It remembers intuitively the happiness it enjoyed and finds itself among its equals like an exotic flower that had been suddenly transplanted into uncultivated ground. Understanding its superiority, such a Spirit revolts; it seeks to dominate those who surround it, and this revolt, this struggle with itself, turns against the Creator who gave it existence, and whom it disregards. If its thoughts can develop, it will pour out what overflows from its heart in bitter recriminations, like the condemned man in his prison, and it will suffer cruelly until it has expiated the laziness and egoism that prevented it from accompanying its brothers. Such, my friends, are the fallen angels and why all lament the loss of their paradise. Strive, then, in your turn, to make haste, so as not to be abandoned when the signal of return sounds. Let all remember that you owe yourselves to yourselves; say that you are you and that you have your free will. This personality of the Spirit explains to you why the son of a wise man is often an idiot and why intelligence cannot be transformed into an entailed inheritance. A great man may well give to his progeny the contours of his physiognomy, but he will never transmit to it his genius; and you may be certain that all the geniuses who have manifested their talents among you were the children of their own works, for, as a great sage said: "It is that the mothers of the Patays, of the Letronnes and of the great Arago created those exceptional men very innocently." No, my friend, the mother who bears an illustrious talent has not the least influence over the Spirit that animates her child: this Spirit was already very advanced when it came to reincarnate in the crucible of purification. Ascend, then, the steps of the ladder, steps luminous and brilliant as suns, for God illumines them with His splendid light. Remember that now, that you know the way, you would be very guilty if you became fallen angels. Moreover, I believe that no one would dare to lament you and sing to you of Paradise Lost. Milton. n

(Frankfurt.

– Medium: Mrs. Delton.)

I shall say nothing about this interpretation of the rebel angels and the fallen angels, except that it forms part of the teachings that must be given to you, so that you may restore to their true sense the things that have been ill understood. Do not think that the author of the article wrote it without assistance, as he himself imagined; he judged that he was emitting his own opinions, which is why he became distrustful, when in reality he merely gave form to the ideas that were inspired in him. Yes, he is right when he says that the rebel angels are still on the Earth, and that they are the imperialists and the impious, those who dare to deny the power of God. Is it not the height of pride? All of you, who believe in God and sing praises to Him, are indignant at such audacity of the creature, and you are right; but search your conscience and see whether you do not revolt against Him, at every moment, through forgetfulness of His holy laws. Do you practice humility, you who believe in the superiority of your merit? who boast of the gifts you have received? who view with envy and jealousy the position of your neighbor, the favors that fall to him, the authority granted to him? Do you practice charity, you who denigrate your brother, who pour out upon him slander and calumny? Who, instead of casting a veil over his defects, take pleasure in exposing them to the eyes of all, in order to humiliate him? You who believe in God, above all you, Spiritists, who act thus, in truth I say to you: you are more guilty than the atheist and the materialist, for you have the light and do not see. Yes, you too are rebel angels, because you do not obey the law of God and, on the day of judgment, God will ask you: "What have you done with my teachings?" Paul, Protecting Spirit. n [1]

[see Arago.]

[2] [see John Milton, author of Paradise Lost.]

[3] [See Saint Paul.]