Mr. Philibert Viennois.

— Evocation.

Answer. – I am beside you.

You had agreed with Mrs. V… that, of the two of you, whichever remained would come to me so that I might evoke the one who had departed. Mrs. V… informed me of this commitment, and it is with joy that I prepare myself to perform the evocation. I know that you were a fervent Spiritist and, moreover, endowed with a good heart, circumstances that can only awaken our desire to converse with you.

Answer. – I can then write to you and draw near to you to express all the benevolence that my Spirit feels toward you. Thank you for all the happiness you gave me, dear wife, you who made me love the belief, the holy rule of my last days beside you. I feel very happy today to gather all the goods that were promised to us by the venerated faith, which shows us a life other than that of the Earth. I am in possession of a power unknown to men; immensity belongs to us; I can understand you better and love you better; my sensations are no longer obscure, and what is divine in us is of extreme simplicity, for all that is great is simple. Grandeur is the true element of the Spirit. I am always near you. Henceforth you will be happy, because I will surround you with my fluid, which will strengthen you, if necessary. I want you to be always courageous, good, and above all a Spiritist. With these three elements, you will bless God for having called me to Him, for I await you, persuaded that, thanks to Spiritism, God reserves a good place for you among us.

Have the kindness to describe to us your passage to the world of the Spirits, your impressions, and the influence of Spiritist knowledge upon your elevation.

Answer. – Death, which I was expecting, was not suffering for me, but a complete detachment from matter. What I saw was a new life; the divine future, that longed-for hour, came calmly. It is true that I regretted the presence [1] of my companion, whom I could not leave without sorrow: it is the last link of the chain that binds the Spirit to matter; once it was broken, I suffered little in the passage from life to death; my Spirit carried away the prayers of my beloved. All impressions were extinguished in me so that I might awaken in our domain, Spiritists. The journey is a sleep for the just; the rupture is natural; but, at the first awakening, what admiration! how everything is new, splendid, marvelous! Those whom I loved, and other Spirits, my friends from previous incarnations, welcomed me and opened the doors of the true existence, in that limitless park called heaven. You cannot understand my impressions, nor would I know how to express them. I will try to communicate them to you another time.

Upon receiving Mrs. V…'s letter, I addressed to her a prayer appropriate to the circumstance. Can you tell me what you think about it?

Answer. – Thank you for your benevolence, Mr. Kardec; you could not have done better. Those who weep for the absent need the Spirit of God, but also the support of other benevolent Spirits, and Spirits ought to be such. Your prayer moved many frivolous and incredulous Spirits, who are invisible witnesses of your sessions (this prayer had been read at the Society after the evocation); your good words will serve their advancement. Often you restore to our world the good that you receive from it. Not to disdain the counsel of a brother lesser than ourselves is to recognize the intimate bond created by God among all creatures.

I wished to ask you to give me a communication for Mrs. V…, but I see that you have anticipated my thought.

Answer. – To your first question I answered my wife, when I should have answered the Spiritist Society. Forgive me, for I was fulfilling a promise. I know that, through persuasion, you draw those who wish to be consoled. To converse with those absent in the other world will be the greatest happiness of those who do not sacrifice everything to gold and pleasure. Please tell my wife that my presence will never fail her. We will work together for her spiritual progress. Send her this communication; I would like to say so many good words to her that expressions fail me; may she always love our family, so that it, through her example, may become Spiritist and believe in eternal life, which is the life of God. Viennois.

Below we publish the prayer referred to above, which was given to us by the Spirits for analogous circumstances:

PRAYER FOR THOSE FOR WHOM WE HAD AFFECTION. [2]

Preface – How horrendous is the idea of Nothingness! How pitiable are those who believe that the voice of the friend who weeps for his friend is lost in the void, finding no echo to answer it! Those who think that everything dies with the body have never known pure and holy affections; that the genius who with his vast intelligence illuminated the world is a combination of matter, which, like a breath, is extinguished forever; that of the most beloved being, a father, a mother, or an adored child, there will remain only a little dust that the wind will irremediably scatter. How can a man of heart remain cold to this idea? How does the idea of an absolute annihilation not freeze him with terror and not make him at least desire that it not be so? If until now reason has not been sufficient to remove from his spirit any doubts, here is Spiritism to dissipate all uncertainty regarding the future, by means of the material proofs it gives of the survival of the soul and of the existence of beings from beyond the tomb. So true is this that everywhere these proofs are welcomed with jubilation; confidence is reborn, for henceforth man knows that earthly life is only a brief passage leading to a better life; that his labors in this world are not lost, and that the holiest affections are no longer shattered without hope. Prayer – Deign, O my God, to receive benevolently the prayer that I address to You for the Spirit N… Allow him to glimpse the divine brightness and make easy for him the path of eternal happiness. Permit the good Spirits to carry to him my words and my thought.

You, who were so dear to me in this world, hear my voice, which calls upon you to offer you a new pledge of my affection. God permitted that you be freed before me, and of this I could not complain without selfishness, for it would be to wish you still subject to the pains and sufferings of life. I await, then, resigned, the moment of our reunion in the more blessed world to which you preceded me.

I know that our separation is only temporary and that, however long it may seem to me, its duration is nothing in the face of the blessed eternity that God promises to His chosen ones. May His goodness preserve me from doing whatever might delay that longed-for instant and thus spare me the sorrow of not finding you when I leave my earthly captivity.

Oh! how sweet and consoling is the certainty that there is between us no more than a material veil that hides you from my sight! that you can be here, at my side, seeing and hearing me as before, if not even better than before; that you do not forget me, just as I do not forget you; that our thoughts constantly intersect and that yours always accompanies and sustains me.

[1] Translator's note: Should it not be absence?

[2] Translator's note: See The Gospel According to Spiritism, chapter XXVIII, items 62 and 63.