Manifestation of the Spirit of animals.

— They write to us from Dieppe:

“…It seems to me, dear sir, that we have reached an age in which incredible things are bound to happen. I do not know what to think of one of the strangest phenomena that has just occurred in my house. In these times of scepticism in which we live, I would not dare speak of it to anyone, for fear of being taken for one suffering from hallucinations. But, dear sir, at the risk of bringing to your lips the smile of doubt, I want to tell you the fact. Apparently trivial, at bottom it is perhaps more serious than one might think.

“My poor son, who died at Boulogne-sur-Mer, where he was continuing his studies, had been given by one of his friends a lovely greyhound, which we trained with the utmost care. Of her kind she was the most adorable little creature one could imagine. We loved her as one loves all that is beautiful and good. She understood us by our gesture, by our look. Such was the expression of her eyes that she seemed to answer us when we spoke to her.

“After the death of her young master, little Mika (that was her name) was brought to Dieppe and, according to her habit, she slept well wrapped up at the foot of my bed. In winter, when the cold bit too sharply, she would get up, give a soft little whimper of extreme gentleness, which was her usual way of making a request, and, understanding what she wanted, I would allow her to come and place herself at my side. Then she would stretch out as best she could among her wrappings, with her muzzle against my neck, which she used as a pillow, giving herself over to sleep like the happy ones of the Earth, receiving my warmth, transmitting hers to me, which moreover did not displease me. With me the poor little thing spent happy days. A thousand good things were not lacking to her. But last September she fell ill and died, despite the care of the veterinarian to whom I entrusted her. We often spoke of her, my wife and I, and we lamented her almost as if she were a beloved child, so well had she known, by her gentleness, her intelligence and her faithful attachment, to win our affection. “Lately, in the middle of the night, being in bed but not asleep, I heard coming from the foot of my bed that little whimper which the little greyhound used to give when she wanted something. I was so struck that I stretched out my arm beyond the bed, as if I wished to draw her to me, and I even thought I was going to feel her caresses. On getting up in the morning, I told the fact to my wife, who said to me: “I heard the same voice, not once, but twice. It seemed to come from the door of my room. My first thought was that our poor little dog was not dead and that, having escaped from the house of the veterinarian, who would have taken possession of her thanks to her gentleness, she wanted to return to our house.”

“My poor sick daughter, who has her little bed in her mother’s room, affirms that she too heard it. Only it seemed to her that the voice did not come from the entrance door, but from her mother’s very bed, which is right next to the door.

“I must tell you, dear sir, that my wife’s room is above mine. Did these strange sounds come from the street, as my wife thinks, who does not share my Spiritist convictions? It is impossible. Coming from the street, those so gentle sounds would not have reached my ear, for I am so afflicted with deafness that, even in the silence of the night, I am incapable of hearing the noise of a passing carriage. I do not even hear thunder during a storm. On the other hand, if the sound of the voice came from the street, how to explain the illusion of my wife and my daughter, who thought they heard it coming from an opposite point—from the entrance door, for my wife; from her bed, for my daughter?

“I confess, dear sir, that although these facts relate to a being deprived of reason, they make me reflect singularly. What to think of this? I dare decide nothing and I cannot dwell at length upon it; but I ask myself whether the immaterial principle, which, as in men, must survive in animals, might not acquire, in a certain degree, the faculty of communication, like the human soul. Who knows? Do we know all the secrets of Nature? Evidently not. Who will explain the law of affinities? who will explain the laws of repulsion? No one. If affection, which belongs to the domain of sentiment, as sentiment belongs to the domain of the soul, possesses in itself an attractive force, what would there be astonishing in a poor little animal in an immaterial state feeling drawn to where its affection leads it? But, they will ask, how to admit the sound of the voice? And if it was heard once, twice, why not every day? This objection may seem serious. Nevertheless, it would be folly to think that this sound cannot be produced outside of certain combinations of fluids which, brought together, act in some direction or other, as in chemistry certain effervescences, certain explosions are produced as a consequence of the mixture of such or such elements? Whether this hypothesis has any foundation or not, I do not discuss it; I will only say that it may lie among the possible things and, without going very far, I will add that I am establishing a fact supported by a threefold testimony, and that if the fact occurred, it is because it could occur. Besides, let us hope that time will enlighten us; perhaps we shall not be long in hearing of phenomena of the same nature.”

— Our honorable correspondent acts wisely in not deciding the question categorically. From a single fact, which is still only a probability, he does not draw an absolute conclusion. He establishes it, observes, awaiting that light be shed. So prudence demands. Facts of this kind are not yet numerous enough, nor sufficiently proven, to deduce from them a theory, affirmative or negative. The question of the beginning and the end of the Spirit of animals is only beginning to be unraveled, and the fact in question is essentially connected with it. If it is not an illusion, at least it establishes the bond of affinity existing between the Spirit of animals, or rather of certain animals, and that of man. Moreover, it seems positively proven that there are animals which see Spirits and are impressed by them; we have reported several examples in the Review, among which that of the Spirit and the little dog, in the issue of June 1860. If animals see Spirits, it is evidently not through the eyes of the body. Therefore they too have a kind of spiritual vision. Until now Science has done nothing but establish the physiological relations between man and animals. It shows us, in the physical, all the links of the chain of beings without break in continuity. But between the spiritual principle of the two Spirits there was an abyss. If psychological facts, better observed, come to throw a bridge over this abyss, it will be a new step toward the unity of the scale of beings and of Creation. It is not by means of systems that this grave question can be resolved, but by facts. If it is to be resolved one day, only Spiritism, by creating experimental psychology, will be able to furnish the means. In any case, if there exist points of contact between the animal soul and the human soul, this can only be, on the side of the former, from the part of the most advanced animals. An important fact to establish is that, among the beings of the spiritual world, mention has never been made that Spirits of animals exist. From this it would seem to result that animals do not preserve their individuality after death, but, on the other hand, the little greyhound, who would have manifested herself, would seem to prove the contrary. In accordance with this, one sees that the question is still little advanced, and that one must not hasten its solution. The above letter having been read at the Society of Paris, the following communication was given on the subject:

(Paris,

April 1865. n – Medium: Mr. E. Vézy.)

This evening I am going to take up a grave question, speaking to you of the relations that may exist between animality and Humanity. But in this hall, when, for the first time, my instructions taught you the solidarity of all existences and the affinities that exist between them, a murmur arose in one part of this assembly, and I fell silent. Should I do the same today, despite your questions? No, because, after all, I see that you are entering upon the path I was pointing out to you.

But it is not enough merely to believe in the incessant progress of the Spirit, an embryo in matter, developing as it passes through the sieve of the mineral, of the vegetable and of the animal, to arrive at human-animality, where the soul that will incarnate only begins to be tried out, proud of its task, in Humanity. Between these different phases there exist important bonds, which it is necessary to know, and which I will call intermediate or latent periods; because it is there that the successive transformations are worked out. Later I will speak to you of the bonds that unite the mineral to the vegetable, the vegetable to the animal. Since a phenomenon that causes you wonder leads us to the bonds that link the animal to man, I will entertain you with these last. Between domestic animals and men, the affinities are produced by the fluidic charges that surround you and fall back upon them. It is in a way Humanity that becomes distinct upon animality, without altering the colors of either one. Hence this intelligent superiority of the dog over the brutal instinct of the wild animal, and it is only to that cause that those manifestations which have just been read to you can be attributed. Thus, they were not mistaken in hearing a joyful cry of the animal grateful for the care of its master, which came, before passing into the intermediate state from one development to another, to bring him a remembrance. The manifestation, therefore, can occur, but it is fleeting, because the animal, in order to climb a degree, needs a latent labor, which annihilates, in all, any outward sign of life. This state is the spiritual chrysalis, where the soul is elaborated, a perispirit without form, having no figure reproducing features, bursting forth in a state of maturity to let escape, in the currents that carry it along, the germs of souls that originate there. Thus, then, it would be difficult for us to speak to you of the Spirits of animals in space: they do not exist; or rather, their passage is so rapid that it is as if it were nil, and, in the state of chrysalis, they could not be described. You already know that nothing dies of the matter that succumbs. When a body dissolves, the various elements of which it is composed reclaim the part they gave to it: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon return to their primitive source to nourish other bodies. The same occurs with the spiritual part: the organized spiritual fluids take on, in passing, colors, perfumes, instincts, until the definitive constitution of the soul.

Do you understand well? Perhaps I would need to explain myself better, but, to conclude this evening, and not to let you suppose the impossible, I assure you that what belongs to the domain of animal intelligence cannot be reproduced by human intelligence, that is, that the animal, whatever it may be, cannot express its thought by human language; its ideas are only rudimentary. To have the possibility of expressing itself, as the Spirit of a man would do, it would need ideas, knowledge and a development that it does not have, that it cannot have. Hold it, then, as certain that neither the dog, nor the cat, nor the donkey, nor the horse, nor the elephant can manifest themselves by mediumistic means. Only Spirits that have reached the degree of Humanity can do so, and even then in proportion to their advancement, since the Spirit of a savage will not be able to speak to you as that of a civilized man. Observation. – These last reflections of the Spirit were prompted by the mention, made in the session, of persons who claimed to have received communications from various animals. As an explanation of the aforementioned fact, his theory is rational and agrees, at bottom, with that which today prevails in the instructions given in the majority of the centers. When we have gathered sufficient documents, we will summarize them in a methodical body of doctrine, which will be submitted to universal control. Until then, they are only markers placed along the way, to enlighten it.

[1] Translator’s note: 1845 in the original. It is evident that Kardec is referring to the year 1865.