Spiritism and cholera.

— It is known of what accusations the first Christians in Rome were victims. There were no crimes of which they were not capable, nor public misfortunes of which, according to their enemies, they were not the voluntary authors or the involuntary cause, because their influence was pernicious. Within a few centuries it will be difficult to believe that strong minds of the nineteenth century attempted to revive these ideas with respect to the Spiritists, declaring them the authors of all the disturbances of society, comparing their doctrine to the plague and encouraging their persecution. This is printed history; these words were poured forth from more than one evangelical pulpit; but what is more surprising is that they are found in the newspapers, which claim to speak in the name of reason and set themselves up as champions of all liberties and, in particular, of liberty of conscience. We already possess a rather curious collection of pleasantries of this kind, which we propose later to gather into a volume, for the greater glory of their authors and for the edification of posterity. Thus, we shall be grateful to those who help us enrich this collection, by sending us everything that, to their knowledge, has appeared or will appear on the subject. Comparing these documents of the history of Spiritism with those of the history of the first centuries of the Church, one will be surprised to find in them identical thoughts and expressions. Only one thing is lacking there: the wild beasts of the circus, which is already a progress. Since, then, Spiritism is an eminently contagious plague, since, according to its adversaries, it invades with terrible rapidity all classes of society, it has a certain analogy with cholera [Cholera Morbus]. Thus, in this latest outbreak, certain critics jokingly called it Spirito-morbus, and there would be nothing surprising if they accused it of having imported the scourge; for it is remarkable that two diametrically opposed camps join hands to combat it. In one, so we were told, they minted a medal bearing the effigy of Saint Benedict, which one need only wear to be preserved from spiritist contagion. It is not said whether this means cures those who are stricken by the malady.

There really is an analogy between Spiritism and cholera: it is the fear that both cause in certain people. But let us consider the matter from a more serious point of view. Here is what was written to us from Constantinople:

“…The newspapers have informed you of the rigor with which the terrible scourge has just devastated our city and its surroundings, although it attenuated its disastrous effects. Some persons, who claim to be well informed, put the number of cholera victims dead at seventy thousand, and others at about one hundred thousand. The truth is that we were severely tried, and you can imagine the sorrows and the general mourning of our populations. It is principally in these sad moments of this horrible epidemic that the spiritist faith and belief give courage; we have just given the most truthful of proofs. Who knows whether we do not owe to that calmness of the soul, to that persuasion of immortality, to that certainty of the successive existences, in which beings are rewarded according to their merit and their degree of advancement; who knows, I say, whether it is not because of these beliefs, the foundations of our beautiful doctrine, that all of us, Spiritists of Constantinople who, as you know, are quite numerous, must have been preserved from the scourge that spread and still spreads around us! I say this all the more as it has been observed, here and elsewhere, that fear is the most dangerous harbinger of cholera, just as ignorance unfortunately becomes a source of contagion…” Repos Filho, attorney.

— It would certainly be absurd to believe that the spiritist faith was a diploma guaranteeing against cholera. But, as is scientifically recognized, fear, by weakening the moral and the physical at the same time, makes people more impressionable and more susceptible to being seized by infectious diseases; it is evident, then, that every cause tending to strengthen the moral is a preservative. This is today so well understood that one avoids, as much as possible, whether in the reports or in the material arrangements, that which might wound the imagination by its lugubrious aspect.

Without doubt the Spiritists can die of cholera, like everyone, because their body is no more immortal than that of others and because, when the hour comes, one must depart, whether by this cause or by another. Cholera is one of the causes that has as its particularity only that of carrying off a greater number of people at the same time, which produces more sensation. One departs en masse, instead of individually—that is the whole difference. But the certainty they have of the future and, above all, the knowledge of that future, which corresponds to all aspirations and satisfies reason, make them absolutely not regret the Earth, where they consider themselves in passing exile. While in the presence of death the unbeliever sees only nothingness, or asks what is to become of him, the Spiritist knows that, if he dies, he will only be stripped of a material envelope, subject to the sufferings and vicissitudes of life, but he will always be himself, with an ethereal body, inaccessible to pain; that he will enjoy new perceptions and greater faculties; that he is going to find those whom he loved and who await him at the threshold of the true life, of the imperishable life. As for material goods, he knows that he will no longer need them, and that the pleasures they afford will be replaced by others, purer and more enviable, which leave in their wake neither bitterness nor regrets. Thus, he abandons them without difficulty and with joy, pitying those who, remaining on Earth, will still have need of them. He is like the one who, becoming rich, abandons his old garments to the unfortunate. Therefore, on leaving his friends, he says to them: do not lament me; do not weep for my death; rather congratulate me, for being free from the cares of life and for entering a radiant world, from which I shall await you. Whoever has read and meditated upon our work Heaven and Hell According to Spiritism and, above all, the chapter on the fear of death, will understand the moral strength that the Spiritists draw from their belief, in the face of the scourge that decimates the populations.

Does it follow from this that they should neglect the precautions necessary in such cases and bow their heads before danger? By no means: they will take all the precautions required by prudence and by a rational hygiene, because they are not fatalists and because, if they do not fear death, they know that they must not seek it. Now, not to take into account the sanitary measures that can preserve them would be a true suicide, whose consequences they know too well to expose themselves to them. They consider it a duty to watch over the health of the body, because health is necessary for the fulfillment of social duties. If they seek to prolong corporeal life, it is not from attachment to the Earth, but in order to have more time to progress, to better themselves, to purify themselves, to strip off the old man and to acquire a greater sum of merits for the spiritual life. But, if in spite of all care, they must succumb, they accept it without complaint, knowing that all progress brings its fruits, that nothing of what is acquired in morality and in intelligence is lost, and that if they have not demerited in the eyes of God, they will always be better off in the other world than in this one, even if they do not occupy the first place there. They only say: We are going a little sooner where we would go a little later. Is it believed that with such thoughts one is not in the best conditions of tranquility of mind recommended by Science? For the unbeliever or for one who doubts, death has all its terrors, because he loses everything and hopes for nothing. What can a materialist physician say to calm in the sick the fear of dying? Nothing of what one of them one day said to a poor wretch who trembled at the mere word cholera: “Ah! as long as one is not dead, there is hope; then, in the final analysis, one dies only once and soon all passes; when one is dead, all is finished; one suffers no more.” All is finished when one is dead, there is the supreme consolation he gives.

On the contrary, the spiritist physician says to the one who sees death before him: “My friend, I am going to employ all the resources of Science to restore your health and to keep you as long as possible; I hope we shall succeed. But the life of man is in the hands of God, who calls us when our time of trial on Earth is finished; if the hour of your deliverance has come, rejoice, like the prisoner who is going to leave the prison. Death rids us of the body that makes us suffer and restores us to the true life, a life free from disturbances and miseries. If you must depart, do not think that you will be lost to your relatives and friends who remain. No, you will be no less in their midst; you will see them and hear them better than you can do at this moment. You will counsel them, direct them, inspire them toward good. If, then, it pleases God to call you to Him, thank Him for restoring your liberty; if He prolongs your stay here, thank Him still for giving you time to complete your task. In doubt, submit yourself without murmuring to His holy will.” Are such words not apt to bring serenity to the soul, and does this serenity not assist the efficacy of the remedies, while the prospect of nothingness plunges the dying man into the anxiety of despair?

Besides this moral influence, Spiritism has another, more material. It is known that excesses of every kind are one of the causes that most predispose to the reigning epidemic. Thus, physicians recommend sobriety in everything, a salutary prescription, to which many people have difficulty submitting. Granting that they do so, it is without doubt an important point, but is it to be believed that a momentary abstention can instantly repair the organic disorders caused by inveterate abuses, degenerated into habit, which have consumed the body and, for that very reason, have made it accessible to deleterious miasmas? n Apart from cholera, is it not known how pernicious the habit of intemperance is in torrid climates, and in those where yellow fever is endemic? Well then! the Spiritist—by effect of his beliefs and of the manner in which he regards the aim of the present life and the result of the future life—profoundly modifies his habits; instead of living to eat, he eats to live; he practices no excess; he does not live like a cenobite. Thus, he uses everything, but abuses nothing. This must surely be a preponderant consideration to add to that which our correspondent in Constantinople sets forth. Here, then, is one of the results of this doctrine, upon which incredulity casts insult and sarcasm; which it ridicules, brands as madness and, according to it, brings disturbance to society. Keep your incredulity, if it pleases you, but respect a belief that makes happier and better those who possess it. Is it madness to believe that not everything ends with life? that after death we live a better life, free from cares? that we return to the midst of those whom we love? that on dying we are neither plunged into the eternal flames, without hope of leaving, which would be equivalent to nothingness, nor lost in the idle and beatific contemplation of the infinite? Ah! would to God that all men were mad! There would be among them far fewer crimes and suicides.

— Numerous communications were given on cholera; several were given at the Society of Paris or in our intimate circle. We reproduce only two, fused into one, to avoid the repetitions, and because they summarize the dominant thought of the majority.

(Society of Paris. – Mediums: Messrs. Desliens and Morin.)

Since cholera is a question of the moment and everyone brings his remedy to repel the terrible scourge, I shall permit myself, if you wish, to give my opinion as well, although it seems to me unlikely that you have to fear the sick in a cruel manner. Nevertheless, as it is good that on occasion the means be not lacking, I place my little light at your disposal.

It is said that this affliction is not immediately contagious, and that those who find themselves in a locality where it spreads need not fear to care for the sick.

There exists no universal remedy against this malady, whether preventive or curative, considering that the malady is complicated by a host of circumstances that are owed now to the temperament of individuals, now to their moral state and their habits, now to the climatic conditions, which makes a given remedy yield results in certain cases and not in others. It may be said that in each period of invasion and according to the localities, the malady must be the object of special study and requires a different medication. It is thus, for example, that in 1832 and 1849 ice and the home remedy were able to cure numerous cases of cholera in certain regions, but yielded negative results at other times and in different countries. There is, then, an immensity of good remedies, but none that is specific. It is this diversity in the results that has confounded, and will still confound for a long time, Science, and makes it so that we ourselves cannot give a remedy applicable to everyone, because the nature of the malady does not allow it. There are, however, general rules, fruits of observation, from which it is important not to depart. The best preservative consists in the precautions of hygiene wisely recommended in all the instructions given on the subject; they consist of cleanliness, of removing every cause of unhealthiness and the centers of infection, and of abstaining from all excesses. Along with this, one must avoid changes in dietary habits, except to restrain debilitating things. One must also avoid chills, abrupt transitions of temperature, and abstain, save in case of absolute necessity, from all violent medication that may bring disturbance to the economy [to the organism].

In such cases, you know that fear is often worse than the malady. Unfortunately composure cannot be imposed; but you, Spiritists, need no counsel on this point, for you face death without flinching and with the calm given by faith.

In case of attack, it is important not to neglect the first symptoms. Heat, diet, an abundant perspiration, rubbings, rice water, with a few drops of laudanum added, are inexpensive medicaments whose action is very effective, if to them are joined moral energy and composure. As it is often difficult to obtain laudanum in the absence of a physician, it can be replaced, in case of urgency, by any other calming composition, especially by lettuce juice, employed in a weak dose. Moreover, it suffices to boil a few lettuce leaves in rice water.

Confidence in oneself and in God is, in such circumstances, the first element of health.

Now that your material health is secured, permit me to think of your spiritual temperament, which an epidemic of another kind seems to wish to attack. Fear nothing on that side; the malady could only reach beings who lack the true spiritual life, since, although alive, they are in truth already dead. On the contrary, all those who devote themselves to the doctrine, forever and without ulterior motives, will gather in it new strength, to make fruitful the teachings whose transmission we consider a duty. Whatever it may be, persecution is always useful; it makes known the solid hearts and, if some poorly fastened branches detach from the trunk, the young shoots, ripened by the struggles in which they will triumph, will become serious and prudent men. Thus, then, much courage; march undaunted in the way traced for you, and count on him who, to the measure of his strength, will never fail you. Doctor Demeure.

[1] Translator's note: Emphasis ours. This applies particularly to infectious and contagious diseases, whose manifestation is facilitated by the fall of cellular immunity, which has, as part of its genesis, the depletion of the organism, brought about by excesses of every kind, of which the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome—AIDS—is one of the most evident examples. Although using terminology in vogue at the time, Allan Kardec captured perfectly the spirit of the question; his thought, also in this field, is judicious and full of relevance.