Kardec’s Spiritism

KARDEC’S SPIRITISM:
A Home for Healing and Spiritual Evolution
By Emma Bragdon, PhD
Lightening Up Press, Woodstock, VT.  Published in 2004.
Review by Bonnie Horrigan, October, 2004

As we struggle with the over-funded, under-producing American healthcare system—an assembly line network utilizing one-size fits all medicine that does not necessarily work—we rarely look outside the US for successful models of care from which we could learn. It would be even more rare, however, that we might study the medical systems of non-English speaking, less technologically advanced countries. But in her book, KARDEC’S SPIRITISM, Emma Bragdon suggests that one healthcare system worth investigating, because it is producing real results in an economical way, is the Spiritist Healing Network of Brazil.

“We (the United States) have the most expensive healthcare system in the world,” Bragdon points out, “but healthy life expectancy in the USA ranks twentieth, falling behind every country in Europe, as well as Canada, Australia, and Israel.” The Spiritist Healing Centers of Brazil “offer a model, a way out, and they should at least be part of the conversation about finding a remedy to our situation.”

Kardecismo is a Portuguese term referring to the Spiritist philosophy and way of life in the some 6500 Kardecist community centers of Brazil. Originally founded by Allan Kardec (1804-1869), Spiritism involves the belief in the continual evolution of the human soul, in reincarnation, in spirits and higher beings, and in other dimensions of reality. Because highly evolved beings can be of great service to humanity by providing both wisdom and healing, the Kardecist Centers utilize contact with higher beings as one of the primary healing paths.

Care in the community centers is free and the healers work in teams. A typical center offers meditation, prayers, laying on of hands, depossession work, personal consultations with a medical intuitive, the use of blessed water, education in Spiritism and the principles for living, education in developing mediumship and other spiritual skills, and the opportunity to do charitable work at the Center. As Bragdon points out, “Kardecist Spiritist Centers function like alternative healthcare centers, community centers and ecumenical schools for spiritual development—all wrapped into one.”

Providing context, in Part One, Bragdon traces the history of Spiritist movement and delves into the evolution of the human spirit through the five levels—physical, emotional, mental, integrated personality, and the “Level of Initiation.” A good life and health are not seen in isolation from the spiritual experience. “The capacity to be a healing force comes naturally to a person who has developed into the higher levels.”

In Part Two, Bragdon offers portraits of and case studies from several healing centers, including the center at Palmelo, a small village of 3,000; the contemporary Busca Vida Center of the Research of Life in the suburbs of Brasilia; and Centro, which is located in the downtown financial district of San Paulo and known for its sense of family. She also tells of Casa de Dom Inacio in Abadiania, the sanctuary where John of God works. This extraordinary man sees up to one thousand people a day, healing through herbal remedies, crystal bed treatments, meditation, prayer, psychic surgery, and the use of blessed water. Witnessed with her own eyes, Bragdon tells of the many people who come to these centers ill and leave well.

In Part Three, Bragdon outlines the basic building blocks of a successful center, covering such topics as finances (both raising money and spending it), preparation and training of teachers, and organizational structure. Her hope is that people in the United States will try setting up such community healing centers, using Spiritism as a both a model and a resource.
People in healing professions of al types will find this book both enlightening and useful. “As science progresses, more evidence comes forward that spiritual healing has a scientific basis, “ says Bragdon. “May we all work together, sharing resources to make the most effective, economical therapies available to all people.”